To be perfectly honest, we're getting tired of writing about the new U.S. News & World Report law school rankings. But judging from the number of comments on our earlier posts -- 1,153 and 575, as of this posting -- you're not tired of reading and talking about them. So, onward.
In our last post, we wrote about law schools freaking out over their falling rankings. The schools we specifically mentioned, whose administrators sent out defensive messages to the student body on the subject, were the University of Buffalo (down from 77 to 100), the University of North Carolina (from 36 to 38), the University of Iowa (from 24 to 27), and the University of Minnesota (from 20 to 22).
To this list of law school lamentation, please add Case Western, which went from 53 to 63 (memo posted in the comments, but independently verified by us) [FN1]; and the University of Miami, which fell from 70 to 82. One UM student had harsh criticism of Dean Lynch's message (PDF):
Here's Dean Dennis Lynch's blast to University of Miami students, attempting (complete with a cornucopia of grammatical errors -- maybe this is indicative of the problem?) to explain away a nearly 25% drop in the rankings over the last three years (resulting in an institution now perilously teetering on the edge between Tier II purgatory and Tier III oblivion).
I'd direct your attention to his trumpeting of UM's "ranking" on the oh-so-often cited 'Law Dragon' survey. With someone like this in charge -- to say nothing of UM's past glory, like professors getting arrested for solicitingprostitutes -- the real wonder is how UM is even ABA accredited, let alone ranked on U.S. News.
Self-hatred much? We love our UM tipsters, but maybe they need to find themselves some good therapists.
Not every administrator at a law school that slipped in the rankings viewed sending out a school-wide email as such a hot idea. From a future law student, who won't graduate law school until 2011, but who's already an ATL tipster (call us Socrates -- we like to corrupt the youth):
I was at the U of Illinois College of Law admitted students weekend. In the 2009 USN&WR ratings, Illinois Law "fell" from #25 to #27. So, the dean of admissions spent the first 15 minutes of a 30 minute break-out session ostensibly about "Campus Housing Options" talking about the rating decline.
He said that "at some schools, like Minnesota and Iowa, the students are so freaked out about this that the administration sends out emails immediately to calm them down, but we're not going to do that here, because you know it will be on AboveTheLaw.com in 30 seconds after I hit 'send.'
Well, we're not that fast. But thanks for the compliment and shout-out.
* A politically incorrect theory to explain the growing pay gap between male and female JDs. Opines Jane Genova: "No one likes The Professional Woman -- not women, not men, not children, not animals, not even The Professional Woman." [Law and More]
* Thoughts on the ethical and tax considerations of winning an NCAA tournament office pool. [TaxProf Blog]
* Lawsuit of the day last week: verdict reached in the suit brought by ex-Sonnenschein partner Douglas Rosenthal against his former firm. [The BLT: Blog of the Legal Times]
Dominating today's news cycle is the Treasury Department's plan to reform the nation's system of financial regulation. For some thoughts on the proposal, check out what John Carney has to say over at our sibling site, Dealbreaker (in posts here and here).
This regulatory reform proposal comes at a grim time for Wall Street, characterized by some as "the worst financial crisis since the 1930s." It feels like we're at the end of an era. Wall Street profits are sinking fast, venerable investment banks look endangered, and financial-sector layoffs could claim 20,000 more jobs in the next two years, in New York City alone.
This is generally viewed as bad news for Biglaw, considering how much large law firms depend on the financial services industry for work. But could it perhaps be a boon for lawyers, if their standing in the city's financial pecking order falls at a slower rate than that of Wall Street Masters of the Universe?
A reader drew our attention to this interesting Sunday Times article:
The collapse of a major financial institution is usually an occasion for hand-wringing and tut-tutting over potential job losses, lower consumer spending and missed mortgage payments.
In New York City, it’s also seen as an opportunity. For many of the city’s middle class, especially those in the creative class, who have felt sidelined as the city seemed to become a high-priced playground for Wall Street bankers, the implosion of the brokerage house Bear Stearns raises a tantalizing possibility: participation in an economy they have been largely shut out of.
Wonders our tipster:
"Some New Yorkers seem to be looking forward to the collapse of Wall Street and their huge salaries in the hopes that prices deflate a bit. Does this return lawyers to the top of the financial food chain? Or do those huge partner salaries take a dive along with Wall Street?"
For some law firms and lawyers -- e.g., those that are heavily dependent on securitization and structured finance work -- the Wall Street retrenchment is definitely unwelcome. But for others, especially those focused on countercyclical practice areas like bankruptcy, the bust could be a boom.
Take a look back at this post, in which one Biglaw partner described the plight of lawyers in New York as follows:
"Face it, [lawyers] have no status. We go to these [elite private] school functions [for our kids], and this well-heeled group looks right through you. They won't give you the time of day. You're just one step ahead of the doorman."
So could there be, for lawyers, a silver lining to this economic cloud? Will lawyers move up a notch or two in the Gotham caste system thanks to the recession? Or are they too closely linked to Wall Street and its sinking fortunes to benefit significantly from any social and economic realignment?
