Locke Lord Bissell and Lidell

The holidays were bright for associates at these firms.

This is the third highest number of hours that any firm has offered yet.

The firm denies the allegations.

Plus 'confusing' furloughs at the firm.

He'll be sentenced in February of next year.

* The new list of Mansfield certified firms is coming. [American Lawyer]

* Corporate lawyer quits to start Equestrian Sports Data company proving there’s always a stupider way to make money. [Noelle Floyd]

* “Allen & O’Melvery” is dead. The firms have nixed merger plans. [Financial Times]

* The Offspring are locked in a legal battle and I’ll admit I’d totally forgotten they existed. [Forbes]

* Politicians want to destroy the Internet and no one seems to be stopping them. [NBC News]

* Locke Lord crypto scam trial coming in November. [Law360]

* If you’re following the Spider-Man movie rights kerfuffle, it’s worth remembering that this was entirely Disney’s fault for screwing up copyright law in the 1990s. [Screen Rant]

* Johnson & Johnson plan to appeal verdict suggesting that handing out heroin like candy might be a bad thing. [Law.com]

* Leonard Leo got himself a mansion in Maine apparently so he could raise money for Susan Collins (R-Federalist Society). Her campaign spokesperson declared that “The fact is, Senator Collins’ votes are not for sale” by which he means “they’ve already been bought.” [Central Maine]

* At the Greg Craig trial, Skadden folks are testifying that Craig had a “very passionate” aversion to foreign agent registration. In his defense just about every lobbyist will do anything in their power to avoid actually registering as a lobbyist. [National Law Journal]

* Explaining how the Brazilian rainforest fires link back to the trade war with China. [Huffington Post]

* Dallas has a new mayor and Locke Lord has a new partner and they are the same guy. [Dallas Morning News]

His wife was also arrested for child endangerment.

With more money comes more billing requirements.

There are a lot of firms that haven't matched the market salary -- but these firms are facing more vocal pushback from their associates than most.

Don't mess with legal ethics.

* Harvey Weinstein is bringing on famed defense attorney Ben Brafman who is conveniently not representing the New York Times at the moment. [Reuters]

* Appellate attorney spoke candidly about the lack of funding for his death penalty appeal, prompting the state quickly remedy the situation to avoid the specter of injustice. Nah, just kidding, they fired the attorney. [Salt Lake Tribune]

* Texas judge ordered to take a class on listening. There are probably a few other judges that could use a refresher course on that. [Texas Lawyer]

* There’s a new GC at the NLRB and he’s fired up and ready to begin dismantling the agency and turning a blind eye to the constituents he’s supposed to serve. [Law360]

* Election day swept some Biglaw lawyers into office. [National Law Journal]

* Locke Lord hit with £500,000 over a London partner’s “dubious” financial arrangements. [American Lawyer]

* Companies continue to delay sweeping information governance changes. But soon they might be unavoidable if clients want to keep discovery costs down. [Legaltech News]

* A $30 million lawsuit against Morgan Lewis for alleged conflicts will go forward. [Legal Intelligencer]

Different offices, different compensation.

* ASS Law is back in the news: Earlier this week, professors on the George Mason University Faculty Senate voted 21-13 to reopen the naming process on the already twice-renamed Antonin Scalia Law School. These professors must know that their actions have no impact on the administration’s decisions… right? [BuzzFeed News]

* Thanks to allegations of sexual harassment brought forward by courthouse personnel, Judge José A. Fusté of the District of Puerto Rico was allegedly forced by the First Circuit to “retire” from his position, effective June 1. If you’re unable to read in Spanish, Google Translate has a version in broken English that may be slightly helpful. [El Nuevo Día]

* Attention intellectual property attorneys, because your practice area just got a little more exciting. The Defend Trade Secrets Act passed in the House yesterday by a vote of 410-2, and that means the “most significant expansion of federal law in intellectual property since the Lanham Act in 1946” will likely soon become law. [WSJ Law Blog]

* “Transitioning at a Biglaw firm, are you crazy?” Not only is it possible to transition in Biglaw, but it’s possible to thrive as a transgender woman in Biglaw, and Sara Schnorr of Locke Lord had the full support of her firm. In fact, she was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Congrats! [Big Law Business]

* “Is nonlawyer ownership of law firms long overdue? Or a bad idea?” The U.K. and Australia are already doing it, and now the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services is seeking comments for an issues paper on the risks and benefits of nonlawyer law firm ownership. Email us or tweet us and let us know what you think. [ABA Journal]

* “My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale … You can only get it on Tidal.” Uh-oh! Kanye West and music-streaming service Tidal are facing a proposed $5 million class-action lawsuit over the availability of the rapper’s album, The Life of Pablo, on other streaming services when it was supposed to be exclusive to Tidal. [Rolling Stone]

* Eighteen-year-old Marina Lonina stands accused of livestreaming her friend’s rape on Periscope, and faces charges of rape, sexual battery, and pandering sexual matter involving a minor. The prosecutor alleges the teen hoped the broadcast would stop the rape, but she “got caught up in the likes” instead. [The Cut / New York Magazine]

* Given that “Americans are less likely to support the court when it is portrayed as a political body — as it is during confirmation proceedings — and not a legal body,” it may not be wise for Chief Justice Roberts to enter the debate about nominee Judge Merrick Garland, especially since the SJC’s chair has already criticized him. [New York Times]

* Think twice before you hack a Biglaw firm’s computers, because it’ll cost you a pretty penny. A former IT employee who wreaked havoc upon Locke Lord’s computer network by disabling and deleting hundreds of user accounts was sentenced to more than nine years in prison and ordered to pay $1.69M in restitution. [Courthouse News Service]

* He’s biased, but Dr. Arthur E. Snyder, the president of Indiana Tech, says there is a resounding need for a “different kind of law school” in Indiana. He calls out other schools for growing too large and having to perform layoffs, and says Indiana Tech Law is dedicated to remaining small (likely because no one knows it exists). [News-Sentinel]

Uh-oh! This firm is leaking lawyers like a sieve.