After radio silence for a majority of the morning (the week after numerous chicago firms engaged in another round of stealth layoffs), ATL is at its cutting-edge legal reporting best.

Uh, what's stopping her from jumping to a higher paying gig? Am I missing something here?

2:35, agree that place has gone to hell, but who is laying off in Chicago. Name names. As me granpappy used to say, put up or shut up.

After getting saddled with six figure debt and having the prospect of the most exciting/socially useful public interest jobs being located in DC/NYC [super high rent], it becomes laughable to think many students have a choice in the matter.

Perhaps those with parental financial backing can do good, but staying afloat financially is concern number one.

2:38 - she apparently wants to continue to "do[] good." I'm sure her constant ranting and raving about her 'pittance' of a salary qualifies as "doing good."

Point taken. When judges start deserting for the private sector, then there's a problem.

She can whine all she wants, but unless she leaves and gets a job and then says that why she left was low salary, she's just a whiner.

And aren't judges in NY elected??? Doesn't that mean she kept running for this job again and again????

What about the layoffs at Cravath?

This lady fuckin sucks.

Are lawyers at the SEC unhappy they aren't in BigLaw? Are high-level administrators in gov't unhappy they aren't at Wall St. investment firms...with long hours, less job stability, more pressure etc.? Public Service pays less than the private sector. Thats reality. There is honor in being a judge and a $125k+ salary and benefits is liveable now...it was very good 10 years ago. Do they deserve a raise...yes...but to say you wasted 25 yrs is an insult. Someone with that experience could walk in to a new job paying more tomorrow.

I'm sort of in the same boat. Went to law school for public interest law, and actually have been practicing it for a year and a half. Now I'm looking to get out of it. Not necessarily to a hedge fund or Biglaw, but something that pays more at least. Public interest/service law is tough, not just financially, but emotionally. There are rarely "thank yous" from the clients mostly just overwhelming need and endless problems. I don't expect much more from a private sector job, but it'd be nice to at least be able to afford to live without taking money out of my savings so often.

what is this woman's background prior to going into public service? did she forego biglaw partnership, etc? Would the big salaries have been open to her?

the low pay is part of public service: it's self sacrifice for the greater good. What are you sacrificing? mostly money. What was she not sacrificing, prestige, lifestyle, etc. She is more qualified than biglaw associates, but that doesn't mean she should get more $. When she walked into her chambers, she knew what she was getting. I think it's laughable that she now says she regrets her "public service" because she's not being paid enough. if that's what she's into it for, then she was serving the public no more than a biglaw associate.

Is she really a "justice?" I thought the supreme court of NY was really just the lowest court forum, all the way up the the Court of Appeals.

Agreed, 2:40. As one of the lucky few with no debt, even *I* find that you end up having to make some significant sacrifices (relative to your biglaw friends, etc.) to be able to save much of that gigantic salary very quickly. Obviously it's even tougher for the majority of biglaw associates with crushing debt loads.

And on the subject of city living: If you want to have any kind of reasonably comfortable living in any large city, you need to be making at least 60k. And that's for places like Chicago where it's relatively inexpensive (for a large city). When you're talking about SF/NY, that number easily jumps to 100k. All these "high income" people in large cities are actually just living a comfortably middle class lifestyle (as long as they don't have loads of debt -- and then they aren't saving much of their income). Yet we're all taxed as though we were "rich." It infuriates me that the government pretends I'm significantly richer than the guy in rural Iowa making 80k, and accordingly snatches a bigger percentage of my salary. Yeah, farmer dude has to live in Iowa, but that doesn't make up for the tax discrepancy in my mind.

COL DOWNWARD TAX ADJUSTMENTS TODAY!!!!!!!

She's hot.

Judge,

Statistically, only a tiny portion of summer students land summer associate gigs in biglaw and make more than you do. I would venture a guess that most "summer students" work in unpaid internships and are carrying student debt loads that you couldn't even contemplate. If your unhappy with your 120K salary, full pension/benefits and 9-5 work schedule (which puts you in the top 5% of all American wage earners), you are welcome to find another job. Like someone said above, put up or shut up.

no reporting on the layoffs?

What a greedy b*tch.

Biglaw salaries are in no way representative of the average lawyer's salary, and she makes way more than the vast majority of Americans.

