Clarence Thomas
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* Harlan Crow got a tax break for designating his superyacht as a profit-seeking venture. Though it seems like its voyages were limited to shuttling around his buddies like BFF Clarence Thomas. [Pro Publica]
* California Supreme Court rules that U.S. Supreme Court can’t boss it around. [SF Chronicle]
* Trump’s legal team heads to Judge Cannon’s courtroom today to give us another peak at how wacky this case will be. [Reuters]
* AI is often touted for access to justice, but without care it might make things worse. [Financial Times]
* USC Law appoints first Black dean. [Law.com]
* College athletes can earn money now, which means they can be scammed now. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Criminal division of the Department of Justice losing its boss to private practice. [Law360]
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* Supreme Court justices issue annual financial disclosures as required by statute (in case anyone’s confused) except Thomas and Alito. Can’t be caught making material omissions on financial disclosure forms if you don’t file any financial disclosure forms! [Reuters]
* We haven’t checked in on Lin Wood in a while… now even QAnon allies are suing him. [Daily Beast]
* Prosecutors inform Donald Trump that he’s a target in the classified documents investigation in one of American history’s greatest “duh” moments. [CNN]
* DLA Piper named in discrimination suit. [American Lawyer]
* Cooley paying associates $100K not to work. Or, phrased more accurately, “Cooley is paying associates $100K to stay afloat on their soon-to-begin student loan payments.” [Bloomberg Law News]
* Intellectual property experts testify about whether or not AI are capable of legally recognizably invention. At least we know they can invent caselaw! [Law360]
* Digital cash apps becoming a key way to distribute class action awards. No more inconvenience of having to fill out that $2.38 check! [Law.com]
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* Department of Justice likely to get involved in PGA/LIV merger. Weird how spending major Biglaw dollars calling one of them a monopoly might backfire when you try to merge with them. [Law360]
* After inviting thorough mocking of their legal acumen, Harlan Crow’s lawyers at Gibson Dunn back away from original “let’s just do contempt” offer and suggest a meeting with Senate staffers. [NBC News]
* Speaking of… comparing Clarence Thomas to the “lowliest” federal worker is a stark reminder that John Roberts is running a cesspool of ethical compromise. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Batman defeats Italian designer in trademark dispute. Not that it matters… that guy will break out of Arkham and be designing clothes again within a couple months. [Reuters]
* “There Is One Group the Roberts Court Really Doesn’t Like.” Take a guess! It’s fun because there’s at least three or four groups it could be! [New York Times]
* Move over law firms, legal technology vendors poised to become next fashionable cyber target. [Legaltech News]
* A dive into K-Pop and contracts. [LegalCheek]
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ChatGPT Crowns Clarence Thomas As Champion Of Gay Rights In Feedback Loop Of Stupid
That’s not how I remember it, but maybe this is like the whole ‘Berenstein Bears’ thing.
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Justice Thomas Still Likes Prince On Thursdays, And What That Means For The Future Of Fair Use
Taking the fair out of fair use.
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* Is Matt Whitaker’s appointment as Acting Attorney General even legal? Well, Justice Thomas certainly doesn’t think so. [Twitter]
* Associate signing bonuses are on the decline according to a new report. On the other hand, we’ve heard about more firms offering payouts to make associates whole on bonuses when jumping firms, and I’m not sure this decline captures that. If not, this decline might be a distinction without difference. [American Lawyer]
* Rudy Giuliani claiming he’s got “financial troubles” while spending over $12K on cigars. Maybe he should ask for an advance from his client who claims to be a billionaire but is pretty obviously not even close to being a billionaire. [NBC]
* Ron Wyden proposes criminal penalties for corporate data breaches. [Corporate Counsel]
* Attorney wanted for murder has been apprehended in Cuba. [Law360]
* As much as we tout advances in legal technology, it’s the changes to the legal business model that may usher in the biggest transformation. [Forbes]
* More insights from the In-House Benchmarking Report. Work is still moving in-house and technology has a lot to do with this shift. [Legaltech News]
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In His Carpenter Dissent, Thomas Gives Nod to Emerging Legal Technology
What do words really mean?
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* A sneak peek at Am Law 200 reports. [American Lawyer]
* Two lesser charges against Tex McIver shot down. [USNWR]
* The Waffle House sextortion case ends in acquittal. Defendants celebrate at IHOP. [Daily Report Online]
* Four Thomas clerks are behind the new “HAWA” legal challenge to make Harvard All White Again. [National Law Journal]
* A quick look at Robert Khuzami, the former SEC Enforcement honcho who most likely fulfilled the SDNY USAO’s role in ordering the Cohen raid. [Courthouse News Service]
* JP Morgan decided to join the cryptocurrency revolution by declaring that customer purchases of cryptocurrencies were really “cash advances” instead of regular transactions… a move that allowed them to charge higher fees. Now cryptoheads are suing. Look, you can’t have it both ways. [Law360]
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* In case you missed it, Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times has noticed a trend when it comes to Chief Justice Roberts and who he’s been aligning himself with at the Supreme Court. He may not yet be a moderate, but he seems to be shying away from “the reliably right-wing triumvirate” of Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. [New York Times]
* “The document speaks for itself.” All three of former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates’s lawyers are withdrawing as counsel, and will only explain why in documents filed under seal. Only his Biglaw attorney who is known for his plea deals remains. Gates is under indictment in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. [POLITICO]
* According to the latest year-end report from the Wells Fargo Private Bank’s Legal Specialty Group, law firm revenue and profits were up in 2017, and demand had increased for legal services. As usual, the most profitable firms at the top of the market outperformed their smaller counterparts. [American Lawyer]
* Trump administration policies having to do with immigration, specifically the H-1B visa program for foreign workers, may force many Biglaw firms to move to their practices to the cloud sooner than they would have liked. In times of “political uncertainty” like these, Biglaw can’t rely on “offshore labor arbitrage” for IT outsourcing. [TechTarget]
* The GC of the American Red Cross has resigned following the publication of a report that he praised a former colleague who was the subject of an internal investigation and pushed out of the organization for alleged instances sexual misconduct. [Corporate Counsel]
* Disgusting: A Georgia lawyer who asked a witness to recant an eyewitness account of her son’s molestation has politely gave up his license to practice law after pleading guilty to felony witness tampering and attempting to suborn perjury. [Big Law Business]