Illinois

* Could this be the case that puts the nail in the death penalty’s coffin? Justice Breyer probably hopes so. Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovells has asked the Supreme Court to hear an Arizona death row inmate’s case, arguing that the state’s death penalty law is unconstitutional and that it must be struck down. [BuzzFeed]

* “[T]he Tiffany trademark is not something to be trifled with.” Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York has ruled that Costco must pay more than $19 million after selling rings and attempting to pass them off as a luxury brand by using and infringing upon the Tiffany trademark. Treble damages are a bitch, and Costco plans to appeal. [New York Law Journal]

* After a special Senate primary, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was once removed from his post and later suspended from it, and Senator Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the seat formerly occupied by AG Jeff Sessions, will face each other in a runoff for the state’s GOP nomination. Voters seem thrilled with their options. [New York Times]

* A former law firm partner who is accused of creating a fake Match.com account using the name of a real female attorney and allegedly signing her up for emails from a weight loss surgery company, the Obesity Action Coalition, and Pig International — all from his law firm computer — is facing discipline before the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission [Law.com]

* Joseph Amico, who was arrested back in April after threatening to blow up a Manhattan attorney who he allegedly referred to as a “n****r lover” has been rearrested, this time for allegedly harassing the judge in his divorce case. Amico, who was free on $50,000 bail, has an optimistic attorney who’s confident his client will receive a “favorable bail disposition.” [New York Daily News]

* If you’re searching for a job to take after law school that doesn’t necessarily involve practicing law, then you may want to consider a career in policy work. After all, having a law degree when working in the policy world likely amounts to some sort of a JD Advantage-type job. [U.S. News & World Report]

* Are you ready to be tracked online, everyone? Senate Republicans voted yesterday to overturn internet privacy protections for individuals that were created by the Federal Communications Commission in October. “These were the strongest online privacy rules to date, and this vote is a huge step backwards in consumer protection writ large.” [DealBook / New York Times]

* Being forced to resign from your position isn’t so bad when you can land a sweet gig as a law professor. Barbara McQuade and Preet Bharara aren’t the only U.S. Attorneys who found new homes at law schools in the wake of their recent ouster by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Paul Fishman, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, is now a visiting fellow at Seton Hall University School of Law. Congrats! [Law.com]

* Mary Yelenick, the third Chadbourne & Parke partner to join the $100 million gender bias class-action suit filed against the firm, claims she was pressured to disavow the allegations in a letter signed by fourteen of the firm’s then-sixteen female partners. “At least two of the partners who signed the letter subsequently expressed to me that they hesitated, but felt great pressure to sign the letter,” she says. [Big Law Business]

* Gawker may be approaching a “potential settlement” with Peter Thiel relative to the tech billionaire’s vendetta against the website. The feud led to Thiel’s funding of several lawsuits against Gawker, including the one filed by wrestler Hulk Hogan which eventually bankrupted the site. Any deal between the parties would likely protect Gawker founder Nick Denton from any future Thiel-funded lawsuits. [New York Post]

* Illinois may be getting ready to puff, puff, pass some legislation that will legalize recreational marijuana. Senate Bill 316 and House Bill 2353 will allow adults to possess up to 28 grams of marijuana and regulate its sale, tax, cultivation, and use. The state already allows patients with certain ailments to use medical marijuana and decriminalized possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana last year. [Newsweek]

* Although it may seem far from what’s occurred given some questionable statements and tweets about freedom of speech and freedom of religion, House Speaker Paul Ryan says that he’s discussed the Constitution “extensively” with President-elect Donald Trump, including the separation of powers. Let’s see if any of Ryan’s Con Law lessons have an impact. [Huffington Post]

* Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is dropping her recount bid in Pennsylvania because of an inability to afford the $1 million bond required by the state to proceed; after all, “petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means.” She may not be done with her efforts to prevent President-elect Trump from securing an electoral victory, though. She’ll probably try her hand at a federal case. [New York Times]

* After months of sometimes violent protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to turn down the permit necessary to grant an easement to build a segment of the Dakota Access pipeline under Lake Oahe, which could contaminate the water supply and damage sacred tribal lands. Will President-elect Trump reverse this decision after he is inaugurated? [Reuters]

* Cook County Circuit Judge Valarie Turner — who allowed former law clerk Rhonda Crawford to don her robes and hear cases in her stead — has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss, which has led the Judicial Inquiry Board to declare her “mentally unable” to perform her job. It is unclear whether Turner had been diagnosed prior to this summer’s incident with Crawford. [Chicago Sun-Times]

* Valparaiso is facing down a tough decision after years of admitting students with less-than-desirable credentials: Continue to do more of the same, or “face reality and close its law school.” Given the way that things like this generally proceed with law schools, we suppose we can expect the school to try for at least a few more years with diminishing returns for graduates before it decides to throw in the towel. [Chicago Tribune]

