Tax Law

* It’s checkout time at the Supreme Court, and courtroom correspondent Mark Walsh is ready to reveal what’s in his shopping cart. [SCOTUSblog]

* Being cited by the Supreme Court is usually something to boast about — but not always, as Adam Feldman notes in this thoughtful analysis of how much oral arguments matter. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Will Baude breaks down the Court’s intriguing debate over stare decisis in South Dakota v. Wayfair. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Joel Cohen looks at why the federal judiciary gets better treatment from the press than the other two branches of government — and whether the differential is justified. [The Hill]

* Orin Kerr identifies an interesting issue: if a police officer uses Google Translate to try and request consent to search from a non-English speaker in that person’s own language, is the consent valid if Google Translate botched the translation? [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* There’s a long and bipartisan tradition of… the federal government spying on reporters, as Charles Glasser explains. [Daily Caller]

* Speaking of the media, Jean O’Grady points out a helpful new resource from CQ for consumers of news, along with tips for how to tell whether or not a story is “fake news.” [Dewey B Strategic]

* If reforms come to university boardrooms, let’s hope they include law schools as well. [ProfessorBainbridge via Instapundit]

* An interesting new use of voice-activated technology, courtesy of Wolters Kluwer: getting insights into federal tax law. [Artificial Lawyer]

* If you’ll be in New York on Tuesday, July 17, raise your glass with fellow young lawyers, summer associates, and law students, at the UJA’s Summer Law Happy Hour. [UJA Federation of New York]

Court overturns its own precedent, because of this thing called 'the Internet.'

* “It was a mistake. I swear to God,” remarks Giuliani outlining the excuse for conflicting testimony that works like a charm for every other criminal defendant. [CNN]

* Law professors point out that Trump’s lawyers are bad at their jobs, which isn’t news but will somehow dominate the news cycle and still not sway anyone who isn’t already on board with these facts. [Politico]

* Judge Aaron Perksy — who sentenced rapist Brock Turner to a mere six months — may get recalled today. So it’s a good time to remind everyone of this older post laying out exactly how dangerous and misguided this is. Persky may deserve to lose his job in due course… but embracing the recall mechanism for judges who hand down lenient sentences is a one-way road to needless mass incarceration, usually with a heavy dose of racial bias. [Slate]

* Liverpool player injured in nasty tackle has achieved immortality as the subject of a law school exam question. [BBC]

* The NFL may have a new problem with its disastrous anthem policy — it violates multiple state constitutions… in states with perennial playoff teams too. [Slate]

* Despite the death of the prime suspect, Arizona law firms went ahead and beefed up security in the wake of the recent paralegal murders. [AZ Central]

* The GOP tax bill accidentally put a tax on victims of sexual abuse because that’s what happens when you railroad a bill through both chambers in the middle of the night with a bunch of hand-written amendments in the margins. [Bloomberg]

* Sex workers are taking action against SESTA/FOSTA, the ill-conceived anti-human trafficking law that really just puts legitimate sex workers in danger — almost like that was the politicians’ plan all along. [Gizmodo]

Right after the 16th Amendment was passed was a heady time to be a lawyer.

DMX faces up to five years in prison for tax evasion.

* Brad Karp and Christopher Boehning of Paul, Weiss make the case in favor of stripping gun manufacturers and sellers of their statutory immunity from suit in most negligence and product liability actions. [New York Times]

* Remember the Moonlight Fire case? Ten state AGs have filed an amicus brief in support of the cert petition. [U.S. Supreme Court]

* It’s almost time to file your taxes — and the Supreme Court just made it a little bit easier to cheat on them. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* In other SCOTUS news, the Court is taking its sweet time in handing down opinions this Term, as Adam Feldman observes. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* And speaking of Adam Feldman, he’s now working with SCOTUSblog — congratulations to both parties! [SCOTUSblog]

* Leading media lawyer Charles Glasser looks at the challenges that corrections pose to the media (both print and digital). [Daily Caller]

* Vineeta Vijayaraghavan points out that gun violence doesn’t spare the elite, noting that firearms killed three of her Harvard classmates (including Professor Dan Markel). [USA Today]

* Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics consulting firm, has been widely condemned for its work on the 2016 Trump election campaign — but it’s not clear that its conduct violated data-protection laws or even Facebook policies, according to Tim Pullan of ThoughtRiver. [Artificial Lawyer]

* Professor Michael Dorf remembers lawyer, author, and editor Julie Hilden, who passed away earlier this month. [Dorf on Law]

Under the new tax law, clients may be paying taxes on thousands of dollars in income they'll never see.

