March 2007

Friday Afternoon Argument Fodder: Most Underrated Law Schools

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chart.gifWe know you guys love arguing over stuff in the comments. So here’s some red meat for your to chew upon: Vault’s list of the top 25 most underrated law schools.
Is your law school on the list? Should it be?
Here are the top 10, as collected over at TaxProf Blog:
1. Emory
2. Fordham
3. Howard
4. Chicago-Kent
5. Oregon
6. George Mason
7. Illinois
8. William & Mary
9. Vanderbilt
10. Georgia
What we’d like to see: a list of the ten most OVERrated law schools.
(Yeah, we know — there is a fair case that our alma mater should be on any such list. But the Vault list looks at schools from the perspective of law firms looking for associates to hire, not law schools looking for prospective faculty members.)
Most Underrated Law Schools [Vault via TaxProf Blog]

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The AEF Annual Benefit Dinner (Part 2)

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AEF 18.JPG
Here are the rest of our photos from the delightful AEF annual dinner. We posted the first batch of pictures, along with a brief write-up, over here.
The balance of the pics, plus a few stray comments, appear after the jump.

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October Term 2007 Clerk Hiring: Filling in the Blanks

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Supreme Court hallway Above the Law Above the Law Above the Law.JPGOur recent post about Supreme Court clerk hiring for October 2007 generated a wealth of tips — just as we hoped it would. You drew our attention to a number of future clerks whose hirings were not reflected in our last listing.
Like Leslie Kendrick, a former Rhodes scholar and current Wilkinson clerk. We like the story of how Justice Souter offered her a job:

Kendrick was working at her desk on an ordinary Friday afternoon when the call from Souter came though. “I wondered if you were still in the market for a clerkship?” she recalled Souter asking. Of course, the answer was yes.

We believe that we now have the names of all the OT 2007 clerks. Also, Justice Thomas has hired almost all of his OT 2008 clerks, and Justice Alito has hired at least one.
You can check out the complete listing of next Term’s clerks, as well as some OT 2008 info, after the jump.

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Judge Richard Conway Casey, R.I.P.

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Richard Casey Judge Richard Conway Casey blind Above the Law blog.jpgThe Honorable Richard Conway Casey, of the Southern District of New York, passed away yesterday. He was well-known for being the first blind person to be named a federal trial judge. (Appeals court judge David Tatel, of the D.C. Circuit, was the first blind federal judge.)
An amusing anecdote about Judge Casey, from the AP:

Judge Richard Conway Casey recalls the time he accidentally bumped into a courtroom wall at the beginning of a mob trial. Lawyers and spectators shifted uncomfortably – for just a moment.

“You’re fired!” Casey, 68, told his law clerk, who had accompanied him. “Bring back my guide dog!”

The courtroom burst into laughter.

We extend our condolences to Judge Casey’s family and to his extended family of former law clerks.
Richard C. Casey bio [FJC]
Richard C. Casey [Wikipedia]
Blind Federal Judge an Inspiration [Associated Press]

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Some Interrogatories from Your Friends at ATL

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Please take a few seconds to fill out our (anonymous) reader survey. You can access it by clicking here.
And please don’t overlook question number 9, in which you can offer us editorial feedback — what you like, what you dislike, what you’d like to see more or less of in these pages, etc. Thanks!
Above the Law Reader Survey [SurveyMonkey.com]

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  • 23 Mar 2007 at 12:04 PM

Tad DiBiase: A Few More Details

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Thomas DiBiase Tad DiBiase AUSA Above the Law blog.jpgLook, we were not trying to be coy in our last post. We are just trying, as one commenter suggested, not to get our asses sued.
Here is what we can tell you for now. The following facts have been confirmed with multiple sources:
1. Thomas “Tad” DiBiase is a prominent, well-connected assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. He served (and may technically still be) the Director of Professional Development for the office, as well as Deputy Chief of the Homicide Section.
2. His duties as Director of Professional Development include making sure assistant U.S. attorneys all get their mandatory ethics and sexual harrassment training.
3. Earlier this week, something changed with respect to Mr. DiBiase’s employment status. We haven’t nailed this down yet. But if you send a message to his DOJ email address, you receive the following:

I will be out of the office until further notice. I will not be checking my email. Please call Glenn Kirschner at 514-xxxx regarding any homicide matters.

