Affordable Care Act

* “Say you’ll remember me, getting groped in a nice dress…” Uh oh! This pop star seems pretty pissed! Taylor Swift has filed a countersuit against a radio DJ who sued her because he claims he was fired for inappropriately touching the singer backstage at a concert. [Rolling Stone]

* Charleston School of Law has a new president, and hopefully his tenure will be less wrought with disaster than that of his predecessors. He says he’ll be paid one whole dollar per year as his salary until he can turn things around. [Charleston Post and Courier]

* At a speaking engagement at Santa Clara Law earlier this week, Justice Antonin Scalia proclaimed that the Supreme Court has been “liberal” throughout the entirety of his 30-year tenure. We’d like to beg His Honor’s pardon; that can’t be true. [WSJ Law Blog]

* As this article so eloquently puts it, “[t]he Supreme Court is about to climb back into Americans’ bedrooms.” Today, the high court will review several petitions from non-profit groups that want to be exempted from ACA’s contraception mandate. [USA Today]

* Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the number of firms that are trying to enter the market. To establish a presence in the Lone Star State, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is saying howdy to some new partners and merging with Crouch & Ramey. [ABA Journal]

* PETA’s general counsel swears his organization isn’t monkeying around when it comes to asserting the IP rights of Naruto the selfie-taking monkey, but he may have to deal with a jungle of jurisdictional issues first. [Motherboard / VICE]

* Mmmm, Dewey smell a mistrial? On the eighth day of deliberations in the criminal trial of D&L’s former leaders, the jurors likely made defense counsels’ hearts skip a beat when they asked the judge for instructions on what to do concerning their undecided colleagues. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Chief Justice John Roberts, who has voted conservatively in 85 percent of the Supreme Court’s most divisive 5-4 decisions, apparently isn’t conservative enough for our conservatives. It’s the damn Affordable Care Act. Thanks, Obama. [New York Times]

* According to the latest Acritas Global Elite Law Firm Brand Index 2015, for the sixth year running, Baker & McKenzie has the most recognizable Biglaw brand in the world. DLA Piper will continue to “churn [those] bill[s], baby!” in second place. [PR Web]

* Take the deal: Ex-House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who’s accused of hiding large sums used as hush money to conceal his prior sexual misconduct, is negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors. If he were convicted at trial, he’d face up to 10 years in prison. [Reuters]

* Amal Clooney’s firm reportedly has a lawyer working for £1.50 an hour, which in U.S. dollars is “piddly squat.” [Legal Cheek]

* People are pretty worked up over raisins. [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

* “A video shot in court shows a lawyer tussling with bailiffs and being forcibly removed in handcuffs from a foreclosure hearing.” Go on… [Daily Business Review]

* Maybe that outsourcing thing was a bad idea for Biglaw. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Keith Lee reviews Lat’s Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link). [Associate’s Mind]

* Yahoo! General counsel Ron Bell discusses the challenges and rewards of representing the tech giant. [Hsu Untied]

* Speaking of Yahoo!, on the eve of Obergefell, here’s a quick guide to the American government’s war on gays. [Yahoo!]

* Elizabeth Wydra, chief counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, discusses the Affordable Care Act with Bob Garfield. Listen now while the ACA is still a thing. [On The Media]

* The North Carolina legislature’s war on UNC Law School continues. The Senate just proposed a $3 million budget cut. Tarheels adjust by ending Civ Pro right before International Shoe. [The Herald Sun]

* U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer enjoys living dangerously. When the D.C. Circuit tells her the CIA needs to disclose more about drone policy, she… tells the CIA to keep its mouth shut. AC/DC has a song about that behavior. [Politico]

* Most attention is, justifiably, fixed on marriage equality and health care, but there are some huge pending decisions we’re overlooking. [Slate]

* Will Chief Justice Roberts save Obamacare again? [Mother Jones]

* Speaking of SCOTUS, Professor Ilya Somin and Constitutional Accountability Center chief counsel Elizabeth Wydra talk Supreme Court in this podcast. [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

* Career hiccups begin with you. So, you know, stop doing that to yourself. [Corporette]

* Why have car insurance in this case? A fair question. [Legal Juice]

* If you didn’t make it to see David speak with a panel of distinguished guests at the Fix the Court/Politico Supreme Court event this week, here’s the video! [Politico]

* There’s a lot of constitutional law about booze. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Republicans try to play some word games on the Affordable Care Act and get straight-up lawyered. Or as The New Republic described the exchange: a “succinct, pithy demolition.” [MSNBC]

* Oscar Pistorius could be headed home on parole in the next couple of months. Time to get back in that dating pool. [CNN]

* Don’t bring your mom to court. [Lowering the Bar]

* Here’s an interesting company at the juncture of law and technology — 3D printing demonstrative exhibits for trial. [3D Printed Evidence]

* Randy Spencer interviews American Pharoah [Coverage Opinions]

* An interesting question from a lawyer doing his part to help the homeless: if a person can’t get online, how do they even look for a job anyway? [What About Clients?]

