Blank Rome

* Jay-Z pointed out that it’s nearly impossible to find a diverse arbitrator and Blank Rome says the claim that white arbitrators may be biased against minorities, “dubious, indeed offensive” and “contravenes every published authority on the matter.” Every published authority? Bold. [American Lawyer]

* Law professor notes that legal technology is going to kill off junior lawyers, which is something I’ve been saying for years now. [Legal Cheek]

* Big 4’s coming yo! (Hong Kong edition) [International]

* The EPA is basically an empty shell these days. [Courthouse News Service]

* The government shutdown raises hacking risks… which doesn’t sound encouraging. [Law360]

* Supreme Court poised to make it easier to access booze. Kavanaugh’s appointment already paying dividends. [NY Times]

* Trump appoints more dicks to the courts. [American Lawyer]

* What rights do you have to strike on International Women’s Day? [NY Mag]

* Amazon drops its objections to the Echo warrant, meaning if you own an Echo (or any of its ilk), you now have a wiretap in your house. Congratulations. [Corporate Counsel]

* Blank Rome boosts profit 22 percent. Associates looking at their below market paychecks must feel super psyched about that. [Legal Intelligencer]

* Judge Posner is just comparing everything to cats now and that’s perfectly fine. [Law.com]

* Looks like the NCAA and power conferences are going to shell out millions in settlement cash to former athletes in financial aid collusion case, which they’ll make back several times over by the end of the month. [Courthouse News Service]

* Penn accepts big gift from Charles Koch to work on criminal justice research, presumably an extension of his support for indigent legal services, but we can’t rule out a plan to make convicts fight to the death for sport. [Law.com]

* Just your standard slave labor case in 2017. [Law360]

* Lynne Stewart has passed away at 77. [New York Times]

* In case you haven’t been keeping score like we have, these are the firms that recently raised salaries: Lowenstein Sandler and Venable (kind of). If you’re ever worried that you’ve missed any of our coverage on pay raises, you can check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law]

* “Imitation is NOT the most sincere form of flattery.” Not long after filing suit against Ivanka Trump on similar grounds, Aquazzura seeks to plant its dainty foot firmly up Steve Madden’s ass with a series of trade-dress infringement suits for what the Italian company alleges are knockoffs of some of its most popular shoe designs. [Observer]

* Will law school graduates be the next ones to have their student loans canceled? Thanks to the Department of Education’s proposal of an expanded debt forgiveness rule last week, law school graduates may be able to qualify for a “defense to repayment” provision — and escape their debt — if they can prove they were defrauded. [BuzzFeed]

* “I’m just not taking any chances with my legal profession. It’s very difficult to qualify as a solicitor and I’m not willing to just give it up because the U.K. decides to vote out the EU.” British attorneys specializing in antitrust law are registering as Irish solicitors for fear of losing their ability to practice EU law. Thanks, Brexit. [Big Law Business]

* Blank Rome is adding Stacy Phillips’s celebrity divorce boutique to its firm. Over the course of her career, Phillips has represented many “high-net-worth, high-end clients,” the likes of which include Britney Spears and Bobby Brown. With the addition of her small firm, Blank Rome’s family-law group will grow to 30 attorneys. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Democrats held a press conference demanding that Republicans do their job when it comes to filling Justice Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. My guess is a petition isn’t going to change anyone in the GOP’s mind on this one. [National Law Journal]

* District Judge John Gleeson is stepping down from his position next month. He’ll be returning to private practice at… Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. [Wall Street Journal]

* Virginia is considering legislation that would actually hid the names of all police officers. Less transparency for law enforcement? That is pretty much the exact opposite of what is needed. [Washington Post]

* You know how the NFL has been in the news a bunch for a variety of legal issues? The newly for-profit organization is releasing their tax filings, and their legal expenses are detailed. Ouch. [American Lawyer]

* Looks like attorneys formerly of Dickstein Shapiro are making themselves right at home at Blank Rome if their latest win for client Oshkosh Defense LLC is any indication. [Litigation Daily]

* Take a look at the details of the sexual assault lawsuit from the 90s against Donald Trump. [Law Newz]

* If there was ever a time to breach a contract, it would be now. A judge ruled that singer Kesha won’t be able to escape from a six-album deal with Sony, despite the fact that her producer, Dr. Luke, is alleged to have psychologically abused her for a decade and raped her when she was an 18-year-old virgin. #FreeKesha [New York Daily News]

