Politics

* Been there, done that: The political standoff having to do with Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court is nothing new. When he was nominated to the D.C. Circuit by President Bill Clinton in September 1995, Senate Republicans refused to hold a confirmation vote for him until March 1997. If patience is a virtue, then Garland has got to be the most virtuous judge of them all. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Is he the “most anti-gun Supreme Court nomination in decades”? Conservative group Judicial Crisis Network plans to spend $2 million on an ad campaign in opposition to Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s SCOTUS nod, calling attention to his “history of general hostility to the Second Amendment,” as well as his vote in the Heller case. [POLITICO]

* Greenberg Traurig has called off its merger talks with London-based Berwin Leighton Paisner, citing the firm’s “conservative approach to financial risk.” Executive chair Richard Rosenbaum penned a 540-word break-up letter announcing the bad news. The combined firm would’ve had more than 2,500 lawyers. [Big Law Businness / Bloomberg]

* Finally! The California Supreme Court approved of changing the state’s grueling three-day bar exam to a two-day exam, effective 2017. The first test day will consist of five essays and a performance test, and the second day will be the MBE. Both days will be weighted equally, and test takers will surely be less stressed. [State Bar of California]

* If you’ve started receiving law school admission offers, now is a great time to consider weighing your options for merit-based financial aid — carefully. If you wind up with a conditional scholarship offer, you better make sure to read all of the fine print, because if you don’t, you could wind up screwing yourself. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* President Obama will announce his pick to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia later this morning. Which member of the D.C. Circuit will he choose, Judge Sri Srinivasan or Judge Merrick Garland? America will find out at 11 a.m., and then the real political circus of trying to get a confirmation hearing will begin. [New York Times]

* “Republicans know they can’t get away with complete and total obstruction, so they may try to set up a double standard.” Senate Republicans have refused to fill the vacancy left on the Supreme Court left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, but it looks like more than 30 other federal judicial nominees may have been caught in the political fray. [AP]

* After having a district court judge’s deferred compensation remedy slapped down by the Ninth Circuit, lawyers in the O’Bannon NCAA student-athlete pay case have asked the Supreme Court to grant certiorari. The lawyers involved “[feel] so strongly in the principles involved” that they don’t care if they lose their fees and costs. [USA Today]

* A small victory for a washed-up Mean Girl? Lindsay Lohan has never really had much success when it comes to suing others on the basis of likeness appropriation, but a New York judge has refused to dismiss her case against Rockstar Games over a look-alike character in Grand Theft Auto V. You go, girl! [THR, ESQ. / Hollywood Reporter]

* Per Lex Machina, after a slow 2014, patent litigation rose by 14.7 percent in 2015. What’s troubling to some lawyers, though, is that all of the action has migrated to Texas courts: “Why should this little corner that’s not particularly a hotbed of innovation have such an important role to play in patent law?” [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Talent agency Rebel Entertainment Partners is suing CBS, the TV station that airs “Judge Judy,” because it claims Judge Judy is taking in such a high salary that the network has been unable to dole out its contractually obligated payments. Although she’s not named in the suit, Judge Judy, full of sarcasm, says this is “hilarious.” [Variety]

Speaking with Supreme Court historian Professor Peter Irons about Scalia, the nomination fight, and the people who helped shape the Court.

Trump is like a terrorist, and the only way terrorists win is when we overreact to them.

The artist claims to have received a legal threat -- and the situation highlights peculiar legal tangles that develop when political figures are celebrities.

Donald Trump thinks his First Amendment rights are under fire. They aren't -- and this lawyer had to school him on it.

* Now that the Supreme Court shortlist has been whittled down to just three appellate judges, people are speculating as to whether we’re on track to see our first Asian-American nominee. Sri Srinivasan, the front-runner whose “ethnic identity would be the real novel factor here,” could be the high court’s first Hindu justice. [Washington Post]

* Those on the left, however, apparently have objections to Judge Srinivasan’s nomination. During his time at both O’Melveny & Myers and the DOJ, he supported companies accused of gross human rights abuses — a “deeply disturbing” record for someone being considered for SCOTUS. [The Hill]

* Oopsie! Somebody wasted $250K! On Friday, Judicial Crisis Network launched an ad campaign against Judge Jane Kelly of the Eighth Circuit’s possible nomination to the nation’s highest court. You can “[t]ell your senator Jane Kelly doesn’t belong on the Supreme Court” all you want, but this is a bit of a moot point now. [POLITICO]

* Since “simply claiming that an attorney’s conduct was fraudulent does not allow plaintiffs to circumvent attorney immunity,” the Fifth Circuit tossed a suit alleging that Proskauer Rose and Chadbourne & Parke helped to conceal R. Allen Stanford’s $7.2B Ponzi scheme. Stanford is serving a 110-year sentence. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* You snooze, you lose: “[W]e find it impossible not to conclude that [Nikita] Mackey slept, and was therefore not functioning as a lawyer during a substantial portion of the trial.” The Fourth Circuit vacated a man’s conviction and 30-year sentence because his lawyer slept “almost every day” of his trial, for at least 30 minutes. [WSJ Law Blog]

We're one step closer to a Supreme Court nominee.