* A new novella from Jessica Pishko called A Trial for Grace (affiliate link) about a fallen, high-flying NYC attorney working a death penalty trial in North Carolina. [Amazon]

* Consent explained with tea. [Vimeo]

https://vimeo.com/126553913

* Getting a SCOTUS justice to attend your wedding is tough, but maybe invite one for dinner? [Washington Post]

* A DOJ investigation concludes that the Ferguson Police Department and courts engaged in a “pattern and practice” of discrimination against African Americans. The investigation was conducted by the DOJ’s division of obvious things. [CNN]

* When police didn’t respond to his call fast enough, this guy tried to rob a convenience store to get the cops out there faster. And then they still didn’t come… [Legal Juice]

* King v. Burwell argument is almost here! Conservatives are really eager to take the law down. But would hurting Obamacare really hurt conservatives more in the end? [Bloomberg View]

* A California lawyer is proposing a new law to address homosexuality with “bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.” I don’t think that’ll pass. [Huffington Post]

* Authorities still harassing family who trusted a 10-year-old to walk outside without a parent hovering over them. It’s hard to criticize helicopter parents when they’re only following the law. [Washington Post]

* Well, well, well. Now that they’ve sent out a harassing C&D letter, Katy Perry’s people have thrown some Left Shark merchandise up on their site. [Katy Perry]

* Fascinating use of the Internet: a crowdfunding campaign to help refugee mothers and children secure release from government detention. [Go Fund Me]

* In this preview of Professor Nancy Leong’s latest videocast, she talks with Professor Jessica Clarke about how courts treat sexual harassment cases in same- vs. opposite-sex harassment. [TheRightsCast]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVqYDrYNV0Y&utm_content=bufferd2ca9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

* You betta work… on those C&D letters! The viral picture of Cindy Crawford’s “unretouched” midsection is allegedly fake, and a lawyer for the photographer who took the original picture is threatening publishers with legal action if the supposedly doctored photos aren’t taken down immediately. [CBS News]

* You know that law school graduates from the Lost Generation are screwed when the first vignette from an article about the sad state of financial affairs for “recession millennials” is about a 2011 law grad who’s drowning in law school debt. [FiveThirtyEight]

* Folks are going crazy over King v. Burwell, so it’s a great time to run the odds on which justices will give ACA the axe. FYI, Justice Alito is “more likely to be struck by lightning while committing in-person voter fraud” than uphold Obamacare. [ThinkProgress]

* If you’re going to be in Washington, D.C., next weekend, why not stop by the Politics & Prose Bookstore to see David Lat have a chat with Adam Liptak of the New York Times? OMG, you can even get your copy of Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link) signed. [Facebook]

* With oral arguments in the King v. Burwell case slated to be heard on Wednesday, the Supreme Court is going to have a busy week — but most Americans won’t know about it. Below is a new TV ad pushing SCOTUS to allow cameras in the courtroom. [Fix the Court]

http://youtu.be/jA8B80fy0OM

* Unfortunately, it seems that if you want to get an elite legal education in this country, you’re going to have to pay an arm and a leg for it. This year’s NLJ Top 10 Go-To Law Schools each have a sticker price that’s greater than $50K. [National Law Journal]

* Hamline University’s president thinks it was smarter for her law school to merge with William Mitchell Law than for it to close altogether — hey, it’ll still bear the Hamline name and its dying carcass won’t be on her books anymore! [Star Tribune]

* Later this week, SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in King v. Burwell, a case that could decimate the Affordable Care Act as we know it. At this point, the justices must be contemplating how many people will lose if the plaintiffs here win. [Wall Street Journal]

* An ADA from the Brooklyn DA’s office who prosecuted drug cases was canned after his colleagues learned that he failed to report his personal connection to an admitted cocaine dealer. Perhaps they were jealous he refused to share his hookup. [New York Daily News]

* In case you missed it, Above the Law, your favorite legal website, has been “rankle[d]” by a new series on CNNMoney called “Above the Law.” We know you’re as ticked off about this as we are, so we hope you’ll help us write our cease-and-desist letter. [Am Law Daily]

* Congratulations to Loretta Lynch, who cleared a divided Senate Judiciary yesterday. And now secret Kenyan Muslim Barack Obama is one step closer to whatever conservatives think he’s planning in their fever dreams. [National Law Journal]

* Police made an arrest in the bizarre hatchet attack upon a lawyer in Massachusetts. The motive, according to authorities, stemmed from the lawyer representing one of the suspect’s family members in probate court. [The Patriot Ledger]

* It may not be $2.6 billion in revenue like some firms, but congratulations to Paul Hastings for crossing the $1 billion revenue threshold. [The Am Law Daily]

* South Korea legalizes adultery. If you didn’t think South Koreans were waiting for the legal go ahead to start screwing around, the market doesn’t lie. [New York Times]

