Politics

* Both Lady Gaga and Katy Perry have now been dragged into the legal battle between Kesha and producer Dr. Luke that’s been ongoing since October 2014. During a recent discovery hearing, a judge ruled that Dr. Luke may show Perry a text message sent from Kesha to Gaga that had previously been sealed by the court. The contents of the mysterious message are currently unknown to the public. [Daily Mail]

* Oopsie! U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts is recusing himself from the Life Technologies v. Promega patent case that was heard on December 6. As it turns out, Roberts owns $175,000 of stock in Thermo Fisher Scientific — which owns Life Technologies — but his chambers “inadvertently failed to find this potential conflict.” Thanks to the error, only seven of the high court’s eight justices will render a decision in the case. [Reuters]

* Democratic leaders of the California Legislature have hired former AG Eric Holder, now a partner at Covington & Burling, to represent them in any legal fights against Donald Trump’s Republican White House administration. Having Holder on their side will cost a pretty penny, but “[t]he cost will be very minimal compared to the billions of dollars at stake if California doesn’t adequately make its case.” [New York Times]

* Uh-oh… The European and Middle Eastern arm of King & Wood Mallesons has stopped paying its staff members ahead of its forthcoming administration. The number of staff who have been placed on unpaid leave pending expected layoffs is around 100 at the moment. They were notified earlier this week that while they’re still technically employed by the firm, they won’t receive pay checks. Happy New Year! [Legal Week]

* “Their malfeasance has made it to where we can’t get federal loans anymore, but they still want us to pay full price and give them that same amount and pretend like they didn’t do anything wrong – like it was our fault.” Charlotte Law students aren’t too keen about taking out private loans to complete their degrees at Florida Coastal Law, and in fact, they’d like to see the school president and dean loss their jobs. [WBTV]

* “Judge Garland is respected on both sides of the aisle. That he did not even get so much as a hearing will be a stain on the legacy of the Republican Senate.” After languishing for a total of 293 days, D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court officially expired yesterday at noon with the formal adjournment of the 114th Congress. [Wall Street Journal]

* Following eight years at the helm of one of the most prestigious schools in the county, Dean Martha Minow of Harvard Law will be stepping down from her position at the end of the academic year. Minow plans to return to teaching a full course load this summer, and according to inside sources at the school, a search for her successor will begin “soon.” We’ll have more on this news development later today. [Harvard Crimson]

* Judge William Pryor (11th Cir.) was named acting chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Pryor, who is under consideration to be President-elect Trump’s SCOTUS nominee, says he looks forward to “developing federal sentencing policies that further the goals of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.” [U.S. Sentencing Commission]

* President-elect Trump has chosen Skadden Arps partner Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative. Lighthizer served as deputy U.S. trade representative in the Reagan administration, and Trump believes he “will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperity.” [USA Today]

* As days go by without word of a resolution as to the school’s federal loan issues, lawsuits continue to pile up against the Charlotte Law. Students now claim the school has sentenced them “to years of indentured servitude” by saddling them “with crushing, non-dischargeable debt that will take literally decades to pay off.” [Charlotte Observer]

* In the dead of night, Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bipartisan bill to fund legal services for the poor. [The Slot]

* Fighting the good fight for open access to courtrooms around the country. [Katz Justice]

* Is this a good way to avoid a lawsuit with your therapist? [Law and More]

* Regrets? Chuck Schumer has a few. [The Hill]

* India’s Supreme Court bans political campaigns based on identity politics. [New York Times]

* Excellent advice: always check the dataset. [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

* Kellyanne Conway, President-elect Trump’s campaign manager, has accepted a position as his counselor once his administration takes over at the White House, and now her husband, George Conway of Wachtell Lipton, has found himself on the shortlist to become the U.S. solicitor general. He’s argued only one Supreme Court case, which is unusual for those being considered for the position. [Bloomberg Politics]

* In his year-end report on the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts managed to steer clear of controversial topics — such as the high court being short handed since Justice Scalia’s death or the Senate’s failure to confirm Judge Merrill Garland — instead choosing to focus on the “underappreciated” role of district court judges, writing that “[t]his is no job for impulsive, timid, or inattentive souls.” [Washington Post]

* “There’s no legitimacy to a Supreme Court justice in a seat that’s been stolen from one administration and handed to another. We need to do everything we possibly can to block it.” When it comes to the confirmation process for President-elect Trump’s SCOTUS nominee, we can expect to see a battle thanks to Senate Democrats in the wake of Senate Republicans’ obstruction of Judge Garland’s nomination. [The Guardian]

* One day before they were set to go into effect, Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction on the enforcement of the Affordable Care Act’s protections for transgender and abortion-related healthcare services. O’Connor is the same judge who issued a nationwide injunction on the enforcement of the Obama administration’s transgender protections in schools. [BuzzFeed]

* Convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, who is representing himself for the penalty phase of his trial, has rejected a defense based on mental illness because he is “morally opposed to psychology.” He’ll make an opening statement, but won’t call any witnesses or present any evidence. If Roof is sentenced to death, it will be the first time a jury has done so in a case involving a federal hate crimes law. [New York Times]

* The “Obama can still appoint Merrick Garland” trope always seemed stupid and easily reversible. Here’s a thorough explanation of why. [Washington Post / Volokh Conspiracy]

* Now that Twitter has officially begat a president, it’s time for law professors to fully embrace the platform. Make Academia Great Again! [Prawfsblawg]

* Someone at Barclay’s is a Simpsons fan… and that knowledge has spawned a DOJ investigation. [Lowering the Bar]

* The Top 5 Fantasy Sports and Law stories of the year. [Forbes]