It's a little surprising, since the past year has been good for Cardozo. Their bar passage rate is now the third-highest among New York law schools. One of their graduates is currently clerking for Justice Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court.
And, most importantly, their Law Revue is turning out delightful videos. If you share our love of Project Runway, you'll enjoy this good-natured spoof (film by Ryan B. Finkel). It's a little long, and somewhat uneven -- but on the whole, it's well-done and quite fun. The film is expertly put together, with the actual Project Runway footage elegantly interspersed into the fake footage, and the performances -- especially those by the Heidi Klum and Chris March impersonators -- are hilarious and compelling. Check it out below (plus links to two videos from last year's show).
So what's responsible for Cardozo's USNW&R decline? The booting of littering-and-loitering law students from the fifth-floor faculty lounge? Rampant "expensive umbrella" and iPod theft? Your guesses are welcome.
Several readers have written in to inquire about the status of the BAR/BRI class action litigation. Here's the latest update on the lawsuit website:
Over 85,000 Claim Forms representing claims for over 120,000 BAR/BRI courses have been received and processed by the Claims Administrator. However, several objectors appealed from the Court’s Order granting final approval of the Settlement. A total of seven Notices of Appeal of the Settlement were filed....
NO CLAIMS CAN BE CALCULATED OR PAID UNTIL THERE HAS BEEN A FINAL RESOLUTION OF ALL APPEALS.
On January 25, 2008 Class Counsel met with attorneys for the objector-appellants and defendants' counsel under the auspicies of the Ninth Circuit Mediation Program. After a full day of mediation, the parties could not reach a resolution that would allow for a dismissal of the appeals and distribution of the Settlement Fund. Further updates will be posted on this website.
So don't hold your breath waiting for that check. But for some class members, you may have another source of relief.
Spring! Cherry blossoms, opening day, and pedigreed lawyers uniting in marriage. We're pleased to be back with another installment of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, featuring these three impressive couples:
* Media mogul smackdown: Barry Diller (pictured) prevails over his former mentor, John Malone, in Delaware Chancery Court. [New York Times; Wall Street Journal (subscription) via WSJ Law Blog]
* HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, under DOJ investigation, calls it quits. [AP]
* Questions raised about 9/11 lawyer Peter Napoli, of fen-phen fame (or infamy). [New York Times]
* A round-up of Monday morning action at the Supreme Court. [SCOTUSblog]
* A look back at the inception of the NSA's warrantless wiretapping: Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson wouldn't sign off on the requests, so they had to be rerouted to AG Ashcroft. [New York Times]
* A preview of the "fleeting expletives" case, by Julie Hilden. [FindLaw via How Appealing]
Every now and then, it's healthy to be reminded of the triviality of your daily preoccupations. From the New York Times:
[T]wo men pursuing a lawsuit in federal court in Hawaii.... think a giant particle accelerator that will begin smashing protons together outside Geneva this summer might produce a black hole or something else that will spell the end of the Earth — and maybe the universe.
Scientists say that is very unlikely — though they have done some checking just to make sure.
That's nice to know.
[Plaintiffs] Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho contend that scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, have played down the chances that the collider could produce, among other horrors, a tiny black hole, which, they say, could eat the Earth. Or it could spit out something called a “strangelet” that would convert our planet to a shrunken dense dead lump of something called “strange matter.” Their suit also says CERN has failed to provide an environmental impact statement as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Alas, this valiant effort to save human civilization may be frustrated, thanks to something as pedestrian and technical as.... jurisdiction:
James Gillies, head of communications at CERN, said the laboratory as of yet had no comment on the suit. “It’s hard to see how a district court in Hawaii has jurisdiction over an intergovernmental organization in Europe,” Mr. Gillies said.
And that's the story of how, for want of personal jurisdiction, mankind was lost.
(For the record, CERN denies that what they're doing is unsafe, citing multiple scientific reports that have evaluated their activities from a safety standpoint.)
* Was Barack Obama a "real" law professor at the University of Chicago? Or just a pseudo-prof? [Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic]
* Speaking of Obama, why didn't he save more for retirement? Professor Mankiw speculates: "Maybe he is expecting vastly higher tax rates in the future, when the accumulated savings will need to be withdrawn and taxed." [Greg Mankiw via TaxProf Blog]
* Speaking of law profs, should they reveal their political leanings to their students? [PrawfsBlawg]
* The IRS on YouTube. Is "Linda Stiff" her real name? [TaxProf Blog]
* "£295/hr for a junior associate? You mean that 25 year old girl who finished her training contract 3 weeks ago?! If it is true then Geeklawyer is undercharging chronically." [GeekLawyer]
* Courtesy of Slate, Hillary Death Watch. Today they peg her chances of winning the Democratic nomination at 12 percent. [Slate]
(But don't forget Monica Crowley's quip about HRC: "She's like Glenn Close at the end of Fatal Attraction. You think she's dead, and then she sits bolt-upright in the bathtub.")
