Internships

* Some firms are incorporating “virtual internships” into their recruiting process. Interns deserve to do their grunt work under only the bests simulated conditions. This better come with a company VR set! [Reuters]

* Oklahoma’s Supreme Court does not give the OK to anti-abortion laws scheduled to go in effect on Monday. [Fox News]

* Justice Sonia Sotomayor describes Court’s refusal to block SB8 as “catastrophic.” How long until people spin her defense of the rule of law as the true partisanship? [The Hill]

* Texas governor bases kids’ ability to play sports in high school strictly on what the first people to view their genitals say. [Texas Tribune]

* Anti-terrorism law used to sentence neo-Nazis heading to a pro-gun rally in Virginia. One of them was a U.S. Vet. Hoorah. [Military Times]

* Many Biglaw firms have raised their salary scales, but that’s not all they’ve done in recent months to attract talent. Considering “the war for talent is intensifying,” firms are offering perks like generous parental leave and adoption assistance, student loan assistance, and lifestyle benefits. We may have more on this later today. [Big Law Business]

* A former deputy prosecutor in Vermont alleges she was paid less than a man working in the same position. She claims that a male attorney who was hired after she was earned a salary that was 26 percent higher than her own, despite the fact that they “performed equal work that required equal skill, effort, and responsibility.” [Burlington Free Press]

* The bulk of insider trading cases used to be handled by the SEC through civil suits, but now the DOJ has muscled in on the action with criminal prosecutions. What’s the difference between a case that merits a civil suit and a case that results in criminal charges? That’s what attorneys are trying to figure out. [DealBook / New York Times]

* “I think there’s a deep skepticism about the value of these programs.” Looking for a law degree as a professional that won’t set you back too far in terms of cost? Try a master’s of jurisprudence on for size. It’s considered law school for non-lawyers, and it might make actual lawyers question the validity of the degree in the first place. Hmm… [Marketplace]

* If you’re a prospective law student working on an application, it may be wise to try to incorporate a summer internship into your personal statement if it helped shape your desire to pursue a career in law, but remember, “there’s no magic internship that’s going to get someone admitted into law school.” [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* “[F]irms have increasingly turned to mergers in hopes that rubbing two coins together might create a third.” Per the chairman of Seyfarth Shaw, Biglaw firms that are facing stagnant growth must change ASAP or suffer the consequences. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Given the recent terror attacks in Paris, many U.S. governors have threatened to stop accepting Syrian refugees within their states’ borders — whether they have the legal authority to actually refuse them, however, is another question entirely. [ABC News]

* The Department of Homeland Security will publish rules governing privacy protections concerning the use of drones. The world can’t wait to see the “best practices” the government recommends for spying on citizens without a warrant. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Mississippi College School of Law has decided to freeze its tuition for students entering in the fall of 2016. Incoming students will get to pay the low, low price of $32,040 (seriously, that’s low for tuition at a private school) for all three years. [National Jurist]

* If you want to put together a compelling admissions package when applying to law school, then during your college summers, you should work at a law-related internship instead of drinking all day and having fun. Sorry! [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* Georgetown Law is teaming up with DLA Piper and Arent Fox to open a low bono law firm. The firm will provide two things for those in need: affordable legal services and jobs to bolster GULC’s employment stats. [Am Law Daily]

* Michigan Law will provide summer funding for all of its 1Ls for law-related internships — but there’s a catch. The cash is a loan, and students may have to pay it back if they earn Biglaw money the following summer. [Michigan Law]

* Judge Jed Rakoff sounded off on the judicary’s problem with mass incarceration at a recent conference at Harvard Law, calling for his colleagues and bar associations across the nation to take a stand for the accused with a gentler justice system. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* “It’s positive news. I think it indicates there’s some slight opening of financial services to marijuana-related businesses.” Some banks have finally decided to provide services to weedpreneurs, but others are leaving marijuana moguls high and dry. [WSJ Law Blog]

* “Students should seriously consider going to law school in a state where they plan to practice law.” Unless you like wasting your time, you’d do well to listen to this advice, even if you’re going to a school with national name recognition. [U.S. News & World Report]