Loretta Lynch

The Biglaw attorney will be looking at allegations of hazing on the football team.

* Six of Donald Trump’s co-conspirators go unnamed in the federal indictment against him for crimes related to the January 6th coup attempt. Five of them are attorneys. Let’s speculate on who they all are. [Washington Post]

* Former Attorney General/current Paul, Weiss attorney Loretta Lynch to investigate allegations of hazing on the Northwestern football team. [Law360]

* A look at the judge assigned to the Donald Trump January 6th case. [Huffington Post]

* The family of Henrietta Lacks settles lawsuit over her stolen cells. [Law & Crime]

* If you can even believe it, America’s gun laws could get even more lax. [Vox]

Help us, Harvard Law.

* Loretta Lynch is re-joining the private sector. The former Attorney General is heading to Paul Weiss. [National Law Journal]

* Consistency? From Mitch McConnell? About the Supreme Court? HAHAHAHA. [The Hill]

* A deeper look at the case against former Skadden counsel, Greg Craig. [Politico]

* Are you a lonely lawyer? Ironically, you are not alone. [Law.com]

* “Gay Panic” may not be a defense in New York much longer. It’s about time. [New York Law Journal]

* Yeah, you really should be worried about the Big Four accounting firms moving into Biglaw territory. [Big Law Business]

Don't blame Trump/Sessions for this one; this is an Obama/Lynch job.

* This is what happens when judges try to be cool. [Daily Report]

* Loretta Lynch’s powerful farewell. [Huffington Post]

* Daring Donald Trump to perjure himself. [Slate]

* President Obama commuted the majority of Chelsea Manning’s sentence. [New York Times]

* Despite similarities to the Nazis, Germany’s top court refused to ban the far-right National Democratic party. [The Guardian]

* How to make your emails actually convert into new business. [Law and More]

Cast your vote for one of these eight deserving nominees!

* A look at the unequal justice highlighted by the execution of Ronald Smith. [The Hill]

* Cherokee Nation says marriage is a fundamental right, opening the door to same-sex marriage. [Turtle Talk]

* The Los Angeles Times takes an interesting tack on Japanese internment. [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

* A look at the faithless elector lawsuit. [Salon]

* An easy way for out-of-work lawyers to pick up additional job skills. [Law and More]

* Loretta Lynch comes out swinging against Trumpism. [Slate]

* A primer: everything you need to know about Jeff Sessions. [The Marshall Project]

* A Texas lawmaker wants to force schools to out LGBT students to their parents. [The New Civil Rights Movement]

* Loretta Lynch still wants you to report hate crimes. [Huffington Post]

* A threesome leads to a suspension for an attorney. [Legal Profession Blog]

* A $25 million settlement is expected for the Trump University fraud case. [New York Daily News]

* A new spin on CLEs. [ABA Journal]

* Low divorce rates are bad for lawyers. [Law and More]

* Before Donald Trump sets foot into the Oval Office, he’ll have to step into a federal courthouse to litigate claims made by former students who claim they were defrauded by Trump University. How in the world will they find an impartial jury? “This is a jury consultant’s nightmare to pick in a case like this. It will be taught in jury consulting school.” [Reuters]

* Yesterday, in a silent act of protest against Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wore her “dissent jabot” during oral arguments at the Supreme Court. This summer, she famously remarked that she “[couldn’t] imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president.” [The Hill]

* In his first 100 days in office, Donald Trump says he’ll appoint a conservative judge to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and his legacy may be the undoing of Supreme Court precedent, like overruling Roe v. Wade, ending affirmative action, striking down campaign finance laws, and invalidating gun restrictions. [Los Angeles Times]

* How will Donald Trump’s presidency change the DOJ and the SEC? There will likely be changes at the top of both organizations. It’s speculated that Rudy Giuliani may be selected to replace Loretta Lynch as AG, but Trump has given no indication as to who he’ll choose to replace Mary Jo White as commissioner. [DealBook / New York Times]

