February 2008
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Job Searches
A Shout-Out for Lateral Link in the WSJ
Congratulations to our good friends over at Lateral Link, ATL’s career partner. They just got a great write-up in the Wall Street Journal, which identifies them as a Web 3.0 recruiting trendsetter. Reporter Sarah Needleman writes: What’s so different: Lateral Link generally limits access to its job postings to graduates of top-tier law schools with […] -
Associate Bonus Watch: Bingham McCutchen Announces(Plus the firm's 2008 hours and bonus policy)
The season for bonus news is mostly over, but not just yet. Yesterday brought news from Bingham McCutchen: Bingham has started delivering bonus news. In all offices except New York, it looks to be something like the Latham scale you posted about a few weeks ago. Higher scale in NYC, but not sure how much. […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Perks / Fringe Benefits
Biglaw Perk Watch: Covington & Burling to 18 Weeks
In these grim economic times, don’t hold your breath waiting for news of associate pay raises or record-breaking bonuses. Everyone is tightening their belts, and that includes law firms (and their clients). But what about enhanced parental leave? That they can do. The latest Biglaw shop to raise “primary caregiver leave” to the “market” rate […]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 02.12.08
* U.S. to seek death penalty for some Gitmo detainees. [CNN] * DOJ announces arrests of individuals accused of selling secrets to China. [New York Times] * Europe may require fingerprints at borders. [Washington Post] * Reggie Bush to be deposed in lawsuit alleging he took money from promoters in college. [ESPN] * Panic! at […]
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Blackberry-Crackberry
BlackBerry Outage: Oh Noes! Open Thread for Tales of Woe
Here’s some news that must have had many lawyers tearing out their hair (or what’s left of it). From the AP: A major service outage afflicted users of the popular, addictive BlackBerry smart phones across the United States and Canada on Monday. Officials with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless said BlackBerry maker Research in Motion […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 02.11.08
* Musical Chairs: Law School Edition. See which (if any) of your favorite law professors, or friends of yours who are now law profs, are lateraling for greener pastures. [The Faculty Lounge via Concurring Opinions] * We’re no longer sure what the real deal is in L’Affaire Berenson. But we’re no longer sure we care. […] -
William Lerach
Are You Having a Laugh Lerach?
Infamous plaintiffs lawyer Bill Lerach just got sentenced for his role in the Milberg Weiss kickback scheme. He got the highest sentence possible under the plea agreement, which was also the sentence sought by the government: 24 months imprisonment. For more, see links below. Random resemblance of the day: Bill Lerach and Ricky Gervais’s character-within-a-character […] -
Allen & Overy, Biglaw, Jews, Labor / Employment, Religion
Schoenfeld v. Allen & Oy-vey-ry: A&O's Answer(Plus more about Mark Wojciechowski)
The Magic Circle law firm of Allen & Overy, defendant in Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy, has just filed its Answer (PDF). They’re hoping to make Norman Schoenfeld’s claims disappear. Schoenfeld, an observant Jewish lawyer who once worked at the firm, alleges that A&O discriminated and retaliated against him as a result of his observing […] - Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get… -
Biglaw, Fashion, Feminism, Gender, Rudeness, Screw-Ups, Sexism
Time for Winston Women To Go Burqa Shopping?
Although many tipsters emailed us about it, we never wrote about this buzz-generating Wall Street Journal article, reporting on how many older lawyers are displeased by the overly informal, even sloppy attire of their younger colleagues. We didn’t write about it earlier because we felt preempted: the piece received lots of online attention, from such […] -
Job Survey
Featured Job Survey Results: Office Politics?
We received just over one thousand responses to last Tuesday’s ATL / Lateral Link survey on politics in the workplace. Seventy-four percent of respondents reported that they discuss politics in the workplace. Eighty percent noted that associates discuss politics, and sixty-four percent said that partners discuss politics. Only thirty-eight percent said that staff members discuss […] -
Job Searches, Law Schools
Pass / Fail Grading: Open Thread
Most law students are well into the spring semester of law school. First- and second-year students will soon have to pick their courses for fall 2008. Here’s a subject that may be on some of their minds: pass / fail grading. Check out this interesting article in the Stanford Daily (from last month; we came […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 02.11.08
* Sen. Obama sweeps weekend contests; Sen. Clinton replaces campaign manager. [New York Times] * Lithwick on waterboarding: it’s not a good thing. [Slate] * Union leaders reach deal in writers’ strike — in time for Oscars. [Washington Post] * Rep. Waxman expresses concern after Clemens lawyer threatens to eat IRS agent’s lunch. [ESPN] * […]
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Crime, Lawyer of the Day, Violence, Weirdness
Lawyer of the Day Weekend: Kathy Rentas
A very strange story, from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via David Markus): A private attorney has been charged with physically assaulting a federal prosecutor in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom by shaking her hand up and down so hard that it injured her shoulder. Kathy Brewer Rentas spent Thursday night in solitary confinement at the Miami […]
Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
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Non-Sequiturs
Weekend Non-Sequiturs: 02.10.08
* What’s that you say? The IRS can’t discriminate in favor of Scientologists (and against Christians and Jews)? But this is the Ninth Circuit! [TaxProf Blog] * Is your client a Certified A**hole? Find out by using the the A**hole Client from Hell Exam (ACHE). [Electric Pulp] * Are legal academic conferences less fabulous than […] -
Biglaw, Blogging, Free Speech, Labor / Employment, Law Professors, Technology
The O'Melveny & Myers 'Witch Hunt': Some Answers from an Employment Law Professor
Earlier this month, we passed along a rumor that O’Melveny & Myers was conducting a “witch hunt” for ATL tipsters and commenters. For the record, OMM has denied the rumor (not to us, but at internal meetings). Back in our prior post, we tossed out this hypothetical: You’re a lawyer at a major law firm. […] -
Biglaw, Clerkships, Job Searches
Clerks in Paradise? Maybe Not When It Comes To Hiring
Some people clerk for the experience. And some people clerk for the experience. From an interesting article entitled “Clerks in Paradise,” which appeared in last month’s American Lawyer: [Some go clerk for feeder judges, and some go clerk for] courts in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and other […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 02.08.08
Programming Note: We don’t blog that much on the weekends. This weekend, though, we plan to do some remedial blogging, to cover some things we’ve missed in recent weeks. So if you’re going to be in the office over the weekend, check ATL — we’ll keep you company. * For fans of Fergie and Scrabulous, […] -
Law Firm Names
Uncle Cardozo Wants You: Help Nickname the Attorneys of the New York Law Department!
A tipster just wrote us: “Post this, and we can have at it in the comments!” Happy to oblige. From the New York Times: If a group is to be recognized as a significant force in municipal life, it needs a nickname. The police have been dubbed New York’s Finest longer than anyone can remember. […] -
So What's Up With MoFo in the OC?
This rumor, about the Orange County office of Morrison & Foerster, has been making the rounds: “A couple of my classmates are now scrambling for new summer jobs after MoFo OC told them to start looking elsewhere, because the office basically has no work and they’re already moving lawyers to other offices. They just got […] -
Barack Obama, Law Professors, Politics
Candidates As Academics: 'I Got A Crush On Professor Named Obama'
From a politically-minded tipster: Can we get a thread to find out how Barack Obama was as a law professor at Chicago? It would be perfect for the election season. Not to mention that I really want to know what he was like in the classroom. Not that many people on Above the Law could […]