Hogan Lovells

* Could this be the case that puts the nail in the death penalty’s coffin? Justice Breyer probably hopes so. Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovells has asked the Supreme Court to hear an Arizona death row inmate’s case, arguing that the state’s death penalty law is unconstitutional and that it must be struck down. [BuzzFeed]

* “[T]he Tiffany trademark is not something to be trifled with.” Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York has ruled that Costco must pay more than $19 million after selling rings and attempting to pass them off as a luxury brand by using and infringing upon the Tiffany trademark. Treble damages are a bitch, and Costco plans to appeal. [New York Law Journal]

* After a special Senate primary, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was once removed from his post and later suspended from it, and Senator Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the seat formerly occupied by AG Jeff Sessions, will face each other in a runoff for the state’s GOP nomination. Voters seem thrilled with their options. [New York Times]

* A former law firm partner who is accused of creating a fake Match.com account using the name of a real female attorney and allegedly signing her up for emails from a weight loss surgery company, the Obesity Action Coalition, and Pig International — all from his law firm computer — is facing discipline before the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission [Law.com]

* Joseph Amico, who was arrested back in April after threatening to blow up a Manhattan attorney who he allegedly referred to as a “n****r lover” has been rearrested, this time for allegedly harassing the judge in his divorce case. Amico, who was free on $50,000 bail, has an optimistic attorney who’s confident his client will receive a “favorable bail disposition.” [New York Daily News]

* If you’re searching for a job to take after law school that doesn’t necessarily involve practicing law, then you may want to consider a career in policy work. After all, having a law degree when working in the policy world likely amounts to some sort of a JD Advantage-type job. [U.S. News & World Report]

* Ty Cobb, a former federal prosecutor, has resigned from his post as a partner at Hogan Lovells to join President Trump’s legal team as the investigation into the campaign’s possible collusion with Russia continues to expand. Cobb, who’s related to the baseball player of the same name, leaves behind more than 30 years of history at the firm to collaborate with Marc Kasowitz, which should be interesting, to say the least. Dat stache, tho… [Bloomberg; New York Times]

* In other news, yet another member of President Trump’s legal team, Jay Sekulow, appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press and CBS’s Face the Nation yesterday in an attempt to solidify claims that his client, the commander-in-chief, had no knowledge of Don Jr.’s emails and meeting with the Russians, and that “there was nothing illegal to cover up” anyway. [Newsweek]

* Meanwhile, it looks like Trump’s lawyers knew about Don Jr.’s emails and meeting with the Russians more than three weeks ago, which makes the president’s assertion that he’d learned of it “a couple of days ago” all the more far fetched. In fact, per a recent FEC filing, President Trump’s reelection campaign paid $50,000 to Don Jr.’s criminal-defense lawyer, Alan Futerfas, on June 26, two weeks before the email scandal was made public. [Yahoo News; Daily Beast]

* “I think a politician or a public figure of note can have a Twitter account of public note which would not be deemed to be a public forum. But in the Trump Administration, what he says on his tweets are as much public in nature as a press conference.” Renowned First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams explains why the litigants who sued President Trump for blocking their Twitter accounts might just have a shot when it comes to winning their case. [Big Law Business]

* “I wouldn’t rent to u if u were the last person on earth. One word says it all. Asian.” An Airbnb host has been taken to task by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing after canceling a UCLA School of Law student’s cabin reservation based on race. Airbnb must also develop a discipline system for discriminatory hosts. We may have more on this later. [The Recorder]

* Mike Pence has hired personal counsel: McGuireWoods partner, Richard Cullen. A former prosecutor, Cullen has extensive investigative experience. The difference between Marc Kasowitz and Cullen tells you everything you need to know about the difference between Donald Trump and Mike Pence. [CNN]

* Jared Kushner’s finances have come under Bob Mueller’s microscope. [Washington Post]

* HoLove is merging with Boston-based boutique, Collora. [ABA Journal]

* Trump’s transition team has received notice to preserve their documents. [New York Times]

* When mistaken identity fuels a conspiracy theory. [Law.com]

* Do you know what to do after a cyber attack? [National Law Review]

* North Carolina lawmakers say they’ve reached a deal to repeal the state’s controversial bathroom bill. I wonder how those negotiations went: “Hey, this law is awful and is costing our state billions. Let’s get rid of it.” “Okay.” I mean that’s probably not how it went, but it’s how it should have gone. [Reuters]

* Five University of California law schools are sharing the wealth after an improper foreclosure verdict results in a big punitive damages award. The judge directed a portion of that money to go to the law schools — $4 million each — earmarked for consumer law education and direct legal services. [Law.com]

* Hawaii successfully converted the TRO on the Trump administration’s Muslim Ban 2.0 into a preliminary injunction. [Hogan Lovells]

* Seattle is the first city to sue over the Trump administration’s threats against sanctuary cities. [LA Times]

* Bridgegate results in prison sentences. Bridget Kelly was sentenced to 18 months, and Bill Baroni got 2 years. [New York Times]

* Doublespeak — the environment edition. [Politico]

* Is Sean Spicer is lying about whether the White House really wants former acting Attorney General Sally Yates to testify to Congress? [The Hill]

* Judge Andrew Napolitano is back at Fox News, and back to conspiracy theories. [CNN]

* Judge Posner rules that you can’t yell “fire” on a crowded Internet. [ABA Journal]

* Want a sneak peek at Am Law 100/200 financial results? Spoiler: top firms make a lot of money. [ALM Staff]

