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* As I noted in my last nominations roundup, the Trump administration is actually ahead of the Bush and Obama administrations when it comes to judicial appointments — especially with yesterday’s confirmation of Kevin Newsom to the Eleventh Circuit. [How Appealing]

* With Republicans in charge of the presidency and Senate, could breaking up the Ninth Circuit return to the agenda? [Law360]

* And here’s an interesting argument against a split, from the Republican point of view (by Wyatt Kozinski, following in his father’s footsteps). [SSRN]

* Capital punishment: yet another issue where it’s all about Justice Kennedy. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Thoughts from Joel Cohen on the Trump/Sessions troubles. [The Hill]

* How NOT to escape from your law school loans. [Gizmodo]

* If a pizza party isn’t your thing, here are some other ideas for what to eat when working hard at the law firm. [Cater2me]

* Litigation that lawyers can love: Mel Gibson files suit over a dictionary (okay, actually a movie about a dictionary — the Oxford English Dictionary). [Deadline]

* Congratulations to Judge Lorna G. Schofield (S.D.N.Y.) on receiving the Liberty Award from the ABA! [American Bar Association]

* “We have a very crappy judicial system.” Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit says the Supreme Court has far too few justices, and is calling for 10 more to be added to the high court’s ranks, as he thinks the current arrangement on the bench is “[m]ediocre and highly politicized.” Tell ’em how you really feel, Your Honor. [Chicago Tribune]

* “This is deeply disturbing.” The Justice Department’s civil rights division is planning to sue colleges and universities that engage in “intentional race-based discrimination” in their affirmative action policies — that is, discrimination against white applicants. Hmm, wasn’t this recently before SCOTUS… twice? [New York Times]

* RIP, billables: Microsoft wants to completely eliminate the billable hour by entering into alternative fee arrangements with all of the firms it works with in the future. Twelve Biglaw firms and one intellectual property firm will spearhead this movement as the company’s strategic partners. [Big Law Business]

* The Department of Education has filed a motion for summary judgment in a suit brought by the ABA over public service loan forgiveness, claiming that its forgiveness eligibility determinations won’t be final until 10 years have passed and that any eligibility letters sent thus far are nonbinding and merely advisory. How comforting for law grads drowning in debt? [Law.com; ABA Journal]

* The Senate has confirmed King & Spalding partner Christopher Wray as the new director of the FBI. During his hearings, Wray said he’d resign if he were ever asked to do something immoral or illegal, as his “commitment is to the rule of law, to the Constitution, to follow the facts wherever they may lead.” [CNN]

* Now Ivanka Trump’s hired Abbe Lowell. Hey, at least she doesn’t think she has any potentially adverse interests to her husband. Yet. [National Law Journal]

* Elon Musk may be looking for in-house counsel for the burrowing company he claims has a government deal to start building underground highways and super trains. First step for this new attorney? Explaining that, no, he does not have a government contract to start building underground highways and super trains. [Law.com]

* NFL cheerleaders can’t pursue antitrust action against entity that’s already lost an antitrust action. Remember that? When Donald Trump bankrupted a football league because he’s comically incompetent? [Courthouse News Service]

* Wells Fargo inadvertently released a bunch of client data and they want it back. One presumes these are real Wells Fargo clients and not the millions of fake ones. [Law360]

* ABA warns against weakening Medicaid. I’m sure that’s going to do the trick with this crew. [ABA Journal]

* Has R. Kelly hired Bill Cosby’s attorney? [Complex]

* An argument for Jeff Sessions keeping his job. [Litigation Daily]

* “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.” An anonymous government official has said that Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller will be taking a hard look at the emails disclosed by Donald Trump Jr. and the meeting discussed within them in his investigation into any possible collusion with Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. [CNN]

* President Trump has a rare opportunity to reshape the federal judiciary, and with close to 150 vacancies, he’s attempting to do just that. That being said, many people are understandably worried about the prospect of Trump’s judicial picks because “[w]e’re seeing nominees, including Gorsuch, who are going to turn back the clock on hard-fought rights and liberties.” [Bloomberg News]

