More interviews /live coverage Lat. Take it to the next level.

"In the U.S. 77% of those with AIDS are male, 33% are female."

Skadden. Where 10% of Americans have both a penis and a vagina.

Shemales to 190!!!

I hate those sanctimonious people who tell everyone what gift they should feel obligated to give (while taking the credit for organizing such a heartfelt display of gratitude).

It's a classless email, but devoid of any quality that makes the sender's sexuality relevant.

12:33, that's an awesome catch! I'm not sure though if this is an example of "lawyer math" or an accurate reflection of Skadden attorneys. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some female Skadden attorneys I've dealt with have penises - they certainly all have balls.

Any LA gays shop there? Do you remember when it used to be called Mayfair?

I want everyone to know that I'm anonymous.

This brings up an interesting question: should recruiters be given gifts for DOING THEIR JOB? At my previous firm, several SAs had the idea of giving gifts to recruiters and so on, and I felt I was the one putting the brakes on that, urging for a more muted approach (flowers, a card) rather than something that cost $30 per person.

What do you think?

I once was a temp at a large corporation to make extra money during the summer after law school. In essence, I was a secretary. Well, apparently the fact that I wasn't a complete moron really impressed the higher-ups and they would constantly lavish me with gifts for my "job well done." Honestly, I was NOT going above and beyond - I was merely doing my job...and although I accepted all the gifts, I wondering what this world was coming to....

The point? Don't give people gifts for cpmpleting their assignments and doing their job. That's weird and completely abolishes the purpose of a salary....

Also, why don't the summers leave it to the FIRM to compliment THEIR employees on a job well done...

I was a summer at Skadden this summer when the tactless email demanding we contribute to a gift unilaterally decided upon by the email's authors was circulated. The email and the demand are not a reflection of Skadden's culture--they are a reflection on the rude, mannerless authors, who were rude and mannerless in other things throughout the summer. Such an email could have been circulated at any firm, so to impugn Skadden's reputation based on it is ridiculous. I found Skadden an awesome place to spend the summer.

I didn't summer at Skadden, but I did take a massive dump in their restroom while at their NYC office for a deposition.

Note bene: Skadden doesn't have the highest quality TP. That right is reserve for Kirkland Ellis.

1:12, can we get a ranking list of some sort? A TP V50? You could learn a lot about an office by testing their poopers.

12:33, thank you for beating me to it. The snarky comment I had in mind wasn't nearly as clever as yours. Well done.

Sese Seko--

It's awesome that I was not the only one who found that demand absolutely ridiculous. Especially since the recruiters did nothing to deserve any sort of gift. They just did their jobs, were rude at times, and we all know that all of them had their faves.

But, yeah, summer at Skadden was absolutely great. Too bad that it's over and will never happen again once we start.

1:12 here, in re: 1:16.

I will work on it. I have been in the offices of about two dozen law firms for depositions or other business. And since I gleefully overindulge in conference room food whenever given the chance, I should be able to come up with a starter analysis that others could hopefully expand upon. Give me a few days to gather my thoughts (and empty my bowels).

One thing I can say because it happened just a few weeks ago is that Weil's NY office left me high and (not) dry. My stall was out of toilet paper -- which can be considered a mortal sin after how greasy their conference room food was. Granted, it was a Saturday, but still hardly an acceptable state of affairs...

I wanted to clarify that a gift of flowers would be appropriate for the recruiters since they didn't do a bad job, they did in fact do their jobs well. Still, it doesn't warrant what the e-mail demanded.

Classless.

Bitchy,

I am guessing it was your "great rack" that you always talk about that prompted the gifts. Anyway, please discuss them again, along with some snipets about your sex life.....best reading material on this site.

I also summered at Skadden and want to second Sese Seko's post completely. This whole thing was cooked up by one or two summers, including the idea of shaming people into contributing.

