Cravath

* Biglaw’s about to get hit hard by an economic downturn. [Law.com]

* Looks like Ralph Baxter is announcing a run for congress this afternoon. [Am Law Daily]

* Dewey think a 4 year sentence sounds fair? [Law360]

* Judge calls fee request “attempted bank robbery.” This is why you never request fees while wearing a rubber Nixon mask and carrying a shotgun. [Law.com]

* Fascinating overview of the complex fight over Cravath’s efforts to block victims from getting previously produced discovery materials. [Litigation Daily]

* An interview with Ben Brafman, including a delightful explanation of why he has the hardest job in the world. [Coverage Opinions]

* California moving to limit access of federal immigration officials to those in the state court system. [The Recorder]

* What schools do the best job of placing AGs, SGs, United States Attorneys, and federal judges? The answer will absolutely not shock you at all. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* The Ninth Circuit, President Donald Trump’s judicial archnemesis, affirms Judge Derrick Watson’s (modified) preliminary injunction against the “grandma ban.” [How Appealing]

* Donald Trump Jr. opens up to the Senate Judiciary Committee about that infamous June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer. [New York Times]

* Consolidation continues in the legal-services world: Counsel On Call acquires e-discovery company DSicovery LLC (DSi). [ABA Journal]

* The Trump administration sides with the anti-gay-marriage baker in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case that will be decided this coming Term by SCOTUS. [How Appealing]

* ICYMI: Deborah Farone — Cravath’s chief marketing director for the past 14 years, and the “gold standard” in legal marketing — is leaving Cravath to start her own consulting firm and to write a book on law firm marketing (to be published next year by the Practising Law Institute). [Law.com]

* Cooley raids Wilson Sonsini for talent for the second time in three months, this time hiring emerging growth specialists Jon Avina, Calise Cheng, and Rachel Proffitt. [Big Law Business]

* Legal research startup Casetext — led by CEO Jake Heller, COO Laura Safdie, and VP Pablo Arredondo — continues on its upward trajectory. [ABA Journal]

* Can the president be indicted? You betcha! “It is proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties. In this country, no one, even [the president], is above the law.” [New York Times]

* According to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the most notorious grandma of them all, the Trump administration was a little heavy-handed when it came to the travel ban from majority-Muslim countries, and its definition of close family was simply “too restrictive” for the high court to abide by — which is why the “grandma ban” no longer exists. [Associated Press]

* Why did Ty Cobb decide to join President Trump’s legal team for the Russian election collusion investigation? Here’s what he said, in his own words: “If the president asks you, you don’t say no. I have rocks in my head and steel balls.” Well, that certainly explains it! [National Law Journal]

* As the Supreme Court’s junior justice, Neil Gorsuch has the unenviable task of serving on the cafeteria committee. It’s a “truly disheartening assignment,” especially since the vast majority of the people who are forced to eat there thanks to a lack of other options have described the food as poor, at best. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]

* A Cravath associate once said that Anthony Scaramucci, the Harvard Law grad who now serves as President Trump’s new communications director, isn’t one to “humble brag.” But that won’t stop him from helping the president with a few second-hand humble brags. During the press conference where he introduced himself to the world, he said Trump could “throw a dead spiral through a tire,” “hit[] foul shots and swish[] them,” and “sink[] 30-foot putts.” This is all totally believable(?). [Law.com]

* Leary Davis, founding dean of Elon Law and Campbell Law, RIP. [Roanoke Times]

* Johnson & Johnson pushing back against the baby powder cancer verdicts. I thought J&J was the one that wasn’t supposed to cause tears. [Law.com]

* Nine percent tuition hike in store for this law school. [Inforum]

* While the Comey story has sucked up a lot of attention, civil libertarians are watching West Virginia, where a reporter was arrested for asking a question of the Trump administration. [US News & World Report]

* What was Putin wearing when he gave his thoughts on Comey’s firing? (A) A bear costume; (B) A Russian Air Force Uniform; (C) MAGA Hat; (D) Hockey Gear; (E) Shirtless. [Huffington Post]

* German authorities laugh off Jones Day complaints. [Am Law Daily]

* Fewer meetings makes for a better team. This… apparently isn’t obvious to people yet. [Corporate Counsel]

* Chinese hackers have to pay up for breaches at Cravath and Weil Gotshal. [Big Law Business]

* Judge Kaplan was attacked by a pit bull, but he’s all right now. [Law360]

* According to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Judge Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed to the Supreme Court at about 11:30 a.m. on the first day of the Senate’s nuclear winter. Now that we’re in the nuclear age, when it’s time for the next SCOTUS nominee’s confirmation hearings, Senator Orrin Hatch “expect[s] Armageddon.” [CNN]

