Antitrust

This is (potentially) awful.

* Neil Gorsuch has already changed the Supreme Court for forever. [Rewire]

* Which attorneys/firms racked up the most SCOTUS wins in 2016? [Empirical SCOTUS]

* One small step back for Trump’s EPA, one giant step forward for breathing. [Ars Technica]

* Yes, it is a message to Donald Trump. No, he won’t listen. [Huffington Post]

* If only we had a system of laws that would prevent a company from buying their largest competitor and thereby decreasing competition in the market. [NPR]

* Scandals might change the media landscape. [Law and More]

* In every good lawyer there’s a little bit of Wonder Woman. [TaxProf Blog]

* Antitrust laws are going strong... in the EU. [Huffington Post] * And antitrust might just be getting a little boost right here at home. [The Hill] * Trolling journos is a great way to kill democracy. [Forward] * Confused by the travel ban ruling? You're not alone. [Slate] * Marilyn Mosby is under attack. [The Root] * Trump could be hurting the perception of the American legal system. [Law and More] * Liz Warren is out in front on health care. [Salon]

* Martin Shkreli’s attorney is frantically trying to undo the damage his client caused on social media. Shkreli is looking to get his bail reduced because of financial hardship… and offering big rewards on social media. For his part, attorney Benjamin Brafman is arguing that the judge just shouldn’t believe Shkreli’s social media claims. I guess this is the “seriously not literally” thing we’ve heard so much about. [Law360]

* With the addition of yet another attorney, this time Elizabeth Prelogar — a former Miss Idaho actually — Robert Mueller’s investigation of Donald Trump is now officially a Biglaw firm. [National Law Journal]

* Are firms giving clients a good deal… or just a better deal than the inflated prices they advertise? [Corporate Counsel]

* More professors join the gender discrimination suit against Denver Law School. [Law.com]

* Norton Rose Fulbright tries to get its mind of the troubled Chadbourne merger… by executing another merger. [Legal Week]

* On that note, should Biglaw generally step back and question the wisdom of mergers? [Am Law Daily]

* What are you willing to wager that the FTC blocks the daily fantasy sports merger? [Litigation Daily]

What can an employer (legally) do to avoid employees leaving in droves for greener pastures?

* 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]

The country's most famous practicing lawyer tells the tale of how he left Cravath to launch his own firm.

* Was your firm disabled by a cyberattack? Probably not if you’re still reading this. [Am Law Daily]

* All these “classified intelligence” headlines miss the point. It’s not like Trump told them the nuclear codes or anything — he warned them about a possible terror plot. The problem is that haphazard handling of secrets could mess up future intelligence gathering and put sources at risk. And, of course, that Trump’s going to address a burgeoning national security scandal on Twitter. [Courthouse News Service]

* If you think movie theaters are a racket, well, the Department of Justice thinks that’s worth looking into. [Law.com]

* Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why firing James Comey didn’t spark a constitutional crisis — but that’s about the only good thing he has to say about the administration. [Newsweek]

* German law enforcement’s search of local Jones Day offices was legal. VW plans to turbocharge an appeal. [Reuters]

* This may come as a shock, but Arizona Summit Law School isn’t doing well. [Arizona Central]

* Conan has to go to trial on joke theft allegations. [New York Times]

* What to know about the Supreme Court’s latest arbitration decision. Besides “y’all are screwed,” of course. [Law360]

Does using non-compete agreements to restrict the supply of viable employees violate the Sherman Act?

* Can you hear me now? Modern marvels of technology like cellphones and other electronic devices are barred from the Supreme Court during oral arguments, but yesterday, justice was interrupted by the ringing of… a Justice’s cellphone. Who was the culprit? The offending phone belonged to Justice Stephen Breyer. Oopsie! [AP]

* After a week charged with sexual harassment allegations and the ouster of Bill O’Reilly, just when Fox News thought its troubles were over, a group of current and former employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the network alleging “abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination.” The plaintiffs’ lawyers got in this zinger of a statement: “When it comes to racial discrimination, 21st Century Fox has been operating as if it should be called 18th Century Fox.” [DealBook / New York Times]

* Ever since it dumped Eversheds, Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner has been out on the prowl for another merger partner, and it looks like the firm has finally found its ideal mate in New York boutique Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman. The whole thing seems to be a bit “incestuous” if you ask us. We’ll have more on this later today. [Am Law Daily]

* Ahead of his confirmation hearing todays, Makan Delrahim, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the antitrust division of the Department of Justice who’s been called a “centrist nominee,” has pledged to recuse himself from all matters involving his prior work as a lobbyist, including the merger between Anthem and Cigna. [Big Law Business]

* At some firms, like Ballard Spahr, senior partners must “transition[] their practices” by age 60, but at other firms, like Cozen O’Connor, age is nothing but a number. “We have so many lawyers who are extremely productive and terrific lawyers and if they want to work well into their 70s, God bless ’em,” says CEO Michael Heller. [Philly Inquirer]

Google may be poking the antitrust bear.

There is an answer to why flying is the worst: the lawyers.

Is this a win for mainstream Republicans?

