Sexual Assault

* Hope Hicks, Donald Trump‘s former communications director, will testify today before the House Judiciary Committee, which is leading an investigation into the president’s possible obstruction of justice. The closed-door hearing could last all day. Let’s see how this one goes… [Reuters]

* Thanks to some intervention by the DOJ, it looks like Paul Manafort won’t be going to Rikers after all. He’ll remain in federal custody during his state proceedings. [ABC News]

* In the wake of the Kozinski sexual harassment scandal, the Ninth Circuit has hired a workplace relations director and adopted some meaningful changes to its dispute resolution policy and its confidentiality policy. Plus, communications skills training will be mandatory all employees, including judges. [Big Law Business]

* In case you missed it, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg won the Best Real-Life Hero at the MTV Movie & TV Awards. She was also nominated in the Best Fight category for her fight against inequality, but lost to Captain Marvel’s fight against Minn-Erva. [The Hill]

* A student from Florida A&M Law has filed suit against the school, claiming that FAMU didn’t respond appropriately after an admissions counselor allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed her. We’ll have more on this later. [Daily Business Review]

* President Trump doesn’t seem to be as enthusiastic about special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report being released to Congress and the public anymore, which is strange since it was a “complete and total exoneration.” [POLITICO]

* Meanwhile, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee seem to be divided over how quickly they want to subpoena the full Mueller report from Attorney General William Barr. Either way, a vote will take place sometime today. [Washington Post]

* Law firm merger activity has been really strong during the first quarter of 2019, with 27 firms combining thus far. Right now, this is on track with last year’s record-setting merger mania, when 106 firms officially tied the knot. [Big Law Business]

* New York real estate lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey, who once told a tenant he “should commit suicide,” has been suspended for four months after reportedly running into an arbitration hearing and swearing at a witness. [New York Law Journal]

* According to a report from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, lawyers once connected to Wynn Resorts — including two former GCs — allegedly helped conceal sexual assault and misconduct claims against Steven Wynn, the casino’s founder. [Corporate Counsel]

* Oopsie! As an FYI, in Texas, it’s completely possible to accidentally resign from your position as a judge. Don’t make the same mistake as this poor jurist. [Reuters]

* “We take the allegations against Justin very seriously.” Justin Fairfax, the lieutenant governor of Virginia who’s embroiled in a sexual assault scandal, has taken a leave of absence from Morrison & Foerster, where he’s a partner, as the firm itself conducts its own investigation into the allegations. [National Law Journal]

* High revenue and even higher demand resulted in law firms posting their best results since just before the recession, with Am Law 50 and niche/boutique firms outperforming the rest of their industry counterparts. Unfortunately, all of this good news could come to an end in 2020… [American Lawyer]

* Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a former partner partner at Dorsey & Whitney and Gray Plant Mooty, has officially announced her candidacy for president, making her the fifth major player who’s a lawyer to join the Democratic race for 2020. [POLITICO]

* Thanks to the PBS show “Finding Your Roots,” Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) recently learned that he’s not the only lawyer in his family. The show helped him discover that his third great grandfather — a 1786 law graduate of the University of Granada — graduated 210 years before he graduated from Miami Law. [Tampa Bay Times]

* “This should be up to the highest court in the land. And she should stay out of jail until this case runs it course.” A lawyer for Michelle Carter, the Massachusetts woman who was convicted for involuntary manslaughter in her friend’s suicide-by-text, has vowed to take her case to the Supreme Court. [Boston Herald]

* The D.C. Circuit awarded more than $501M in damages to the family of Otto Warmbier, the student who tortured so badly in North Korea that he was left deaf, blind, unable to speak, and died shortly after he returned home. [New York Times]

* Trump’s DOJ has filed many emergency SCOTUS requests to bypass lower courts, but here are the ones to watch: the asylum ban, the DACA wind-down, the transgender military ban, the citizenship census, and kids’ climate change. [PBS NewsHour]

* Ex-district judge and U.S. AG Michael Mukasey says Bill Barr is “probably the best-qualified nominee for U.S. attorney general since Robert Jackson in 1940.” Mukasey has also linked “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” to Islamic terrorism. [Wall Street Journal]

* Not even a weird video in character as Frank Underwood can help him now: Kevin Spacey has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor and is scheduled to be arraigned on a felony charge of indecent assault and battery. [Boston Globe]

* In case you missed it,after declaring war against the lack of diversity in the arbitration world, rapper Jay-Z managed to get the American Arbitration Association to commit to expanding its roster of black arbitrators. [Hollywood Reporter]

* “BREAKING: President Donald Trump repeatedly mocks Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.” When I got this alert on my phone last night, I couldn’t help myself but to blurt out, “F**k that guy.” That’s our president! Not sure why I expected more. [NBC News]

* According to Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate will vote on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh just as soon as the F.B.I. wraps up its investigation — which could be as early as sometime today. Gee, it’s almost as if they don’t care about what the results are. [New York Times]

* In the meantime, more than 500 law professors have signed onto two letters that will be presented to the Senate, each condemning Kavanaugh’s “lack of judicial temperament” and “lack of respect for our democratic institutions and women in positions of power in particular.” At least they’re trying. [Guardian]

* Sedgwick closed up shop sometime around the beginning of 2018, and the failed firm finally got around to filing for bankruptcy, and the court documents read like a Greek Biglaw tragedy. We have have more on this later. [Law360 (sub. req.)]

* Which Biglaw firm has the strongest brand? It’s not the firm with the highest revenue, and it’s not the firm with the largest headcount, but this firm has that certain je ne sais quoi that makes clients love their attorneys. [American Lawyer]

* President Trump asked the FBI to investigate the claims of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, the first two women to accuse would-be SCOTUS justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault and misconduct, leaving out Julie Swetnick’s claims to the chagrin of her lawyer. [Wall Street Journal]

* So, just how limited in scope will the FBI’s new Kavanaugh inquiry be? Trump claims that the bureau has “free rein,” but no one who has contradicted the judge’s claims about his drinking and partying as a high school and college student are going to be interviewed. [New York Times]

* HLS is second best at feeling shame: Following student protests against Kavanaugh teaching at Harvard Law, the elite law school’s dean won’t come out and say whether the accused jurist will still have a job in legal academia come 2019. [HuffPost]

* ICYMI amid the Kavanaugh craziness, a judge ruled that the plaintiffs in Blumenthal v. Trump — the 201 Democratic members of Congress — have standing to sue the president for his alleged violations of the emoluments clause. [National Law Journal]

* That was quick! In the span of just a few days, Elon Musk settled the securities fraud lawsuit filed against him by the SEC, and the deal calls for him to pay a $20 million fine and step down as Tesla’s chairman for the next three years. [New York Times]