Drinking

Summons of the Day: Get Your Government Off Of My Stoop

By Elie Mystal

Open container laws are both massively annoying and haphazardly enforced. The mere concept of it offends the notion of freedom and remains the single best reason to move to New Orleans. The law prevents anyone from drinking in public, which unfortunately requires lawyers to haggle over the definition of “public space” instead of going home […]

Uncategorized

Sullivan & Cromwell Goetz With the Program

By David Lat

When it comes to law firm swag — and compensation, and prestige — Sullivan & Cromwell has long been a market leader. Remember their famous bonsai trees? Last year, S&C made an appearance at the Lavender Law conference, an annual gathering for LGBT lawyers and law students. To improve their standing in the gay community, […]

Divorce Train Wrecks

Alternative Dispute Resolution By Frat Stud?

By Elie Mystal

SideTaker.com might be the best example of schadenfreude ever created. It is ostensibly a form of alternative dispute resolution for divorcing or generally unhappy couples. The concept is pretty simple. A disgruntled lover pays a $12 fee and posts his or her grievance on the website. Then he/she invites their partner to do the same. […]

Law Professors, Law Schools, Money

Prof Wars: $600K To Teach Corporations?

By Elie Mystal

I guess the market for law school professors is recession-proof. Stephen Bainbridge has it that Yale offfered a $600,000 poaching fee to secure a Harvard Law School corporate professor. Didn’t Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh read our coverage of Bill Henderson’s empirical evidence proving that Yale will be safe at the top for the […]

Holidays and Seasons, Job Survey

Associate Life Survey: Putting The Labor In Labor Day Weekend

By David Lat

In last Wednesday’s ATL / Lateral Link survey, we asked you whether you billed over Labor Day Weekend this year. We received 1,046 responses, and, not counting summer associates, 55% of you reported that your weekend was actually fun. Associates in New York and Denver were most likely to celebrate the holiday, with roughly two […]

Uncategorized

Clerkshipship Advice Roundup

By Kashmir Hill

Over the weekend, many readers and clerkship applicants opined that the federal hiring plan is, once again, FUBAR. However, helpful advice for applicants also came in over the comments board and email. In anticipation of the today’s noontime green flag, we bring you the best advice from your fellow ATL readers on how to handle […]

Judge of the Day, Prostitution, Sex, Sex Scandals, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns

Judge of the Day: Ronald Tills

By Elie Mystal

New York judge Ronald Tills is the guy you want in charge of your bachelor party. You might think he’s out of touch at 73 years old, but he still knows where to find the ladies. Unfortunately, they’re the kind you have to pay for. Tills pleaded guilty last week to violating the Mann Act […]

No Offers, Staff Attorneys / Discovery Attorneys, Summer Associates

Nationwide No Offer Watch: Squire Sanders
(SSD to SAs: Wannabe a staff attorney?)

By Kashmir Hill

The no-offer reports keep rolling in from our readers, but one tip about Squire, Sanders & Dempsey stopped us in our tracks: [A summer associate] at Squire Sanders got offered a staff attorney position. Apparently one-third of the class got real offers, some got staff attorney offers, and the rest? Staff attorney — i.e., a […]

Morning Docket

Morning Docket 09.08.08

By Elie Mystal

* Big government to the rescue. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be taken over and bailed out, with taxpayer-funded infusions of up to $200 billion. [Washington Post] * How do you get the youth vote out legally? Virginia says college students shouldn’t register to vote from their college address. If parents claim them as […]

Clerkships

Open Thread: Your Clerkship Offer Is Coming

By David Lat

Let us turn our attention to judges and the law students who do all their work. Monday marks the first day where judges can schedule interviews with clerkship applicants. ATL will be right there with the applicants, poring over the Clerkship Notification Blog. The plan is simple, according to the 2008 Law Clerk Hiring Plan. […]

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 09.05.08

By Elie Mystal

* No offer, no problem. Just hang a shingle. Or work for a small firm. Or … dear God could somebody please fix this economy? [Greatest American Lawyer] * Just once I’d like to see a judge run on a platform of “In my court, families are the real criminals.” You know, like they do […]

Rank Stupidity, Ridiculousness

Somebody’s Hiring

By Kashmir Hill

One of the best things about getting a law degree is that you can really help people. People in need who are being railroaded by the system. People in power who are creating jobs for the economy. And occasionally, people suffering from perma-drunk on craigslist. WANTED FRESH BARRED VA ATTORNEY just graduated college and I […]

Law Schools

The law school saga begins
(Or, Tips for 1Ls)

By Kashmir Hill

The school year has begun for many a fresh-faced law student. Most 1Ls have likely performed the starting school rituals: they’ve bought their textbooks, chosen their classes, and watched “The Paper Chase.” Now that these lawyer wannabes have embarked on the three year quest for a J.D. (three years for now at least), it is […]

Politics

What Can You Do With A Law Degree?
Join The Marines and Run For Congress

By Elie Mystal

Once you get into a top law school, staying on the Biglaw course requires determination, talent and a clear headed focus on your goals. Getting out of Biglaw requires all the same strengths, mixed with a little bit of crazy. J. Ashwin Madia has been a law firm associate and a Marine, and now he’s […]

Gunderson Dettmer, Law Firm Mergers, Musical Chairs

Musical Chairs: Cooley and Gunderson’s Failed Romance

By David Lat

Fans of Sex and the City will recall the famous episode in which Carrie was dumped via post-it note. If law firm mergers are like relationships, here’s a tale that seems as classy as breaking up by post-it. [FN1] The New York office of Gunderson Dettmer was all set to move, en masse, to Cooley […]

Elizabeth Halverson

Breaking: Judge Halverson Hospitalized After Frying-Pan Attack from Her Husband!

By David Lat

Last month, after Judge Elizabeth Halverson lost her reelection bid, we lamented her imminent departure from these pages. It seems that we spoke too soon. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal: Embattled District Judge Elizabeth Halverson is in the hospital after she was assaulted by her husband, Las Vegas police said this morning. Her injuries are […]

Law Firm Mergers, Law Firm Names, Thelen Reid & Priest

Law Firm Merger Mania: Nixon Peabody + Thelen = Nixlen Thelpea?

By Elie Mystal

Thelen has laid off attorneys and changed its name, the law firm equivalent of hitting the gym and getting a makeover. Now they’re back in the club and looking for a mate. Leigh Jones of the National Law Journal reports: Thelen and Nixon Peabody are in merger talks, with a possible agreement pending, according to […]

No Offers

Nationwide No Offer Watch: Foley Didn’t Get the Memo.
43% Offer Rate? Tastes Like Burning.

By Elie Mystal

Foley & Lardner. You’ve heard the rumors. We’ve heard the rumors. Foley & Lardner have heard the rumors and chosen not to respond. But the smoke screen cannot obscure the summer structure fire. Multiple tipsters coalesced around these numbers: 9 of 21 Foley Chicago summers received offers. But six of those offers went to IP […]