September 2008
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket 09.29.08
*The bailout plan was hammered out this weekend, and will be voted on this week. Lawmakers will give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a bunch of money to clean up the mess that is our economy. Hopefully, Pennsylvania Avenue fares better than Wall Street. [Washington Post] *No criminal charges expected in DOJ attorney firings. [New York […]
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New York Times, Noah Feldman, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
SCOTUS... 'The World May Well Hang in the Balance'
While everyone spent the weekend talking about who bested whom in the McCain-Obama match-up, the New York Times magazine turned away from all that to focus on the really important policy makers in Washington: the Supreme Court. SCOTUS played cover model for Sunday’s NYT magazine, with HLS prof Noah Feldman’s lengthy piece, When Judges Make […] - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
Kannon Shanmugam, Musical Chairs, SCOTUS, Solicitor General's Office, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Clerks, Williams & Connolly
Musical Chairs: Kannon Shanmugam To Williams & Connolly
He's W&C's first lateral partner hire in 22 years.
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Alex Kozinski, Federal Judges, Law Schools, U.S. News
Some Weekend Updates
In the interest of completeness, here are a few quick postscripts to stories that we previously covered in these pages, but didn’t get around to mentioning during the craziness of last week. They come from the National Law Journal and/or the WSJ Law Blog. 1. Judge Robert Somma: The cross-dressing former bankruptcy judge (at right), […] -
Dissolution, Heller Ehrman, Layoffs
Heller Ehrman: Anatomy of a Dissolution
It’s official: Heller Ehrman is dissolving. We have no desire to pile on, but major firms don’t close their doors everyday. So, how does the dissolution process work exactly? The first thing Heller is required to do by law is to give notice to all their employees under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 09.26.08
* The rise and fall of Heller Ehrman. [Adam Smith, Esq.] * Homoerotic novelist > SEC attorney. [Legal Blog Watch] * The best presidential debate is the one you give yourself. [f/k/a] * Why should Wall Street tycoons be the only ones getting a bailout? [Every Day Should Be Saturday] * What do lawyers and […] -
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Elena Kagan, Law Schools
Not To Be Left Behind, Harvard Changes Grading System Too
We just brought you news of Stanford Law School changing its grading system. Now Harvard Law School is following suit. Dean Elena Kagan just sent this message out to the HLS student body: To all students: I am writing to let you know that the faculty decided yesterday to move to a grading system with […] - Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get… -
Grade Reform, Law Schools
Stanford Adopts 'Retroactive' Honors Policy:Students Complain In Real Time
Update: Harvard Law School also just announced changes to its grading system that will make it more like the Yale and Stanford systems. See here. In May, we reported that the faculty of Stanford Law School voted to change their grading system. The school went from the traditional “A, B, C, Die” system to a […] -
Gay, Gay Marriage, New York Times, Wall Street, Weddings
Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 9.21: I'll Meltdown With You
Even as the national economy teeters on the brink of collapse, Wall Street’s elite continue to flock to the altar. Click here, here, and here, and imagine what this month has been like for these people. Getting married is stressful enough; we can’t imagine doing it while at the center of a financial meltdown. In […] -
Lawsuit of the Day, Malpractice
Lawsuit of the Day: Extreme Circumcision
A Kentucky man is suing his doctor, his anesthesiologist, and their medical practice after the worst operation ever. From WLKY: According to the lawsuit, Philip Seaton, 61, went to have a circumcision last October as part of treatment for a medical condition. Seaton said when he woke up from the procedure, he realized his penis […] -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Skaddenfreude
Wilson Sonsini To Adopt Performance-Based Bonuses
It is still way too early to get hard numbers on what Biglaw bonuses will look like for 2008. But because of the economic downturn, we expect it will be a rocky bonus season. As readers of The Shock Doctrine will note, it is important to be aware of fundamental changes to the way bonuses […] -
Biglaw, Job Searches
Clients Want Associates To Get To Work
Clients want associates to remember who pays their salary. As we have previously reported, the authors of What About Clients are trying to start a “Value Movement” which, among other things, asks whether associates should pay their firm for the privilege of working. Unfortunately, this idea just won’t die. And Holden Oliver thinks that the […]
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Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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Back to the Future, Biglaw, Layoffs, Media and Journalism, Money, Skaddenfreude
Back to the Future: Stealth Layoffs in 1990
Welcome to BACK TO THE FUTURE. In this occasional ATL feature, we’ll step into a time machine and take a look at what the legal profession looked like at some point in the past. In a post about staff layoffs at Fried Frank, a commenter drew our attention to this fascinating 1990 article from the […] -
DUI / DWI, Health Care / Medicine, Jack Thompson, Morning Docket, Politics, Sex Scandals, Videos, Wall Street
Morning Docket 09.26.08
* The bailout is not on. Talks imploded at 10:30 p.m. last night. Congress is back at it today. [New York Times] * Two-time ATL Lawyer of the Day Jack Thompson, the crazy controversial video game crusader, has been permanently disbarred. [Crave / CNET News] * Words to live by: Don’t make sex videos. And […]
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Dissolution, Heller Ehrman, Layoffs
Heller Update: Dissolution Is In The Cards
At a firm-wide meeting held at 1 p.m. Pacific time, Heller associates were informed that there would be an “orderly dissolution” of the firm, starting on Monday. Associates have been given 60 days’ notice, with pay. But it’s not a severance payment. Associates are expected to show up and participate in the “orderly dissolution.” As […] -
Heller Ehrman, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Rape, Weirdness
Non-Sequiturs: 09.25.08
* If you lie to get sex — and succeed — is that rape? [Volokh Conspiracy] * What are the best case names ever? [Supreme Dicta] * I’m still waiting for somebody to give me one good reason for the third year of law school. Anyone? All of my loan repayment checks say, “For 1L […] -
Advertising, Wall Street
Skadden Rushes To Citi's Defense
You’d think Skadden attorneys would have better things to bill Citigroup for than running around after small-time advertisers. But, then again, there are an awful lot of Skadden attorneys. Citi-Mobile is an advertising company that utilizes trucks as mobile billboards. Citigroup is a large commercial bank that is trying to ride out the current economic […] -
Wall Street
FYI: The Bailout Is So Totally On
No real legal angle here since Paulson, Dodd & Co. stopped talking to the lawyers long ago. But in case you haven’t heard, the $700 billion bailout is going to happen. Boy, aren’t you glad you elected a Democratic Congress that could stand up to Bush when he goes on television, terrifies millions of Americans, […] -
Bankruptcy, Boutique Law Firms, Law Firm Mergers, Musical Chairs, Wall Street
Musical Chairs: Hughes Hubbard Is Ready For Some Action
We mentioned that litigation boutiques would likely be big winners from the market collapse. Some small firms are already cashing in. The bankruptcy boutique of Luskin, Stern & Eisler has merged with Hughes Hubbard & Reed. There was enough room on the Hughes Hubbard bandwagon for everybody at Luskin. All eight lawyers will be joining […]