Smartmatic

* Elena Kagan has entered the chat: Justice Kagan sounds off in response to Samuel Alito’s self-serving thoughts on the ability to check the Supreme Court’s power. [Politico]

* Thanks to the ban on cameras in federal court, all we get is a sketch of Donald Trump’s not-guilty plea. [Huffington Post]

* The legal battle to end Wisconsin’s egregious gerrymander heats up. [Vox]

* The defamation case between Fox News and Smartmatic is getting spicy. [Law.com]

* A look at Donald Trump’s latest defense attorney. [Law360]

* Judge Luttig joined the chorus calling for stricter Supreme Court ethics — a chorus that features pretty much everyone not on the Supreme Court. [Reuters]

* Trump loses effort to block Pence testimony. Again. [Politico]

* Biglaw firms game their partnership size to look more profitable, but there’s a stat to look for to check if a firm is truly healthy. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Biglaw capital market groups living in suspended animation as the whole economy continues to pretend there’s a recession until the Federal Reserve gives up trying to create one. [American Lawyer]

* Fox handing Smartmatic the Murdoch depositions because how much more damage can be done? Reputationally, we mean. Financially, it’s about $2 billion more. [Law360]

* Copyright claim against Ed Sheeran lodged by Marvin Gaye’s co-writer. Look, I get that Blurred Lines was — in addition to a bizarrely rapey song for the 21st century — pretty much Got to Give It Up, but you don’t get to own every chord progression in the universe. [ABA Journal]

* Ivanka hires Jeffrey Epstein lawyer after separating counsel from her brothers. [Daily Beast]

* Dominion may have settled, but does anyone remember Smartmatic? Because they’re still out there and the price of admission for settlement just got set. [Washington Post]

* Fani Willis moves to jettison the attorney representing a bunch of fake electors on the grounds that she presents an “impracticable and ethical mess.” That’s a shocker. [Axios]

* Interesting question: are juries influenced by the billboards and other lawyer advertisements they see? [New Jersey Law Journal]

* Jim Jordan continues his possibly criminal, definitely unconstitutional harassment of the Manhattan DA. [Reuters]

* Bob Menendez has to establish yet another legal defense fund. [Roll Call]

* Iowa places slide into Lochner era into high gear. [Insider]

* Vivia Chen interviews Faith Gay, who says women need “real power” in Biglaw. [Bloomberg Law News]

* New York has a Chief Judge again, which it could’ve had months ago but for the governor’s subpar political instincts. [Law360]