* Apparently it’s financially tenuous to leave Biglaw. Who knew walking away from $200K+ could put a crimp in your plans? [Am Law Daily]

* Michael Cohen is spinning in the wind after his contradictory secret peace plan claims fall apart. [Business Insider]

* Dechert has jumped into Philadelphia’s looming sanctuary city fight and Hogan Lovells may not be far behind. [Legal Intelligencer]

* The harassment claims against Uber have in-house counsel under fire.
[National Law Journal]

* Human boil Martin Shkreli and Evan Greebel, his former attorney from Katten, are seeking separate trials. [Law360]

* President Obama is making his call for criminal justice reform in the Harvard Law Review. [Harvard Law Review]

* Take cover, the amici are coming! [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Ho-Love is doubling down on Philly. [Biz Journals]

* The polling game ain’t what it use to be, and so Nate Silver turns his attention to making college football more like a debate tournament. [FiveThirtyEight]

* A look back at the sensational Menendez trial. [Law and More]

* A tribute to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the Ninth Circuit, who takes senior status this week. [National Review]

* Advice to help make that resolution stick. [Huffington Post]

* There are many questions, but no answers, as Judge Merrick Garland’s “final reckoning” approaches. His nomination will die if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is elected, but would he be confirmed in a lame-duck session if Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wins? In that case, if Senate Republicans refuse to confirm him after the election, will Clinton re-nominate him after she’s sworn in? Will he ever receive a hearing? Someone please help this poor man. [Reuters]

* With apologies to Judge Garland, the only thing that seems to remain certain is that Senate Republicans are firm in their stance that they’ll continue to prevent the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court from being filled. Senator John McCain, for example, asked supporters to re-elect him so he can assist his GOP brethren in “prevent[ing] that four-to-four split from tilting to the left.” [Huffington Post]

* According to FBI director James Comey, after review of additional emails found in an unrelated investigation into Anthony Weiner, there’s still no evidence that Hillary Clinton should face any criminal charges over the handling of her email communications while she was Secretary of State. Voters can breathe a little easier now, because there will be no indictments coming for the Democratic presidential nominee. [New York Times]

* Chadbourne & Parke has finally responded to partner Kerrie Campbell’s $100M gender discrimination suit, and the firm didn’t pull any punches, alleging that her practice area was a “poor fit” for the firm, that she “exhibited questionable legal judgment,” and that its decision to ask her to leave was for “entirely legitimate and proper business reasons and without a scintilla of consideration being given to her gender.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* “No purpose will be served by letting him rot in prison for years on end.” Judge Jed Rakoff, a longtime critic of federal sentencing guidelines, has sentenced Harvard Law School graduate-cum-Ponzi schemer Andrew Caspersen to four years in prison for his $38.5M fraud, even though prosecutors sought almost 16 years of time behind bars for his financial crimes — a proposition which Rakoff referred to as “absurd.” [Reuters]

* E. Barrett Prettyman Jr., founder of the first appellate practice, RIP. [Hogan Lovells]

* Janet Reno, first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general, RIP. [New York Times]

* Senator Mike Lee, an influential member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (and a former Supreme Court clerk himself), explains why Republicans won’t confirm Judge Merrick Garland to SCOTUS in the lame-duck session. [Washington Post via How Appealing]

* Jaroslawa Zelinsky Johnson, former managing partner of Chadbourne & Parke’s defunct Kiev office, wants in on Kerrie Campbell’s sex discrimination suit against the firm. [American Lawyer]

* In other news about alleged gender bias in Biglaw, it looks like partner Traci Ribeiro’s lawsuit against Sedgwick is bound for arbitration. [Law.com]

* The latest bad news for Theranos: a hedge fund is suing the company for securities fraud, and it’s represented by a pair of high-powered Gibson Dunn partners, former federal prosecutors Reed Brodsky and Winston Chan. [Corporate Counsel]

* Kasowitz Benson’s recent legal work on behalf of Donald Trump is just the latest example of the firm representing litigious tycoons. [New York Law Journal]

* As some firms exit China, others enter the market; Hogan Lovells just announced a strategic alliance with Fujian Fidelity Law Firm in Shanghai. [Big Law Business]

* In my ancestral homeland of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte poses a threat to the rule of law, but remains very popular with the people. [New York Times]

* Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius may recently have been sentenced to six years in prison for the killing of his girlfriend, but according to South African legal analysts, he’ll be eligible for parole in just three years, and will most likely be freed from behind bars at that time, despite his murder conviction. [ABC News]

* DLA Piper partner Brian Pendleton has been fined $10K for violating a court order related to interfering with witnesses and then lying about it. DLA Piper has also been ordered to pay all of opposing counsel’s attorney fees and costs thanks to its errant partner’s behavior. The firm, of course, “respectfully disagree[s]” with the judge. [New York Law Journal via ABA Journal]

* FBI Director James Comey is being “praised” and “slammed” at the same time for his recommendation that no criminal charges be brought against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over her emails. In the meantime, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that the case had been closed. [WSJ Law Blog; CNN]

* Law firm mergers are coming fast and furious, with a total of 48 combinations announced since the beginning of 2016. “Small firms are increasingly vulnerable in the current market,” and last year’s number of mergers (91) could be exceeded by year’s end as many smaller firms struggle to stay in business. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Not only is Adnan Syed, the subject of the first season of the popular Serial podcast, getting a new trial, but he’s also got some brand new Biglaw attorneys representing him. Lawyers from Hogan Lovells, including the head of the firm’s pro bono practice and the managing partner of its Baltimore office, will now be involved. [Big Law Business]