Employment Statistics

* “It’s Washington’s bloodsport. It’s like the gladiator going into the arena and the public watching.” Senator Jeff Sessions has been preparing for his confirmation hearing for U.S. attorney general since December, and he expects to be grilled on the same allegations of racism that precluded him from landing a federal judgeship in 1986. Something tells us that he won’t have a similar problem this time around. [CNN]

* “We are very pleased to announce that after extensive discussions with our regulators, we will be starting classes as scheduled.” Charlotte School of Law will be reopening for the spring semester (albeit one day later than previously scheduled), but at this point in time, there’s no word on whether students will be able to procure federal loans to finance the costs of attendance. How are these students supposed to pay? [Charlotte Observer]

* According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector had a great month in December, adding 2,000 jobs and outpacing national figures for the month. All in all, the legal industry is up by 4,100 jobs since the start of 2016, but this is a far cry from where the numbers used to be prior to the recession. By that logic, the legal industry still down by 52,000 jobs since its high in 2007. [Am Law Daily]

* On January 19, the justices of the Supreme Court will discuss whether they will take up the case to legalize polygamy being brought by the reality TV “Sister Wives” family. If they decide to grant certiorari, it will be the first time in more than 100 years that an issue of this kind will be reviewed by the high court. Just imagine the special episodes and the ratings extravaganza that could result from oral arguments. [FOX News]

* IMDb.com doesn’t care if celebrities don’t want their true ages revealed online, so in the name of the First Amendment, the site is refusing to comply with a new California law that would require the removal of their age information upon demand. Instead of passing age discrimination laws, California has “chosen instead to chill free speech and to undermine access to factual information of public interest.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Not only has the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Rhonda Crawford, the former law clerk who was fired from her position and later indicted after she allegedly impersonated a judge while running unopposed for an elected position as a judge, can’t take office if she wins the election, but the court has also suspended her from practicing law until further notice. A date for her trial has not yet been set. [Associated Press]

* Some law schools are still falling short when it comes to being truthful about their graduates’ employment outcomes. During a recent audit of of 10 randomly selected law schools’ jobs data, half of them missed compliance benchmarks for documentation that was supposed to be kept on file. On the bright side, none of the errors seemed to be instances of “gross misreporting” or “attempts to manipulate.” [Inside Higher Ed]

* “Will Brad Smith feel he can get a fair shake in front of the Washington Supreme Court? If the answer is no, then did he create the situation is a fair question.” Not only have Microsoft’s co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen contributed to political action committees to oust Washington Supreme Court Justice Charles Wiggins, but the company’s chief legal officer has joined in the fun now, too. [Big Law Business]

* Bill Cosby’s lawyers are trying to prevent jurors from hearing incriminating deposition testimony the comedian gave in 2005 in a civil suit related to sexual assault allegations made by Andrea Constand. They claim that a former prosecutor promised never to bring their client to trial over those allegations: “This was a sitting district attorney saying, ‘I’m not going to prosecute your client, ever.'” Do you think they’ll be successful? [Reuters]

* “We feel betrayed in a lot of ways, because we were promised. We were promised that the school would be open, we were promised we would have a place to learn, and that was all yanked away from us.” Indiana Tech Law School students are speaking out in the wake of their dreams being crushed by the school’s sudden closure, and they are not happy about it — especially those of them with outstanding education loans. [WFYI]

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

* NBC News was aware of Donald Trump’s “grab ’em by the p*ssy” remarks days before they were made public, but the network’s lawyers took so long to review the footage for fear of being sued by the presidential candidate that it was scooped on the story by another publication. The lewd footage was allowed to languish for nearly a week. [Washington Post]

* Thanks to Donald Trump’s latest scandal, the Republican National Committee has “an army of lawyers” exploring whether it would be possible to replace the party’s presidential candidate with another nominee. What have they found? His cooperation would be necessary, and “[t]he fact remains that [Trump] can only be replaced if he quits or dies. And he’s declared … he’s not planning on doing either.” [POLITICO]

* As our readers know well, the vast majority of New York’s top law firms have raised first-year associate salaries to $180,000 from $160,000, but those new salaries will surely cut into the law firms’ profits. How will they be able to make up for it? “Part of what makes this easier for law firms to absorb is that billable rates go up every year, and maybe this year they go up a little bit more than usual.” [Crain’s New York Business]

* According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector added about 400 jobs in September, with the biggest job gains coming in the form of management consulting, which seems fitting given the depressed demand for legal services right now. In case you were wondering, the legal profession would need to add around 55,000 jobs to return to pre-recession levels of employment. [Am Law Daily]

* “His behavior was disturbing enough to warrant action….” A former Montana Law student was permanently barred from campus late last week after he returned to the school and allegedly disrupted a professor’s class, prompting the dean to send out a warning email to the student body. A police officer was stationed outside the professor’s classroom thereafter. We may have more on this story later today. [Missoulian]

* Kenneth Thompson, Brooklyn District Attorney, RIP. [New York Law Journal]

* If you’ve been too busy billing, this is the roster of salary movement news from yesterday: Fried Frank, Jenner & Block, Covington, Boies Schiller, Mayer Brown, DLA Piper, and Goodwin Procter. If you’re ever worried that you’ve missed any of our coverage om pay raises, you can check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect all of these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law]

