Priori Digest #257 | LSAT Alternatives, A Meme-Stock Class Action & E-Commerce Titans Clash

With the new year upon us, I wanted to take a moment to say thanks for reading the Priori Digest. Whether you’re a client, a member of the attorney network or you’re just here for the news and trivia, we appreciate it and look forward to connecting with you in the new year.

My co-founder Mirra Levitt and I have had a few opportunities recently to reflect on our entrepreneurial journey. We shared some of our story on the Live from TLTF podcast at the TLTF Summit, brought it back to where it all started during Yale Law School’s Entrepreneurship Week and talked a little bit about our fundraising experience in Legaltech News. It was a fitting way to wrap up 2023.

In this 257th edition of the Digest, we look at more changes in law school admissions as schools adopt an LSAT alternative, a unique class action question that hinges on a meme-stock and a lawsuit involving online fast fashion purveyors Temu and Shein.

Warmly,

Basha Rubin | CEO & Co-Founder

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Legal News

• ?? Avoiding a potentially difficult-to-swallow trademark case, edgy beverage company Liquid Death renamed its iced tea and lemonade drink from “Armless Palmer” to “Dead Billionaire” to dodge a dispute with Arnold Palmer Enterprises Inc.
• ?? Announcing an end to the logic games section in October wasn’t enough to cause some law schools to stop their plans to accept LSAT alternatives in admissions processes—47 of the 197 ABA-accredited law schools have received approval to use an alternative called JD-Next.
• ?? After finding itself caught up in the “meme-stock” boom of 2021 that also included Gamestop and AMC, mortgage company Rocket is now testing a novel issue in court: whether the company’s status as a meme-stock can disqualify class certification in an investor class action suit.

Legal Trivia

Answers at the end:

1. From a dog toy that parodied Jack Daniel’s to Chipotle and Sweetgreen feuding over burrito bowls to this week’s Arnold Palmer/Armless Palmer argument, we’ve seen a lot of trademark issues in 2023. What popular food-related phrase also caused a legal controversy earlier this year??

2. The 1984 Supreme Court case Lynch v. Donnelly held that religious holiday displays in public buildings don’t violate the First Amendment as long as they also include secular elements. What is the rule derived from this case called??

3. When was New Year’s Day declared an official federal holiday?

Tech News

• ?? Computer chip maker Nvidia is dealing with a unique type of quiet quitting amongst its workforce—some long-time employees have made so much money from the company’s meteoric stock rise that newer employees are saying they are “semi-retired.”?
• ?? Two e-commerce giants, Temu and Shein, are heading into a fast fashion faceoff in court as the former accuses the latter of “mafia-style intimidation.”?
• ?? Although 2 million Teslas that feature the company’s Autopilot technology were recalled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week, none had to be physically returned because the recall took the form of an over-the-air software update.

Legal Quote of the Week

“The business of the law is to make sense of the confusion of what we call human life to reduce it to order but at the same time to give it possibility, scope, even dignity.”

– Poet and writer Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982)

Latest From LinkedIn

Priori CEO & Co-Founder Basha Rubin shares some observations on trends she saw at Priori over the past year.

By the Numbers

$20 billion

The amount Adobe would have paid to acquire Figma before their merger was abandoned this week due to regulatory concerns from the EU and UK.

$2,465/hour

The top hourly rate billed by law firm Kirkland & Ellis as revealed in recent court filings.

More From Priori

• We’re excited to share some news about our outside counsel selection and panel management platform, Scout: Its data structuring capabilities are now powered by AI.
• If you’re looking for last-minute gift ideas for friends or colleagues, we have you covered with our Legal Ops Holiday Gift Guide!
• The Priori team is looking forward to attending Legalweek 2024 in January where we’re nominated for three awards.?

Legal Trivia Answers

1. “Taco Tuesday.”
2. The “reindeer rule,” or the “three plastic animals rule.”
3. 1885.

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