Attorney General Alberto Gonzales ended months of speculation this morning by announcing his resignation.

Wasting no time, The Wall Street Journal steps boldly into the void, listing possible entrants in the lottery to replace him.

The Journal’s list is great, but is missing some key contenders:

1. DC Judge Roy Pearson, who after losing his original case, is (unbelievably) appealing his $67 million lawsuit against his dry cleaner.

2. Karl Rove. Apparently “The Architect,” who also recently resigned, is now looking for work. And although Mr. Rove is not a lawyer, his track record in cases shows he’s no stranger to the courts. (Fastcase subscription required.)

3. Lionel Hutz. We’ve seen worse. (“I Can’t Believe It’s the Justice Department”?)

For our money, the best (but least likely) pick would be independent minded Republican prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, 44. He’s the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois managing a staff of 300, and was formerly an AUSA in the Southern District of New York. Although he went to Harvard Law School, he is also widely regarded as smart and independent minded (witness his service as Special Prosecutor in the perjury trial of Scooter Libby), and he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2001.

Although law firms from the United Kingdom have extensive global reach, so far they haven’t been able to work their magic in Washington D.C. According to a recent article in Legal Times, the so called “magic circle” of five U.K. law firms have a limited presence in the Washington D.C. market — only two have offices with a small contingent of lawyers. This is a very small presence compared to the rest of the world where these firms employee 10,000 lawyers and rake in about $5 billion dollars annually.

So why aren’t these firms descending on the American capitol? For one, the magic circle has been content to base their U.S. offices in New York City, where they have access to America’s financial markets, if not Washington’s regulatory work. The global financial markets have a been a focus of these law firms for centuries. In fact several of the firms predate the founding of America as a country. Right now it seems the Magic Circle is content to partner with U.S. firms and bide their time before entering into the Washington D.C. market. Which may suit some Washingtonians fine, considering that the rivalry hasn’t always been friendly.

The Wall Street Journal today highlights a new trend in the nation’s largest law firms: the $1000 billable hour. The Journal points out that billable hours have been inching upward an average of 6-7% per year since 2000, with the top hourly rates edging up above $900. “We have viewed $1,000 an hour as a possible vomit point for clients,” said one New York partner. And yet, with the growth trend, we were bound to cross the vomit-point sooner or later.

The WSJ Blog lines up six lawyers in the elusive four-figure club for a little tweaking. Can it be long before other large firm partners up their own rates to gain membership?

We at Fastcase were considering changing our rates to $1,000 per hour, but decided instead to stay with our current rate of 11.3 cents per hour (or $995 per year). As David Boies said in the Journal, “Frankly, it’s a little hard to think about anyone who doesn’t save lives being worth this much money.”

Many people have asked for a guided tour of Fastcase either as an introduction or a refresher course. Faster than you can say “America’s fastest-growing legal research service,” we’re on the case. With our free webinar, you participate at your computer in a live demonstration of Fastcase’s features, from logging in to printing and using Authority Check. Click the links below to reserve a seat at one of the upcoming webinars!

July 12th at 11:00 A.M.* https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/579338997

July 19th at 11:30 A.M.* https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/744977130

July 25th at 12:00 P.M* https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/778187921

*All Times Eastern