LGBT Bar Association

* Joel Cohen makes the case for appointing a special master to review the attorney-client privilege claims in the case of Michael Cohen (no relation). [Law and Crime]

* A fun profile of Judge Kimba M. Wood (S.D.N.Y.), who’s presiding over the Cohen case — and who “doesn’t need to eat the whole barrel to know it’s not a pickle.” [Politico]

* Circuit judges can play it safe, in the hopes of making it to the Supreme Court someday, or they can be bold (which might help their SCOTUS chances, or might hurt them); Judge James Ho is going for the second approach. [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]

* Professor Eugene Volokh: “What is this, Mean Girls: Supreme Court Edition?” [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* Still on SCOTUS, which leading appellate lawyers (according to Chambers & Partners) have the most active practices before the high court? [Empirical SCOTUS]

* What’s the best new legal-information product out there, and what’s the best new product feature or function? Survey says…. [Dewey B Strategic]

* Because having a law school named after him wasn’t enough, Philadelphia trial lawyer Thomas R. Kline is now honored by a giant marble statue. [Philly.com]

* The Wisconsin Supreme Court will decide an important case about academic freedom (and Above the Law gets cited in the amicus brief of the National Association of Scholars — see footnote 29). [Badger Pundit]

* Congratulations to former Miss America winner Deidre Downs Gunn and attorney and writer Abbott Jones on their recent nuptials! [People]

* And congratulations to the recipients of 2018’s Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 Awards! [LGBT Bar]

These are interesting times for the LGBT rights movement.

The legal profession just lost one of its great leaders.

And congrats to LeGal on another successful year!

A report on last night's star-studded LeGaL annual dinner.

* Congrats to Weil Gotshal and Fenwick & West for getting in on Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, the biggest Internet deal in a decade. [The Recorder] * In South Carolina, you can get arrested for crimes that aren’t even things any more. Like “failure to return a VHS tape.” [Lowering the Bar] * Drunk lawyer at heart of alleged insider trading scheme. [Dealbreaker] * Did LBJ colossally screw up the Supreme Court? [Concurring Opinions] * Were you curious about who would be on the Mount Rushmore of Tax Law professors? No? Well, here they are anyway. [TaxProf Blog] * The so-called “trial penalty” is really a myth and empirical data confirms that defendants who reject plea deals and go to trial actually garner a “trial discount.” Yep, prosecutors aren’t overreaching at all. [PrawfsBlawg] * President Obama called for patent law reform in the State of the Union address. Now we have some insight into what he’s thinking about. [Patently-O] * Congratulations to Matthew Skinner, the next executive director of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York! [LeGal]