Anthony Kennedy

* President Trump acknowledges he needs to pick someone “great” to replace Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court. That person needs to be “extraordinarily well qualified” and have a “portfolio of solid academic writing,” but according to advisors, he doesn’t care about reading any of it, come on now. [Washington Post]

* “I’m really sorry that something we thought we had won for future generations instead we must leave for future generations to protect for themselves.” Sarah Weddington, the attorney who argued Roe v. Wade 48 years ago, is “really worried” about women’s reproductive rights now that Justice Kennedy is retiring. [Vox]

* Meanwhile, Republican Senator Susan Collins — whose vote on the next Supreme Court justice will be critical — says that any nominee who would contemplate overturning Roe v. Wade would “not be acceptable,” and that all nominees must have “respect for precedent.” Let’s see if any of her colleagues agree. [ABC News]

* Latham & Watkins announced that London-based partner Richard Trobman was elected as the firm’s next chair and managing partner. Trobman has been serving as the firm’s interim co-chair ever since Bill Voge Lathamed himself over inappropriate conduct involving “communications of a sexual nature.” [American Lawyer]

* Senators Cory Booker, Tim Scott, and Kamala Harris have introduced a bill that would make lynching a federal hate crime punishable by a sentence of up to life in prison. A law like this has never been passed. Per Sen. Booker, “This bill finally rights a wrong that should have been done a long time ago.” [New York Times]

* Having placed Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Supreme Court retirement in political context, let’s now put it into historical context. [Retropolis / Washington Post]

* This makes some folks quite upset, but there’s no denying it: the Roberts Court is now truly the Roberts Court (and he probably isn’t thrilled about it either). [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Kathryn Haun — a former Kennedy clerk, by the way — has parlayed her expertise in Bitcoin, developed during her years as a federal prosecutor, into a new position leading Andreessen Horowitz’s $300 million fund focusing on cryptocurrency-related startups. Congrats, Katie! [Axios]

* Let’s not forget about President Trump’s transformation of the lower federal courts — because it’s not just about SCOTUS. [The Takeaway / WNYC]

* Check out Susman Godfrey’s new mandatory retirement policy — could this become the industry standard? [Texas Lawyer]

* Yes, the First Amendment is awesome and all — but is it also encouraging errors in news reporting, as Charles Glasser suggests? [Daily Caller]

* Speaking of mistakes, Ed Whelan sets Ben Shapiro straight on Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a leading contender to replace Justice Kennedy. [Bench Memos / National Review]

* President Trump says he wants to pick a SCOTUS nominee who could serve on the Court for 40 years or more — and if you take the five youngest names on his list of 25, it’s entirely possible. [Althouse]

* This should come as no surprise, but now law firms are joining the chase after data scientists. [Artificial Lawyer]

* Congratulations to the Practising Law Institute (PLI) and Fastcase, innovators in their respective spaces, on their new alliance. [Dewey B Strategic]

HE ANNOUNCED HIS RETIREMENT THIS WEEK: In case you’ve been living under a rock, Anthony Kennedy is leaving the Supreme Court.

WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE WERE WORRIED ABOUT: There was a lot of chatter about it before it happened.

LAW TWITTER IMMEDIATELY FREAKED OUT: Law Twitter tends to freak out when there is a giant meteor heading to destroy all life as we know it.

SOME ARGUED THAT KENNEDY LEAVING ISN’T THE END OF THE WORLD: This post was very comforting to people who have penises at least.

BUT, IF YOU THINK WOMEN ARE MORE LIKE “PEOPLE” AND LESS LIKE “INCUBATORS WITH MOUTHPARTS” THE NEWS ISN’T AS GOOD: What’s about to happen is not okay. None of this is going to be okay.

AND IF YOU ARE BLACK OR BROWN, WATCH OUT: Because John Roberts hates you and always has.

SO NOW WE WAIT TO SEE WHAT LAW SCHOOL KENNEDY WILL TEACH AT: Can’t wait to see the syllabus for his class: “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?”

