Holwell Shuster & Goldberg

* Regarding the nomination of Patrick Bumatay to the Ninth Circuit, “Why are Democrats fighting the judicial nomination of a qualified gay minority?” Good question! [The Federalist]

* Speaking of highly qualified minority nominees under attack, Carrie Severino argues that it’s the critics of D.C. Circuit nominee Neomi Rao, not Rao herself, who are being inflammatory. [Bench Memos / National Review]

* And KC Johnson, reviewing the collegiate writings by Rao that have generated the attacks against her, argues that Rao’s views on campus sexual assault — from 25 years ago, so who knows whether or not she still holds them — are “align[ed] both with statute and today’s mainstream opinion.” [City Journal]

* Litigation over a watchdog commission for handling complaints of prosecutorial misconduct in New York State involves a lot of legal luminaries, including Jim Walden and Jacob Gardener of Walden Macht, Jim McGuire and Daniel Sullivan of Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, and Andrew Rossman, Kathleen Sullivan, and Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel. [New York Law Journal]

* Could Nick Sandmann and the Covington boys file libel lawsuits over some of the commentary on their controversy? It could be an uphill climb, according to Eugene Volokh (a First Amendment expert, and hardly anyone’s idea of a leftist). [Reason / Volokh Conspiracy]

* But if Covington cases do get filed, they could give rise to some interesting issues of civil procedure, as Howard Wasserman notes. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Many lessons can be learned from the Fyre Festival debacle — and one of the legal ones is that FTC disclosures actually matter. [All Rights Reserved]

* If you’re a liberal or progressive appellate litigator interested in taking on the Trump Administration, check out this new job posting from the good folks at the CAC. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

* Tony Mauro hangs out with Meg Ryan — no, not the actress, but the SCOTUS clerk and JAG lawyer turned judge and possible Supreme Court nominee. [National Law Journal via How Appealing]

* Speaking of SCOTUS, ain’t no mountain high enough for the Notorious RBG. [The Onion]

* New partner watch: congrats to the three new partners at an elite boutique (that just announced nice bonuses): Blair Kaminsky, Neil Lieberman, and Daniel Sullivan. [Holwell Shuster & Goldberg]

* During this holiday season, help two lawyers help the homeless. [What About Clients?]

* If you have to ask whether something is allowed under HIPAA, the answer is probably no. [MedCity News]

* Orin Kerr on the latest skirmish in the “Magistrate’s Revolt” — an opinion by Magistrate Judge James Orenstein that Kerr believes is “clearly wrong.” [Volokh Conspiracy]

* Did the media misread Donald Trump during the campaign, taking him literally but not seriously (when it should’ve been the other way around)? [Althouse]