Environment / Environmental Law

* Let’s get ready to rumble: the Trump administration seeks Supreme Court review — and rescue — of its travel ban. [New York Times]

* In other federal judicial news, the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, held that courts cannot routinely shackle defendants during proceedings; Judge Alex Kozinski wrote the majority opinion, and former Kozinski clerk Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote the dissent. [How Appealing]

* Judge Nicholas Garaufis (E.D.N.Y.) — who isn’t shy about telling lawyers how he really feels — has a new bee in his Article III bonnet: “I’m sick and tired of lawyers from white-shoe law firms marching into my courtroom and getting a deferred-prosecution agreement for their clients.” [ABA Journal]

* Why did President Donald Trump hire Marc Kasowitz to represent him in the Russia inquiry — and could DJT already be second-guessing that decision? [Weekly Standard]

* Speaking of the Russia probe, Robert Mueller is getting some high-powered help: outgoing Justice Department official Andrew Weissmann joins his former boss’s team. [Law360]

* Interesting new data from our friends at NALP: the $180K starting salary might not be as widespread as you think. [Law.com]

* President Trump plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate deal — but withdrawal can’t be finalized until near the end of his term because of the accord’s legal structure and language. [Washington Post]

There are ways you could disrupt the normal operations of Trump's golf empire, if you can muster some consistency and creativity.

* “The Department’s actions violate law and are contrary to basic principles of fairness and deeply damaging to the critical public service missions of these plaintiffs and the ABA.” The American Bar Association has filed suit against the Department of Education, alleging that some public interest lawyers had been indiscriminately dropped from the federal government’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. We may have more on this later. [ABA Journal]

* “The American Bar Association forces this young man to litigate all the way to the United States Supreme Court to prove that a blind person shouldn’t draw a picture.” After suing the ABA for discrimination for forcing him to take the LSAT — a test he can’t pass because he can’t draw the diagrams required for the logic games section — a blind Michigan man is hoping that SCOTUS will grant his petition. [Michigan Radio]

* In what’s being viewed as one of President Obama’s last hurrahs before leaving office, he used the Outer Continental Shelf Act to restrict new oil and gas drilling in federal waters in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The Trump administration will likely be forced to go to court to reverse the Obama administration’s pro-environment actions. [Reuters]

* “I am proud to have played a part in the substantial progress the firm has made toward gender equality.” After years of litigation, Mintz Levin settled a gender discrimination case filed by former associate Kamee Verdrager, who was allegedly demoted for taking disability leave when she developed pregnancy complications. [Am Law Daily]

* Baker McKenzie’s new chair has been with the firm for 30 years, and now that he’s in leadership, he’s sharing with the world why the firm decided to do away with the ampersand that once resided in the firm’s name. Apparently the ampersand’s untimely death was about “freshening up the brand” to appear “agile.” [Big Law Business]

* 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]

* The ABA is finally cracking down on law school accreditation… and ham-fistedly came down on the wrong school. [Big Law Business]

* The EU Playboy verdict could undermine the online press. [Engadget]

* Today, on the anniversary of the Attica uprising, prisoners across several states planned a mass work stoppage to protest systemic injustices. How does something like this come together? [Wired]

* Meanwhile, across the pond, the Supreme Court is selling off art made by prisoners for £30-£500 a pop. [Legal Cheek]

* We need more judges like this. [Katz Justice]

* A chat with activist Amanda Nguyen on the occasion of President Obama’s expected signing of the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights. [NPR]

* The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline is generating as much buzz as anything can over the cacophony of the election and football, but is there a legal case to be made for putting a stop to the project? [The Atlantic]

* Forget about the Prime Directive, why doesn’t Star Fleet have a duty to warn about some of the crazy stuff they run across? [The Legal Geeks]

* Speaking of Star Trek, the National Marine Fisheries Service just delisted nine humpback whale populations from the endangered species list. Thanks, Admiral Kirk! [Courthouse News Service]

* Did Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court commit judicial misconduct when he instructed probate judges that the state’s same-sex marriage ban was still in effect despite the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell? The state’s Court of the Judiciary has set a date for a trial-like proceeding on the ethics charges Moore faces for late September. [ABC News]

