In connection with on-campus interviewing season, we’re giving you a chance to assess the firms that made this year’s Vault 100 list of most prestigious law firms. The previous open threads listed firms in groups of five, but to up the pace, we’ll list them by ten from here on out. Here’s the next group, […]
* It looks like 2008 will be the worst year for law firms since 2001. The American Lawyer says the “silver lining” is that firms can “winnow out unproductive lawyers and apply greater discipline to expense control.” In other words: more layoffs, fewer perks. [American Lawyer] * Law firms aren’t the only ones suffering. Florida […]
LexisNexis sat down with John Ursin, Managing Partner at Schenck Price, to learn how the firm is using legal AI to strengthen client service and daily legal work.
Here’s an idea for how Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft — America’s Firingest Law Firm™, which laid off 35 lawyers in January, and then 96 more last month — can keep its surviving attorneys (plus all those incoming first-years) gainfully employed. Have them work on the litigation over managing partner Robert Link’s Hamptons house. Cadwalader Managing […]
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my law firm. My sin, my soul, my summer intern. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.” Now that summer associate programs are over, and most summers have offers safely […]
Reasons for reading ATL vary from person to person. But we have been told by some people that one of the greatest benefits of following the site is gaining familiarity with law firms and the differences between them. In that vein, we shall continue on with our series of open threads on the Vault 100. […]
Good news for Legal Eagle Wedding Watchers: LEWW will be returning to a more frequent and timely posting schedule! Beginning next week, we’ll once again feature our gold standard of three fabulous couples per week to ogle and dissect. We’ll bring you more hot August weddings tomorrow and Friday, but for now, it’s time for […]
Explore the mindset, cultural shifts, and training strategies that define the AI‑savvy lawyer, revealing why human judgment, standardized competence, and integrated learning—not technology alone—will shape the future of the profession.
Tropical Storm Fay — what a beeatch! Doesn’t she know the job market is tough enough as it is? The rising 2Ls at the University of Florida are really getting screwed because of Tropical Storm Fay. This thing hasn’t even hit land and is not even remotely near our school (but admittedly, probably is near […]
We received about 600 responses to this week’s ATL / Lateral Link survey on associate reviews, and there were some interesting twists. First, while most firms, 60%, only conduct reviews once a year, a growing number, 35%, are providing six-month reviews as well. A handful of firms split the difference, conducting six-month reviews for laterals […]
A tipster pointed out that NYU has revamped their website. According to the tipster, “It’s hilariously awful and probably can indicate to the Violet alumni [at ATL] just how uncool the student body has become.” This new web presence can only be understood as a direct challenge to former NYU students to find and pummel […]
In honor of the new Vault rankings, we’re doing a series of open threads on the 100 most prominent law firms. We invite you to compare and contrast the firms in the comments. In the last open thread on Vault firms 6-10, there was an animated discussion about litigation at Cleary and which Kirkland office […]
Legal work isn’t slowing down, and the firms that win won’t be the ones working harder — they’ll be the ones working smarter.
* College presidents around the country join campaign to lower the national drinking age to 18. [Associated Press] * Post-September 11 laws have allowed the federal government to track the movement of U.S. citizens across land borders, with the data to be kept on record for 15 years. Is anyone really surprised? [Washington Post] * […]
The law firm of Reed Smith — which, as its Google listing reminds us, is “[o]ne of the 15 largest law firms in the world” — has been in the news a lot lately. Here’s a quick recap. Some of the news has been good, and some not-so-good. Let’s get the bad news over with […]
[Ed. note: This is the farewell post of FROLIC & DETOUR, who was recently eliminated from ATL Idol, the “reality blogging” competition that picked ATL’s new editor. It is marked with F&D’s avatar (at right).] I’ve speculated about whether Sophist and I know each other. Well, we do. We wrote the HLS Parody together. Now […]
Last week we covered some goings-on — or non-goings-on, to those of you who found them boring — at Shearman & Sterling. Here’s a quick update. We reported that, according to the firm, there have been no staff layoffs. One source writes: I’d like to know how they define administrative staff, as they laid off […]
A recent bar passer sent this query into Freakonomics: I recently passed the bar and am currently applying for jobs. My main concern is bringing out the most charitable result. Should I work in the nonprofit section where my services are passed directly along to the most needy, or should I get the high-paying firm […]