Anthony Kennedy

* According to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, it’s highly likely that we’ll have another Supreme Court vacancy this summer. Word on the street is that a justice is thinking about retiring, and all eyes are on Justice Kennedy, the high court’s swing vote. Hmm, we thought we’d already put this rumor to bed. [The Hill]

* After years of accepting incoming students with questionable academic qualifications followed by unsurprisingly dismal bar exam results, another law school will be closing soon. We all knew it would happen eventually, but it was just a matter of which one it would be. We’ll have much more on this later today. [Orange County Business Journal]

* Kerrie Campbell, the Chadbourne & Parke partner who filed a $100 million gender discrimination suit against her firm, will learn later this morning whether she’s been ousted from the Chadbourne partnership. Campbell, who is out on medical leave, says her removal from the partnership would be financially ruinous. [Am Law Daily]

* Former pharma bro Martin Shkreli and his former attorney, former Kaye Scholer partner Evan Greebel, will have separate trials this summer thanks to this ruling. After all, Greebel turned on his former client months ago, and his lawyers planned to “assert a defense that [would] be an ‘echo chamber’ for the prosecution.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* When Big Weed meets Biglaw: In honor of 4/20, the mainstream media has finally caught on and realized that marijuana law is an up-and-coming practice area. This article focuses on some of the well-known law firms that have adopted marijuana practices, like Thompson Coburn, Fox Rothschild, and Much Shelist. [Chicago Tribune]

* The Republicans hold on to the House seat vacated by CIA director Mike Pompeo; state treasurer Ron Estes defeated James Thompson, a Wichita civil rights lawyer. [New York Times]

* So it seems the FBI did obtain a FISA warrant to monitor the communications of a Trump adviser (foreign policy adviser Carter Page). [Washington Post]

* In a time when many firms are closing offices, Adams and Reese is opening new ones, in Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale. [Law.com]

* The retirement buzz around Justice Anthony M. Kennedy persists — and stems from conversations Kennedy has had with people close to him. [Bloomberg and CNN via How Appealing]

* As for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has she been enjoying Opus One yet again? [New York Daily News]

* Yes, it’s possible for an in-house legal department to be too cost-conscious — just ask Wells Fargo. [Big Law Business]

* A professor accused of sexual harassment by a student and a staff member just lost his case before the Sixth Circuit. [Law.com]

* Speaking of things sexual… don’t write “sexual favors” in the check memo line when paying your taxes. [Billings Gazette]

* Nine months from now, look for the Gorsuch effect. [Clickhole]

* Welcome to the Supreme Court, Neil. [Huffington Post]

* Will Justice Kennedy take the retirement bait? [Slate]

* A blueprint for getting Trump’s tax plan done by August. [The Hill]

* Technology’s role in reducing drunk driving. [Law and More]

* Good news for Planned Parenthood out of Maryland. [The Slot]

* According to reports, Donald Trump is “obsessed” with his next possible Supreme Court nomination, and it seems like the president is trying to use their sons’ friendship to remain in Justice Kennedy’s good graces — after all, he’s banking on the high court’s swing justice to retire. [POLITICO]

* The new year has not been kind as far as employment in the legal profession is concerned. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector took a beating in March, losing about 1,500 jobs. This is the third month in a row that the legal sector has lost jobs. Ouch. [Am Law Daily]

* Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is planning to repeal Obama-era landmark net neutrality rules in the hope of internet providers volunteering to maintain an open internet, and then binding them to compliance through their terms of service. Let’s see how well this works out… [Reuters]

* Remember Shon Hopwood, the bank robber who won a SCOTUS case as a jailhouse lawyer, went to law school, and clerked for the D.C. Circuit? He’s got a new job as a Georgetown Law prof. Talk about a remarkable career path. Congrats! [Seattle Times]

* “SCOTUS judge, feminist icon, Bubby. Notorious.” Believe it or not, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg won a March Madness bracket. Click the link to see what we mean. [Jewcy]

* Is this the future of immigration? [Slate]

* Jeff Sessions faces a difficult choice. [Huffington Post]

* Don McGahn may find himself caught up in the Mike Flynn/Russia scandal. [Law and More]

* Neil Gorsuch could be the most conservative justice on the Court.[Washington Post]

* Justice Kennedy wants us all to be more polite. [Sacramento Bee]

* Tiffany & Co.’s copyright problem. [The Fashion Law]

* “He has always said he’s given to politicians his entire career and he thinks the system is broken. A review of Donald Trump’s political donations show that the Republican presidential candidate has made campaign contributions to several to state attorneys general while they weighed decisions affecting his business, particularly in New York. What’s that about a “rigged” system? [Wall Street Journal]

* Carl Ferrer, the chief executive officer of Backpage.com, was arrested last night on in Houston, Texas, on a California warrant for criminal charges including pimping. If you recall, Backpage.com was recently in the news thanks to a Senate investigation into allegations that the site was helping to facilitate child sex trafficking. [Reuters]

* Per a report publish by Altman Weil, law firm merger and acquisition activity was way down in the third quarter of 2016. Last year at this time, the merger market was 40 percent more active. Why are so dormant? “[F]irms are waiting on the sidelines seeing if it will all work: 6,000-lawyer law firms and that type of thing.” [Big Law Business]