With respect to our earlier post, about a rumor that Latham & Watkins represents the Church of Scientology, we have our doubts. See this comment (at 2:53 PM).
But here's some bad news about Latham that appears to be more reliable. From the WSJ Law Blog:
[Samuel A. Fishman (pictured)] has pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and is slated to be sentenced in June....
The criminal information and papers from the U.S. attorney’s office say Fishman, 51 of New Jersey, was a lawyer in the corporate department of a major U.S. law firm with offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. SEC documents show a Samuel A. Fishman was a lawyer at Latham & Watkins....
The criminal information says that, upon discovering the scheme, the law firm reimbursed its clients hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses. The information says Fishman was the billing partner for a number of the firm’s institutional clients, including clients in banking, utilities, telecommunications and entertainment.
From 1993 through 2005, it says, Fishman mischaracterized on invoices certain expenses, such as non-reimbursable meals and parking fees, as reimbursable expenses, such as photocopying and express mail, amounting to more than $200,000 of mischaracterized expenses. He also sent client invoices that inflated actual costs to the firm, amounting to $100,000 of non-existent expenses, the information says. It says that he also falsely represented personal expenses, such as hotel bills, as reimbursable business expenses.
In case you're wondering, Samuel Fishman is a 1981 graduate of NYU Law School. See here. Harvard Law School's two-day winningstreak for Lawyer of the Day has been broken.
Update (4:20 PM): Here is the firm's official statement about the Sam Fishman matter, from David Gordon, managing partner of Latham's New York office:
"As reflected in the statements from the U.S. Attorney's Office, our firm discovered the issues relating to Mr. Fishman in 2005, immediately acted to protect our clients fully, and disclosed the matter to appropriate law enforcement authorities. Mr. Fishman resigned from the firm at the time the issues were discovered. Since that time, we have cooperated fully with the investigation."
What is it about Florida that causes its lawyers and litigants to misbehave so egregiously? Just last week, the Florida Supreme Court sanctioned colorful attorney Jack Thompson. And now they've expressed their displeasure (PDF) with pro se litigant Julio Mora.
What did Mr. Mora do to upset the court? From its opinion:
Mora has filed pro se pleadings containing scandalous and obscene language. Specifically, in his “Petition to Inhibit Jurisdiction From this Very Supreme Court of Injustice,” Mora maintained that through its show cause proceedings with DOC, the Court has proven itself “to be a pack of incompetent cowards, without balls, testicles, courage or valor.” Further, Mora urged this Court to
"take this case and the ultimate decision, if ever, and please shovel it to the chief justice and every other justice’s a**hole, in order to have a common place to store the justices’ crap, together with the justice crap from their’s mind, properly disposed through the sewer system, in order to prevent the contaminants to reach the citizen of Florida, and also kiss Julio Mora’s the idiot seeking justice, kiss his a**hole every time the justice will retire going to their den. . . . Please kiss my a** one more time."
The court declined to grant Mora the requested relief. Instead, it sanctioned him, directing the clerk of court to reject any future filings from Mora "unless signed by a member of The Florida Bar."
In a court of law, it's the parties who do the ass-kissing -- not the judges.
How about.... a powerful and glamorous client, with deep connections in Hollywood? Reported over at Radar Online:
Recently, Radar reported on Scientology's short-lived attempt to beat its Guy Fawkes mask-clad antagonists "Anonymous" at their own game: scary YouTube videos. A clip posted by a Sciento associate under the name "AnonymousFacts" displayed the names and personal information of several supposed Anonymous members and accused the group of violent threats and terrorism. YouTube quickly took the video down and suspended AnonymousFacts. But the hassle for at least one of the three men shown didn't end there.
A little more than a week ago, Jonathan (he asked his last name not be repeated again), who'd joined a Facebook group called "I Support Anonymous" and attended their protests, answered a knock at the door of his parents' L.A.-area home, where he lives while attending community college. A mustachioed man in a suit and claiming to be from the law firm of Latham and Watkins was holding a "file" and asked to speak to Jonathan's parents by name, he recently told Radar. He told the mystery man his parents weren't available and offered to take the package for them. "No," the man said. "I can't legally give this to you." Jonathan shrugged and told him to come back later. That's when things got weird.
Later a friend of the family came over and said Mr. Mustachio was hanging out in front of the house and had asked her if she was Jonathan's mom. When she said no, he waited until Jonathan's parents did arrive, then handed them the file and said, "This is a courtesy letter. No charges are being filed yet. But your son may be involved in terrorist activity." And then he left. Inside the package was a letter accusing Jonathan of terrorism and a DVD copy of the YouTube video, he says.
Sounds like a pretty fun assignment for a junior associate -- anything to get out of the office. But the "Church" denies this ever happened:
A Church of Scientology spokesperson says the group does employ various lawyers across the country to deal with what she tells Radar are "acts of violence, terrorism, and death threats," but adds, "It is not true that lawyers from any firm representing the Church have visited anyone. If anyone is suggesting otherwise, that is false."