Shameful greed. I'm truly disgusted by her.

She's wasted the past 25 years because she didn't make more money even though she went into the position to do good?

Give me a break.

"what is this woman's background prior to going into public service? did she forego biglaw partnership, etc? Would the big salaries have been open to her?"

My guess is probably not. The supreme court in NYS is the lowest court - she's just a trial judge. These positions are elected, and are more about politics (how much money you give and what kind of connections you have) than legal acumen. She only went to Brooklyn law, after all. Additionally, I don't know how hard trial judges work, but my guess is they don't sacrifice their lives the way biglaw partners do.

Shameful greed. I'm in love with her.

2:48 dont you know anything?! anytime a supreme court (any level) is involved they are justices

"Shameful greed. I'm truly disgusted by her."

So I assume, then, that either you don't work for biglaw (by your own choice), or if you do, you do it because you genuinely enjoy the work (rofl). Otherwise, quit calling the kettle black, genius. I have yet to meet a single person who would turn down extra money.

Exactly 2:56. TTT Brooklyn grad.

2:48 PM:

All lower court judges in NY are called "Justices." The judges on the NY highest court, the Court of Appeals, are conversely called "judges." When lawyers make a mistake in front of the highest court and address one of them as a "justice", a judge usually corrects them with the humorous retort, "Counselor, there is no justice in this court."

The rich get richer... biglaw = "I got mine".

I don't get the "more $$ for judges" argument. It's supply and demand folks: becoming a judge is a highly, highly coveted and desired position, one that most qualified candidates would readily accept in exchange for whatever the going salaries are now. If there were a brain drain, or if the judicial bar were atrophying because of salary woes -- then perhaps the argument has some teeth.

But it's ridiculous for a judge - already at the pinnacle of prestige as far as the legal world goes (even state judges) - to agitate for more money. All of these folks could become partners at top firms without missing a beat - but they need to realize that the **PUBLIC SERVICE** path is not a road to riches. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Key judicial salaries to inflation, lock them in for 3-5 years at a time, and have a panel review them periodically.

Amen, 2:50(1)!

2:49 PM: "And on the subject of city living: If you want to have any kind of reasonably comfortable living in any large city, you need to be making at least 60k. And that's for places like Chicago where it's relatively inexpensive (for a large city). When you're talking about SF/NY, that number easily jumps to 100k."

Dude, as someone who lived on $45K (pre-tax) in Manhattan (with student loans), I can tell you, you're an asshat. "Reasonable comfortable" does not mean delivery food every night/ send out laundry/ cab rides everywhere; that's called wealth. Learn to have a budget, find a cheap apartment, and be a bit frugal, idiot.

There's a chick trolling on Craigslist for a guy like you. Perhaps you got that email. Tool.

The government should tax biglaw. If your rates are more than $500/hour, then there should be a 40% tax to pay for judicial and legal services provided by the government. It's only fair.

As a judge you may get paid less, but think about all of that ass kissing from the attorneys practicing in your court. Isn't that worth at least a couple grand year? Tell me you don't relish making a partner at some fancy white shoe NY city firm grovel before you. True, he'll get to go home to his Manhattan brown stone and you'll go back to Queens, but you own him all day. Add to that the self-satisfaction of feeling superior due to your life of public service.

If that's not satisfying enough, hang up the robe, take an of-counsel position at some firm some place, and try out the other side of the bench for a while. After 6 months of 70 hour weeks and constant petty indignities you'll be crying for that gavel.

3:01: Stalin rules!

2:47 - I'm hearing the same ... looks like this economy has forced even veritable institutions to engage in (stealth) layoffs...

Speaking of annoying old biddys, did anyone see Paula Fransceze at Barbri? Oofa age is a b*tch.

Brooklyn Law School provides the most practical, comprehensive and hands-on (clinical) legal education in the country. Its graduates are leaders in all law firms and the public sector.

If Justice Rhinoplasty truly detests her lot in life so much, do us all a favor and step down. I mean really, a woman who went to Brokklyn Law School for God sake and got her job through the old buddy system here in the small apple doth protest too much. Someone should let her eminence know that the average BIGLAW snot spend 2-3 years there and then jumps to an often lower paying gig. And we don't get the cushy pensions these ingrate judges get. I mean really. She should be expelled from the bench. I suppose she loves herself in that she jumped from legal aid to defending lowlives and then to the bench. Maybe for her she thought she was "doing good" but for the rest of us, supporting our families is equally "doing good". What a pair.