It's been a month since Justice Scalia died... are we any closer to having a nominee?

Old Meltyface doesn't need a logical transition moment to cravenly bash the financial sector.

Marco Rubio predicts the success of a potential lawsuit.

* Justice Elizabeth Warren? While that may have a nice ring to it for some, given the extreme political gridlock that any Supreme Court nominee — much less someone who’s considered a staunch Democrat — will be subjected to in the Senate, it’s just not something that’s ever likely to happen during President Obama’s last term. [CNN]

* Not that he was a very likely choice to begin with, but Judge Adalberto Jordan of the Eleventh Circuit has asked that he be taken out of consideration for a Supreme Court nomination to fill the vacancy left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. He would’ve been the Court’s first Cuban-American justice if appointed and confirmed. [Associated Press]

* Senator Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary, says the nominee is “totally irrelevant,” he’s not going to consider giving anyone a hearing — not even Judge Jane Kelly of the Eighth Circuit, who he strongly supported just years earlier when she was unanimously confirmed by the Senate for her current position. [Gazette of Cedar Rapids]

* More than 100 corporate lawyers from firms like Paul Weiss, Arent Fox, and Bradley Arant signed a letter urging Senate Republicans to fill the empty SCOTUS seat. After all, a lengthy vacancy could create “uncertainty for the financial industry, major corporate employees, as well as small businesses,” also known as their clients. [WSJ Law Blog]

* According to a report by IT security company TruShield, the legal industry was heavily targeted by cyber threats in January. The only reason law firms didn’t suffer any serious setbacks is because they’ve invested in network security. For a profession that really loathes new technologies, we’re doing A-okay. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

Just how poor is Donald Trump?

Please just STFU, Bernie.

Trump is typically regarded as the least scientific candidate, but according to Scott Adams, he is the best at using the "science of persuasion."

He'd be the perfect conservative stand-in for the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

* “I’ve taught immigration law literally to 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds.” Immigration Judge Jack H. Weil seems to think that children facing deportation don’t need court-appointed attorneys because they’re perfectly capable of representing themselves. We’ll have more on this later. [Washington Post]

* “[T]his will be the first time a law school will be on trial to defend its public employment figures.” It’s taken five years, but Anna Alaburda will finally get to face off in court against Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Soon we’ll find out if the word “allegedly” can stop being used as a prefix for the school’s allegedly deceptive job statistics. [DealBook / New York Times]

* If President Obama nominates Judge Jane Kelly of the Eighth Circuit for a seat on SCOTUS, then Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) of the Senate Judiciary Committee could be in a pickle. Would Kelly, a longtime Iowa public defender, be refused a hearing even though Grassley supported her when she was appointed in 2013? [Des Moines Register]

* The Alabama Supreme Court begrudgingly dismissed suits filed by conservative groups seeking a ruling declaring that the state’s anti-gay marriage laws were still in effect, despite the SCOTUS decision in Obergefell. In a concurrence at odds with reality, Chief Justice Roy Moore held fast to his belief that the state’s law was still intact. [AL.com]

* As we mentioned previously, the American Bar Association will vote on a change to its bar passage rate rules for law schools. Schools notorious for their bar passage problems better hold onto their hats if this proposal is passed, because their accreditation may quickly turn out to be like their graduates’ job prospects: nonexistent. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Perhaps this means the return of cool Hillary. [The Slot]

* Yes, you can laugh at the Supreme Court. [Bloomberg View]

* Deflategate oral arguments happened. Prognosticators are prognosticating that Tom Brady may indeed have to sit out some games. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* Yeaaaah, you aren’t supposed to do that. Lab tech faked results, and now 2,100 criminal convictions are up for review due to the impropriety. [NJ.com]

* Multitasking — and not looking like an ass in the process — is a real art form. [Daily Lawyer Tips]

* Why is no one talking about how progressive Hillary’s tax plan really is? [Slate]

* Yeah, Donald Trump is still TOTALLY into war crimes. [Huffington Post]

The University of Miami newspaper finally admits that Marco Rubio went to UM Law after compiling some shockingly tepid quotes from people who knew him in school.

According to columnist Kayleigh McEnany, President Donald Trump would appoint conservative textualists who would make for excellent Scalia replacements.