* Lawsuit lending, i.e., investing in lawsuits, is a booming business — but are plaintiffs getting screwed (again)? [New York Times]
* The “state secrets” doctrine goes before the Supreme Court tomorrow. [USA Today via How Appealing]
* Elsewhere in SCOTUS news, Justice Breyer gets a shout-out in the title of a new study: “‘People Did Sometimes Stick Things in my Underwear’: The Function of Laughter at the U.S. Supreme Court.” [Washington Post]
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* The new year is off to a great start for M&A lawyers. [Am Law Daily]
* A second ex-Ropes & Gray associate, Arthur Cutillo, pleaded guilty on Friday to charges arising out of the Galleon Group insider trading scandal. (Brien Santarlas pleaded guilty back in December 2009.) [Bloomberg via ABA Journal]
* If Cutillo and Santerlas go to prison, what can they expect? Check out Nathan Koppel’s interesting interview with former high-flying plaintiffs’ lawyer Bill Lerach, which touches on Lerach’s time in the big house (including a story about how he got the prison TV switched back to CNBC). [WSJ Law Blog]
* Steven Harper, the Kirkland & Ellis partner turned blogger, writes: “Are law schools deceiving prospective students into incurring huge debt for degrees that aren’t worth it? Of course they are.” [The Belly of the Beast]