3:01 - AMEN!

2:50, 3:03, and 2:35, if there are stealth layoffs why don't you say where? Who is laying off? More Shoenshit, maybe a dose of Winston, Mayer? Come on, you know you want to.

3:00,

The last part of your post is precisely the problem. The salaries are NOT keyed to inflation. There has been no numerical increase over the past 10 years, which translates to a decrease in real terms.

though i hear the judge's arguement, however 2:50(1) has a strong point. so if they want more dough the judges should change arguement strategies

3:05(1) - HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHA.

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.

Thanks much, I needed a good laugh.

Likely they should have received pay raises consumerate with duty and experience - but come on public good is public good - its called honorable because of the sacrifice. And frankly government PENSIONS are quite good. Plus why is she saying after 25 years - it was a choice she made knowing that her salary was frozen - she could have left at any point but decided not to. I understand that judges should be paid more but to make the point the way she did is highly obnoxious. Here's a little news flash the president of the united states only a few years ago started making any kind of money after bush was elected they upped his salary to what 400k? Clintons were making 250K i think - There are biglaw associates making more than the president....

OBAMA turned down possible supreme court clerk position for an opportunity to do something.

3:01(1),

A-freakin'-men.

Sorry 3:01...$45k with no debt in Manhattan is not getting you reasonably comfortable, at least by my definition, unless you have some very fortunate living arangements (i.e. BS rent control) and live very modestly. At a minimum half of your take-home is rent and transportation. Best case scenario is you can live, not go out, and save hardly anything. $45k with student debt and you are living at home or sharing with 3+ roomates in NJ.

This is asinine. The fact that public service jobs don't pay well is not news. A much more salient question is why graduates of top colleges are disproportionately going into finance and law as opposed to substantive business. It seems like nobody gradutes from an Ivy or another top college anymore and actually offers a good or service. We should be asking "why Morgan Stanley, Cravath and McKinsey and not Kraft, Home Depot, or Boeing?"

If you live outside of NYC, the judicial salary isn't really that bad. Last time I checked it was something like $136K. That goes a long way in places like Rochester. (Similarly, I think federal judges outside of the major metro areas don't really need big pay boosts.)

2: 49 is deranged. Look at what most people earn in this country, even in big cities. The only place that is really divorced from reality is (parts of) Manhattan, and there are still an awful lot of people surviving in that city on less than BIGLAW associate salary.

If you feel cramped on any high five-figure salary, you need to look at your lifestyle, or alternatively, at how most people live. What you were promised by the TV is bull, by the way - you can't live that lifestyle with no concern for the bills unless you are making partner comp, at which point you don't have time to live most of that lifestyle.

Having better-than-average jobs does not absolve people of keeping track of their finances and doing budgets.

poor poor 2:47(1). She spent her whole life gearing up for public interest law and now the unwashed masses she came to save don't even say "thank you" to her. Boo hoo. welcome to reality.

This whiny judge needs to shut up as well. I can understand wasting a year, maybe 2 of your life. But if you aren't happy and your situation isn't changing after say, year 5, and you don't get the hell out, you're a fucking idiot and deserved everything you got. She's probably just pissed that shes not living the glamarous nyc lifestyle while everybody she is judging is, meanwhile she's too old to play that game anymore and nobody wants her wrinkly ass except for stupid cougar hunters.

Why is everyone saying "Amen"?

maybe if she wasn't a nasty shrew she could marry a rich man.

3:11: "$45k with no debt in Manhattan is not getting you reasonably comfortable, at least by my definition, "
--Which apparently includes eating out every night, shopping for new clothes every other weekend, having a maid come once a week, and going to brunch and dinner on the weekends. That's not comfortable, moron, that's wealthy!

"unless you have some very fortunate living arangements (i.e. BS rent control) and live very modestly. "
---wrong, asshat. Get a roommate. one roommate. one freakin' roommate. or get a small apartment. No, you don't get a separate workout room in your apartment with a doorman outside. That's not very modest, rich boy. That's called living normally.