The silly thing, if I remember correctly, was that these gifts to the recruiting staff were supposed to be a surprise, but I seem to remember at least some of the e-mails about it were (accidentally?) also sent to the recruiting staff. I don't remember if the "shame" e-mail was one of those or not.

What's the big deal about the AIDS Walk email? I don't get why it was unprofessional enough to get people talking. Did that one also call people out for not donating... I didn't see it in the email

This "gift" to the recruiting staff is just one more lame attempt to cover all the bases to secure an offer. It's an extension of the brown nosing tactics that these summers have used at every stage of their academic careers.

Anyone who's had another career before entering the legal profession would realize that it's completely unnecessary unless the recruiting staff really had to deal with some extraordinary circumstances.

2:21 nailed it. This "gift" idea screams straight from UG to law school.

Awesome, best reverse shaming ever. So richly deserved. People were furious about that email/spreadsheet this summer.

I say ATL posts the names of the people who created the spreadsheet/sent the gift emails -- that way their 3L colleagues can give them shit about it all year.

I was at another (smaller) Skadden office this summer and we gave a few small gifts to the recruiting people. There was no email shaming, however.

I have to disagree with the posters who criticize such "gifts" as juvenile attempts to secure offers.

First, I can honestly say no one in our offense was worried about not getting an offer. When we decided to get some gifts it was pretty clear everyone was getting an offer.

Second, I don't really see the problem with giving such people a parting gift. Sure, they were just doing their job... but their job included ensuring a bunch of overpaid law students were wined and dined all summer. I think the least we could do to show our appreciation for an enjoyable summer was a thank you card and some flowers or gift certificates.

I was at another (smaller) Skadden office this summer and we gave a few small gifts to the recruiting people. There was no email shaming, however.

I have to disagree with the posters who criticize such "gifts" as juvenile attempts to secure offers.

First, I can honestly say no one in our offense was worried about not getting an offer. When we decided to get some gifts it was pretty clear everyone was getting an offer.

Second, I don't really see the problem with giving such people a parting gift. Sure, they were just doing their job... but their job included ensuring a bunch of overpaid law students were wined and dined all summer. I think the least we could do to show our appreciation for an enjoyable summer was a thank you card and some flowers or gift certificates.

I think that voluntary gifts to recruiting people are fine, and not necessarily a sign of ass kissing or that the people giving the gift are straight out of undergrad. Sure, maybe the recruiting people were just doing their job, but I never see Biglaw associates turning down raises, perks, or gifts based on, well, anything. At the same time, I think it is absolutely inappropriate for anyone to be strong-armed into participating in such a gift or for the names and contribution amounts of the contributors to be publicized.

1:57,

36C - Swallows - Dirty talker.

Well, Bitchy categorically does *not* work in my office.

Bitchy,

Thank you. You are the best.

I need more info to get a picture in my head though...height, weight, hair color, build, shaving preference, etc...

Also, any more snipets are appreciated.

I don't think this post adequately makes clear that the "shaming" email about gifts to recruiters did not happen at the L.A. office (NY maybe??). For one, summers do not have office mates in L.A. (west coast perk). Secondly, the L.A. office does not have "recruiters," but rather one individual who handles legal hiring.

1:57, I cannot give you any identifying information. Plus, you wouldn't believe me anyhow...

But I will say this, when I look around at my law firm, I don't have competition...though admittedly the bar is low.

Oh, and I love to give head. Cheers!

Hey 1:57, here are Bitchy's stats:

5"6'
240lbs
Grey and balding
Beer-belly
Uses a Norelco every morning on his stubble

Now get your hands out from under your desk and get back to reviewing documents.

4:55, describing your wife again? Just because you aren't lucky, doesn't mean that none of us are.

2:01--All of the emails were sent to the recruiting staff, which is what took those two summers' behavior from tacky to malicious. They deviously sandwiched the email address of one of the recruiting staff in the email addresses of the summers, and then called out by name those who did not contribute, knowing the recruiting staff would be aware of those names. I am dying to call out those two summers by name...after all, if they can do it to others, why shouldn't it be done to them?

