United Kingdom / Great Britain

* Sorry to ruin your childhood, but a Pennsylvania judge found that there is enough evidence for Bill Cosby to stand trial for his felony assault charge in the Andrea Constand case. Cosby has waived his right to a formal arraignment, and could face up to 10 years in prison if he’s convicted. Cosby has been free on $1 million bail since December. [Associated Press]

* “You need to have order in a courtroom. And there needs to be proper decorum with attorneys.” A Las Vegas Justice of the Peace ordered that a deputy public defender be handcuffed for interrupting him as she tried to represent a client. A tipster has referred to this judge as “demented.” We may have more on this. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

* According to inside sources, Hunton & Williams is in advanced merger talks with Addelshaw Goddard, a London-based firm. These talks have reportedly been going on for months, and Addelshaw partners supposedly met last night to discuss the tie-up. If successful, the combined firm would have more than 1,300 lawyers. [Big Law Business]

* Silicon Valley staple Fenwick & West is opening up an office outpost in New York City. The firm’s clients in Manhattan include BuzzFeed, FanDuel, Blackrock, Citi, and JPMorgan. Associates will be working around the clock in the city that never sleeps — with a roster like that, they won’t be getting shuteye anytime soon. [WSJ Law Blog]

* AG Loretta Lynch announced yesterday afternoon that the Justice Department would be seeking the death penalty against Dylann Roof, the suspect alleged to have gone on a shooting spree in a Charleston church last summer, killing nine and wounding numerous others. It’s said Roof hoped to incite a race war as a result of the massacre. [USA Today]

* Carl Buchholz, managing partner of DLA Piper’s Philadelphia office, RIP. [Philadelphia Business Journal]

Uh-oh! Is your law firm conducting layoffs right now?

Should legal limits be placed on the use of assisted reproductive technology by older individuals and couples?

* Professors at George Mason are outraged that administrators agreed to rename the law school after the late Justice Antonin Scalia without any input from the people who work or study there — his opinions don’t “reflect the values of our campus community.” They’re circulating a petition to denounce the name change, but thus far, none of its signatories are law professors. [NBC News]

* “I would appreciate if we could keep things that are very serious here appropriately viewed that way.” 50 Cent got yelled at by his bankruptcy judge because he brought his cellphone into the courthouse, took a picture of himself with a stack of fake cash, and posted it on Instagram. A motion to dismiss this wanksta is needed. [WSJ Law Blog]

* SCOTUS will hear oral arguments on the appeal of securities fraud case Salman v. United States next term, and Eugene Ingoglia of Morvillo L.L.P. hopes the justices will provide some greater detail as to “what counts as a personal benefit.” Let’s just hope that they don’t make insider trading’s road any rockier. [DealBook / New York Times]

* “The district court’s ruling errs in so many respects that it is hard to know where to begin.” You know that when an appellate holding begins with the prior statement, the trial judge is going to be in for a doozy of a benchslap. We’ll have more on the First Circuit slapping around Judge Juan Pérez-Giménez (D.P.R.) later today. [BuzzFeed]

* Jamie Wine, who was recently appointed as the chair of Latham’s global litigation and trial department, says even though L&W already has 610 litigators, she’s looking to hire more of them in the firm’s New York and London offices. If you think you want to lateral in, you should know you may be meeting with up to 50 partners. [Big Law Business]

* Hiring for law school summer associates may be on the rise, but you shouldn’t assume this means you’ll automatically be able to land a job at a prestigious law firm. These firms tend to “put a high value on law school pedigree and grades,” so if you happen to attend a lesser school, you’ll need to be ranked very highly. [U.S. News & World Report]

In-house litigator Mark Herrmann, now living in London, wants to know: why would anyone want to become a solicitor, who doesn't get to speak in court, as opposed to a barrister?

The world’s most dangerous trader is finally being brought to justice… American justice.

A report from Deloitte warns the legal profession that it needs to change to keep up with the times. Do you agree?

What one litigator learned from practicing on the other side of the pond.

* The Harvard Corporation agreed with the recommendation of Harvard Law’s faculty committee to scrap the official crest based on the sygil of a slaveowner. Will this address every instance of institutional racism? No. But that’s a pretty stupid reason to stick to a drawing. [Boston.com]

* Good news for Steven Rattner: The SEC says the former Quadrangle chief can be an investment banker again! Will this interrupt his present career repeating Obama administration talking points on Morning Joe? [Law 360]

* U.S. Biglaw offices in London have caught up to their U.K. peers in revenues and profits. When reached for comment, London Mayor Boris Johnson found some way to make this all the EU’s fault. [Legal Week]

* Sullivan & Cromwell buys up its office building, making it one of the larger landlords in lower Manhattan. [The Am Law Daily]

* What worries Trust & Estate partners? Mostly that there aren’t yet enough idle rich to keep the industry afloat now that everyone else moved online to write their wills. [Forbes]

* Microsoft will have to reboot its GC position with Horacio Gutierrez moving to Spotify next month. [Corporate Counsel]

* Congratulations to Camille Nelson, who will take up the deanship of American University Law School. [National Law Journal]

He had been at the helm of the firm since 2006.

Greenberg Traurig's CEO has criticized mergers with overseas law firms in the past, but could this particular deal make strategic sense?

* Everyone was under the impression that Dickstein Shapiro and Bryan Cave would be tying the knot by the year’s end, but instead, it looks like their brief love affair has turned into a bad romance. Oh no! Will Dickstein Shapiro be left at the altar? [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* “The idea they own the name ‘blue’ for a manual for legal citations is ridiculous.” A rival citation guide to The Bluebook will be released in 2016, using the name “BabyBlue.” Since a Biglaw IP attorney is involved in the copyright clash, this is already more exciting than techciting. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Ethan Couch, the Texas teen who was too rich to realize his actions had consequences, was apparently also too rich to realize he shouldn’t hide out in a ritzy vacation locale in Mexico while on the run from police with his mother. Damn you, affluenza! [CNN]

* If you’re looking for a law firm where you can take time off whenever you want and still earn a healthy paycheck, then look no further than Ashton KCJ Lawyers in England. That’s a perk we’re sure attorneys in the U.S. would love their firms to adopt. [Mirror]

* Annie, get your gun: Gun-toting Texans are going to have a very happy new year, because come January 1, 2016, the state’s new open carry law will go into effect. The open carrying of handguns had previously been banned in the state since 1865. [RT]

* Jeffrey Feulner, founder of the Men’s Divorce Law Firm, was charged with domestic violence battery after he allegedly attacked his wife. She filed for divorce three days later — and presumably used a more woman-friendly lawyer as counsel. [Orlando Sentinel]

Which firm is planning to employ this strategy?

What does this mean for current associates at the firm?

Quit your sports trash-talking before it costs you your job, lawyers.

Curmudgeonly columnist Mark Herrmann shares some of his pet peeves.

* Even Bill Cosby cannot escape the power and force of the American judicial system. [Gawker]

* A #tbt look at a bygone era when people took honest-to-goodness lunch breaks. [Slate]

* Let the fanfic commence! Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg tells of the time Justice Scalia serenaded her. [Huffington Post]

* More people pile on Mary Jo White. [Above the Law]

* A primer on the legal issues that will dominate the next year. [Pacific Standard]

* The British legal system is going to war over offensive tweets. [Overlawyered]

* The closing you use at the end of your email can say a lot about you. [Daily Lawyer Tips]

One judge's controversial comments on seeing more women judges.

Women lawyers shouldn't have to be publicly lambasted in the name of decrying sexism.

What could this lawyer have said that was so offensive?