D.C. Circuit

* The D.C. Circuit awarded more than $501M in damages to the family of Otto Warmbier, the student who tortured so badly in North Korea that he was left deaf, blind, unable to speak, and died shortly after he returned home. [New York Times]

* Trump’s DOJ has filed many emergency SCOTUS requests to bypass lower courts, but here are the ones to watch: the asylum ban, the DACA wind-down, the transgender military ban, the citizenship census, and kids’ climate change. [PBS NewsHour]

* Ex-district judge and U.S. AG Michael Mukasey says Bill Barr is “probably the best-qualified nominee for U.S. attorney general since Robert Jackson in 1940.” Mukasey has also linked “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” to Islamic terrorism. [Wall Street Journal]

* Not even a weird video in character as Frank Underwood can help him now: Kevin Spacey has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor and is scheduled to be arraigned on a felony charge of indecent assault and battery. [Boston Globe]

* In case you missed it,after declaring war against the lack of diversity in the arbitration world, rapper Jay-Z managed to get the American Arbitration Association to commit to expanding its roster of black arbitrators. [Hollywood Reporter]

* Eighty-three judicial ethics complaints against Brett Kavanaugh have been tossed out by the Judicial Council of the Tenth Circuit due to an “intervening event”: his SCOTUS confirmation. The Council, set up to fail by Chief Justice John Roberts, “[l]ack[s] statutory authority to do anything more.” [National Law Journal]

* The Senate passed the First Step Act in an 87 to 12 bipartisan vote, and now the sweeping criminal justice reform legislation will move on to the House for approval before being sent to the White House. This is a major victory. Thanks for the assist on this, Jared Kushner! [Washington Post]

* The tax man commeth, but not for Donald Trump. Judge Karen Henderson of the D.C. Circuit has denied a Freedom of Information Act request for the President’s IRS tax records, citing the agency’s confidentiality protections for all citizens. [CNN]

* Cross-border mergers are on the rise, and one firm has been responsible for the vast majority of them. In 2018 alone, with about 9,000 lawyers and counting, Dentons has completed more global mergers than all other U.S. firms. [American Lawyer]

* Brooklyn Law will have a new dean come July 1. Michael Cahill, who’s been serving as co-dean of Rutgers Law, will return to the place where he spent 13 years as a professor, associate dean, and vice dean. Congrats! [New York Law Journal]

* People and things in the legal profession dominated Google’s most searched for queries over the course of 2018, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford’s SJC testimony, Aaron Schlossberg, and taking some top spots. [ABA Journal]

* Insiders say that President Donald Trump is expected to turn over his written responses to special counsel Robert Mueller’s questions about Russia’s interference with the 2016 election as soon as sometime this week. Ooooh boy, this should be fun. [Reuters]

* According to retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, the world’s culture is “becoming vulgar,” and it’s up to the United States to “show a culture, a discourse, a civil dialogue that’s enviable and admirable.” Yeah… good luck with that. [Washington Times]

* White House regulatory czar Neomi Rao has been nominated to fill Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s seat on the D.C. Circuit. In case you somehow missed it, Rao had a hand in the renaning of George Mason Law to ASS Law. Congrats! [National Law Journal]

* Remember Joel Sanders, the ex-CFO of Dewey & LeBoeuf? He says his “dire financial circumstances” prevent him from paying a $1M fine, but the Manhattan DA says he’s trying to commit “a fraud on [the] court.” [New York Law Journal]

* It’s not just Berkeley Law that’s trying to erase its association with a racist namesake. It’s just now being reported that Mercer Law School quietly removed segregationist and Southern Manifesto signatory Walter F. George’s name this summer. [13WMAZ]

* Stephen Scharf, film finance pioneer and co-chair of the Entertainment, Sports & Media Practice at O’Melveny & Myers, lost his battle with cancer. RIP. [THR, Esq.]

Ed. note: In honor of Columbus Day (and Canadian Thanksgiving), Above the Law will be on a reduced publication schedule. We’ll be back in full force tomorrow.

