Harvard Law School

* President Trump claims that the FBI and the DOJ will be investigating the Jussie Smollett case because it’s an “absolute embarrassment to our country.” Meanwhile, in more realistic news, Chicago wants the Empire actor to pay $130,000 to cover the costs of the officers who worked on the case. [Wall Street Journal]

* According to Diane Feinstein, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, “the blue slip is essentially dead.” May the century-old tradition rest in peace. [Big Law Business]

* Jessie Liu, Trump’s pick for third-in-command at the Justice Department upon the recommendation of Attorney General William Barr, has withdrawn from consideration after facing conservative opposition for her association with the National Association of Women Lawyers, an organization she once led. [Reuters]

* C. Allen Parker, the former Cravath presiding partner who brought Biglaw the $180K salary scale and left the firm to become general counsel at Wells Fargo, will now serve as interim CEO and president at the troubled bank. Best of luck… [Corporate Counsel]

* In case you missed it, the NRA is planning to oppose renewal of the Violence Against Women Act due to provisions that would prevent people who have committed domestic abuse from obtaining firearms. That’s just swell. [The Hill]

* Roberta Kaplan, the founding partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink who represented Edith Windsor in the landmark Supreme Court case that obliterated the Defense of Marriage Act and co-founded the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, will be speaking at Harvard Law’s 2019 Class Day Ceremony. Congratulations! [Harvard Law Today]

Students are amping up pressure on Biglaw firms that use mandatory arbitration agreements.

* Baker McKenzie jerks around partners the way most firms jerk around associates. [American Lawyer]

* Amazon agrees to stop doing that thing that looks a lot like an antitrust violation. [Axios]

* Should Ty Cobb be mouthing off about the Mueller probe in public? [The Hill]

* Bankruptcy trial features travel agents explaining how American Airlines has ruined competition in the airline industry. In other news, there are still travel agents? [Law360]

* “Squirrel Sex” is the go-to explanation for poor exam results. [Legal Cheek]

* Law school students eschewing Biglaw to represent artists and musicians. Must be nice to not have any debt… [Harvard Gazette]

Who knew Harvard Law was so great at matchmaking?

The Mooch v. Professor Tribe: Con Law edition.

Law school students claim the firm has been deceptive about their mandatory arbitration stance.

Why do law students fall in love? This professor has some theories.

Let's please stop with this perjury trap nonsense.

Though different in key respects from the Harvard admissions lawsuit, UC controversy is part of a larger focus on admissions treatment of Asian Americans.

Of course there's a hashtag -- #DumpDLA

Look out Biglaw, there are other firms in their sights.

This can't be too hard... right?

The battle over Biglaw arbitration employment contracts continues...

Keep going. You can do it. She did.

* Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says he plans to introduce legislation to end our “absurd policy of birthright citizenship.” Good luck with that, Senator, because if you want to amend the Constitution, you’ll need a two-thirds majority in Congress and ratification of three-quarters of the states. [The Hill]

* Women are allegedly being paid to make false sexual assault and harassment claims against Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and now the FBI is investigating the situation. The going rate for these made-up stories is apparently $20,000. [The Atlantic]

* After having its plan to gift a troubled law school to Middle Tennessee State University be flat-out rejected, Valparaiso Law has decided to call it quits. We’ll have more on this totally unpredictable development later today. [ABA Journal]

* If you’re in law school and your girlfriend breaks up with you, you should probably stop calling her — unless, of course, you don’t mind a harassment conviction and spending a year in jail. Now this fellow is trying to overcome his character and fitness obstacles to become a member of the bar. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

* In case you missed it, the Library Innovation Lab at Harvard Law School just unleashed about 6.5 million digitized court decisions online, for free, as part of the Caselaw Access Project. No, that’s not a typo — everything is free. [Fortune]

* How did graduates of the Charleston School of Law do on the South Carolina bar exam this past summer? Not too well. For the second year in a row, more than half of them failed the test. On the “bright side,” 59 percent of first-time takers from the school passed, up 11 percentage points from last year. [Post and Courier]

Kavanaugh has emboldened conservatives to try their most ridiculous legal claims.

If there's a way Harvard can allow a white man to save face, they're going to take it.

Kavanaugh earns a hefty paycheck from Harvard Law.

The GRE has passed its first, all important test.

It would be awesome if this ever happened, but it sure seems unlikely.