* Appellate court rules that Facebook friends aren't necessarily "friends." If they're in your Top 8 on MySpace on the other hand.... [Law.com]
* Guy drove a car into a crowd holding vigil over a trans woman killed by police. But, you know, there was violence on both sides... many sides. [Huffington Post]
* Can this lawyer achieve Middle East peace? Nope. [NBC News]
* Texas courts strike down the state's latest voter suppression effort. [Politico]
* The CFPB goes easier on those that self-report. In a functioning justice and regulatory system that's true of every government agency, but these days that's newsworthy. [National Law Journal]
* Partner pink slips abound in advance of Biglaw mergers. [Am Law Daily]
* Second Circuit ends the Newman relationship test. New York defense lawyers respond with "What, me worry?" [Law360]
* Buyer's remorse: Trump says he wouldn't have hired Jeff Sessions if he'd known Sessions would follow the law. [New York Times]
* Your grandma is now officially part of your close family according to the Supreme Court. [SCOTUSBlog]
* A fitting end to Trump's "Made in America Week"? Star of "O.J.: Made In America" may get out today (or... get approval to get out in a couple months to be more accurate). [NBC News]
* White & Case slapped with record fine over conflict of interest. [Law.com]
* Andy Pincus mouths off about CFPB arbitration rule: "quite an extraordinary moment to see this agency, notwithstanding the election, six months into the new administration, issue this very dramatic and far-reaching rule." You mean the election where Trump got 3 million fewer votes? Yeah, the CFPB may be more plugged into the will of the electorate than you are. [National Law Journal]
* New York City has extended the right to counsel to tenants. Here's one City Councilman's statement on the measure. [City & State]
* Second Circuit backhands federal prosecutors over foreign compelled testimony. [Forbes]
* When GCs become propaganda mouthpieces... a look at what ISP GCs are saying about the need to repeal net neutrality rules. [Corporate Counsel]
* Things that are a problem: Revenge Porn. Things that aren't a problem: Revenge Editing. Someone explain that to this college. [Chronicle of Higher Education]
* We welcome Alan Futerfas to the party. This administration said it would create jobs, but I don't think any of us expected they'd all be jobs for criminal defense attorneys. [The Independent]
* Witness says Martin Shkreli's focus reminded him of Raymond Babbitt from Rain Man. That's funny, because his smarmy appearance and despicable greed reminded me of Charlie Babbitt. [Law360]
* The CFPB wants to ban clauses that prevent consumers from opting out of arbitration. Conservative groups vow to block the rule because freedom requires waiving your rights through adhesion contracts. [Law.com]
* Speaking of how financial institutions never do anything wrong so people shouldn't have the right to sue them, Wells Fargo tentatively set to pay $142 million to settle claims arising from its fake accounts scandal. [Courthouse News Service]
* An interview with Floyd Abrams discussing his new book, The Soul of the First Amendment (affiliate link). [Coverage Opinions]
* In case you missed it, the judge has tossed the University of Texas faculty members' challenge to the state's "an armed classroom is a polite classroom" law. [Texas Tribune]
* A real-time experiment testing which in-house practices and law firm attributes tend to produce the strongest relationships, satisfaction, and results. So we'll finally be able to quantify "give me the moon and charge me nothing." [Corporate Counsel]
* If you're going to San Diego Comic Con next week, be sure to hit up these legal panels. There's the mock trial of Luke Cage on Friday and an omnibus Star Wars panel featuring California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, Ninth Circuit Judge John B. Owens, former Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal and other jurists discuss the legal issues of a galaxy far, far away. [The Legal Geeks]
* As voters head to the polls in Montana, they're finding out that frontrunner Greg Gianforte allegedly beat up a reporter in front of a bunch of witnesses. Will this doom his chances? Pfft. I present the case study of Michael Grimm. [Huffington Post]
* Here comes the "Marc Kasowitz's ties to Russia" stories. Newsflash: Russians have a lot of businesses that get sued. Let's not make an equivalence between representing a Russian bank and handing them classified intelligence. [CNN]
* The D.C. Circuit seems like they might actually save the CFPB. At least until there's an appeal to some politically hostile higher court. [Law.com]
* Google fighting to avoid becoming a generic term. This is apparently called "genericide" which I'd never heard of. I'll have to Bing that. [Law360]