* Discussing the legal status of the different participants in the Rogue One mission. [The Legal Geeks]

* Should Facebook be in the business of labeling fake news? [Dorf on Law]

* What’s it like to work in an American firm in London? [Legal Cheek]

* “Absent a showing that the requested enforcement action could not shake loose a few more emails, the case is not moot.” Because 2016 isn’t over yet and we love kicking horses thought to be dead, the D.C. Circuit has revived a legal challenge regarding Hillary Clinton’s private email server that was once considered to be moot. [Reuters]

* The Supreme Court may be taking a turn to the conservative side come 2017, but not immediately. It’s expected that shortly after his inauguration, President Trump will announce his nominee in either late January or early February, with confirmation hearings held in March, and a vote sometime in April. By the time a new justice is sworn in, there will be just a few days left of oral arguments for the current Term. [NPR]

* “This case of cyber meets securities fraud should serve as a wake-up call for law firms around the world.” Three Chinese hackers have been charged with breaking into the servers of several Biglaw firms — firms like Cravath and Weil Gotshal — to illegally trade on stolen information. They made more than $4 million, but only one of them has been arrested thus far and is awaiting extradition to the United States. [Bloomberg]

* “Providing a profit motive to make arrests gives officers an incentive to make improper arrests.” In counties across the country, those who are arrested must pay “booking fees,” regardless of whether or not they are found guilty of their crimes. Two cases regarding these fees will soon be heard by the Supreme Court in early 2017, and one county was so brazen that it didn’t even bother to submit a brief in opposition. [New York Times]

* If you’re applying to law school, you may be wondering how you can make the strongest argument for your acceptance in your application. Focus on your essays and make sure that you provide compelling examples of the type of person you are and your career goals. If you can sway just one person on the admissions committee to give you a chance, then you might soon find an acceptance letter with your name on it. [U.S. News]

* According to CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford, sources have said that President-elect Trump has narrowed his list of potential Supreme Court nominees down to five candidates: Bill Pryor (Eleventh Circuit), Thomas Hardiman (Third Circuit), Steve Colloton (Eighth Circuit), Diane Sykes (Seventh Circuit), and Joan Larsen (Michigan Supreme Court). Which judge do you think the PEOTUS will choose? [Face the Nation / CBS News]

* President-elect Trump isn’t just inheriting a Supreme Court vacancy — he’s inheriting much, much more. Thanks to an “unprecedented level of obstruction” on the part of Republican senators when it came to President Obama’s federal judicial nominees, there are more than 100 judicial vacancies, which will give the Trump administration the leeway to reshape the judiciary through lifetime appointments. [Washington Post]

* Is the end near for the European and Middle Eastern branch of King & Wood Mallesons? As other Biglaw firms poach partners, the firm has filed a notice to appoint administrators, and according to a spokesperson, this legal move was “designed to protect the firm from its creditors … as it continues to explore all available options.” The firm is not expected to file for pre-pack administration until January. [Am Law Daily]

* There is a dire shortage of rural lawyers in flyover country, and it’s causing the justice gap to become even wider in some states. For example, Nebraska has 93 counties, and 11 of them are without a single lawyer. This is a problem that’s left other lawyers traveling far and wide to see clients and potential clients attempting to handle their legal matters themselves — which has caused errors in business matters, divorces, and wills. [NPR]

* If you’ve applied to law school, you may be wondering how you can best prepare for a recorded video interview. You may think it’s tough to impress an admissions committee through such impersonal means, but if you prepare for this as if it were a live interview, keep your answers short and sweet (think one minute or less), and be yourself, you’ll have this one in the bag. You can review some of these practice questions. [U.S. News]

* Claud “Tex” McIver, the Fisher & Phillips partner who accidentally shot and killed his wife and allegedly blamed the incident on a local Black Lives Matter protest, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter (a felony) and reckless conduct (a misdemeanor). McIver will now be retiring from the firm at the end of the year, instead of in 2017 as originally planned. [Big Law Business]

* “We keep being told that the administration was so surprised. Then you read what the government released. How can you possibly have been surprised?” Students at Charlotte Law are incredibly angry that the school was dropped from the federal loan program, and many feel like they were duped by the administration. Some students have even contacted local law firms to discuss filing suit against the school. [Charlotte Observer]

* “Your father is ruining the country. Why is she on our flight? She should be flying private.” The unruly passenger who allegedly accosted future first daughter Ivanka Trump on a JetBlue flight to Florida yesterday is — you guessed it — a lawyer. Daniel J. Goldstein, a graduate of UCLA Law, once worked as a labor relations specialist at the U.S. Mint before moving to Brooklyn. His current place of work is unknown. [Forward]

* According to the results of an investigation by a law firm hired by the University of Oregon, law professor Nancy Shurtz committed “discriminatory harassment” by wearing a blackface costume on Halloween, in violation of the school’s anti-discrimination policies. The report does not indicate if Professor Shurtz was punished, but she is no longer on paid leave and is not scheduled to teach this spring. [The Oregonian]

* Michelle K. Lee, the outgoing director of the Patent and Trademark Office, says the “interactions that we have been having [with the president-elect’s transition team] are very positive,” and that although Donald Trump’s relationship with the denizens of Silicon Valley has at times been rocky, she thinks “any administration would have a strong and robust intellectual property system as a priority.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Alec Baldwin will be playing controversial Brooklyn prosecutor Michael Vecchione in a new TV series in development that was adapted from the lawyer’s 2015 book, Crooked Brooklyn (affiliate link). Not to worry, because we’re sure that the actor will still be able to find the time during his shooting schedule to impersonate and infuriate President-elect Trump with his portrayals on Saturday Night Live. [Page Six / New York Post]