* If you’d like to know what it takes to become a law firm partner, these 338 lawyers who made partner within the last four years have some helpful hints for you. It seems to be a mixture of “hours, hours, hours” and being a man — two-thirds of those who were surveyed were men who had worked at their firms for five to 10 years. [Am Law Daily]

* Is there a constitutional right to smoke weed? This defendant says he was prescribed medical marijuana to help him kick an opioid addiction, and his bail conditions must be revised to allow him to keep smoking it, lest his Sixth Amendment right to participate fully in his own defense be impaired. How high were the Katten Muchin lawyers who thought up this creative defense? [Reuters]

* Baker Donelson plans to merge with Ober Kaler to create one of the largest Biglaw firms in the country. Effective January 1, the firm will have more than 800 attorneys, and one of the largest health law practices in America. The $400+ million in revenue expected to be brought in by the merger isn’t too shabby, either. [Big Law Business]

* “[N]o one is dragging their feet here. The Justice Department is committed to working with the FBI to move the case forward.” AG Loretta Lynch and Deputy AG Sally Yates are trying to get FBI Director James Comey to wrap up his renewed interest in the Hillary Clinton email probe as quickly as possible before the election next week. [Politico]

* “You haven’t been able to do it with trademark law. You haven’t been able to do it with patent designs. We are now going to use copyright law to kill the knockoff industry. I don’t know that that’s bad. I’m just saying.” Differing opinions about the fashion industry emerged during oral arguments in the Star Athletica case. [New York Times]

* “We are all feeling a little less confident. … [T]here is an incredible amount of uncertainty that comes with this.” Some U.S. firms with offices in London and Europe are contemplating what Brexit’s effects will be on their business — or if Brexit will have any effect on their business at all. At this point, no one knows. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* 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]

I PROMISE you that Loretta Lynch is not the first woman who’s had to have an uncomfortable conversation with Bill Clinton while waiting for him to go away.

Will he be returning to private practice?

* Sorry to ruin your childhood, but a Pennsylvania judge found that there is enough evidence for Bill Cosby to stand trial for his felony assault charge in the Andrea Constand case. Cosby has waived his right to a formal arraignment, and could face up to 10 years in prison if he’s convicted. Cosby has been free on $1 million bail since December. [Associated Press]

* “You need to have order in a courtroom. And there needs to be proper decorum with attorneys.” A Las Vegas Justice of the Peace ordered that a deputy public defender be handcuffed for interrupting him as she tried to represent a client. A tipster has referred to this judge as “demented.” We may have more on this. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

* According to inside sources, Hunton & Williams is in advanced merger talks with Addelshaw Goddard, a London-based firm. These talks have reportedly been going on for months, and Addelshaw partners supposedly met last night to discuss the tie-up. If successful, the combined firm would have more than 1,300 lawyers. [Big Law Business]

* Silicon Valley staple Fenwick & West is opening up an office outpost in New York City. The firm’s clients in Manhattan include BuzzFeed, FanDuel, Blackrock, Citi, and JPMorgan. Associates will be working around the clock in the city that never sleeps — with a roster like that, they won’t be getting shuteye anytime soon. [WSJ Law Blog]

* AG Loretta Lynch announced yesterday afternoon that the Justice Department would be seeking the death penalty against Dylann Roof, the suspect alleged to have gone on a shooting spree in a Charleston church last summer, killing nine and wounding numerous others. It’s said Roof hoped to incite a race war as a result of the massacre. [USA Today]

* Carl Buchholz, managing partner of DLA Piper’s Philadelphia office, RIP. [Philadelphia Business Journal]

* Bar exam-prep companies seem to be involved in a never-ending war with each other, and shots have been fired in the latest battle. BARBRI has been sued by LLM Bar Exam in a federal antitrust action, and several law schools have been caught in the fray. We’ll have more on this later today. [WSJ Law Blog]

