Legal Ethics

* The Supreme Court, without any dissents, has allowed the Trump administration’s refugee ban to stand while the case proceeds, temporarily staying a Ninth Circuit ruling to the contrary. As my colleague Elie Mystal wondered yesterday, “Why is Kennedy stepping on the Ninth Circuit here? Why do any of them want this?” [New York Times]

* Not that recommending prosecutions is part of her job, but White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders thinks that the Justice Department might want to prosecute former FBI director James Comey because his leaks “were improper and likely could have been illegal.” [Washington Post]

* “It’s going to be death by a thousand cuts if people keep leaving at this rate.” Ropes & Gray seems to be leaking partners like a sieve. In fact, 19 partners have parted ways with the firm since this past January. Not to worry, because according to management this is fine. [Legal Week]

* Lynne Hermle, a partner in the labor and employment practice group at Orrick, thinks that in-house counsel need to adopt their own versions of the Mansfield Rule when hiring and staffing their trial teams. Why not have a woman lead your trial team? Juries tend to listen to them. [Business Insider]

* Rob Ranco, a Texas personal injury attorney who landed himself on the front page of Breitbart last week after tweeting that he’d “be ok if #BetsyDevos was sexually assaulted,” resigned from his firm, agreeing with his managing partner that he’d crossed “a line that simply cannot be uncrossed.” [Law.com]

Ed. note: “See Also” is a new column we’ll be running in place of Non-Sequiturs. It’s going to be an evening ATL Digest for people who missed some of our content earlier in the day.

We Can Spend All Day Reading Disciplinary Findings Do these ever cease to amaze? No, no they do not. Whether it’s a klepto judge or an attorney calling in bomb threats, a quick perusal of the latest disciplinary actions will make you feel better about your professional judgment. That said, you still should delete that Instagram post you captioned, “Buy Globochem tomorrow before 11. But shhh…. it’s our little secret. ;-)” Read all about it…

Maybe We Don’t Let This Guy Do Interviews Next Year? When I was in law school, a partner at a certain Biglaw firm asked a friend of mine who’d gone to Yale undergrad why he was attending NYU for law school. “I went to Yale undergrad and Yale Law School!” this jerk proclaimed. My friend looked at him and said, slowly, “I don’t know… why don’t you work at Cravath?” That concluded the interview. The firm shouldn’t have sent that guy out on interviews. The firm in this story also needs to reconsider their interview roster. Real all about it…

You’d Have To Have Permanent Brain Damage To Negotiate This Deal Speaking of dumb things lawyers do, let’s have a round of applause for the NFLPA, making yet another effort to challenge the draconian league disciplinary system that they willingly agreed to in the last CBA. Read all about it…

Protecting The Profession Over The Client The client is supposed to come first, and yet states are so hell-bent on protecting their parochial guild they make rules that can put clients in a bad spot. As Harvey leaves a desperate need for competent representation in its wake, this is your gentle reminder that the state bar makes out-of-state attorneys jump through hoops to lend a hand. Read all about it…

One Brave Soul Breaks From The Pack While there may be a lot of dumb lawyers, one smart legal move comes courtesy of Professor Brian Fitzpatrick, who shuns the conventional wisdom of his fellow conservatives and makes a compelling case for class actions. Sadly, he’ll probably be purged at the next FedSoc inquisition. Read all about it…

* 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]

* New York hits Avvo over its marketing fees. I know some bar association lawyers who are about to get some bad Avvo ratings. [Law.com]

* The feds were trying to work Paul Manafort’s son-in-law. That’s… not good news for Manafort. [Politico]

* Meanwhile, some folks are trying to find an ethical conflict on the part of Bob Mueller, which is probably the only endeavor more doomed than health care repeal. [Law360]

* Speaking of ethics, is it ethical to ghostwrite cert oppositions to hide from the justices? [National Law Journal / Supreme Court Brief]

* Louisiana required a birth certificate to get married. Past tense is key here. [CBS News]

* Judge slaps down one sanctuary city lawsuit. Another still on the horizon. [Texas Tribune]

* The most interesting thing about this right of publicity case against Facebook is that someone used the phrase “country rap” with a straight face. [The Recorder]