Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court nominee with the $15,000 in unpaid dental bills, doesn’t just have problems with her teeth. From the AP:
The White House says Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has broken her ankle after an airport stumble in New York City.
Sotomayor fractured her right ankle Monday morning at New York’s LaGuardia Airport before boarding a shuttle to Washington for an afternoon of meetings with senators.
She’ll keep her six appointments on Capitol Hill Monday despite the injury, which has her walking with crutches, the White House said.
A female Hispanic judge. Who made it all the way from the projects of the Bronx to Princeton and Yale Law. On crutches.
Vote against her now, Republicans. To quote Tom Goldstein: “It’s over.”
Over at Gawker, our former co-blogger Alex Pareene writes: “Now she is on crutches, so she will probably say that crippled Latinas are way wiser than dumb white men, any day now.”
Sonia Sotomayor fractures ankle at airport [Associated Press]
Forgive my ignorance, but my understanding is that skydiving “accidents” result in fatalities. Always. Jumping out of a freaking plane should not be a survivable circumstance.
But that is apparently not the case. At least not for Kristin Adduci, a Buffalo lawyer at Lewis & Lewis. Fox reports:
The Orleans County sheriff’s office says Kristin M. Adduci was knocked unconscious as she hit the ground around 10 p.m. Saturday at the Pine Hill Airport in Barre, which is about 30 miles east of Rochester.
Rochester Skydivers manager D.C. Cordaro says Adduci overshot her landing area by about 50 feet and came down hard in an adjoining field. Cordaro says the 33-year-old Buffalo lawyer broke her nose but was doing well Sunday, after being treated at a hospital.
She jumped out of a plane at night? Yeah, she’s getting the “daredevil” trait when I create her character in The Sims 3.
After the jump, some more information about Adduci.
Continue reading “Lawyer of the Day: You Can’t Kill a Good Lawyer, Even if you Drop Her Out of a Plane”
Above The Law used to be a place for perk-watching. Bonus wars! Pay raise watches! Perk craziness! Extending the length of maternity and paternity leaves!
As the economy has taken its toll on the legal industry, our coverage here has taken some dark turns. The layoff watch. The salary freeze watch. The delayed start date watch. The shrinking summer associate programs.
The New York Times has been reading. This weekend, they ran a piece proclaiming the end of Biglaw as we know it, entitled A Study in Why Major Law Firms Are Shrinking:
As the apocalypse on Wall Street ripples out into the larger economy, a thick red tide is lapping at the once-impregnable foundations of New York’s corporate law firms, threatening to turn the industry — and with it, some iconic city characters — into an endangered species.
White & Case offered itself up to the sacrificial altar for the piece, with chairman Hugh Verrier telling the tale of the firm’s troubles. White & Case has laid off over 200 associates, with the bulk of them let go on March 9, a day we called “bloody, black March Monday,” as the layoff announcements came rolling in from so many firms on that day. But the firm stands virtually alone in this NYT piece and will now be known as THE firm representing the downfall of Biglaw.
Why was Verrier willing to lay White & Case on the altar? In talking about the layoffs of associates and partners at the firm, he told the NYT:
Mr. Verrier said he saw the storm approaching shortly after he took control in 2007, and considered three options, in consultation with a group of core partners: Do nothing, which risked the firm’s survival; couch layoffs as decisions based on poor performance; or own up to the crisis and bid large numbers of lawyers a harsh but needed goodbye.
His choice to confront the situation directly, while lauded by many on the staff, carried the risk of seeming weak, of becoming the poster child for the industry’s demise. But he saw it as opening a window for White & Case to eventually reposition itself.
Perhaps this is his hope with the NYT article as well. Insight into the demise of Biglaw using White & Case as the poster child, after the jump.
Continue reading “The End of Biglaw?”
It’s a little bit early to be looking ahead to on-campus interviewing — unless, of course, you are a rising 2L who is about to get reamed. Law firms are already making plans for how they will approach the class of 2011.
The early indications are not pretty. Mayer Brown sent out a message that is sure to disappoint future IP lawyers. The firm is pulling out of the the Loyola (Chicago) Patent Law Interview Program. The program’s directors let students know the bad news, on Friday:
Dear students,
You are receiving this email because you had bid on Mayer Brown at this year’s Patent Law Interview Program. Unfortunately, the firm has had a change in plans and will not be attending the interview program on the 30th and 31st. The resumes of all students who bid on Mayer Brown have been forwarded to the firm, and if the firm identifies any students who meet their hiring needs, they will get in touch with you directly.
