Merrick B. Garland

* The Seventh Circuit — in an opinion by Judge Diane Sykes, a top-tier SCOTUS possibility under President Trump — just struck down Chicago ordinances regulating shooting ranges as violative of Second Amendment rights. [ABC News]

* Speaking of firearms, law professor Fredrick Vars has an excellent proposal for preventing gun suicides. [Washington Post]

* Possible good news for legalizing sports betting in New Jersey: the U.S. Supreme Court wants to hear from the solicitor general on this issue (although we don’t yet know who the solicitor general will be). [How Appealing]

* But we think we know who the principal deputy solicitor general will be — Noel Francisco, whose imminent departure from Jones Day is now public. [National Law Journal]

* In other Justice Department news, what can we expect from Jeff Sessions’s DOJ in terms of civil rights enforcement? [New York Times]

* Are we seeing a “fragile recovery” in the number of people interested in law school? [ABA Journal]

* If you share my curiosity about the future of Chief Judge Merrick Garland in the wake of his unsuccessful SCOTUS nomination, it seems that the distinguished jurist is back on the bench — at least for now. [National Law Journal]

Ed. note: As mentioned on Wednesday, we will be publishing today, but at a reduced level. We’ll be back in full force on Monday. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

* President-elect Donald Trump will likely pick a lawyer as his nominee for Secretary of State: Rudy Giuliani (NYU Law ’68) or Mitt Romney (Harvard Law ’75). [New York Times]

* Where do broken hearts go? Some precedents for Chief Judge Merrick Garland to follow from unsuccessful Supreme Court nominees. [Associated Press via How Appealing]

* A pre-Thanksgiving ruling from the Florida Supreme Court that gave one prisoner something to be grateful for could signal more upheaval to come in the nation’s second largest death row. [BuzzFeed]

* Three more judges participated in Pennsylvania’s “Porngate” email exchanges — but it seems that Bruce Beemer, the state’s new attorney general, won’t be naming names. [ABA Journal]

* What does the future hold for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and its chief, Chicago Law grad and former SCOTUS clerk Richard Cordray? [New York Times]

* It’s not just a plot line from Suits: Reginald Taylor, accused of posing as a lawyer by stealing an attorney’s bar number, apparently delivered decent results for his clients. [The Daily Beast]

* Don’t mess with (federal judges from) Texas, Mr. President; Judge Amos Mazzant, who blocked President Obama’s proposed extension of overtime pay, isn’t the first Lone Star jurist to cause problems for the Obama Administration. [New York Times via How Appealing]

* Thinking of hitting the movies over the long weekend? Tony Mauro shares our own Harry Graff’s enthusiasm for Loving. [National Law Journal]

* Senator Mike Lee, an influential member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (and a former Supreme Court clerk himself), explains why Republicans won’t confirm Judge Merrick Garland to SCOTUS in the lame-duck session. [Washington Post via How Appealing]

* Jaroslawa Zelinsky Johnson, former managing partner of Chadbourne & Parke’s defunct Kiev office, wants in on Kerrie Campbell’s sex discrimination suit against the firm. [American Lawyer]

* In other news about alleged gender bias in Biglaw, it looks like partner Traci Ribeiro’s lawsuit against Sedgwick is bound for arbitration. [Law.com]

* The latest bad news for Theranos: a hedge fund is suing the company for securities fraud, and it’s represented by a pair of high-powered Gibson Dunn partners, former federal prosecutors Reed Brodsky and Winston Chan. [Corporate Counsel]

* Kasowitz Benson’s recent legal work on behalf of Donald Trump is just the latest example of the firm representing litigious tycoons. [New York Law Journal]

* As some firms exit China, others enter the market; Hogan Lovells just announced a strategic alliance with Fujian Fidelity Law Firm in Shanghai. [Big Law Business]

* In my ancestral homeland of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte poses a threat to the rule of law, but remains very popular with the people. [New York Times]

* Gauging the importance of Supreme Court decisions this Term based on media coverage. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Georgia is changing state law because UGA’s football coach thinks it might help the team cover up a scandal and somehow the legislature thinks this makes sense. [SB Nation]

* Did President Obama outthink himself on the Merrick Garland pick? [Guile Is Good]

* Using expert witnesses to defeat class certification… an emerging tradition. [The Expert Institute]

* Some graphics cross-referencing the laws around “burners” and global terrorism. [imgur]

* Restraining order be damned! Montgomery Blair Sibley is releasing D.C. Madam contacts for our viewing pleasure. [WTOP]

* What lawyer Scott Limmer learned from a yoga retreat. [Law Reboot]