We’ll have more to share once we hear back from more sources. Since yesterday, we’ve left multiple voice-mail and e-mail messages for Mr. DiBiase (who still has DOJ voice-mail and email accounts); a lawyer we’re told is representing him; and Channing Phillips, the office spokesperson.
Nobody has gotten back to us — but you can’t accuse us of not trying to verify our facts. We are crossing our t’s and dotting our i’s on this one. We don’t want to be accused of reckless disregard with respect to anything.
(You may comment on this post. But please remember that, under Section 230, individual commenters — NOT ATL — bear legal responsibility for their own comments. Thank you.)
Earlier: Request for Information: AUSA Tad DiBiase

The AEF Annual Benefit Dinner (Part 1)

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AEF 5.JPG
Poor James Sandman. He’s a partner at Arnold & Porter, one of Washington’s most prestigious law firms, and he’s president of the DC Bar. But ever since he wrote that mean article complaining about associate pay raises, nobody will sit next to him at parties….
(Okay, we jest. The seats next to Jim Sandman were subsequently filled. In fact, he was at our table — and we found him to be a most agreeable dinner companion. There were some associates sitting near him, and Mr. Sandman made no attempt to steal food from their mouths.)
AEF logo.JPGEarlier this week, we attended — and served as the emcee for — the annual benefit dinner of the Asian Pacific American Bar Assocation Educational Fund (AEF).
It was a wonderful event (and not just ’cause we won two Supreme Court bobbleheads in the silent auction). It featured inspiring speeches from Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, executive director of Boat People SOS, and Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii. It was tons of fun. And it raised money for AEF’s charitable and educational activities, including its public service fellowships for law students.
Of course we took lots of pictures. Check out the first batch — more will follow later — after the jump.

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Brokeback Lawfirm: Highlights from Aaron Charney’s Deposition

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Aaron Charney 2 headshot Aaron B Charney Aaron Brett CharneyWe’ve reviewed the excerpts from the Aaron Charney deposition that were attached to Charney’s court filings from yesterday. We’ve culled out some highlights, so you can review them for yourself and reach your own conclusions.
(We realize, of course, that this is just Aaron Charney’s side of the story. But at this point, in the absence of deposition testimony from Gera Grinberg or any S&C lawyers, it’s all we’ve got. Obviously you should read it with the caveat that Charney isn’t exactly a disinterested witness.)
For starters, here’s Charney’s testimony about the alleged “we’ve represented the Nazis” comment by Sullivan & Cromwell partner Gandolfo “Vince” DiBlasi:
Aaron Charney deposition 1 Aaron B Charney Aaron Brett Charney Above the Law blog.jpg
Additional juicy excerpts, after the jump.

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Skaddenfreude: The IP Shops

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100 dollar bill Above the Law Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGHere’s an open thread to discuss compensation developments at intellectual property firms. We’ll kick off the discussion with this tip:

Morgan & Finnegan (following competitors Dickstein, Fitzpatrick Cella, Kenyon & Kenyon, and Fish & Richardson) is now at $160,000/year effective April 1. Most of the associates are in the New York office, so I’m not sure how this affects DC.

This year’s summer class is making more then 25% more than last year’s summer class. (The firm didn’t go to $135K for regular associates until the middle of last summer, and they didn’t adjust summer associate salaries.)

We don’t want to leave the IP folks out of all the fun. Please gossip away in the comments!
Earlier: Prior news about associate pay raises (scroll down)

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Morning Docket: 03.23.07

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* Judge knows unconstitutional restriction of free speech rights when he sees it. [Washington Post via How Appealing]
* Six degrees of deportation. [CNN]
* Subpoenas a go-go!. [Jurist]
* Arizona McSettlement. [AP via Findlaw]
* Excuse me while I sue this guy. [Andrews Publications via Findlaw]

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