* Demand for legal services may be sluggish at best, but that’s not stopping law firm leaders from making bullish projections for the future. According to the latest report from Citi Private Bank, law firm managing partners are cautiously confident in the outlook for their businesses. We may have more on this later today. [Am Law Daily]

* In what seems to be an effort to catch up with modern times, the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is considering adding gender identity and ethnicity to existing law school accreditation rules regarding diversity, nondiscrimination, and equal opportunity. [ABA Journal]

* Notes from the weed line: In this op-ed, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura says that if President Trump decides to somehow reverse state laws that have legalized marijuana, then not only would those states be potentially bankrupted, but such action could also trigger another economic collapse across the entire nation. [CNBC]

* Is there a constitutional right to follow President Donald Trump on Twitter? Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute apparently thinks so, and lawyers from the free-speech center have demanded that Trump’s unblock critics from his @realDonaldTrump account. Good luck! [WSJ Law Blog]

* Following an investigation conducted by Perkins Coie, Uber fired more than 20 employees thanks to complaints of sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination. Perkins Coie’s probe is separate from that of former Attorney General Eric Holder, who is now employed at Covington & Burling. [ABC News]

* Per sources inside the Trump administration, the president is expected to nominate Cheryl Stanton, a former Ogletree Deakins partner, to head the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Stanton shares a former boss with Labor Secretary Alex Acosta: Justice Samuel Alito. [Big Law Business]

* Michelle Lee, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, has resigned. During her time at the USPTO, Lee was known for her efforts to crack down on patent trolls, which ultimately led to a decrease in their vexatious litigation. The Trump administration has not yet put forth a nominee. [Reuters]

* The American Bar Association has granted provisional accreditation to the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law. Last summer, the ABA refused to grant even provisional accreditation to the school because there was concern about future graduates’ ability to pass the bar exam. Congrats… [ABA Journal]

* The gaggle of Jones Day lawyers who joined the Trump administration received a blanket waiver from ethical rules because what’s the point when there’s no integrity left to protect? [National Law Journal]

* The ABA is discussing a massive overhaul of its law school accreditation regime in order to appease critics from the Department of Education (at least the former DOE). Hey, DOE… we already solved this problem for you! [Law.com]

* Historically the Silk Road connected China to Europe. According to the Second Circuit it connects Ross William Ulbricht to a life sentence. [Law360]

* Because it wasn’t big enough yet, Dentons opens an office in Myanmar. [Legal Week]

* In-house counsel complain that they receive too much marketing material. But that’s not stopping firms from piling on more, because in-house lawyers don’t know what’s good for them. [Am Law Daily]

* George Mason students have filed a lawsuit accusing the school of violating public records law in an effort to obscure funding the school — especially ASS Law — may receive from the Koch brothers. [Courthouse News Service]

* “Lawyer who killed lover’s dog blames being lone Jew at boarding school.” I’m just going to leave this here. [NY Post]

* President Donald Trump has hired his longtime lawyer, Marc Kasowitz of Kasowitz Benson, to represent him as his independent counsel in the investigation of claims that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. Is anyone really surprised that Trump chose to hire Kasowitz? Moreover, is anyone really surprised that he’d further complicate hiring Joe Lieberman as FBI director by doing so? [FOX Business]

* In somewhat related news, despite having worked as a partner at WilmerHale — a firm that represents former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort as well as Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner — Robert Mueller has been approved by ethics experts at the Justice Department to go ahead as special counsel in the Trump/Russia investigation, as he did not participate in those matters. Things are about to start heating up. [NPR]

* President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 fiscal budget includes a $1.1 billion cut in funding for the Department of Justice. The $27.7 billion request for the DOJ represents a 3.8 percent decrease from its current funding level, while the antitrust division’s funding will remain the same, at just under $165 million. It makes you wonder which initiatives will be discontinued. [Big Law Business]

