Constitutional Law

* “The chief justice, in particular, doesn’t like the court to be a disruptive force,” but that might change this spring as the Supreme Court considers reversing at least three of its longstanding precedents. Trashing precedents could potentially become much easier now that Justice Gorsuch is here. [USA Today]

* Berwin Leighton Paisner and Bryan Cave partners are voting on their proposed transatlantic merger, and the results are expected by the end of the month. If the tie-up is approved, BCLP — the combined firm’s new name — will be a billion-dollar firm with 1,500 lawyers and 32 offices in 12 countries. [Law.com]

* Charles Harder, the lawyer who brought down Gawker and now represents Donald Trump and members of his family, is experiencing some growing pains at his firm thanks to his presidential representation. Name partner Douglas Mirell just quit because of his “pledge to protect the First Amendment.” [The Recorder]

* New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed a civil rights suit against the Weinstein Company and its founders, alleging that they “repeatedly and persistently treated female employees less well than male-employees through gender-based hostile workplace harassment, quid pro quo harassment, and discrimination.” [Variety]

* In an effort to increase diversity, LSAC will be awarding a total of $1.5 million to five law schools so they can hold Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars programs on their campuses. Akron, Alabama, Duke, Houston, and St. John’s will each receive these grants to convince college students to enroll. [Black Enterprise]

* Congratulations to Charleston Law’s National Tax Moot Court team, which just clinched its seventh championship title in a row. It’s nice to know that students were able to rise above the school’s designation as one of the “least selective law schools in the country” to create a tax law dynasty. [Post and Courier]

* Remember the former Ulta employee who accused the beauty retailer of reselling used products as new? Now a concerned customer has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit over the store’s “widespread and surreptitious practice” of allegedly repackaging and selling returned products. [Chicago Tribune]

* “I’d like to see in the Constitution a statement that men and women are people of equal citizenship stature. I’d like to see an equal rights amendment in our Constitution.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is all in favor of amending the Constitution to benefit women. Are you? [Washington Post]

* Kashyap Patel, the “primary author” of the House Intelligence Committee’s secret memo, is no stranger to controversy. You may remember when he dropped out of this bachelor auction due to an issue with his license to practice or from this “Order on Ineptitude” after he was berated by a federal judge. [New York Times]

* Duke Law has a brand new dean, and she’ll be starting her job come July 1. Congratulations to Kerry Abrams — “one of the brightest stars in legal education” — on becoming one of the handful of women to lead one of America’s top law schools. [Duke Today]

* The DOJ wants former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s suit against special counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein to be tossed, arguing that its only purpose is to “interfere with [his] ongoing criminal prosecution.” Yep, that was the whole point. [CNN]

* Ouch! One Am Law 100 Firm is experiencing that awkward moment when management decides to completely scrub the name of the firm’s major merger partner from all of its branding, just one year after the combination was consummated. [American Lawyer]

* Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has apparently “lost his mind,” and now he’s found himself on the receiving end of a cease-and-desist letter from President Trump’s lawyers, with claims that he’d not only violated his employment agreement with the Trump Organization, but that he’d likely defamed Trump. [Washington Post]

* According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York will be filing suit against the government over the new tax plan, contending that its limitation on SALT deductions constitutes unconstitutional “double taxation.” Will other states with high local taxes get on board? [Big Law Business]

* In an effort to beat a deadline, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is using his executive authority to appoint almost 20 interim U.S. attorneys. The jurisdictions where these appointments were made include districts in California, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, the Virgin Islands, and Washington. [NBC News]

* There were 102 law firm mergers in 2017, topping a record that was previously set in 2015. Now, just a few days into 2018, law firm mergers are still going strong and show no sign of stopping, and it may be because younger managing partners have replaced their baby boomer predecessors. [American Lawyer]

* Earlier this week, Judge Adrienne Nelson was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court by Governor Kate Brown. Nelson is the first African-American to ever serve on the state’s high court. Congratulations on making history, Your Honor! [Oregonian]

* Yet another DOJ veteran is leaving for greener pastures in academia. This time, it’s Doug Letter, director of the Civil Division appellate staff, who will bring 40 years of government service experience to Georgetown Law, where he’ll join the school’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. [National Law Journal]

* Salary hikes (in London). [Legal Cheek]

* Travel bans and compelling interests. [Dorf on Law]

* Speaking of SCOTUS, Adam Feldman reads the oral-argument tea leaves from the first week of the new Term. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* And devotees of Justice Antonin Scalia might want to check out Scalia Speaks (affiliate link), a collection of the late jurist’s speeches edited by son Christopher Scalia and former law clerk Ed Whelan. [Bloomberg BNA]

* Did this court just gut her whole job description? [New York Law Journal]

* It can be challenging for creators to protect their IP; could a small-claims court for copyright be the answer? [Copyright Alliance]

* Interested in volunteering at a DACA renewal clinic? You can do it even if you’re not an immigration lawyer. Sign up here to get training and match with a site in need of your assistance. [Lawyers for Good Government]

* Adding healthy habits to your already packed schedule can seem like an impossible task, but you really can do it. [Corporette]

* Sad but true (and not at all surprising): Americans don’t know squat about the Constitution. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

* Judge Jed Rakoff issues an important opinion outlining the contours of “fair use.” [Copyright Alliance]

* Biglaw behemoth Dentons has created a network to connect PR professionals. That’s an interesting move for a firm that already counts more than 7,000 lawyers under its umbrella. [Law and More]

* David Lat chats with employment lawyer Matt Steinberg about how transparency is transforming the employer/employee relationship. [Akerman]