We've contacted Latham for comment. We'll let you know if and when we hear back from them.
Update: We have our doubts about the firm's involvement. Writes a commenter:
It is highly unlikely that the person hounding this kid is actually from Latham. Scientologists have a policy (called the "Fair Game" policy) that allows them to lie, cheat, impersonate, physically threaten/assault, etc. if it will further the aims of the "church". Although that policy was ostensibly cancelled at some point (in name only), scientologists continue to live by it in practice. It's pretty much guaranteed that the man with the file was not from Latham but was instead a scientology poser.
Seriously--would an associate from Latham actually serve papers on anyone? F**k, no. We use process servers!!
We feel bad for Latham. Some imposter is going around making it look like they represent the Church of Scientology. And their lawyers have mustaches.
Further Update: Or maybe Latham DOES represent the Church of Scientology? See here. (Gavel bang: commenter.)
We have reiterated our inquiry to Latham concerning whether or not the firm represents the Church of Scientology. We'll let you know what we find out. (They did not respond to an earlier request for comment on this subject.)
Here's a photo of President Bush and his White House Counsel -- Fred Fielding, former senior partner at Wiley Rein (fka Wiley Rein & Fielding), dressed up as the Easter Bunny -- at the White House Easter Egg Roll earlier this week:
Quips our tipster: "One can only hope Fielding isn't splitting hares. Or giving hare-brained advice."
Okay, you're groaning. Think you can do better? Then enter the ATL caption contest. Same rules as before:
We welcome your suggested alternative captions, in the comments. Assuming sufficient response, we'll take our favorites, incorporate them into a poll, and hold a caption contest.
We doubt we'll receive as many submissions as we did for our last caption contest. But we're going to limit the entries this time: we're closing the comments if and when we hit the 100-comment mark. So if you'd like to enter the contest, don't delay. Thanks.
Update (2 PM): Okay, we'll let it get up to 200 comments. We especially appreciate suggested captions that are in some way law-related. What makes this picture relevant to ATL is the fact that the man in the bunny suit is President Bush's chief lawyer (and a former name partner of a leading D.C. law firm).
If we just wanted to post a random, funny photo of the president with the Easter bunny, we would have used this one.
Update (4:50 PM): You seem to be having a lot of fun with this, so we will keep the comments open indefinitely. But in picking the finalists, we will focus on comments that have a connection to the legal profession (as opposed to comments that are more politically oriented or simply random).
Update (3/31/08): Thanks for all the excellent entries. The comments section is now closed.
Here is today’s Job of the Week, brought to you by our friends at Lateral Link. Even if the U.S. capital markets may be slowing down, the overseas markets are still busy, and many firms are looking for U.S.-trained attorneys. Lateral Link has positions throughout Western Europe and Asia. These positions qualify for Lateral Link’s $10,000 placement bonus.
Position: U.S. Capital Markets Associate
Location: London, UK
Description: The London office of this U.S- based law firm seeks a U.S.-qualified capital markets attorney with at least two years of experience.
Requirements: Candidates must possess excellent academic credentials as well as strong organizational, research, writing and analytical skills.
Firm Description: This New York-based law firm ranks among The American Lawyer's top 100 law firms based on gross revenue. The firm specializes in project finance, capital markets, and leasing and structured finance. Practice areas include antitrust, emerging markets, municipal bonds, tax, litigation, real estate and corporate.
Job Code: 8005
For more information about this and other international positions, please check out Lateral Link.
As we reported earlier this week, the latest U.S. News & World Report law school rankings are out. And some schools are flipping out over their falling rankings. A tipster at the University of Iowa College of Law writes:
[B]elow is an email the Iowa law students received yesterday from Dean Jones about the new US News & World Report rankings. Apparently our dean is setting up small group meetings with the students. No faculty. No other administration. Methinks this may be somewhat of a divide and conquer strategy. These meetings may be in part a result of the newly formed Facebook group "Stop the Bleeding at Iowa Law."
My favorite part, though, is that the "faculty" have dubbed their concern about the rankings "Project Apollo." Well, if they're not going to do anything about it, at least they can come up with a secret, clever code name, so it looks in hindsight like they've been planning D-Day part 2. Bravo profs and administration, you've really impressed me this time.
For the return on investment -- a Biglaw job for $13k a year in tuition (for the top of the class) -- many students were OK with the shortcomings of this law school. [But] with T3 looking over our shoulder, some fellow students are contemplating jumping ship....
It's hard to justify leaving for debt-ridden T25 greener pastures when L. Rev. and a market-paying job in the City are likely. No one likes to be on the Titanic, though.
The message sent to the Buffalo student body by interim dean Makau Mutua, after the jump.
Update (10:50 AM): Add the University of Minnesota Law School to the list of institutions whose deans are sending out school-wide emails about their declining rankings:
Students at the University of Minnesota Law School received this email today from the two interim co-deans. It's pretty hilarious that they try to claim we are still a top 20 school even though we are now ranked #22. It's particularly amusing that they have decided to "address the particular factors that caused a decline this year."
