As you know, we recently did a series of open threads on law firms in different cities. But we realize that Biglaw isn’t the only option out there.
We’ve been reminded of that by some recent emails. From one reader:
Not so much a tip as a request: How about an open thread for non-firm work — U.S. Attorney’s offices, for example? What are the pros and cons of leaving Biglaw for a few years to go there, and how do you do it?
And from a second:
This my fizzle in light of the prestige cult that ATL harbors, but I was curious if you would ever consider a look at federal government lawyers.
Not just at the Department of Justice:
The FBI, CIA, DoD, etc, all are staffed by tons of lawyers, not to mention the JAG branches of our Armed Forces. I’m obviously biased in light of my JAG affiliation, but I always enjoy reading up on the lives of non-BigLaw attorneys.
We’re happy to accommodate these requests — and note that working for the federal government, even if less lucrative than Biglaw, can be tremendously prestigious.
Please discuss legal employment opportunities with the federal government — including U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Main Justice, the JAG corps, and agencies — in the comments. Thanks.
Of course we’re not done with our series on the mishaps of summer associate. There’s just too much material. If you have an anecdote to share, please review our submission guidelines, and then email us.
Here’s our latest X-Summer. The good news is that this story is current, from this summer (although we gladly take old stories too). The bad news is that many details are missing — but maybe you can help us out with that.
1. Superhero name: O’Melveny & Mystery Man
2. Special power: Ability to spawn a hundred stories about the true reasons for his departure.
3. Summered: O’Melveny & Myers, summer 2007 (southern California).
4. Claim to fame: According to allegations in circulation:
[O]ne of our summers got fired… Apparently, while he was on the Newport retreat, he did something offensive, and no one knows what, exactly. The most likely story is that he said something homophobic to a lesbian partner, but it’s all speculation.
The rumors have gotten out of control, though. Apparently this story has reached New York, and has blossomed into one about two summers: one allegedly groped an associate, and the other supposedly exposed himself to a bunch of attorneys. It’s amazing. Legal gossip is a nationwide network.
Remember Wisconsin state representative Frank Lasee? He came up with the brilliant idea of cutting off state funding for the University of Wisconsin Law School. The governor characterized the proposal as “ridiculous and bizarre”; Ann Althouse condemned the idea here.
Anyway, now we have a little more insight into his psyche. See here, here, and here.
Might this represent a new strategy for boosting profits per partner? Laying off associates (or de-equitizing less lucrative partners) generates so much bad publicity. Could knocking off a few lawyers be that much worse?
(If the victims were billing under 1950, that’s manslaughter rather than murder, as a matter of law.)
We were all ready to pack it in. But then we received several requests for PHILADELPHIA.
So here’s the Philly thread. Feel free to discuss (and complain) in the comments. Thanks.
Update: In light of the comments thus far, let’s throw Wilmington into the mix. We encourage you to discuss Wilmington and the Delaware legal market in this thread too.
With the 2008 presidential campaign dominating the airwaves, despite being over a year away, everyone is talking about politics (and watching awesome, politically-themed musicvideos). Here’s a question that a law student posed to us:
Are there differences between the politics of firms, roughly distinguishing between liberal and conservative, or are they all pretty much the same? How can a student figure out the political leanings of a particular firm?
The only source of information I’ve found so far is to research donations to presidential candidates.
Interesting. We’d say that many firms, especially in New York, are “pretty much the same” — money knows no political distinctions. But here in D.C., it’s more common for firms to lean one way or the other.
One way to figure out a firm’s political valence is to look into the former government service of its lawyers (especially high-powered partners). This method would suggest to you that WilmerHale, home of the diva-licious Jamie Gorelick, is left of center, while Gibson Dunn, home of Ted Olson, is right of center.
As our correspondent notes, campaign contributions also shed light on the political leanings of a law firm. On that subject, Lindsay Fortado of Bloomberg News has this interesting article. Here’s something that surprised us:
Lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm that’s home to Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr and Bush administration official Jay Lefkowitz, have given more to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign than to all of the top Republican candidates combined.
Kirkland, based in Chicago, is one of several corporate law firms that traditionally backed Republicans where lawyers are turning to Democratic candidates….
With respect to K&E, though, we’d guess that this varies from office to office. The Washington outpost of Kirkland, which is stocked with tons of former Scalia and Thomas clerks, is probably not funneling massive cash to La Hillary.
Which way does your firm lean? Please discuss in the comments. Thanks.
Here are two updates about clerkship bonuses (a subject of interest to a limited group of readers — but those who care REALLY care):
1. Willkie Farr & Gallagher: The rumor that Willkie pays a $50,000 clerkship bonus has been confirmed. We understand this applies to both New York and Washington.
2. Akin Gump: In New York, the firm pays a $50,000 clerkship bonus. (We don’t know what they do in other offices.)
We recently posted about technical difficulties surrounding last week’s administration of the New York bar exam. About ten minutes ago, candidates who sat for the exam received this email:
From: New York Bar Exam Administration Date: 30 Jul 2007 17:03:09 -0400 Subject: NYS Bar Exam Laptop Program
As you may know, some candidates taking last Tuesday’s bar examination experienced technical problems with the Securexam software during the examination, and some also experienced problems after the examination when attempting to upload their work. The State Board of Law Examiners has been working with Software Secure to resolve the problems.
Our primary focus during these past few days has been collecting exam files from candidates’ computers and confirming that we have all of the essay answers. Software Secure is in the process of sorting through and reviewing the thousands of files that were either uploaded or transferred to them through the utility that was described in an email sent by Software Secure on July 25, 2007.
For those of you who are interested, the rest of the message appears after the jump.
But we haven’t covered TEXAS. That’s what this here post is for.
Y’all know what to do, in the comments. Thanks.
Update: This just in, from the Texas Lawyer: Winstead Says Yes to Bonuses, No to Raises.
P.S. We realize that Texas has several major cities. E.g., Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio. But our (admittedly anecdotal) understanding is that many Texans are flexible with respect to which city they go to. So we’ve decided to have a consolidated, omnibus Texas thread.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts was hospitalized Monday after falling while on vacation in Maine, the Supreme Court told NBC News. Roberts, 52, fell at his summer home off Port Clyde [previously profiled in Lawyerly Lairs]. The court said he was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
The nation’s top judge was fully awake and coherent both at his home and later at the hospital, the court said.
Lyle Denniston has a few more details over at SCOTUSblog.
The upshot: JGR is doing just fine. But it’s a reminder that anything can happen — that life is full of unpredictability.
Because if any member of the Supreme Court were to star in a Lifealert commercial — and utter those famous words, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” — wouldn’t it to be Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
Or maybe John Paul Stevens, who bears a reasonably strong resemblance to the man who cries out, “I’m having chest pain!” If you disagree, refresh your recollection here:
As we mentioned last week, it’s now our turn to host Blawg Review, the roving carnival of legal blogs. So welcome to Blawg Review #119 — a most auspicious number.
Today, in case you hadn’t noticed, is Monday. We’re grumpy, and maybe you are too.
So the theme for this installment of Blawg Review is complaining. Whining, bitching, moaning — which lawyers are very good at. Indeed, many attorneys are better at complaining than they are at doing their jobs. Especially summer associates.
The rest of this cheery Blawg Review — a litany of laments, a pile of pet peeves — appears after the jump.
We’re guessing you’ve all seen this video of 1,500 Filipino prisoners dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” It has been discussed all over the blogosphere and MSM. E.g, Gawker; Concurring Opinions; Times of London.
(We’re just surprised that sentencing guru Doug Berman — who, by the way, moderated a great panel on the federal sentencing guidelines at the recent ACS convention we attended (and will write about later) — hasn’t weighed in on this innovative approach to criminal punishment.)
In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the clip:
Pretty cool, eh? Professor Charles Nesson of Harvard Law School quipped, “I want to meet the warden.”
Well, Professor Nesson, we can help. As it turns out, Byron Garcia — the prison official who came up with this idea, and uploaded the video clip to YouTube — is our uncle!
You can read our correspondence with Tito Byron, after the jump.
We’re guessing, from your presence on this site, that you enjoy legal blogs. And you probably like free stuff, too — ‘cause who doesn’t?
With that in mind, we’re pleased to join many otherfineblogs in announcing the arrival of BlawgWorld 2007 (PDF). This delightful, free eBook collects exemplary posts from 77 leading law-related blogs.
You can download a copy (as a PDF file) by clicking on the graphic or the link below. Enjoy!
So what do lawyers do when they leave the hallowed halls of Cravath, Swaine & Moore?
Some move on to smaller firms. Some, like former corporate partner Robert Kindler, go into investment banking (and make even more money).
But some take more surprising paths. From the current issue of the New Yorker:
A former associate at Cravath, Swain [sic] & Moore, [Roy Den Hollander] had moved to Russia to work as a private investigator. There he met a woman, with whom he returned to New York. They were married in March, 2000, and separated by December. In Den Hollander v. Flash Dancers Topless Club et al., Den Hollander sued his ex-wife and her employer under the auspices of a civil RICO statute. The suit was dismissed.
Did that romantic misadventure leave Hollander with hostility towards women? It might explain his latest legal quest, which is our Lawsuit of the Day:
In June, [Hollander] filed a federal lawsuit alleging that ladies’ nights constitute a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Citing invidious discrimination, he named as defendants the night clubs A.E.R., Lotus, Sol, China Club, and the Copacabana—which charged lower admission fees for women at, respectively, their Remix Thursdays, Velvet List Wednesdays, Models and Bottles Fridays, Metropolis Fridays, and College Party Thursdays.
What do other crusaders for gender equality make of the case? Karen DeCrow, vice-president of the Greater Syracuse chapter of the National Organization for Women, agreed with Hollander’s legal theory — even if, she noted, “it probably wouldn’t be very fun to go out to dinner with him.”
Our series of posts on different cities, timed to coincide with fall recruiting season, rolls on. These open threads are designed to allow folks to compare notes about law firms in each market. The posts have a tendency to get fairly long fairly quickly, but you can just run searches on each page to find comments about a specific firm or issue.
