Judicial Misconduct

* Despite facing uncertainties, per a recent Am Law survey conducted before the election, the vast majority of law firm leaders are moderately optimistic about how 2017 will pan out for their firms and more than a quarter of them expect profits per partner to grow by more than 5 percent. Unfortunately, “the reality for […]

* Ding ding ding, we have a winner: with a bid of $135 million, Univision has prevailed in the auction to buy Gawker Media’s assets (held at the offices of Gawker’s bankruptcy counsel, Ropes & Gray). [Politico]

* The Ninth Circuit rules that the feds can’t spend money to prosecute people whose actions comply with state medical marijuana laws. [How Appealing]

* Protip for millennial law students: don’t call your law professor by her first name. [WSJ Law Blog]

* “Is $88,500 Salary Too Much for a Deputy General Counsel?” (Hint: no.) [Big Law Business]

* Is it time to rethink antitrust enforcement, especially when it comes to Big Tech? [DealBook / New York Times]

* Judge Timothy Dooley has been censured by the Alaska Supreme Court for his rude remarks in open court. [Alaska Dispatch News]

* Hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen can’t trade in CFTC-regulated commodities markets until 2018, as part of a settlement with the commission. [Bloomberg]

* Sigfredo Garcia, one of the two men accused of killing law professor Dan Markel, isn’t getting bond just yet. [Tallahassee Democrat; WCTV]

* Did Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court commit judicial misconduct when he instructed probate judges that the state’s same-sex marriage ban was still in effect despite the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell? The state’s Court of the Judiciary has set a date for a trial-like proceeding on the ethics charges Moore faces for late September. [ABC News]

* If you want to go to law school and you’ve got your heart set on a particular institution, it may be in your best financial interests to apply early decision. A few law schools are now offering significant scholarship opportunities to early applicants — in some cases, full tuition scholarships are being handed out. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* “Even innocent clients may not benefit from the fraud of their attorney.” Chevron Corp. has prevailed in a long-running environmental law case set in an Ecuadorian rainforest. Lawyers for the oil and gas company convinced the Second Circuit that an $8.65 billion judgment was obtained through attorney Steven Donziger’s bribery and fraud. [Reuters]

* The family of slain Florida State law professor Dan Markel has accepted a $40,000 settlement from the Consolidated Dispatch Agency in connection with a wrongful death case. Due to an “error by dispatchers,” it took approximately 19 minutes for ambulances to arrive at Markel’s home as he lay dying after being shot. [Tallahassee Democrat]

* This is why indebted law students can’t have nice things: while the American Bar Association may have changed its tune when it comes to law students earning pay for credit-bearing externships, it will allow law schools to be the ultimate arbiters on whether academic credit will still be offered for these job placements. [Law.com]

* Judge Olu Stevens, who famously said he would not “check his First Amendment rights at the courthouse door,” will be dropping his suit against the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission. He remains charged with six counts of misconduct related to public comments made about the exclusion of black jurors. [WDRB] * Four partners from Cadwalader […]

* ASS Law is back in the news: Earlier this week, professors on the George Mason University Faculty Senate voted 21-13 to reopen the naming process on the already twice-renamed Antonin Scalia Law School. These professors must know that their actions have no impact on the administration’s decisions… right? [BuzzFeed News]

* Thanks to allegations of sexual harassment brought forward by courthouse personnel, Judge José A. Fusté of the District of Puerto Rico was allegedly forced by the First Circuit to “retire” from his position, effective June 1. If you’re unable to read in Spanish, Google Translate has a version in broken English that may be slightly helpful. [El Nuevo Día]

* Attention intellectual property attorneys, because your practice area just got a little more exciting. The Defend Trade Secrets Act passed in the House yesterday by a vote of 410-2, and that means the “most significant expansion of federal law in intellectual property since the Lanham Act in 1946” will likely soon become law. [WSJ Law Blog]

* “Transitioning at a Biglaw firm, are you crazy?” Not only is it possible to transition in Biglaw, but it’s possible to thrive as a transgender woman in Biglaw, and Sara Schnorr of Locke Lord had the full support of her firm. In fact, she was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Congrats! [Big Law Business]

* “Is nonlawyer ownership of law firms long overdue? Or a bad idea?” The U.K. and Australia are already doing it, and now the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services is seeking comments for an issues paper on the risks and benefits of nonlawyer law firm ownership. Email us or tweet us and let us know what you think. [ABA Journal]

