September 2006
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Bad Ideas, Job Searches
Best Job Application Cover Letter Ever
No, this is not some random piece of spam we received. You will look in vain for words like “Loteria,” “NEXT OF KIN,” or “V1agra.” It’s actually a cover letter that was received by a major legal staffing and recruiting firm, from a hopeful applicant seeking placement assistance. Here it is: Dear Sirs/Madams: I know […] -
Skaddenfreude
Skaddenfreude: Not All Lawyers Are Loaded
We now proudly present the inaugural installment of a regular ATL feature, Skaddenfreude: Totally Gauche Ogling of Other Lawyers’ Incomes. As explained in our introductory post, Skaddenfreude will inform you about how much different lawyers around the country are earning (and how hard they’re working to earn those salaries). We’ve already received a number of […] - Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Zach Warren from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the potential and the pitfalls. -
George Ryan, Guantanamo Bay, Morning Docket, War on Terror
Morning Docket: 09.07.06
* President Bush said yesterday that 14 “high-value” terror suspects, who were previously held in secret by the CIA, had been transferred to Guantánamo Bay, for possible trials before military tribunals. Gitmo’s not exactly the Four Seasons Nevis; but we suppose it’s an improvement. [New York Times; Washington Post] * Former Illinois Governor George Ryan […]
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Lawsuit of the Day, Rank Stupidity, The Eighties
Lawsuit of the Day: Turn Around, Bright Eyes
And you thought the American legal system was out of control: Passengers on a flight from France to Mauritius have filed suit against Air France after musician Bonnie Tyler performed a song at the request of the co-pilot. The passengers, believed to be Belgian, complained to the airline after the Welsh singer performed part of […] -
Eugene Volokh, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 09.06.06
* Kind of like the Great Books, but for law. Soon we’ll have a better understanding of the depths of our own ignorance. [PrawfsBlawg] * This is not a fairy tale: the Princess and… the Prison. [Associated Press] * “I’m your priiiiivate judge, a judge for money, I’ll do what you want me to do […] -
2nd Circuit, 9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Fabulosity, Fashion, Project Runway
The Latest Legal Fashion Craze: Expressive T-Shirts
Another day, another circuit court decision involving a school kid with a wise-ass t-shirt. Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit dealt with the case of a kid who wore a T-shirt to school that read, “Be ashamed, our school embraced what God has condemned. Homosexuality is shameful.” (The kid lost; and that’s why they call […] -
Musical Chairs
Musical Chairs: 09.06.06
Not too much job-hopping going on. But we’re still getting back up to speed after that three-day weekend; perhaps things will pick up later this week, or next week. Lateral Moves: * Mary Fragola and Nanette Heide, to Seyfarth Shaw (ERISA group — might they be hotties?). Fragola was at International Paper Company; Heide was […] -
Benjamin Brafman, David Boies, Elena Kagan, Eyes of the Law, Harold Koh, Jeffrey Toobin, Laurence Tribe, Law School Deans, Nancy Grace, Ted Olson
The Eyes of the Law: Legal Celebrity Sightings
Celebrity sighting columns are a staple of gossip magazines and gossip blogs. E.g., Gawker Stalker, Wonk’d, Judicial Sightations. So, in this spirit, we proudly present The Eyes of the Law — your source for all the legal celebrity sightings that are fit to print (and a few that aren’t). Since we don’t get out that […] - Sponsored
Law Firms Now Have A Choice In Their Document Comparison Software
Six months on since its launch, over 200 firms worldwide are now using Draftable Legal for accurate and reliable document comparison, including UK Top 50… -
Biglaw, Christopher Slowik, Job Searches
Is This Depressing, or What?