* The ABA has placed Arizona Summit Law School on probation for its poor bar exam passage rates and questionable admissions practices. How will this affect the school’s affiliation with Bethune-Cookman University? Will the Department of Education strip the law school of access to the federal student loan program like what happened with Charlotte School of Law? We’ll have more on this later today. [Arizona Republic]

* More Democratic senators have announced their opposition to the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch of the Tenth Circuit, but the White House is calling for a “fair, up-or-down vote.” Hmm, when the previous administration called for a hearing followed by a “fair, up-or-down vote” for Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit, the request went completely ignored. [Reuters]

* The Eastern District of Texas is home to more than 40 percent of all patent lawsuits, but the Supreme Court may decide to send patent trolls packing to other jurisdictions when it hands down its ruling in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods. This case may not only resolve a Federal Circuit decision that’s at odds with SCOTUS precedent, but it may bring forum shopping in patent cases to an end. [DealBook / New York Times]

* As we mentioned previously, it was rumored that President Donald Trump would be nominating White House deputy counsel Makan Delrahim to lead the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. It looks like Trump finally decided to pull the trigger to elevate Delrahim to the position. He’ll need to be confirmed by the Senate, which should be a relative breeze for him compared to other Trump nominees. [Law 360 (sub. req.)]

* Eric Conn, a Social Security disability lawyer known as “Mr. Social Security,” recently pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money and one count of payment of gratuities in the largest Social Security fraud scheme in recent memory, submitting false medical paperwork and fake claims to the Social Security Administration to the tune of $550M. He earned himself more than $5.7M in fees as part of the scam. [WSJ Law Blog]

There's a lot to like about antitrust practice, including the sheer diversity of this area.

* Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it… especially when it’s rumored that you were the inspiration for seminal 80s character Ferris Bueller and you’re now under consideration to be Preet Bharara’s replacement as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Edward McNally works for Kasowitz Benson now, but he’s reportedly a leading contender for the job. [Wall Street Journal]

* Preet Bharara, on the other hand, is now considering taking up teaching at a prestigious law school — like Columbia, Harvard, or NYU — or going into private practice at a prestigious Biglaw firm — like Gibson Dunn or WilmerHale. Who knew being fired after refusing to resign could work out so well? [Wall Street Journal]

* Sources claim that President Trump will nominate Makan Delrahim to lead the Justice Department’s antitrust division. Currently employed as a deputy in the Office of White House Counsel, Delrahim previously served in the DOJ antitrust division from 2003 to 2005 as deputy assistant attorney general under President Bush. [Big Law Business]

* “The noise about lawyers is much more positive right now. Before, it was just negative noise.” Law schools may be thanking our president for something that’s being referred to as the “Trump bump.” Some speculate that applications will surge thanks to the legal profession’s prominence in the turbulent early days of his reign. [National Law Journal]

* “They say a woman’s place is in the house. I say it’s in the courthouse.” The lawyers at New York firm Meyer-Kessler & Shulevitz refer to themselves “double trouble,” claim they represent the “new feminism,” and they wear bright pink designer outfits every time they go to court. We may have more on this dynamic duo later. [New York Daily News]

The generic drug industry has come under fire the last couple of years because of staggering price increases.

* Are federal authorities investigating Fox News? [Law360]

* Has Trump made law school “cool again”? No. Law school was never cool. [Quartz]

* What do you know? Looks like some firms are finally waking up to the fact that they didn’t have good years and really couldn’t afford to jack up associate salaries. [ABA Journal]

* That said, Davis Polk just had its self-described “best year ever.” Did nobody tell these people Bowie died? [Am Law Daily]

* Judges say they understand technology, but contradictory rulings about discovery and “the cloud” may say otherwise. [Law.com]

* The litigation finance industry is leery of class actions. Should they be? [The Recorder]

* Then again, maybe it won’t matter because this Congress is trying to gut class actions by making it next to impossible to find lawyers willing to take on these cases. [Forbes]

* Hofstra Law is opening a clinic to serve immigrants dealing with deportation. [Newsday]

* Nobody actually likes the Rams or Chargers. That’s why Biglaw is in deep with a gaggle of antitrust suits brought by the people of Los Angeles over having to buy NFL Sunday Ticket. [Law.com]

* Authorities charge the Panama Papers lawyers with money laundering. On the other hand, the firm’s Twitter account denies any wrongdoing, and I think we all know Twitter never misleads anyone. [Am Law Daily]

* An intellectual property suit over Kim Kardashian and ugly sweaters and that’s the first time “intellectual” and “Kardashian” have made it into the same sentence. [Law360]

* Shady new strategy concocted to fast track foreclosures on the homes of unsuspecting seniors. Just in case you’d gotten the misperception that lawyers were good people. [Law.com]

* Kramer Levin renews its lease, but it’s cutting back about 50,000 square feet. [Wall Street Journal]

* Where does Judge Gorsuch stand on intellectual property matters? [National Law Journal]

* Puzder slapped with antitrust class action over alleged schemes to depress wages. Seems like the kind of guy who should be in charge of defending labor in America. [Courthouse News Service]

* Powerful essay from a Cornell Law professor on the need for empathy in the criminal justice system. [Verdict]

* It’s Apple v. Qualcomm, with $1 billion on the line. [Fortune]

* An inspiring story of a graduate of a lower-ranked law school who has found success. [Breaking into Biglaw]

* What’s the future of ethics? [Law and More]

* An analysis of the decisions of Trump’s shortlisters. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* On the legal consequences of the lack of supervision at work. [Guile is Good]

* The Chinese Business Lawyers Association is hosting a free CLE in New York tomorrow night at Fordham Law School. You can RSVP here. [CBLA Law]