Defamation

Melania wanted to cash in on being First Lady.

A film about a bloviator who supports authoritarianism, has no regard for the truth, and tries to stifle free speech.

* Free legal services if you get arrested for protesting at Trump’s inauguration. [TMZ]

* A look at the issues raised by the defamation suit against Trump. [Personal Injury Lawyer]

* The strength of New York’s civil rights laws. [Cityland]

* Governing via Twitter. [Slate]

* Here’s what you _must_ do as a solo, or SmallLaw, lawyer. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

* What’s it like as a lawyer at the Consumer Electronics Show? [Abacus Next]

* Why didn’t Betsy DeVos get prepared properly? [Law and More]

* The Supreme Court blocks the North Carolina special election until they decide whether they’ll hear the case. [Talking Points Memo]

* If Trump opens up libel laws, he could find himself in hot water. [Gizmodo]

* Paul Smith’s campaign against the gerrymander. [Slate]

* This is just glorious: former Senator Al D’Amato got kicked off of a JetBlue flight. [MarketWatch]

* At least Ivanka cares about ethics laws. [Fashionista]

* Charlotte School of Law will be open this semester. [ABA Journal]

* I’m sure this will be an even-tempered website, not at all prone to hyperbole and jumping to conclusions. [Business Insider]

* Fox News settles the sexual harassment claims against Bill O’Reilly. [New York Times]

* Biglaw’s wishful thinking. [Law and More]

* Merchants take their desire to pass on credit card costs to consumers to the Supreme Court. [Big Law Business]

* The the fraud claims against Arizona Summit Law School by former student Paula Lorona was dismissed. Judge Neil Wake found the plaintiff failed to prove the school materially misrepresented the qualifications of students admitted through the school’s alternative admissions procedure. Lorona’s claims of retaliatory discharge, ADA and gender discrimination remain. [National Law Journal]

* An amicus brief filed with Supreme Court Wednesday uses a variety of historically significant mug shots to make its point about the importance of the media’s access to these booking pictures. [Law.com]

* A look at Melania Trump’s defamation case and the real implications for freedom of the press. [CNN]

* An interview with Loving director Mike Nichols in which he discusses the his responsibility in telling the story behind this important Supreme Court case. [LA Times]

* In America your personal information is for sale. What privacy rules might be put in place to stem the flow of data? [ABA Journal]

* A fun new hobby for legal and political junkies to enjoy together: A Trump litigation watch list. [CNN]

* Let’s hear it for regulations! An EU law mandating that large trucks have an advanced emergency braking system is believed to have saved additional lives in the Berlin Christmas market attack that killed 12. [Washington Post]

* Burke Ramsey, JonBenet’s brother, is suing CBS — as well as experts and consultants — for defamation over a TV special that advanced the theory he killed his sister. [Entertainment Weekly]

* There might actually be some good news on the horizon for public defender offices that have seen their budgets slashed. [ABA Journal]

* A now-defunct medical laboratory is challenging the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to regulate online security. [National Law Journal]

Wendi Adelson's lawyer is considering legal action against those who malign his client online.

Is this even defamation?

This is the law firm of Donald Trump's dreams!

* From prosecutor to prisoner: former Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane gets sentenced to 10 to 23 months. [CNN] * Oh, the irony: the ABA won’t publish a report calling Donald Trump a “libel bully” because of “the risk of the ABA being sued by Mr. Trump.” [New York Times] * How the AT&T/Time Warner […]

* Keys to success: remove your ego from the battle. [Katz Justice] * Yeah, this answer was pretty perfect. [Slate] * Russia is full on trolling the United States over election 2016. [Salon] * "Trains racing at unsafe speeds with volatile, difficult-to-contain oil is incredibly dangerous." Indeed. [Occupy.com] * Update from the Rolling Stone defamation trial over the magazine's now-retracted story about sexual assault at University of Virginia. [Jezebel] * What will Jones Day (the Trump campaign's lawyers) do after the election? [Law and More] * Tips for writing the all important chronology of events. [Law Prose]