* Justice Kennedy may be stepping down from the Supreme Court, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have a job. The dean of the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law already called the soon-to-be retireee and offered him a teaching position. Will Kennedy become a law professor? [Sacramento Business Journal]

* The suspect in the Capital Gazette shooting has been identified as Jarrod Ramos. Ramos filed and lost a defamation suit against the newspaper in 2012 for correctly reporting that he’d pleaded guilty to criminal harassment. At least five people were killed during the shooting spree, and several others were seriously injured. [CNBC]

* Does the death penalty violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution? At this rate, we may never find out because the Supreme Court keeps turning down cases challenging the issue. Justice Breyer is getting really upset about this, and dissented in both of the Court’s denials this week. [National Law Journal]

* Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is known to her fans as the Notorious R.B.G., and now she’s got an album that’s bears the exact same name. “Notorious R.B.G in Song” is a musical tribute that was created by her children, and even includes jokes about her horrible cooking skills. [WOSU Radio]

* Remember Leicester Bryce Stovell, the lawyer who claimed via failed lawsuit that he was NBA legend LeBron James’s father? He just got disbarred. [American Lawyer]

* Now begins the period of wild predictions about Kennedy’s eventual replacement. Young judge with proven record of hostility toward minorities, gays, and women would be a pretty good bet. [National Law Journal]

* A whopping 33 states employ the UBE now. [Law.com]

* No one is actually complying with GDPR. Sounds right. [Digiday]

* But back to Supreme Court news, remember Roe? Yeah that won’t be around much longer. And if you’ve deluded yourself into the Pollyannaish belief that Roberts won’t go there, you’re forgetting how courts work.
[Slate]

* This op-ed by the legal luminary power family, the Amars, about Justice Kennedy’s call for a civil and balanced court in his Muslim Ban concurrence did not age well. But it’s worth revisiting to demonstrate just how deeply Kennedy grifted everyone, including some of the smartest legal minds around, with his “swing” schtick. [CNN]

* ICE lawyer decides it’s time to help kids instead of hurt them. To quote West Wing: “Let’s… I tell you what, let’s forget the fact that you’re coming a little late to the party and embrace the fact that you showed up at all.” [USA Today]

* Border patrol is about to get aggressive on keeping Canadians out. [Newsweek]

* This weekend, a passerby recognized Michael Cohen on the street, calling him out as “that guy that’s going to jail.” For his part, President Trump later recognized Michael Cohen as a “good person,” calling him out as “not my lawyer anymore.” Ouch. [The Hill]

* For what it’s worth, Michael Cohen may not have to worry about jailtime for too long. After all, Rudy Giuliani says that the president may pardon Paul Manafort after the conclusion of the Russia investigation. His longtime personal lawyer could very well get a pardon thrown his way too. [Washington Post]

* Justice Anthony Kennedy had dinner in Manhattan this weekend following his grandson’s graduation, and he was treated like the superstar that he is. Per sources, as soon as Justice Kennedy arrived at Antica Pesa for his meal, “a security detail almost shut down a street, as onlookers wondered who he was.” [Page Six / New York Post]

* According to a survey conducted by the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium, some in-house leaders are really angry about the latest Biglaw associate raises, and other in-house leaders aren’t angry about them at all — so long as they don’t have to pay more for their outside counsel, that is. [Corporate Counsel]

* Hot off the heels of her settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was recently indicted on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in an alleged scheme to con investors and mislead doctors and patients. [MedCity News]

Ed. note: We will not be publishing on Monday, May 28, in observance of Memorial Day. We will return to our regular publication schedule on Tuesday, May 29.

* What is up with the lively Twitter feed of George T. Conway, former Wachtell Lipton partner and husband of top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway? It’s not entirely clear — but if you’re not already following GTC, you should be. [Politico]

* Because Masterpiece Cakeshop isn’t the only cake controversy out there: mom tries to get “summa cum laude” written on her son’s graduation cake, hilarity sues. [Althouse]

* Over at the invaluable Take Care blog, you can now find an extensive database of articles addressing impeachment in the Age of Trump — to complement Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz’s new book about impeachment (affiliate link). [Take Care]

* Is Justice Anthony M. Kennedy about to retire from the Supreme Court? Per Adam Feldman, “signs point to Justice Kennedy remaining on the Court past this term notwithstanding all of the discussion surrounding his retirement.” [Empirical SCOTUS]

* When #MeToo meets defamation claims: a court tosses Tavis Smiley’s libel claim against PBS. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* “Surprise! Your expert witness has a rap sheet.” And there’s no plug-and-play solution to vetting expert witnesses, as Jean O’Grady explains. [Dewey B Strategic]

* Saira Rao, who helped diversify the world of children’s books, hopes to do the same for politics — by becoming Colorado’s first woman of color elected to Congress. [Teen Vogue]