Don Verrilli

* Saudi Arabia made a robot a citizen. What will the ramifications of this be on international law? [Law and More]

* The legal troubles of the Wolf Man. Or — wait for it — Mo’ Moon-ey, Mo’ Problems. [The Legal Geeks]

* If you’re in D.C. next week, Thomson Reuters is hosting “The Future of Law Schools” at the Georgetown University Hotel & Conference Center. The conference is bringing together an impressive collection of legal academics, administrators, hiring partners, and practitioners to discuss where legal education goes from here to foster the next generation of lawyers. [Future of Law Schools]

* We’ve already covered how comically unfit Jeff Mateer is for the federal bench. And that was before we learned that he’s compared the treatment of Christians under Obama to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. I can think of at least six million problems with that sentiment. [Newsweek]

* On that note, it’s looking more and more like these judges are the heart of Trump’s domestic agenda. [Rewire]

* Checking in on Don Verrilli. Not to fault his success at Munger Tolles, but it’d be nice if he could go back to his last job. [Bloomberg Big Law Business]

* The delicate art of the legal threat. [Katz on Justice]

* A bar exam failure offers advice on turning your fate around. [Modestly Jonathan]

* Wells Fargo has a new compliance officer. Imagine a job that easy. Just saying “no, for the love of God, don’t do that!” over and over again pretty much covers it. [Law.com]

* Post McDonnell, Shelly Silver still thinks we need more protection for political bribery.[Law360]

* Rockland County doesn’t think everyone’s a winner at Nixon Peabody. [New York Law Journal]

* Former congressman and convicted felon Michael Grimm paid off his nearly half a million debt to Biglaw. And he’ll probably be back in the House soon because Staten Island is the absolute worst. It’s where New York put its garbage. [National Law Journal]

* When access to justice includes a foreign sovereign. [Litigation Finance Journal]

* Literally EVERYTHING about the Obama years was done with one hand tied behind his back. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* A review of Gaslight Lawyers (affiliate link), the history of steampunk criminal trials. [Foreward Reviews]

* If only all court filings were as easy as The Onion imagines they could be… Maybe with the next Apple update. [The Onion]

* Fascinating, and maybe just a bit unsettling for those that’ve gotten inked: how law enforcement is using biometric technology in tattoo identification. [Electronic Frontier Foundation]

* Are the members of the Supreme Court getting bored waiting for a ninth justice? [Slate]

* The true story of how a small, informal lawyer listserv got recognized by the Supreme Court. [New York Personal Injury Blog]

* New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, isn’t mincing words when it comes to Trump University, calling it a “straight up fraud.” [Huffington Post]

* Don Verrilli is retiring, here’s a look at the Solicitor General’s role and success in generating petition grants when he (and his office) recommends them. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* A Black Lives Matter activist was convicted on for “attempting to unlawfully remove a suspect from police officers” in a move some have criticized as an attempt to chill lawful protests. [Gawker]

* Meet David King of King v. Burwell, the epic Obamacare case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court today. [New York Times]

* And meet the two legal heavyweights who will be arguing the case before SCOTUS. [Politico via How Appealing]

* Meanwhile, another Supreme Court has put a stop to same-sex marriage down in Alabama — for now. [Buzzfeed]

* General David Petraeus reaches a plea deal, requiring him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a fine (but no prison sentence). [Washington Post]

* It’s not as sexy as Obamacare or marriage equality, but the collection of state sales tax on out-of-state purchases made online is a pretty important issue — and Justice Kennedy wants SCOTUS to revisit it. [How Appealing (linkwrap)]

* In the wake of a leadership shake-up, Cadwalader is beefing up its Houston energy practice — but is that a wise idea, with the price of oil spiraling downward? [American Lawyer]

* Finally, something that Elie Mystal and Jordan Weissmann can agree upon: dropping the LSAT is a bad idea. [Slate]

* A jury of eight men and 10 women will start hearing arguments today in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, defendant in the Boston Marathon bombing. [How Appealing (linkwrap)]

* Legal ethics guru Monroe Freedman, RIP. [ABA Journal]

* Solicitor General Don Verrilli may be a frontrunner to replace Eric Holder as attorney general, but the competition seems to be stiff. Kamala Harris, anyone? [USA Today]

* FBI Director James Comey is annoyed by Apple and Google marketing their encryption prowess for privacy’s sake — it’ll “allow people to place themselves beyond the law.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* White & Case just hopped aboard the onshore outsourcing train with its announcement that it would open a services center in Tampa, Florida. The move will create about 100 jobs, but we’d love to know how many it’s negating. [Tampa Bay Times]

* Slater & Gordon, the world’s first publicly traded law firm, has been on an “acquisition spree” in England. Earlier this month, it picked up patent practice, and now it’s in talks with a litigation shop. [Am Law Daily]

* “Law school is a major gamble,” and people are more informed, but that somehow isn’t stopping people from applying. This is a great article to read if you’re still considering going all in. [New York Observer]