Lawyer of the Day: Anne Bremner
‘I represent Seattle police, you can’t arrest me.’

By David Lat

A Seattle reader brought this remarkable tale to our attention, sending along some links about prominent attorney Anne Bremner and her recent brush with the law, along with this commentary:

Anne is a high-profile lawyer — at least here in the Northwest. She is a legal analyst for lots of broadcast media outlets. There is lots of hubris here, so I immediately thought of Above the Law.

Well, it seems that Bremner views herself as “above the law.” On the night that she was arrested for drunken driving, she allegedly said all sorts of things to various police officers, including but not limited to the following:

  • “I will sue your ass.”
  • “I’m famous. It’ll be bad for you guys.”
  • “You can’t arrest me. I represent Seattle and King County. You are making a mistake.”
  • “I represent you guys. Come on, take me home.”

Sounds like a charming lass, doesn’t she? Let’s get to know her a little better….

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‘I represent Seattle police, you can’t arrest me.’“

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This Week’s Sign That Lawpocalypse is Upon Us

By Elie Mystal

A Dealbreaker reader was out and about on the upper west side and something caught his eye. He moved in for a closer look, snapped a photo and sent it into Bess Levin. She’s been having a grand old time ever since.

Me? I just want people to see it before they go to law school. I want people to see it before they write television shows about the lavish lifestyle of lawyers or complain that young lawyers feel a sense of entitlement.

But mostly, I want somebody out there to get me a wide angle shot of the photo — I’m in the market for these services…

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Non-Sequiturs: 09.09.10

By Elie Mystal

Elie wonders how close to Ground Zero he's allowed to be when he hits "publish" on this picture, without someone threatening to set him on fire.

* Pyromaniac Pastor Terry Jones has called off his threat to burn copies of the Koran on 9/11. Jones claims that it’s in exchange for the developers agreeing to move the Ground Zero mosque. Developers claim they only agreed to meet with him. So who knows where this is going. The only thing I know for sure is that somewhere, Moses is pointing at Jesus and Muhammad and saying “… and that’s why I just smashed the damn tablets. The old man has no idea what he’s doing.” [Huffington Post]

* Puerto Rico is involved in a “rum war” with the Virgin Islands. Whatever, the exports from both islands can only be tolerated with a healthy dose of coke. The real battle would be between Haiti and Cuba. [Out of the Storm News]

* Instead of speed bumps, Canada is going with an optical illusion of a child to slow people down. So once Canadian drivers get used to that, the only possible result of this program will be dead children. Honk if you like grieving mothers at vehicular manslaughter trials. [Yahoo News]

* The lead singer of 90’s boy band LFO has died. So we turn to Marin for a fitting obituary. She says: “It wasn’t the Chinese food that made him sick; it was leukemia.” That email address you’re looking for is advice@abovethelaw.com, I don’t need emails from the Mayo Clinic clogging my inbox. [Us News]

* This Sunday Elizabeth Wurtzel will explain how to write about the bad things that have happened in your life. This Sunday, I’ll be out having bad things happen to me. [Housing Works]

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The Fashion Law Institute Launches At Fordham Law School

By Above the Law

The melding of fashion and law seemed like an odd concept in the past, as evidenced by Elle and her hot pink suits in Legally Blonde. With concerns about counterfeiting, the new intellectual property bill in Congress, and the complex nature of the fashion business, designers need legal support more than ever now.

Stilettos and staid suits met quite literally today as Fordham Law School in NYC launched the Fashion Law Institute yesterday. The CFDA donated $100,000 to the Institute and CFDA president/fairy godmother, Diane von Furstenberg, matched that with a donation of her own. The Institute anticipates that it will need about $1 million its first year.

Continue reading about Fordham’s bold foray into fashion at our sister site, Fashionista.

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Priorities Are a Big Deal When Moving to a Small Firm

By Little Richard

Welcome back to Above the Law’s coverage of small law firm practice. I was pleased with the comments and emails I received in response to Tuesday’s opening volley. After debating on the subject matter for today’s post, I decided that since Small Law attorneys are quite comfortable, often by necessity, with diving right into the deep end of things, let’s get down to brass tacks: Are there actually jobs at small law firms and, if so, what should you consider before making the switch?

The WSJ Law Blog picked up a Tuesday post from Eric Cooperstein, over at The Lawyerist, discussing one lawyer’s thoughts on the State of the Small Law Union in his home state of Minnesota:

One was a complaint about how difficult it is to attract new lawyers to join law firms in rural areas. The other was the lawyer’s prediction that in the next ten years, half the lawyers in her quarter of the state were going to retire from the practice of law.