* It’s been about a month since Preet Bharara was ousted from his position as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and he isn’t mincing his words when it comes to his firing, calling it “a direct example of the kind of uncertain helter-skelter incompetence” people associate with the Trump administration. [New York Times]

* Speaking of the Trump administration’s “helter-skelter incompetence,” Twitter has filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security in an attempt to block an agency summons to reveal the identity of @ALT_uscis, an anonymous user who has used the social media platform to criticize the president’s immigration policies. [Reuters]

* According to the latest data from Bloomberg, Cleary Gottlieb handled the largest volume of M&A deals in 2017’s first quarter, with the firm involved in 22 deals worth more than $98 billion. Skadden Arps, Cravath, Kirkland & Ellis, and Slaughter and May fell in line behind Cleary, each surpassing $54 billion in deal volume. [Big Law Business]

* Welcome back, John White! Now that Mary Jo White has departed from her position at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is back at Debevoise & Plimpton, her husband — who was the firm’s lone nonequity partner for four years — will return to the firm’s equity partnership, where he can enjoy all of the rain he makes. [Am Law Daily]

* So, is the Ninth Circuit really the court that gets most frequently overturned by the Supreme Court? [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Buckle in marijuana enthusiasts, it’s going to be a long four years. [Huffington Post]

* Is there ideological discrimination in law school hiring? A debate. [TaxProf Blog]

* Death penalty sentences are down. Does the Dallas District Attorney want to change that? [Slate]

* You can stop talking like a lawyer. [Law and More]

* RIP to partner Andrew Thompson. [Cravath]

* “Absent a showing that the requested enforcement action could not shake loose a few more emails, the case is not moot.” Because 2016 isn’t over yet and we love kicking horses thought to be dead, the D.C. Circuit has revived a legal challenge regarding Hillary Clinton’s private email server that was once considered to be moot. [Reuters]

* The Supreme Court may be taking a turn to the conservative side come 2017, but not immediately. It’s expected that shortly after his inauguration, President Trump will announce his nominee in either late January or early February, with confirmation hearings held in March, and a vote sometime in April. By the time a new justice is sworn in, there will be just a few days left of oral arguments for the current Term. [NPR]

* “This case of cyber meets securities fraud should serve as a wake-up call for law firms around the world.” Three Chinese hackers have been charged with breaking into the servers of several Biglaw firms — firms like Cravath and Weil Gotshal — to illegally trade on stolen information. They made more than $4 million, but only one of them has been arrested thus far and is awaiting extradition to the United States. [Bloomberg]

* “Providing a profit motive to make arrests gives officers an incentive to make improper arrests.” In counties across the country, those who are arrested must pay “booking fees,” regardless of whether or not they are found guilty of their crimes. Two cases regarding these fees will soon be heard by the Supreme Court in early 2017, and one county was so brazen that it didn’t even bother to submit a brief in opposition. [New York Times]

* If you’re applying to law school, you may be wondering how you can make the strongest argument for your acceptance in your application. Focus on your essays and make sure that you provide compelling examples of the type of person you are and your career goals. If you can sway just one person on the admissions committee to give you a chance, then you might soon find an acceptance letter with your name on it. [U.S. News]

* Brad Pitt filed a motion to seal the details of his custody arrangement with Angelia Jolie to protect his children’s privacy, but a judge has rejected the actor’s request. A lawyer for Jolie had this to say: “His … request is a thinly veiled attempt to shield himself, rather than the minor children, from public view.” Ouch. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* CHECK YOU EMAILS OFTEN, PARTNERS! Several Biglaw firms — including Cravath and Weil Gotshal — were hit by data breaches over the course of last year, and it’s now been confirmed that those data breaches were carried out by Chinese operatives who were successful in stealing about seven gigabytes of data by hacking their way into partners’ email accounts. [Fortune]

* Each December, Jeffrey Toobin creates a “semi-accurate, semi-serious” list of his predictions for the top legal stories for the coming year. Perhaps most notably, Toobin predicts President Donald Trump will appoint Judge Diane Sykes of the Seventh Circuit to the Supreme Court as the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement. [New Yorker]

* Which is more prestigious, a judicial clerkship or a first-of-its-kind Capitol Hill clerkship? Earlier this week, four senators introduced a bill to create a dozen yearlong Congressional clerkships for recent law school graduates. The bill would allow law school graduates to “spend a formative year in the legislative branch.” [National Law Journal]

* Per the most recent Corporate Equity Index survey released by the Human Rights Campaign, more Biglaw firms are doing well when it comes to protecting their lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees. One hundred and twelve firms earned perfect scores for their inclusive policies in the survey, up from 95 last year. [Am Law Daily]