May 2007

The D.C. Madam Endorses… Hillary!

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Hillary Clinton Deborah Jeane Palfrey Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton Debra Jean Palfrey DC Madam Above the Law blog.JPGTwo great gals that go great together. From the Examiner’s delightful Yeas and Nays:

First, we learned that adult movie star Jenna Jameson supports Sen. Hillary Clinton’s run for president of the United States.

Now, we learn that another, um, Taboo Titleholder backs the New York senator’s White House ambitions: Deborah Jeane Palfrey, aka, the D.C. Madam….

Palfrey admitted that she’s pulling for Hillary in 2008. “I think she’s great,” she said. “She’s bright and articulate.”

But is this really newsworthy or surprising? That the D.C. Madam has a soft spot for a ho?
D.C. Madam for Hillary! [Washington Examiner / Yeas and Nays via Wonkette]
Preemptive clarification: WE don’t think Hillary Clinton is a ho. To the contrary, as we’ve stated multiple times, we think she’s fabulous.
We are merely referencing the familiar criticism of Senator Clinton, voiced on both the left and the right, that she’s willing to say or do anything for votes — i.e., that she’s a political whore.

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Brokeback Lawfirm: Professor Art Leonard Weighs In

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Arthur Leonard Professor Arthur S Leonard Art Leonard Above the Law blog.jpgThis morning we drew your attention to Lavi Soloway’s analysis of the amended complaint in Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell. See here.
Now our other favorite Charneyblogger, Professor Arthur Leonard, has chimed in. You can access Professor Leonard’s substantive, detailed, and thoughtful post by clicking here.
Update (2:45 PM): Some excerpts and discussion, after the jump.

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Benchslap of the Day: Justice Scalia’s Dissent in Roper

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Antonin Scalia headshot Justice Antonin Scalia Above the Law blog.JPGOkay, make that yesterday. A reader email drew our attention to the saucy conclusion of Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent in Roper v. Weaver:

The greatest harm is that done to AEDPA, since dismissing the writ of certiorari leaves the Eighth Circuit’s grossly erroneous precedent on the books. (That precedent, by the way, cannot be explained away—as perhaps the Court’s own opinion can—as the product of law-distorting compassion for a defendant wronged by a District Court’s erroneous action. As noted earlier, the Eighth Circuit was not informed of that erroneous action. It presumably really believes that this is the way AEDPA should be applied.)

Other courts should be warned that this Court’s failure to reverse the Eighth Circuit’s decision is a rare manifestation of judicial clemency unrestrained by law. They would be well advised to do unto the Eighth Circuit’s decision just what it did unto AEDPA: ignore it.

WHACK! As our correspondent notes: “Scalia manages to benchslap both the majority opinion and the 8th Circuit all in the same paragraph.”
Some of Justice Scalia’s colleagues get cheeky on occasion. Another tipster drew our attention to Part IV of Justice Stevens’s Bell Atlantic v. Twombly dissent — which Justice Ginsburg expressly declined to join, perhaps due to its ‘tude.
But at the end of the day, there’s no disputing this truth: When it comes to benchslaps, nobody does it like Nino.
Roper v. Weaver [FindLaw]
Bell Atlantic v. Twombly [FindLaw]

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Stand Clear of the Closing Doors. And Stop Cruising Aaron Charney.

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Former Sullivan & Cromwell associate Aaron Charney is now unemployed. But should you feel sorry for him? No.
Tons of Columbia Law School grads land Biglaw gigs. But very few CLS grads achieve what Aaron B. Charney has already secured, just a few years after his graduation: FAME.
Aaron Brett Charney is probably the most well-known member of his law school graduating class. After all, how many of ABC’s classmates have made thinly veiled appearances on final exams at their alma mater?
number 2 train subway Above the Law Above the Law ATL ATL blog.JPGAnd how many of them have achieved the coveted distinction of being recognized in a public place — the New York City subway? From a tipster:

“Yesterday a friend of mine saw Aaron Charney on an uptown 2 train. He was reading some legal documents from the lawsuit.”

“My friend told me: ‘I bet Charney thought I was checking him out, cuz I kept staring at his crotch where the papers were….’”

Yeah right. He just wanted a peek at Charney’s, er, case caption. And those New York Supreme Court docket numbers are just… so… long…

6 Comments

Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: LeBoeuf Lamb Raises in California

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LeBoeuf Lamb 2 small La Bouche Above the Law Blog.jpgThe crew over at La Bouche LeBoeuf Lamb, who recently showed some love to law clerks, just raised salaries in their California offices.
They’re now on the $160K scale. The raise is retroactive to May 1, 2007.
Memo appears after the jump.
(If your firm recently raised associate base salaries and/or clerkship bonuses, and hasn’t been covered already in these pages, please email us to let us know. Thanks.)