"At a minimum half of your take-home is rent and transportation."
----No, 1/3 is rent if you don't get the royal palace or live with people. Transport? USE THE SUBWAY---GET A MONTHLY PASS, DICK.

" Best case scenario is you can live, not go out, and save hardly anything."
---Wrong again. I had student debt I was paying off. If/When it was gone, I would have saved that $$$ per month, not blown it on gold-encrusted cocaine bullets like you.

"$45k with student debt and you are living at home or sharing with 3+ roomates in NJ. "
---Or living in a small studio by a subway that is non rent controlled in a crime-free neighborhood in Manhattan.

Honestly, rich boy, you're a douche.

Hey. I'm pissed that Judge Judy makes millions off that rat bag show. Maybe Judge Nosejob should follow suit. Then she could get better plastic surgery.

Is it normal for the top of your nose to be wayyy wider than the bottom of your nose?

Emily Jane Goodman: eat my shorts, man.

3:13 (1), 3:01 (1), and 3:23:

As hulk hogan would say, amend, brothers!

Considering that the top person tax bracket is 35%, a 40% tax on law firms' excess profits is reasonable. Especially given the purpose of providing justice to every citizen.

She wasted 25 years of her life by serving on the bench.
.
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

3:33:
I would almost think you were joking, except I know the stalinist-marxist nutjobs who frequent this board.

I think we should tie weights to the ankles of the most successful ballerinas. They're embarassing all the good ones and receiving too much money. And then tax their earnings. DESTROY BIG BALLET!

"The Top 20
1. Investment Banking (Sales and Trading) -- $56,534"

How is iBanking lucrative? ::rolls eyes::

"less than summer students are being paid at AmLaw 200 firms"

/fixed

You morons do realize that taxing people for being too successful only disincentivizes people from doing well, right?

Unless you can prove they broke the law (i.e. monopoly, insider trading, fraud, collusion, etc.), you commie pinkos are just stamping your feet that someone is good at their job.

If people couldn't afford to pay them, they would lower their prices. See Economics, 101.

Now go vote for the Obamamessiah and stick your fingers in your ears, idiots.

3:23 -- roommates are for college students. You're an adult now.

3:40:

Roommates are for people who are normal and want to save money on rent. Being a snot about roommates is for rich entitled pricks without a clue as to who to budget or what a "necessity" constitutes. Get a life and learn how to say "no" to yourself, you little baby.

For a fine example, see the documentary "Three's Company"--specifically, the Suzanne Somers era. Yum.

All else aside, how do you go from not getting a raise in 10 years to therefore wasting 25 years of your life?

Sounds like a non-sequitor to me.

Unless of course she means that it is never worth taking a lower paying job no matter the other benefits. Then, of course, she's right that she doesn't belong on the bench because she's obsessed with money.

She's a self-entitled b****. Like all state court judges.

3:40 - the way I've seen law firm associates behave, recent law school graduates are not adults. In fact, many still think they're fratboys/sororitygals. I thought that the legal field wasn't attractive to these types - boy was I wrong.

You have to get a roommate to survive on $160k in NYC??? Lulz.

How come this wasn't tagged "State Court Judges are Clowns?"

Roommate? Wha? This must be an NYC thing.

To all of you asking for coverage about the layoffs, perhaps Lat is actually doing some journalism before just posting crap.

A sum of the arguments that 100K is the minimum salary needed for NY:

I need to shop every weekend
I need a maid
I need delivery everynight
I need to cab everwhere
I need a doorman
I need to live in the Village/Chelsea/Gramarcy/Murray Hill
I need brunch
I need to have a full bar in my apartment

I won't cook for myself
I won't budget
I won't search for a cheaper apartment
I won't have a roommate
I won't take the subway
I won't give up Sunday Brunch
I won't do my own laundry.
I won't give up my drinking habit

Get a life, you immature brats.

I have a roommate, and I'm outwest in a secondary market. Now, do we actually share a room? No. She has a 3BR house, and I get 1BR & 1Bath. And I make more than $45k.

So yeah, I don't understand why people who whine about money (1) make more than me (2) economize less and (3) are probably paying less on their loans than I am.

Brunch killed 3:50's (poor) parents.

