June 2009
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Robert Wone
The Mysterious Murder of Robert Wone: An Update
We’ve written before about the tragic, still unsolved murder of Robert Wone, a promising young Asian-American attorney in Washington. At the time of his death, Wone was the general counsel of Radio Free Asia and president-elect of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association in D.C. We never got to meet Wone during the time that […] -
Career Alternatives, Fabulosity, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell
Career Alternatives for (Laid-Off) Lawyers: Interior Designer
Every once in while, we like to explore career alternatives for attorneys, i.e., things you can do with a law degree that don’t involve Biglaw or contract attorney work. These days, we’ve come to think of the series of open threads as things you might do if you can’t find Biglaw or contract work. Do […] - Sponsored
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 06.03.09
* Next week, the inventor of Above the Law (David Lat) will be getting together with the inventor of Lolcats (Ben Huh). “Lawlcats” for everyone! [Asian American Writers’ Workshop] * Wait, did you want more news about Eliot Spitzer and his sexual proclivities? Well, why didn’t you say so? [Dealbreaker] * Kiwi Camera has “taken […]
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Gay, Gay Marriage
Breaking: New Hampshire Will Have Gay Marriage
The AP is reporting that the New Hampshire state legislature has passed a gay marriage law that the governor will likely sign: Gov. John Lynch is expected to sign [the proposed legislation] into law later Wednesday. It would make New Hampshire the sixth state to allow gays to marry. The bill would expand religious protections […] -
Education / Schools, Law Schools, Money, Student Loans, UNC Law
UNC Law Abruptly Ends Loan Repayment Assistance Program
On Monday, we warned you that student loan forgiveness programs were under attack. Today, the University of North Carolina School of Law informed students that the school could not afford to make the promised loan repayments to students in low income jobs. Here’s the email from UNC Law Dean Jack Boger: We are writing to […] -
Contempt, Federal Judges, Judicial Conference, Rudeness
How To Curse Out A Judge in New Orleans
There are a lot of things you can do in New Orleans that you can’t do anywhere else. But cursing out a judge is apparently not one of them. Ashton O’Dwyer has made a bit of a name for himself in the post-Katrina universe. A tipster provides some backstory on this former lawyer: Ashton O’Dwyer […] -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools
ABA is Taking a Look at Law School Accreditation
Hallelujah! Bring me the finest bagels and muffins from throughout the land! According to the ABA Journal, the ABA is going to take a serious look at the accreditation and review standards for law schools: For months, the ABA’s law school accrediting body has quietly been working on a comprehensive review of its often controversial […] -
Admin, Announcements, Deferral Stipend, Job Searches, Pro Bono, Public Interest
Paging Deferred Associates -- and the Organizations Who Love Them
We’ve received countless requests for shout-outs from worthy non-profit organizations that are seeking deferred associates and/or associates on leave from their law firms (pursuant to such programs as Skadden’s Sidebar program, Dewey’s DL Pursuits, etc.). Alas, due to the sheer number of these requests, we can’t mention them all on the main ATL homepage (which […] - Sponsored
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How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Racism
Marcus Epstein's Facebook Adventure
The Marcus Epstein story just keeps getting better and better. We reported that the Tom Tancredo staffer lost his spot at UVA Law school after he slapped a woman in the head after using a racial epithet. How do you top getting drunk and slapping black women? Talking Points Memo found Epstein’s facebook photo album […] -
Dorsey & Whitney, Salary Cuts
Salary Cut Watch: Dorsey & Whitney Cuts Salaries by 10%
Yesterday, we reported that Dorsey & Whitney laid off 55 staffers. Despite the staff layoffs, we mentioned that Dorsey had generally avoided the worst aspects of the economic recession. Well, “not so fast my friends.” After our report went up, associates at Dorsey & Whitney flooded the ATL inbox with news of a ten percent […] -
Contract Attorneys, Document Review, Layoffs, Notes from the Breadline
Notes from the Breadline: Comes a Time (Part IV)
Ed. note: Welcome to the latest installment of “Notes from the Breadline,” a column by a laid-off lawyer in New York. Prior columns are collected here. You can reach Roxana St. Thomas by email (at roxanastthomas@gmail.com), follow her on Twitter, or find her on Facebook. I am sitting in the war room, trying to guess […] -
Bankruptcy, Clarence Thomas, Morning Docket
Morning Docket 06.03.09
* Justice Clarence Thomas cut SCOTUS to go speak to a high school’s graduating class. [NBC Washington] * The Second Circuit puts the brake on the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings. [Washington Post] * Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: New York judges get a vote ruling of confidence in their request for a salary increase. [New York Law […]
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Gay, Violence
Does Intolerance Abound at Virginia Law Schools?
Yesterday, we brought you the story of Marcus Epstein — the karate-chopping congressional staffer who was heading to UVA Law until yesterday. Virginia is for… haters? Back in April 2007, the Washington Blade ran a story detailing difficult times for gay students at Washington & Lee School of Law: Reports have circulated that two gay […]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 06.02.09
* All you need to know about the J.D. Salinger lawsuit. If you had a basically competent high school English teacher, you should be able to follow along. [The Legal Satyricon] * Gosh, I would never even think of posting nude pictures of ex-lovers who have spurned me. No really. I would totally never, ever […] -
Email Scandals, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Bingham McCutchen Staffer Doesn't Want to be a 'Stepford' Secretary
Don’t call it a memo, call it a mission statement. This afternoon, just before lunch, a secretary in the New York office of Bingham McCutchen decided to express her feelings about the recession to her law firm colleagues. All of them. All Bingham partners, counsel, associates, and staff, in every office, received this message to […] -
Crime, Federal Judges, Samuel Kent, Sex Scandals, Sexual Harassment
Judge Samuel Kent Hangs Up His Robe
The Not-So-Honorable Samuel Kent — the first federal judge to be charged with a sex crime, and now a convicted felon, after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice — is leaving the bench. But he’s taking his sweet time about it: U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent on Tuesday submitted his ”unconditional resignation,” which will take […] -
Contests, Lawyer of the Day, New Yorker
Lawyer of the Day: Larry Wood
We know many lawyers who agonize over the New Yorker magazine’s weekly caption contest, desperately hoping to come up with a gnomic, witty caption worthy of selection. But we know of only one lawyer who has managed to come up with a winning caption three times. Let us introduce you to Larry Wood, an attorney […] -
Dorsey & Whitney, Staff Layoffs
Staff Layoff Watch: Dorsey & Whitney Shows 55 Employees the Door
Bad news coming out of Minneapolis today. A Dorsey & Whitney spokesperson has confirmed to Above the Law that 55 staffers have been let go. The firm tell us that the 55 staffers represent about 7% of Dorsey & Whitney’s support staff. The layoffs took place across seven of the firm’s offices, but the spokesperson […] -
MoFo Associates, Are You At Work Yet? You So Better Be At Work Already!
This morning (just after 8:00 a.m. EDT if you must know) Morrison Foerster associates received a whip-cracking message from the firm’s New York managing partner, Charles Kerr: As we move into the summer, I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone about the expectations in this office about when the work day […] -
Biglaw, Layoffs, Severance
Nationwide Layoff Watch: Getting the Message Across to WilmerHale Associates
Here on Above the Law, we have extensively covered layoffs caused by the shrinking economy. We’ve also covered stealth layoffs. And we’ve covered performance review layoffs that have been done out in the open. But at WilmerHale it looks like we are seeing an example of this: economically induced performance reviews resulting in stealth messages […]