SCOTUS

Judge Posner is known for his willingness to take swings at those above him in the judicial hierarchy.

* It seems that Dentons didn’t have its fill after fattening itself up with a Luxembourg firm over Thanksgiving, so now the megafirm is considering feasting upon two Latin American firms — Cárdenas & Cárdenas and López Velarde Heftye y Soria — for its dessert. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Election 2016 is a year away, but it’s easy to see the makeup of the Supreme Court will continue to be an issue for presidential candidates, especially since both parties know “[w]e are one justice away” from a liberal or conservative majority. [MSNBC]

* Dean Martha Minow says Harvard Law will create a committee to investigate whether the school’s shield should be changed due to its ties to a cruel slaveowner. Send your comments, questions, and complaints to royall@law.harvard.edu. [Harvard Law Today]

* Robert Lewis Dear, the alleged gunman behind the Colorado Planned Parenthood shootings, is expected to be charged with first-degree murder next week. It’s not yet been disclosed whether he’ll be charged with federal domestic terrorism. [Los Angeles Times]

* This turkey won’t be pardoned: The Thanksgiving Day White House fence-jumper who draped an American flag over the fence while gripping a U.S. Constitution pocket guide in his teeth was criminally charged after ruining the Obamas holiday. [WSJ Law Blog]

* That was fast! When Howard Bashman (of our sister site How Appealing) talks, the U.S. Supreme Court listens. [How Appealing]

* She doesn’t mention it much on the campaign trail, but Carly Fiorina is the daughter of Article III aristocracy — the late Judge Joseph T. Sneed III, a prominent conservative on the Ninth Circuit. [New York Times]

* Is the supposed “hate crime” at Harvard Law School, involving the placement of black tape on the portraits of African-American law professors, actually a hoax? [Powerline via TaxProf Blog]

* Elsewhere in academia, Professor Glenn Reynolds wonders: “If a cabal of Evil Conservatives set out to destroy academia from within, what, exactly, would it be doing differently?” [Instapundit]

* Star Wars fans, discuss: “The Law is a Sith,” according to Professor Adam Kolber. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Can states bar Syrian refugees? Professor Ilya Somin thinks not (at least under current Supreme Court precedent). [Volokh Conspiracy]

* Thoughts from Professor Ronald K.L. Collins on Hines v. Alldredge, the occupational speech case previously discussed by Tamara Tabo. [Concurring Opinions]

* What can be done about problematic prosecutors? [New York Times via How Appealing]

How would you like it if your father got unfairly criticized on national television?

Ed. note: We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. As we mentioned before Thanksgiving, we’ll be on a reduced publication schedule today.

* Randall Kennedy, one of the African-American Harvard Law School professors whose portraits got marked with black tape, shares HLS alum Elie Mystal’s reaction to the incident: he is unimpressed. [New York Times]

* In other Harvard Law news, an HLS librarian got arrested after police claim he tried to arrange a sexual meet-up with a deputy posing as an underage girl in Colorado (site of a librarians’ conference). [Boston Globe]

* Former Supreme Court clerk Brianne Gorod argues that SCOTUS can and should decide Texas’s challenge to President Obama’s executive action on immigration this Term (i.e., before the 2016 election). [Constitutional Accountability Center via How Appealing]

* Ohio State law student Madison Gesiotto is not happy with how administrators responded when one of her conservative columns prompted a threat from a fellow student. [Washington Times]

* The SEC just dropped its civil insider trading case against former SAC Capital Advisors LP portfolio manager Michael Steinberg. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Let’s rank the top 10 women Supreme Court justices! Oh wait, there are only four…. [National Law Journal]

* Linda Greenhouse offers her reflections on “Sex After 50” (at SCOTUS). [New York Times via How Appealing]

* The father of Paul Walker is suing Porsche for negligence and wrongful death over the 2013 car crash that killed Walker, of “Fast and Furious” fame. [AP via WSJ Law Blog]

Judge Richard Posner is the Republican-appointed judge we need on the Supreme Court. He may not be the one we deserve, and will almost certainly not be the one we get, but it is fun to imagine.

This Term the Supreme Court could issue one of its most important rulings to date on the legal status of occupational speech -- speech performed in the context of one’s occupation or profession.

Which justice should lawyers be bowing down before?

