Law Firm Mergers

* Does Trump’s health care executive order violate ERISA? [CNBC]

* Just when law firms needed another challenge, here comes PwC. [Law.com]

* Pepper Hamilton partner brings clients to secluded private island. Enjoy Camp Crystal Lake everyone! [The Legal Intelligencer]

* On Sunday, 60 Minutes will have a profile on the fascinating career of Shon Hopwood, the Georgetown Law professor who came to his career as a jailhouse lawyer while serving time for bank robbery. [National Law Journal]

* Why aren’t there vegan wigs? It’s actually a pretty interesting question. [Legal Cheek]

* Judge was “unaware” that he gave joint custody to an accused rapist. But before the judge gets pilloried for conducting a slapdash proceeding, consider that the prosecutors never bothered to mention this. [ABA Journal]

* The gender bias suit against Proskauer reaches the Second Circuit on claims that Judge Cote erred in preventing the plaintiff from getting key discovery for her retaliation claim. [Law360]

* A guide to interviewing for introverts. The first tip should be to open every interview with, “I’m interested in tax.” In my experience, firms expect to put the tax geniuses in a dungeon and let them work their sorcerer’s ways in peace, so they’ll forgive any awkwardness as a sign of genius. [The Recorder]

* Law firm merger mania strikes Texas. [Houston Chronicle]

* “[W]e will do whatever we have to do to properly protect his rights vis a vis the company.” Film producer and accused rapist Harvey Weinstein has hired Hollywood power lawyer Patricia Glaser to represent him in his fight against his own company. [Hollywood Reporter]

* Hogan Lovells has been in the legal press a lot lately for its decision to shut things down, like careers. Now, the firm has decided to shut down an office in a far away land called Ulaanbaatar that you’ve likely never heard of before. [Legal Week]

* What’s the easiest way to get a new practice group running? By acquiring a boutique firm that’s got an “innovative approach.” That’s what LeClairRyan did when it swallowed up Pizzo & Haman, a workers’ compensation firm which is unique in that… its attorneys charge more than others in the same practice area. [Am Law Daily]

* Enrollment has gone up in a major way at the Appalachian School of Law. The school’s new 1L class is about 86 percent larger than last year’s entering class, and its overall enrollment has increased by almost 40 percent. Considering that the school has been struggling in recent years, this must be nice for everyone in Grundy. [WCYB]

* “What Could Equifax CLO John Kelley Have Done Differently?” Literally, anything. [Corporate Counsel]

Neither firm has commented on their reported trip down the aisle.

* Corporate Counsel asks “how much money will Uber’s next general counsel make?” Duh, it depends on surge pricing. [Corporate Counsel]

* Law firm merger rumors!!! [Law.com]

* Supreme Court takes another opportunity to laugh in the face of people who care about government transparency. [National Law Journal]

* A “so-called judge” strikes again! [The Guardian]

* Would you share your cyberthreat assessments with the government? [Law360]

* It’s time for some standards in the FCPA industry. [FCPA Professor]

* People are not agricultural products. Somehow this is something we needed an opinion on. [Lowering the Bar]

* Two-time presidential candidate and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton will travel to Wales next weekend to receive an honorary doctorate degree from Swansea University, but that’s not the only honor she’ll receive while there. Swansea’s law school is being renamed, and will soon be known as the Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law. Congratulations! [Wales Online]

* Special counsel Robert Mueller has added an appellate lawyer from the Justice Department’s criminal division to his team. Per a spokesperson, Scott Meisler, who had not been previously identified as being involved, joined the effort in mid-June. Meisler is a 2005 graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center. [Reuters]

* Winston & Strawn may have more than 900 lawyers, but according to the firm’s managing partner, that’s still not good enough. You can soon expect the firm’s corporate transactions practice in New York to expand, its D.C. office to grow in size, and its West Coast presence to double or triple. [Big Law Business]

* According to Altman Weil’s MergerLine, law firm mergers are now on pace to break a 2015 record. Thus far in 2017, 76 tie-ups have been announced, which may lead the industry to surpass its previous high of 91 mergers. The number of law firm combinations could even exceed 100 this year. Exciting times… [Am Law Daily]

* Retired U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson Jr. will be retiring as founding dean of the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law as of June 30, 2018. Why is Furgeson planning to retire with only five years as dean under his belt? He’s almost 76, and “plan[s] to do a lot of things when [he’s] 80 — but not this job.” [Law.com]

* Federal law enforcement’s crackdown on NCAA coaches has likely brought an end to Rick Pitino’s career. That said, we thought his career was over when we all learned that Louisville hired hookers for recruits so maybe he still has a shot. [ESPN]

* Law firm mergers continue at a record place. Yep, there’s no fundamental market weakness here at all. [Am Law Daily]

* DOJ lawyers face an unpleasant grilling at the Second Circuit. Maybe someday Sessions can disinvite judges he doesn’t want criticizing his unsupported legal theories. [Slate]

* Women losing pregnancies while detained by the administration. I’d say we’re going to look back on this era of immigration policy in horror, but we can probably go ahead and be horrified now. [Huffington Post]

* The USD Alumni Board has weighed in on the Wax/Alexander op-ed. They take a “let’s all come together” approach, which isn’t wrong as much as it seems asymmetric. When one-side throws bombs about cultural superiority, decrying divisiveness puts the onus on the wrong side side to move. [Motions Online]

* The most likely grants from the long conference. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Here’s how you get $4 billion in punitive damages (hint: be in Texas). [Law.com]

Exciting news, but will this inspire the firm to adjust its salary scale?