Best,
The Loyola Patent Law Interview Program Staff
One tipster explains the significance of this decision:
[T]his is the country’s main IP recruitment fair. Every major firm with an IP practice recruits here.
Do you think this problem is just going to affect lower-ranked law schools? Check out one student’s Columbia Early Interview Program stats, after the jump.
Continue reading “Open Thread: Is Anybody Coming to OCI This Year?”
The scene at the Harvard University graduation ceremonies — the law students are the ones holding the signs:
The American economy: set to ruin hopes and dreams one person at a time.
In fairness, I believe this picture has more to do with law students protesting Harvard’s layoffs of various staffers around the university, not the dismal economy all lawyers are facing.
Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Harvard Law School (Or: Welcome to the End Times)
* Two U.S. journalists were sentenced to 12 years in a labor prison in North Korea. [CNN]
* Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been asked to grant an emergency stay in Fiat’s acquisition of Chrysler. Will SCOTUS seize the opportunity to “decide critical, nationally significant legal issues relating to management of the economy by the United States government?” [Wall Street Journal]
* General Counsels want change they can believe in. [Law.com]
* Executive compensation oversight: now brought to you by the federal government. [New York Times]
* Will Law & Order be able to rip this one from the headlines? It’s
certainly dramatic. Here’s SCOTUSblog’s coverage of the legal
adventures of the Chrysler rescue plan. [SCOTUSblog]
* Do you remember Alan Greenspan? [Slate]
* The EPA doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job protecting the environment. [Courthouse News Service]
[Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks. Law Shucks has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker.]
In perhaps an overabundance of exuberance for even the faintest glimmer of good news, media are celebrating the May unemployment report. The 345,000 jobs lost for the month was half the average monthly decline for the preceding six months (and far better than expected), although unemployment was up to 9.4%. Much of the early giddiness ignored that second part, so despite some volatility, the markets ended the day basically flat. According to the report,
Job losses in professional and business services moderated in May, with the industry shedding 51,000 jobs. This compares with an average loss of 136,000 jobs per month in the prior 6 months.
More specifically, in the legal sector, just 1,300 jobs were lost in the month – from 1.141 million in the sector in April to 1.1397 in May.
We’ve chartified the trend for the visual learners, after the jump.
Continue reading “This Week in Layoffs: 06.06.09″
* It looks like the National Review has been mixing racist-stereotype metaphors. [Talking Points Memo]
* Traveling to America is a great way to stimulate the economy. I’d love to do it, but I’ve got these debt payments to make. Can somebody bail me out so I can stimulate the economy? [The Stimulist]
* Ambition has always been my favorite Shakespearean tragic flaw. [What About Clients?]
* Stanford Law School has some real beefcake on the faculty. [Legal Blog Watch]
* “Alien versus Creditor” [Courtoons]
* May 35th! [Underdog]
We were dying to write about this wedding announcement, featuring a slutty Strawberry Shortcake costume (WTF?) and a wacky/tacky proposal story. But alas, commenters would have crucified us for elevating comedic potential over excellence.
So behold, this week’s finalists. They include five Harvard degrees, five Yale degrees, and OMGOMGOMG the best Article III officiant ever. Enjoy.
1. Jessica Richman and Matthew Smith
2. Jessica Hertz and Christopher Angell
3. Ashley Lynn and Kenneth Leonczyk Jr.
The scoop on these legal-eagle weddings, after the jump.
Continue reading “Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 5.31: Canon-Baller”
We’ve been keeping track of law schools that are coming up with new programs to help their graduates navigate the terrible job market. Even if these measures help a law school (a) keep its “employed upon graduation” statistic high or (b) make money, law students need all the help they can get right now.
The administration of the University of Michigan Law School availed themselves of the quiet time after graduation to come up with some new programs:
With exams behind us and the new class of summer starters now on campus, we anticipate a busy and productive academic year ahead. However, these are not ordinary times in our world, as we face a continued global recession and uncertain legal employment landscape; it is not “business as usual.” These times require a proactive and strategic effort on the part of the whole Law School community, and so I write to update you on some of the work the Law School has undertaken to mitigate the negative consequences of the economic downturn for Michigan Law students, as well as offer some guidance on how best to approach employment searches for 2009/2010.
It’s certainly a better use of their time than fending off FOIA requests. The law school announced a slew of new programs aimed at recent graduates and rising 2Ls and 3Ls.
Additional details after the jump.
Continue reading “Michigan Law Offers Employment Help to 2009 and 2010 Grads”
Many have noted that the jobless rate hit 9.4% today, and many are calling that excellent news. Bloomberg reports:
The U.S. lost fewer jobs than forecast in May, reinforcing signs that the deepest recession in half a century is starting to abate….