* Quit worrying, law students: Per the managing partner of litigation powerhouse Keker & Van Nest, the firm’s billing rates won’t be “dramatically changed” after its adoption of the $180K Cravath salary scale, and it won’t be harder to get a job there because the raises “[won’t] have any influence” on the firm’s hiring plan. [Big Law Business]

* Shook Hardy & Bacon is the latest Biglaw firm to welcome a woman to the highest managing role it has to offer. Madeline McDonough, a 26-year veteran of the firm, will join the small — but growing — clan of female lawyers who serve as the managing partners or chairs of some of the nation’s largest law firms. Congrats! [WSJ Law Blog]

* Andrew Schmuhl, the lawyer accused of slitting the throat of a law firm managing partner, was convicted on all of the charges he faced in the attack. This likely does not bode well for his wife, attorney Alecia Schmuhl, who will stand trial this fall and who is said to have been the mastermind behind the brutal assault. [Washington Post]

* For the first time ever, the ABA is conducting random audits of law school employment statistics from the class of 2015. Ten schools have been randomly selected for audits, along with 382 randomly selected students from 156 schools. Which schools do you hope are audited? We’re sure we could name a few. ::coughInfiLawcough:: [ABA Journal]

* Because he’d like to stop “freeriding on the services of Bryan Cave,” Stephen DiCarmine, Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former executive director, told a judge that he’d like to dump Austin Campriello as his lawyer and represent himself in the retrial of his criminal case. DiCarmine, a current textile design student, was warned that this likely wasn’t a very wise choice on his part. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Kaye Scholer’s managing partner “wouldn’t comment on any speculation or rumor,” but word on the street is that his firm and Arnold & Porter may potentially be discussing a possible merger. Information related to this merger is really just a game of Biglaw telephone at this point. Let us know if you have any credible details. [Big Law Business]

* This seems like the plotline of a reality TV series: A trial date has been set for one of the three Trump University lawsuits, and if all goes according to plan for likely Republican nominee Donald Trump, it looks like we may have a president-elect taking the witness stand to testify about allegations related to fraud before his inauguration. [CBS News]

* Just in time for law school commencement ceremonies, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has some depressing news about employment statistics. In April, the legal services sector lost 1,500 jobs. Thus far, the only month in 2016 when jobs were added in the legal services sector was March. Well… this really isn’t very encouraging. [Am Law Daily]

* “It’s been one step forward, two steps back since [2009].” The job market for law school grads is still challenging, but due to the fact that class sizes are smaller now, job prospects may seem a bit brighter for some. Are things really looking up? This John Marshall Law grad — with a job! — thinks things are going to be fine. [Chicago Tribune]

* At long last, the ABA has released the final version of its employment statistics for the law school class of 2015. Ten months after graduation, 59.2 percent of the class was employed in long-term, full-time jobs where bar passage was required, but there’s been a sharp decline in the number of those jobs since 2014. We’ll have more on this later. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called probate: Earlier this week, Judge Kevin Eide appointed Bremer Trust National Association as the special administrator of music icon Prince’s estate. Prince is said to have died without a will, but all of his presumptive heirs agreed to the appointment. [Big Law Business]

* “[I]n all 50 states, gay couples are allowed to adopt kids, as it should be.” Since Mississippi failed to timely appeal a ruling striking down its ban on same-sex adoption as unconstitutional, same-sex adoption is now permitted across America. Let’s celebrate all of the children who will soon be welcomed into good, loving homes. [BuzzFeed News]

* Australian law firm Slater & Gordon, the biggest firm Down Under and the world’s first law firm to be publicly traded, narrowly avoided going under after a $700 million loss thanks to a deal with its bankers. Beware, stock market bidders, because the firm still remains a “high-risk investment” due to its “uncertainty.” [Sydney Morning Herald]

* The University of Tulsa John Rogers Hall College of Law is deciding whether or not it should change its name to remove a founder who had ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Law school administrators have already recommended that Rogers’s name be removed, and after some discussion, trustees will vote on the proposal later today. [Associated Press]

* According to a statement released by the RIAA, hundreds of musicians and songwriters — like Katy Perry, for example — have called on Congress to reform the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Safe-harbor clauses are absolutely killing the artists’ bottom line, and something must be done. [THR, ESQ. / Hollywood Reporter]

* “[M]any law firms have had breaches, which they’ve kept quiet.” Following the news that Cravath and Weil Gotshal had been victims of data breaches, Edelson, a plaintiff’s side firm, announced it would be filing class-action suits against 15 major Biglaw firms with cybersecurity problems. We can’t wait to find out which ones will be on the receiving end of these complaints. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Being the world’s first publicly traded law firm has turned out to be quite the debacle for Slater & Gordon. First, the Australian firm announced market losses of about $740 million, citing “underperformance in U.K. operations,” and now its general counsel has decided to throw in the towel after only two months on the job. Ouch. [Am Law Daily]

* “I have lost my faith in the potential for the Law School or its curriculum to put out people who care deeply about things.” Members of Harassment/Assault Law-School Team, a student group that advocates for sexual assault victims, aren’t impressed with Harvard Law’s inaction on educating students about sexual assault. [Harvard Crimson]

* How can we guarantee educators are being honest about graduates’ job prospects? Based on the results of the Corinthian Colleges fiasco and the Alaburda v. TJSL trial, it seems like “[s]trict disclosure rules for all schools would be better than lawsuits and government aid as a way to ensure educator honesty.” [DealBook / New York Times]