* In case you somehow missed it, Brett Kavanaugh, who is “totally brilliant” per President Trump, was confirmed to the Supreme Court in one of the closest votes in American history (50 to 48). He was sworn in shortly thereafter by Chief Justice John Roberts and the recently retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. [New York Times]

* It’s certainly worth mentioning that Chief Justice Roberts received judicial misconduct complaints from the D.C. Circuit about Kavanaugh’s hearing testimony, but he decided to not to do anything about them. Now, people are accusing Roberts of being involved in some sort of a Kavanuagh cover-up. [Washington Post]

* As Kavanaugh mentioned during his confirmation hearing, he’ll be the first Supreme Court justice to have four women law clerks. Counting his clerks, women will make up a majority of the Supreme Court’s clerks for the first time in history. Nice work, Justice Brett. At least he’s good for something. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [National Law Journal]

* “The women are against her.” How did Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg become the feminist pop culture icon that we know and love today when she was almost bypassed for her SCOTUS nomination because women didn’t trust her? [New Yorker]

* We’ve got a situation! Jersey Shore cast member Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino will be heading to federal prison for eight months on tax evasion charges. Expect his co-stars to starting referring to him as “The Incarceration.” [Courthouse News]

* The Senate Judiciary Committee has hired an outside counsel who’s an expert in sex crimes prosecution to question Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. She’ll be doing the bidding of Republican senators, while Democratic senators will do their own questioning. [CNN]

* That same SJC will vote on Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS nomination the very next day, less than 24 hours after Dr. Ford’s testimony concerning allegations that the judge sexually assaulted her. Everyone must be looking forward to the show hearing even more now. [POLITICO]

* But if Kavanaugh’s nomination somehow gets Borked or withdrawn on or before Friday, you better believe that he could face disciplinary action when he returns to his seat on the D.C. Circuit. A complaint has already been filed, but most are “dismissed fairly promptly.” Let’s see what happens. [Big Law Business]

* Should he stay or should he go now? Sources say Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein has no plans to quit and President Donald Trump’s advisers say he’d be willing to keep the DOJ’s second in command on the job. “The president is genuinely conflicted,” but no one knows if his urge to say “You’re Fired!” will be too great. [Wall Street Journal]

* Say hello to the China 45, a ranking of Chinese law firms with the highest gross revenue, revenue per lawyer, and profits per equity partner for the prior calendar year. When it comes to the firms with the biggest financial footprints, only one “American” Biglaw shop made the cut. Take a wild guess on which one it was. [American Lawyer]

* Remember when President Trump attacked the federal judiciary, and Neil Gorsuch, then a Supreme Court nominee, called those statements “disheartening” and “demoralizing”? Gorsuch’s comments reportedly pissed off the president so much that his SCOTUS nomination was almost rescinded. [Washington Post]

* After passing the GOP’s sweeping tax overhaul by a margin of 227-203 yesterday afternoon, the House will need to vote again this morning because several provisions in the bill — including its name — violate the Senate’s Byrd Rule requirements. [TIME]

* Under would-be SCOTUS Justice Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s leadership, the D.C. Circuit will now live-stream audio of any oral argument upon request. Send your requests by email to liveaudiorequest@cadc.uscourts.gov. [Washington Post]

* See ya, Sedgwick! Up to 15 partners and up to 65 lawyers and staff members from the failed firm will be headed to Clyde & Co, boosting the British firm’s U.S. partnership by one-third. [American Lawyer; Big Law Business]

* What are the 20 cheapest law schools in the U.S. News Top 100? If you want to do your future finances a favor, you may have to go South. [Law.com]

* Recently confirmed Judge Timothy J. Kelly (D.D.C.) has refused to block Mick Mulvaney from serving as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, denying a request from would-be director Leandra English’s for a temporary restraining order. Donuts for everyone! [CNN]

* The Senate has confirmed Greg Katsas, one of President Trump’s former legal advisers, to the D.C. Circuit. The Thomas law clerk will replace Judge Janice Rogers Brown on one of the nation’s most influential courts. [ABC News]

* AT&T has responded to the Justice Department’s lawsuit over its planned merger with Time Warner, and things just got ugly. AT&T claims that the government has no antitrust argument because it’s not buying a competitor. [Washington Post]

* For the second time this year, the Supreme Court has suspended the wrong attorney. This time around, the Supreme Court bar accidentally suspended a former Supreme Court employee. Oopsie! [Associated Press]

* With the goal of having women make up at least 50 percent of the leadership roles on its litigation teams, JPMorgan is trying to make a major statement with its latest initiative for women in the legal profession. [American Lawyer]

* “I don’t give a f–k, I will burn the place to the ground….” Ross Cellino and Stephen Barnes of Cellino & Barnes continue to have a very friendly relationship as the firm is dissolved. [New York Daily News]

* According to Justice Gorsuch, you don’t need to “suppress[] disagreement” to be civil. Disagreeable, eh? Maybe this is why there seems to be such animosity between him and Justice Kagan. [Associated Press]

* President Trump has reportedly promised to pay $430,000 to “defray the costs of legal fees for his associates, including former and current White House aides.” Meanwhile, some of his former associates have lawyers’ bills from the Russia probe that are higher than that. [Axios]