Here are the prior installments in the series (which we encourage you to revisit, since most of them are still active):
This post, which some of you have been eagerly anticipating, is about WASHINGTON, DC. Please discuss the legal market in our nation’s capital in the comments. Thanks.
Not much associate pay raise news right now. We have just two more announcements, neither of them super-exciting, both from firms with “Day” in their names:
1. Jones Day: The firm’s Dallas and Houston offices now pay starting salaries of $160,000. We don’t have a memo, but a tipster directed our attention to thesepages on the firm website (as well as this compensation overview).
2. Day Pitney: For those of you who follow the Connecticut market, Day Pitney will be raising first-year associate salaries to $120,000 — but not until January 1, 2008. (At that time, starting salaries in the firm’s Boston and New York offices will go up to $150,000.)
Apart from our three finalist couples, there isn’t much to highlight for you this week: just some minor WGWAG action, and, in the Vows column, a nice shout-out to LEWW’s temporary home city.
So without further ado, we bring you our fabulous finalists:
1. Superhero name: Crab Stabber AKA Senorita Foulmouth
2. Special power: Crazed Crustacean Impaling/ Spanish Profanity
3. Summered: King & Spalding, Houston, Summer 2004 or 2005 (“can’t recall”)
4. Claim to fame: The allegations, according to our tipster:
“K&S Houston used to have this boondoggle of a recruiting trip to the Four Seasons resort in Punta Mita Mexico for a weekend. Excellent way to get to know your summers, their spouses, and how they behave socially. And did I mention it is at a Four Seasons in Mexico?”
“Anyway, a group of people were sitting at a beach campfire, drinking some adult beverages and making smores and other goodies on the fire. Our heroine takes her skewer and proceeds to stab a crab, roughly 8 inches in diameter, that was trying to sneak by the people on the beach. Not a small crab. She then proceeds to roast it on the fire. There is a famous picture, which she more or less posed for, with her holding the crab on the skewer with a maniacal grin on her face. Let’s just say some of the partners, spouses and others sitting around the campfire were a little shocked.”
“At another point during that summer, our heroine was sitting in at the beginning of a lunch seminar with other summers, attorneys and paralegals. That summer, [a lot] of the SAs happened to be fluent in Spanish and would speak Spanish to each other in the halls, etc. Well, our heroine was talking to another summer in Spanish and apparently cursing like a Caracas sailor in mixed company, when a paralegal politely said: “You may want to be careful, other people speak Spanish here, too.” To which our heroine shot back: “Are you an attorney?” Ummm… no, but let’s just say that the paralegal knew a few.
5. What happened next: “Ummmm…. no offer.”
The rules still apply. Don’t be a d-bag and name the Crab Stabber or try to guess who she is. Thanks a bunch.
We haven’t forgot about you, West Coast. We continue our open thread series on fall recruiting with a look at the legal market in the PACIFIC NORTHWEST. Here are the previous threads, which we still encourage you to revisit:
Albeit a ridiculous pro se one filed by a prisoner in South Carolina.
There’s nothing like the free time that prison provides and obviously severe mental problems a vivid imagination as a recipe for hilarious, hand-written, pro se complaints. Exhibit A:
Where to begin? Well, first of all, as far as we know Vick is not a federal agent of any kind, so this can’t possibly be an action filed pursuant to Bivens. But of all of the problems with this complaint, that may be the least. Continued discussion and the rest of the complaint after the jump.
Each week, we’ll highlight an exciting job opportunity available through Lateral Link, ATL’s career partner.
Here is this week’s offering:
Morrison & Cohen LLP is looking for a corporate attorney to handle M&A and private equity transactions. With fewer than 100 attorneys, and a 1 to 1 partner to associate ratio, this full-service New York firm is known for its commitment to nurturing careers, and a firm culture that is focused on a good work/life balance. The firm serves clients throughout the United States and around the world, focusing on middle-market businesses, financial institutions, and high-net-worth individuals.
Three Positions, with 1-3, 4-6, and 7-10 Years of Experience Respectively.
As you will have also noted if you’re a regular reader, we are from Georgia. As a native Georgian and an Atlanta Falcon fan, we therefore feel obligated to touch upon this whole Michael Vick thing.
Initially, we note that the media coverage of yesterday’s arraignment was typically laughable. We must have received at least 25 separate headlines in our RSS feeder with some version of “Vick pleads not guilty to dogfighting charges.” Yeah, no kidding. It’s an arraignment, people! Everybody pleads not guilty at an arraignment, unless you have already worked out a plea agreement. It would have been news if he had NOT pled not guilty. But because of the 24-hour news cycle and/or a fundamental misunderstanding of legal proceedings on the part of the press, it’s a story either way.
Why won’t sharks attack lawyers? Professional courtesy.
*Rimshot*
Well, Harvey Miller, a Toledo, Ohio attorney, and a Hawaiian shark did their best to dispel that notion.
Miller, a 36-year-old attorney, was snorkeling off of Bellows Field Beach Park Thursday afternoon when a shark chomped on his leg.
“I punched it and I started to swim,” he said. “And then, that’s when I knew it wasn’t good because I did not have use of my left lower extremity. I couldn’t kick.”
It wasn’t good! No kidding! A shark just missed gnashing up your junk.
But it could have been much worse. Thankfully Miller managed to avoid any damage to his blood vessels, and suffered only broken bones and nerve damage. And he, is course, ALIVE, which is inherently in doubt when you have a face-to-face (or in this case face to leg, and then fist to face) with a shark while snorkling.
We’ll also note that we find it a little amusing that he’s quoted as saying he didn’t have use of his “left lower extremity.” We’re not taking a deposition, doctor. Just tell us your leg wouldn’t work.
Anyway, to the shark we say you should have known better than to mess with one of us. And don’t look for any referrals anytime soon.
To celebrate fall recruiting season, we’re doing a series of open threads, to allow people to compare notes about law firms in different cities. Think of them as chat rooms for legal scuttlebutt. (Some of the comment threads get really long, but if you’re looking for information on a particular firm or issue, just run a search on the page.)*
Here are the earlier posts in the series (which we encourage you to revisit, even after they get bumped from the ATL front page):
This post, which some of you have been eagerly anticipating, is about LOS ANGELES. Please discuss the legal market in the City of Angels in the comments. Thanks.
* Yes, we’re probably going to reintroduce the discussion forums that once existed on this site (but were never used). That may take a little while, though, so these open threads will have to do for now.
A source at the firm reports that the firm just raised associate salaries. An associates’ meeting was held earlier today. We haven’t seen the memo yet, but here are the numbers (emphasis added):
Old pay scale:
145/155/170/190/210/220/230/240
New pay scale (retroactive to 7/1):
160/170/190/210/230/250/265/280
Also, from a meeting earlier in the week, in which the upcoming recruiting season was discussed:
“The hiring partner made a comment about the bar chart posted on the web, mentioned that he was evaluating the situation, and mentioned AboveTheLaw by name. Then today we got the raise news.”
Update: We now have the Baker & McKenzie - DC memo. We’ve posted it after the jump.
We’re probably about to open a big ol’ can of worms. We’ve been procrastinating on writing this up for a while. But what the heck — opening up cans of worms is our job.
This past Sunday, the New York Times Magazine had a very interesting essay by celebrity law professor Noah Feldman. Here at ATL, he and his wife, fellow Harvard Law School prof Jeannie Suk, have reached a level of Brangelina celebrity that has entitled them to their own mono-moniker: Feldsuk (which you voted on, so you’re estopped from complaining).
Here’s the lede of Professor Feldman’s piece:
A number of years ago, I went to my 10th high-school reunion, in the backyard of the one classmate whose parents had a pool. Lots of my classmates were there. Almost all were married, and many already had kids. This was not as unusual as it might seem, since I went to a yeshiva day school, and nearly everyone remained Orthodox. I brought my girlfriend. At the end, we all crowded into a big group photo, shot by the school photographer, who had taken our pictures from first grade through graduation. When the alumni newsletter came around a few months later, I happened to notice the photo. I looked, then looked again. My girlfriend and I were nowhere to be found.
I didn’t want to seem paranoid, especially in front of my girlfriend, to whom I was by that time engaged. So I called my oldest school friend, who appeared in the photo, and asked for her explanation. “You’re kidding, right?” she said. My fiancée was Korean-American. Her presence implied the prospect of something that from the standpoint of Orthodox Jewish law could not be recognized: marriage to someone who was not Jewish. That hint was reason enough to keep us out.
Not long after, I bumped into the photographer, in synagogue, on Yom Kippur. When I walked over to him, his pained expression told me what I already knew. “It wasn’t me,” he said. I believed him.
Since then I have occasionally been in contact with the school’s alumni director, who has known me since I was a child. I say “in contact,” but that implies mutuality where none exists. What I really mean is that in the nine years since the reunion I have sent him several updates about my life, for inclusion in the “Mazal Tov” section of the newsletter. I sent him news of my marriage. When our son was born, I asked him to report that happy event. The most recent news was the birth of our daughter this winter. Nothing doing. None of my reports made it into print.
Many readers emailed us about this piece. The reactions of three of them appear after the jump.
This Monday, ATL is hosting Blawg Review. If you’re not familiar with this fine institution, check out their website:
Blawg Review is the blog carnival for everyone interested in law. A blog carnival is a traveling post about a topic or theme. For example, there’s Carnival of the Capitalists, concerning business and economics, while Grand Rounds is about medicine and healthcare, and Blawg Review has topics discussed by lawyers, law students and law professors.
Each weekly issue of Blawg Review is made up of article submissions selected from the best recent law blog posts. The blogger that puts together the Blawg Review carnival each week is called the “host.”
The host — that’s us, at least for the coming week.
If you’d like to submit a post of yours for consideration, please check out the submission guidelines (which provide the super-special email address for submissions — not the usual ATL address). If you’d like to see an example of a Blawg Review, check out last week’s edition, over at Blawgletter.
We’ve confirmed the news with two sources: an associate at the firm, and a law clerk with an outstanding offer. (We don’t know what PH pays for two clerkships, though; if you have that info, please email us.)
Update: Confirmed. Paul Hastings also pays a $70,000 bonus for two years of clerking.
