Transgender Rights

You know people are going to get killed over this, right?

Nineteen states have banned transgender athletes from playing on sports teams that do not align with the gender indicated on the student’s birth certificate, and there are many more bills cruelly slashing their way through state houses.

Montana officials seem to think they're -- quite literally -- above the law.

Federal court recognizes gender dysphoria as covered by disability protections.

It's going to get real bad, real quick.

This is a move that goes far in setting the tone of inclusion at law firms.

* Some firms are incorporating “virtual internships” into their recruiting process. Interns deserve to do their grunt work under only the bests simulated conditions. This better come with a company VR set! [Reuters]

* Oklahoma’s Supreme Court does not give the OK to anti-abortion laws scheduled to go in effect on Monday. [Fox News]

* Justice Sonia Sotomayor describes Court’s refusal to block SB8 as “catastrophic.” How long until people spin her defense of the rule of law as the true partisanship? [The Hill]

* Texas governor bases kids’ ability to play sports in high school strictly on what the first people to view their genitals say. [Texas Tribune]

* Anti-terrorism law used to sentence neo-Nazis heading to a pro-gun rally in Virginia. One of them was a U.S. Vet. Hoorah. [Military Times]

The legal profession can and must mobilize in opposition to these efforts.

The fight against the rollback of LGBTQ rights continues.

This is a move that goes far in setting the tone of inclusion at law firms.

FOH with that nonsense about a 1A right to exclude other people's kids from public education!

Hopefully, this family will find the legal recognition and protection they deserve, one way or another.

Laverne Cox, the lawyer's celebrity date, said the cases should be meaningful to 'anyone who doesn't conform to someone else's idea of how you should be... A man or woman or neither!'

* In his final days, accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein surrounded himself with lawyers in a private meeting room for up to 12 hours a day, emptying vending machines, if only to escape his cramped, vermin-infested cell. [New York Times]

* The Trump Justice Department wants the Supreme Court to deny civil rights protections for transgender employees, but the EEOC doesn’t agree and its general counsel refused to sign the DOJ’s brief to the high court. [National Law Journal]

* Per a leaked Brexit document, U.K. officials are trying to avoid a “catastrophic collapse in the nation’s infrastructure” (e.g., food, fuel, and medicine shortages; port gridlocks; and civil unrest) if Britain is unable to leave the EU with a deal. [NPR]

* Will other Biglaw firms with similar parental leave policies face scrutiny in the wake of the reverse discrimination lawsuit filed against Jones Day? We’ll have to wait and see if this reproduces additional legal claims. [American Lawyer]

* Milbank just scored a major lateral coup after scooping up some talented IP litigators from Irell & Manella, including David Gindler, the firm’s managing partner. Gindler was Irell’s third managing partner in just a few years. [Big Law Business]

This federal appellate judge isn't here for these absurd allegations.

The policy remains blocked thanks to other nationwide injunctions.

* In an effort to bypass the decisions — and injunctions — of lower appellate courts, the Trump administration has taken the “highly unusual step” of asking the Supreme Court to issue a ruling on its transgender military ban. [USA Today]

* In other news, the Trump administration has reportedly struck a deal with Mexico that will completely overhaul our asylum system so that seekers will have to Remain in Mexico (the plan’s eloquent name) while their cases move through our courts. [Washington Post]

* Sorry, but you’re not “immune” to this one: A New York judge has asserted jurisdiction over Donald Trump in a lawsuit brought by AG Barbara Underwood against the Trump Foundation, the president, and three of his children. [NPR]

* “We shouldn’t be in this position where the future of certain policies turn on whether this old woman is healthy or not.” The Supreme Court’s future is resting on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s health, and people are starting to get nervous. [The Hill]

* “Let’s have a hearing and invite everyone to see.” Former FBI director James Comey says he’ll fight a subpoena to testify privately before the House Judiciary Committee if for no other reason than because he wants the world to know what happened. [CNN]

* In case you missed it amid this year’s bonus frenzy, senior associates at top-tier Biglaw firms taking in $465K are now making more in total compensation than partners from at least a dozen Am Law 200 firms. Ouch. [American Lawyer]

U.S. courts are split on LGBTQ protections, and until we get a ruling from SCOTUS, some employees will not have a legal remedy.