October 2008
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Edward Nottingham, Judge of the Day, Prostitution, Sex, Sex Scandals
Chief Judge 'Naughty' Nottingham to Resign?
Chief Judge Edward Nottingham is a familiar figure for long-time ATL readers. The Colorado federal judge has starred in past posts such as “Chief Judge Nottingham: Putting the ‘Ho’ in Your Honor?” and “Chief Judge Nottingham Likes Strippers; Handicapped People, Not So Much.” A quick recap of “Naughty” Nottingham’s misadventures: being too drunk to remember […] -
Holidays and Seasons, Job Survey
Associate Life Survey: Discovery Over Columbus Day Weekend?
So far this year, we’ve found that an awful lot of ATL readers get in the billable spirit over the holidays. Back in January and February, we learned that about a quarter of you worked on Christmas, almost a third of you worked over New Year’s, and more than half of you worked on Martin […] - Sponsored
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Grade Reform, Law Schools
NYU Law Grade Reform: Another Law School Loses Its Fastball
Remember the barely watchable movie Major League II? Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn arrives at spring training with an assortment of off-speed curveballs and change-ups, abandoning his 100-mph-plus fastball essentially because he’s gone soft. That (terrible) plot is being carried out by the nation’s top law schools. We’ve reported on HLS and SLS moving away from […]
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Job Searches, Summer Associates
More Bad News: The Monday Edition
Unfortunately, this Monday brings more statistics and indications that the job market for lawyers is in very bad shape. The National Law Journal is reporting that while law students are expected to graduate with an average of $73,000 of debt, job prospects are looking especially weak: [W]hile most would-be lawyers already have accepted that only […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket 10.20.08
[Ed. Note: Eliza Gray is a new writer for Above the Law. She graduated from Harvard and after a six month stint in Brussels covering European Union politics at the European Voice, she moved back to New York to pursue a journalism career. She and Kash will be alternating Morning Docket responsibilities.] * Hit my […]
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Adam Liptak, Ben Wittes, Dahlia Lithwick, Jan Crawford Greenburg, Job Searches, John Roberts, Linda Greenhouse, Media and Journalism, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Tony Mauro, UVA Law
Covering The Court: Thoughts From Dahlia Lithwick
We spent a fair amount of time last week in lovely Charlottesville, Virginia, where we spoke at the University of Virginia Law School (coverage of our talk appears here and here). We spent lots of quality time with UVA Law students — at dinner, at a karaoke bar, and walking around the beautiful grounds. One […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 10.17.08
* Now that the debates are done, it’s time for the dance-off. [MiniMovie] * Somebody broke into David and Victoria Beckham’s house, but they left the mojo. [Popsquire] * Nageley, Meredith & Miller attorney suggests waterboarding Barack Obama. At last night’s Al Smith dinner Obama revealed that he was actually from Planet Krypton so everything […] -
Layoffs
Rumors Of Dechert's Demise Are Slightly Exaggerated
We really don’t know why everybody is so certain that Dechert is laying off a massive number of people. 20, 50, “nearly 100 attorneys,” no number seems too high or outrageous to post in the comments when it comes to Dechert’s “stealth” layoffs. Clearly the firm is going through some kind of reorganization process, but […] - Sponsored
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Biglaw
Law School and GPA: Not Indicative of Long Term Success
A new study commissioned by an undisclosed top 25 law firm suggests that neither a law school’s ranking nor a student’s GPA is a great predictor of an attorney’s long term success in Biglaw: Law school rank and GPA were only moderately predictive of success, the study found. In general, one of the study’s authors, […] -
Judge of the Day
Using the Bathroom = Indecent Exposure?
A Florida juvenile court judge is embroiled in a scandal we don’t quite understand. Judge Douglas J. Chumbley resigned yesterday, according to the Miami Herald. Here’s the puzzling reason why: Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Douglas J. Chumbley resigned Thursday after he was accused of exposing his genitalia in a Starbucks bathroom stall at the University of […] -
Biglaw, Job Searches, Law Schools, Summer Associates
Accept Your Offers: Stop Screwin' Around You Kids Screw Around Too Much
In case you haven’t been paying attention, the economy is bad. People are losing their jobs, firms are cutting back on summer programs, and some firms are dissolving. If you are a 2L sitting on multiple offers, could you please — for the love of God — accept one of them already, so the spots […] -
Politics, SCOTUS
SCOTUS Swats Ohio GOP's Voter Registration 'Hail Mary'
The Supreme Court ruled today to stay a restraining order requiring Ohio to verify thousands of voter registrations by today: The Supreme Court appeal by [Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer] Brunner, a Democrat, said many mismatches will appear for trivial reasons. She said Wednesday that as many as 200,000 of Ohio’s 660,000 new registrants this […] -
Breaking: Explosion at Georgia Law Firm
There was an explosion at McCamy in Georgia this morning, according to published reports. Apparently there have been injuries but no deaths. The police have a suspect in custody: District Attorney Kermit McManus said he believed the bombing stemmed from a bitter lawsuit. We hope everybody is safe. Injuries in blast atlaw firm; man questioned […]
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ACLU, Holidays and Seasons
The Scarlet Pumpkin
True story: when I was 8-years-old living on Long Island I went trick-or-treating with my friends without adult supervision. On the way home, my bag full of goodies, I got jumped by a group of older kids. My “friends” were busy running away while I tried to “reason” with the bullies. Sensing the these boys […] -
K&L Gates to Nickels and Dimes
Just yesterday we told you about K&L Gates’s seemingly strong position despite this depressing economy. We even included a quote from firm chairman Peter Kalis crowing about his firm: We have no debt — no long-term debt, no short-term debt — and therefore have a balance sheet that allows us to grow aggressively into a […] -
Cellphones, Department of Justice, Exercise, Job Searches, Morning Docket, Politics, U.S. Attorneys Offices, UVA Law, Wall Street
Morning Docket 10.17.08
* Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias speaks out against the DOJ’s ACORN probe. [Talking Points Memo] * Judges in China refuse to take lawsuits over tainted milk. [Associated Press] * They may cause rashes. And brain cancer. But we still love them. [Reuters] * Grand jury investigations for Lehman, in New York and New Jersey. […]
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Dissolution, Heller Ehrman
So Much For 60 Days WARNing: Part II
Another week, another Heller Ehrman action that is out of step with their original dissolution plan. This time it looks like even “essential” Heller employees and associates are being terminated at the end of this week. After the jump, read the full Heller Dissolution Committee Letter. And notice how similar it is to the last […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 10.16.08
* Joe the Plumber actually owes over a thousand dollars in back taxes. The McCain campaign really needs to hire a professional vetter. [TaxProf Blog] * Should bar passage really be a factor in rating law schools? [Prawfs Blawg] * Class action about faulty breasts falls low. [Point of Law] * Bracewell & Giuliani promise […] -
Layoffs, Sonnenschein
Update: Sonnenschein Confirms Attorney Layoffs
A spokesperson for Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has confirmed that there were layoffs at the firm yesterday. The spokesperson said that 25 attorneys were laid off. The firm said they waited until they could personally notify all of the attorneys before they went public with the information. The firm was not able to confirm how […] -
Barack Obama, John McCain, Lawsuit of the Day, Sarah Palin
Lawsuit of the Day: Stop Trying To Hurt Obama
A Kansas City woman has sued Sarah Palin, John McCain, and other members of the McCain-Palin campaign in Federal Court. She alleges the Republican ticket has caused her “terror of the heart” over the safety of Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama. According to the complaint: Plaintiff Mary Kay Green, pro se, suffered profound despair at […]