* Guess the New York Times folks missed Transformers. In this article, they identify Paul Hastings as a San Francisco law firm — even though it’s really a national firm, headquartered in Los Angeles (housed in an iconic tower that looms large over the L.A. skyline).
We’ve confirmed the news that Akin Gump has raised in Texas. Here’s the message from Bruce McLean, the Akin Gump chairman:
We are pleased to announce that we will be increasing associate and counsel compensation effective August 1, 2007. For first and second years, compensation will increase to $160,000 and $170,000, respectively. For subsequent years, we intend to be competitive in the market. We are in the process of determining the contours of the compensation structure for our other associate classes consistent with our Firm culture and the evolving market.
We appreciate all that you do to make this a great Firm.
In other Biglaw Texas news, Hughes & Luce is in merger talks with K&L Gates.
(Some of you have worried about whether a tale might be “too old.” You need not fret; oldies can be goodies. We’re trying to compile a “greatest hits” list, so even hoary stories are okay. But please do indicate the summer in which the events occurred.)
Here’s our latest X-Summer:
1. Superhero name: S&S Slur-Man
2. Special power: Ability to attack women and minorities from 50 feet.
3. Summered: Shearman & Sterling, summer 2005 (believed to be DC).
4. Claim to fame: Here are the allegations, from our tipster:
“Asked a female summer how she felt about the fact that since she was a woman, she’d always make less than him. Subsequently, got drunk at a firm social event and called a Hispanic summer from HLS a “wetback.” Was directed to apologize by the firm… and did so in a half-assed, insincere manner. “
5. What happened next: “Slur-Man was fired (and obviously not given an offer). No knowledge of his eventual career.”
(The usual rules apply. Please don’t name the Slur-Man or speculate about his identity. Thanks.)
We have to step away for a bit, but we’ll leave you with something that should hopefully keep you busy while we’re gone. It’s time for the mother of all open threads: New York, New York.
With fall recruiting season looming (or already here), we’ve launched a series of open threads, where people can compare notes about law firms in different cities. Here are the earlier posts in the series (which we encourage you to revisit, even after they get bumped from the ATL front page):
This post, though, is about New York. Please gossip away, responsibly, about all of Gotham’s marquee names — Cravath, Wachtell, S&C, etc. — in the comments. Thanks.
About a month has passed since our last post about Supreme Court clerk hiring for October Term 2008 (not OT 2007, whose clerks started just this month, but the following one). We were reminded that we hadn’t written about the subject in a while after we received this email:
“I heard that some dude from Calabresi just got hired on the court, then some other dude from Yale, but I can’t remember who he clerked for.”
Considering the frequency with which Guido-maniacs and Yalies troop off to One First Street, this is about as helpful as saying that “I heard someone with a law degree got hired to clerk for the Court.”
Despite the vagueness of this information, we’re sure we can get to the bottom of things — with help from you, our loyal readers.
Please check out the latest version of our list of OT 2008 law clerks, which appears after the jump. If you have more SCOTUS clerk hiring news to add, or a correction to anything on the list, please email us (subject line: “Supreme Court clerk hiring”).
We aren’t expecting to get that much hiring news this time around, since the Supreme Court Term is now over, and the justices are all traipsing around Europe (or New Hampshire). But we’re thinking we might hear about hires that were made some time ago but haven’t hit the rumor mill yet. For example, who is the mysterious fourth Thomas clerk for OT 2008?
Just a quick follow-up to our recent post about Saira Rao and Chambermaid, her novel about a law clerk’s challenging year clerking for a federal judicial diva. A tipster writes:
I just left a lunch where Saira Rao spoke to the South Asian Bar Association of Delaware, and she clarified something [from the recent Philadelphia Inquirer article].
I believe the article said something to the effect that she was pushed out of Cleary once people found out what her book was about. [Ed. note: Here’s the quote from the Inquirer: “[Rao] left her New York law firm, Cleary Gottlieb, in November when the subject of her book became known, and, she said, the firm made her feel unwelcome.”]
According to her, it appears the opposite was true. She mentioned that the firm was actually accommodating to her needs as a writer and essentially created a new position for her so that she could concentrate more on the book. She also said she received two months off to allow her to finish up some edits on the book as well. She actually said she loved the firm and had a wonderful experience…. [Ed. note: For more, see this comment.]
In addition, she also mentioned that the book was recently optioned to be turned into a television series, so be on the lookout. No word yet on how involved she will be beyond the title of “consultant”.
With respect to the account of Rao’s departure from Cleary, our understanding is that the “firm made her feel unwelcome” statement wasn’t based directly on anything said by Rao herself, but reflected the article writer’s interpretation of events.
We love to engage in juicy speculation about workplace departures as much as (if not more than) the next guy. But it’s best when the scuttlebutt is actually accurate.
Update: We have an email in to Carlin Romano, the Philly Inquirer book critic who wrote the article. We’ll let you now if and when we hear back from him.
* When it comes to the administrative state, you can run but you can’t hide. [DealBreaker]
* The Elizabeth Halverson saga rolls on — and social studies teachers are grateful for the judicial soap opera: “My high school students have never read the newspaper with such genuine excitement before… So please, let Judge Halverson stay on the bench, just a little bit longer.” [ABA Journal]
* Who’s up for an Italian sausage grinder? [New York Post]
A CLE allowance of five grand sounds pretty great. Is our tipster correct about this? And is any other firm similarly generous?
P.S. CLE is on our mind because we just paid our New York bar dues (and filled out our CLE certification). We still keep up with our CLE requirements, ‘cause you never know. And we’ll be scooping up some CLE credits on Friday and Saturday, when we’ll be covering the 2007 ACS National Convention here in DC. Marsha Marsha Marsha!!!
Update: Yeah, we know we aren’t required to stay current with our New York CLE. But doing so gives us a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, that’s all.
On July 25, Bracewell & Giuliani joined the growing pack of Texas-based firms raising first- and second-year associate raises.
Houston-based Bracewell — with 391 lawyers in the United States, 306 of those in Texas — will raise first-year associate salaries to $160,000 and second-year associate salaries to $170,000 effective Aug. 1, says Melanie Hillis, a firm spokeswoman. Hillis says the firm, which is offering raises to first- and second-year associates in all seven of its U.S. offices, is still evaluating how to structure raises for third- through eighth-year associates.
Read the full article for an insanely detailed summary of the Texas pay raise action, which treats the subject like a high school history lesson: “On July 18, Houston-based Andrews Kurth…. On July 21, partners in Susman Godfrey….” (And who killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand?)
Speaking of Giuliani, we’re obsessed with the Obama Girl vs. Giuliani Girl music video. We admire and respect Rudy Giuliani, but even we had to laugh at this lyric: “Giuliani girl stop your fussin’ / At least Obama didn’t marry his cousin.”
(Also, the pillow fight at the end is AWESOME. And we love Kucinich Girl.)
With fall recruiting season just around the corner (or already upon us at some schools), we’ve launched a series of open threads, where people can compare notes about law firms in different cities.
Here are the threads that we’ve put up so far (which we encourage people to revisit, even after they get bumped from the ATL front page):
We’ve hit the East Coast and the Midwest. Now let’s show some love to the West Coast (where the lunch hour is approaching — a peak time for visiting ATL).
Here’s an open thread for talking about law firms in San Francisco and Silicon Valley — the Bay Area. Please gossip away, responsibly, in the comments. Thanks.
Earlier: Fall recruiting open threads for Boston and Chicago
People, please, be patient. We heard you the first time you asked us to confirm that Kirkland & Ellis has raised its clerkship bonus. It was not necessary to reiterate this request in the comments to every single post on ATL.
We reached out to Kirkland earlier this week, shortly after we started hearing this rumor, but we didn’t hear back from them until just now. From firm spokesman Brian Pitts:
I can confirm Kirkland’s clerkship bonus has increased to $50,000 and that it applies across all offices. As for serial clerkships and/or multi-year clerkships, Kirkland’s practice is to evaluate those on a case-by-case basis. Please let me know if you need anything else.
We thank Mr. Pitts and K&E for this information. We appreciate it greatly when firms respond to our requests for information that are relevant to prospective associates (many of whom read ATL).
The $54 million pants, as they’ve come to be known, were the subject of a widely mocked lawsuit that garnered international attention. Now, they have their own security guard….
On display [at a fundraiser last night] were what the Chungs say are the pants that Roy Pearson brought in, were misplaced, and were later found. The guests had appetizers and cocktails, and under the stern gaze of the security guard, some posed for photos with the pants.
Quips reader Melissa Zawadzki: “Don’t ya just love happy endings?”
The Smithsonian famously dissed Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress. But how can they say no to a pair of $54 million pants?
You can check it out by clicking here. The piece has also been picked up by DealBook and the WSJ Law Blog (with a somewhat snarky title — but if we can dish it, we can take it).
The point of the article is not that law firms are becoming more businesslike and profit-oriented (yawn), but what this means for the profession — and also for firms as profit-maximizing businesses. Here’s an excerpt:
It’s a noteworthy shift for the legal profession, whose denizens like to think of themselves as intellectual types—and view their Wall Street cousins as money-obsessed philistines. Many angst-filled attorneys suspect they should have gone into something more tweedy and creative than relocating commas within merger agreements. As Clarence Darrow said, “Inside every lawyer is the wreck of a poet.”
Such questions of professional identity aren’t just theoretical; they have ramifications for law firms as businesses. If law firms become “just like banks,” but with smaller paychecks, firms may lose their appeal to the talent they must attract in order to thrive.
In other words: Is Biglaw, by emphasizing money so much, hoisting itself by its own petard? If it’s all about the benjamins (baby), why not just go to an i-bank or hedge fund? Are firms going to lose their top talent to the world of finance — which would then impair Biglaw’s ability to thrive as a business?
(If Biglaw has nothing to offer but monetary rewards, which are offered in larger amounts by Wall Street, will law firms end up as dumping grounds for the mathematically-impaired? (Please don’t take offense; that includes us. We can’t balance our checkbook without a calculator.))
More excerpts and discussion — including predictions from law firm consultants about when the next round of associate pay raises is coming, which we know you’re dying to hear — after the jump.
