Lateral Moves

* “Voters deserve to know that personal priorities will never take precedence over the national interest.” Thanks to President-elect Donald Trump’s unwillingness to release his tax returns, a New York lawmaker has introduced the Tax Returns Uniformly Made Public (TRUMP) Act, which would require presidential and vice presidential candidates to disclose their income tax returns going back five years to appear on the ballot in New York. [Big Law Business]

* In what’s being considered a blow to college athletes, the Seventh Circuit has ruled that they are not employees deserving of a minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Fortunately, there may be a bright spot of hope in a concurring opinion because it shows that “[t]he nature of the relationship between kids who play FBS football and their schools, leagues and the NCAA … is a business relationship.” [Huffington Post]

* Weil Gotshal snagged a prominent antitrust partner from Simpson Thacher, and it just so happens that he’s already great friends with the attorney with whom he’ll work alongside of as co-head of the firm’s antitrust practice. Congrats to Kevin J. Arquit (and to Steven A. Newborn, who’ll be reunited with a friend). [DealBook / New York Times]

* President-elect Trump may turn to another prosecutor turned Biglaw partner to lead the SEC following the departure of Chairwoman Mary Jo White. It looks like Debra Wong Yang, chair Gibson Dunn’s crisis management practice, may become Wall Street’s “top cop” under the Trump administration. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]

* If you thought that the American Bar Association had learned its lesson after the closure of Indiana Tech Law, then you thought wrong, because the ABA has granted the UMass Law School full accreditation. Feast your eyes upon these glorious bar exam passage statistics from the last two July administrations of the test. [Lowell Sun]

* “I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up.” So much for honoring the will of the people: Senator John McCain has pledged that Senate Republicans will continue to block Supreme Court nominees from receiving hearings to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the high court. We’ll have more on this later today. [CNN]

* Matthew Apperson, the man who fired a gun at George Zimmerman during a road rage incident, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault. Apperson’s wife said Zimmerman is getting “a hall pass to go out there and continue to be reckless.” [New York Daily News]

* “Returning to Cadwalader at an exciting time of growth for the firm was an easy decision.” After losing two of its litigation practice leaders earlier this year, Cadwalader has started to replenish its ranks by rehiring Jason M. Halper, a former 14-year veteran of the firm who decamped to Orrick in 2014. Welcome back! [Big Law Business]

* Sigfredo Garcia, the suspected shooter in the murder of Florida State law professor Dan Markel, was supposed to be tried on November 14, but his trial date was pushed back to December 6. In the meantime, perhaps co-defendant Katherine Magbanua will be inclined to flip on those who allegedly arranged the hit. [Tallahassee Democrat]

* Citing a lack of evidence, a judge has thrown out riot charges against radio journalist Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! for her coverage of the North Dakota oil pipeline protests. She says she’ll continue to cover the protests, noting that “[t]he state’s attorney must respect freedom of the press and the First Amendment.” [New York Times]

* Rudy Giuliani will be taking a “voluntary leave of absence” from Greenberg Traurig thanks to his activities related to Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency. Is Giuliani’s move truly voluntary, or was the prominent partner forced to take a break as Election 2016 draws closer and the race for the White House becomes even more heated? We’ll have more on this development later today. [Observer]

* In 196 deals with a total volume of $379.6 billion, White & Case is ranked No. 1 on Bloomberg’s M&A charts for global deals in the first three quarters of 2016. The firm surpassed the likes of SullCrom (No. 2), Wachtell Lipton (No. 3), Davis Polk (No. 4), and Skadden (No. 5). This time last year, Skadden was leading the pack. [Big Law Business]

* In one of the first cases related to race that SCOTUS grappled with this Term, some say it appeared as though the justices may side with a black death row inmate in search of a new sentence because his own lawyer used an expert witness at trial who testified that the man was more likely to be dangerous in the future because of his race. [Reuters]

* Government lawyers continue to flock to Biglaw firms, and this time, the lateral hire is a “true patriot, who believes in service to the nation as a calling.” WilmerHale welcomes Alejandro Mayorkas, a former U.S. Attorney who has worked for the the past three years as No. 2 at the Department of Homeland Security. Congratulations! [WSJ Law Blog]

* “I just hope that when people think the rules don’t apply to them, they will think twice before they abuse their power.” Thanks to a California law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, it is now a felony punishable by up to three years in prison for state prosecutors to tamper with evidence or hide exculpatory material from the defense. [Los Angeles Times]