The email from the school's two interim co-deans, after the jump.
* Defense contractor accused of supplying ancient arms to Afghan army and police.... [CNN]
* While Defense Secretary Gates orders review of nuclear arsenal after accidental shipments to Taiwan.... [Washington Post]
* And AG Mukasey vows to crack down on corruption in wake of PR governor accusations.... [MSNBC]
* Meanwhile, 11th Circuit grants bail pending appeal to former Alabama governor, who claims to be the victim of a politically-motivated prosecution. [New York Times]
Today's Lawyer of the Day has a political connection. He's a superdelegate to the Democratic convention, as well as an Obama supporter. From the AP:
Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila indignantly denied wrongdoing Thursday and gave no sign he would abandon his re-election effort after being charged with campaign finance violations that carry a penalty of 20 years in prison.
Acevedo, a superdelegate to this summer's Democratic convention, accused U.S. prosecutors of pursuing a politically motivated indictment alleging that the governor and a dozen other people conspired to illegally pay off his campaign debts.
"I am going to defend my rights and protect the dignity of my family and of the people of Puerto Rico who support me," the governor said in a statement hours after the FBI arrested most of those named in the indictment in San Juan, Philadelphia and Washington area.
Fun factoid: Governor Acevedo is a graduate of Harvard Law School, the alma mater of Eliot Spitzer, another governor -- make that ex-governor -- facing possible legal trouble. This means that HLS has given us two Lawyers of the Day in a row; yesterday's LOTD was card-counting queen Jane Willis.
(In Harvard's defense, Governor Acevedo just got an LLM there. He received his JD from the University of Puerto Rico.)
* Sad news: "Jeffrey Epstein's accuser, Maximilian Cordero, has broken it off with boyfriend - lawyer - blogger William Unroch." [Dealbreaker]
* Justice Kennedy: "There are all kinds of nuts who can get 90 percent on the bar exam." At ATL, we call them Lawyers of the Day. [Althouse]
* Delhi to... $33K! And the senior lawyers in India are making out like bandits. Two hundred grand goes a lot further in Mumbai than Manhattan. [Legal Blog Watch]
* Proof that Hillary truly is a badass. [Blogonaut]
Posted below is the European fee schedule of Allen & Overy. At current exchange rates -- approximately $1.55 to the Euro, and $2.00 to the British pound -- this means that partners bill out at about $1,050 an hour in Paris, and $1,190 an hour in London. Says a source: "Twelve-hundred bucks an hour for a partner in London? Ridiculous."
On the other hand, if a $1,200-an-hour partner can solve your problem in six minutes -- with a well-placed telephone call, or an absolutely brilliant judgment call -- maybe she's worth it. Perhaps you should be more worried about $600-an-hour junior associates (to say nothing of $350-per-hour paralegals).
Inspired by the example of the generous Hamptons-based design firm which is now offering its stagings service at a discounted price to current/former/soon to be former Bear Stearns employees (staging is cleaning and prepping a house to be shown for sale), I have decided to offer a discount on sessions to all current/former/soon to be former Bear Stearns employees. The discount is equivalent to the current value of a share of Bear Stearns stock. That is to say, $2.
I approached this decision with some trepidation. You see, in my experience finance guys usually want things in their asses. I do not offer anal play on demand. Consequently the majority of my clients are lawyers.
Over at Dealbreaker, the commenters had some interesting reactions:
"One of the few times I'm actually glad I chose law instead of finance . . ."
"lawyers already take it up the ass on a daily basis from bankers, so they probably get their fill in the office."
"so what? a chick's tongue up there is a wondrous thing."
Unless you've always wanted an Australian accent. From the Telegraph:
A New Zealand man who claimed he was raped by a wombat and that the experience left him speaking with an Australian accent has been found guilty of wasting police time.
Arthur Cradock, 48, from the South Island town of Motueka, called police last month to tell them he was being raped by the marsupial at his home and needed urgent assistance.
Cradock, an orchard worker, later called back to reassure the police operator that he was all right.
"I’ll retract the rape complaint from the wombat, because he’s pulled out. Apart from speaking Australian now, I’m pretty all right you know. I didn’t hurt my bum at all."
Wombats are very considerate; they use lots of lube. We learned that on Animal Planet.
[Cradock] pleaded guilty in Nelson District Court to using a phone for a fictitious purpose and was sentenced to 75 hours’ community work....
Wombats are native to Australia and are not found in New Zealand. Although powerfully built and about the size of a small pig, they are very rarely dangerous. There are three species: the widely distributed common wombat and the much rarer southern and northern hairy-nosed wombats.
Now wasn't that informative? You can bill 0.1 hour to "Professional Development" for reading this.
