April 2008

Two venerable institutions are working on re-branding. In this new promo video, Venable wants to clarify that its name starts with a “V.” From their marketing firm’s website comes this insight into the new image: Working with Greenfield/Belser, we sought to create a visual identity for our firm that best represented our firm’s personality: * […]

When it comes to law school graduation speakers, it’s hard to please everyone. Earlier this year, controversy erupted at Boston College Law School when U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey was announced as the commencement speaker. Some students, faculty and alumni voiced opposition to AG Mukasey, based on his involvement in the waterboarding / torture controversy […]

Marc Dann has had a rough tenure as Ohio’s attorney general. When the media start crafting timelines of your troubles, the end may well be nigh. One of Dann’s biggest problems seems to be judgment calls. Such as when choosing staff members. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a write-up on this stellar Dann staffer: One […]

Some of you have already noticed this on Above the Law’s snazzy new site credits page. But for those of you haven’t, we bring you news of a promotion. Say hello to ATL’s terrifically talented new associate editor, Kashmir Hill! Kash has been a frequent guest contributor to these pages for several weeks now. Her […]

New York Times reporter Anemona Hartocollis, who has the best byline since her colleague Jennifer 8. Lee, seems to have the “urban insanity” beat at the NYT. She covers acrimonious legal disputes between lawyers and their neighbors: The war over secondhand smoke at the Ansonia has ended. A couple at the Ansonia, a historic Upper […]

Here is the latest Job of the Week, brought to you by Lateral Link. Since overseas markets continue to be strong, we’re offering up another unique international opportunity for a U.S.-trained lawyer, this week in Asia. Position: Associate (Asia) Description: Top-tier international law firm seeks U.S.-qualified mid-level candidates (3-5 years) with solid U.S. registered and/or […]

Just a quick reminder about an interesting event, previously mentioned in these pages, which is taking place in a few hours. The ABA Journal, which just profiled U.S. News “rankings czar” Bob Morse, is hosting a live chat with him this afternoon. From Edward Adams of the ABA Journal: Morse will be taking questions from […]

Congratulations to our old friend James Ho. The good news first surfaced on Sophistic Miltonian Serbonian Blog: A quiet trickle of a rumor last week was that James C. Ho, currently of counsel with Gibson Dunn and a former law clerk to Justice Thomas at SCOTUS, has been tapped to serve as the next Solicitor […]

We’re not considering a spin-off blog on animals and the law. But maybe we should given the amount of reporting we’ve done on our furry friends recently, including a lascivious wombat, a hedgehog as a weapon, and a dog in mortal peril. Now, we’ve got a diseased hamster to add to the mix: A Whitman […]

In case you hadn’t noticed, earlier this week we launched AboveTheLaw 2.0 — a redesigned, retooled version of ATL, the legal tabloid site you’ve come to know and love. There have been a few technological hiccups associated with the relaunch — e.g., most of yesterday — and there will surely be more in the days […]

Entertainment Weekly has just generated 15 Legal Eagles We’d Hire: a list of the on-screen attorneys they would like to have as counsel. To save you the trouble of clicking through EW’s annoying slideshow format, here’s the breakdown: 1. Atticus Finch / Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird2. Perry Mason / Raymond Burr, Perry Mason3. […]

ATL honored a California trial judge, James M. Brooks, with Judge of the Day last June, when an appeals court ordered a new trial after he created a “circus-like atmosphere” in the original one. On Monday, the California Commission on Judicial Performance gave him the smackdown, issuing a decision and order imposing public admonishment [PDF]. […]

* Remember that New York Times bullying article? Walter Olson calls bulls**t (at least in part). [Overlawyered] * Professor Orin Kerr wonders, with respect to part-time arrangements in Biglaw: “Is part-time the new full-time?” [Convictions / Slate] * Lawyers: an opinionated bunch, and fond of the bottle. So surely some of you will have views […]

Earlier today, in the wake of yesterday’s post about troubles in the Charlotte office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, firm chairman Elliott Portnoy sent around an irate email: From: Portnoy, Elliott I.Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 12:40 PMTo: #Attorneys-AllSubject: Rumors Regarding Charlotte and Summer Program Many of you have recently heard claims regarding our Charlotte […]

[Ed. note: Apologies for the radio silence for much of today. Alas, we’ve been experiencing some rather severe technical difficulties, in connection with the site redesign and relaunch. The next few days (and perhaps weeks) may be a little bumpy around here; please bear with us. Thanks for your patience.] Here are two pieces of […]

Sunday’s Washington Post magazine has a narrative by journalist Mike Wise that features his love of his dog, a brush with icy death, and Jason Coates, a George Washington University 1L, who saved him from that death. The timeliness of this post is questionable as the heroic feat dates back to January and the GW […]

Forbes caters to the business elite, so the latter title for this post is probably the most appropriate one. But ATL readers could wind up on either side of one of these suits, so read with whichever lens you prefer. The article talks about some of the worst courts for certain types of defendants to […]

* Feuding Harvard students near settlement over Facebook founding. [New York Times] * Princess Di’s death deemed criminal; but was it also the butler on the witness stand with the perjury? [CNN] * Call girls testify in DC Madam case. [Washington Post] * Justice Scalia, “not a nut,” on CSPAN tonight. [WSJ Law Blog] * […]

* AG Mukasey looks super-old, but at least his front office is fresh-faced. [Washington Post] * An apple pie we can understand, but a picnic table? [NBC10.com] * Who knew? Blogging can be lethal. We need to find ourselves a good plaintiffs’ attorney. [Jeremy Blachman; New York Times] * Somehow, some bloggers survive — and […]

Here’s a bit of follow-up on last week’s post about Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. We heard from a number of tipsters, and their reports are consistent with the rumors previously reported: 1. Sonnenschein is rescinding offers of summer employment to incoming summer associates in the Charlotte office. 2. Sonnenschein is rescinding offers to full-time associates […]