Is it allowed to post initials on this site?

2:44--The gift these individuals demanded we give would have cost $400 EACH. A token of appreciation is one thing...but hundreds of dollars? Come again. Not all of us were pampered rich kids blowing money at expensive lounges. For instance, some of us had families to support on our summer salaries. If the consensus is that summer associates are overpaid then I am sure there are other ways to rectify that situation besides blackmailing us into giving to those who are already handsomely paid to do what they do.

2:44--The gift these individuals demanded we give would have cost $400 EACH. A token of appreciation is one thing...but hundreds of dollars? Come again. Not all of us were pampered rich kids blowing money at expensive lounges. For instance, some of us had families to support on our summer salaries. If the consensus is that summer associates are overpaid then I am sure there are other ways to rectify that situation besides blackmailing us into giving to those who are already handsomely paid to do what they do.

A clarification: The amount given would have come to at least $400 per member of the recruiting staff (assuming the summers who orchestrated this did not pocket part of the proceeds for their "trouble"). Just wanted to clarify that in case anyone read my prior post to mean that we summers were giving $400 each. We were asked to give $40 each--which in itself would not have been a big deal if not for the shadiness involved.

I really think including the recruiting person (not the entire recruiting staff) was an accident. I agree the list was somewhat tacky, but I don't think it was as malicious as some have pointed out. And the summer class dealt with it appropriately - by just making fun of them. The people who did it were genuinely nice people who sincerely appreciated how much the recruiters worked - whether it was their job or not - and just wanted to do something kind for them. I don't think they were aware, and I think they would be upset to learn, that people were so offended by it. Why is this just getting brought up now though - this happened over 2 months ago?

SKADDEN TO 190!!!!!!

I was at skadden this summer in NY and have to say the recruiters there work their butts off. it was a genuinely nice idea to get them a gift. it's wholly ridiculous given the hiring climate to suggest that anyone thought they needed to curry special favor to get their offer. no good deed goes unpunished, i guess

6:27 1 Give me a break! You're probably one of the brown-nosers who came up with the list in the first place.

7:16, I was not, though I consider them friends, and contributed.

Incidentally, I'm glad they came up with the idea, because I think the recruiters truly appreciated it. I think the people who came up with the list just assumed that given 3100/week, summers could spare $40 to do something nice. I agree it could have been gone about in a better way, however.

This is why I make Skadden attorneys use the Servant's Entrance.

Yup I think 6:27 was one of the brown-nosers. Adding an email address that coincidentallly belongs to a recruiter is a very convenient mistake. Was the spreadsheet an honest mistake too?

Re: AIDS Walk - If the email was in pink letters for breast cancer research it probably wouldn't have made this blog. An attorney helping a charity. Gheesh. No good deed goes unpunished.

Let's remember that there were 160 summers. It seems like it would be easy enough to accidentally add a recruiter to a list that big.

4:09 - To clarify in case no one's actually said it--this was the Skadden NY office.

And yes, there were 160 summers, but there was also an "ALL SUMMER ASSOCIATES NY"-type mailing list, wasn't there? I never used it but I could swear I got e-mails to it. So it's not like they would have had to type in every summer's name individually.

9:40, Yes there was an all summer associates NY mailing list, but in this email it wasn't used. They added 160 names by hand, I assume to avoid accidentally sending it to recruiting (who are included on the summer email list - at least 1 or 2 are). Incidentally, the recruiter accidentally included was not one of the primary recruiters you would immediately notice and take off (I had never heard of her and don't think i've even met her).

I saw the AIDS walk emails. It was a lighthearted attempt to raise money and just thanked those who gave and didn't mention any amounts or name those who didn't give. Judging from subsequent emails, Skadden is close to the top 20 team fundraisers for the Aids Walk. So shoot him for being creative. This has probably just hurt any further efforts. Nice work.

"This has probably just hurt any further efforts. Nice work."

I doubt that. There's no such thing as bad publicity. Anything that raises awareness of the AIDS walk is good.