We’re still feeling under the weather, and it’s overcast oustide. And now the Wall Street Journal wants to plunge us even deeper into the doldrums: This is the second installment of the Online Journal’s Diary of a Law-Job Seeker, by Christopher Slowik, a 37-year-old Brooklyn Law graduate who is looking for his first law job. […] -
Civil Rights, Department of Justice, Weddings
Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: September 3, 2006
On the whole, this past weekend was a disappointing one for attorney nuptials. There were hardly any lawyer-lawyer weddings in the New York Times weddings-and-celebrations section — we counted just one. And most of the couples involving a lawyer weren’t super-exciting. Perhaps the Labor Day holiday is to blame. But Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, in […] -
Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Headlines, John Paul Stevens, Ridiculousness, Washington Post
Fun With Washington Post Headlines
Okay, look, we get it. Given that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is now the swing vote on the Supreme Court, how long he will remain on the Court — and his health, which obviously affects the length of his tenure — is of critical importance. But we still found it odd that the Washington Post […] -
Anthony Kennedy, Eavesdropping / Wiretapping, Gerard Lynch, Judicial Nominations, Kent Jordan, Michael Wallace, Morning Docket, Terrence Boyle, William Haynes
Morning Docket: 09.06.06
* Justice Anthony M. Kennedy was hospitalized and underwent surgery over the Labor Day weekend. Surgeons inserted a new stent to clear a blocked coronary artery. AMK is doing fine and is back to work. [New York Times, Washington Post; Los Angeles Times] * The brilliant Judge Gerard E. Lynch (S.D.N.Y.) — a member of […]
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Lunacy, Pro Se Litigants, Rudeness
Best Notice of Appeal Ever
It would be hard to find a court filing more boring than the notice of appeal. For all you non-lawyers, it’s the document by which a losing litigant gives notice of her intention to appeal. The notice of appeal gets filed with the court and served on the opposing party. Usually the notice of appeal […]
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Law Firms Now Have A Choice In Their Document Comparison Software
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
How Transactional Lawyers Can Better Serve (And Maintain) Their Clients
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AI’s Impact On Law Firms Of Every Size
Why Do AI And Legal Professionals Make The Perfect Partnership?
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Gay Marriage, Gender, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Neal Katyal, Non-Sequiturs, Richard Posner, Stephen Dillard, White-Collar Crime
Non-Sequiturs: 09.05.06
* Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III (at right), the leading conservative of the post-Luttig Fourth Circuit, speaks out against the Federal Marriage Amendment. Interesting. But has he effectively recused himself from any case involving these issues — and scuttled any remaining SCOTUS hopes he might have had? [Washington Post via Volokh Conspiracy] * Someone call […] -
Biglaw
News Flash: Skadden Is Expensive
The WSJ Law Blog brings us news of an article, posted online back in July, concerning fees charged by professional services firms in the bankruptcy context: An unpublished academic study of bankruptcy-court legal fees, which was posted online in July, has put the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on the […] -
Law Firm Mergers, Law Firm Names
The Law Firm Name Game: Brevity Is the Soul of Wit
“Small is beautiful.” That seems to be the trend with cell phones, digital cameras — and, of course, law firm names: DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has officially shortened its name to DLA Piper. One of the world’s largest law firms with 3,100 lawyers, DLA Piper is the culmination of a series of mergers, beginning […] -
7th Circuit, Federal Judges, Frank Easterbrook
All Hail the Chief: Judge Frank Easterbrook
In November, Judge Frank Easterbrook will take over from Joel M. Flaum as Chief Judge of the Seventh Circuit. Judge Easterbrook, of course, is a judicial celebrity of the first order: a veritable judicial hottie, a possible SCOTUS nominee, and brother of well-known author and ESPN.com commentator Gregg Easterbrook. At 57, Judge Easterbrook is still […] -
Contests, Divorce Train Wrecks, Family Law, Holland & Knight, Marna Tucker, Reader Polls, Weddings
Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: August 2006 Couple of the Month
Fear not, dear readers. We will be issuing a Legal Eagle Wedding Watch for this past weekend — it will just be a little late. Like you, we’re also recovering from the Labor Day holiday weekend… In the meantime, we’re going to introduce a participatory element to Legal Eagle Wedding Watch. A number of you […] -
Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, David Souter, Federal Judges, John Paul Stevens, John Roberts, Money, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, SCOTUS, Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justices Are Just Like Us -- But Richer
It’s that time of the year again, kids: when the members of the Supreme Court release their financial disclosure forms. We now get to engage in a little bit of financial voyeurism, learning which justices have gold-plated gavels, and which ones must settle for plastic. Delicious! Unfortunately, the information isn’t as comprehensive as it could […] -
Contests, ERISA, Gender, Hotties
ERISA Hotties: Hurry Up and Get Those Nominations In
It appears that some people aren’t fans of Above the Law’s ERISA Hotties contest — our quest to find the most attractive ERISA lawyers in America. And that’s fine; to each her own. The blogosphere is a very big place. But within the ERISA bar, the contest is a huge hit. Lawyers who toil in […]