* A useful new resource for journalists, media lawyers, and anyone else interested in libel law -- from Charles Glasser, another lawyer who successfully called Donald Trump's bluff (as the New York Times just did). [LexisNexis] * Relatedly, Marc Randazza discusses the phenomenon of the libel-proof plaintiff. [Popehat] * The Florida Supreme Court just declared the death penalty unconstitutional. So that's a thing. [NPR] * The duty to warn in the Marvel Universe -- does Luke Cage need to tell his attackers that they're about to break their hands punching him? [The Legal Geeks] * Interesting... law schools have really cut back on the AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference. Almost 60 fewer schools in attendance. [PrawfsBlawg] * Using algorithms for sentencing? Just in case you wanted to introduce flash crashes to criminal justice. [Medium] * Meticulous deep dive into the Apple v. Samsung oral argument. If Samsung paid this much attention to detail they probably may not have exploding phones. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Mike Papantonio's got a new show coming to RT next month: America's Lawyer. [RT]

Truth, remember, is an absolute defense.

Trump may be opening up a bottomless can of legal worms.

* From a SCOTUS mention to what seems like a final exam hypo: Kim Kardashian filed a defamation suit against celeb gossip site Media Takeout for reporting she’d faked her robbery and filed a fraudulent insurance claim. In her complaint, she alleges that the site victimized her again by “referring to her as a liar and thief.” [Reuters]

* A legal recruiter claims that she received a series of death threats after she made political donations to Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president. Because she “fear[ed] for her life and safety,” the disturbing calls were reported to the police, and the matter is still under investigation. We may have more on this later. [Big Law Business]

* “It seems to me that the design is applied to the exterior case of the phone. [T]here shouldn’t be profits awarded based on the entire price of the phone.” Thanks to SCOTUS, will Samsung get another bite at the apple when it comes to not giving up all of its profits as damages in its design patent dispute with Apple? [DealBook / New York Times]

* The results of the July 2016 administration of the bar exam are out, and with a 91.96 percent pass rate for first-time takers, Duquesne Law boasted the second-best passage rate for first-timers out of all 10 Pennsylvania-area law schools, with only Penn Law coming out ahead. But which school did the worst? [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]

* “Katie is the woman in the middle doing everything. It’s all because of Katie, man.” Katherine Magbanua, the woman who is alleged to have facilitated the successful murder-for-hire plot against Florida State law professor Dan Markel, has been denied bond. She will remain in prison behind bars until her trial. [Tallahassee Democrat]

* Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended. [Slate]

* A look at Alexander Hamilton, the lawyer. [Law360]

* The cases that are shaping the upcoming Supreme Court Term. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Donald Trump’s history of pleading the Fifth. [Huffington Post]

* Review of the latest episode of jury consultant extraordinaire, Dr. Bull. [DOAR]

* Are Trump’s late-night tweets defamatory? [LawNewz]

* The Hulk Hogan decision has made A.J. Daulerio consider some crazy options. [Law and More]

* Kim Kardashian wants to go to law school. Maybe she should worry about a Bachelor's degree first. [Daily Caller] * The U.S. is falling behind the international standard for court transparency. [Fix the Court] * The struggles facing midwestern law schools. [Cleve Scene] * Unsurprisingly, Charles Harder -- Hulk Hogan's attorney in the Gawker case -- takes a stand against the standard in current defamation law. [Law and More] * A look forward at the upcoming Supreme Court Term. [Empirical SCOTUS]

Donald Trump has been out front with his open hostility towards a free press, but I'm not entirely sure Hillary Clinton is significantly better in this regard.

* Dentons asks its European partners to kick in more money. Is this no big deal or something they should be verein worried about? (Ugh.) [Legal Week]

* Melania Trump is suing the Daily Mail over escort stories. [Law360]

* Judge Rakoff sides with Beyoncé in “Lemonade” suit. He stated the result and added that “a memorandum explaining the reasons for this ruling will issue in due course, at which time final judgment will be entered.” All the greats build hype before their next opinion drops. [Hollywood Reporter]

* After Brock Turner, California passed a new rape law… and it could backfire badly. [Rolling Stone]

* USC linebacker accused of raping a woman twice and sending pictures of it to her ex. [Deadspin]

* “So you want to sue your firm.” [Law.com]

* For your long weekend, here’s a deep dive into the tale of the pair of lawyers who lost a massive civil suit over framing a PTA rival. [LA Times]

* Suicide bombing kills 12 at Pakistani courthouse. [BBC]

What are Melania Trump's legal claims?