We dropped the ball by not writing about this news when it first surfaced earlier this year. Now that it’s made Instapundit, though, the entire world knows about it. One Yalie writes:
A bit of an embarrassment for Harold Koh, though no real fault on his part. Still, it might come up if he’s nominated for the Supreme Court.
Fair enough. But we suspect that the good senators will have plenty of other things to question the outspoken dean about if he gets nominated to the SCOTUS.
We continue our series of posts about summer associate misadventures. If you have an anecdote you’d be willing to share, please check out the submission guidelines, and then email us.
We’re continuing with our theme of summer associates as superheroes. Move over, X-Men; make way for the X-Summers!!!
1. Superhero name: The Nekkid Sleeper
2. Special power: Drunken, semi-nude slumbering.
3. Summered: Baker & Hostetler, Cleveland, summer 2001
4. Claim to fame: From a Midwestern tipster:
“After a Saturday-night firm event, followed by a non-firm-sponsored night of drinking, The Nekkid Sleeper found himself stranded downtown without a car. It was after the rapid (light rail line) shut down for the evening, and he didn’t have enough money for a cab, so he decided he’d crash in his office at the firm.”
“One problem: That summer, the firm didn’t have enough office space for all the summers, so every other week, the summers would have to rotate offices. This particular week, The Nekkid Sleeper’s office was a cube in the firm’s library. The Nekkid Sleeper stumbled up to the firm library, found a sofa, and passed out in a drunken haze. It was hot and humid, so he unconsciously (or so he claimed) removed his shirt sometime in the middle of the night.”
“All was well until 6 a.m. Sunday, when a female partner who had a big upcoming trial wandered into the firm library to get a book — and saw what she thought was a half-nude hobo, sprawled out on the firm’s nice sofa….”
5. What happened next: “Rumor was that the incident happened about a week before the mid-summer reviews were to take place, and he got a stern lecture about inappropriate behavior… Word on the street was that he got an offer, but took a clerkship and then never returned to the firm.”
(The usual rules apply. Please don’t name the Nekkid Sleeper or speculate about his identity. Thanks.)
You know you’re a celebrity when everyone has an opinion about you. And by that standard, Nina Totenberg, who covers the Supreme Court for NPR, is definitely a celebrity. Ever since we first started writing about Ms. Nina, we’ve received tons of messages and stories about her.
We feel like we’re running confirmation hearings for La Totenberg — or maybe hearings to decide whether she should be reappointed dean of the SCOTUS press corps. Witnesses have been coming forward with alternating positive and negative accounts.
Since our last post was decidedly anti-Nina — excerpts from the memoir of John Hockenberry, a former NPR colleague of hers — it’s time for something positive. This message comes from one of Nina Totenberg’s current colleagues, Ari Shapiro:
I interned for Nina seven years ago, and I’ve been her colleague at NPR ever since. I have to disagree with the assertion that she’ll “ruin the career of anyone who crosses her.” I think Tom Goldstein and Jan Crawford Greenburg got it exactly right. Nina has been unfailingly kind, generous, and helpful to me. Because I cover the Justice Department and she covers SCOTUS, we work together all the time. My cubicle is just outside of hers (yes, she has a cubicle – no office, no couch), so I see her nearly every day. She has been an extraordinary mentor and colleague, and she is always supportive. Having seen seven years’ worth of her interns come and go, I know that most of them feel the same way.
I do agree with you on one point, though. Nina is utterly fabulous. I’ve never met anyone like her, and I mean that in the best possible way.
We thank Mr. Shapiro for these thoughts.*
So, after reading all about her, what do you think of Nina Totenberg? Take our reader poll, after the jump.
When we posted yesterday’s open thread on Chicago law firms, to create a forum for people to talk candidly about Biglaw shops now that fall recruiting season is approaching, we weren’t sure how it would turn out. We worried that the comments would descend into useless trash talk, or that there wouldn’t be enough participants to make the thread useful.
We were pleasantly surprised. Most of the commentary on the Chicago thread is thoughtful and informative.
So we think we’ll do more of these city-focused threads — maybe two or three a day for the next week, until we’ve hit all the major legal markets.
Here’s the Boston thread. Please discuss Beantown’s big law firms — e.g., Ropes & Gray, WilmerHale, Goodwin Procter — in the comments. Thanks.
* This is one of those cases where the best punchline is so obvious that the headline already used it, so I’ll just quote it: “Levi’s sues the pants off of Polo.” [CNN]
We’ve received three of them thus far. It appears that the bar examiners have been having, er, technical difficulties — some pretty serious computer problems. Needless to say, the hapless test takers are not happy campers.
For those of you who are interested, we reprint the stories after the jump.
Here is the latest unverified gossip making the rounds among summer associates in New York City:
“I’m not summering at Davis Polk, but I have some friends who are, and I’ve been to a few of their events. The general assumption among people there was that the firm is going to $180,000, probably in time for fall recruiting season.”
“My career adviser at Cornell said that it is all but declared that NYC associate starting salaries will be going up to $195K. Is there truth to this? I haven’t heard it anywhere else?”
At this point, since such rumors have been percolating for weeks, we don’t put much stock in them. But maybe we can have a meta-conversation about them: What does the persistence of these (perhaps ridiculous) rumors say about law students and young lawyers?
(Other than that they have huge-ass student loans and/or a taste for the finer things in life. E.g., Cristal.)
Some of you have requested a place where you can trade notes about different firms, in advance of fall recruiting season (which is arguably already upon us, since some law students have to submit their bids for interview slots now or very soon).
There are already a number of places to give and receive such information. E.g., Infirmation, AutoAdmit, Vault. But maybe we can do a little of this on ATL.
We’re going to try an experiment. It may or may not work, but that’s why it’s called an experiment.
Here is an open thread to talk about Chicago law firms. Please discuss, pose and answer questions, and gossip away — responsibly, of course — in the comments.
(If this thread yields worthwhile discussion, then maybe we’ll do threads for other legal markets, and maybe even threads about specific firms. But if the discussion ends up being stupid, then we probably won’t bother, and just leave this task to the other sites mentioned above.)
Not allowing the defendant to allocute before pronouncing sentence is a rookie mistake for a judge to make. So if a judge makes it, despite having been on the bench for over 25 years, he can expect to get benchslapped. From a Wisconsin reader:
Not sure if this is quite up your alley, but Federal District Judge John Shabaz got bench-slapped pretty hard by the Seventh Circuit in an opinion that came down today.
He’s like a million years old and is best known around here for falling asleep during trials and objecting himself and sustaining his own objections. We’ve decided not to get really worried until he starts overruling himself.
Well, as long as a former clerk doesn’t write a tell-all memoir, Judge Shabaz should be just fine.
Our series about fringe benefits / perks rolls on. Today we’re going to talk about a topic that has surfaced previously, but hasn’t received a dedicated post of its own: flextime and telecommuting.
We’ll kick things off with an interesting article that’s all about, well, some firms’ LACK of flexibility when it comes to arrival times:
Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw recently asked securitization associates in its New York City office to be at their desks by 10 a.m. Actually, 9:30 a.m. would be even better, says that office’s partner-in-charge, Brian Trust.
According to the request, which took the form of a memo, some partners and, surprisingly, “several associates” were concerned that their colleagues were physically absent during “normal business hours.”
Not so surprising was the reaction the memo got when it ultimately made its way to legal news Web sites and blogs. “When you stop giving us assignments at 6 p.m. that require us to be there until midnight because you’re totally disorganized, we’ll come in at 9 a.m. or whenever you want,” fumed one writer who posted on the Wall Street Journal’s blog. “Other than that, shut your trap, collect your quarterly profits and let us handle our business.”
When we worked at McDonald’s years ago, we had to punch in and punch out. But Mayer Brown isn’t exactly Mickey D’s.
Today’s story is more embarrassing to the partner than the summer associate. But that doesn’t preclude it from inclusion here. After all, the tale of the Clifford Chance Lolita was arguably bad for both the partner and the SA.
Also, today’s story — even if not focused on the summer associate — is pretty funny. Here you go:
1. Superhero name: Partner’s Best Friend
2. Special power: Uncanny timeliness when using the restroom
3. Summered: Shearman & Sterling, summer 2006
4. Claim to fame: We quote from an email that previously appeared on another blog, You Can’t Get Arrested for Being Awesome:
“I discovered the ultimate way to get on the good side of a partner today. I go to use the restroom, and when I walk in, someone is cutting gigantic farts. I mean, the type that shake the stall walls. So, I suppress my laughter — and out walks one of the senior partners of litigation.”
“He’s stopped in my office twice today to say, ‘Hi.’ At my firm, partners just do not drop in to say ‘Hello.’ I think he was truly embarrassed and is attempting ‘the nice routine,’ in order to make sure I don’t spread the story of my bathroom experience.”
It’s a little late for that.
5. What happened to him: The partner could have gone nuclear and killed his offer, to keep him quiet. But he got the offer and will start as an associate there this fall.
(Consistent with our general rule, we’re keeping the participants in this bathroom episode anonymous. Please do not name them, or even speculate as to their identity, in the comments — which, of course, are the legal responsibility of the commenters (not ATL). If things get out of hand in the comments, we’ll have to close the thread, and we’d rather not do that. Thanks.)
Firm Life [You Can’t Get Arrested for Being Awesome]
Today is our lucky day in terms of media coverage. In addition to the great WaPo shout-out, Above the Law is also mentioned in the Philadelphia Inquirer (front page, above the fold).
The article, by Inquirer book critic Carlin Romano, is all about Chambermaid, the highly entertaining debut novel of Saira Rao, loosely based on her clerkship for Judge Dolores Sloviter of the Third Circuit. You’ve probably already read tons of blog posts and articles about this buzz-generating book.
But this piece is different. It includes some choice comments from Judge Sloviter herself — who, until now, has remained silent about her former clerk’s literary endeavors (as far as we know).
Today’s Washington Post has a great article, by Ian Shapira, about the adventures of summer associates here in the nation’s capital. This is our favorite part (emphasis added):
[B]udding lawyers say they spend much of their office time looking for better deals. They peruse such Web sites as Above the Law, a must-read legal blog written by David Lat, a former federal prosecutor in Newark and former co-editor of the Wonkette politics and media blog.