* Appellate court rules that Facebook friends aren’t necessarily “friends.” If they’re in your Top 8 on MySpace on the other hand…. [Law.com]

* Guy drove a car into a crowd holding vigil over a trans woman killed by police. But, you know, there was violence on both sides… many sides. [Huffington Post]

* Can this lawyer achieve Middle East peace? Nope. [NBC News]

* Texas courts strike down the state’s latest voter suppression effort. [Politico]

* The CFPB goes easier on those that self-report. In a functioning justice and regulatory system that’s true of every government agency, but these days that’s newsworthy. [National Law Journal]

* Partner pink slips abound in advance of Biglaw mergers. [Am Law Daily]

* Second Circuit ends the Newman relationship test. New York defense lawyers respond with “What, me worry?” [Law360]

Ed. note: We’re sure you already know this, but there’s a total eclipse today. If you’re planning to watch the eclipse, make sure you do so safely. Enjoy and have fun!

* More than 30 percent of law students are minorities, but only 15 percent of lawyers and less than 9 percent of partners are attorneys of color. Racial diversity in law firms seems to have flatlined, but some law firms are doing a little better than others when it comes to recruiting and retaining minority lawyers. We’ll have more on this sometime soon. [Law360 (sub. req.)]

* Is “Google” undeserving of trademark protection thanks to genericide? “There is no single word other than google that conveys the action of searching the Internet using any search engine,” and perhaps that’s why Chris Gillespie, who lost his case at the Ninth Circuit when he attempted to have Google’s trademark invalidated, has applied to the Supreme Court for certiorari. [Ars Technica]

* Judge Jim Hinkle of Gwinnett County, Georgia, who was suspended after posting some controversial remarks about Charlottesville on Facebook — i.e., comparing “snowflake” counter-protesters to ISIS because they were “destroying history” — has officially resigned from the bench. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

* James Alex Fields Jr., the 20-year-old accused of ramming his car into a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one and injuring numerous others, has been charged with five additional felony counts on top of the five he was already facing, one of which was second-degree murder. [CNN]

* Some law schools are doing more than others when it comes to helping students with mental health and substance abuse issues. While some law schools are offering students and professors an impressive suite of awareness, reporting, and counseling services, others are a bit behind the eight ball. [Daily Report]

* In what could very well be one of the first virtual law firm mergers, FisherBroyles and Ntellect Law, two cloud-based firms, have tied the knot, combining to form the largest law firm of its kind. Kevin Broyles, the firm’s co-founder, thinks the firm will join the Am Law 200 by 2018. [Am Law Daily]

* Credit where credit is due: Attorney General Jeff Sessions wins qualified praise for his forceful condemnation of the Charlottesville violence. [New York Times]

* Donald Trump needs all the legal help he can get — so he’s surely pleased and proud about daughter Tiffany Trump starting up at Georgetown Law this month. (More on this later.) [Washington Post]

* And wouldn’t it be incredibly awkward interesting to have Tiffany as a classmate in your Con Law class this semester? [New York Times via How Appealing]

* The ABA will reconsider its controversial, much-criticized changes to how law schools report graduate employment data. [Law.com]

* Taylor Swift prevails in her lawsuit accusing DJ David Mueller of groping her during a photo op. [Law360]

* Merger mania spreads — from Biglaw to boutiques. [Law.com]

* Tech company DreamHost will resist — a Justice Department effort to acquire information about visitors to an anti-Trump website set up to coordinate Inauguration Day protests. [Washington Post]

* An investors’ lawyer claims that his lawsuit against Duane Morris “could bankrupt that firm.” [Law.com]

* There are reasonable arguments for and against splitting up the Ninth Circuit, but the ABA’s position is clear: firmly opposed. [ABA Journal]

What was the genesis of this eyebrow-raising report?

W&C: There's nothing to see here!

This could be huge.