* Will it ever be easier to meet the challenge of proving you’ve got an undue hardship so you can discharge your law school student loan debts in bankruptcy? Your fate may rest in the hands of this indebted Florida Coastal Law grad and his petition for certiorari at the Supreme Court. [US Law Week Blog / Bloomberg]

* Hate crimes still happen, even at this prestigious law school: Amid increased racial turbulence on campus, the Harvard University Police Department is now investigating the defacing of black law professors’ portraits as a hate crime. [ABC News]

* UVA Law recently joined the minority of law schools that have women serving as dean. Pop your collars with pride, because legal historian Risa Goluboff will take over as the school’s first female dean this July. Congratulations! [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

* Gordon Rees has settled its lawsuit against Alex Rodriguez over the baseball player’s outstanding legal bills, totaling more than $380,000. The terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but we have a feeling that the firm hit it out of the park. [NBC New York]

* Try before you buy or a bid to increase tourism? Alaska is making bold moves now that it’s legalized marijuana for recreational use. It’ll be the first state to allow the social use of the drug “in public,” i.e., inside pot dispensaries that have yet to open. [Cannabist]

This plan was introduced one year ago, and now the Obama administration is asking for SCOTUS intervention to implement it.

Did you know that there's an actual award, including a cash prize, for this distinction?

If not Scalia, who do you think is the best SCOTUS justice of all time?

* Earlier this week, Justice Elena Kagan went back to the law school she used to call her home to discuss statutory interpretation. It seems the former Harvard Law School dean fancies herself a “textualist” these days, just like her hunting buddy. Gee, thanks for that, Justice Scalia. [Harvard Crimson]

* A recent graduate of Appalachian School of Law with an affinity for criminal law has been accused of murder after shooting his uncle’s girlfriend in the chest and killing her. He waived his preliminary hearing, and the charges he’s facing will now go straight to a grand jury. [WV MetroNews]

* As Election 2016 inches closer, Biglaw firms are beginning to show their political stripes. Paul Weiss is holding a big old fundraiser for Hillary Clinton tonight. Look out, big spenders, because tickets for this event cost $2,700 each. [Washington Free Beacon]

* After nearly three decades as chairman, Gary LeClair of LeClairRyan is stepping down and letting someone else take over — three someone elses, to be precise. The firm’s leadership structure is changing completely. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* A senior analyst at BrownGreer was the recent victim of a carjacking. He was forced by his assailant to lead police on a chase, and was later shot in the head. He was last listed as being in critical, but stable condition. We wish him well. [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

* Eric Schneiderman sure is keeping busy. Now he’s investigating a troubled non-profit. [New York Daily News]

* Legal scholar Cass Sunstein is writing a book about Star Wars. What big questions should he tackle? [New York Magazine]

* Exploring the potential First Amendment implications for computers. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Thank goodness she didn’t! Justice Sotomayor talks about how she nearly pulled out of the confirmation process. [Daily Progress]

* Law firms? Slow to change? Go on… [Geek Law Blog]

* Speaking of law firms and change, here’s some advice on updating your website. [Law Reboot]

This is the big abortion fight we've been waiting for.

How many years does Justice Scalia think a law school education should last?

Should conservatives and libertarians be delighted or disappointed by the U.S. Supreme Court at this milestone?

* DraftKings and FanDuel aren’t going to take a knee and allow New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to rip away their gamblers clients. Both daily fantasy sites have refused to stop conducting business in New York, and have instead filed suit against Schneiderman with some hefty Biglaw backing. [WSJ Law Blog]

* During a recent speaking engagement at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Justice Antonin Scalia explained why he writes such scathingly quotable dissents: “I’m writing dissents mainly for you guys—for law students. I know it will be in the casebooks.” [University of St. Thomas NewsRoom]

* SCOTUS granted cert in a challenge to Texas abortion laws, and some wonder how this decision will affect other states’ laws. If the justices don’t think these restrictions represent an undue burden, then women may as well hang up their ovaries and go home. [Reuters]

* We’ll have to rely on old faithful, Justice RBG, to raise the torch for women. She recently sat down for tea with Gloria Steinem to discuss women’s rights. “Ruth is better at getting along with people with whom we profoundly disagree,” says Steinem. [New York Times]

* The “least sexy” part of a merger? If you want to know what took the Dentons / Dacheng merger so long to be formalized, Dentons CEO Elliott Portnoy says it had to do with website, logo, communications, and marketing issues. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

I thought the Court really had a chance to change something here, boy was I wrong.

Looking judicial and fashionable isn't always straightforward.