Conservative group threatens to sue law schools, lawyer who challenged Trump's 2020 loss retires, latest in social media governance and more ??

?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here are today's top legal stories:

?????? Conservative legal group threatens to sue law schools over racial preferences

Law schools that give preferences to minorities and women in admissions and hiring risk getting sued by America First Legal, the conservative legal group warned in a letter to 200 U.S. law schools following last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

“You must immediately announce the termination of all forms of race, national origin, and sex preferences in student admissions, faculty hiring, and law review membership or article selection,” the letter said.

The nonprofit group, headed by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, said decisions based on factors in an applicant's biography that could serve as a proxy for race—such as socioeconomic status—is also unlawful.

??? Lawyer who challenged Trump loss retires amid disciplinary probes

Georgia attorney L. Lin Wood formally retired from practicing law, ending state bar disciplinary proceedings against him over his lawsuits challenging former President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss.

The Georgia state bar in May 2021 began investigating Wood after he allegedly physically attacked two of his former law colleagues, embraced conspiracy theories and called for the execution of former Vice President Mike Pence.

Wood asked state bar officials to transfer his law license status to retired in a letter on Tuesday and was granted the request. The decision to retire is permanent and means he can no longer act as a lawyer in the state and other jurisdictions unless he is representing himself.

Read more:

Trump aide Walt Nauta arrives at Miami court in classified documents case

???????? Shearman real estate finance partner is latest exit as merger looms

Shearman & Sterling sees another partner exit the firm after the announcement of its planned merger with Allen & Overy. Real estate finance lawyer Malcolm Montgomery is at least the fourth Shearman partner to land at a new firm this week.

Montgomery, who is based in New York, joined O'Melveny & Myers. He was most recently co-head of Shearman's real estate investment trusts (REITs) group and co-head of the hospitality, leisure and gaming group. He previously served for five years as head of the firm's real estate group.

Earlier this week, Ryan Shores joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Washington, D.C., as an antitrust and litigation partner. Projects and infrastructure partners Ben Shorten and Trinh Chubbock in London, and IP litigator L. Kieran Kieckhefer in San Francisco, left Shearman for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

?? In the social media space …

• The Biden administration filed a notice of appeal asking the 5th Circuit to review a federal judge's ruling restricting the government's efforts to persuade social media companies to police posts it considered disinformation. Several legal scholars and attorneys said that while the lawsuit raised real free speech concerns, there was no precedent to support the sweeping preliminary order issued U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Louisiana.
• TikTok asked a U.S. judge to block enforcement of a Montana state ban on use of the Chinese-owned app before it takes effect on Jan. 1.

?? That's all for today! Thank you for reading?The Legal File!

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