* If you want to go to law school and you’ve got your heart set on a particular institution, it may be in your best financial interests to apply early decision. A few law schools are now offering significant scholarship opportunities to early applicants — in some cases, full tuition scholarships are being handed out. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* “Even innocent clients may not benefit from the fraud of their attorney.” Chevron Corp. has prevailed in a long-running environmental law case set in an Ecuadorian rainforest. Lawyers for the oil and gas company convinced the Second Circuit that an $8.65 billion judgment was obtained through attorney Steven Donziger’s bribery and fraud. [Reuters]

* The family of slain Florida State law professor Dan Markel has accepted a $40,000 settlement from the Consolidated Dispatch Agency in connection with a wrongful death case. Due to an “error by dispatchers,” it took approximately 19 minutes for ambulances to arrive at Markel’s home as he lay dying after being shot. [Tallahassee Democrat]

* This is why indebted law students can’t have nice things: while the American Bar Association may have changed its tune when it comes to law students earning pay for credit-bearing externships, it will allow law schools to be the ultimate arbiters on whether academic credit will still be offered for these job placements. [Law.com]

* “Next thing I know he knocks me over backwards, puts the pillow over me and he cuts my throat and stabs me.” Law firm partner Leo Fisher testified yesterday in the trial against Andrew Schmuhl, the lawyer accused of abducting and maliciously wounding him. We’ll have more on this horrifying testimony later. [Washington Post]

* In a move that’s sure to attract attention (and ire) from the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Bayer has offered to buy Monsanto for $62 billion. This may be the largest all-cash takeover in history, so we wonder which law firms will have the pleasure of reaping all the rewards that come with so huge of a deal representation. [Reuters]

* “Can citizens sue the government over climate change?” Great legal minds are divided over the answer to this question. Constitutional law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky says yes, but international law savant Eric Posner says no. Whatever you think is the right answer, it’s time we get more aggressive on this issue. [Room for Debate / New York Times]

* With Ted Olson quarterbacking Tom Brady’s request for an en banc hearing of his four-game Deflategate suspension before the Second Circuit, perhaps this case has a fighting chance. Patriots fans should be praying, because an en banc hearing could result in their QB’s suspension being stayed for the start of the season. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Victims of the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood attack have filed suit against the clinic, claiming the shooting was both “predictable and preventable.” They say that given the past history of threats of violence against places where abortions are performed, patrons should’ve been alerted that they were at risk of injury or death. [Denver Post]

* “I find it highly amusing and somewhat heartening to know that Donald Trump is indirectly subsidizing the defense of undocumented immigrants.” Jones Day may be representing presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, but the firm is also fighting for the rights of more than 100,000 undocumented refugees, all of whom Trump would likely want to see deported if he were to be elected as president in November. [Yahoo!]

* Believe it or not, but Donald Trump’s political career in the Republican Party closely tracks that of a Biglaw legend of the bar. In 1940, Wendell Willkie of Willkie Farr & Gallagher fame was an outsider presidential candidate with absolutely no public service experience to his name — just like Trump. Willkie later went on to lose the election, and only time will tell if Trump will suffer a similar fate in Election 2016. [Big Law Business]

* Professors at George Mason University have demanded that the law school’s renaming to honor the late Antonin Scalia be delayed until school leaders answer their questions about the funding of scholarship monies being tied to the ongoing service of the current dean, but according to law school senior associate dean David Rehr, “[e]ven with this action, we are moving forward … and expect a favorable resolution.” [Washington Post]

* After receiving the largest gift in its history, Pace Law has been renamed in honor of an environmentalist, and will now be known as the Pace University Elisabeth Haub School of Law. The donors do not want the amount of their gift to be disclosed, but Pace says it’s comparable to the $30 million and $25 million gifts George Mason and Villanova respectively received for their recent name changes. Congratulations! [WSJ Law Blog]

* The trial between Sumner Redstone and Manuela Herzer over the media mogul’s mental competence is slated to begin today and will last for a week. With lurid allegations about the 92-year-old’s supposed sexual proclivities, his penchant for eating steak through a feeding tube, as well as his incontinence, this is sure to be an incredibly salacious matter that will play out in the public eye. [DealBook / New York Times]

Scalia is dead; is the environment saved?

Supreme Court blocks Obama's climate plan. Is this the first sign of a new, more aggressive role for the Supreme Court?

