Federal Courts

* The collapse of crypto is paying off for lawyers. [NY Times]

* Federal Circuit moves to dismiss Judge Pauline Newman’s lawsuit challenging the court deciding to kick her off panels arguing that no court can question their internal affairs. Sounds like the Federal Circuit is taking a lot of lessons from the Supreme Court. [Reuters]

* A primer for Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial. [Law360]

* All-white federal district courts still exist. Because people like this still exist. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Dechert facing sanctions over dragging out discovery. [American Lawyer]

* NY begins cracking down on Airbnb. [NY Daily News]

* Senator Ted Cruz has proposed a constitutional amendment that would set term limits for those in the Senate (two six-year terms) and House of Representatives (three two-year terms) because “[t]erm limits on members of Congress offer a solution to the brokenness we see in Washington, D.C.” [Business Insider]

* Speaking of terms, the grand jury’s 18-month term in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation was set to expire this past weekend, but Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the D.C. District Court extended it for up to six months since the jurors’ work is “in the public interest.” [CNN]

* The federal judiciary has enough money to stay afloat until January 11, and then, per a spokesman for the U.S. courts, “[i]t’s really a judge-by-judge, court-by-court determination” when the courts start operating under the Antideficiency Act “to support the exercise of Article III judicial power.” [Fortune]

* Hot on the heels of its decision that a ban on racist trademark registrations violated the First Amendment, the Supreme Court will decide whether a similar ban on “scandalous” marks is unconstitutional as well. [Law360]

* Do we need a Rooney Rule for federal law clerks? According to Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California, it might be the solution to increasing the amount of diversity — of people of color and of law school representation — in the clerks’ candidate pool. We’ll have more on this later today. [National Law Journal]

* Out of the mouths of babes federal judges: “Those conclusions – that the president’s statements on national security are not always to be taken literally or to be trusted – are legal victories for his Justice Department….” Did you think you’d ever see a something like this written about the U.S. president? That’s our Trump! [USA Today]

* A good New Year’s resolution for the federal judiciary? Chief Justice John Roberts says that while progress has been made when it comes to protecting law clerks from sexual harassment, “[t]he job is not finished until we have done all that we can to ensure that all of our employees are treated with fairness, dignity, and respect.” [Washington Post]

* The American Federation of Government Employees, a labor union for federal employees, has filed suit against the government, claiming that requiring essential employees to work without pay during the shutdown — an “inhumane” practice for people who don’t know when their next paycheck is coming — violates the Fair Labor Standards Act. [CNN]

* Barbara Underwood really made a name for herself during her short tenure as New York’s first female attorney general. After she was thrust into the role, she quickly began her assault against President Donald Trump, eventually taking down his charitable foundation after alleging that he was using it as a front for his his private businesses and political campaign. [NBC News]

* Yet again, it’s time for women in Biglaw to celebrate fractional achievements for gender equality. According the Diversity and Flexibility Alliance, 39 percent of new partners named at Am Law firms were women, which was a “slight uptick,” but “the numbers really haven’t changed that much in the last five years.” Hooray. [Big Law Business]

* It’s a new year, so you know there are going to be a bunch of interesting new laws. Here are just a few: In California, domestic-violence convicts can lose their gun rights for life; in Hawaii, physician-assisted suicide is now legal; in Virginia, legislators and their staff members must undergo mandatory sexual-harassment training; and in New York City, non-binary people can now list their gender as “X” on birth certificates. [Wall Street Journal]

* How awesome is Ruth Bader Ginsburg? The Supreme Court justice had two cancerous growths removed from her left lung on Friday and voted from her hospital bed to reject Trump’s asylum ban. Nothing can keep her down. [NBC News]

* Acting AG Matt Whitaker is getting to know the President in the same way his predecessor did. Word on the street is that Trump was royally pissed that Whitaker allowed federal prosecutors to make him look bad in Michael Cohen’s criminal case. [CNN]

* Just because the government’s shut down doesn’t mean your federal cases will be put on hold. Federal courts have funding to get through three more weeks, and “the Southern District of New York will NOT shut down.” [New York Law Journal]

* As a result of the government shutdown, the Violence Against Women Act was allowed to expire, which means that programs to assist victims of sexual assault, domestic abuse, and stalking will be left without funding. Ugggggh. [Roll Call]

* A former employee at UT Law was recently indicted on charges of theft, money laundering, and abuse of official capacity. He’s been accused of taking $300K or more from the law school and faces up to 99 years in prison. [Austin American-Statesman]

* A White House spokeswoman claims that Judge Brett Kavanaugh “had never heard any allegations of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment” made against Judge Alex Kozinski prior to last year when everyone else found out, and an extern who worked in Kozinski’s chambers while Kavanaugh clerked is backing him up. [Washington Times]

* The art of the deal don’t: United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May says that President Trump told her she should sue the European Union instead of negotiating when it comes to Brexit options. There’s no real cause of action, so she says that won’t be happening — not like that’s something that has ever stopped Trump before. [Vox]

* President Trump leaned heavily on Biglaw partners for his latest nominations to the federal judicary. Perkins Coie, K&L Gates, and Barnes & Thornburg could soon see representation on the Ninth Circuit, the Western District of Washington, the Western District of Pennsylvania, and the Northern District of Indiana. [The Recorder]

* After months of debate, a panel has finally recommended that Florida State rename the law school building via legislative action. It currently recognizes former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice B.K. Roberts., a ” staunch segregationist” who once tried to deny a black student’s admission to U. Florida’s law school. [Tallahassee Democrat]

* “For better or worse, I have become an agent for hope for those that are opposing this president.” Michael Avenatti is famous for being President Trump’s biggest critic, but he’s “using that platform for good.” In addition to Stormy Daniels, he now represents parents whose children were separated from them at the border. [AP]