A while back, Above the Law put out a call for new interns.
We were flooded with applications. Nearly 80 people sent in résumés, writing samples, and funny emails showing they had the stuff to deal with the irreverent world of Above the Law. We saw many qualified candidates, and we want to thank everybody who applied.
We have selected three people to join the fray. They’ve been working behind the scenes for a couple of weeks now. Moderating comments, editing copy, and conducting research projects. We’re now ready to publicly welcome them to the larger ATL community.
After the jump, say hello to Karen, Matt, and Alex. Each one of our new contributors has taken the time to write a brief bio, for your amusement.
Archive for June 2009
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Posted in:
Biglaw, Partner Issues
Managing Partners Are More Confident: But They Still Expect to Fire You
By Elie Mystal
The second quarter’s Managing Partner Confidence Index is a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that the managing partners at the nation’s law firms are more confident than they were last quarter. The bad news is that managing partners overall are still expressing “negative” confidence — and that could lead to fresh layoffs in over the next six months. The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports the good news:
The good news: the overall confidence index was up 23 points to 91. We’re still in “negative” territory, but only slightly. Summarizes Citi’s Mark Costiglio: “Managing partners are much less pessimistic about the broader economy and the legal market, and there’s a sense that the worst is behind them.”
And the bad news:
The not-so-goods: Expenses. MPs continue, it seems, to fret over expenses, especially lawyer compensation. And that, LBers, could lead to a continuation of the parade of horribles: layoffs, hiring-freezes, salary-cuts and the like.
After the jump, the Managing Partner Confidence Index executive summary points out the ugly news.
Continue reading “Managing Partners Are More Confident: But They Still Expect to Fire You”
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Posted in:
Contests, Music, Williams & Connolly
ATL Field Trip: The Battle of the Law Firm Bands (Part 2)
By David Lat
The members of Dangerous Communication Device (Williams & Connolly), celebrating their victory.
Last night we reported on the Battle of the Law Firm Bands, held last week in Washington, DC. The evening raised over $80,000 for Gifts for the Homeless, a non-profit, all-volunteer organization supported by the city’s legal community to help the homeless.
Eleven bands competed, and one was victorious: Dangerous Communication Device, from Williams & Connolly. They won by raising more money than any other band: over $15,000. (The vote was conducted “Chicago-style,” with each vote requiring a dollar contribution to GFTH.)
Read our interview with the band, after the jump.
Continue reading “ATL Field Trip: The Battle of the Law Firm Bands (Part 2)”
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Posted in:
Education / Schools, Money, Student Loans
Student Loan Bailout: You Only Have to be Broke for Ten Years
By Elie Mystal
A new federal program promises student loan forgiveness for people who qualify after they’ve dutifully paid their debts for ten years. The program will also cap monthly loan payments depending on income. The act, passed in 2007, is set to become effective on July 1st. The National Law Journal reports the awesome news:
Some members of the class of 2009 will have less to complain about, however. A new federal program intended to help borrowers manage their student debt goes into effect on July 1. The legislation — called the College Cost Reduction & Access Act — will cap monthly loan payments according to income and forgive student debt balances after designated periods of time. For attorneys, the main beneficiaries will be those who go on to have long-term public interest careers. But the program will also make loan payments more affordable for all attorneys with high debt loads and relatively low incomes.
“There are a lot of things that are making it tough for new graduates, with the tight job market and the deferrals,” said Heather Jarvis, a senior program manager at Equal Justice Works, an organization that encourages attorneys to undertake public interest law careers. “But there has never been a better time to graduate, as far as student loans.”
Essentially this is the best piece of news for the class of 2009 since they got into law school in the first place. The government will forgive outstanding loans after ten years of payments for people who work in public interest and other qualifying organizations.
Obviously this program is geared towards students who take public interest jobs. Biglaw lawyers are still on their own with their debts:
This option wouldn’t make sense for graduates who take jobs at large firms paying upwards of $100,000, Jarvis said, but it might be right for the sizable segment of law school graduates who don’t earn that kind of money.
“The reality is that most law graduates don’t take those jobs and earn those salaries,” she said. “A lot of people make $60,000 or $70,000 a year. At these salaries, they would qualify for the income-based repayment plan. Debt loads are getting so high that it’s typical for someone to graduate from law school with $100,000 or more in debt. If you were going to stretch out paying your debt anyway, [income-based repayment] is a good option to consider.”