* New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his legal team have until today to file an appeal of the Second Circuit’s decision in the Deflategate case. According to an attorney who once served as outside counsel to the NFL, Brady’s chances of success are “near zero” if he decides to pursue this Hail Mary. [Big Law Business]

* OOOOk-lahoma, where the crazy comes sweepin’ down the plain: Oklahoma’s state legislature wants to impeach President Barack Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch over the administration’s guidance on transgender bathroom accommodations. The Sooner State’s actions are “highly symbolic,” but they’re likely “doomed.” [TIME]

* Did he wear an ascot and a smoking jacket while he was deposed? Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner testified at a deposition in a case filed by a woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby at the Playboy Mansion while she was a minor. Thanks to a gag order, no details on Hef’s deposition are available at this time. [Reuters]

* Sorry, but you still can’t deduct the cost of your law school tuition and fees on your taxes, even if you’re an accountant/tax preparer who only enrolled to get a leg up on your tax skills and never intended to practice law, but especially if you later start a law firm with a family member. The Tax Court frowns upon things like this. [Accounting Today]

* “None of us can stand by when a state enters the business of legislating identity and insists that a person pretend to be something or someone they are not.” The Justice Department and North Carolina have traded dueling pleadings over HB2, the so-called “bathroom bill.” AG Loretta Lynch’s press conference announcing the DOJ countersuit was nothing short of awe-inspiring. [New York Times]

* Just one week after threatening to strip Arizona Law from access to its law school applications and admissions clearinghouse, the Law School Admission Council is backing down, saying it will “maintain the status quo” until the ABA makes a decision on the validity of the GRE over the LSAT as a law school entrance exam. [WSJ Law Blog]

* “On behalf of the Section of Family Law, we pose the following question: WHAT PART OF ‘NO!’ DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?” Lawyers are still deeply opposed to non-lawyer ownership of and investment in law firms, and they’re apparently not afraid to stand up and let the ABA know how they really feel about it. [On the Case / Reuters]

* After only two days of trial, a judge has dismissed the ultra-salacious case filed by Manuela Herzer challenging 92-year-old Sumner Redstone’s mental competence. The media mogul’s lawyers now intend to sue Herzer and another of his former flames to recover $150 million in cash and gifts he gave to them. [Los Angeles Times; Variety]

* “Thank you, Mr. Boies, that was an unadulterated pleasure.” You might have missed the finale of The Good Wife this weekend, but this Biglaw celebrity made time to appear on the show for a cameo role as himself. David Boies of Boies Schiller appeared as an expert witness for about 30 seconds in the first half of the episode. [Big Law Business]

The Department of Justice is taking post-incarceration life seriously.

How cool is your law school? It depends on who you've snagged as a graduation speaker.

* “Every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime.” New York Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich dismissed part of singer Kesha’s claims against producer Dr. Luke because the pop star’s allegations of rape and abuse were time barred and happened outside the state. Tick tock on the clock for a similar suit she filed in California. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has scheduled an appointment to meet with Judge Merrick Garland for breakfast next Tuesday, despite his opposition to President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. Senator Grassley’s courteous refusal to perform his job presumably pairs well with eggs and bacon. [Quad-City Times]

* The Department of Justice has filed suit against Halliburton and Baker Hughes, seeking to block the oil-field services companies’ pending merger. According to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, completion of the deal would “eliminate vital competition, skew energy markets, and harm American consumers.” [DealBook / New York Times]

* Panama papers law firm Mossack Fonseca seems to have pulled off the perfect magic trick. Shortly after the firm’s exploits in hiding client assets in offshore accounts were revealed via hack, its U.S. operations all but disappeared. The firm’s website has now been scrubbed completely clean of any connection to its Miami office. [USA Today]

* Bart Williams, a top partner at Munger Tolles — a firm that’s been likened to the Wachtell of the West — will be leaving the place where he’s called home for 21 years to become the co-chair of Proskauer Rose’s Los Angeles litigation department. This is a real coup for Proskauer, since partners rarely leave Munger. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]