2nd Circuit

* “I’m guessing they have had a number of long days and potentially sleepless nights.” The government lawyers behind the efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the American Health Care Act have had a rough go of things. Who are they, which law schools did they attend, and which Biglaw firms did they work for before becoming Hill lawyers? [National Law Journal]

* Don’t forget about Merrick: A third of Democratic senators have pledged to vote against confirming Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch. At this time, it remains unclear as to whether there will be a united effort by Democrats to oppose his confirmation when the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on April 3. [Reuters]

* Guess who isn’t boycotting Hawaii? People who apparently have a vendetta against this federal jurist. Judge Derrick Watson of the District of Hawaii has been receiving death threats ever since he blocked President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban on March 15. He is now receiving 24-hour protection from the U.S. Marshals Service. [The Hill]

* The Second Circuit has upheld New York’s ban on non-lawyers investing in law firms. Personal injury firm Jacoby & Meyers argued that the state’s prohibition on non-lawyer investment violated lawyers’ First Amendment right to associate with clients, but the court found that connection to be “simply too attenuated.” [New York Law Journal]

* Ithaca may be gorges, but it can’t compete with the Big Apple with it comes to hands-on learning about issues dealing with cutting-edge tech. Cornell Law is launching a semester-long Program in Information and Technology Law at its Tech campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City that’s slated to begin in Spring 2018. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Judge Edward J. McManus, the longest serving of any incumbent judge in the United States (and third-longest servng in the history of the United States), RIP. [N.D. Iowa]

* For those of you too busy this week to follow Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearing, here’s a nice collection of the highlights by Benjamin Wallace-Wells. [New Yorker via How Appealing]

* SCOTUS confirmation hearings are often compared to kabuki theater; law professor cum novelist Jay Wexler reimagines the Gorsuch hearing as, well, actual kabuki theater. [McSweeney’s]

* Insider trading: it’s not entirely about the benjamins, as therapist and executive coach Andrew Snyder explains. [LinkedIn]

* Is the Second Circuit sitting on juicy information about President Trump’s ties to Russia? [WiseLawNY]

* Law school applicants with high LSAT scores: which schools do they favor? [SSRN]

* Speaking of legal education, what are the secrets to law school success? Vanderbilt 3L Niya McCray shares her thoughts. [Amazon (affiliate link)]

* Several prominent lawyers and legal scholars are filing a lawsuit alleging that Donald Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause by letting his businesses accept money from foreign governments — but the litigation looks like a long shot to some. [New York Times via How Appealing]

* Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (previously profiled here) is returning to private practice — and, not surprisingly, to Paul, Weiss. [American Lawyer]

* Judge Andrew Hanen (S.D. Tex.), who brutally benchslapped the Obama Justice Department last year, has withdrawn the sanctions he imposed on the DOJ, finding that the misstatements in question were inadvertent. [ABA Journal]

* If you’ve been handicapping the Supreme Court race, adjust the odds in favor of Judge Neil Gorsuch (10th Cir.) — he’s conservative but less contentious than some other nominees, as noted by Jan Crawford. [CBS News]

* Confirmability might be increasing in importance as a factor for picking a SCOTUS nominee now that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged to block any nominee who is not “bipartisan and mainstream.” [How Appealing]

* The Obama Administration didn’t fare so well before SCOTUS; will the Trump Administration do any better? [New York Times]

* The Second Circuit joins the Seventh Circuit in considering whether discrimination “because of sex” encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation. [New York Law Journal]

* The jury deliberated for just two hours before convicting Dylann Roof of the Charleston church murders. [The Daily Beast]

* Tables turned: how Judge Jed Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.) got the Second Circuit, which normally reviews his judgments, overturned. [Bloomberg BNA]

* Keith Lee takes a deep dive into newly released law school data (the ABA 509 disclosures). [Associate’s Mind]

* Eugene Volokh breaks down a new Fourth Circuit ruling that protects the right of police officers to criticize department policies on Facebook. [Volokh Conspiracy]

* David Lander evaluates the pluses and minuses of law schools relying upon adjunct professors to fill curricular gaps. [PrawfsBlawg]

