GDPR

* Allen & Overy finally finds its American match, announcing a deal with Shearman & Sterling. The new firm will be called “A&O Shearman”… for a couple of months before we just call it “Allen & Overy.” [Law360]

* Biden seems unwilling to invoke the Fourteenth Amendment to avoid a government shutdown, though it’s not clear why since there wouldn’t be any injured plaintiff. [Reuters]

* Not that having a viable legal theory matters much to this Supreme Court. So why does the media bend over backward to frame opinions through a legal lens? In fairness, Above the Law more or less stopped trying to do that years ago. [Slate]

* A former Lewis Brisbois COO alleged financial shenanigans back in 2019. Not saying these rumors contributed to over 100 lawyers bailed, but they can’t have helped. [American Lawyer]

* Meta, the artist formerly known as Facebook and likely subsequently to be known as Facebook, receives 1.3 billion Euro fine for GDPR data privacy violations. [The Verge]

* Ty Cobb thinks Trump will end up in jail over classified documents. So don’t expect Cobb to be rejoining the legal team. [Newsweek]

* January 6 probe triggers secretive hearing involving WilmerHale — likely over social media data. [Politico]

You should probably get a VPN after reading this.

* After a six-year legal tussle, Prince’s estate has an agreed-upon value. Maybe they should have just listened to the intro of “Let’s Go Crazy,” the one where it says “electric word life, it means forever and it’s worth about $156.4M.” [ Al.com]

* “Some of us are more equal than others”: Texas voting bill meant to exclude non-citizens caught a few citizens in its net. [Depaulia Online]

* Working on those application? See what U.S. News thinks you ought be paying attention to. [U.S. News]

* A congressman is pushing for a four-day work week. If this becomes a thing, will everyone hate Tuesdays? [Business Insider]

* Fines for breaching GDPR are looking scary high. In-house, you better crack down on storing your customer’s identifying information! [CNBC]

Privacy legislation still leaves something to be desired.

Taking a 'TEAM' approach to GDPR compliance ensures that the business will be positioned for ongoing success in an increasingly interconnected world of personal data and data privacy.

Not quite; but legal operations folks need to pay attention, particularly with respect to third-parties.

* It’s cliché to label this, “but their emails” right? [NY Times]

* R. Kelly wants to see this sex tape. Let’s presume it’s for defense purposes. [TMZ]

* Navigating the privacy waters between GDPR and CCPA. [Corporate Counsel]

* Gordon Caplan has a court date with Aunt Becky. [American Lawyer]

* While eDiscovery has been a thing for over a decade, a new study confirms that a lot of firms still don’t understand it. [Legaltech News]

* The SPLC removed its founder…folks around the work they do think that was the right move. Meanwhile, prepare for years of white supremacists going “I can’t be criticized because SPLC had a sh [New Yorker]

* Mississippi wants a law aborted next. [NBC News]

* When trying to credibly disavow past comments making light of sexual assault victims, try to do it sometime before your entire career hinges on pantomiming remorse. [National Law Journal]

* Steptoe the latest firm to unveil a new strategy to promote diversity. [American Lawyer]

* In the latest ABC News “The Investigation” podcast, John Dowd describes the Mueller investigation that’s tripped up 30+ actual and alleged wrongdoers “a terrible waste of time.” [The Investigation]

* EU has logged 59,000 data breaches since GDPR came online. So that’s working out great. [Corporate Counsel]

* Pierce Bainbridge continues its hiring spree, nabbing an IP litigation star from McKool. [The Recorder]

* Soccer officials appeal red cards to Second Circuit. [Law360]

* Trump commissions Cyberdyne Systems. [Courthouse News Service]

* In college hoops corruption trial, it seems the defense wants to confuse having a “reason” with having an “excuse.” The judge is not here for it. [Law360]

* On the same theme, here’s an exploration of how billable hour pricing models encourage overbilling that doesn’t confuse identifying the impetus of bad behavior with excusing it. [American Lawyer]

* Dog Gone! DA drops animal cruelty charges in “authorities accuse lawyer of sex with dog” case, putting an end to the most bizarre of the charges. All the drug and firearm charges though… yeah, he had to plead guilty to those. But Snoopy’s honor is restored. [Trib Live]

* Google, a company worth billions, gets hit with $57 million GDPR fine, reinforcing that GDPR is a lot of useful bark but very little actual bite — at least for now. [NY Times]

* Legal Aid fighting back against law that lets private investors pay off people’s minor tax bills and then seize their homes. [Omaha World-Herald]

* Shutdown may start killing people directly — federal worker needs her insurance back to live. [Courthouse News Service]

* Ghost of former national Chief Justice upset according to psychic. [Legal Cheek]

GDPR tells you if your loved ones hated your gifts.

Working out exactly as planned...

When it comes to data privacy law and your personal data, blockchain technology represents the proverbial round peg that does not fit squarely within the four corners of the law.

We're in a situation where if you hand people tools to delete content they dislike, some percentage of people are going to abuse that.

* Many believe that today’s Supreme Court is one of the hottest benches in history; Adam Feldman uses data to assess the claim. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* As for who takes the SCOTUS bench, contingency plays a major role — along with credentials and conservatism, as Ian Millhiser explains. [ThinkProgress]

* Most people have their minds made up about Thursday’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings featuring Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh — but if you’re still trying to process the proceedings, David Oscar Markus offers five simple rules for evaluating the witnesses. [The Hill]

* Ann Althouse has some reflections on Judge Kavanaugh’s emotional testimony and “present-day conservative masculinity.” [Althouse]

* David Bernstein proffers this interesting solution to the Kavanaugh nomination situation — but don’t hold your breath for its implementation. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, “the EU is busy building a three-lane highway that leads to a particularly dark place,” according to Charles Glasser. [Daily Caller]

* Lawyer Luddites: “AI in the legal space is not scary,” as explained by David Kleiman of Bloomberg Law. [Artificial Lawyer]

* Indeed, as Greg Lambert argues, lawyers — especially “working partners” — need to join the innovation conversation. [3 Geeks and a Law Blog]

There are a lot of things for service providers to consider when it comes to GDPR compliance.

Of course this would be the first big violation of GDPR.