Texas Supreme Court

* Lady Gaga’s father has joined a lawsuit seeking to end New York City’s indoor dining ban. Now that litigation is on “the edge of glory.” [Fox Business]

* A lawyer for the accused Kenosha shooter has resigned his position from a defense fund that has raised around $700,000 for the defense team. [Yahoo News]

* A Senior District Attorney in the Brooklyn DA’s office was killed by a bus while riding her bike yesterday. Sending our deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased. [New York Post]

* A South Carolina attorney has been disbarred after taking a plea on an indecent exposure charge. [NBC News]

* A Texas Supreme Court decision may open the door to service of process through email or social media accounts. Think of all the filters that can be used when serving process through insta… [KSAT.com]

* A lawsuit challenging New York’s quarantine has been dismissed partly because an Arizona woman did not suffer harm by not being able to help a New York friend move. The judge obviously doesn’t know how fun assembling Ikea furniture can be… [New York Daily News]

* Georgia’s governor has withdrawn a lawsuit challenging a mask mandate instituted by the Mayor of Atlanta. [CNN]

* Claims of sexual impropriety are roiling the Texas Supreme Court. [Texas Lawyer]

* An Ohio lawyer has been granted the green light to provide financial planning services along with legal representation in certain circumstances. [Bloomberg Law]

* Carole Baskin of Tiger King fame has been served with papers related to a lawsuit about her missing former husband. Baskin took a selfie with the process server, maybe “service selfies” will trend on insta one day… [CBS News]

American citizens enjoy the freedom to marry who they want and to have kids with whom they want -- for the most part.

* What’s it like to be the “tweetingest judge in America”? Justice Don Willett of the Texas Supreme Court tells us what it’s like to live a week in his life in this endearing column. From letting us know where he spends much of his time (the local Chick-fil-A) to revealing the reason he Tweets so much (to get reelected) to describing his love for his children, Justice Willett is a true gem of the judiciary. [Wall Street Journal]

* Judge Timothy Parker of the Carroll County District Court in Arkansas has resigned from his post and agreed to never serve as a judge again to avoid being charged with ethical misconduct. Judge Parker was accused of arranging for defendants’ pretrial releases in exchange for sexual favors, but says he never contested the allegations on the record because he has kids and “[didn’t] want them exposed to that kind of crap.” [AP]

* The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund has threatened to file suit against the National Park Service for “stonewalling and refusing to release permits that are vitally needed by organizers in order to plan and execute peaceful, lawful free-speech activities” — that is, protests and rallies — of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. Only three groups out of 26 have received permits, and the inauguration is in two weeks’ time. [Reuters]

* “While it is encouraging to see small gains in most areas this year, the incredibly slow pace of change continues to be discouraging.” The most recent National Association for Law Placement report has revealed that as usual, women and minorities are just barely making progress at the nation’s largest law firms when it comes to their representation as a whole and their presence in firm partnerships. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Per Altman Weil’s latest report on law firm mergers, there were six fewer mergers in 2016 than in 2015. Although just 85 deals were announced last year compared to 91 in 2015, they were “better” than those announced in years prior, and in fact, some of the biggest names in Biglaw agreed to combine, including the Eversheds and Sutherland Asbill merger and the Arnold & Porter and Kaye Scholer merger. [Big Law Business]

This should frighten people. Those kids are going to grow up. They’re going to own guns. They’re going to vote for laws that affect all of us.

* Thoughts go out to all those in Boston. [CNN] * I hope you’ve all got your taxes finished. Here’s a fun fact: most tax cheats live in the South and the West. The two areas of the country filled with people who think taxes are evil cheat more? Go figure. [NBC News] * Remember, it’s not polite to say “thank you.” [Las Vegas Law Blog] * And now the rare, “self-benchslap.” [Associated Press] * A detailed look at how the Federalist Society became so powerful in American law schools. Unfortunately, it neglects the “they tend to order better pizzas for their events” gambit. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * Remember the new, depressing, public domain Happy Birthday song? The sponsor of that contest, WFMU, is at it again with a new contest to create modern, entertaining covers of public domain ditties. Despite my ragging on the birthday song, this is a pretty cool idea. [Free Music Archive] * Are you a young lawyer complaining about your lot in life? You’re at this site, so statistically you are. Well, quit your bitchin’! [Associate's Mind] * The Texas Supreme Court does not value emotional attachments to dogs. This is surprising because I can think of at least 10 country songs on this very point. [Law and More] * Mocking law school couples with a GIF from Veep? Get out of my head, UChiLawGo! [UChiLawGo] * Boob-induced failure. [Legal Juice]

We think a $5 fee presents no greater burden on nude dancing. . . . The fee is not a tax on unpopular speech but a restriction on combining nude dancing, which unquestionably has secondary effects, with the aggravating influence of alcohol consumption. — Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan L. Hecht, writing for the majority […]