December 2007
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Animal Law, Deaths, Morning Docket, Pakistan, Real Estate, Technology, Thomas Goldstein, Violence
Morning Docket: 12.28.07
* Rest in peace, Benazir Bhutto; God knows you weren’t able to live in it. [CNN] * That seems like a pretty good starting point for liability against the zoo. [BBC] * We don’t know if you know Tom Goldstein, but he’s a pretty big deal. [SCOTUSBlog] * If he could only apply all of […]
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Guns / Firearms, Jury Duty, Kids, Morning Docket, Rap, Sentencing Law, Trials
Morning Docket: 12.27.07
* NRA defends the rights of hurricane victims to shoot at the National Guard keep guns. [AP via How Appealing] * French “aid” workers sentenced to eight years of hard labor in Chad “orphan” case. [Jurist] * Apparently if you’re a rapper you can show up at court when you damn well please. [Athens Banner-Herald] […]
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Morning Docket
Morning Daily Docket: 12.26.07
* Would a holiday search be unreasonable? [Findlaw via How Appealing] * Is the DOJ passing up a chance to crack down on plaintiff’s lawyers? [WSJ Law Blog] * Nothing but a G string. [CNN] * Toby Keith puts his boot in the defendant’s ass in the form of a $2.8 million verdict for his […]
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Admin, Announcements, Blogging, Holidays and Seasons
Happy Holidays from ATL!
We hope that you’re having a wonderful holiday season and are getting some well-deserved rest — as are we. As was the case last year, we’ll be on a reduced publication schedule between now and the new year. We’ll return to a normal schedule on Wednesday, January 2, 2008. To those of you who celebrate […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.24.07
* Top legal stories of 2007. [CNN] * Stop complaining, civil libertarians. Things could be much worse. [New York Times] * A leadership vacuum at the Department of Justice. [Washington Post via How Appealing] * And don’t look to recess appointments to address the problem. [Washington Post] * A different kind of “pole tax,” which […]
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Akin Gump, Associate Bonus Watch 2007, Biglaw, Bonuses, Hogan & Hartson, Money, Sheppard Mullin, Skaddenfreude
Associate Bonus Watch: A Pre-Holiday Round-Up
Let’s send you into the holiday weekend with some associate bonus news. Here are some law firm bonus announcements that haven’t been previously covered in these pages. (Firms that previously announced their bonuses, but are being sneaky about the exact amounts and/or the percentage of associates getting them, will be addressed separately. This post is […] -
Kids, Lawsuit of the Day, Old People, Sports
Lawsuit of the Day: The Old Man and the Skis
The late Pope John Paul II was an expert skier. Even after he became Pope, and into his 60’s, the Holy Father would slip away from the Vatican for secret ski trips. So, although we’d like them removed from all interstate highways, we have no problem with oldies on the slopes. This, however, is more […] -
Football, Sports, Trials
Motion to Continue Trial Due to Conflict with the LSU Tigers National Championship Game
Check out this continuance motion (PDF), filed yesterday in Louisiana state court. It’s pretty great — especially the footnotes. Update: As noted in the comments, there is precedent for this motion in Louisiana state court. See Danos v. Avondale Industries, Inc. (unpublished order). P.S. We’re still accepting applications for the position of ATL “Sports and […] - Sponsored
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Job Survey
Featured Job Survey: Bonus Timing and Lateral Moves
We’re still gathering responses to Monday’s survey, which asks you how big your bonus was (or is going to be). At last count, around 1,250 of you had responded, and you can still add your two cents (which is reportedly close to “market” at MWE) over here. About a third of you still haven’t heard […] -
Mayer Brown: WLFWALF?
