Nelson Mullins

* Alex Kozinski, formerly of the Ninth Circuit, disappeared into the shadows after retiring in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. Less than seven months later, he’s back in the public eye, and three of his accussers, all lawyers, are none too pleased. [New York Times]

* In news that should shock absolutely no one, an attorney who was caught on tape insulting his paralegal on more than 30 occasions — where he was seen referring to her a “dirtbag” and a “ho” — has been suspended from practice for one year with six months stayed. [New York Post]

* Nelson Mullins recently finalized its merger with Broad and Cassel to create a “super-regional” firm. The new firm will have 25 offices, more than 750 attorneys, and a combined revenue of over $500 million. [American Lawyer]

* In other law firm merger news, Fox Rothschild has confirmed that it’s in talks with North Carolina firm Smith Moore Leatherwood. Mark Silow, the firm’s chairman, cautioned that nothing has been finalized yet. [Philadelphia Business Journal]

* Remember Dana Tapper, the UVA Law grad who won money to repay her law school debt on the Ellen DeGeneres Show? She was just sentenced to 20 years in prison (with all but three months suspended) after smuggling drugs and a cellphone in to an inmate serving time for murder. [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

* Proskauer tells the EEOC that there’s nothing “sinister” about employers demanding that sexual harassment victims sign away their legal rights to be railroaded through employer-chosen kangaroo courts and then forcibly silenced. Welcome to 2018. [National Law Journal]

* In emoluments news, Judge Peter Messitte asked the Justice Department if, based on their chosen defense, “Wouldn’t that be bribery?” which he seemed to think would be a bad thing as if the Supreme Court hadn’t legalized bribery in McDonnell. [US News]

* Chris Christie is starting his own law firm and somehow Rudy Giuliani has already managed to lie about that. [NJ.com]

* Betsy DeVos succeeded in keeping fraud victims indebted to the government. She was also ordered to stop pursuing collection actions against the victims, but she still gets to destroy their credit ratings, which is still a great day for kleptocracy. [Courthouse News Service]

* Nelson Mullins merging with Broad and Cassel as part of the growing trend of super-regional firms designed to keep the Am Law elite at bay. [Daily Report]

* In a lesson on putting carts ahead of horses, the former general counsel for Portland, Oregon’s public school district was just admitted to the bar… after the state bar lodged ethics violations against him for serving in that role without a law license in the state. [Portland Tribune]

* A Magic Circle firm sees two New York banking partners disappear. [Big Law Business]

* A Biglaw partner cuts a deal with the SEC over allegations that he acted as a conduit for improper campaign donations, paying $95,000 and admitting no wrongdoing. [ABA Journal]

* Being general counsel of Uber is a fascinating job because the company constantly confronts legal and regulatory issues — the latest being a Justice Department probe into its “Greyball” software tool. [New York Times]

* An interesting interview by Casey Sullivan of Hogan Lovells partner Neal Katyal, now tied with Thurgood Marshall as the minority lawyer with the most Supreme Court arguments. [Big Law Business via How Appealing]

* A preview of next week’s argument in the Trump travel ban case before the en banc Fourth Circuit (down a member because Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson is the father-in-law of acting solicitor general Jeffrey Wall, who’s arguing the case). [Law.com]