* Speaking of the Trump budget, American Bar Association President Linda A. Klein has spoken out against it, criticizing its “egregious cuts to the Constitution’s promise of a fair legal process.” Funding for the Legal Services Corporation and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program have been completely eliminated, and if the money is not reinstated, “severe damage [could be done] to the most vulnerable people in our society.” [ABA Journal]

* Convicted killer Dylann Roof, who was found guilty of 33 federal charges, including hate crimes and religious rights violations, has appealed his conviction and his death sentence to the Fourth Circuit. According to his lawyers, Roof wanted to appeal to drag the case on as long as possible, since he thinks white supremacists will eventually take over the country and pardon him. Wow. [AP]

* What’s the over–under on how long acting FBI director Andrew McCabe will keep his current post? [New York Times]

* And Democratic senators want answers — lots of answers — from deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. [Washington Post]

* Following up on our list of top law schools with great employment outcomes, here’s a broader look at the latest ABA employment data. [ABA Journal]

* And following up on our recent round-ups of possible judicial nominees in the Trump administration, here’s a name for one of the open Third Circuit seats in Pennsylvania. [CA3 blog via How Appealing]

* A lawsuit claims that a Biglaw behemoth is trying to invalidate the same patents it prosecuted — not a good look. [Daily Business Review]

* Former Biglaw chair J. Stephen Poor ruminates on the riches of this year’s top Am Law 100 firms. [Big Law Business]

* Robert Post looks back over his eight years as dean of Yale Law School. [Law.com]

* Harvard Law wants students to defer admission. Tuition deferral program still a no go apparently. [New York Times / Dealbook]

* Trump signing executive order to let the IRS choose when to enforce the Johnson amendment. I’m old enough to remember when conservatives had a meltdown over exaggerated allegations of IRS selective enforcement. Now it’s actually going to be legal and I doubt I’ll hear anything about it. [CBS News]

* Want to know how much a Sullivan & Cromwell partner takes home? Thankfully Donald Trump can tell us. [National Law Journal]

* Alabama enacts law allowing adoption agencies to reject gay couples. Alabama has one of the worst economies in America, but this was the issue that they really needed to address. Roll Tide. [Alabama]

* ABA President Linda Klein testifies on behalf of Legal Services Corporation. funding. Question: Is the ABA President job more or less difficult today? One could say “more” because she has to devote considerable energy to fighting a hostile government. Or you could say “less” because the most difficult argument she has to make is, “please don’t be monsters.” [ABA Journal]

* FAMU fired its dean. [Orlando Sentinel]

* New trend in litigation finance: buying portfolios of cases instead of investing in individual matters. We’ve reached the fund stage people! [Law.com]

* Former Guinea mining minister convicted of taking bribes. How did they know? Perhaps they thought he was a Dickensian throwback when he kept saying “Guinea” all the time. [Law360]

* Did anyone really expect Biglaw associates to jump ship so quickly for in-house jobs after the huge raises they got this past summer? According to Michelle Fivel of Major Lindsey & Africa, these days, associates “have increased standards for what they’re willing to throw their hat into the ring for, mostly based around compensation.” [Law360 (sub. req.)]

* “This is so important to us from an income point of view.” Thanks to President Donald Trump’s “America First” immigration policies, law schools are worrying about whether their cash-cow LL.M. programs will suffer. These programs typically bring in about $350 million each year, so this is definitely something worthy of concern. [Legal Intelligencer]

* Texas law school graduates from the class of 2016 performed better in the job market than their classmates who graduated just one year prior. This data comes from the latest employment information gathered by the American Bar Association, which we imagine will be made public soon. How do you think your law school did? [Houston Chronicle]

* “I was honored to be the chair, but there is no requirement for one in the partnership agreement.” Tony Valukas has stepped down as the chair of Jenner & Block, and he doubts anyone will replace him since his title was honorary in nature. [Big Law Business]

* Pedro Hernandez, the man who murdered Etan Patz — the first child to appear on the side of a milk carton — has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. [Reuters]