* Justice Antonin Scalia’s funeral offered DCers the chance to take a break from political wrangling, if only momentarily, to mourn a legend of the Supreme Court. It was “very non-Washington,” and he “would have loved it.” [Washington Post]

* President Obama was spotted carrying a “thick binder filled with papers,” presumably briefing documents from his staff related to potential SCOTUS picks to replace the late Justice Scalia. You can likely expect an announcement in the next few weeks. [Reuters]

* Dickstein Shapiro’s ex-chairman is blaming the media for his firm’s demise, saying that since July, many of its partners’ departures were “programmed” and had little to do with its performance. Don’t stop believin’, James Kelly. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Judge Thomas Griesa plans to lift an injunction that was keeping Argentina from raising new capital. Holdouts on the country’s defaulted debt seem pissed about this decision, but it could eventually turn out well for them. [DealBook / New York Times]

* “There’s no unwritten law that says it can only be done in off years. That’s not in the constitutional text.” Angering armchair constitutional scholars, President Obama vowed to appoint someone to replace Justice Scalia following his death, despite the fact that it’s an election year. [New York Times]

* “My gut tells me there is something fishy going on in Texas.” The fact that Justice Scalia was found dead with a pillow over his head has made conspiracy theorists come out in droves. Some are “stunned” that an autopsy wasn’t performed on the late justice. [Daily Intelligencer / New York Magazine]

* Dickstein Shapiro partners were informed via letter that they’d face “the almost certain loss of all firm capital.” For some equity partners, that’s more than $1 million — and the letter wasn’t even signed “sincerely.” How rude! [National Law Journal via ABA Journal]

* Justice Scalia’s passing could have an impact on the anti-marijuana legalization suit filed by Nebraska and Oklahoma against Colorado. The Court was supposed to discuss it this week, but the justices may not want to overpack their bowls, so to speak. [Guardian]

* Troubled Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane will not be seeking reelection after her term expires in January 2017. With her license to practice law suspended and criminal charges pending, we’ll see if she’s even able to make it that far. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Vigilante justice on the internet swift: Despite Google listing the firm as “permanently closed” and its brutal one-star Yelp rating, “Making a Murderer” prosecutor Ken Kratz assured reporters his law firm was still open, contrary to appearances. [Post-Crescent]

* Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former U.N. Secretary General, RIP. [New York Times]

* Riding high after his victory in New Hampshire, Donald Trump settled his $500 million lawsuit against Univision for the network dropping his beauty pageants. Ay dios mio, this must be some sort of a YUGE GRANDE ploy to win the Hispanic vote. [USA Today]

* Dickstein Shapiro lawyers must be feeling pretty good about themselves right now. Their mass lateral move to Blank Rome isn’t a merger, it’s an “asset acquisition.” You see that? You’re all “assets”! Remember that next time a partner makes you cry. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* The ABA is considering toughening bar passage requirements for law school accreditation. Under the plan, schools would have to prove that 75 percent of graduates who took an exam within two years of graduation passed. Good luck! [ABA Journal]

* Uh-oh! Are partners at large law firms getting screwed? Biglaw firms are asking for bigger capital contributions (30-35 percent of earnings on average), and holding on to that money for longer periods of time when those partners leave. [Am Law Daily]

* Minnesota Law has been hit pretty hard by the law school crisis, with losses expected to hit $16.1 million by 2018. When the school’s soon-to-be ex-Dean first started in 2008, “everything was good,” but now, it’s a huge sh*tshow. [Twin Cities Pioneer Press]

* This sounds miserable: taking (and passing) the bar exam with an 8-week-old infant at home. [ABA for Law Students]

* Maybe a new lawyer will be able to stiff-arm the DA’s office on LeSean McCoy’s behalf. [Buffalo Rumblings]

* Dickstein Shapiro is “no longer engaged in the practice of law.” But don’t shed tears for the out-of-work attorneys just yet, the attorneys will move to Blank Rome in a wholesale lateral move. [National Law Journal]

* Remember this case as you scramble for a last minute Valentine’s Day gift: a Valentine’s Day gift — and the reaction to a terrible one — can lead to a lawsuit. [Coverage Opinions]

* Will the Bill Cosby case signal a change in the handling of sexual assault cases? [Huffington Post]

* This is how police work can contribute to reasonable doubt. [Katz Justice]

* Cheap furniture behemoth IKEA lost a trademark claim in Indonesia. Won’t somebody please think of the college students? [Jakarta Coconuts]

* Sure diversity initiative may take hard work and trust, but, you know, they’re still worth it. [Law and More]