One of Above the Law’s scoops this month was headlined “WilmerHale Summers: Where’s Our Raise?” The blog published an e-mail from an anonymous summer associate in the Boston office who complained that the summers weren’t getting the customary pro-rated weekly equivalent of first-year associates. Instead of about $3,100 a week ($160,000 a year), the tipster wrote, they were getting only $2,800 (about $145,000 a year).
More discussion of this delightful piece, after the jump.
Oh goodness. And you thought Paris Hilton was troubled. From the AP:
Lindsay Lohan, who just finished a second stint in rehab for substance abuse treatment, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving early Tuesday, authorities said.
Lohan, who is already facing a drunken driving charge in Beverly Hills, was pulled over near the Santa Monica Police Department after authorities spotted her car chasing another vehicle…..
Authorities conducted a field sobriety test and then transported Lohan to the police department. The 21-year-old actress was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, driving on a suspended license and possession of cocaine, among other charges, [Sgt. Shane] Talbot said.
Police found cocaine in one of her pants pockets during a pre-booking search, Talbot said.
Summer associates can get pretty wild, especially after they’ve had a few drinks. But Lolita ain’t got nothing on LiLo.
Law-and-economics types will appreciate this analysis, from Perez Hilton:
This could ruin Lindsay’s career! NO ONE is going to want to work with her now. And IF they do hire her, Lohan will most likely be forced to pay for her own insurance on films, which will be VERY COSTLY.
See, the market IS efficient! Even the market in alcoholic, coke-addicted young strumpets.
To everyone sitting for the bar exam today (or later this week): Good luck!
Relax; you’ll be just fine. We’re sure that you’ll pass, with flying colors.
Even if you don’t, no worries. You can take the bar again. Lots of famous and successful people didn’t pass the first time around. (Or even, say, the thirteenth time around.)
And if you don’t pass, that could be a blessing in disguise. It could constitute your million-dollar payday!
(Or maybe your $9.75 payday. That’s good for at least two beverages at Starbucks, even after they hike prices later this summer.)
* Here is Tom Goldstein’s (not so) short list of possible Supreme Court nominees in a Republican administration. We’ll probably write more about it later, but for now, we’ll ask: Why not more love for Judge Janice? [SCOTUSblog]
* You know your presidential popularity is in the toilet when… [Keeping Up With Jonas]
* Internet pop-up ads: If they’re okay for porn producers, why not lawyers? [Sui Generis]
* Do you like to watch Entourage? If you share our interest in the entertainment industry, especially talent agencies, you’ll find this article very interesting. [LA Weekly]
Some helpful tipsters reminded us: today is the birthday of [swing] Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Happy Birthday, Justice Kennedy!
We asked one reader, aspiring lawyer Andrew Cohen,* for thoughts on writing up a short post. His response:
“You don’t. You write a ridiculously long post that both praises and denigrates him, pretending to come out clearly one way or another, but writing so murkily that no one can tell how you actually feel.”
And let’s throw in some flowery rhetoric, too. Considering that it’s AMK’s birthday, a shout-out to the “mystery of life” would be quite apropos.
Update: Thanks for the reminder. Birthday wishes also go out to Justice Kennedy’s most famous former clerk: Judge Alex Kozinski!
* We include Mr. Cohen’s name with his permission (and wish him good luck on the bar exam tomorrow). But our default rule at ATL is anonymity for all correspondents.
Working in the legal profession, and especially at a large law firm, generally comes with a lot of fringe benefits. So our series of posts on Biglaw perks is by no means complete.
Here’s the perk that we’ll discuss today: office art (or a decorating budget). If you’re going to spend thousands of billable hours a year in that space, shouldn’t it be beautiful?
When we were at a firm, if you asked the office manager, you’d be taken to a special art closet. It was full of random items that were deemed unsuitable for other spaces within the firm — e.g., hallways, conference rooms, partner offices — but were there for the taking by associates. We selected this weird orange-brown-white composition, a painting that looked a lot like a collage. It had a certain “so bad it’s good” quality to it.
Other firms will give you a budget for decorating your digs. We hear, for example, that Kirkland & Ellis gives associates something like $300 $350 for art and office decor. A source tells us: “People use it to frame their diplomas and bar admission certificates. It’s nice.”
So, what does your employer do for you on this front? Please discuss, in the comments. Thanks.
Update: To read about law firm art collections (as opposed to art in associate offices), see here.
Hopefully the site’s legal troubles will not interfere with its continuing viability. Facebook withdrawal could be almost as severe as Blackberry withdrawal (which loomed until the RIM litigation was settled).
If you’re an ATL reader and Facebook user, check out a top ten list of recommended Facebook groups, after the jump.
Last week we told you about a fellow at Katten Muchin Rosenman in Chicago, who managed to achieve the impossible feat: he got fired from a summer associate gig. This is even more impressive than merely getting “no-offered” at the end of the summer. We wrote:
1. A summer associate in the Chicago office of Katten was fired earlier this month (believed to be the week of July 9, 2007).
2. His employment was terminated because (a) he allegedly engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with female summer associates, variously described as “repeatedly smack[ing] the asses of female summers” or “playing grab ass with female summers,” and (b) he allegedly made racially insensitive jokes, in front of multiple attorneys.
In the wake of this story, a reader sent us this message:
Apparently, the WSJ Law Blog “Rules of Etiquette” for summer associates need minor revision. Here are my suggested changes.
You can check out the new and improved etiquette handbook, after the jump.
We can confirm the rumor that Thompson & Knight has raised first- and second-year associate salaries. Management recently circulated a press release to associates, along with this brief intro:
“This press release will go out shortly. We will elicit your thoughts on the more senior associate structure.”
The press release — which isn’t on the firm website yet, but should be soon — appears after the jump.
Update: The Texas Lawyer has an article about the raises available here.
Ever since our original request for colorful stories about the delicious Nina Totenberg, the doyenne (or maybe the dean?) of the Supreme Court press corps, we’ve experienced an avalanche of anecdotes about this larger-than-life legal journalist.
We still have a few reports in the queue. Here’s the latest contribution:
Any discussion of Totenberg must include John Hockenberry’s recountings of her diva-like attitude around the NPR newsroom. He writes about her in his well-known memoir, Moving Violations. Note that Hockenberry implies Totenberg will ruin the career of anyone who crosses her. [Ed. note: YIKES.]
Go to Amazon and search for “Totenberg” in the book, John Hockenberry, Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence. Starting around page 174, you’ll read this…
If you haven’t tired of reading about Ms. Nina — we know we haven’t, but everyone’s different — check out the rest of this post, after the jump.
Thanks to everyone who has responded thus far to our call for summer associate stories. We’ve received a number of colorful anecdotes, which we’ll be publishing over the next few days (or weeks, if the supply holds up). If you have a story you’d like to share, please check out the submission guidelines.
We like this one ‘cause it’s weird — not just your typical tale of SA inebriation, followed by a drunken hookup and/or fistfight. Check it out:
1. Superhero name: The Swiss Mister
2. Special power: The ability to consume massive quantities of hot chocolate.
3. Summered: Lord, Bissell & Brook, Chicago, “a few years ago”
4. Claim to fame: From a source at the firm:
at the firm, there are kitchens on every floor. the kitchens have various drinks for the people to have while working: coffee, tea, and hot cocoa.
there is a protocol — it’s not that hard. if you are thirsty, or cold, or just want something nice and caffeinated, you go there and get a drink. common sense, right?
well, on this guy’s floor, meeting services noticed that every night, the hot cocoa drawer was empty. they would refill it, and the next night it would be gone again. it was very bizarre… since the coffee and tea are more popular anyway, especially during the summer. the drawer is big. it holds a lot of packets of hot cocoa. but, every night… it was all gone.
it turns out this summer associate was stealing all of the hot cocoa. every day.
Read more — including how he was apprehended, and whether he got an offer — after the jump.
The folks over at litigation powerhouse Susman Godfrey like to toot their own horn. But that’s okay, because they have a lot to boast about. The firm has been tremendously successful, and it pays its people very well (especially in terms of bonuses).
So this news should come as no surprise to anyone. From the Texas Lawyer:
Over the weekend, Houston-based Susman Godfrey joined the growing list of Texas-based firms opting to compensate Texas associates at rates comparable to their New York counterparts.
According to firm spokesman Shawn Raymond, the partners at Susman decided on July 21 to raise associate salaries effective Aug. 1 to $160,000 for first-years, $170,000 for second-years, $175,000 for third-years, $180,000 for fourth-years, and $190,000 for fifth years — after which lawyers at the firm are considered candidates for partnership.
“We want to attract the best and brightest at this firm,” Raymond says when asked about the changes.
That’s one short partnership track — which makes up for the relatively small salary increases after the second year. (And considering that pay levels for Texas associates beyond the second year are still up in the air, it’s not clear that Susman is even below market.)
This story has been making the rounds in New York summer associate circles. We’ve known about it for a while, but we wanted to get more corroboration. Now that we’ve heard the same details from multiple sources, we feel that it’s fair game.
In the style of Page Six, we’re doing it as a blind item.* Here you go:
A partner at Clifford Chance was seen making out with a summer associate at the corporate reception [on Thursday, July 12]. The two were seen leaving together when a fifth-year associate ran out and told the partner: “Dude, you don’t want to do this.”
Now THAT is a good associate. The model associate is like an extension of the partner’s mind — the sober part.
So are summer associates fair game? Read the rest of this post, after the jump.
Here’s a money quote (hehe) from their paper (p. 31):
“[T]he representation of top corporate lawyers in the top 0.5% and top 0.1% AGI [adjusted gross income] brackets has increased substantially over time.”
Translation: Biglaw partners are taking up more and more space among the ranks of the rich.
* She was listed in the NYT wedding announcements as an HLS magna grad — and would have gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids! [Jossip] [FN1]
* Don’t dress up in a giant pink bunny suit and hang out by a bank, unless you want to get yo’self tasered. [FourthAmendment.com]
* Thelen kicks O’Melveny’s ass — in dodgeball. [Legal Pad]
* Not worth a separate post, but here’s a link, plus a comment: “Dickie C is taking the reigns while GW gets poked in the anus. What’s funny about this is how the media reports this as news. As if Dick isn’t always in control.” [AFP]
[FN1] In response to an email we received: our tagline is tongue-in-cheek. We have no reason to doubt the Times’s explanation that the magna mistake resulted from “an editing error,” and not any attempt at deception by the bride.