* Dentons cutting jobs in the UK. [Legal Week]
* If you want to know more about lobbying, Bracewell lobbyist Josh Zive just started a podcast called "The Lobby Shop." Apparently "Big Bags O' Bribes" reflects negatively on the practice. [National Law Journal]
* BYU and Pepperdine are the "most ideologically balanced faculties." You know, if you want to give more fuel to the snowflakes. [TaxProf Blog]
* When will Neil Gorsuch retire? [Empirical SCOTUS]
* UCLA Law has a $20 million movie deal. Sort of. [Law.com]
* CFPB sues law firm. Wow, there's still a CFPB? [Law360]
* Zara apparently branching out into the Noe-Nazi market. And here I thought Hugo Boss had that locked up. [Fashionista]
* Do you know your state's official bird? Well, this legislator thinks you shouldn't have to and is waging the single most important policy fight in his state. [Lowering the Bill]
* The Gorsuch hearings are set for March 20th. Now what should senators ask him? [National Law Journal]
* Seriously, what should senators ask him? [SCOTUSBlog]
* The CFPB is getting battered and bruised, but the D.C. Circuit may give it a fighting chance. [Law.com]
* Pepper Hamilton had a high profile year working the Baylor matter, but PPP is down 28 percent. They lose any more and they'll have to change their name to Peper Hamilton. [Legal Intelligencer]
* Alston & Bird, meanwhile, saw a revenue boost. [Daily Report]
* Judge finds probable cause in criminal complaint against Chris Christie. Don't worry, New Jersey prosecutors are too scared of traffic problems in their towns to do anything about it. [Law360]
* Florida has been busy. First the Docs v. Glocks ruling and now an abortion ruling. [Orlando Sentinel]
* My God. They can't even pass background checks. [Politico]
* The top 10 law novels of the last 10 years. I wonder if She-Hulk made the list? (Spoiler: she does.) [ABA Journal]
Facing growing caseloads and data volumes, law firms that rely on outdated case management tools risk falling behind. Discover how AI is transforming litigation processes and giving firms a competitive edge.
* Fahrvergnügen! The DOJ charged six VW executives in the emissions-cheating scandal, arresting one in Miami. [New York Times]
* Dewey think the Trustee should be able to destroy records? [Law360]
* The Jeff Sessions confirmation hearing opted for the "he can't be racist, he has a black friend" strategy that absolutely, positively never fails. [Litigation Daily]
* Child prostitution isn't legal in California and oh my God why do we have to clarify this? [ABC News]
* Company under CFPB investigation battling to remain anonymous. This probably would be a significant legal challenge if we assumed the CFPB would exist past next month. [National Law Journal]
* Chelsea Manning's sentence may be commuted before Obama leaves office. [Lawfare]
* The fight over legal rights to Prince's catalog continues. [Page Six]
Ed. note: As mentioned on Wednesday, we will be publishing today, but at a reduced level. We'll be back in full force on Monday. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
* President-elect Donald Trump will likely pick a lawyer as his nominee for Secretary of State: Rudy Giuliani (NYU Law '68) or Mitt Romney (Harvard Law '75). [New York Times]
* Where do broken hearts go? Some precedents for Chief Judge Merrick Garland to follow from unsuccessful Supreme Court nominees. [Associated Press via How Appealing]
* A pre-Thanksgiving ruling from the Florida Supreme Court that gave one prisoner something to be grateful for could signal more upheaval to come in the nation’s second largest death row. [BuzzFeed]
* Three more judges participated in Pennsylvania's "Porngate" email exchanges -- but it seems that Bruce Beemer, the state's new attorney general, won't be naming names. [ABA Journal]
* What does the future hold for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and its chief, Chicago Law grad and former SCOTUS clerk Richard Cordray? [New York Times]
* It's not just a plot line from Suits: Reginald Taylor, accused of posing as a lawyer by stealing an attorney's bar number, apparently delivered decent results for his clients. [The Daily Beast]
* Don't mess with (federal judges from) Texas, Mr. President; Judge Amos Mazzant, who blocked President Obama's proposed extension of overtime pay, isn't the first Lone Star jurist to cause problems for the Obama Administration. [New York Times via How Appealing]
* Thinking of hitting the movies over the long weekend? Tony Mauro shares our own Harry Graff's enthusiasm for Loving. [National Law Journal]
It's hard to believe a company can so blatantly thumb its nose at the rules, but they have a secret and some Biglaw bigshots on retainer to fight tooth-and-nail to protect their lending practices....
