Brian L. Frye

* In the wake of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s retirement, I predicted that Chief Justice John Roberts, a staunch institutionalist when it comes to the Supreme Court, would serve as a moderating influence at SCOTUS — and so far that seems to be the case, with Adam Feldman noting a “a mild liberalizing over time” in JGR’s jurisprudence. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Speaking of SCOTUS, it’s high time for the Court to resolve the messy circuit split on email privacy under the Stored Communications Act, according to Orin Kerr. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* The Trump Administration’s new executive order about free speech on university campuses might harm rather than help the cause of academic freedom, as Paul Horwitz points out. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Republicans aren’t the only ones with purity tests for judicial nominations; Demand Justice, a left-wing group focused on the federal judiciary, has high standards for Democratic opposition to Trump nominees. [Bench Memos / National Review]

* While you wait for the 2019 edition of Above the Law’s law school rankings, check out the latest installment of the “revealed preferences” law school rankings, by C.J. Ryan and Brian L. Frye. [SSRN]

* What’s next for Kira Systems, a leader in the world of legal AI? Co-founder and CEO Noah Waisberg isn’t resting on his laurels — and he’s putting that $50 million investment from last September to work. [Artificial Lawyer]

* Fastcase continues to forge new partnerships — and in its latest alliance, it will give its subscribers access to select titles from the American Bar Association (which, full disclosure, published my book (affiliate link) in 2014). [Dewey B Strategic]

* If you’ll be in New York this coming Wednesday, consider attending the inaugural Kenneth P. Thompson ’92 Lecture on Race and Criminal Justice Reform at NYU Law School, focused on wrongful convictions and the roles of prosecutors and others in the criminal justice system. [NYU Law]

* Remember the “revealed preferences” law school rankings that debuted last year? Christopher Ryan and Brian Frye have issued the 2018 edition. [SSRN]

* And C.J. Ryan offers yet another set of law school rankings, this time focused on “value added” (similar in philosophy to the ATL rankings, but Ryan’s top ten is very different from ours). [SSRN]

* If brevity is the soul of wit, then Supreme Court opinions are getting less and less witty; Adam Feldman has the data to prove it. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* A serious threat to political speech and election integrity, according to media law expert Charles Glasser: the weaponization of copyright law. [Daily Caller]

* Andy Oldham, President Trump’s latest Fifth Circuit nominee, is very, very smart — and very, very conservative. [Texas Tribune]

* The latest headline-making case handled by legendary litigator Ed Hayes is a doozy — involving a former beauty queen, a hedge-fund magnate, an ostrich farm, and… an STD. [New York Post]

* Interested in constitutional law and possessed of a progressive perspective? Here’s a great job opportunity you should check out. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

Is your law school on the list?

How does your law school fare under this metric?

* For those of you too busy this week to follow Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearing, here’s a nice collection of the highlights by Benjamin Wallace-Wells. [New Yorker via How Appealing]

* SCOTUS confirmation hearings are often compared to kabuki theater; law professor cum novelist Jay Wexler reimagines the Gorsuch hearing as, well, actual kabuki theater. [McSweeney’s]

* Insider trading: it’s not entirely about the benjamins, as therapist and executive coach Andrew Snyder explains. [LinkedIn]

* Is the Second Circuit sitting on juicy information about President Trump’s ties to Russia? [WiseLawNY]

* Law school applicants with high LSAT scores: which schools do they favor? [SSRN]

* Speaking of legal education, what are the secrets to law school success? Vanderbilt 3L Niya McCray shares her thoughts. [Amazon (affiliate link)]

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We're trying to diversify the coverage here at Lawyerly Lairs. After all, the world does not consist entirely of Park Avenue apartments owned by mega-rich law firm partners. Toward that end, we recently wrote about the housing search of some NYU Law students. Let's leave Manhattan behind and head to upstate New York, where we'll visit the beautiful Catskills house of a law professor and his filmmaker wife....