LEWW salutes Laura Marshall Worth, a direct descendant of Chief Justice John Marshall, who celebrated her wedding last weekend. Laura wasted a great law-school admissions essay and became a teacher, so this hat-tip is all she gets.
In another [Michael] Vick-related matter, the quarterback’s camp has begun interviewing candidates to beef up his legal defense team in the event he goes to trial [on federal charges of conspiracy related to an alleged dogfighting venture].
Vick’s longtime personal attorney, Lawrence Woodward, is expected to remain part of the defense team, but advisors have urged that the Falcons star consider adding counsel with experience in the federal courts.
The Vick camp has solicited recommendations and is believed to have interviewed at least one prominent defender from the prestigious Washington, D.C., firm of Wilmer Hale.
WilmerHale for Vick? Wow, doesn’t seem like a dog-fighting defense shop. They do white collar defense, but that’s a different ball game. From their website: “We have defended clients against allegations of insider trading; securities, healthcare, accounting and government contracts fraud; criminal antitrust violations; money laundering; and alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other statutes.”
So, any speculation as to which WilmerHale lawyer is being considered by Team Vick? Or a recommendation of a top “dog-fighting defense shop” for the embattled sports star?
Yesterday we wrote about a former summer associate in the Chicago office of Katten Muchin Rosenman. He was fired earlier this month, after he allegedly (1) made racially insensitive remarks and (2) engaged in inappropriate physical contact with female summer associates.
With respect to the first allegation, it’s claimed that he first made a racist comment to another summer associate. When she got angry, he supposedly told her he liked “angry black women.”
(Hmm… What’s he doing for the rest of the summer? We hear that Shanetta Cutlar is hiring.)
With respect to the second allegation, it’s claimed that the ex-SA “repeatedly smack[ed] the asses of female summers” or “play[ed] grab ass with female summers.” What was he thinking? This is obviously unacceptable.
I heard this radio advertisement running on 50,000 watt WABC radio in New York. I heard it twice on the morning of the 16th, about 6:30am and about one hour later, and once again (3rd time) I believe [on Wednesday]. It went something like this:
Did you hire a Hogan and Hartson senior partner for bet the company liltigation? Was your case handled by a junior lawyer instead of the senior partner you thought you were paying for? Call 800-759-8611.
I believe I have the number correct. What’s this all about?
We share our tipster’s curiosity. And yes, reader, you have the number correct. We called the number, got an answering machine message (which mentioned Hogan & Hartson), and left a message of our own, identifying ourselves as media types in search of comment (we haven’t heard back yet).
We don’t understand the nature of this lawsuit. If these plaintiffs’ lawyers think that hiring Rainmaking Partner X means that all work on your case will be done by Rainmaking Partner X, they need to get a clue. Tons of other lawyers will work on your case — but be billed out at much lower rates, of course.
(David Boies, Ted Olson, Marty Lipton… they have these people called associates, you see, who help them with stuff. Associates are kinda like Santa’s elves. They do all the work, even though you may not see them that much…)
But if the allegation is that clients of Hogan & Hartson were billed for hours supposedly worked by a senior partner, when the hours in question were actually worked by, say, a junior associate — well, that might be more interesting.
Does anyone know what the heck this might be about, or which plaintiffs’ firm is handling the matter? If so, please email us. Thanks.
We continue our series of perk posts. Today we cover a perk that we expect will generate some heated discussion: part-time status.
From a reader:
In keeping with your recent series of posts regarding law firm perks, I thought I would suggest a thread on the availability of part time options. This isn’t exactly a perk, but some real info might be appreciated by those law students and attorneys who want to have a career and family. It’s especially timely in connection with this recent article.
I can tell you that I was at Cadwalader and saw part time people being treated like utter crap; they worked their tails off and still got treated with contempt by the partnership, and even worse, by senior associates and of counsel who no longer gave them good work. I can also say that, per the article, 9 hours a day in the office doesn’t exactly seem like part time (who can’t bill the cited 1900 hours per year at 9 hours a day in the office, plus extras at home?).
More discussion, plus links to a few recent articles about working part-time, after the jump.
At your suggestion, we’re putting together a compendium of juicy summer associate tales — the most funny or amusing stories, about the most colorful summer associates of all time. Inspired by Aquagirl, one of the greatest of them all, we’re organizing them around a theme:
SUPERHEROES!!!
Move over, X-Men. Make way for the X-Summers!
Please send us your submissions by email (subject line: “X-Summer”). It would be helpful to us if you try to conform your submissions to the template we’re planning to use, which contains fields for all the relevant information. For example:
1. Superhero name: The Jack-Sh*tter (real name: Jonas Blank*)
2. Special power: The ability to waste hundreds of hours of billable time.
3. Summered: Skadden Arps, summer 2003
4. Claim to fame: Meant to send an email to one friend, but instead sent it to Skadden’s entire underwriting group (partners included). That email read:
“I’m busy doing jack shit. Went to a nice 2hr sushi lunch today at Sushi Zen. Nice place. Spent the rest of the day typing emails and bullshitting with people. Unfortunately, I actually have work to do — I’m on some corp finance deal, under the global head of corp finance, which means I should really peruse these materials and not be a fuckup…”
“So yeah, Corporate Love hasn’t worn off yet… But just give me time…”
5. What happened to him: At the direction of recruiting, Jonas Blank “wr[ote] an apology to the forty or so attorneys who had already opened the e-mail.” He received an offer from Skadden and worked there for several years, before leaving for a smaller firm.
Update: We added that last field after the fact. Thanks for the suggestion.
We look forward to your submissions, which you can send in by email. Thanks in advance!
* Generally we don’t reveal the names of people involved in embarrassing or tawdry situations. This is why Aquagirl is Aquagirl, or the Katten Kreep is the Katten Kreep.
But this general rule is subject to some exceptions. One is if the person’s name has already been published in an MSM publication — in Jonas Blank’s case, The New Yorker.
No, we haven’t heard anything about Fulbright & Jaworski raising associate salaries in Texas. If you hear anything, please email us.
But how about D.C.? That we can help with. From a tipster in Fulbright’s Washington office:
Fulbright has raised. There’s still no memo available, and no one expects one, as the numbers were announced orally at a meeting last Friday. I’m an F&J associate… and was at the meeting.
So no memo. But we do have the firm’s schedule of base salaries and bonuses, payable at different hours levels (up to 2500 hours — yikes).
You can check it all out — it’s a pretty elaborate scale, we’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on it — after the jump.
The news was reported in the Texas Lawyer. We’ve also gotten a copy of the email, sent out this afternoon by managing partner Jerry Clements (who actually isn’t a 300-pound, cigar-smoking Texan male, replete with handlebar moustache, but a rather attractive woman).
You can check out her email, plus a photo, after the jump.
As for Baker Botts in Texas, still no word, as of the time of this post. If you hear anything, please email us. Thanks.
From a verified source in the Washington office of Baker Botts:
Today, Baker Botts DC’s associates started receiving raise notices in the mail. They all appear to match the “real” DC market, not this V&E crap. Retroactive to July 1.
The notices only refer to the recipient’s salary; there isn’t a formal memo outlining all salaries, at least not one that I’ve seen yet.
So… What about Baker Botts back in Texas? Our Baker-DC source said:
I’ve heard nothing so far. The firm switched to the no-summary-memo trend after your site got popular. Coincidence? I doubt it.
If you have information about whether Baker Botts has raised base salaries for its Texas associates, please email us (subject line: “Baker Botts”). Thanks.
Update (6 PM): Apparently Baker Botts associates in Dallas have NOT yet received memos about raises.
No, not the Sullivan & Cromwell headquarters at 125 Broad Street. That happened months ago, not long after the young corporate lawyer sued his uber-prestigious employer, claiming anti-gay discrimination and retaliation by S&C.
We’re referring instead to Aaron Charney’s former home, a luxury apartment on the 53rd floor of the Orion — a new, high-rise condominium on the West Side of Manhattan. We previously profiled Aaron Charney’s apartment (above right) back in this post, wherein we wrote:
City records show that in late November, Charney closed on an $820,000 condominium in the fancy new Orion building, on the west side of Manhattan….
Charney financed this purchase with a $656,000 mortgage — 80 percent financing. Perfectly respectable; not overly leveraged. This means he put down about $164,000 for the purchase.
(Food for thought: Did S&C help him out with his down payment?)
Well, now Aaron Charney has gotten back all that money — and then some. NYC records disclose that he sold his apartment last month for $972,500 (and paid off his mortgage).
So Charney flipped a property he owned briefly, just over six months, for $152,500 more than he paid for it. If you’ve been wondering how Aaron Charney is supporting himself these days, there’s your answer (or at least part of it).
Nice work, Aaron! Even after closing costs — we doubt he paid the full 6 percent commission (who does thesedays) — he probably made a tidy profit. If Aaron Charney decides not to return to law, maybe he has a promising career in real estate.
Update / Correction: As discussed in the comments, “[h]e’ll have to pay both the NY ‘flip tax’ and federal capital gains tax because he held it for such a short period.” So maybe he’s not making as much of a killing as we originally thought.
Although located uncomfortably close to the site of yesterday’s steam pipe explosion, Davis Polk & Wardwell has some of the nicest offices around. When we were in law school, Davis was known as “Land of the Beautiful People.” They had the most gorgeous offices, and the best-looking associates (and summer associates).
DPW also seems to have great — or at least distinctive and unique — perks. First we heard about their marriage bonus. And now, in the wake of yesterday’s calamity, we get this news:
I am an associate at Davis Polk, a few blocks from the explosion in midtown [yesterday] afternoon. We were evacuated and I took the firm-provided emergency kit as I left. No real news from the evacuation but here is something that came up as I was walking home.
A friend from White and Case was having a drink at a nearby bar and I stopped on my way home. She saw my emergency kit and asked what it was. I said “you know the emergency kit that all the firms give you on your first day.” Well, needless to say she was pissed that White and Case has no such kit!