South Africa's decision to take land from white farmers without compensation is a noble thought, but there's a better way to execute the plan.

Unfortunately, the changes don't look promising.

* When it comes to the retrial of sexual-assault charges against Bill Cosby, there are many women — 19, to be exact — willing to testify #MeToo. [Jezebel]

* Best friends: which organizations file the most amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court? [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Judicata just ranked the brief-writing skills of 20 top California law firms; how did your firm fare? [Dewey B Strategic]

* How will artificial intelligence transform society? Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer of Microsoft, and Harry Shum, executive VP of Microsoft’s AI and research Group, share their insights. [Microsoft]

* Speaking of AI, how will it affect the world of legal practice? Jake Heller, CEO of AI pioneer Casetext, has answers.
[Artificial Lawyer]

* Professor Noah Feldman identifies the shortcomings of Twitter as a forum for legal discussion (but has some kind words for legal blogs, including the one you’re reading right now). [Bloomberg]

* Message boards are also valuable resources — like this one, “where all the unemployed lawyers go to cry.” [The Outline]

* Marc Randazza is a commendably fierce defender of the First Amendment, but this latest case might be a bridge too far. [Huffington Post]

* Check out this fascinating profile of a Mormon lawyer who lost his faith searching for an archaeological site. [Science]

* Why do we need people from s**thole countries? Meet five lawyers who prove the merits of immigration. [Lawfuel]

* Think twice before asking your accountant buddy to do your taxes for you. [Going Concern]

* Speaking of taxes, we’ve finally uncovered the real victims of the new tax scheme — partners who want a break on sports tickets. [Accounting Today]

Ed. note: We will not be publishing on Monday, January 15, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

* Will Geoffrey Berman, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, recuse from Deutsche Bank matters? It sure sounds like he should…. [Bloomberg Politics]

* Judge Shira A. Scheindlin and Joel Cohen offer advice to companies on how to handle sexual harassment allegations in a manner consistent with due process. [Guardian]

* And Glenn Reynolds has this modest proposal, also related to the problem of sexual harassment (in the federal judiciary): abolish clerkships. [Wall Street Journal]

* A quartet of tax law professors explain how a proposal to transform state and local tax payments into deductible charitable contributions to state and local government organizations could actually work.
[Slate]

* From Biglaw to big bucks: former associates Stephen Scanlan and Travis Leon sell their law-related startup, XRef, for a cool $10 million. [RollOnFriday]

* Professor Eugene Volokh: “There’s a fine line between being a ‘badass’ and….” [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* “Appeals court OKs F-Bombs for federal trademark protection.” F**king finally. [Techdirt]

* The Dewey & LeBoeuf criminal case ends with a whimper: former accounting manager Victoria Harrington just got sentenced to unconditional release (i.e., no prison time). [Law360]

* Michael Cohen is suing Buzzfeed over publishing the Trump intelligence dossier. He says the Russia collusion allegations are “not legitimate” but to paraphrase Judge Judy, “don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s a Russian prostitute.” [Bloomberg]

* Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is embroiled in boring, plodding lawsuit which actually sums up his offense pretty well. [Deadspin]

* The IRS is getting into the Bitcoin game. Maybe they can explain blockchain in terms that don’t involve magic. [Forbes]

* Justice Sotomayor bluntly confronted Noel Francisco over the administration’s 180 on voting rights. Francisco didn’t have a clear, straightforward  answer ready which is weird because “we managed to slip in the back door of the White House so we’re basically the Allstate Mayhem guy but for the Constitution” would’ve been a perfectly acceptable and honest answer. [National Law Journal]

* Meanwhile, a federal judge threw out a challenge to Alabama’s strict voter ID law finding the state had an important regulatory interest in combatting the voter fraud crisis that they can’t string together any evidence of. Jeez, maybe Brett Talley would have actually improved the Alabama federal bench. [NPR]

* For your daily reminder that Texas is a jerkweed backwater, the woman accused of drunkenly destroying hundreds of thousands of dollars in art faces a possible life sentence because Texas couldn’t figure out how to put the death penalty on it. [Texas Lawyer]

* Kirsten Gillibrand will use her blue slip to block the nomination of Greenberg Traurig’s Geoffrey Berman for the SDNY U.S. Attorney post. Or, more accurately these days, Kristin Gillibrand will use her blue slip to do absolutely nothing to slow down the nomination of Geoffrey Berman for the SDNY U.S. Attorney post. [New York Law Journal]