Rice and beans is nutritious and delicious, and can easily be made with a variety of sauces (golden italian dressing, salsa, chili, bbq). Takes about 10 minutes to make, feeds you with carbs, antioxidants, and a complete protein for almost 2 days for less than $2.

Enjoy your $96 grass fed argentinian steak.

If you're cool with living like a college student, why even go to law school? The only reason most people become lawyers is so they can make more money and stop living like that.

Wow!!! Her credentials are unbelievable!!! If she is not a made partner in a top-five law firm, she should just leave the law entirely!!!

In case you can't tell that is sarcasm. This judge went to Brooklyn Law at night and was not on law review. There is no way she would have been hired at a top law firm coming out of law school. She works in a safe cushy job without any of the horrible hours that big law associates have. Never mind the attrition rate. Most biglaw associates are not making these salaries for ten years.

Many of us in biglaw would gladly trade places with her. I best many of her former colleagues at legal aid would also be happy to trade places and get a much bigger salary.

These judges are completely out of touch with reality.

If Federal circuit judges, who resigned their seven figure partnership to be a judge want to complain, fine. I can at least see their point of view, although I would probably disagree with them. But a state judge who did not work in the private sector prior to becoming a judge and who didn't have the credentials to even become a biglaw associate, give me a break.

I'm not advocating taxing the wealthy... I'm advocating for taxing excess profits... windfall profits. If the payout is not in proportion to work performed then, it should be taxed. (i.e. contingency fees). Punitive awards are taxed, why shouldn't excess profits? 40% is reasonable no matter how you look at it. If you want better quality judges, you better be willing to pay for it. Otherwise, you shouldn't have a voice in the game.

3:58: "If you're cool with living like a college student, why even go to law school? The only reason most people become lawyers is so they can make more money and stop living like that."
---So, wokring at a public interest firm/NY Dis Attorney's office/NY public Defender's office is crap, huh?
It's all about the greenbacks?
Or what about people taking low-level positions to climb their way up?

Contrary to your ignorant opinion, many people become lawyers for a long term payoff, not a short term one, whether that means, power, prestige, self-worth, or money down the road. They can sacrifice pay now for those things. Like adults. But little boys "want it now"! Like you. Dillweed.

3:58,

Maybe some people go to law school because they enjoy the law and aren't simply looking for a big check.

Or, maybe they'd rather put off having a big lonely place all to themself for a couple of years so they can pay off their massive loans that much more quickly and save in the long run by not paying as much in interest.

Or they can live the way they wanted to in college but couldn't, with the big leather sectional, plasma tv, and high-end xbox with a fridge full of cristal.

Everyone has different priorities.

When did being a trial court judge become public service?

4:08,

I believe any government position is classified as public service.

How do these people know they "enjoy the law" before they go to law school?

4:06: "I'm not advocating taxing the wealthy... I'm advocating for taxing excess profits... windfall profits. "
---Windfall profits are inherently defined as someone getting too much money, which is, of course, a normative opinion socialists like you throw around.

"If the payout is not in proportion to work performed then, it should be taxed."
----And who decides the correct proportion? The client agreed to the deal at the beginning, and s/he is the sole arbitrator of whether the relationship is fair. Having you big government loonies try to step into a business arrangement that is not illegal and acceptable to all parties is what marxism is all about.

". (i.e. contingency fees)"
----Who says a lawyer working on contingency isn't earning his keep? They take a majority of non-winners and work hard for those few gems that actually pay off. THEY DO EARN THOSE FEES, ASSHAT.

"Punitive awards are taxed, why shouldn't excess profits?"
--Complete Non Sequitor. Continue, commie.

"40% is reasonable no matter how you look at it."
---Except through the lenses of logic and fairness, dummy.

"If you want better quality judges, you better be willing to pay for it. "
--When judges leave for financial reasons, then there is a reason to up the ante. See Federal Judges. This b**** is just whining and then going back to the same low paying job when she could leave and find a higher paying one at a firm.

"Otherwise, you shouldn't have a voice in the game."
---Translation for non-Marxists: AGREE WITH US OR ELSE!

Obamamessiah!

Maybe they've worked in a law office, or worked with attorneys in some other fashion, or have friends or relatives who are lawyers. Or maybe they think they'll "enjoy the law", but get to law school and realize it's not at all what they thought.