I think this would be another fun “perks” thread. So kicking it off, the Davis Polk kit has a flashlight, glow stick, emergency blanket, battery powered radio. But the real kicker is that we have this hood that you can wear in a smoke-filled room and still breathe for about a half hour.
So if a “dirty bomb” goes off in New York City someday (God forbid), bet on the Davis Polksters to emerge alive. Along with a few Milberg Weiss partners cockroaches.
Update: From our original DPW source:
“By the way, forgot to mention that besides the f’ing awesome smoke hood, the safety kit also has potassium iodide tablets to prevent radiation poisoning.”
Maybe this is true. Or maybe it’s a joke. From the Greedy NY board:
Can we get confirmation…just heard from my wife’s friend at S&C (through my wife) but I don’t know her well enough to ask for the memo….thank you God.
We have emails and calls in to the firm. If you’re at S&C and can confirm, please email us. Thanks.
Update (12:42 PM): No official word back from the firm yet. But we just got off the phone with one associate there, who told us that he hadn’t heard any such thing.
Update (2:43 PM): The S&C spokesperson hasn’t called us back, maybe because she doesn’t want to dignify such silliness with a response. But a current summer associate at the firm tells us: “I’m a summer associate and I haven’t heard any such thing. I think that if they were going to go to that level, they’d tell summers for recruiting purposes, right?” Right.
Update (4:27 PM): The S&C spokesperson acknowledged receipt of our inquiry, which she passed along to the appropriate partners. She said that if they would like to comment (they might not), they will contact us.
Conclusion: The rumor is false. But hey, at least the S&C partners know that raises are eagerly anticipated — and expected any day now!
Hey kids, guess what? It IS possible to get fired from your cushy summer associate gig!
You need to try hard — really hard. It’s even harder than passing the bar exam.
But it’s not impossible. This summer has already claimed at least one victim. Multiple sources advise that a summer associate in the Chicago office of Katten Muchin Rosenman was recently canned.
My bar exam [responses] were lost. Not all of them, mind you, just the 200 multi-state multiple choices answers I scored on that computer sheet with a pencil….
I was one of 500+ people who got the bad news a few weeks afterward. The answer sheets just disappeared. As in gone. Vanished. The crime (or act of negligence) was never solved. The answer sheets [were] never recovered from the Hudson River or local garbage dump, wherever it is they went.
WOW. Imagine if that happened to you, after all those weeks of studying…
I was given four choices:
1. Take the whole exam again in February 1986; 2. Take just the multi-state again in February 1986; 3. Take a special make-up exam in September 1985; or 4. Cancel the whole thing.
But don’t take an anxiety-induced crapinyourpants — at least not yet. Wait until day 2 of the bar exam.
As it turns out, Eric Turkewitz’s story has a quasi-happy ending. Read the rest, over here.
Following closely on news of the Vinson & Elkins raise, Andrews Kurth has also raised salaries for first- and second-year associates, to $160,000 and $170,000, respectively. As explained in the memo, the firm is “still working on the details of the compensation structure for other associate classes.” Here’s an article from the Texas Lawyer.
What about other Texas firms? Here’s what we’ve been hearing:
Baker Botts: They should raise later this week or early next week. Prior to the V&E announcement, a Baker source speculated: “[T]hey seem to be waiting on V and E. I think they might be trying to leapfrog them, hoping V and E lowballs.”
Akin Gump: “They had an associates’ committee meeting [yesterday] and said there were working out a few details, but they would be raising in their Texas offices sooner rather than later. Who knows what any of that means.”
The Andrews Kurth memo, in the form of an email from managing partner Robert Jewell, appears after the jump.
* When the music stopped, Craig Morford, interim U.S. attorney in Nashville, was left standing. So now Morford must fill Paul McNulty’s uncomfortable shoes as Deputy Attorney General — after several others apparently passed on the job. [Washington Post; New York Times]
A steam pipe exploded on Manhattan’s East Side, right in the middle of evening rush hour. One person is dead and more than twenty are injured. Eyewitnesses describe it as “the scariest thing I’ve seen since 9/11” — a scene of mass hysteria, with “thousands running fearfully” through city streets.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is giving a briefing right now. In the real-time coverage of these events on the New York Times’s excellent City Room blog, there’s a shout-out to one of your favorite law firms:
6:55 p.m. | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, a large law firm with offices at 425 Lexington Avenue, at East 43rd Street, was one of many companies to evacuate their workers.
“It sounded at first like thunder, but it just didn’t end. It was a really loud, deep, sustained explosion,” said Andrew T. Frankel, a partner at the firm, who works on the 23rd floor. “We all looked out the window and saw black smoke just billowing up 43rd Street. It was pretty frightening, more for the unknown than anything. Nobody waited for the evacuation warning. Everybody headed for the stairwell and headed out of the building. People were tense, but calm.”
“We did floor sweeps and there’s nobody left in the building except the emergency response team in the lobby,” said an operator who answered calls to employees at the firm.
Not even WP? You know something is up when a Biglaw shop is deserted by 7 PM. On a Wednesday.
If you witnessed this evening’s events, please share what you saw, in the comments.
We’re late to the party on this one. Many of you have already emailed us this Slate piece, in which Daniel Gross goes to town on Simpson Thacher’s “Chow for Charity” program. Article title: “Fifteen Dollars Worth of Smug.”
We first read about Simpson’s program in this great New York Observer article:
[A]t Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, there’s a program called Chow for Charity: If summers and associates go out for a lunch that costs $15 or less per head, the firm donates the other $45 of each person’s lunch allowance to charities including Legal Aid, inMotion and Human Rights First.
For some, this is an appealing option: “It’s great for [the firms] to be able to say, ‘We realize these $60 meals are sort of stupid, so we give money to something good and everyone is happier,’” says an associate. Noblesse oblige never tasted so much like falafel!
Today we tackle a subject that’s kinda boring, but very important: retirement benefits and financial planning. If you don’t think about this stuff now, you’ll be chewing ramen with your dentures in fifty years.
So what does your employer do on this front? Do you get a 401(k) or an IRA? Is there an employer contribution?
And one reader also wants to know: Do any firms provide their associates with help in terms of financial planning? Do they assist you in navigating the maze of confusing options?
What do you get when you put the three smartest judges on the Seventh Circuit — Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner, and Diane Wood — on the same panel?
In this case, something weird. Very weird. It’s amusing to imagine this trio of legal geniuses wrapping their minds around such a bizarre fact pattern.
Questions Presented:
(1) How can you tell when a gay co-worker is cruising you at the urinals?
(2) Is he checking you out — or does he just have a lazy eye?
We’re going to be offline for a few hours. If anything big happens while we’re gone, and we don’t write about it immediately, now you know why. (Posts that we drafted earlier will be published while we’re gone.)
We’re going to attend this event, about the economics of internet advertising — which, of course, is what pays the bills around here. If you enjoy reading ATL, please support our advertisers.
Yes, the event is sponsored by AEI, a right-of-center think tank. But the topic isn’t terribly partisan.
And to atone for this visit to the premises of AEI, guess what? We’re going to spend the better part of two days later this month (July 27-28) covering the 2007 ACS National Convention, here in DC. If you’d like to attend, it’s not too late to register; you can do so by clicking here.
(If you’re planning to attend the ACS convention, look out for us — we’ll be easy to spot. We’ll be snapping photographs of the fabulous Judge Marsha Berzon, as if she were Angelina Jolie on the red carpet.)
Update (2:30 PM): We’re back. Today’s event was co-sponsored by the left-leaning Brookings Institution, so our conscience is clear.
Word on the street is that Vinson & Elkins has raised salaries for its Texas and Washington associates. But we haven’t confirmed it directly with someone at V&E. If you can confirm this rumor, please email us.
Update (11:08 AM): That was fast; thanks! It’s confirmed: V&E has raised associate salaries for first- and second-year associates.
Things are more complicated for more senior classes. Basically they’re adopting a deferred compensation system, dependent upon hitting an hours target (2000 “Firm Credit Hours”).
For all the gory details, check out the memo, which is posted after the jump.
From a reader who uses MySpace (no, not a 14-year-old girl in Manassas):
Totally random, and not necessarily newsworthy, but the attached MySpace profile appeared randomly on my “cool new people” list when I logged in.
Strange, huh?
(Random spam like this, in the form of fake profiles — usually of attractive women from ex-Soviet republics, but apparently now of people who follow Charney v. S&C — is one of the many reasons we prefer Facebook.)
In the wake of the quasi-scandal that the divine Dahlia Lithwick has dubbed Divagate, we’ve received several defenses of that legend of the Supreme Court press corps, NPR’s Nina Totenberg.
We previously shared with you an email from Tom Goldstein, who once interned for Totenberg (just as Cate Edwards is doing this summer). Today we bring you celebrity correspondence from another SCOTUS superstar: Jan Crawford Greenburg!
Check out her message, which includes a detailed discussion of seating arrangements in the Supreme Court press gallery, after the jump.
What’s the hardest bar exam in the United States? No, it’s not California.
Sure, California is hard. The whole three-day thing is a bitch, and the passage rate is low.
But Cali ain’t got nothing on Guam. Check it: a ZERO PERCENT pass rate.
Don’t believe us? Just ask the three people who took it last July!
P.S. Yes, Guam is part of the United States — it’s an organized unincorporated territory. Federal appeals originating in Guam get heard by the Ninth Circuit. Lucky them!
Over in the D.C. office of Baker & McKenzie, the natives are getting restless. They’ve prepared this cute little bar graph (thumbnail image; click to enlarge):
The graphic above also reflects that Williams & Connolly now pays starting salaries of $165,000. We hadn’t heard (or written) about that news, but it’s official.
Does anyone have a memo and/or more information about what Williams & Connolly pays beyond the first year? If so, please email us. Thanks.
Update / Correction: Whoops, we forgot that W&C raised salaries back in March. What we were thinking, and meant to write, is that Williams & Connolly hasn’t raised associate salaries in response to the latest round of nationwide pay hikes (as kicked off by Orrick).
Remember that W&C traditionally doesn’t pay year-end bonuses, but pays an above-market base to make up for it. Their current scale — 165, 180, 195, etc. — is still above-market, but not by as much as usual.