* Skadden avoids sanctions in Vijay Singh suit. Remember when the PGA was accusing people of doping… in golf? [Law360]

* Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has apparently “lost his mind,” and now he’s found himself on the receiving end of a cease-and-desist letter from President Trump’s lawyers, with claims that he’d not only violated his employment agreement with the Trump Organization, but that he’d likely defamed Trump. [Washington Post]

* According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York will be filing suit against the government over the new tax plan, contending that its limitation on SALT deductions constitutes unconstitutional “double taxation.” Will other states with high local taxes get on board? [Big Law Business]

* In an effort to beat a deadline, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is using his executive authority to appoint almost 20 interim U.S. attorneys. The jurisdictions where these appointments were made include districts in California, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, the Virgin Islands, and Washington. [NBC News]

* There were 102 law firm mergers in 2017, topping a record that was previously set in 2015. Now, just a few days into 2018, law firm mergers are still going strong and show no sign of stopping, and it may be because younger managing partners have replaced their baby boomer predecessors. [American Lawyer]

* Earlier this week, Judge Adrienne Nelson was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court by Governor Kate Brown. Nelson is the first African-American to ever serve on the state’s high court. Congratulations on making history, Your Honor! [Oregonian]

* Yet another DOJ veteran is leaving for greener pastures in academia. This time, it’s Doug Letter, director of the Civil Division appellate staff, who will bring 40 years of government service experience to Georgetown Law, where he’ll join the school’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. [National Law Journal]

* Luke Skywalker’s legal duty to save the galaxy. (Spoilers for The Last Jedi.) [The Legal Geeks]

* Will the class-action lawsuits against Apple for throttling older phones lead to a resurgence in class-actions? [Law and More]

* The latest episode of the Amicus podcast explores how to combat a history of harassment in the judiciary in the wake of the Alex Kozinski scandal. [Slate]

* Tracking the use of the phrase “help me” by Supreme Court justices in oral arguments… which is to track the passive-aggressive stylings of the Court. [Empirical SCOTUS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWP6Qki8mWc

* Yup, this is how the President of the United States used his Twitter account in 2017. [The Hill]

* Speaking of the President, he teases a Constitutional crisis in an impromptu interview. [Huffington Post]

* Could a feminist perspective change the tax code? [TaxProf Blog]

* Remember when President Trump attacked the federal judiciary, and Neil Gorsuch, then a Supreme Court nominee, called those statements “disheartening” and “demoralizing”? Gorsuch’s comments reportedly pissed off the president so much that his SCOTUS nomination was almost rescinded. [Washington Post]

* After passing the GOP’s sweeping tax overhaul by a margin of 227-203 yesterday afternoon, the House will need to vote again this morning because several provisions in the bill — including its name — violate the Senate’s Byrd Rule requirements. [TIME]

* Under would-be SCOTUS Justice Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s leadership, the D.C. Circuit will now live-stream audio of any oral argument upon request. Send your requests by email to liveaudiorequest@cadc.uscourts.gov. [Washington Post]

* See ya, Sedgwick! Up to 15 partners and up to 65 lawyers and staff members from the failed firm will be headed to Clyde & Co, boosting the British firm’s U.S. partnership by one-third. [American Lawyer; Big Law Business]

* What are the 20 cheapest law schools in the U.S. News Top 100? If you want to do your future finances a favor, you may have to go South. [Law.com]

* What are the legal words of the year? Here’s a hint, Above the Law helped popularize some of them. [Clear Writing]

* What will due process look like for Judge Alex Kozinski? Here’s a hint, a lifetime appointment certainly changes things. [National Law Journal]

* Is law school really “cool” again? Here’s a hint, it never was. [Law and More]

* What do you need to know about tax law in Trumpland? Here’s a hint, Tax Prof Blog has you covered. [Tax Prof Blog]

* Did Florida congressman Matt Gaetz really call for Robert Mueller to be fired? Here’s a hint, he’s not so good at “optics.” [ABC News]

* Do you really have to deal with sleep deprivation as a working mom? Here’s a hint, yes. Yes, you do (and here’re some tips to get through). [CorporetteMoms]

The proposed tax bill hurts partners and helps associates -- who'd have thunk it?

Is this lawyer happy with his decision to pay off his loans? Obviously.

Wow! What an accomplishment!

Companies need to be wary of whether the mechanisms ostensibly designed to repatriate foreign income and IP assets will actually have the desired effect.