Right now, it appears that many students who can qualify for the program don’t even know it exists. More details after the jump.
Continue reading “Student Loan Bailout: You Only Have to be Broke for Ten Years”
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Posted in:
Layoffs, Notes from the Breadline
Notes from the Breadline: Our Endless Numbered Days
By Roxana St. Thomas
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.
We’ve all heard the statistics about attorney layoffs, unemployment, and the sad state of the economy. But do the hard numbers tell the full story of life in the breadline? Inspired by the Harper’s Index, today I offer you the Notes from the Breadline Index.
Months in the breadline: 6
Estimated number of jobs applied for: 266
Estimated number of responses received to job inquiries: 23
Follow-up phone calls returned: 2
Soup recipes developed: 4
Meals consisting primarily of soup: 87
Approximate hours spent online trolling for potential jobs: 745
Average number of times, per day, email inbox checked for responses to job inquiries: 28
Percentage of times inbox check followed by fleeting thought that email has stopped working: 8
Number of evil cats currently freeloading off meager household income: 2
Number of times I have seriously considered the employability of cats: 3
Half-knitted scarves finished now that I have “time on my hands”: 0
Maximum number of days without washing hair: 5
Estimated number of jobs applied for: 266
Estimated number of responses received to job inquiries: 23
Follow-up phone calls returned: 2
Soup recipes developed: 4
Meals consisting primarily of soup: 87
Approximate hours spent online trolling for potential jobs: 745
Average number of times, per day, email inbox checked for responses to job inquiries: 28
Percentage of times inbox check followed by fleeting thought that email has stopped working: 8
Number of evil cats currently freeloading off meager household income: 2
Number of times I have seriously considered the employability of cats: 3
Half-knitted scarves finished now that I have “time on my hands”: 0
Maximum number of days without washing hair: 5
More of Roxana by the numbers, after the jump.
Continue reading “Notes from the Breadline: Our Endless Numbered Days”
Did a number of you LexisNexis users receive this disturbing notice in the mail from LexisNexis?
Seisint (not to be confused with Skynet) is a data-mining company that LexisNexis bought for $775 million, back in 2004. The company created “the Matrix” which gave state and federal governments the ability to analyze records after 9/11.
Back in 2004, LexisNexis was jubilant about the acquisition:
“This is definitely next generation,” said Norm Willox, LexisNexis’s chief officer for privacy, industry and regulatory affairs. “This is the latest and greatest.”
But privacy experts were worried about the technology:
Civil liberties activists warned that the combination of Seisint technology and LexisNexis’s global reach could be massively intrusive if used in the wrong way. “It will hurtle us even faster toward a surveillance society,” said Barry Steinhardt, director of the Technology and Liberty Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. “It can’t be good news here.”
Willox said such fears are overblown because of the care his company takes to ensure that individual privacy is not abused. “LexisNexis has a long history and is well respected for going the extra mile to protect personal privacy,” Willox said. “This or any acquisition is not going to change that.”
Why did LexisNexis wait so long to tell people that its data-mining program had been compromised? More details from the letter after the jump.
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Posted in:
Admin, Announcements, Money, Wall Street
A Free ATL Event: Market Volatility & Your Finances
(Or: Dude, Where’s my 401(k)?)
By Above the Law
You’d be surprised by how often we receive requests for financial advice around here (even though that’s really more the province of Dealbreaker). E.g., should I refinance my law school loans? How much should I be saving for retirement? I’ve just been laid off; what should I do with my 401(k)?
These questions lie beyond our expertise. So we’ve put together a panel of experts to offer insight into current market conditions and what they mean for your personal finances. This free event is taking place on MONDAY, JUNE 29, at 6:30 PM.
The roundtable will be preceded by a sunset cocktail hour, in a room with stunning Central Park views (see above). So come enjoy free drinks with the ATL editors (Lat, Elie, Kash and Marin); pick up some complimentary swag, including Above the Law t-shirts and gavel-shaped stress balls; and then sit down for an informative panel discussion:
MARKET VOLATILITY AND YOUR FINANCES
When: Monday, June 29, 2009, at 6:30 p.m.
