Morning Docket: 11.30.18

* Senator Tim Scott has effectively killed the district court nomination of Thomas Farr. At this point, the administration could just grab another name out of the hat of tons of nominally qualified North Carolina Republicans. But instead they'll just wait until the next session and redo this whole thing with their newly expanded majority to own the libs. [Courthouse News Service] * It looks like Trump may actually be zeroing in on a new AG. [CNN] * The tech industry expects federal data privacy legislation next year. I don't know if these people have noticed, but it's unclear this upcoming legislature could pass a National Ice Cream Day resolution. [Corporate Counsel] * Former FBI chief James Comey is moving to quash a lame duck House subpoena. Comey's publicly declared that he's happy to testify before the committee in a public hearing. But, as you might imagine, the House Republicans don't want a public hearing where they won't be able to spin what happens. [Reuters] * While everyone's predicted the death of the billable hour, it turns out that the antiquated billing mechanism has an unlikely defender: the clients. [Law360] * The new tax law will completely screw up divorces. Add that to the overseas manufacturing incentives as something Trump probably didn't realize when he dropped this dud of a law on the country. [Fox17] * Firms could get slapped with malpractice over substance abuse or poor mental health. [New York Law Journal]