Billing Rates

* “With respect, I dissent.” Thanks to this Supreme Court opinion, asylum seekers and other immigrant aliens can now be held indefinitely without bond hearings. Justice Breyer was so pissed off that he read part of his 33-page dissent from the bench. [National Law Journal]

* Was Trump compromised? In the latest phase of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, members of his legal team have been asking about Donald Trump’s business activities in Russia prior to his campaign, when he was still considering running for president. [CNN]

* Partner billing rates at the biggest of Biglaw firms (750 or more lawyers) continue to climb, and they’re now 45 percent higher than those of slightly smaller Biglaw firms (501 to 750 lawyers). In fact, the gap between the two types of firm grew by 11 percent over 2016. We wonder what the highest hourly rate of all is. [American Lawyer]

* The 2019 edition of the U.S. News law school rankings will be released on March 20, 2018. We repeat, the 2019 edition of the U.S. News law school rankings will be released on March 20, 2018. Prepare yourselves for the annual running of the deans after law schools drop in rank. [Morse Code/ U.S. News & World Report]

* Karma is great: The Weinstein Company will be filing for bankruptcy following a failed deal with investors to sell the tainted film and television studio in the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct scandal. [DealBook / New York Times]

* This excerpt from Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (affiliate link) explains how a kid from the Rustbelt felt like a fish out of water at Yale Law School. [Huffington Post]

* Is the police culture in America at odds with the democratic nature of our government? [Katz Justice]

* Increasing associate compensation may be increasing the divide between the haves and have-nots. [Law and More]

* It is okay if you don’t have it all figured out when you go to law school. [Legal Cheek]

* Putting up a fight over MoFo’s “Ivy League” rates. [Law360 (sub. req.)]

* Explaining the sex scandal that is rocking the Oakland police department. [Slate]

* In the aftermath of the Tamir Rice shooting, two Yale Law students, Marvin Brown and Olevia Boykin, have created a powerful visual project asking #isitreasonable. [Mic]

* What is Amal Clooney’s billing rate? Normal people may be shocked by it, but it seems well in line with Biglaw. [The Sun]

* Looks like Stanford Law student Paulina Slagter has “nabbed her man” — God, what a terrible phrase. Anyway, she reportedly got engaged to Ryan Phillippe over Christmas. [ET Online]

* Hope is in short supply in the legal profession. [Law and More]

* Which films were included as selections to be included in the National Film Registry? [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* Charlie Sheen, not one to beat around the bush, got right down to business in a motion to dismiss his ex-fiancée’s lawsuit, calling her an “extortionist who gets paid for sex as a prostitute and porn star.” Looks like someone could use some anger management. [Fox News]

* If you’ve been following the circus sideshow that is Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, you know that he’s proposed a ban on Muslims entering the country. Needless to say, this is likely completely unconstitutional, and many law profs agree on this point. [WSJ Law Blog]

* The GC of Allstate says law firm billing rates are way too damn high. Her pet peeve? “[T]he way law firms bill, the hourly rate system, and the fact that rates go up, or at least they try to have them go up year, after year, after year.” [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* Everything’s bigger in Texas, except for this law school’s tuition: Texas A&M Law has announced that it will be lowering its in-state tuition by more than 15 percent, and then freezing it at that level for four years for all entering and current students. [PRNewswire]

* If you’re a minority who’s thinking about applying to law school, there are several important things you ought to take into consideration, including which schools will provide you with a “supportive, nurturing, mentoring environment.” [U.S. News]

* Bill Cosby switching his representation to some Biglaw big dogs. Wonder if it will help… [Law and More]

* Understanding the historical underpinnings of gun rights. [Slate]

* Trend Alert: Billing rates are increasing — noticeably. [Business of Law Blog]

* Yahoo! is terminally uncool. [Dealbreaker]

* To run a successful practice, don’t think [only] like a lawyer. [CodeX]

* The Reconstruction Era will never really end. [The Atlantic]

* Michael Jordan was present during jury selection for his case against defunct supermarket Dominick’s, but potential jurors didn’t seem the least bit fazed. In fact, just a single one of them considered the basketball star their “personal hero or idol.” Ouch. [Chicago Tribune]

* Maryland Law will be offering a very topical “Law and ______” class this semester, entitled “Freddie Gray’s Baltimore: Past, Present and Moving Forward.” Students enrolled in the course will be asked to create fixes for social problems. This’ll be interesting. [WSJ Law Blog]

* According to the GC of Fannie Mae, Biglaw’s profit structure is broken, but the solution he proposes to the problem may not sit well with associates who are slaves to the billable hour — but only if they care about their hourly rates. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Unlike most of his colleagues, Larry Sonsini of Wilson Sonsini didn’t immediately join a brand name Biglaw firm after he graduated from law school. Instead, he created his own brand name Biglaw firm, so that worked out well. Your own mileage may vary. [Forbes]

* It seems that New York City’s Responsible Banking Act is unconstitutional because it conflicts with existing state and federal banking laws. To be fair, between dueling mayoral policies, this law was completely FUBARed from the get go. [DealBook / New York Times]