September 2007

If you enjoy spotting legal celebrities, then the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, here in Washington, DC, is where it’s at. Check out these latest Eyes of the Law sightings: “On Sunday, it was the symphony opening at the Kennedy Center. I walked in with Justice Alito, and Justice Ginsburg came a bit later. […]

* A criminal action. [AP via How Appealing] * Another criminal action: as expected, Mel Weiss indicted. [DealBook] * 3 years of probationizzle. [BBC] * Can’t go to Yale? No worries if Yale’s your name and O.J.’s your client. [CNN] * Been duped into seeking asylum? Blame Canada. [New York Times] * Ten Commandents display […]

As we announced earlier today, we’re doing a series of open threads on year-end bonuses. We’re organizing them by city, since bonuses tend to vary by legal market. This post — which some of you have been eagerly anticipating, judging from the attempts to hijack the New York thread — is about LOS ANGELES. Please […]

* A synopsis of the Jena 6 controversy, and Glenn Reynolds’s thoughts on it. [Instapundit; Instapundit] * We’re relieved to learn we’re alone in finding the “Don’t Tase Me” guy “slightly annoying.” [Wonkette] * Should law professors impose mandatory attendance policies? [Concurring Opinions] * Humorless lawyer who can’t handle being parodied in video game = […]

Lawyers have a pretty decent track record as reality show contestants. We went to law school with Yul Kwon, winner of Survivor: Cook Islands. So maybe this idea isn’t as dubious as it might seem: An alert reader sent us along his very own invitation to be on The Bachelor. ‘”Apparently they are randomly spamming […]

Yesterday we broke the news of Sullivan & Cromwell’s new bonus program for its most senior associates. To read the memo from firm chairman H. Rodgin Cohen, click here. Now we have more details, thanks to the WSJ Law Blog (which has a nice shout-out to us) and the New York Law Journal. Some ballpark […]

We regularly receive all kinds of wacky gossip related to the fall recruiting process. Some of these rumors are true, and some of them aren’t. We found this rumor, about the Chicago office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, quite amusing: “I heard from a friend there that during summer associate callbacks, only students from ‘good […]

Here’s some law firm merger scuttlebutt that’s making the rounds: Rumor is that White & Case is acquiring Moore & Van Allen, a native Charlotte firm with a national syndicated finance practice. Any truth to this? We reached out to both firms for comment. A White & Case spokesperson issued this statement: “We do not […]

As you’ve made clear to us, through comments and via email, you’re dying to talk about year-end bonuses. For example: — If your firm has a bonus policy that’s spelled out in advance, what are the general terms? — If it’s a bonus based on billable hours, what are the cutoffs? — If your firm […]

Are you trying to remember whether any of your law school classmates or colleagues clerked for former judge Michael Mukasey (S.D.N.Y.), President Bush’s nominee to replace Alberto Gonzales as attorney general? Well, you’re in luck. Every single one of Judge Mukasey’s former law clerks signed a glowing letter of recommendation for the judge, in which […]

The Honorable H. Emory Widener, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, passed away yesterday morning. From the Bristol Herald Courier: Judge H. Emory Widener, 83, died at his Abingdon home around 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to court personnel in Bristol Virginia…. Widener began his law career in the Navy, then opened […]

We noted this development in passing yesterday. Now here’s an AP article with a great title: And then she headed off to a clerkship interview? P.S. Results of our recent fashion poll after the jump. Dry Cleaner in Pants Suit Closes [AP]

Sometimes it seems like we talk about the same handful of general practice Biglaw shops again and again. So let’s mix things up a bit. Here’s a suggestion from a loyal reader: I’m in the field of patent law. It might be interesting to post a Fall Recruiting Thread that discusses both patent boutiques (Finnegan […]

* Didn’t they just execute somebody with an electric chair? And this is what gets them in trouble with the Constitution? [Jurist] * Mel Weiss to be indicted. [New York Times] * Oh, Al Sharpton, you’re incorrigible. [CNN] * Judge withdraws jury instruction in Spector case; has he set up an easy appeal if there’s […]

After we did a post about foreign clerkships, we received a number of follow-up inquiries. Readers wanted to know whether any firms pay clerkship bonuses to (1) staff attorneys and (2) administrative law judge clerks: “I was wondering if there are bonuses offered for ALJ clerkships – you can clerk in D.C. for, among others, […]

* Ahoy, matey. Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day! [TortsProf Blog] * My kingdom for… $14 million? Someone tries to sell Belgium on eBay. [What About Clients?] * If he wins his lawsuit against CBS and Viacom, Dan Rather can buy five Belgiums. [Overlawyered] * David Bernstein on Chemerinskygate, Larry Summers, and academic freeom. [Los […]

Sullivan & Cromwell gives out Kiehl’s toiletries at conferences for gay law students and lawyers. But senior associates at S&C get an even better gift: cold, hard cash. In a memo that was sent out by email within the last half hour, S&C Chairman H. Rodgin Cohen announced the creation of the “Senior Associate Supplemental […]

Here’s a little riddle: What do these three senators have in common? Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) First, they’re all Republican senators from underpopulated sparsely populated states. Second, they’ve all run into ethical, legal, or political problems. You know all about Senator Craig — in fact, more than […]

It seems that the family of this woman may have a stronger cause of action than Andrew Meyer: A Clay County woman’s family said it’s seeking justice after their loved one died shortly after being shocked 10 times with Taser guns during a confrontation with police. The family of 56-year-old Emily Delafield said it would […]

As we mentioned in passing yesterday, infamous plaintiffs’ lawyer William Learch will be pleading to a federal conspiracy charge, related to his involvement in Milberg Weiss’s secret scheme to make payments to name plaintiffs in class-action cases. Under the deal that was so skillfully cut by Lerach’s lawyer, John Keker of Keker & Van Nest, […]