Wow 3:23....a response in 12 mins....FYI I do not go out to eat during the week (I certainly don't do cocaine, let alone gold-crusted cocaine, although I admit it sounds scrumptious), the whole working until 7/8 thing really doesn't permit for it, I typically cook for myself (I will concede that I shop at douchey supermarkets as opposed to dumpster diving, I do however frequent Jacks $.99 Cent World). No maid, have a roomate, typically. buy clothes on sale after the holidays. I also worked throughout law school and paid off a sizeable chunk of my debt. At a 20-yr repayment rate on less debt than most of my classmates my monthly payments exceed $500 per month. I use my Metrocard daily.

As for a single person making $45k, that puts you in 25% tax bracket which leaves you about $37,500. Metrocard and rent are $900 baed on what I just saw on Craigslist ( whcih is not exactly known for being legit. I am sure you will tell me about the fab places in Manhattan than are $500 with one roomate) . So there is $11,000 leaving $26,500 left. My gym and health insurance are costly...so I will deduct and say that those things are only $4000 per year....down to $22,500....if you have minimal school loans and pay $500 p/m that takes you down to $16,500.....so I conceed...someone with minimal school debt...living in a $820 p/m Manhattan apartment with a metrocard, decent insurance and a basic gym membership can have roughly $1300 p/m to pay for utilities, food, incidentals and for arguments sake make a $300 p/m contribution to a IRA and still have $1000 p/m to live on. Delightful. That seems like a perfectly good reason to bust ones ass for 7 years. Of course I could have remained as a paralegal for the NYC Law Dept. where the qualifications are essentially a GED and the ability to show up which currently pays (to start) DC37 union scale of roughly $45k per year + all benis and a retirement plan with over a months worth of vacation and sick days to start.

So I thank you. Your eloquent tone and flawless argument have shown me the error of my ways. Clearly you are an accomplished practitioner who at the same time has a heightened knowledge of New York City, and more specifically, Manhattan economics. Our definitions of 'comfortable" and "wealthy" might not be in total harmony, however that is mere semantics, I have been bested and will not attempt to challenge your opinions, which I now formally accept as fact. I humbly now return to my barbri lecture and will never again troll Above the Law, while you, noble defender of justice, pursue your battle against inequity. Much like Sallie Mae, I remain forever in your debt.

4:13: the cocaine isn't gold encrusted, moron. It was the bullet. re-read.

Poor people post with such vitriol.

Stick a thrice-worn sock in it.

I want a big-titted roommate.

Hahaha. Makes me feel good about taking my biglaw offer.

"Public service" is a joke people. I worked a public service job before law school. Once you do it long enough, you begin to question whether your particular org really does any good at all.

Take the biglaw job. You get the fat check, and you can do pro bono on the side. You can do good and do well.

NYS trial judges make 136,700. That is what J. Goodman makes. They have not had a raise since around 1999. I assure one and all that as a NYS litigator, the State Court judges do not work very hard unless they want to. It is very unlikely that she would have made it to a big law firm partnership.
BTW, I once argued a motion in front of her in her chambers and she put her legs up on her desk in front of me and the other counsel. I don't know what that judge was thinking.

Judges get treated like Gods. That's why people still take judicial appointments. Getting your ass kissed is part of your compensation.

Ah. Please forgive my ignorance. I do now know what "gold-encrusted cocaine bullets" are despite my apparent monthly purchase of said commodity. Dearest me.. My spending habits must be far worse than originially thought! I must immediately call a livery car (no time for cabs!) and be escorted at once to a Park Avenue therapist! Perhaps a latte on the way will provide me with a modicum of comfort without spoiling my appetite in anticipation of Le Bernadin this evening. It is most fortuitous that my doorman can sign for my packages this afternoon. If I dared live with a roomate he might scoff at my most recent Bergdorf purchases.

ny to 190!

"I have wasted 25 years of my life"

Hearing some TTT public servant sincerely confess this, knowing she feels to her core that she's literally wasted the last quarter of her life before old age creeps in to pull her under the dirt... damn, it feels validating.

4:12 Obama is going to win and the democrats are going to have super-majorities in Congress... you might as well get ready for the inevitable.

