The Morning Wrap

NEW FIGHT ON SOFT MONEY: Five years after the Supreme Court upheld 5-4 the federal ban on soft money in political campaigns, there’s a new lawsuit trying again to overturn it. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Republican National Committee filed the lawsuit Thursday, seeking to allow political parties to accept unlimited donations from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy individuals. Justice Samuel Alito has sided against other parts of the 2002 law since replacing Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the newspaper notes.

UPTICK IN LOBBYING: The Washington Post is declaring a “mini-boom” on K Street. “Top lobbying firms are gearing up to handle increased demand from corporate clients who fear that the Obama administration will expand its regulatory reach and target them for tax increases,” the newspaper reports. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Patton Boggs—Nos. 1 and 2 in this year’s Influence 50—are among those preparing for new business.

WORRY AT DETROIT FIRMS: Some of Detroit’s major law firms say they’re seeing a short-term boost in work because of the crisis in the auto industry, but they’re wringing their hands about the long-term outlook, The American Lawyer reports via Law.com. “The big risk to all of us is the threat of this massive consolidation and that when all the chairs are [filled], who will be left standing,” says Michael Hartmann of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone.

AIR POLLUTION RULES: The Chicago Tribune revisits the new lead emissions standard approved by the Environmental Protection Agency last month and finds that the Bush administration changed the rule at the last minute so that an estimated 60 percent fewer factories would be covered. Manufacturers of lead batteries were among those who opposed the stricter rule.