Obama Administration

* Groping allegations against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. [Huffington Post]

* The battle over the Kansas judiciary is getting intense. [Channel 6]

* Why do we fetishize former prosecutors? [Katz Justice]

* The delay of transgender worker protection under the Obama administration. [Buzzfeed]

* Advice for lawyers who want to be entrepreneurs. [Law and More]

* People are testy over Judge Posner’s biting words on the Supreme Court. [Forward]

The future is now!

* We’re very sorry about this, reporters, but Simpson Thacher & Bartlett partner Jeffrey E. Ostrow is not Ryan Lochte’s lawyer. Stop contacting him seeking comments about Lochte’s Olympic misdeeds. Get in touch with Jeffrey M. Ostrow of Kopelowitz Ostrow with your inquiries instead. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Per a new report, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico pulled off what Vice President Joe Biden did back in his law school days by allegedly plagiarizing about a third of his law school thesis, chalking it up to some “style errors.” We’ll have more on this later today. [New York Times]

* Transgender children, teenagers, and young adults returning to school will have one more thing to be anxious about now that an Obama administration policy that would have allowed them to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice has been blocked by a nationwide injunction. This issue may wind up before SCOTUS. [Reuters]

* As it turns out, it’s not just King & Wood Mallesons that’s been holding off on paying profit distributions to partners. London-based Ashurst has also forced partners to wait to receive their quarterly due, citing a double-digit percentage drop in annual revenue and profits per equity partner careening to an 11-year low. Ouch! [Law.com]

* Many first-year law students are kicking off their law school careers this week, and they seem to be very nervous. First things first: Calm down, and take a deep breath. Here are some tips and tricks to help you out as you try to adjust to your new lives in the hallowed halls of law schools across the country. 🙂 [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* David Mourey, the former assistant dean for bar preparation and academic success at Barry Law, was fired after students continued to fail the bar exam, but in a recently filed gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, he claims he was discriminated against because he was “singled out for discipline by an all-female management team.” We may have more on this later. [Orlando Sentinel]

* Despite the wishes of the public and rumors of his firing in the face of the Baylor University coverup of reports of rape and sexual assault by football players, “Ken Starr is [still] president and chancellor of Baylor University.” According to a university spokeswoman, the school has not yet finished reviewing Pepper Hamilton’s report on the matter, but Baylor will likely make an announcement by June 3. [Associated Press]

* “We are willing to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to.” Eleven states have filed suit against the Obama Administration in an effort to get around its guidance on transgender rights for children in schools, calling the policy a “massive social experiment.” The states suing are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. [Reuters]

* Sumner Redstone turns 93 years old tomorrow, and he’s been in and out of court for the past few months in a battle to prove he’s mentally competent. The salacious case filed by his former female companion may have been dismissed, but now he’s attempting to fend off claims from Viacom directors who were ousted from a trust that will control his media holdings if he dies or is found incompetent. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Now that the world knows that PayPal’s co-founder provided funding for Hulk Hogan’s invasion of privacy suit against Gawker, it’s time to take a look at the lawyer who’s been representing the wrestler. Charles Harder is no stranger to Hollywood cases, and may be a longtime fan of litigation finance since he “[tries] to win and do so in a way that’s cost effective for a client, so they don’t lose when they’re winning.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Since revenge litigation finance’s recent invention, what’s there to keep billionaires from destroying you with lawsuits? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not much, especially when “there is no obligation to disclose the litigation financing arrangements” that have been made. Ethical issues aside, we really hope the super-rich wield their new power to ruin lives through rented lawsuits carefully. [Fortune]

The Obama Administration's handling of cyber and data security was recently brought into question due to two distinct security incidents. On the same day that a former Administration official received a subpoena related to the security of a government-run website, it was confirmed that hackers had targeted an unclassified computer network used by senior White House staff. On Tuesday, October 28, House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Paul Broun (R-GA) issued a subpoena to former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park. The subpoena compels Mr. Park to appear before the Subcommittee on Oversight to answer questions regarding his role in developing and evaluating the operations and security of HealthCare.gov, the website set up for the federal health insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act. Recently, it was reported that HealthCare.gov had been hacked back in July 2014. Federal officials confirmed that hackers broke into part of the website and were able to upload malicious software. However, no evidence was found that consumers' personal data were taken.