* A new lawsuit alleges that a beer manufacturer falsely claimed its brew was made in Mexico instead of Holland. Would be amazing if free beer is part of any settlement... [Fox Business]
* Carter Page has filed a lawsuit against the FBI and others for allegedly illicit surveillance during the Russia investigation. [USA Today]
* The legal challenges facing the Attorney General of Texas may impede the state's antitrust claims against Google. [Wall Street Journal]
* A man sought in the slaying of an Illinois lawyer is on the FBI's Most Wanted List. [Fox News]
* Since Above the Law hasn't had a "Lawyerly Lairs" feature in a while, wanted to share that a top Las Vegas attorney has placed his multimillion-dollar mansion on the market. [Review-Journal]
LexisNexis sat down with John Ursin, Managing Partner at Schenck Price, to learn how the firm is using legal AI to strengthen client service and daily legal work.
* 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]