* Katherine Magbanua, the woman indicted on first-degree murder charges and accused of acting as a conduit between two alleged hitmen and whoever ordered Professor Dan Markel’s murder, can access the grand jury testimony of Luis Rivera, who has already taken a plea deal and is working with prosecutors. [Tallahassee Democrat]

* 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]

* Rhonda Crawford, the Illinois law clerk who allegedly posed as a judge and was running unopposed for her own judgeship, was indicted for her judicial impersonation. Crawford does not intend to drop out of the race for a seat on the bench, despite the state bar ethics commission seeking to suspend her license to practice. [Chicago Tribune]

* London firms CMS and Olswang are merging with international firm Nabarro for a three-way combination that’s set to close in May 2017 and operate under the name CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, but rumor has it an American firm wants to get in on the action. Will Hunton & Williams join in for four-way fun? [The Lawyer]

* “[M]aybe Republicans can stop with the 60-something repeal votes they’ve taken … and just work with the next president to smooth out the kinks.” President Obama hopes that maybe when his second term in the White House is over, his signature healthcare law can be fixed. He doesn’t even care if they change its name to “Reagancare.” [Reuters]

* “The panic is starting to set in. Those who have a lot of interests at stake need to do work now.” Lawyers across the pond are poised for a profitable 2017 thanks to people scrambling for legal advice following Brexit, but those billables won’t last forever; after all, lawyers aren’t “immune to a broader economic slowdown.” [Big Law Business]

* More law schools are partially or completely covering bar exam preparation costs for their students, but with pass rates plummeting across the nation, you must be curious if this trend has had any positive effect. It worked for Loyola New Orleans and Southern University, whose pass rates for first-timers increased quite a bit. [ABA Journal]

* The lawsuit the Bernie Sanders campaign filed against the Democratic National Committee is far from over. Will a “full investigation from top to bottom” reveal that the DNC was trying to burn the Bern in the polls? [Yahoo!]

* It seems like the whole two-year law school gambit isn’t working out as planned, but maybe that’s because it hasn’t been properly executed yet. Sorry, Northwestern, but we’re really not sorry for saying that. [DealBook / New York Times]

* DraftKings and FanDuel threw the challenge flag after Illinois AG Lisa Madigan declared that daily fantasy sports betting was illegal in her state. Gibson Dunn and Boies Schiller hope review of the play won’t result in another “Fail Mary.” [Chicago Tribune]

* “I thought I was the only person who felt that way.” Feeling left out at law school? USC Law is trying to make legal education a little less intimidating for students who are the first in their family to attend institutions of higher education. [Los Angeles Times]

* iDamages: If you thought Apple liked gouging its customers, then you should see what it does to its adversaries. Samsung just paid the company more than $548 million in patent infringement damages, but Apple wants about $180 million more. [Reuters]

* John Stamos of Full House fame was formally charged with driving under the influence earlier this week following his arrest for erratic driving this summer. He faces up to six months in jail if convicted. We have faith that his beautiful hair will survive time in the slammer. [USA Today]

* While the vast majority of the law school lawsuits containing allegations related to deceptive employment statistics have been dismissed, a few are still alive and kicking. The very first one filed — Alaburda v. Thomas Jefferson School of Law — is heading to trial in 2016. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Trick or treat? Per federal prosecutors, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert will plead guilty before Halloween as part of a deal in his ongoing sexual misconduct hush-money case, but whether he’ll serve time is a question that’s yet to be answered. [Reuters]

* Headcount at real estate firms with once-prominent foreclosure practices continues to shrink thanks to the recession’s end. To that effect, two Chicago firms have eliminated hundreds of positions for legal professionals since 2013. [Chicago Business Journal]

* Thanks to a new online system, Northwestern Law will be able to interview prospective students any time, anywhere. The school is the first in the country to offer awkward casting couch sessions as part of its admissions process. [Northwestern University News]

* After a particularly bootylicious performance in Morocco that was aired on live TV, singer Jennifer Lopez is facing a lawsuit which alleges that she “disturbed public order and tarnished women’s honor and respect.” Her first affirmative defense: Dat ass tho. [Newsweek]

* Our congratulations go out to Texas Supreme Court Justice Don R. Willett (@JusticeWillett) for achieving the rare and prestigious honor of being recognized as the “Tweeter Laureate of #Texas.” Way to dole out judicial wit and humor 140 characters at a time, Your Honor. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Howrey gonna pay our creditors if we can’t cash in on unfinished business? A judge recently overturned this failed firm’s bankruptcy court win, noting that since “[t]he law firm defendants performed the work; they deserve the pay.” [Dow Jones Business News]

* Sorry, job hunters, but despite what you may have heard about the boom years being back, the legal job market is stuck in a “pattern of anemic growth,” and it’s been that way since the Great Recession. Please give your mother our condolences. [Am Law Daily]

* It’s only a matter of time before the majority of U.S. states legalize marijuana, and Illinois may be the next in line to do so. If you’re thinking about joining the green rush and want to learn more, come to our marijuana law reception next week. [Chicago Tribune]