* Remember the judge who challenged a public defender to a fistfight in court? He was suspended by the Florida Supreme Court, and has 20 days to explain why he should keep his job. With all due respect, your great right hook isn’t a good enough reason, Your Honor. [Florida Today]

* Screw the historic SCOTUS decision, because this Alabama probate judge really doesn’t want to issue same-sex marriage licenses. In fact, he doesn’t think any judges in the state should have to do so. He wants the federal government to issue them instead. [AL.com]

* In the wake of the latest daily fantasy sports scandal involving DraftKings, FanDuel has hired the kind of legal representation that you’d want on your team for a Hail Mary play. Hut! Hut! Hike! Time to suit up, Debevoise and Kirkland. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* The University of Chicago Law School has a new dean. We’d like to wish a warm welcome to Thomas Miles, a “rookie dean” who likely has enough prestige points under his belt to lead one of the best law schools in the nation with great ease. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

* Today is the 25th Annual National Depression Screening Day, so if you’re a lawyer or a law student who’s feeling anxious or depressed, please feel free to take an anonymous online screening quiz. There are people and programs who can help you. [Am Law Daily]

* Not everyone can lead a glamorous life before going to law school. Take, for example, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. After graduating from college, she traveled to Alaska where she gutted fish with some “gentlemen from Japan.” Eww, that sounds… slimy. [JD Journal]

* Law schools have been forced to hike up a rocky road in terms of admissions for quite some time, but admissions officers recently decided to put on their rose-colored glasses. Everything will be okay next year! Things are looking up! [Inside Counsel]

* Corrales Municipal Judge Luis Quintana of New Mexico may have been disbarred, but he has no plans to resign from his position on the bench; after all, municipal judges in his state don’t have to be lawyers. How terribly convenient for him. [Albuquerque Journal]

* Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is now facing additional charges — including a new perjury charge — related to her grand jury testimony. She better find a way to blame this on her evil twin, because this doesn’t look good. [Times-Tribune]

* Warren Watson, a man who was convicted of robbing, raping, and murdering 66-year-old attorney Claudia Miller in her office in 2013, was recently sentenced to life in prison, plus 334 years on top of that for all of his dastardly deeds. [Denver Post]

* Somewhere in Florida, Casey Anthony can rest a little easier knowing that Zenaida Gonzalez, the woman she falsely implicated in the kidnapping and death of her already deceased child, just had her defamation suit thrown out. [WKMG]

* Better late than never? The Judicial Conference finally decided impeachment is warranted for Judge Mark E. Fuller, who recently resigned from his position on the Middle District of Alabama’s bench in the wake of his “reprehensible” domestic violence scandal last summer. [WSJ Law Blog]

* In case you were wondering which Biglaw firms were reaping financial rewards in the race to represent clients in space, Squire Patton Boggs and K&L Gates have both performed at least six figures of work from their mission control centers. [Am Law Daily]

* Thomas Rubino, a paralegal at Manhattan firm Paris & Chaikin, allegedly forged the names of 76 judges on fake orders to make his life easier at work. Now that he’s facing 234 counts of forgery, something tells us his life is going to be more difficult. [New York Post]

* Lindsay Lohan’s defamation case against Fox News over comments made on The Sean Hannity Show that she did coke with her mother was dismissed because as Justice Wright noted, “truth is a defense.” He clearly didn’t think LiLo’s claims were fetch. [MSN News]

* The outcomes of misconduct complaints against members of the federal judiciary will now be posted online for your viewing pleasure to “provide for greater transparency” — and schadenfreude. This could wind up being entertaining, so keep your eyes peeled. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Apparently there are people out there who don’t know that law schools are in trouble and have been for a while, which is certainly news to us. See how the dean of UNLV School of Law explains the “new normal” to a human interest writer. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

* The White House just launched a nationwide movement to encourage legal immigrants in America to become U.S. citizens. What a happy coincidence that this campaign will likely add millions of voters to the rolls just in time for Election 2016. [New York Times]

* Per a report from The Real Deal, real estate practices are heating up in Biglaw firms across New York City. Firms like Fried Frank, Skadden, and Proskauer are expanding their real estate groups, so be on the lookout, laterals. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Harvard Law is supposed to be overseeing the rollout of a new Title IX program for the reporting of sexual harassment, but so many of the administrators who were in charge of its implementation have left that its come to a standstill. Oopsie! [Harvard Crimson]