* “Congratulations to the ‘Nino’ Scalia Law School for memorializing, for celebrating this most remarkable judge and teacher.” Justices Kagan, Kennedy, Thomas, Breyer, Alito, and Sotomayor — attended the dedication for the school named after Scalia, while Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Ginsburg attended a dinner in his honor. [USA Today]

* “If students are graduating and they can’t pass the bar, that’s a big problem.” Law schools are coming around to the fact that it’s now a buyer’s market for students, and some will even allow 0Ls to “vet” their schools to evaluate the teaching methods being used. You can even check out professors’ résumés. [U.S. News & World Report]

* If you thought you were going to be making $180K after graduation, then you better lower your expectations by quite a bit. Be prepared to make less than $65K! The National Association for Law Placement has released its annual edition of the bi-modal salary distribution for recent law school graduates, and the wide chasm between peaks on the bell curve looks more unhealthy than ever. [Big Law Business]

* In the wake of the Democratic National Convention, everyone wants to know the names on Hillary Clinton’s Supreme Court shortlist. It might surprise you that insiders say President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, is at the top of Clinton’s list of eleven potential candidates. We’ll have more information on this later today. [The Hill]

* “What we’re seeing is a sort of shift around social norms. Kennedy is the best Geiger counter. He’s a very good instrument for measuring that.” SCOTUS seems to be cutting back on its defense of religious freedom in favor of supporting government regulators, and the high court’s swinger has led the way in the wake of Scalia’s passing. [USA Today]

* Federal prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DOJ are now investigating whether Mossack Fonseca, the infamous firm behind the Panama Papers, knowingly assisted its clients in laundering money and/or evading taxes. A firm spokesperson has denied all accusations of criminal wrongdoing. [Wall Street Journal]

* “You can sentence me to whatever you want, I guess. This sentence, I won’t outlive it.” Convicted murderer Drew Peterson was sentenced to an additional 40 years in prison in a murder-for-hire plot to kill prosecutor James Glasgow. In 2047, Peterson will be 93 years old, and he’ll be up for parole for the murder of his third wife. [Chicago Tribune]

* The Supreme Court is behind some of the epic lines voters have experienced during the primaries. [The Nation]

* Did Justice Kennedy just reveal himself to be hostile to the contraception mandate accommodation in today’s oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell? [Slate]

* Senator Pat Toomey may be caving on the Merrick Garland front — the Pennsylvania Republican has agreed to take a meeting with the judge. [Politico]

* This is the actual problem with the most recent interpretation of Superman. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* Making the connection between reproductive freedom and LGBTQ rights. [Huffington Post]

* Opining on the ultimate fate of Edward Snowden. [Law and More]

* Charting the spread of marijuana legalization. [Pacific Standard Magazine]

* Polsinelli has gutted Novak Druce by hiring away 44 lawyers from the firm in a mass lateral move, including two of its name partners. The suffering IP boutique will shutter its doors and wind down its legal practice for good. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* A source says that Judge Jane Kelly of the Eighth Circuit is being vetted as a potential nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. The Iowa judge could make Senate Republicans squirm since she was confirmed unanimously just three years ago. [New York Times]

* “You’re making a commitment that has very little room for escape.” Kirkland & Ellis increased its notice period to 120 days, and partners are wondering whether other firms will follow suit and make it even harder for them to leave. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

* SCOTUS watchers say the justices appeared “deeply divided” during oral arguments in the Whole Woman’s Health case, but some think Justice Kennedy may decide to punt it — perhaps giving time for Justice Scalia’s replacement to be confirmed. [USA Today]

* Attention sports fans: The NFL’s Hail Mary appeal of the Deflategate case will be heard by a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit today. At an estimated $20 million total, the legal bill on this action could be one for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Louisiana is a state with notoriously harsh punishments for marijuana-related crimes, but it may be considering legalizing weed for recreational use. Dealing drugs seems like it’d be a quick and easy way for the state to get out of its $850M debt. [Daily Beast]

* It looks like SCOTUSblog’s Tom Goldstein was onto something, because Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is reportedly being vetted to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. The D.D.C. judge once clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer, and may wind up working alongside him on the high court as an associate justice (which could be a first). [National Law Journal]

* Justice Scalia’s death quickly affected some SCOTUS litigants: Dow Chemical settled an antitrust class-action suit for $835M because “[g]rowing political uncertainties … and increased likelihood for unfavorable outcomes for business involved in class-action suits have changed Dow’s risk assessment of the situation.” [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* Abortion returns to the SCOTUS this week, and litigants are wondering which version of Justice Kennedy they’ll receive when a decision is made. If Gonzales v. Carhart Kennedy makes an appearance, states across the South in the Fifth Circuit could kiss abortion goodbye. Here’s hoping for Planned Parenthood v. Casey Kennedy. [MSNBC]

* Student activists from Harvard Law and Brandeis University protested an awards ceremony where Dean Martha Minow was honored for “making a lasting contribution to racial, ethnic or religious relations.” The protestors felt the award’s timing was ironic considering the ongoing racial divisiveness at the law school. [Harvard Crimson]

* Career alternatives for disbarred attorneys who “knowingly misappropriated client funds”: chief compliance officer of one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization? Ritu Singh is lucky compliance is so hot right now, because accusations of past financial crimes apparently aren’t dealbreakers in terms of hiring. [New York Post]