* What variables best explain the decisions of the Roberts Court? [Tennessee Law Review via Hangley Aronchick]

* Check out Womble Carlyle’s new podcast, Bulldog Bites. Says host Mark Henriques, “I promise it won’t feel like work. If you don’t learn something, hopefully you’ll laugh with us about something.” [Womble Carlyle]

* Roger Ailes hires Hulk Hogan and Melania Trump lawyer Charles Harder for a possible suit against NY Mag. [Huffington Post]

* As expected, Haynes & Boone has merged with Curtis Davis Garrard [Texas Lawyer]

* Berkeley’s Sujit Choudhry still coming to work amid sexual harassment claims. [ABC 7]

* An update on the revenge porn law that’s seen over 200 prosecuted in England and Wales. [CNET]

* Avvo defends its fixed-fee legal services after a South Carolina ethics ruling dinged the practice. [Corporate Counsel]

* Sullivan & Cromwell tapped to make one lucky French fan base learn what it’s like to have Frank McCourt as an owner. [The Am Law Daily]

* Second Circuit throws procedural roadblocks in front of workers seeking back wages. Happy Labor Day! [Law360]

* Quinn Emanuel sanctioned by the U.S. International Trade Commission over the Apple-Samsung case. [Law.com]

* No rest for the dissolving: Kenyon & Kenyon hit with malpractice suit. [Law360]

* Indiana’s Go Ahead And Hate Gays Religious Freedom Act invoked in child abuse defense. It’s truly a testament to how kerfunkered this whole election is that this episode isn’t going to be a devastating scandal for the Trump-Pence ticket. [Chicago Tribune]

* Former tech GC takes on housekeeping gig. [Corporate Counsel]

* Katten Muchin Rosenman; Manatt, Phelps & Phillips; and Eisner Jaffe all land stadium renaming deals, proving that there’s money to be made everywhere. Enjoy AshleyMadison.com Park! [The Am Law Daily]

* Score one for the anti-trolls: A federal judge orders a lawyer to pay $22K in legal fees after he filed multiple lawsuits over the use of his pictures. [ABA Journal]

* Palestinian Authority terrorism verdict given the heave ho by Second Circuit. [NY Times]

* Some thoughts from Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer of Microsoft, on his company’s big win before the Second Circuit. [On the Issues]

* Before the Second Circuit, Microsoft enjoyed a lot of support from amici — which can make a difference before the U.S. Supreme Court, according to this analysis by Adam Feldman. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Nell Minow, the corporate governance guru (and sister of Harvard Law Dean Martha Minow), has some assigned reading for America’s politicians: Professor William Birdthistle’s Empire of the Fund: The Way We Save Now (affiliate link). [Huffington Post]

* My former colleague Maura Grossman, ediscovery queen of Wachtell Lipton, has left the firm to open her own consulting practice and serve as a research professor. [Am Law Daily]

* Social media for lawyers: it’s all fun and games until someone loses their good reputation. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

* If you are a lawyer between 24 and 49 who’s currently working in the northeast, a Ph.D. student would like to talk to you about debt (which you most likely have lots of — although none is needed to participate in the study). [Abby Stivers]

* A final reminder for our L.A. readers that the law firm battle of the bands is taking place tonight — so come out to support a good cause (and have a great time)! [Family Violence Appellate Project]

* On the subject of raises, yesterday we heard — a mixed bag of news — from Linklaters (technically the night before), Barack Ferrazzano, Chadbourne & Parke, Pryor Cashman, Tensegrity, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, and Reed Smith. [Above the Law / 2016 Salary Increase]

* If you’re an associate serving in your firm’s London office, I sure as hell hope you’re getting paid in dollars. [BBC]

* UK legal experts explain why this vote isn’t legally binding. [Legal Cheek]

* On the other hand, could this be a boon for lawyers? [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* Who’s on first in front of Second. [Law360]

* Dentons global government sector co-chair leaves for boutique. As you’re statutorily obligated to say to every Biglaw lawyer moving to a small firm: “you’re not going to have the same support services… are you ready for that?” [The Am Law Daily]

