Law Firm Merger Mania

* Can you hear me now? Modern marvels of technology like cellphones and other electronic devices are barred from the Supreme Court during oral arguments, but yesterday, justice was interrupted by the ringing of… a Justice’s cellphone. Who was the culprit? The offending phone belonged to Justice Stephen Breyer. Oopsie! [AP]

* After a week charged with sexual harassment allegations and the ouster of Bill O’Reilly, just when Fox News thought its troubles were over, a group of current and former employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the network alleging “abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination.” The plaintiffs’ lawyers got in this zinger of a statement: “When it comes to racial discrimination, 21st Century Fox has been operating as if it should be called 18th Century Fox.” [DealBook / New York Times]

* Ever since it dumped Eversheds, Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner has been out on the prowl for another merger partner, and it looks like the firm has finally found its ideal mate in New York boutique Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman. The whole thing seems to be a bit “incestuous” if you ask us. We’ll have more on this later today. [Am Law Daily]

* Ahead of his confirmation hearing todays, Makan Delrahim, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the antitrust division of the Department of Justice who’s been called a “centrist nominee,” has pledged to recuse himself from all matters involving his prior work as a lobbyist, including the merger between Anthem and Cigna. [Big Law Business]

* At some firms, like Ballard Spahr, senior partners must “transition[] their practices” by age 60, but at other firms, like Cozen O’Connor, age is nothing but a number. “We have so many lawyers who are extremely productive and terrific lawyers and if they want to work well into their 70s, God bless ’em,” says CEO Michael Heller. [Philly Inquirer]

* “You have been very much able to avoid any specificity like no one I have seen before. And maybe that’s a virtue, I don’t know. But for us on this side, knowing where you stand on major questions of the day is really important to a vote.” Despite hours of questioning, Senate Democrats were unable to get Judge Neil Gorsuch to commit to any response beyond researched generalities. At this point, his confirmation seems inevitable. [New York Times]

* Sure, Biglaw associates want their firms to be more progressive when it comes to flexible working arrangements, but that doesn’t mean they feel comfortable taking advantage of the programs being offered. Per a survey conducted by the Diversity and Flexibility Alliance, only 8.8 percent of lawyers at firms with reduced hours policies actually work reduced hours. We’ll have more on this later today. [Big Law Business]

* Is this the end of the Swiss verein? While the legal structure has been adopted in almost every major cross-border law firm merger in recent memory, both of the last two transatlantic Biglaw tie-ups opted to use an entity called the company limited by guarantee (CLG). Apparently this legal structure is being favored for new law firm combinations because there are still questions about vereins’ proper use. [Am Law Daily]

* Dean Alex Acosta of Florida International University School of Law, a man who is better known these days as Trump’s nominee to be the Secretary of Labor, not only says the fiduciary rule requiring retirement investment advisers to put their clients’ interest first goes too far, but indicated that he may decline to defend a rule doubling the salary ceiling under which employees would be eligible for overtime pay. Ouch. [Reuters]

* Now that Harvard Law has decided to accept applicants’ GRE scores in lieu of their LSAT scores for admissions purposes, other law schools have decided to try the alternative exam on for size. Suffolk Law, for example, launched a study last week and offered students $100 to take the GRE. Suffolk’s dean says that “the mad dash for the GRE is not being driven by declines in applications.” Bless your heart. [Boston Globe]

* What’s it like to be the “tweetingest judge in America”? Justice Don Willett of the Texas Supreme Court tells us what it’s like to live a week in his life in this endearing column. From letting us know where he spends much of his time (the local Chick-fil-A) to revealing the reason he Tweets so much (to get reelected) to describing his love for his children, Justice Willett is a true gem of the judiciary. [Wall Street Journal]

* Judge Timothy Parker of the Carroll County District Court in Arkansas has resigned from his post and agreed to never serve as a judge again to avoid being charged with ethical misconduct. Judge Parker was accused of arranging for defendants’ pretrial releases in exchange for sexual favors, but says he never contested the allegations on the record because he has kids and “[didn’t] want them exposed to that kind of crap.” [AP]

* The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund has threatened to file suit against the National Park Service for “stonewalling and refusing to release permits that are vitally needed by organizers in order to plan and execute peaceful, lawful free-speech activities” — that is, protests and rallies — of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. Only three groups out of 26 have received permits, and the inauguration is in two weeks’ time. [Reuters]