Further Update / Correction: Apparently Greenberg Traurig is still at $145K in Washington. We’ve revised the graph accordingly.
This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post about Quinn Emanuel, which was considering adopting a pay system in which associates with coveted electrical engineering degrees would earn higher base salaries than their less well-endowed colleagues.
We contacted name partner John Quinn, but he hasn’t gotten back to us. Through other channels, however, we’ve learned what we think happened in terms of this issue.
If you’re curious, read the rest of this post, after the jump.
Poor guy. When you see a résumé from Aaron Charney next spring, before you toss it in the circular file, please double check: Are you sure it’s from the right — or wrong, as the case may be — Aaron Charney?
In other Charney news, Keeping Up With Jonas has created a Charney v. S&C Superstar Poll. To cast your vote, click here. (We know how we’re voting, but we’ll keep it to ourselves.)
Speaking for ourselves, we’d think that accepting advice on the bar exam from anonymous strangers over the internet is like getting on the express train to Bandyland.
But some of you disagree. Here are two requests we’ve received recently:
“I am currently one of the thousands of students frantically studying for the bar exam. One of the things that help me keep calm is hearing about the bar exam studying strategies of others and their stories about the exam itself. Would you, perhaps, consider doing such a post?”
“Can you post a string for help with the NY bar specifically? Especially Essay help or NY Multiple choice.”
We’re accommodating people here at Above the Law. So here you go: an open thread for sharing bar exam tips and stories (which have already started surfacing on other recent posts).
To everyone taking the bar next week: Good luck, from your friends at ATL!
We’re loving this little dustup over our item about Nina Totenberg getting territorial over seating in the Supreme Court press gallery. It got us a shout-out in the Washington Post. And it’s generating celebrity correspondence for us, too.
Over the weekend, we heard from SCOTUS bar superstar Tom Goldstein. And then, this morning, we received this email, from one of our favorite commentators on legal affairs:
From: Dahlia Lithwick Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 10:35 AM To: David Lat Subject: one bigger question raised in Divagate
The Wa Po article about Nina said she was “dean” of the Supreme Court press corps.
Good questions. It reminds us of “The Tenth Justice,” a title that has been bestowed on everyone from the Solicitor General to ex-judge J. Michael Luttig to Howard Bashman (by Howard Bashman).
Also, can you run for this post of “dean”? If the SCOTUS press corps is like high school, is this like being class president? Or prom queen?
If so, we nominate Dahlia Lithwick. She’s fabulous! How many Supreme Court correspondents have Facebook fan clubs?
(Linda Greenhouse, eat your (bleeding) heart out….)
As you know, we recently did a series of open threads on law firms in different cities. But we realize that Biglaw isn’t the only option out there.
(197) Comments
Of course we’re not done with our series on the mishaps of 
[O]ne of our summers got fired… Apparently, while he was on the Newport retreat, he did something offensive, and no one knows what, exactly. The most likely story is that he said something homophobic to a lesbian partner, but it’s all speculation.
Remember Wisconsin state representative 
For all of you greedy associates out there, here’s a cautionary tale. From 
Our series of open threads on various U.S. legal markets is more or less done. Here are the cities or regions we’ve already covered:
With the 2008 presidential campaign dominating the airwaves, despite being over a year away, everyone is talking about politics (and watching awesome, politically-themed 
Here are two updates about clerkship bonuses (a subject of interest to a limited group of readers — but those who care REALLY care):
We 
Our series of open threads on different legal markets around the country is winding down. We’ve already covered most of the biggies: 
Breaking news, from 
As we 
So what do lawyers do when they leave the hallowed halls of Cravath, Swaine & Moore?
Our series of posts on different cities, timed to coincide with fall recruiting season, rolls on. These open threads are designed to allow folks to compare notes about law firms in each market. The posts have a tendency to get fairly long fairly quickly, but you can just run searches on each page to find comments about a specific firm or issue.
* How to try and pull a fast one on the entire NBA. [
Not much associate pay raise news right now. We have just two more announcements, neither of them super-exciting, both from firms with “Day” in their names:
“Anyway, a group of people were sitting at a beach campfire, drinking some adult beverages and making smores and other goodies on the fire. Our heroine takes her skewer and proceeds to stab a crab, roughly 8 inches in diameter, that was trying to sneak by the people on the beach. Not a small crab. She then proceeds to roast it on the fire. There is a famous picture, which she more or less posed for, with her holding the crab on the skewer with a maniacal grin on her face. Let’s just say some of the partners, spouses and others sitting around the campfire were a little shocked.”
We haven’t forgot about you, West Coast. We continue our open thread series on fall recruiting with a look at the legal market in the PACIFIC NORTHWEST. Here are the previous threads, which we still encourage you to revisit:
The open thread series in celebration of fall recruiting season continues. Here are the previous threads, which we encourage you to revisit:
To celebrate fall recruiting season, we’re doing a series of open threads, to allow people to compare notes about law firms in different cities. Think of them as chat rooms for legal scuttlebutt. (Some of the comment threads get really long, but if you’re looking for information on a particular firm or issue, just run a search on the page.)*
Remember that 
We’re probably about to open a big ol’ can of worms. We’ve been procrastinating on writing this up for a while. But what the heck — opening up cans of worms is our job.
The 
We’ve confirmed the news that Akin Gump has raised in Texas. Here’s the message from Bruce McLean, the Akin Gump chairman:
We have to step away for a bit, but we’ll leave you with something that should hopefully keep you busy while we’re gone. It’s time for the mother of all open threads: New York, New York.
About a month has passed since our 
Just a quick follow-up to our 
* Can you invoke the Fifth Amendment if you’re a juror being voir dired? [
We’re not yet done talking about Biglaw 
As a presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani is 
With fall recruiting season just around the corner (or already upon us at some schools), we’ve launched a series of open threads, where people can compare notes about law firms in different cities.
People, please, be patient. We heard you the first time you asked us to confirm that 
See the 
In this week’s New York Observer, there’s 
We dropped the ball by not writing about 
“One problem: That summer, the firm didn’t have enough office space for all the summers, so every other week, the summers would have to rotate offices. This particular week, The Nekkid Sleeper’s office was a cube in the firm’s library. The Nekkid Sleeper stumbled up to the firm library, found a sofa, and passed out in a drunken haze. It was hot and humid, so he unconsciously (or so he claimed) removed his shirt sometime in the middle of the night.”
You know you’re a celebrity when everyone has an opinion about you. And by that standard, Nina Totenberg, who covers the Supreme Court for NPR, is definitely a celebrity. Ever since we first started writing about Ms. Nina, we’ve received tons of messages and stories about her.
When we posted yesterday’s open thread on 
* D.C. Circuit wants truckers to get some rest. [
Some of you have requested a place where you can trade notes about different firms, in advance of fall recruiting season (which is arguably already upon us, since some law students have to submit their bids for interview slots now or very soon). 
Not allowing the defendant to allocute before pronouncing sentence is a rookie mistake for a judge to make. So if a judge makes it, despite having been on the bench for over 25 years, he can expect to get benchslapped. From a Wisconsin reader:
Our series about 
We resume our series of fun 
Today’s Washington Post has a 
Oh goodness. And you thought Paris Hilton was troubled. From the 
* Vick hires Billy Martin (I’ll forego all the jokes about whether he’s gonna fire him and rehire him twice). [
* Here is Tom Goldstein’s (not so) short list of 
Some helpful tipsters reminded us: today is the birthday of [swing] 
Working in the legal profession, and especially at a large law firm, generally comes with a lot of fringe benefits. So our series of posts on 
Are you addicted to 
Last week we told you about a fellow at 
We can confirm the rumor that 
Ever since our 
Thanks to everyone who has responded thus far to our call for summer associate stories. We’ve received a number of colorful anecdotes, which we’ll be publishing over the next few days (or weeks, if the supply holds up). If you have a story you’d like to share, please check out the 
The folks over at litigation powerhouse 
This story has been making the rounds in New York summer associate circles. We’ve known about it for a while, but we wanted to get more corroboration. Now that we’ve heard the same details from multiple sources, we feel that it’s fair game.
* Sex abuse case is lost in translation. [
Okay, that’s a bit of an understatement. Check out this 
* She was listed in the NYT wedding announcements as an HLS magna grad — and would have gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids! [
Lately we’ve been 
From 
If so, call 1-800-759-8611. NOW!
We continue our series of perk posts. Today we cover a perk that we expect will generate some heated discussion: part-time status.
At your suggestion, we’re putting together a compendium of juicy summer associate tales — the most funny or amusing stories, about the most colorful summer associates of all time. Inspired by 
No, we haven’t heard anything about 
* Let’s just steal Drudge’s tagline: “JUDGE: PLAME HAS NO GAME.” [
The 
From a verified source in the Washington office of 
No, not the 
Although located uncomfortably close to the site of yesterday’s 
Maybe this is true. Or maybe it’s a joke. From the 
My bar exam [responses] were lost. Not all of them, mind you, just the 200 multi-state multiple choices answers I scored on that computer sheet with a pencil….
A steam pipe exploded on Manhattan’s East Side, right in the middle of evening rush hour. One person is dead and more than twenty are injured. Eyewitnesses 
* Patent litigation: Ka-ching! But it’s tricky; proceed with caution. [
We’re late to the party on this one. Many of you have already emailed us this 
We continue our series examining perks or fringe benefits provided by legal employers. We’ve already covered 
This should delight 
What do you get when you put the three smartest judges on the Seventh Circuit — Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner, and Diane Wood — on the same panel?
Last night, a tipster preparing for the New York bar exam sent us this message:
We’re going to be offline for a few hours. If anything big happens while we’re gone, and we don’t write about it immediately, now you know why. (Posts that we drafted earlier will be published while we’re gone.)
And to atone for this visit to the premises of AEI, guess what? We’re going to spend the better part of two days later this month (July 27-28) covering the 
Word on the street is that 
* We say: Ignorance is bliss. [
This is a follow-up to 
Speaking for ourselves, we’d think that accepting advice on the bar exam from anonymous strangers over the internet is like getting on the express train to 
We’re loving this little dustup over