Law School Accreditation

* As she steps away from public life in the wake of her dementia diagnosis, rather than banish retired Justice Anthony Kennedy to the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor bequeathed her chambers to him. The Supreme Court will miss her. [National Law Journal]

* Judges say the darndest things: Bill Cosby’s bid to get a new trial and reduce his sentence was summarily turned down by Judge Steven O’Neill, who noted in a simple, one-page ruling that “no hearing or argument is required on the issues.” [NBC News]

* Desmarais, the elite IP litigation boutique that recently raised salaries for first-year associates to $210,000, will be making its “first and probably [] last expansion,” opening a West Coast office in San Francisco to serve its Bay Area clients. [Law360]

* In case you missed it, the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners awarded Thomas Jefferson School of Law with state accreditation after an 8-7 vote, with one committee member abstaining. Now its graduates will be able to sit for the California bar exam even if the ABA revokes its accreditation. [ABA Journal]

* If you’ve been wondering what killed the Middle Tennessee State University / Valparaiso Law School deal, one member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission says it had to do with “genuine concern about the labor supply and demand for lawyers” — and that seems entirely reasonable. [Murfreesboro Post]

They'd like you to believe this about the school's students and graduates -- not the money its investors will lose if the school can no longer operate.

The school isn't closing its doors completely, but they won't open this fall.

* President Donald Trump may be putting an “indelible conservative stamp” on the judiciary, but really, it’s Senator Mitch McConnell who’s been responsible for pushing these controversial candidates through just because “it’s the longest-term sort of impact we can have on the future of the country.” [New York Times]

* MAGA hat in the streets, reaonable human being in the sheets? Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has privately told senators that he thinks Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel in the Russia probe is “appropriate.” [CNN]

* The ABA is planning to disband its law school accreditation and standards review committees to save some money. Don’t worry, all of those duties will be assumed by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. [Law.com]

* “Why am I still here?” Women are heading for the exits at Ogletree Deakins in the wake of the $300M gender bias suit that was filed against the firm. FWIW, Ogletree was just named as one of the 60 best law firms for women. [American Lawyer]

* Getting out while the getting is good: Don LeDuc, Cooley Law’s longtime president and dean, will be retiring soon. He’s being replaced on an interim basis by former Michigan Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Martlew. [Lansing State Journal]

This highly ranked law school may get the chance to serve as hero.

'It's about damned time,' said one of the school's graduates.

* Guess which law school is on the verge of losing its accreditation? We’ll have more on this unsurprising news later today. [Arizona Republic]

* When it comes to Milbank’s new $190K salary scale for associates, some general counsel and in-house leaders don’t seem to really care, and others are none too thrilled about it, but absolutely NONE of them want to pay for it. [Corporate Counsel]

* How much does President Donald Trump detest AG Jeff Sessions? This much! The president says he’ll probably support legislation protecting marijuana activities in states where the drug has been legalized. [NBC News]

* Pointing out numerous dueling injunctions in a Friday night filing, the Trump administration’s Justice Department is paving the way for a SCOTUS showdown over DACA — possibly as soon as sometime this summer. [BuzzFeed]

* If you’re planning to someday become a Supreme Court clerk, you better make sure that your law school is following the new law clerk hiring plan. Justice Sonia Sotomayor is now the fourth justice to offer her support, following in the footsteps of Justices Kagan, Ginsburg, and Breyer. [National Law Journal]

Which law schools will be the next to face the ABA’s wrath?

Duncan School of Law is out of compliance with Standard 501.

A law school dean's observations about the current state of the ABA accreditation business.

Will this finally be the end for this poorly performing law school?

What depths will these law schools sink to in order to keep their doors open?

It's 2017, not 2007. These kinds of shenanigans don't hold up anymore.

Apparently the law school is completely unfamiliar with the Streisand effect.

What does this mean for the future of the law school?

Better representation may prevent massive blunders, as well as inspire positive change.

Which law schools will be the next to face the ABA’s wrath?

Won't the ABA put this law school out of its misery? This is getting absurd.

* “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.” An anonymous government official has said that Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller will be taking a hard look at the emails disclosed by Donald Trump Jr. and the meeting discussed within them in his investigation into any possible collusion with Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. [CNN]

* President Trump has a rare opportunity to reshape the federal judiciary, and with close to 150 vacancies, he’s attempting to do just that. That being said, many people are understandably worried about the prospect of Trump’s judicial picks because “[w]e’re seeing nominees, including Gorsuch, who are going to turn back the clock on hard-fought rights and liberties.” [Bloomberg News]

* Demand for legal services may be sluggish at best, but that’s not stopping law firm leaders from making bullish projections for the future. According to the latest report from Citi Private Bank, law firm managing partners are cautiously confident in the outlook for their businesses. We may have more on this later today. [Am Law Daily]

* In what seems to be an effort to catch up with modern times, the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is considering adding gender identity and ethnicity to existing law school accreditation rules regarding diversity, nondiscrimination, and equal opportunity. [ABA Journal]

* Notes from the weed line: In this op-ed, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura says that if President Trump decides to somehow reverse state laws that have legalized marijuana, then not only would those states be potentially bankrupted, but such action could also trigger another economic collapse across the entire nation. [CNBC]

* Is there a constitutional right to follow President Donald Trump on Twitter? Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute apparently thinks so, and lawyers from the free-speech center have demanded that Trump’s unblock critics from his @realDonaldTrump account. Good luck! [WSJ Law Blog]

* Following an investigation conducted by Perkins Coie, Uber fired more than 20 employees thanks to complaints of sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination. Perkins Coie’s probe is separate from that of former Attorney General Eric Holder, who is now employed at Covington & Burling. [ABC News]

* Per sources inside the Trump administration, the president is expected to nominate Cheryl Stanton, a former Ogletree Deakins partner, to head the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Stanton shares a former boss with Labor Secretary Alex Acosta: Justice Samuel Alito. [Big Law Business]

* Michelle Lee, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, has resigned. During her time at the USPTO, Lee was known for her efforts to crack down on patent trolls, which ultimately led to a decrease in their vexatious litigation. The Trump administration has not yet put forth a nominee. [Reuters]

* The American Bar Association has granted provisional accreditation to the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law. Last summer, the ABA refused to grant even provisional accreditation to the school because there was concern about future graduates’ ability to pass the bar exam. Congrats… [ABA Journal]