Thursday, March 27, 2008 1:00 PM - By Kashmir Hill
We don't know if there are many public defenders regularly reading ATL. For those who do, we salute you for putting up with clients like this one:
Earlier this year, burglary and rape suspect Joshua Beadle got himself into deeper trouble by spitting at the judge.
This week, while shackled and outfitted in a special hooded spit mask, he talked himself into nearly two years in jail after threatening to kill Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee.
"You mark my word, Judge Coffee," Beadle shouted as he was led from the courtroom to a holding area. "I promise you, Lee Coffee, I'll kill you and cut your (expletive) head off."
The incident occurred Monday after a hearing in which his appointed attorney, Greg Carman, had asked to be removed from the case because Beadle had threatened to kill him earlier this month.
Generally, threatening to kill people is not the most effective technique for getting your way. Death threats against judges: not cool and not protected speech (when it comes to federal judges).
The following sequence reminds us of a parent reprimanding a little boy:
When Beadle, 23, continued talking after the judge ordered him to be silent, Coffee threatened to hold him in contempt for every word he uttered.
Beadle ignored the judge's admonishment, said everyone was treating him as if he were stupid and then began making threats to the judge.
Coffee stopped counting at 70 words and held Beadle in contempt for 10 days per word for a total of 700 days in jail.
Did Beadle consider holding his breath until the court would take him seriously?
At least he's courteous to court clerks:
In January, Beadle spit toward the judge, but instead hit a court clerk's computer. Through his nylon-and-mesh spit mask, he apologized to the clerk on Monday and assured her that his intended target was the judge.
We have a strange obsession with Linda Greenhouse, the Supreme Court correspondent for the New York Times. When we spotted her recently at Jennifer 8. Lee's D.C. book talk for The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, we practically leapt out of our seats in excitement. [FN1]
If you're a fellow LG groupie, and if you're at Yale Law School, here's some good news. As one tipster excitedly chirped to us, "Linda Greenhouse is going to be a Yale Law sort-of-professor!" From the Yale Daily News:
After 30 years covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize-winner Linda Greenhouse will take a new post as a journalist-in-residence and senior fellow at Yale Law School starting next January, the Law School announced Wednesday.
Greenhouse, who accepted a buyout from The Times last month, will return to the law school from which she earned a Master of Studies in Law degree in 1978 to conduct her own research and give lectures and seminars, although it is not yet clear whether she will teach a formal course. She will also be involved with the Law School's Supreme Court Clinic and will help pioneer its new Law and Media Program.
More details in the YLS press release. Surely this can only help Yale maintain its sizable lead over #2 Harvard and Stanford in the U.S. News rankings. (Yale has an overall score of 100, with Harvard and Stanford almost ten points behind, at 91.)
As you may recall, Linda Greenhouse received a cool $300K in her Times buyout. It's a pittance compared to Biglaw bucks, but a princely sum in the world of journalism.
And now Greenhouse will be supplementing this with a draw on the well-endowed coffers of YLS -- we're guessing low six-figures (for what doesn't sound like very much work). She'll probably begin work on another book, too, for which she can expect a good-sized advance. Her last book, Becoming Justice Blackmun, was a national bestseller.
Linda Greenhouse to Linda Greenbacks!
[FN1] The use of "we" is especially appropriate here because Kash and I attended this reading together.
So far, almost 1,000 ballots have been cast in this week's ATL / Lateral Link survey on where you'd most want to work, and it's clear that some firms are trying to win those votes.
Front-runner Latham has announced a "no layoffs" promise, and Ropes & Gray has upped the ante on the cool factor with revelations of card sharking partners. Speaking of cool, let's not forget that Quinn Emanuel's firm retreat is in Switzerland. Switzerland.
But while the firms work the vote, how do they work you? Are your assignments handed out by a careful administrator, or overseen by a mentor? Or is there a free market where you choose your own adventure?
Thursday, March 27, 2008 10:30 AM - By Kashmir Hill
Disney World is one of those places that's magical through the eyes of a 5-year-old, but the realization of one of Dante's circles for adults. The long waits, the overpriced tickets and food, the body odor of foreign tourists, and the fear of being viciously attacked for cutting in line:
Aimee Krause says Victoria Walker accused her of cutting into the line at the Mad Tea Cup ride last year at Disney World, MyFOXOrlando reports.
Walker, an Alabama native, could face 15 years behind bars if convicted of battery with a deadly weapon.
Krause has now filed additional charges claiming her children were also attacked.
“She came from behind just screaming,” Krause told MyFOXOrlando. “Next thing I knew she kicked me in my left leg, threw me to the ground and at that point I was pinned between the teacup and the saucer and she continued to beat up on my body.”
In the incident report, Krause claimed Walker tried to choke her with a lanyard she wore to hold water bottles around her neck, MyFOXOrlando reports.
One more reason not to wear a lanyard leash. We wonder if a lanyard has been defined as a deadly weapon before.
We agree with the Washington Post's assessment. Attacking a woman and her children is a terrible thing. But we do hate people who cut in line. Maybe Walker will plead temporary insanity, brought on by the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, and whatever crazy drug he had in that hookah.
