Hulk Hogan

* Are you paying too much in mutual-fund fees? If you’re paying more than zero, then yes — or so argue Professors William Birdthistle and Daniel Hemel in this interesting and persuasive op-ed. [Wall Street Journal]

* James Comey, FBI director turned author (affiliate link), responds to the criticisms of him in the Inspector General’s report. [Althouse]

* It’s complicated — but just how complicated? Adam Feldman uses word counts and citations to measure opinion complexity during the current Term of the Supreme Court. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Judge Alex Kozinski (Ret.) pays tribute to the memory of his late colleague on the Ninth Circuit, Judge Stephen Reinhardt. [Concurring Opinions]

* If you’re confused by why the latest Obamacare litigation over the individual mandate matters, since the mandate was rendered toothless by the recent tax reform, Professor Ilya Somin can help. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* Ethics expert Steven Lubet reviews Ryan Holiday’s book (affiliate link) about the Hulk Hogan/Gawker case — and argues that Peter Thiel’s financing of the litigation might have violated legal ethics. [American Prospect via PrawfsBlawg]

* Thomson Reuters, a leader in applying artificial intelligence in the law — we’re partnering with them on our Law2020 series, exploring how AI is affecting the legal profession — also utilizes machine learning to help people trade cryptocurrencies (among many other use cases). [Artificial Lawyer]

Donald Trump, Sarah Palin and others use dubious defamation allegations to hammer the "mainstream media."

Hulk's role as a pawn in Peter Thiel's game was just part of a broader war on journalism.

The film is definitely harrowing, although it could have dug deeper into the issues.

What this means is that the freedom of the press means whatever Peter Thiel decides it means.

* 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]

As Gawker enters the dustbin of history, people still don't seem to understand Peter Thiel's strategy.

Maybe Hulk Hogan wants this former Gawker editor's clothes or books instead?

The embattled media company has hired high-priced talent to help it through its troubles.

This isn't an easy in-house job, but it's certainly an interesting one.

* We know our readers: here’s the only news that you care about this morning. This is the roster of salary movement news from Friday and Saturday: Desmarais, Brown Rudnick, Susman Godfrey, White & Case, Shearman & Sterling, and Baker Botts. If you’re ever worried that you’ve missed any of our coverage, check out our omnibus 2016 salary page where we collect all of these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law]

* You may be wondering why some law firms in your city haven’t hopped on board the Cravath-inspired MoneyLaw train yet. It’s apparently all about competing market forces. John Beulick, Armstrong Teasdale’s new managing partner, says he’s considering bumping up associate pay because “[w]e want to and need to be competitive in our markets to have the talent that clients want us to have.” [Big Law Business]

* Speaking of raises for associates in flyover country, four Texas-based firms and seven national firms with offices in the Lone Star state have already announced matches to the new Cravath scale. Three more Texas firms — Akin Gump, Haynes and Boone, and Andrews Kurth — are expected to follow suit in the coming days. Please be sure to send us your firm’s memos ASAP after raises are announced! [Dallas Morning News]

* WHATCHA GONNA DO, BROTHER, WHEN LITIGATION FINANCE RUNS WILD ON YOU?!? Thanks to billionaire Peter Thiel’s financial assistance, Hulk Hogan bodyslammed Gawker into submission with a multimillion-dollar jury verdict. After declaring bankruptcy and entering into an asset purchase agreement, the media company is investigating possible legal claims against the venture capitalist. [Forbes]

* “I don’t really think [this lawsuit] has legs.” Doctors in California are filing suit to block The End of Life Option Act, a new state law that legalizes physician-assisted suicide. They claim that the law violates the state’s constitution with regard to citizens’ equal protection and due process rights because it fails to make “rational distinctions” between those who qualify under the law and those who are not covered under it. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Lawsuits matter: in the wake of the $140 million verdict against it in the Hulk Hogan sex tape case, Gawker Media is filing for bankruptcy and putting itself up for sale. [Gawker]

* Declaratory judgment: according to Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Judging Statutes (affiliate link), by fellow feeder judge Robert Katzmann, is “a pleasure to read,” “succinct,” and “educational.” [Harvard Law Review]

* SCOTUS sez: a judge shouldn’t hear an appeal in a death penalty case that he worked on as a prosecutor. [How Appealing]

* Speaking of the Supreme Court, Gabe Roth of Fix the Court makes the case in favor of mandatory retirement for the justices. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

* Worst fellow airplane passenger ever (yes, even worse than the drunken law firm partner). [U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit]

* 9 “Musts” for Privacy & Data Security Risk Management and Compliance. [Legaltech News]

* Interesting piece by Donald Trump SCOTUS shortlister on how state high courts deal with the “Scalia problem,” that is, potential stalemates or ties. [Wall Street Journal]

* The Hulk Hogan verdict is looming over the latest addition to the New York rental market: for $15,000 a month, you can rent Nick Denton’s Soho apartment. [New York Post]

* A look at the Supreme Court dissents that attack the majority opinion. Spoiler alert: they mainly come from Justice Thomas. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* The FBI launched an intense investigation into foreclosure fraud in Florida after the financial collapse of 2008. Why did it only result in one conviction? [Vice]

* 7 tips for developing business out of being a social media influencer. [Law and More]