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Brokeback Lawfirm: Highlights from the Amended Complaint

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Aaron Charney full length Aaron B Charney Aaron Brett Charney Above the Law Above the Law blog.jpgThe indefatigable Lavi Soloway has posted an excellent summary of the juiciest parts of the amended complaint just filed by Aaron Charney.
The best stuff is in the lede (all caps in the original; emphases added):

THE AMENDED COMPLAINT INCLUDES ALLEGATION THAT ON JANUARY 31, FORMER S&C ASSOCIATE, EDWARD GALLION, WHO HAD BEEN HIRED TO REPRESENT ASSOCIATE GERA GRINBERG, REVEALED TO CHARNEY AND GRINBERG THAT HE, GALLION, IS “A HOMOSEXUAL.”

GALLION IS ALLEGED TO HAVE DISCLOSED THIS FACT IN GALLION’S APARTMENT (???) AS GRINBERG, CHARNEY AND GALLION AWAITED THE ARRIVAL OF GALLION’S PARTNER, STEVEN SPIELVOGEL, WHO WAS TO ACCOMPANY THEM TO A SCHEDULED SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE. ALLEGEDLY, GALLION ALSO TOLD THEM THAT HE HAD NOT MADE PARTNER AT S&C BECAUSE OF ANTI-GAY DISCRIMINATION AND THAT WHILE HE WAS AN ASSOCIATE THERE HE HAD BEEN NICKNAMED “THE FAGGOT” BY A PARTNER AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER

You can read Soloway’s full post by clicking here. Good stuff!
Charney Files Amended Complaint Against Sullivan & Cromwell [Soloway]

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Coming Attractions: Internecine Warfare at the Harvard Law Review

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Harvard Law Review Andrew Crespo Above the Law blog.jpgWe’re going to be doing a series of posts about the world’s premier journal of legal scholarship: the Harvard Law Review. We’ve learned that there are some unhappy campers over at Gannett House (at right), who are less than thrilled with the Review’s new leadership.
Here’s a preview of what’s on the way. From a tipster:

As you might remember, Andrew Crespo was recently elected president of the Harvard Law Review. Since then, he has taken a decidedly fascist approach to leadership and he is running the journal into the ground with a cabal of radical idealogues, making the outgoing editors nervous about the future reputation of the journal.

Some have taken to calling him “Crespolini,” after [Benito Mussolini]. In short, there is a crisis of confidence at Gannett.

As noted in some of the news coverage of his selection, Crespo is the first Latino to serve as HLR president. Fortunately, Mussolini was Italian.
More to come in subsequent posts (including internal HLR emails). If you’re at the Harvard Law Review and have information to share, whether pro- or anti-Crespo, please email us. Thanks.
Crespo Elected First Latino President of Harvard Law Review [Harvard Law Record]
First Hispanic To Lead Harvard Law Review [Harvard Crimson]
Harvard Law Review elects Crespo as new president [Harvard Law School (press release)]

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Brokeback Lawfirm: Back in the Saddle

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H Rodgin Cohen 2 Chairman Aaron B Charney Aaron Brett Charney Sullivan Cromwell Above the Law Above the Law Above the Law ATL legal tabloid legal blog.JPGYesterday Aaron Charney, the former Sullivan & Cromwell associate now suing his former employer for sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation, filed an amended complaint against the firm. To download copies of Charney’s latest filings, follow these handy instructions.
Some background about the new complaint, from an article by Anthony Lin in this morning’s New York Law Journal:

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried dismissed Charney’s original pro se complaint without prejudice earlier this month, ruling that some of the ex-associate’s allegations and attachments were irrelevant and potentially violative of disciplinary rules. The judge gave Charney leave to replead his case.

Though Charney, now represented by four lawyers, excised the material cited by the judge, he added new allegations concerning events that took place after his initial complaint was filed, in particular a Jan. 31, 2007, settlement meeting.

Discussion continues after the jump.

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Morning Docket: 05.22.07

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* Coverage of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling in Winkelman v. Parma School District. [How Appealing (linkwrap)]
* Microsoft accuses open-source programs of 235 patent infringements. [MSNBC]
* Alabama board nixes big Sunday football game. [SI]
* “A Million Little Refunds” — nice.[WSJ Law Blog]
* Everyone wants some of the booty, but they might lack the jurisdiction. [CNN]

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: WilmerHale Raises

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WilmerHale Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale Dorr Above the Law blog.jpgWe’ve confirmed with sources here in DC that WilmerHale has raised associate base salaries in its Washington office. Associates were notified individually earlier this afternoon. Accordingly, there was no memo. (But if we’re wrong about that, or if a memo later materializes, please send it along.)
Because associates received individual notification, we don’t have salary numbers for all classes. But the sources we’ve spoken with have provided us with figures for their class years that are consistent with the $160K scale. So it’s safe to assume that WilmerHale in Washington is now on par with the two D.C. firms that previously raised: Akin Gump and Hogan & Hartson.
WilmerHale’s move leaves Arnold & Porter and Covington & Burling as the most prominent members of the DC List of Shame. Feel free to add others in the comments.
We don’t have confirmation for raises at WilmerHale in Boston yet. But rumor has it that (1) WilmerHale has raised in Boston too, and (2) the pay raise is effective June 1.
Please send us any additional details by email. Thanks.

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