Above the Law's Morning Docket for October 20, 2026, pulls together three law-and-policy stories. One item highlights Cooley, a major law firm, getting ready for AI to upend billable hours. That points to growing pressure on the legal industry to rethink time-based billing as AI tools become more capable.
Separately, Judge Reyes is drawing heavy abuse on social media for what the roundup frames as finally telling the government to follow the rules. The backlash underscores how tense the environment has become around judicial rulings that go against federal government positions.
Finally, the docket notes that book deals are preventing the Supreme Court from reaching a quorum. The item does not give further details, but it suggests that justices' outside publishing arrangements are creating new institutional complications for the Court. All three items come from a single source, so the connections between them are only the ones Above the Law chose to include in its morning roundup.