William Pryor

It doesn't look good for Mark Meadows.

Thank you, sir, may I have another.

Annual gathering aims to silence woke heretics... misses spectacularly.

Sorry, not sorry.

You know, not every conservative law student is *entitled* to a federal clerkship. Or two.

The judges were found to have done their due diligence.

Hate doesn't seem to be slowing down her career prospects.

* Trump team decries Kate Steinle verdict as jury finds their preferred political talisman not guilty of murder. [SF Gate]

* IRS needs $1.7 million in back taxes? X gon’ give it to you. [Law360]

* Judge Pryor thinks court packing is stupid, which probably burned all his bridges with the Heritage Foundation. [National Law Journal]

* Pay for in-house counsel is up… women still lag behind. [Corporate Counsel]

* Black women in law face discrimination on two fronts. It’s almost like they sit at the intersection of oppressions. [American Lawyer]

* Judge orders handcuffs to prevent spanking. [ABA Journal]

* Even Texas can’t defend voter suppression anymore. [Texas Tribune]

* More M&A firms join the AI train. [American Lawyer]

Tobacco cases -- it's the litigation that keeps giving.

ATL editors David Lat and Elie Mystal break down Donald Trump's Supreme Court event in real time.

Is Donald Trump replacing Antonin Scalia, or is he replacing Merrick Garland?

Judge Gorsuch has been on the SCOTUS radar for almost a decade.

* Ed Meese in defense of Trump SCOTUS shortlister William Pryor. [The Daily Signal] * What the Chief Justice's writings tell us about the constitutionality of the global gag rule. [Slate] * What does the cert success rate look like this Term? [Empirical SCOTUS] * The potential legal actions over Trump's copycat cake. [Dorf on Law] * Could you do semi-retirement? [Law and More] * Are the GOP getting spooked over Obamacare repeal? [Washington Post]

* True confessions of a Biglaw partner. [Law Practice Today]

* If you could prevent one person on Trump’s shortlist from getting on the Court, who would it be? [Slate]

* Will President Trump, or in the alternative, Congress, do anything about the bane of lawyers’ existence: discovery? [The Hill]

* Tim Kaine had some pretty cool alternate plans on inauguration day. [Huffington Post]

* The Netherlands’s safe abortion fund. [The Slot]

* Forever 21’s fighting infringement. [The Fashion Law]

* If you’ll be in Philly on Monday the 30th, please come to “Fred Korematsu Day: A Conversation,” featuring Kermit Roosevelt, author of Allegiance (affiliate link), and our very own David Lat. [Japan America Society]

They're all distinguished conservative jurists, although not the most diverse group.

Which prominent conservative judge just met with President-elect Donald Trump?

It looks like it's down to two: Judge Diane Sykes and Judge Bill Pryor.

* “Judge Garland is respected on both sides of the aisle. That he did not even get so much as a hearing will be a stain on the legacy of the Republican Senate.” After languishing for a total of 293 days, D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court officially expired yesterday at noon with the formal adjournment of the 114th Congress. [Wall Street Journal]

* Following eight years at the helm of one of the most prestigious schools in the county, Dean Martha Minow of Harvard Law will be stepping down from her position at the end of the academic year. Minow plans to return to teaching a full course load this summer, and according to inside sources at the school, a search for her successor will begin “soon.” We’ll have more on this news development later today. [Harvard Crimson]

* Judge William Pryor (11th Cir.) was named acting chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Pryor, who is under consideration to be President-elect Trump’s SCOTUS nominee, says he looks forward to “developing federal sentencing policies that further the goals of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.” [U.S. Sentencing Commission]

* President-elect Trump has chosen Skadden Arps partner Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative. Lighthizer served as deputy U.S. trade representative in the Reagan administration, and Trump believes he “will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperity.” [USA Today]

* As days go by without word of a resolution as to the school’s federal loan issues, lawsuits continue to pile up against the Charlotte Law. Students now claim the school has sentenced them “to years of indentured servitude” by saddling them “with crushing, non-dischargeable debt that will take literally decades to pay off.” [Charlotte Observer]