Citi

* To those of you who celebrate it, Happy Easter! Welcome the holiday by voting in the ABA Journal’s fifth annual “Peeps in Law” contest. [ABA Journal] * If law firm brackets aren’t your thing, check out Professor Kyle Graham’s brackets for (1) law school classes and (2) law blogs. I’m thankful for ATL’s #1 seed but terrified by who we’re up against (because they’ve ripped me a new one before). [noncuratlex] * Sorry, Judge Steiner, you wuz robbed; you should have been our Judge of the Day. It’s tough to top “allegations of a sexual quid pro quo with a female lawyer and the eye-opening confiscation of carpet from [chambers] for forensic analysis.” [OC Weekly] William Shatner * “William Shatner’s Seductive Powers Don’t Create a Fiduciary Duty.” Robyn Hagan Cain explains why. [U.S. Second Circuit / FindLaw] * Citi settles securities cases for $730 million. Matt Levine is not impressed. [Dealbreaker] * And Ted Frank is incensed by Bernstein Litowitz’s nine-figure fee request. [Point of Law] * If you’re already depressed by public ignorance about the Supreme Court, don’t look at the responses to question 9 of this opinion poll. [Penn Schoen Berland] * Steven Harper — author of a new (and very good) book about the legal profession, The Lawyer Bubble (affiliate link) — offers thoughts on the billable hour in the wake of the DLA Piper overbilling allegations. [New York Times]

What prompted the question on our part? Here's the evidence....

Not too shabbily. But problems could arise in 2013....

A new client advisory from Citi Private Bank and Hildebrandt Consulting contains predictions and advice for large law firms.

A former Howrey partner alleges fraud by a major bank.

Which major law firm might follow in the footsteps of Dewey and LeBoeuf? Let's discuss....

What does the rest of this year look like for large law firms? Not great, it seems.

* Good news, everyone! According to Citi’s Managing Partner Confidence Index survey, firm leaders are feeling pessimistic about their business due to an overall lack of confidence in the economy. [Am Law Daily]

* Per the Ninth Circuit, an Idaho statute that essentially criminalizes medication-induced abortions imposes an undue burden on a woman’s ability to terminate her pregnancy. Really? You don’t say. [Bloomberg]

* Kiwi Camara’s circuitous route to SCOTUS: thanks to the Eighth Circuit, Jammie Thomas-Rasset started and ended her journey with $222K damages for copyright infringement. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]

* “Fashion law is a real career choice,” says Gibson Dunn partner Lois Herzeca. This niche practice area is one of the hottest new trends in the wonderful world of fashion, and it’s not likely to go out of style any time in the remote future. [Reuters]

* Your clawback suit is a wonderland? John Mayer was named as a defendant in a suit filed by trustees seeking to recover money paid out by Ponzi schemer Darren Berg. [Bankruptcy Beat / Wall Street Journal]

A former Dewey partner alleges that the firm and Citibank worked together to improve the firm's cash position at the expense of individual partners.

Most major law firms didn't pay spring bonuses this year -- and maybe that was a good thing, given the warning signs ahead for Biglaw.

Was the offering memo for Dewey & LeBoeuf's 2010 private placement materially misleading? And what does the document reveal about the firm's finances?

LeBoeuf is not yet done. What's the good news cooking over at Dewey & LeBoeuf?

When are Dewey's debts due? And can the firm figure out a rescue plan before that date?

Is it true that FedEx is banned at Dewey? Which D&L partners might be heading for the door next? And what's all this talk about bankruptcy protection?

Dewey might be closing some of its foreign offices. Which overseas outposts are on the chopping block? And which rival firms might pick up the pieces?

* Building bridges instead of burning them: a new Republican strategy that just might work. Thanks to this Senate deal, 14 federal judicial nominees will get confirmation votes before summer. [Legal Times]

* According to this survey, Biglaw firm leaders are wearing rose-colored glasses when it comes to the economy and current business conditions. That said, where are the spring bonuses? [Am Law Daily]

* A jury found Virginia Tech negligent in its handling of the school’s 2007 massacre. The administration will probably appeal, but it’d be nicer if they just appeased the victims’ families. [Wall Street Journal]

* Want a tenure-track teaching position? Just sue. Nicholas Spaeth’s age discrimination suit against Georgetown Law will proceed, much to the school’s chagrin. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]

* Kim Kardashian + boobs + lawsuit = water cooler fodder for lawyers. [New York Post]

The first bit of bonus news has leaked out of Biglaw. We're not talking about spring bonuses, and we're not talking about random mid-year bonuses. We're talking about regular, end-of-the-year, take-it-to-the-champagne-room bonuses. And sure, the early news is bad, but that's to be expected. This first report is just what Biglaw wants you to hear. But if the past year in bonus news proves anything, it's that Cravath sets the bonus market, even when they do it late....

* I know we’re a little tight for money, but we should find some money in the budget to make sure faded American stars are bailed out of the housing crisis, just like the banks were. [Monsters & Critics] * Illinois’s redrawn legislative districts draw legal fire. I have an idea: let’s use Illinois as […]

Although it officially passed away back in March, when its partners voted for dissolution, the law firm of Howrey LLP continues to twitch in its grave — or maybe even step out of its grave and walk around a bit, like a zombie from a horror flick. Howrey continues to have a presence on Twitter, […]

In a couple of years, we might look back on today as the first point where the giant, unsustainable bubble that is the student loan market began to burst. Check out this press release: The Student Loan Corporation (NYSE:STU – News), a subsidiary of Citibank, N.A., and a leading originator and servicer of student loans, […]