Cooperstein follows up with his guess that this problem — or wondrous happenstance, depending on what side of the fence you find yourself — probably isn’t unique to the Gopher State. He speaks the truth. I spent my Small Law years at a firm with 20 to 25 lawyers, most of whom will retire in the next five years. In speaking with my former partners and associates, I’m told the same is true for many of their contemporaries in surrounding counties.

So what do you do if you want to be one of their replacements?

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The Salary Scale: Never Has Stagnant Looked So Sweet

By Elie Mystal

On January 22, 2007, Above the Law reported that Simpson Thacher & Bartlett raised starting associate salaries in New York to $160,000.

That was almost four years ago — 1,326 days ago, to be exact (2008 was a leap year). But here we are, in the fourth quarter of 2010, and a new NALP report is telling us top Biglaw salaries in New York have re-established themselves at $160K. Partner profits haven’t generally remained stagnant for four years, at least at certain firms. Law school tuition certainly hasn’t remained stagnant for four years. But the upper end of associate compensation has been stuck in the mud. Back in 2007, I could go to a movie for $10.50. Now it goes all the way up to $11! I’m outraged!

I’m not actually outraged (well, I am about movie prices, but that’s because at $11 you’d think something besides Inception wouldn’t blow). And you won’t find too many associates outraged that their compensation hasn’t kept pace with growing partner profits at some firms. That’s because most associates are recovering from the terror of layoffs and salary deflation. NALP explains it this way:

NALP’s 2010 Associate Salary Survey shows that, although the $160,000 salary for first-year associates still prevails at large firms in a number of markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC, in other markets, such as Boston and San Francisco, the median has dropped back to $145,000, reflecting salaries ranging from $110,000 to $160,000.

Sorry about your tiny pink paycheck, Boston and San Fran.

For the rest of us, let’s take a look at the full salary scale according to NALP’s research…

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Career Center: Taking Control of Your Career

By Above the Law

From time to time, we “go live” with the Career Center resources, to give you access to firsthand advice from the hiring partners and in-house counsel at major law firms and companies.  Our next opportunity for this type of professional development will be Wednesday, September 22, 2010 in Miami, Florida.

If you are in the Miami on the 22nd, need free MCLE credit, and would like some great advice on taking control of your career, read on for details….

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  • 09 Sep 2010 at 1:42 PM
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Accuser of Porn-Posing Canadian Judge Gets Fired

By David Lat

We don’t normally cross international borders to find judges to write about; there are enough colorful characters in the U.S. judiciary. But when the jurist in question has appeared in pornography that made its way on to the interwebs, we make an exception.

There are some updates in the tale of Madam Justice Lori Douglas, the Canadian judge who appeared in nude photos showing Her Honor engaging in bondage, playing with sex toys and performing oral sex. We previously “exposed” the story here and here.

The first one is an amusing yet cautionary tale. Just because your porn features a judicial angel in the centerfold doesn’t mean it’s not porn — and, as such, inappropriate to keep on your work computer.

This is a lesson that Alex Chapman, the man who has filed ethics complaint and civil lawsuits against Justice Douglas and her husband, prominent divorce lawyer Jack King, learned the hard way….

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Craigslist Loses Its Eroticism

By Kashmir Hill

Craigslist services section earlier this week

The “censored” box that Craigslist put over the “Adult Services” section of its website may have been a last hurrah before capitulating to demands from attorneys general that the section be eliminated. Today, the censored box disappeared from the site.

The “adult services” section is gone, but two new services sections appeared: “cycle” and “marine.” Their offerings are not as exciting as the now-disappeared lusty section. There are multiple ads for jet ski repair in the new marine section in New York, and a “massage special” in the cycle section. It looks like would-be prostitutes are going to have to work on their bike and boat repair skills.

The law — i.e., Section 230 — was on Craigslist’s side. Why did it capitulate?

Read on at Forbes.com.

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The Third Circuit Respects Supremacy — A Lesson Arizona Will Soon Learn.

By Elie Mystal

Hazleton, Pennsylvania, is a lovely little town (or so Lat tells me — his aunt used to live there). But it’s not bigger than the federal government or the Constitution of the United States of America.

That’s the lesson the Third Circuit handed down today with its decision in the Lozano v. Hazleton case. At issue: Hazleton city ordinances making it illegal for undocumented immigrants to work or even rent a house in Hazleton.

Apparently, the Third Circuit still believes in federal supremacy. From the opinion:

Although our reasoning differs from that of the district court, we agree that the provisions of the ordinances which we have jurisdiction to review are pre-empted by federal immigration law and unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause.

Did you hear that, Arizona? Your quixotic quest to deal with illegal immigrants without consulting the Constitution is almost over…

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