Calling it illogical or marxist is a non-argument. Excess profits are fundamentally unfair and a drag on the economy. Judicial resources are stretched thin and there needs to be a form of revenue creation. Taxing creates more jobs and provides living wages to workers, who most lawyers depend on. Higher wages to employees mean they have more to spend on discretionary items, hence greater consumer spending. If all this wealth was tied up in the hands of the few, there would not be as much consumer spending, therefore less economic impact in the aggregate. How's that for logic. I think it's fair to tax rates more than $500/hour or contingency fees that are not proportional to work done. By the way, most attorneys don't take cases that have little chance of succeeding. The argument that lawyers take on loser cases is a fiction.

4:13:

So much little rich bitch stupidity, so little time to smack you down.

1. "I will concede that I shop at douchey supermarkets as oposed to dumpster diving, I do however frequent Jacks $.99 Cent World"
---Cost of Rice, pasta, coldcuts, hamburgers/veggieburgers, bread, cookies, and chips for two weeks=$50. Want to get some drinks, add some chicken/fish, potatoes, a few vegetables? Make it=$70 for two weeks (get them all on a large trip)
Total cost per month, food= $140-$150.
Not dumpster diving, douchebag.

2. "My gym and health insurance are costly"
---once again, D-bag, you allow for you rich-kid-itis to take over. Gyms=not necessity. Go for runs in city (gasp--it's free!). Pushups/situps,/stretching/buy a yoga or exercise tape. get a pullup bar. Total cost: .$15 (for tape and for pullup bar)
---health insurance? If you're working at a gov't/non-profit, you get your insurance with them. Get a high deductible plan.

3. "so I conceed...someone with minimal school debt...living in a $820 p/m Manhattan apartment with a metrocard, decent insurance and a basic gym membership can have roughly $1300 p/m to pay for utilities, food, incidentals and for arguments sake make a $300 p/m contribution to a IRA and still have $1000 p/m to live on."
---Food=$150 per month
Electric= $125 (lower when no AC used)
Washing clothes (Yourself, asshat)=$40
Monthly Drycleaning= $40
Phone/Internet=$120
Water/Heat (if any--most are included)=$100
---If your school debt is higher, gasp, stop the IRA payments and send them to the loan debt until it's paid off.

---Assuming you do contribute the $$$ to the IRA/401K and do pay the student loan, the total other expenses are $575. That leaves $425 per month left over. If you divide by the week, that's $106 per week. So you can go out and get blasted every Friday and Sat night (minimum 4 drinks X $10 per drink (because, hey, you like the strong-but-girly ones)) and you still get $26 left over per weekend. Heck, you can even buy your ass a brunch with that, toolshed!

4. "Delightful. That seems like a perfectly good reason to bust ones ass for 7 years"
--You forget chances of pay going up, sense of satisfaction with work, free time, etc.
--Yes, your pay will never improve. Why do you think you're entitled to the pay day right away? You're a snot nosed kid. YOU START AT THE BOTTOM, MORON.

5. Once more, idiot, if you can't live comfortably on $45K in Manhattan, you're a whiny little bitch who can't do basic math and can't say no to their id. To which i say, no amount of $ will ever be enough, because your little inner child will always cause you to blow it like rock candy.

ASSHAT!

Not very judicious- She should be impeached.

4:35:
"Calling it illogical or marxist is a non-argument."
--Right. Calling your argument illogical doesn't make it wrong. RIIIIIIGGGGHHHHT.
And calling it marxist, a failure of an economic system, isn't a valid criticism at all.

"Excess profits are fundamentally unfair and a drag on the economy. "
---Got proof, prof?
Oh wait, it isn't how economics work. it's how you feel. And it s what you feel are excess profits and how they make you feel is important.

Back to the commune, hippie.

lat; this thread is pretty dumb but i know you like 100's of comments so this one is almost 100 already

4:36, you're leaving out a buch of expenses; to wit; $450 a month for top shelf marijuana; concert tickets; speeding tickets, the list goes on.

4:40: Yeah, these richies got more expenses than us normies.

4:36 seems like a cool person.

4:36 -- that sounds like a miserable life. Do you ever plan to grow up and have a family (or even a serious relationship)?

going to law school ... $100,000
applying to big law ... $200
therapy for rejection ... $20,000
settling for a public service job, and feeling like you have wasted the past 25 years of your life.... priceless

Shouldn't you all be billing hours?