* Nice rundown from Elizabeth Wydra of the Constitutional Accountability Center: 5 myths about King v. Burwell. [Washington Post]

* Prosecutors lodge a number of additional charges against Supreme Court protestors because there’s a surprisingly high number of distinct federal crimes for “standing up and chanting in protest.” [Legal Times]

* Utah court rules woman can sue herself. Technically there are three separate parties to the case, and she’s all three of them. Leave it to the Mormons to have the best practical description of the Catholic Trinity since St. Patrick and the clover. [Lowering the Bar]

* An entertaining look at 50 ridiculous anomalies that arise in the ACA if the King v. Burwell plaintiffs succeed. Noscitur a sociis, people! [Miami Business Law Review]

* The geniuses at Clickhole have a quiz: How many John Grisham novels have you read? [Clickhole]

* The Obama administration has gotten some high-profile scrutiny for its zealous campaign to stamp out government leaks. Here’s the story of one of the lower-profile government workers under the thumb of the Espionage Act. [The Intercept]

* A follow-up on his earlier piece on whether or not New York should adopt the Uniform Bar Exam focuses on what the UBE might mean for finding a job. [Bar Exam Stats]

* Seven months after the fact, Professor Dan Markel’s death is still a mystery. [Tallahassee Democrat]

* The National Association of Women Lawyers Mid-Year meeting will commence in Chicago on March 5. Check out details here. [NAWL]

* 12 Things Every Lawyer Should Learn From Saul Goodman. [LinkedIn]

* The 10th Circuit had so much trouble wading through a federal statute they had to diagram the sentence. As the opinion notes, “[t]hat bramble of prepositional phrases may excite the grammar teacher but it’s certainly kept the federal courts busy.” If you want to see the whole opinion, it’s here. [Lowering the Bar]

* Meet your King v. Burwell plaintiffs! It’s actually kind of sad. Like the guy paying $655/month on health insurance who could be paying $62.49/month but won’t because Obama is a secret Muslim or something. [Jezebel]

* A guide to cybersecurity for lawyers. If this interests you, come to our conference March 18, to see the author, Leeza Garber, participate in a panel on privacy. [Capsicum Group]

* Speaking of cybersecurity, hackers hit Anthem Insurance pretty bad. At least the company is handling the data breach well. [LXBN]

* New evidence reveals that the victims of lynchings in the South were much higher than previously assumed. Thankfully, racism is over according to the Supreme Court. [Gawker Justice]

* After introducing you to J.Ko, the Harvard Law rapper, it seems his website is now password protected. Aw. Come back, J.Ko! This is what free publicity looks like. [Harvard Rapper]

* Maybe there is a role for Millennials to play in ending unpaid internships. They won’t take it of course, but there’s a role out there to be played. [Law and More]

* Geopolitics explained simply. Shearman’s Richard Hsu talks to Dr. Pippa Malmgren, author of Signals (affiliate link). [Hsu Untied]

Meanwhile, that sentence diagramming opinion discussed earlier is available on the next page….

https://www.scribd.com/doc/255322959/United-States-v-Rentz

* Records show that Case Western Law bought former dean Lawrence Mitchell’s house for $575,000. Was it still furnished with the Chinese silk sheets? [The Observer]

* Judge Posner explains that ALJs are basically working a conveyor belt. To wit, here’s a visual representation of Social Security ALJs at work. [Valpo Law Blog]

* Um, what’s the charge for “acting like you’re in Fast and Furious”? [Legal Juice]

* Republicans making moves to stop net neutrality. Netflix needs to start showing more Bible documentaries to sap this movement’s political will. [Bloomberg Politics]

* Professor Campos reviews a new paper on the future of higher education funding. [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

* The law dean at the University of New Brunswick is accused of “sexism, harassment, and, in one case, threats of violence by two of his former law school colleagues.” That’s some very un-Canadian behavior. But Levitt used to be the dean at Florida A&M, and that does sound like some very Floridian behavior. [CBC] UPDATE (2/23/16 12:57 p.m.): Checking back in on this story we have a LOT to add. Since we first linked to this, the CBC has had to retract its stories about Professor Levitt. It turns out he was not a party, witness or even deposed in the law suits even though CBC was giving off the impression that he was the central figure in criminal cases. It seems he wasn’t even a party to the civil cases when they were reporting that! CBC has had to report that Levitt was absolved or ‘cleared’ of any wrongdoing not once, but twice. The whole saga seems, from what we know today, to have been pretty egregious and raises troubling questions about race and media bias in Canada, as discussed in this piece about the matter.

* How to make your shoes last longer. [Corporette]

* Michael Cannon and Professor Jonathan Adler use some pretty compelling evidence in their amicus brief decrying King v. Burwell. Unfortunately, they kind of made up a quote. When the woman they quoted tries to clear the record, Cannon tells her he understands what she clearly said better than she did. In a sense this is a microcosm for the whole case. [Constitutional Accountability Center]