* Another day, another notable immigration ruling from the Ninth Circuit (by the great liberal lion, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, joined by his brilliant ideological protégé, Judge Marsha Berzon). [How Appealing]

* The sexual assault case against Bill Cosby, which previously ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked, will be retried in November. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* Why do associates leave Biglaw, and what can be done to reduce attrition? Insights from NALP and from Major Lindsey & Africa’s Tina Cohen and Jennifer Henderson. [ABA Journal]

* Law firm merger mania continues — and much of the action is taking place abroad. [Law.com]

* Senator Kamala Harris, prominent prosecutor turned politician, might get interrupted on occasion — but she will not be stopped. [New York Times]

* Linda Greenhouse wonders about Justice Neil Gorsuch: “How could the folksy ‘Mr. Smith Goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee’ morph so quickly into Donald Trump’s life-tenured judicial avatar?” [New York Times via How Appealing]

* Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledges that the Republicans might not be able to repeal Obamacare right now — and that an interim solution might be needed. [The Hill]

* For interested readers, here’s the “origin story” of Above the Law, which turns 11 next month. [Yale Alumni Association of New York]

The 115-year-old Biglaw firm is no more.

* Martin Shkreli’s attorney is frantically trying to undo the damage his client caused on social media. Shkreli is looking to get his bail reduced because of financial hardship… and offering big rewards on social media. For his part, attorney Benjamin Brafman is arguing that the judge just shouldn’t believe Shkreli’s social media claims. I guess this is the “seriously not literally” thing we’ve heard so much about. [Law360]

* With the addition of yet another attorney, this time Elizabeth Prelogar — a former Miss Idaho actually — Robert Mueller’s investigation of Donald Trump is now officially a Biglaw firm. [National Law Journal]

* Are firms giving clients a good deal… or just a better deal than the inflated prices they advertise? [Corporate Counsel]

* More professors join the gender discrimination suit against Denver Law School. [Law.com]

* Norton Rose Fulbright tries to get its mind of the troubled Chadbourne merger… by executing another merger. [Legal Week]

* On that note, should Biglaw generally step back and question the wisdom of mergers? [Am Law Daily]

* What are you willing to wager that the FTC blocks the daily fantasy sports merger? [Litigation Daily]

Not everyone will be there when the two Biglaw firms become one.

* Happy Comey Day! [Huffington Post]

* Legal operations teams are rampant, proving no one trusts Biglaw billing. [Corporate Counsel]

* Sessions ends DOJ settlements that give money to charitable causes — a common tactic in matters where identifying all specific victims would be difficult or impossible. This is played off as “helping victims” because nothing helps victims more than making sure the perpetrator feels no penalty for their wrongdoing. [ABA Journal]

* The “Mansfield Rule” tries to bring NFL thinking to a Biglaw problem. Now if we could just address all those junior associate concussions…. [Law.com]

* The American Immigration Lawyers Association is relocating its upcoming convention to get out of Texas. So the state has successfully built itself a wall — against tourism dollars. [Texas Tribune]

* DOJ asking Second Circuit to consider what Escobar means for Wells Fargo. In other words, it’s time to circle the wagons at Wells Fargo. [Law360]

* Norton Rose Fulbright considering merger. [Legal Week]

* The Supreme Court has a few options when it comes to President Trump’s travel ban. The justices can grant or deny certiorari to hear the case, or grant or deny a stay on lower court rulings blocking various aspects of the ban. Either way, this case could become moot before it’s ever heard. [New York Times]

* Meanwhile, the man who’s the worst client in the universe lashed out at Justice Department lawyers this morning in a series of Tweets, demanding that the travel ban be referred to as a travel ban instead of the “watered down, politically correct version they submitted to [SCOTUS].” Congrats on undermining your case! [New York Times]

* Get your popcorn ready, because according to two senior administration officials, President Trump will reportedly not be invoking executive privilege to block former FBI director James Comey from testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee later this week in the ongoing Russia probe. [The Hill]

* During a speaking engagement at Harvard, the Supreme Court’s freshman, Justice Neil Gorsuch, recounted the time he met Sandy, the dean of Oxford’s naked sex doll, who was dressed in only a boa. Although she could be counted on for answers, Gorsuch said she didn’t provide him with any. [Washington Post]

* Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will soon be the star of her very own fitness book. Co-authored by her longtime trainer Bryant Johnson and illustrator Patrick Welsh, “The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong … and You Can Too!” (affiliate link) will be out the first week of October Term 2017. [Associated Press]

* Womble Carlyle is entering into a transatlantic merger with British firm Bond Dickinson to become Womble Bond Dickinson. The combined firm will have about 1,080 lawyers across 23 offices, with revenues exceeding $410 million. A spokesperson claims the tie-up will not result in layoffs. [News & Observer]

* If two regional firms merge, do they become one national firm? [Philly.com] * The incredibly balanced year of the patent. [Empirical SCOTUS] * They don't call Law & Order: SVU ripped from the headlines for no reason. [Law and More] * The plan to remake federal courts over in Trump's image. I just threw up a little in my mouth. [The Hill] * AG Jeff Sessions seems pretty busy throwing an FBI investigator under the bus. [Huffington Post] * This is the kind of lawsuit that gives plaintiffs' attorneys a bad name. [Fox 25] * CBO proves: ACHA is a terrible idea. [Slate] * I'm sure Trump's motivation for this is completely pure. [Washington Post]