* “While it is encouraging to see small gains in most areas this year, the incredibly slow pace of change continues to be discouraging.” The most recent National Association for Law Placement report has revealed that as usual, women and minorities are just barely making progress at the nation’s largest law firms when it comes to their representation as a whole and their presence in firm partnerships. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Per Altman Weil’s latest report on law firm mergers, there were six fewer mergers in 2016 than in 2015. Although just 85 deals were announced last year compared to 91 in 2015, they were “better” than those announced in years prior, and in fact, some of the biggest names in Biglaw agreed to combine, including the Eversheds and Sutherland Asbill merger and the Arnold & Porter and Kaye Scholer merger. [Big Law Business]

* “As a federal prosecutor for 19 years… I know better.” Leslie Caldwell, who oversees the Justice Department’s criminal division, sent a letter of apology to federal prosecutors across the country for remarks made at a Federalist Society event where she intimated that many of them don’t understand rules for white-collar criminal cases. [WSJ Law Blog]

* It seems that D.C.-based Crowell & Moring and New York-based Herrick Feinstein are hoping to bump into each other under the mistletoe this year, because they’re reportedly in close merger talks. A combination would create a firm with about 570 lawyers and $478 million in gross revenue. We’ll have more on this later. [Am Law Daily; Real Deal]

* Biglaw behemoth Dentons is politely bowing out of the competition when it comes to a takeover of the European and Middle Eastern arm of King & Wood Mallesons. With Dentons out of the picture, it’s unlikely that a single firm will rescue the entirety of the branch, but numerous firms are interested in picking apart bits and pieces. [Legal Week]

* Calling their behavior “uncivil,” Judge Steven O’Neill was forced to scold lawyers on both sides during a dramatic shouting match that erupted at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial after the defense team insisted that the comedian’s accusers ought to be named in public documents, saying they’re “witnesses in a trial, not children.” [USA Today]

* Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Victoria Brennan, who was accused of using a metal pipe to smash a man’s windshield this summer (but was never formally charged), is going to step down from her position on the bench. Her last day will be December 31, and per her resignation letter, she is “looking forward to the future.” [Miami Herald]

* Duncan Lloyd, the Philadelphia assistant city solicitor who spray-painted “F*ck Trump” on a building while wearing an ascot and holding a glass of wine, will be able to keep his job after completing 40 hours of community service. We’re sure many Americans feel that he has already completed his community service through his actions. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who took a leave of absence from Greenberg Traurig to support Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump through the end of the election, has removed his name from consideration for any position in President-elect Trump’s administration (but only after reportedly being offered three other positions that he didn’t want). He’ll now be returning to his law firm. [ABC News]

* The struggling European and Middle East arm of King & Wood Mallesons has received “a number of indicative purchase offers” from other law firms. Biglaw behemoth Dentons is rumored to be a potential merger partner for firm’s EUME branch, with DLA Piper and Greenberg Traurig ready to make lateral offers to partners. [Big Law Business]

* Just because your law school isn’t one of the best in the nation, it doesn’t mean that you can’t dream big. Case in point: The most recent winners of the prestigious Skadden public interest fellowships has been announced, and two of them will graduate from CUNY School of Law. We’ll have more on the new Skadden Fellows later. [Skadden]

* Dislike? A woman who wanted to serve her estranged husband with divorce papers via Facebook has been denied by a judge who noted that the social networking profile had been inactive for two-plus years, writing that to allow service would be “akin to the Court permitting service by nail and mail to a building that no longer exists.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Is there a constitutional right to smoke weed? This defendant says he was prescribed medical marijuana to help him kick an opioid addiction, and his bail conditions must be revised to allow him to keep smoking it, lest his Sixth Amendment right to participate fully in his own defense be impaired. How high were the Katten Muchin lawyers who thought up this creative defense? [Reuters]

* Baker Donelson plans to merge with Ober Kaler to create one of the largest Biglaw firms in the country. Effective January 1, the firm will have more than 800 attorneys, and one of the largest health law practices in America. The $400+ million in revenue expected to be brought in by the merger isn’t too shabby, either. [Big Law Business]

* “[N]o one is dragging their feet here. The Justice Department is committed to working with the FBI to move the case forward.” AG Loretta Lynch and Deputy AG Sally Yates are trying to get FBI Director James Comey to wrap up his renewed interest in the Hillary Clinton email probe as quickly as possible before the election next week. [Politico]