* Yikes! Thanks to its expensive legal battle with Hulk Hogan — one that’s been revenge-financed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel to the tune of millions of dollars — Gawker Media is exploring a possible sale of the company and has hired Mark Patricof of Houlihan Lokey to provide financial advice. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Maybe Harvard Law grads are a like Carrie Bradshaw after all — except their degrees cost more than their shoes: In addressing Harvard’s 2016 grads at the Law School’s Class Day, Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex and the City admitted she had no idea why she was chosen as a speaker, and said she initially turned down the offer. [Harvard Crimson]

* Alan Koslow, formerly of Becker & Poliakoff, resigned yesterday after he was charged in a federal money-laundering conspiracy scheme. Koslow’s charge is the result of a three-and-a-half year undercover FBI sting. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. We may have more on this later today. [Orlando Sun-Sentinel]

* “Oracle shouldn’t ‘own’ programmers simply because they had taken the time to learn Java.” Google escaped an almost $9 billion copyright lawsuit with the help of a jury that concluded the tech giant had made fair use of Oracle’s Java programming language in the creation of its Android operating system for its phone business. [Big Law Business]

* Closing the gender gap, one job at a time: The OnRamp Fellowship, a program that pairs female lawyers who want to return to practice with the nation’s top firms in the hope of receiving an offer at the end of their one-year stints, has now expanded to in-house legal departments. Congratulations on your excellent work. [WSJ Law Blog]

Is this tech tycoon doing a good deed, or are his actions purely selfish in nature?

* David Mourey, the former assistant dean for bar preparation and academic success at Barry Law, was fired after students continued to fail the bar exam, but in a recently filed gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, he claims he was discriminated against because he was “singled out for discipline by an all-female management team.” We may have more on this later. [Orlando Sentinel]

* Despite the wishes of the public and rumors of his firing in the face of the Baylor University coverup of reports of rape and sexual assault by football players, “Ken Starr is [still] president and chancellor of Baylor University.” According to a university spokeswoman, the school has not yet finished reviewing Pepper Hamilton’s report on the matter, but Baylor will likely make an announcement by June 3. [Associated Press]

* “We are willing to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to.” Eleven states have filed suit against the Obama Administration in an effort to get around its guidance on transgender rights for children in schools, calling the policy a “massive social experiment.” The states suing are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. [Reuters]

* Sumner Redstone turns 93 years old tomorrow, and he’s been in and out of court for the past few months in a battle to prove he’s mentally competent. The salacious case filed by his former female companion may have been dismissed, but now he’s attempting to fend off claims from Viacom directors who were ousted from a trust that will control his media holdings if he dies or is found incompetent. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Now that the world knows that PayPal’s co-founder provided funding for Hulk Hogan’s invasion of privacy suit against Gawker, it’s time to take a look at the lawyer who’s been representing the wrestler. Charles Harder is no stranger to Hollywood cases, and may be a longtime fan of litigation finance since he “[tries] to win and do so in a way that’s cost effective for a client, so they don’t lose when they’re winning.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Since revenge litigation finance’s recent invention, what’s there to keep billionaires from destroying you with lawsuits? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not much, especially when “there is no obligation to disclose the litigation financing arrangements” that have been made. Ethical issues aside, we really hope the super-rich wield their new power to ruin lives through rented lawsuits carefully. [Fortune]

* Peter Thiel may not have liked being a lawyer, but he’s willing to pay for them — as long as they’re suing Gawker. [Law and More]

* The owner of the New York Jets is backing Donald Trump and he has an unblemished record of picking winners. As long as you ignore Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, Ken O’Brien, the desiccated corpses of Brett Favre and Neal O’Donnell… actually this may turn out okay for the Democrats. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* The Senate actually did something, and it was good! Yesterday, they passed a bill to help sexual assault survivors. [Slate]

* Did Casey Anthony pay for Jose Baez’s legal services with her body? A private investigator claims that she did. [Radar Online]

* The term “Oriental,” as a way to refer to people, is being stripped from federal law. [Air Talk]

* Follow up is super important, especially when you are trying to build your own law practice. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

He's like the Charles Bronson of legal investment capital.

Elie and First Amendment Lawyer Marc Randazza talk about the Hulk Hogan verdict.

* Gawker asks judge to reduce or set aside the $140.1 million Hogan verdict. That’s nice to offer the judge avoid a humiliating reversal on appeal. And yet I’ve seen Wrestlemania, so expect the doomed judge to hit Nick Denton over the head with a chair while he isn’t looking before this gets better. [Capital New York]

* Ramon Fonseca assures the world that all of its operations were legal. Sure. I mean, cockfighting is still legal in Panama so this might not be the most ringing affirmation. [NBC News]

* The Stoli trademark battle may be headed to the Supreme Court. That’s absolut-ly crazy. [Law360]

* There’s an unauthorized Walking Dead theme restaurant out there in case you had a hankering for some possum and cheese whiz and there’s no Carl’s Jr. nearby. [Litigation Daily]

* Which Biglaw firms are making big bucks off baseball season? [The Am Law Daily]

* Eric Conn, dubbed “Mr. Social Security” arrested on federal charges that his immense success is due less to his legal acumen than “paying a doctor and a judge to rubber-stamp false disability claims using phony medical evidence.” Remember when he hired Miss Congeniality USA as a PR flack? Those were happier days. [ABC News]

* North Carolina releases its February bar exam results. So we know of at least 201 people who couldn’t let the championship game spoil their high. You may say, “well Duke students weren’t going to be devastated by the game.” Silly rabbit, Duke kids aren’t taking the February exam. [Bar Exam Stats]