Time for some quick follow-up on yesterday’s intriguing email about “an exciting, transformational event” for Mayer Brown. As we speculated, the big news is a merger announcement. From an article by Ameet Sachdev the Chicago Tribune: Mayer Brown plans to announce Friday an agreement to join forces with a large Hong Kong firm in a […] -
Kids, Perks / Fringe Benefits, Pregnancy / Paternity
Biglaw Perk Watch: S&C and Weil Also Up Parental Leave
We’ve previously reported on improved parental leave policies at Latham & Watkins, Davis Polk, and Simpson Thacher. We predicted that “with respect to maternity leave for birth mothers, 18 weeks will become the new ‘market rate.'” Perhaps it already is. Tipsters have written in to advise us that Sullivan & Cromwell and Weil Gosthal & […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2007, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Skaddenfreude
Associate Bonus Watch: O'Melveny & Myers Defends Its 'Below-Market' Bonuses
As you may recall, the reaction of ATL readers to the bonus announcement of O’Melveny & Myers was decidedly unfavorable. Now the Daily Journal (subscription) — in an article entitled “O’Melveny & Myers’ Below-Market Bonus Disappoints Associates,” by Maya Meinert and Rebecca Cho — has taken notice: This week’s bonus announcement from Los Angeles-based firm […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.21.07
* CIA to cooperate with investigation of alleged torture tapes. [Newsweek] * The Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy and statutory rape laws. Discuss. [CNN] * California may face an uphill battle in taking its bid to limit greenhouse gases to the D.C. Circuit. [Los Angeles Times via How Appealing] * Manslaughter trial that allegedly originated from […]
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Allen & Overy, Biglaw, Jews, Lawsuit of the Day, Religion
Lawsuit of the Day: The Jewish Version of Charney v. S&C?
We have to step out for a bit (company holiday party). We’ve only skimmed this Complaint (PDF), just filed in the Southern District of New York, by a Jewish lawyer against his former employer, Allen & Overy. Check out the Complaint for yourself, by clicking here (PDF), and offer your thoughts in the comments. We […] -
Blogging, Fashion, Federal Judges, G. Thomas Porteous, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.20.07
* Who says lawyers can’t be stylish? [Fashionista] * Guess this makes Judge Porteous officially worse than Judge Kent. [New Orleans Times-Picayune] * Should federal judges be barred from reading blogs? [Volokh Conspiracy] * Of course not. Unless they’re written by robots. [Overlawyered] -
Davis Polk Rolls Out New Parental Benefits(Or: Improved Parental Leave, A Hot New Biglaw Trend)
Following in the footsteps of Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher, whose moves were first reported in these pages, Davis Polk has just adopted a new and improved “Primary Caregiver Leave” policy. We predict that, with respect to maternity leave for birth mothers, 18 weeks will become the new “market rate.” One tipster quips: “Four […] -
Job Survey
Featured Job Survey Results: Bonuses (Chicago)
So far we’re up to around 1,200 responses to Monday’s ATL / Lateral Link survey, which asks you how big your bonus was (or is going to be). So far we’ve told you about New York and Washington, DC. Today, we’re adding a third city. It was a close call between L.A., San Francisco, or […] -
Biglaw, Law Firm Mergers, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Mayer Brown Is A Woman Now
Still no bonus announcement from Mayer Brown. But check out this intriguing email, sent out in the last hour: From: D’Esposito, Jr., Julian C.Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 12:41 PMTo: FW-Assocs; FW-CnslCc: Holzhauer, James D.; Geller, Kenneth S.; Maher, Paul; Favoriti, Gail A.; Pepper, Margery; Madden, Emilie S.; Dabrowski, Heidi M.; Reichert, Kathleen S.; Harris, […] -
9th Circuit
The Big Get Bigger: Another Seat for the Ninth
The judicial fiefdom of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski is about to expand. From today’s Recorder (via How Appealing): An extra seat for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cleared Congress on Tuesday and is headed to President Bush’s desk. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Court Security Improvement Act on Monday night, and the […] -
Holidays and Seasons
Law Firm Holiday Swag: What Did You Get?
Our earlier open thread, about exam time “care packages” from law firms, remains active — over a week after it was posted. So we thought we’d do a follow-up, on what law firms are sending recruits for holiday gifts. From one tipster: How about a piece on what law firms are offering law students as […]