* Clear Channel and private equity firms sue banks they claim are balking on financing their buyout deal; injunctive relief secured. [WSJ Law Blog; AP]
* Lilly settles Zyprexa litigation with Alaska. [New York Times]
A few more firms have joined the 18 Week Club. New and improved parental leave policies, from WilmerHale and O'Melveny & Myers, appear after the jump.
We admit we can be a little idiosyncratic in terms of which firms' announcements we highlight. For more comprehensive information, check out Justin Bernold's handy-dandy, continually updated tables of maternity leave and paternity leave policies at different firms.
* Not as coveted as Miley Cyrus tickets, but some people will pay good money for access to a Supreme Court oral argument. Is this kosher? [Rumors Daily]
* Would you take tax advice from Wesley Snipes? If so, drop by "New Tax City" for a free consultation. [News Groper]
* Supreme Court Fantasy League? Sounds like fun to us. Dibs on Nino! [Southern Appeal]
* Kinda contrarian, which may explain why we like it: a defense of commercial outlines, by Professor Dan Markel Eric Johnson. [PrawfsBlawg]
* "All I was going to do was talk. It wasn't for sex. I am 93, you know." [Tampa Bay Online]
* High-profile Miami attorney Ben Kuehne, previously discussed here, lashes back against the government. [Daily Business Review]
Picking our Lawyer of the Day was easy. Today the winning hand belongs to Ropes & Gray partner Jane Willis. From the Boston Globe:
Jane Willis was always a standout student. Her reputation as a math whiz was well known at Phillips Exeter and Harvard, where she graduated in 1991 with a lofty recommendation from Lawrence Summers.
But no one suspected how Willis was using those skills, and she wasn't about to tell. Even as a partner at a high-powered Boston law firm, she has kept her curious back story to herself.
"Sounds weird to say, but it just never came up," Willis says, sipping a draft beer in a hotel bar not far from her office at One International Place.
She likes beer? Ick. Why not some fine wine or top-shelf liquor? But Jane Willis is not your ordinary Biglaw partner:
She might still be mum if not for 21, the new movie about MIT's celebrated blackjack team. Willis, it turns out, was a member of the card-counting cadre that beat the casinos and, later, inspired the best-selling book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. In the film, which opens Friday, Kate Bosworth's character is based on Willis.
How cool is that? We like the casting of Bosworth; there's definitely a resemblance (see photos; Willis is on the left).
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 3:45 PM - By Kashmir Hill
We reported yesterday about the University of Chicago Law School cutting off access to ATL internet in the classroom. A University of Chicago student sent along the e-mail from Dean Saul Levmore explaining the anti-internet policy, and said that we "should absolutely post the full text of Levmore's asinine email."
Check it out in its entirety after the jump. Here's an excerpt:
Few things should be as important to our community as regaining and establishing our common sense that the classroom should be a place for learning and interaction. Visitors to classes, as well as many of our students, report that the rate of distracting Internet usage during class is astounding.
Remarkably, usage appears to be contagious, if not epidemic. Several observers have reported that one student will visit a gossip site or shop for shoes, and within twenty minutes an entire row is shoe shopping. Half the time a student is called on, the question needs to be repeated. I confess that as I have researched this subject, I have been made aware how offensive it often is when phone calls are taken in public and when Blackberry and other e-mail devices are consulted during meetings. I have promised myself that I will no longer check my Blackberry under the table at University meetings.
So tempted to shoe shop... Must finish blog post... We wonder how long Dean Levmore will keep his Blackberry promise. It reminds us of the Seinfeld "master of my domain" episode. How long can he hold out? Anyone want to make a wager? What's the over / under?
(Poor Dean Levmore, by the way, is also taking flak for Chicago's drop -- just from #6 to #7, but some commenters are apoplectic -- in the latest U.S. News law school rankings.)
Results of our poll, plus selected reader comments and the full text of Dean Levmore's message, after the jump.
1. Latham makes the "no layoffs" pledge. Just like Milbank, Latham has promised that it won't be laying off lawyers in response to the current economic crisis. From an LW tipster:
Last Wednesday, managing partner Bob Dell gave his State of the Firm address via videoconference. Dell went over the firm's great financial success for 2007 (firm revenue went up a whopping 23%, far exceeding all other major firms).
He also addressed the challenges ahead for 2008. He specifically addressed the issue of layoffs. He said multiple times that he believed it would be a bad business decision to lay off associates. Latham made that mistake in 1990 and Dell said the layoffs hurt their profitability after the recession was over. Dell said "there will be no layoffs" and that it was not even on the table for discussion.
The firm is definitely slower, but things have picked up a little bit. Firm pace is around 100% [based on 1900 billables] for the first time this year for March. It's not going to be a banner year like 2007, but I don't think that it will be a disaster, either. Dell did note that it would be challenging and that "partners would be making a lot less money." I thought that was a bit of candor that was welcomed (and unexpected).