“The recession is very close to an end,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, whose payrolls forecast matched the closest estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. “The labor market is still pretty awful, but vastly better than it was.”
Did anybody else just hear Kevin Bacon screaming “all is well”?
But maybe the new numbers are positive. The L.A. Times tells us about the happy experiences of the “funemployed”:
Michael Van Gorkom was laid off by Yahoo in late April. He didn’t panic. He didn’t rush off to a therapist. Instead, the 33-year-old Santa Monica resident discovered that being jobless “kind of settled nicely.” …
What most people would call unemployment, Van Gorkom embraced as “funemployment.”
While millions of Americans struggle to find work as they face foreclosures and bankruptcy, others have found a silver lining in the economic meltdown. These happily jobless tend to be single and in their 20s and 30s. Some were laid off. Some quit voluntarily, lured by generous buyouts.
Not to have a type A meltdown, but what the hell are these people talking about?
I call shenanigans, after the jump.
Continue reading “Funemployment Rate Reaches 9.4%”
[Ed. note: The following piece was authored by The Legal Tease, of Sweet Hot Justice fame. Check out her other musings from Sweet Hot Justice here.]
Quick question: When you think of the average married, middle-aged guy slogging his way up the Big Law partner track, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? A pasty, bloated puppet? A bald head? An over-worked, under-stimulated robot, bunking in at the office while the wife lies safely, if not securely, back at home? Well, if the state of affairs in and around my firm is any indication, you’d be off the mark — way off the mark. Because as far as I can tell lately, when it comes to Big Law romance, a wedding ring is the new corporate aphrodisiac.
Just last Thursday, I was at a happy hour with a few guys from work when one, a married finance associate named Carson, suddenly came back from the bar, flushed and jittery. He claimed that a woman had just sidled up next to him, put her hand next to his, fingered his wedding ring and cooed out of the blue, “I think married men are sexy.” Carson, a sweet, former engineer and admitted card-carrying nerd, was so flustered that he took off without even taking the drink he’d just bought. So, obviously, the woman was a hooker… right? Who else would come up to a skinny, bling-free dork at a bar and lay down a line like that? Why not target the group of buzzed, Brioni-bearing bankers two feet down? Or could it be that this woman actually just had… a thing for nerdy married lawyers? A niche fetish, if you will? Sort of like those women who only date death-row inmates and convicted arsonists?
I chalked it up to a random anecdote and put it out of my mind. But then, just a couple of days later, at dinner with my friend, Kirsten, a single, fourth-year Big Law employment litigator with a lawyer’s brain and a stripper’s body, I started to wonder. I was telling her about my latest experiment in humiliation — one that found me crushing on (and then promptly crushed by) a charming, flirtatious client who turned out to be covertly engaged — and she actually put down her watermelon mojito mid-sip, shot me a look and told me I should’ve just “gone for it.” When I asked what exactly there was to “go for” in this situation, she shrugged and looked down.
“I don’t know. It’s just easier.” She then told me that she was in the middle of a “successful” affair with a married associate at her old firm. She explained that she wasn’t particularly head-over-heels, but the arrangement worked just fine because, after working insane hours week after week, she was able to get what she wanted and knew where she stood. And in case I was wondering, yes, she was the one who targeted him. My thoughts shot back to Carson and his fingered wedding ring. It was my turn to put down the drink.
More after the jump.
Continue reading “Respect the Ring?”
There has been a lot going on at WilmerHale recently. Summer associates are coming, regular associates are “transitioning.” The uncertainty has made some WilmerHale alumni who are currently clerking wonder if they can return to the firm when their clerkships end.
Above the Law has received reports from current clerks who were expecting to be hired back by WilmerHale after their clerkships are over. Some tipsters report that WilmerHale has decided not to rehire any of its former associates who took a year off to clerk. We know that many clerks are worried about being in a similar situation, so we asked WilmerHale clarify its position on rehiring clerks. The firm gave us this response:
All former summer associates who received an offer and then went on to clerk after graduation from law school have been invited to join the firm as associates. The firm, however, does not tell associates who leave for a clerkship that they can return after their clerkships are complete; rather, former associates must reapply to the firm, and we have not historically given offers of employment to all former associates at the conclusion of their clerkships. This year, we extended offers to some but not all of the former associates who inquired about returning; in addition, we have hired a small number of very promising judicial clerks who had not previously been with the firm.
So, if you clerk before you start at the firm, you are golden. But if you worked for a couple of years and then decided to clerk, best of luck.