* Penn State’s former general counsel testified that at least he understood that the school needed to report Jerry Sandusky back in 2001 and told the school as much. Which is impressive, since he told the New York Times in 2011 that he’d never even heard of any allegations against Sandusky. [Fox News]

* Former law firm executive sentenced to prison. [Atlanta Journal Constitution]

* A deep look at the horrific side of criminal justice: a long-form account of four months as a private prison guard. Think of it as “Orange Is The New Black” without having to listen to Piper prattle on. [Mother Jones]

* Happy Friday! Let’s start by giving props to the firms that announced pay raises yesterday: Morgan Lewis, Andrews Kurth, Ashurst, Crowell & Moring, Orrick, and Dechert. [Above the Law / 2016 Salary Increase]

* Speaking of the Great Pay Raise of 2016, law firm leaders want to reassure irate in-house counsel: don’t worry, you won’t see this (directly) reflected in your rates. [Big Law Business]

* Biglaw Game of Thrones: who are the leading contenders to succeed Jeffrey Stone and Peter Sacripanti as co-chairs of McDermott? [American Lawyer]

* The Second Circuit plays a sad song for record companies in a closely watched copyright case. [How Appealing]

* And in other copyright news, SCOTUS (sorta) clarifies the standards for awarding attorneys’ fees in copyright cases. [New York Times]

* Look for indictments to issue from the grand jury in the Dan Markel murder case. [News4Jax]

* Noam Scheiber of the Times takes a close look at struggling Valparaiso Law — and it’s not a pretty picture. (Expect more on this later.) [New York Times]

* Ex-prosecutor gone bad: a Cleveland criminal defense attorney just got convicted after agreeing to launder thousands of dollars for someone he thought was a cocaine dealer. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]

* The National Association for Law Placement released slightly improved jobs numbers for the law school class of 2014, so yay? [National Law Journal]

* The battle royale that pits local musicians versus Biglaw heavyweight Skadden continues to rage on. [Washington Post]

* Guess what? Prosecutors don’t like the Second Circuit’s higher threshold for insider trading cases and now they’d like the Supreme Court to do something about it. [Wall Street Journal]

* A group of merchants including Amazon, Wal-Mart and Starbucks want the $7 billion settlement negotiated over interchange fees with Visa, Mastercard and American Express in an antitrust case vacated due to attorney Gary Friedman’s alleged misconduct. [Law360]

* Don’t cha love it when media scandals become real life litigation? All your deflategate legal questions answered. [Stradley Law]

Ed. note: Above the Law will not be publishing on Monday, May 25, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.

* The settlement deal between Target and Mastercard over the 2013 data breach is dead after failing to garner the requisite issuer support. Proposed settlement: $19 million. Years of protracted litigation: Priceless. [Credit Union Times]

* High school teacher who admitted she and another teacher had a threesome with a 16-year-old student got off — well, legally — with a slap on the wrist. Folks are starting to wonder if her dad being a sitting district judge had anything to do with that. [Times-Picayune]

* On a similar note, Mama June of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo… fame? Is she famous? Whatever. The point is Mama June is toying with suing the TLC Network because they canceled her show over a child molester, but haven’t nuked 19 Kids and Counting in the wake of its brewing molestation scandal. When you consider these hit shows starring inbred hillbillies with molestation issues, remember that TLC stands for “The Learning Channel.” [TMZ]

* Lawmakers pushing back against Governor Cuomo’s proposal to appoint an independent monitor to investigate police-related civilian killings. One skeptical State Senator proclaims, “What I do know is that it treats police officers different than other citizens.” Yes, because right now the police get the same kid gloves grand jury presentations the rest of us do. [Capital New York]

* Texas prosecuted 115,782 truancies in a year, levying hefty fines and doling out jail time to kids as young as 12. Well hello there prison-industrial complex! [Al Jazeera America]

* Are the Yankees and A-Rod gearing up for arbitration… or settlement? I don’t know, why wouldn’t you want to put a warm, likeable guy like him in front of a panel? [Concurring Opinions]

* Judges must be the loneliest people on social media… [The Daily Record]

* Merely complaining to your boss is enough to trigger anti-retaliation provisions according to the Second Circuit. So feel free to call up that partner you hate… [JD Supra]