Obama's no Al Gore, but he's doing what he can.

* Cops arrest a stormtrooper in Massachusetts. See, J.J. Abrams! This is what happens when you have a black stormtrooper. [Lowering the Bar]

* Litigation finance crosses a new threshold: Gerchen Keller announces that it now has $1.4 billion in assets. [Am Law Daily]

* Understanding how humans cocoon makes you a better lawyer. But cocoons apparently can’t cure Wilford Brimley’s “dia-beet-us.” [Katz Justice]

* Deep look at Rob Billot whose career as a corporate lawyer took a wild turn when he decided to take on DuPont for the last 16 years. [New York Times Magazine]

* The law of using submarines to spy. That damn caterpillar drive again. [Lawfare]

* Are you going to San Diego ComicCon? Are you willing to cosplay to participate in a mock trial? These folks want to talk with you. [The Legal Geeks]

* Americans lost their minds — one way or the other — over President Obama’s tears yesterday, but they’re a well-established part of advocacy to be handled lightly. Or you could just bawl over everything and see if that works. [Law and More]

* Let’s check in at the AALS Conference. Yep, everything seems perfectly normal over there…

That’s the CALI.org booth if you’re visiting the show (photo grabbed off Twitter).

* If you haven’t been watching Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, then you’re missing Dean Strang’s turn on the catwalk. The compassionate defense attorney has turned into an “unlikely sex symbol.” Are you part of the #StrangGang? [The Guardian]

* Sometime later today, President Barack Obama will announce a sweeping package of executive actions related to gun restrictions. Stay tuned, grab your popcorn, and get ready for some hardcore constitutional litigation. [Washington Post]

* Happy New Year! We’re not even a full week into 2016, and the first Biglaw merger has already been announced. Lewis Roca Rothgerber has picked up Christie Parker & Hale, a 40-lawyer Southern California IP boutique. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Hipsters, thou shall be avenged sevenfold: The Justice Department has filed suit against Volkswagen in the wake of the automaker’s massive emissions scandal. The DOJ is seeking billions in damages over VW’s air-pollution violations. [New York Times]

* According to Ethan Couch’s lawyer, it may be weeks or months before the affluenza teen returns to the United States. A judge issued a temporary stay in his case after Couch argued that being deported from Mexico would somehow violate his civil rights. [CNN]

* Robert Wonsch, an Oklahoma process server, was arrested after allegedly coercing his female clients into performing sex acts in exchange for lowering his fees. He’s now facing several criminal counts. Good Lord, talk about ineffective service of process… [Reuters]

* Dale Bumpers, President Clinton’s impeachment defense lawyer, RIP. [New York Times]

Being a lawyer doesn't mean giving up your morals.

I bet Federalists are super excited about Obama's Clean Power Plan. Right?

Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are when you've got the law on your side.

The $53 billion dollar oil spill.

Obama could tell Shell to find oil in a seal with a spoon and it would be more practical.

Is it time to pursue global warming prevention in the courts?

* Lindsay Lohan is heading back to community service. This time someone decided the party girl should be helping out at a preschool. She’s apparently working down the block from me so I’ll keep my eyes out. [Jezebel]

* Exploring the labor issues involved in ESPN’s hasty and petty considered decision to fire Bill Simmons because he is willing to speak honestly about Roger Goodell. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Whoa. Vermont State Senator arrested late last week accused of raping three women. One of the alleged victims was a 15-year-old intern at the time. And then the court released the victims’ contact information in direct violation of a judge’s order. [VT Digger]

* Next time you’re in Yellowstone, be careful what you do with your photos: Wyoming just made it illegal to give them to a government agency lest they use the photos to figure out how badly Wyoming is poisoning the environment. Rationality! [Slate]

* Bernardo Roman III, who had earned more than a little ire for his representation of the Miccosukee Tribe has, apparently, gotten canned. [South Florida Lawyers]

* Meanwhile, Native Americans are both underrepresented and ignored in the profession. [The National Law Journal]

* Staci spoke with Nicole Abboud about Women in the Law. [The Gen Why Lawyer]

* Shearman partner Richard Hsu chats with Nathan Sawaya, the attorney who left it behind to become The Lego Brick Artist. [Hsu Untied]