Despite the difficulties clerks are facing when trying to get back into the Biglaw market, there are still many people who want to cool their heels as a clerk. One deferred incoming WilmerHale associate was so happy to receive a clerkship that the firm posted his gushing thanks on its internal website.
More details after the jump.
Continue reading “Can Clerks Come Home Again? It Depends at WilmerHale.”
* The manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Tony La Russa, is suing Twitter over a fake Twitter account bearing his name. I have the same problem (real me = ElieNYC). But unlike La Russa, I don’t have a J.D. from Florida State or Albert Pujols on my side. [ESPN]
* The Senate Judiciary Committee has posted Sotomayor’s responses to the standard questionnaire for SCOTUS nominees. [Committee on the Judiciary; or PDF (one document)]
* British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is reshuffling deck chairs his cabinet in an attempt to keep his job. [BBC]
* Will the Palm Pre become a serious challenger to the iPhone? I bet there’s a iPhone Application that can tell you. [New York Times]
* Disney has been accused of polluting groundwater. This wouldn’t be a problem if Wall-E’s girlfriendbot could do something useful. [Courthouse News Service]
* It’s not entirely clear if Bill killed himself. (Too soon?) [CNN]
* Sacha Baron Cohen is a lean, mean, legal fee machine. [WSJ Law Blog]
Each week, Above the Law’s sponsors generate content for your edification and entertainment. You can find their posts in Sponsored Content, which runs along the right-hand side of the ATL main page. Here are the latest offerings:
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Incoming first-year associates at Morrison & Foerster will not be able to start until April 2010. When they do, you can bet they’ll be happy to show up for early morning calisthenics, after they’ve had to wait for so long to live the dream.
But how much will they be getting paid? As of right now, the firm isn’t sure. The first years who plan to start in April received a message from the firm this afternoon:
I am writing to confirm April 5, 2010 as your starting date as an associate at Morrison & Foerster, subject to acceleration to a mutually agreeable earlier date if the need arises. You will join the firm as a member of the salary class of 2009 (subject to any standard salary credit associated with advanced degrees).
Additionally, I want to let you know that we are reviewing market data regarding starting salaries. We will contact you closer to your starting date to confirm starting salaries. We will provide an updated offer letter, along with an updated handbook, at that time.
The recruiting department will be contacting you to confirm the details of your $5,000 monthly stipend for the period from November 2, 2009 through the date you join the firm, as well as reimbursement of up to $500 per month of your health insurance premium.
We look forward to welcoming you to the firm.
If you have any questions about your start date, or other matters, please contact the recruiting department in your office.
More details after the jump.
Continue reading “Morrison & Foerster Starting Salaries Are Still Up in the Air”
* Did Clemson cheat on the U.S. News rankings? [TaxProf Blog]
* Would you slap your father? I would, but he’d duck, and that would be the point when I started losing. [Blonde Justice]
* What it takes to pass the bar exam might not have anything to do with what it takes to be a practicing lawyer. [Ideoblog]
* Speaking of Sotomayor, what does she think about torture? [CQ Politics]
* A guy tried to argue that his “shared racial heritage” with his daughter should prevent the court from terminating his parental rights. In other words, a guy lost his parental rights and wasn’t even able to come up with a cogent argument to save them. [Volokh Conspiracy]
* I actually thought there was a lot of beautiful eye-candy during Brian Williams’s two-night Obama special. [Nylon Blogs]
* Are you afraid of “feminization?” [Law and More]
Here’s some interesting information about the personal finances of Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.), nominated last month to the U.S. Supreme Court. A tipster directed our attention to this post from the NYT’s Caucus blog, observing: “You can’t spend most of your professional life as a judge and get rich. Maybe Biglaw is the way to go.”
This excerpt hits the highlights:
[Judge Sotomayor] disclosed few assets other than her home in New York. After 17 years on the federal bench, Judge Sotomayor reported having just $31,985 in cash and no stocks, bonds or securities. She has a $381,775 mortgage on her home, valued at $1 million, and owes $15,000 in dentist bills and another $15,000 in credit card bills.
Fifteen grand in dentist’s bills? Well, she does have a nice smile.
In defense of Judge Sotomayor’s financial state, she’s a single woman, no kids, with a six-figure income ($179,500), high job security, and generous retirement benefits. For competing assessments of Her Honor’s finances, see TaxProf Blog.
New Documents Reveal Sotomayor’s White House Contacts [The Caucus / New York Times]
Judge Sotomayor’s Savings [TaxProf Blog]