* “You haven’t been able to do it with trademark law. You haven’t been able to do it with patent designs. We are now going to use copyright law to kill the knockoff industry. I don’t know that that’s bad. I’m just saying.” Differing opinions about the fashion industry emerged during oral arguments in the Star Athletica case. [New York Times]

* “We are all feeling a little less confident. … [T]here is an incredible amount of uncertainty that comes with this.” Some U.S. firms with offices in London and Europe are contemplating what Brexit’s effects will be on their business — or if Brexit will have any effect on their business at all. At this point, no one knows. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* 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]

* According to a labor relations suit filed in 2012, Donald Trump allegedly wanted to fire female employees of Trump National Golf Club in California, who he didn’t think were pretty enough. The suit was settled without any admission of wrongdoing. [Los Angeles Times]

* Biglaw mega-merger alert: Word on the street is that London-based firms CMS and Olswang will join with international firm Nabarro for a three-way merger that would create a combined entity with more than 3,000 lawyers. If the merger were to go through, the firm would have more than $1.5 billion in revenue. [LegalWeek]

* According to the results of this survey, corporate counsel don’t think too highly of millennials when it comes to loyalty. Almost 70 percent of baby boomers and Gen Xers thought millennial lawyers in their legal departments would leave in less than five years, potentially causing “major problem[s]” in terms of turnover rates. [WSJ Law Blog]

* How many women serve as lead counsel in New York state and federal courts and in mediation and arbitration? That’s what a new study being conducted by the New York State Bar Association’s Commercial and Federal Litigation Section hopes to find out, because “[o]nce you have a diagnosis, you can get to a solution.” [New York Law Journal]

* “Something is going wrong at this bank, and you are the head of it. You should be fired.” Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf may be forfeiting $41 million in pay, but lawmakers were still pretty darn upset with him when he testified before the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing yesterday. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Phil C. Neal, former dean of University of Chicago Law School, RIP. [UChicago News]

* It’s been exactly two years since FSU Law Professor Dan Markel was killed in an alleged murder-for-hire plot. He was locked in child-custody litigation with his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, until the time of his death, and it is that litigation that is the suspected motive for his violent slaying. The Adelsons’ attorney suggests instead that perhaps some FSU students “had it in for [their] law professor.” [Sun Sentinel]

* In an effort to ensure criminal defendants receive competent representation, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has introduced the Clarence Gideon Full Access to Justice Act, which would create the Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy. Per Justice Elena Kagan, a program like this would be an “enormous help to the system.” [Big Law Business]

* Husch Blackwell and Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek have officially completed their merger, and the combined firm, which will continue to be known as Husch Blackwell, has more than 700 lawyers. Now that the books are closed on the merger, maybe the firm will have time bring its associate salaries to market — or not. [Journal Sentinel]

* The recent outcome of the Microsoft data privacy case is a great example of what can happen when the law can no longer keep up with technology. Perhaps Congress will be inspired to update these old laws related to digital information that were first created when email was still considered a nascent technology. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Is getting a law degree still lucrative? Probably not, but despite the lawyer glut and fewer job opportunities for law school grads, there still exists a need for legal representation among the poor and working class. You may not be able to make a lot of money this way, but you may be able to help close the justice gap. [Clarion Ledger]

* Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius may recently have been sentenced to six years in prison for the killing of his girlfriend, but according to South African legal analysts, he’ll be eligible for parole in just three years, and will most likely be freed from behind bars at that time, despite his murder conviction. [ABC News]

* DLA Piper partner Brian Pendleton has been fined $10K for violating a court order related to interfering with witnesses and then lying about it. DLA Piper has also been ordered to pay all of opposing counsel’s attorney fees and costs thanks to its errant partner’s behavior. The firm, of course, “respectfully disagree[s]” with the judge. [New York Law Journal via ABA Journal]

* FBI Director James Comey is being “praised” and “slammed” at the same time for his recommendation that no criminal charges be brought against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over her emails. In the meantime, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that the case had been closed. [WSJ Law Blog; CNN]

* Law firm mergers are coming fast and furious, with a total of 48 combinations announced since the beginning of 2016. “Small firms are increasingly vulnerable in the current market,” and last year’s number of mergers (91) could be exceeded by year’s end as many smaller firms struggle to stay in business. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Not only is Adnan Syed, the subject of the first season of the popular Serial podcast, getting a new trial, but he’s also got some brand new Biglaw attorneys representing him. Lawyers from Hogan Lovells, including the head of the firm’s pro bono practice and the managing partner of its Baltimore office, will now be involved. [Big Law Business]