* President Trump has apparently been interviewing candidates (i.e., Biglaw attorneys with close connections to Rudy Giuliani and Marc Kasowitz) for key U.S. attorney positions, which is outside the norm for most presidents. Despite the gravity of the situation, Senator Lindsay Graham had a clever quip about the situation: “It’s kind of an extension of ‘The Apprentice,’ I guess.” The ratings on this will be YUGE. [CNN]

* “She can leave the country or she cannot get her abortion, those are her options?” Over the objections of the D.D.C. judge who ruled that the government must allow an undocumented 17-year-old seeking an abortion to get one, thanks to the D.C. Circuit, she needs to find a sponsor and further delay the procedure. [New York Times]

* Ex-Kaye Scholer partner Evan Greebel is on trial for conspiracy, and he’s desperately trying to distance himself from his former client, Martin Shkreli. He claims this was a big misunderstanding, and that he was victimized by Shkreli. [Big Law Business]

* Harvard Law School is conducting a mental health survey. But will the respondents answer with candor? [Law and More]

* Transitions are hard, if not almost impossible to pull off. David Boies is eager to help his firm outlive him. [Big Law Business]

* Friday Fun Fact: Donald Trump’s campaign is spending $1 of every $10 donated on legal fees. [CNN]

* Highlights on a legal ethics course taught through collaborative learning. [Just Resolutions]

* That time Cy Vance took a donation right before a letting someone slide without charges. No, not that time. Or that time. This is a new time. [CBS News]

* Boalt law student defends the clone troopers for executing all the Jedi. Still no one able to defend George Lucas for making the prequels. [Legal Geeks]

* Congrats to Fix the Court for getting some transparency by securing an audio stream of this morning’s D.C. Circuit argument. [Fix the Court]

* After the spectacular failure that was the “skinny repeal” bill, President Trump has called for the filibuster to be abolished to prevent Senate Republicans from “look[ing] like fools.” Sorry, but a bipartisan majority has already opposed eliminating the filibuster for legislation, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has no desire to do away with it. [CBS News]

* “If we are not careful, when we wake up from the Trump presidency, our justice system may be broken beyond recognition.” Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general who refused to enforce President Trump’s travel ban, wrote an excellent op-ed piece for the newspaper of record on the need to protect the Justice Department — and the rule of law — from Trump. [New York Times]

* A preemptive congratulations? Word on the street is that Deputy White House counsel Gregory Katsas is currently leading the pack when it comes to consideration for the vacancy on the D.C. Circuit. As mentioned previously here at Above the Law by my colleague David Lat, “If Greg Katsas wants it, then he’ll probably get it” — and right about now, it seems like Greg Katsas wants it. [NPR]

* White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci’s expletive-laced public meltdown has people wondering what he was really like when he went to Harvard Law. Aside from the “leaked tapes” from Professor Laurence Tribe’s constitutional law class, we bet you didn’t know that Scaramucci once fouled President Obama on a basketball court before he graduated. [Law.com]

* “Drain the swamp. Drain the sewer that is the DOJ. MAGA.” Jury deliberation begins today in Martin Shkreli’s fraud trial. Will the disgraced pharma bro be sent to jail for his alleged crimes, or will he be set free into the wilds of Manhattan to relish in his own douchebaggery? We suppose we’ll soon find out. Best of luck to Mr. Shkreli, as he may need it. [DealBook / New York Times]

* “[W]e will see what happens, time will tell, time will tell.” President Trump has reiterated how “very disappointed” he is that Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, but hasn’t publicly stated in so many words that he wants to fire the AG. For what it’s worth, it didn’t take very long for time to tell what happened with James Comey, Marc Kasowitz, and Sean Spicer. [CNN]

* Which in-house officials make the most money? Big Law Business took a look at the summary compensation tables from the 500 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue to figure out the answer. Take a look at the list of the 30 highest earners, gasp at their eye-popping compensation, and then wonder why you haven’t decided to move in-house yet. [Big Law Business]

* A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit struck down Washington, D.C., regulations which required that residents prove they had a “good reason to fear injury” in order to obtain a concealed-carry permit for firearms, ruling that the carrying of firearms was a “core” Second Amendment right. The District may seek an en banc review of the decision. [BuzzFeed]

* “There is not a law firm function that happens without alcohol” Do law firms enable alcoholism? In a word, yes — and the fact that we still have to ask ourselves this when one-third of attorneys have admitted that they drink too much and even more have admitted that they have a serious drinking problem is simply appalling. [Am Law Daily]

* The bar exam is now well underway, and those whose fates are now in the hands of the bar examiners have taken to Twitter to unleash their anxieties via humorous tweets. Here are 10 of the best bar exam-related tweets from before the test began. The tweets from Day 1 are a little more… aggressive. [Law.com]