April 2008

Okay, so you already knew that. Last year, in a widely read, front-page story for the Wall Street Journal, Amir Efrati reported on the non-Biglaw blues: the challenging job market and not-so-hot financial prospects faced by many law school graduates (many of whom are saddled with heavy debt). A month later, the Des Moines Register […]

Over 2000 votes are in. It’s you, Latham & Watkins! Latham’s the “coolest,” baby! By a .6% margin. One of our readers from Cleary an unnamed firm expressed disappointment in the poll’s closing at midnight PST instead of EST. ATL believes in time zone equity and refused to exercise a New York East Coast bias. […]

Most of the time, our ATL / Lateral Link surveys have been about market conditions like clerkship bonuses and maternity leave policies. But today, let’s just talk about you. How’s your morale? Update: This survey is now closed. Click here for the results. — Justin Bernold is a Director at Lateral Link, the sponsor of […]

Former Lawyer of the Day Louisiana Senator David Vitter is having a bad week, and it’s only Tuesday. The Legal Times reported yesterday that he may have to testify in the scandalous “D.C. Madam” trial. Vitter confessed last year to being a client of the escort service run by the so-called “D.C. Madam,” Deborah Jeane […]

Those Texans love the word of God. In 2005, they went to SCOTUS to defend a monument to the 10 Commandments that stands on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol. Hailing from San Antonio, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery is invoking the higher power in his judgment against a religious school’s right to join […]

* I hear wedding bells… no wait, that’s the buzzer for yard time. [CBS Local] * Rob Lowe and wife sue former nanny for defamation. [CNN] * Kids: Obama now cool. [New York Times] * Meet the superelite. [Newsweek]

U can’t touch this. Website. At least for a little while. We have a little surprise in store for you, loyal readers of Above the Law. We hope you like it. But the surprise will require us to turn off comments on ATL for a bit, probably a few hours. So if you want to […]

Open threads about the MPRE are a fine tradition here at ATL. See here and here. Even if the test isn’t particularly difficult or interesting, people love to talk about it. We’ve already received a slew of “MPRE results are out!” emails, and the news has also surfaced in the comments to other posts. So […]

The subject of likely future nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court has been written about extensively before. Last year, over at SCOTUSblog, Tom Goldstein came up with short lists of Democratic nominees and Republican nominees. Now that we’re a little closer to the election, with a presumptive Republican nominee and two possible Democratic nominees, additional […]

VERSUS We had over 4900 votes in the “ATL Law Firm Final Four” this weekend. Latham & Watkins and Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton emerged as the winners and will now go head to head to determine which is the “coolest” law firm. During commercial breaks in the NCAA basketball final tonight between the University […]

Last June, the WSJ Law Blog wondered: Are law students emotional wrecks? Here is more evidence — and there’s already quite a lot in these pages — that the answer to the question is yes. It started out innocently enough. A legal recruiting assistant at Willkie Farr & Gallagher sent out this email on Friday: […]

Congratulations, Anonymous! You are the ATL Caption Contest winner for this photo of President Bush with his White House Counsel, Fred Fielding (dressed up as the Easter Bunny): After ignoring the rule of law for seven years, President Bush finally found a use for the White House Counsel. The runner-up is: The Mad Hatter and […]

Bizarre crime stories, when they give rise to legal charges, still fall within our jurisdiction as a legal tabloid. You may recall our recent story about a New Zealand man who claimed he was raped by a wombat (which allegedly left him speaking with an Australian accent). And it’s not just wombats — hedgehogs are […]

While the results are still flowing in from last week’s ATL / Lateral Link survey on bar stipends, signing bonuses, and salary advances (1,130 responses and counting), today’s survey looks at money flowing in the opposite direction: from individual associates to great big institutions. In other words, let’s talk about your student loans and other […]

* Authorities enter compound of polygamist sect and remove more than 219 women and children. [CNN] * Drug companies find some success, and hope for more in the future, in using preemption doctrine as a defense against lawsuits. [New York Times] * Plaintiffs lawyers and witnesses associated with Dickie Scruggs barred, respectively, from representing policyholders […]

*Law school proved to be an excellent investment for the Clintons. [The Washington Post] *Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will face a lawsuit that accuses him of stealing computer code, rules the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston. We checked and the “Zuckerberg is innocent” Facebook group only has 193 members. [Bloomberg via How Appealing] *Hill […]

Earlier in the week, this email went out to all the lawyers in the Restructuring Group at Kirkland & Ellis, from the head of the group: 04/01/2008 10:58 AMTo: #FW Restructuring AttorneysSubject: Upcoming Dress Code Program As part of our KIRT [Kirkland Institute of Restructuring Training] programs, I am pleased to announce a “dress for […]

On Wednesday, we reported on a D.C. paralegal/legal assistant/assistant seeking advice at Slate.com. We were disappointed in the letter writer’s horror story, and solicited readers for better stories. Here’s the cream of the crop: How about working 1.5 years with a Federal judge who hasn’t bothered to learn my name? Short, sweet, and to the […]

The latest Job of the Week, brought to you by Lateral Link, is a unique opportunity for a senior attorney looking to become General Counsel of one of the most prominent public institutions in the country. This position is one of Lateral Link’s exclusive positions. You can get more information over at Lateral Link. Position: […]

The rumors that we alluded to earlier are true: Dewey & LeBoeuf is shuttering three offices. Here is the firm’s official statement on the office closings: As part of its global strategy to expand the firm’s resources in major capital markets throughout the world, Dewey & LeBoeuf will be closing its offices in Jacksonville, FL, […]