"Yes, your pay will never improve. Why do you think you're entitled to the pay day right away? You're a snot nosed kid. YOU START AT THE BOTTOM, MORON."

$200,000 per year is the bottom for the resumes we have, the educational investments we've made, the hours we log, and the work we do.

HTFH

4:35 : "Obama is going to win and the democrats are going to have super-majorities in Congress... you might as well get ready for the inevitable."
--Yes, because you can see the future, right, Obamamaniac?

"Calling it illogical or marxist is a non-argument."
--This laughable line has been dealt with.

"Excess profits are fundamentally unfair and a drag on the economy."
--As has this one

"Judicial resources are stretched thin and there needs to be a form of revenue creation."
--Give us PROOF. Not merely assertion. Give us proof. Oh wait, you don't have any. And if you notice, she's just bitching about frozen salaries, not about her resources being stretched thin.

"Taxing creates more jobs and provides living wages to workers, who most lawyers depend on."
---Taxing destroys jobs, inhibits growth, and punishes success. Read Justice Marshall=="The Power to Tax is the Power to destroy."

"Higher wages to employees mean they have more to spend on discretionary items, hence greater consumer spending."
--Ever heard of inflation? Glut of demand? And since when did tax=higher wages? If I get taxed, I try to cut costs on taxable things, like, oh, employees wages. Or employees. Making businesses unprofitable=destroying jobs.

"If all this wealth was tied up in the hands of the few, there would not be as much consumer spending, therefore less economic impact in the aggregate."
--Ah, so this isn't about logic, this about wealth distribution. because those good at making it don't deserve it. And, of course, all those economists who have proven that your assertion-- that the wealthy don't spend or create jobs--is fundamentally false.

"How's that for logic."
--pretty shitty.

"I think it's fair to tax rates more than $500/hour or contingency fees that are not proportional to work done."
--Once again, who decides? You've offered no proof of any of your theories thus far, so I assume its just your gut reaction on what is fair for those rich white men to make. Which would be nothing, according to you.

"By the way, most attorneys don't take cases that have little chance of succeeding. The argument that lawyers take on loser cases is a fiction."
--Have you even studied the economics of a contingency firm??? You are a moron for saying that. Contingency lawyers work on a percentage basis. only X amount of cases pay off at trial/settlement, but you can never be sure. So you take X+Y and factor in that percentage that will win to figure out your profit margin. And settlements increase the chances that losing cases will at least pay something.

No doubt: you're a law professor/ACS, because you have no idea about how things work in the real world.

4:50: "$200,000 per year is the bottom for the resumes we have, the educational investments we've made, the hours we log, and the work we do."
---What you pay for is the right to enter the profession. Do I think LAw schools gauge prices? Oh heck yes. Does that mean we're worth $200K? What are you, stupid? The market drives our worth, not how much we paid to enter the field. Go whine to your next client about how your price is now triple the usual price because you want it to be.
We're paying for the right to future, secure earnings that will grow. Good lawyers with experience will garner more than $200K. But inexperienced whiny brats will not.

Does she realize how ridiculous she sounds? I can’t believe that a district judge wouldn’t have the self-awareness to realize that her credentials are inadequate for any decent private sector position.

1. Justice Goodman's comments indicate a lack of respect for the judicial system. If this how she truly feels is she really an impartial judge or is too worried about her salary to focus on adjudicating the case.
2. Supreme Court justices get very good benefits, health, pension, vacation, etc.
3. Supreme Court Justices have a whole courthouse that helps them out.

4:36 sounds like Theo Huxtable arguing with Cliff over how much he needs to make to live as an adult on the first episode of The Cosby Show. Like Theo, 4:36 is also probably 15.

3:01(2) -- The top marginal federal tax rate (which law firms pay after the second week of the year) is 35%. Tack on New York taxes, and law firms are already paying more than 40% in taxes.

5:01:
Nope. An actually grown-up who has lived in NYC on that amount -for two years, then, gasp, the pay went up!. Now am making a lot more, and more than "comfortable."

People who don't live in the real world are laughable.

4:36 What about tickets to Yankees games, 5 star dinners, alcohol, cover charges for clubs, st**p clubs and all the other goodies that make Manhattan livable. If you stick to your budget you might as well like in Weehawken.