Murder

* It’s a party, and all of Donald Trump’s friends are invited! The president’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has been dragged into the probe of Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election. House and Senate investigators asked him to provide testimony, but he politely declined because “the request was poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered.” [ABC News]

* “It’s nice knowing this will definitely be a beacon for other trans kids and other members of the community to look to as a source for hope.” A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit has affirmed a lower court ruling, stating that Title IX protects transgender students’ rights to use the bathrooms of their choice. This is the first time that an appellate court has issued a ruling of this kind. [Reuters]

* “No one knows how many qualified individuals never even advance their names.” Biglaw attorneys would usually jump at the chance to leave private practice and take a gig working for the Labor Department, but under this presidential administration, there seems to be a bit of hesitancy due to their unwillingness to “incur a lifelong Trump association.” [Bloomberg BNA]

* More and more Biglaw firms have decided to reevaluate the way they evaluate their attorneys. Following Allen & Overy’s decision to eliminate performance reviews, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Fieldfisher, Withers, and RPC will each be changing the way they conduct their appraisal policies, and Linklaters will drop financial targets and partner reviews. We may have more on this. [Law.com]

* “Death to the enemies of America! You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism. Die.” Jeremy Christian, the Portland man accused of killing two men in a racially motivated attack on a train, didn’t enter a plea at his arraignment. Instead, he made incendiary outbursts, inviting spectators to shout back at him, calling him a “murderer.” His next hearing is on June 7. [Courthouse News Service]

* Remember when Judge Nicholas Garaufis (E.D.N.Y.) flipped out at Kirkland & Ellis for not sending a partner to cover a status hearing? It seems K&E and its client Facebook’s groveling won over the judge: cases dismissed. [ABA Journal]

* A big settlement in the Takata air bags litigation — and presumably big legal fees for some of the firms involved. [National Law Journal]

* Congratulations to Judge Amul Thapar (E.D. Ky.) on clearing the Senate Judiciary Committee; he should hopefully be on the Sixth Circuit soon. [Washington Times]

* Congratulations to Rachel Brand on her confirmation as associate attorney general — although it’s unfortunate that more Democrats didn’t cross the aisle to support her. [Law360]

* And be careful what you wish for, Democrats: now that we have Robert Mueller as special counsel, congressional inquiries into Trump/Russia-related matters could stall. [Washington Post]

* Speaking of Russia probes, should President Donald Trump hire outside counsel to represent him? да, да. [New York Times]

* A closer look at prominent lawyer John K. Bush, nominated by President Trump to the Sixth Circuit. [Vetting Room via How Appealing]

* Does size matter? Yes — at least in this murder case where the defendant is invoking a “big penis” defense. [New York Post]

* “I hope you can let this go.” Former FBI director James Comey was writing memos detailing his conversations with Donald Trump to document what he believed were the president’s improper attempts to influence the Michael Flynn investigation. Comey, a damn good lawyer, likely knew that an FBI agent’s notes are admissible in court as credible evidence. [New York Times]

* The Securities and Exchange Commission just got a Biglaw-style facelift: SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, formerly of Sullivan & Cromwell, has asked Willkie Farr partner Robert Stebbins to serve as his general counsel and SullCrom associate Sean Memon to serve as his deputy chief of staff. [Big Law Business]

* Rolling your eyes and calling a federal judge’s ruling on an objection “f*cking bullsh*t” will certainly do you absolutely no favors in Judge Amy St. Eve’s courtroom. In fact, it just might get you suspended from practice for three months and barred from being a lead trial attorney for a year. [Chicago Tribune]

* “I’m an attorney in a capital case!” In videos introduced into evidence during Dylann Roof’s mental competency hearings, the convicted killer said his attorneys were “evil,” “the spawn of hell,” and “liars,” and only wanted to keep them while representing himself “so I can abuse them.” [Post and Courier]

* Drake Law School has entered into an agreement with three historically black colleges and universities to increase its diversity. Entering students will be guaranteed a scholarship to cover at least half of their tuition. Drake’s first-time bar pass rate in Iowa was 82 percent in July 2016. [Iowa Public Radio]

* Checks and balances, how do they work? President Donald Trump seems to be looking for anyone and anything to blame for his first 100 days in office being bungled, and he’s finally settled on the rule system that controls the Senate, calling it a “very rough system,” an “archaic system” that’s “really a bad thing for the country.” [The Guardian]

* In other news, according to Reince Priebus, President Trump’s chief of staff, something that the White House has looked into is changing libel laws to make it easier to sue news organizations, but “[h]ow it gets executed or whether that goes anywhere is a different story.” Wow. [CNN]

* One things for sure — there’s no Supreme Court retirement watch here: Described as “exuberant,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently exclaimed that she “love[s] her job,” and that Justice Elena Kagan must be absolutely thrilled about Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation, since that means she’ll no longer have to suffer through the incredibly boring tasks typically given to the high court’s junior justice. [National Law Journal]

* “The logic of the decision is hard to accept. You’re OK’ing a system that perpetuates the inequity in compensation for women.” In a disheartening opinion, the Ninth Circuit said employers may legally pay women less than their male counterparts for the same work based exclusively on differences in their prior salaries, even though those differences were recently ruled discriminatory under the Equal Pay Act by a lower court. [CBS News]

* A second suspect has been arrested in the fatal April 10 shooting of Cook County Associate Judge Raymond Myles. Earl Wilson, 45, a man who is “no stranger to the criminal justice system,” was charged with first-degree murder. Per prosecutors, this was a robbery gone wrong, and Myles was not supposed to be killed. Myles is the first Chicago-area judge to be fatally shot in more than three decades. [Chicago Tribune]

* Late last week, the Hollywood Reporter released its annual ranking of the best attorneys who serve the nation’s most glamorous celebrities — the Hollywood 100 — which is always celebrated like “lawyer Christmas in Hollywood for a day.” How many Biglaw attorneys made the list in the tenth edition of the rankings, and how well represented are each of their firms? We’ll have more on this later. [Big Law Business]

* Eli Manning might be getting burned by discovery. [ESPN]

* The Covington & Burling report on sexual misconduct at Choate that is rocking the world of elite boarding schools. [New York Times]

* Aaron Hernandez found not guilty of a 2012 double murder. Don’t worry, he is still serving a life sentence for a 2013 murder. [Deadspin]

* Did Donald Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, misplace $350,000? [Buzzfeed]

* If only this was what really happened behind the scenes at SCOTUS. [Huffington Post]

* DOJ gives up on HB2 litigation. [Slate]

* The civil rights of students are… probably not in good hands. [Salon]