Dell also stressed that the firm was diversified and well positioned to handle any coming recession, even if it deepens. He also felt that Latham was well positioned to take advantage of the post-recession period as well.
So that's the good news. Considering how phenomenally well the firm fared last year, the partners can afford to take a hit if necessary to avoid layoffs.
The rich get richer. Movie stars who already earn millions of dollars per picture get showered with freebies, like award show "gift bags" worth thousands of dollars. Similarly, students at top law schools, who already have their pick of $160K job offers, get wined and dined by leading law firms. There IS such a thing as a free lunch, if you go to the right law school.
Of course, the quality of the fare will vary. From a tipster at a top 25 law school (according to the latest U.S. News rankings):
This isn’t that exciting of a tip, but the flyer just kind of freaks me out. What’s up with that graphic?
See you ‘round the taco table!
We were similarly troubled by these Alpo-stuffed creations, which didn't strike us as very taco-like. But then we recalled that tacos can be soft as well as hard.
Which got us wondering: What is the difference between a soft taco and a burrito? We found enlightenment here and here.
A Massachusetts judge, as well as ATL readers, previously concluded that a burrito is not a sandwich. But a soft taco, insofar as it is "open" -- i.e., with exposed fillings, like a traditional sandwich -- may present a closer case.
By and large, you're a pretty gloomy bunch. Forty-three percent of respondents are afraid that their firm will have layoffs. Among respondents who are Class of 1999 or more senior, this number spiked to 66%. Among law students, 53% of respondents are afraid their firms will have layoffs.
Respondents in the Bay Area, New York and Chicago were the most concerned, with 56%, 48%, and 46%, respectively, fearing layoffs. In contrast, only 19% of respondents in Philadelphia said they were afraid of layoffs at their firms. In other markets, layoff concern ranged from 31% to 38% of responses.
Most respondents thought their law firms would provide at least some support during a layoff:
* 54% thought their firm would provide a severance package.
* 53% thought their firm would provide ample notice so they could find a new job.
* 38% thought their firm would help them move between departments to stay busy.
* 20% thought their firm would help them relocate to another office.
* Another 20%, however, were not sure if their firm would help them, and 15% thought their firm simply wouldn't help them during a layoff.
While most respondents expect some support from their law firms, the most popular response to an anticipated layoff is to simply switch firms:
* 53% of respondents said that they would talk to headhunters about switching firms or going in-house to protect themselves from a slowdown.
* 42% would talk to friends at other firms.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 11:15 AM - By Kashmir Hill
There's an interesting behind-the-scenes story in an appeal heard by the Supreme Court this week. The appeal concerns a South Carolina drug dealer and the definition of a felony. For details, see this AP story.
What we find interesting is the former paralegal serving jail time who got SCOTUS to accept the case. We previously named him our Jailhouse Lawyer of the Day. Here's a recap:
Jailhouse lawyer Michael Ray has accomplished something rarely achieved by even the most experienced of attorneys on the outside: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in a case for one of his fellow inmates.
Legal experts estimate the high court accepts less than 1 percent of the thousands of cases it receives each year. The Court's action was even more extraordinary in this instance, because the appeal was drawn up by a prisoner who earns 29 cents an hour and does not even have a college degree, much less a law school education.
"This is basically a once-in-a-lifetime for a good criminal defense attorney, so you can imagine I'm on cloud nine, with my background," the 42-year-old Ray said with a laugh during a recent phone interview from a federal prison in Estill, S.C.
I mean, really, who needs law school? It's just a whole lot of debt and time spent surfing the net. There are so many other law-related, no-law-degree-needed opportunities: jailhouse lawyer, ATL guest blogger...
(You do need an actual law degree to go before SCOTUS, though. Stanford Law School professor Jeffrey L. Fisher argued the case this week.)
But Ray's not on cloud nine anymore. Read why, after the jump.
Relax, folks. We are aware that the 2009 law school rankings of U.S. News & World Report have leaked, in advance of their official Friday publication date. They're all over the blogosphere and the message boards (links collected below).
We've been sitting on this item for a little while -- coordinating with our other posts this morning, taking into account our traffic patterns, etc. There is a method to our madness.
Ideally we'd hold this item even longer (which would allow us to do a more detailed write-up). But it's clear that you're all dying to talk about the rankings RIGHT NOW. And we don't want to get any more emails and comments of the "why aren't you writing about U.S. News" variety.
So here you go. Rankings and discussion, after the jump (i.e., click on the "Continue reading" link below).
To be perfectly honest, we're getting tired of writing about the new U.S. News & World Report law school rankings. But judging from the number of comments on our earlier posts -- 1,153 and 575, as of this posting -- you're not tired of reading and talking about them. So, onward.
Continue reading "The U.S. News Rankings: More Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth"
(87) Comments
* A politically incorrect theory to explain the growing pay gap between male and female JDs. Opines Jane Genova: "No one likes The Professional Woman -- not women, not men, not children, not animals, not even The Professional Woman." [
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