Darby Dickerson

* Roy Moore’s lawyer — you know, Richard Jaffe, the Jewish one — is a “passionate supporter” of Senator-elect Doug Jones, and raised and donated money for his Senate campaign before voting for him in the Alabama special election. [Washington Examiner]

* Eversheds Sutherland celebrated the new year by announcing a merger with a Dutch affiliate firm, composed of eight partners and 32 lawyers across two offices. It’ll be known as Eversheds Sutherland Netherlands once the acquisition is complete. [American Lawyer]

* Speaking of mergers, Ballard Spahr celebrated the new year by completing its combination with Lindquist & Vennum. Ballard Spahr will retain its name, and the new firm will have 650 lawyers across 15 offices in the U.S. [Big Law Business]

* The former head of alumni relations for Chicago’s John Marshall Law claims in a new lawsuit that he was fired due to the school’s bias against older male employees. He alleges that Dean Darby Dickerson is trying to “eliminate the employment of men, and particularly older men.” [Law360 (sub. req.)]

* “If you’re too busy to follow this advice, you should follow this advice.” Try this New Year’s resolution on for size: take better care of yourself with these stress management tips. [Law.com]

* The LSAT may be “destroy[ing] socioeconomic diversity” in law schools. Will a low score on the Logic Games section of the LSAT keep you from becoming employed as a lawyer? Probably not, but it may keep you from attending a top law school, unless you can afford an expensive LSAT tutor, and many prospective law students are priced out from the get-go. [The Atlantic]

* Darby Dickerson, dean of Texas Tech Law, is resigning to assume the deanship at John Marshall Law-Chicago, a school whose enrollment has faltered over the past several years. She was asked during a job interview why she would leave a ranked law school for an unranked one, and her response may surprise you. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

* The first oral argument of the new SCOTUS term marked one of the first times that complete gender equality was reached at the high court. Five men — all justices — and five women — three of them justices and two of them representing their clients — were all present for Bravo-Fernandez, which is a relative rarity. [Washington Post]

* “I feel that as a result of the experiences I had, I had a lot to offer.” With the assistance of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former GC, Hinshaw & Culbertson is launching a crisis management and consulting practice. The firm is now in competition with businesses like Zeughauser Group, Altman Weil, and Hildebrandt Consulting. [Big Law Business]

* A class-action suit has been filed over Samsung’s recall of its fiery smartphone, alleging breach of warranty, breach of good faith, and common law fraud. You can expect the size of the proposed nationwide class of plaintiffs in this suit (or at least those in California, Pennsylvania, and Nevada) to explode faster than the Galaxy Note 7. [WSJ Law Blog]