9:56 Your excuses aren't making sense. You say they added 160 emails by hand? So how did they not notice that they added the recruiter. Wouldn't adding the recruiter have made it 161? I think being able to count is something we can at least give Skadden summers credit for. You're reaching to excuse their behavior. I bet you're one of the two goons who did this.

4:19, I'm not sure what you mean by "my excuses." I was just explaining to 9:40.

Anyway, I can't really answer your questions, because I don't know. I never asked about accidentally adding the recruiter because during the summer I didn't care and didn't think anybody else did either. I never heard it mentioned after a string of funny responses to their somewhat tacky spreadsheet (including other funny ones Lat didn't post).

But outlook doesn't tell you how many names you've added, I don't think (they wouldn't have known it was 1 too many without manually counting). Plus, I don't even know exactly how many summers we had, I think 160 is just a nice even number.

Anyway, the only reason I brought it up was because someone had asked couldn't they have just used the all summers nyc email list, and i was pointing out I distinctly remembered the email having names listed individually (Lat can verify this if he has a copy of the email). My assumption is that people didn't use the summer-wide email list, which we almost ALWAYS used for other announcements, because it cc's a couple of people in recruiting. The fact that they took the time to do it one-by-one, to me suggests strongly it was an honest mistake. Honestly, yall are really getting worked up over nothing. Quit trying to make it so nefarious.

Including the recruiter sounds pretty nefarious to me. These summers clearly had *plenty* of time on their hands to create a spreadsheet, send reminder e-mails, etc. It seems ridiculous that including this recruiter was just an "accident." It's kind of scary that these summers went to such lengths to make their colleagues look bad. Maybe they were just insecure about the poor quality of their work.

Including the recruiter sounds pretty nefarious to me. These summers clearly had *plenty* of time on their hands to create a spreadsheet, send reminder e-mails, etc. It seems ridiculous that including this recruiter was just an "accident." It's kind of scary that these summers went to such lengths to make their colleagues look bad. Maybe they were just insecure about the poor quality of their work.

Including the recruiter sounds pretty nefarious to me. These summers clearly had *plenty* of time on their hands to create a spreadsheet, send reminder e-mails, etc. It seems ridiculous that including this recruiter was just an "accident." It's kind of scary that these summers went to such lengths to make their colleagues look bad. Maybe they were just insecure about the poor quality of their work.

When you enter a distribution list in outlook you can see all the names. I think that the summers attempted to delete the recruiters to avoid being nefarious but missed one.

In that case, isn't it surprising that the summers who masterminded this gift-giving scheme didn't even know the names of all the recruiters? So much for their "appreciation."

It's obvious that the skadden summers who were responsible for the recruiter email are trying to defend themselves on this thread. Stop trying! You guys suck for your nasty, conniving behavior and you got busted trying to be sneaky. Try harder next time, or better yet, just stop being bitches!

As someone mentioned before, the recruiter was someone nobody had ever heard of - could be easily missed

5:15, at the risk of sounding redundant, it was completely hypocritical for these summers to organize such a gift in the first place since they didn't even know all the names of the recruiters. There couldn't have been more than 10-15 on the staff. Think about it. And clearly, some summers had heard about this recruiter because they called these jerks out on it! It's a complete lie to say that the recruiter was someone nobody had heard of!!!

11:26, there are like 30+ people in skadden's recruiting dept. It's half an entire floor. Only 5-6 interact with the summers and would be known. This person was someone I have never even seen or met - I wouldnt have recognized the name either. The fact that 1 person out of 160 realized it was a recruiter is not very impressive to me.

11:33 -- regardless of the number of recruiters, it was unethical and presumptuous for the summers to try and publicly shame their cohort into donating money. The e-mail itself speaks volumes about their integrity. These people didn't want to be "nice." There are nice ways to organize appreciation gifts such as these. So stop defending yourselves!!! There's a reason why this made it on to this website in the first place!!!