What’s up with Venable? Strange things seem to be afoot over there. From last Friday’s Washington Post:

He’s back!!! Or is it possible Michael Jackson has been quietly lurking in our region ever since his early-a.m. Smithsonian tour last week?

The sometimes-reclusive, sometimes-exhibitionist performer was spotted Wednesday evening in the downtown law offices of Venable LLP. One spy said he looked exactly like — well, himself: black sunglasses, black jacket, white shirt, black pants, white socks, black loafers, a pair of oversize bodyguards.

For those lucky enough to glimpse Jackson, his appearance explained a memo the firm had just put out, warning staffers not to gawk at clients.

We’d love to see that memo (which we hear was actually just an email). As for what Venable is doing for the King of Pop, we think they represent him in some IP matters. Maybe he’ll sue our uncle for unlicensed use of “Thriller”?

Update: Roger Friedman of Fox News reports that “Jackson was in the law offices of Venable LLP to give a deposition in the $30 million lawsuit brought by his former manager, Dieter Wiesner.”

More Venable eccentricity, after the jump.

Then, a few days later, we learned this in Tuesday’s Post:

When Venable, a District law firm, renovated the old Hecht’s department store in Penn Quarter four years ago, one of the things it created on the historic building’s roof was, of all things, a bocce court….

Arguments sometimes break out during the tournament, particularly when the matchups feature lawyers. “Well, we are a law firm,” spokesman Charles Wilkins said. Ted Ramirez, a Venable partner and this year’s commissioner, joked that the arguing sometimes takes place in 12-point Times New Roman, the preferred typeface of legal jousting.

We’re disturbed. But a summer associate at a rival firm is jealous:

Nothing that exciting happening at my firm. No Jacko, no bocce ball, no fashion shows — I feel shortchanged!

Oh yes, the Skadden-DC fashion show. That, along with the food stamp meals, puts Skadden in the running for Washington’s weirdest law firm. But obscure sports and pop-star freak shows take the prize.

P.S. We commend the Post for its extensive coverage of the D.C. Biglaw beat (including this recent article about summer associate programs). But one ATL reader is less impressed: “Must be a slow news summer for the Washington Post.”

The Return of Jacko [Washington Post]
A Playful Change of Venue [Washington Post]