Where: 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York
Speakers:
• Sam Mari, VP, AllianceBernstein
• Bob Stansbury, VP, AXA Equitable
• Deborah O’Neil, J.D., CFPTM, CLU, VP AXA Equitable’s Advanced Markets Team
• David Lat, Above the Law (moderator)
Cost: The event is free and open to the public — feel free to bring friends — but RSVPs are required. Please email rsvp@breakingmedia.com.
The event is less than a week away, and although admission is free, seats are limited. We’ve already received a fair number of responses — so if you think you might be interested in going, please rsvp to save a spot for yourself.
Hope to see you there!
* Florida lawyer Frederick Schaffer smells money in his lawsuit against cold medicine Zicam. Or doesn’t smell it rather, claiming that the medicine made him lose that sense. [Boston Herald]
* Nevada Supreme Court Justice Kris Pickering keeps order in the court, but causes chaos in a UPS parking lot. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
* It’s a buyer’s market for laterals. [National Law Journal via ABA Journal]
* A guilty plea from Chris Brown. There will be no Rihanna-Brown duets in the near future. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg issued a “two-way” stay-away order. [Associated Press]
* …Courthouse groupies are a testament to the power of music. [Popsquire]
* In a New Yorker profile in May, Jeffrey Toobin argued that John Roberts would politicize SCOTUS. Does last week’s decision regarding no right to DNA evidence for criminals support that argument? [True/Slant]
* Good parting gift for a fashionable Con Law prof? [Highsnobette]
Lining up outside The Black Cat for the Battle of the Law Firm Bands. The evening was sold out — 1,000 tickets in all.
We just got back from Washington, DC, where we spent a few days attending the 2009 convention of the American Constitution Society (ACS). We may have a post or two about the conference later.
While in the nation’s capital, we also attended this fun event: the sixth annual Battle of the Law Firm Bands. A description:
Lawyers from prominent area law firms will compete in a hotly contested sixth annual Battle of the Law Firm Bands to benefit Gifts for the Homeless, Inc. (GFTH), a non-profit, all-volunteer organization supported by the city’s legal community to help the homeless. The Black Cat, a premier hot-spot in DC’s historic U Street district, has partnered with GFTH to host “Banding Together 2009″ on Thursday, June 18, from 7:00 pm to midnight.
At the stroke of midnight, one band will be crowned champion for having raised the most money from the crowd through “Chicago-style” voting (each dollar equals one vote – vote early and often!). GFTH will use 100% of the money donated to purchase thermal underwear, sweatshirts, sweatpants, hats, gloves, underwear, socks, blankets and other essential new clothing items for homeless men, women, and children; the clothing is distributed to more than 30 shelters throughout the metro area. GFTH has already raised over $100,000 in connection with Banding Together 2008.
It doesn’t surprise us that Biglaw denizens would be willing to help the homeless. There but for the grace of God….
Our belated account of the evening — The BLT wrote it up in more timely fashion — after the jump.
Continue reading “ATL Field Trip: The Battle of the Law Firm Bands (Part 1)”
* The Kindle is a business expense now. Excellent. Now even more people can get their hands on the best thing ever. [Legal Blog Watch]
* Appellate Court Judge Warren D. Wolfson, has been named interim dean at DePaul College of Law. Either Judge Wolfson hasn’t been following along with the fiasco at DePaul, or the man is quite courageous. [Law Librarian Blog]
* For those of you in the Silicon Valley, here’s an event on Wednesday that may be worth your while. [Santa Clara Law]
* Working from home is totally awesome. Unless you live in a closet that you’d hoped to move out of by now, but you can’t thanks to years of poor financial planning and the disappearance of sub-prime mortgages. Then, working from home is just really, really cool. [Young Lawyers Blog]
* Bars are now allowed in Utah. So now we’ve got liquor and the ability to marry multiple women. Vegas should take note, they’re a blackjack table and a dog track away from being a viable vacation alternative. [Transracial]
* Everything you need to know about the Chris Brown preliminary hearing. [Popsquire]
* Explain to me again why Andy Dick is allowed out in public? [Copyranter]
* Was everybody nice to their Dad yesterday? [Securing Innovation via Blawg Review]
Welcome to the future. Like Drinker Biddle did in May, Howrey is changing the nature of the first and second year associate experience. The firm is moving to more of an apprenticeship model. New Howrey associates will receive an emphasis on training and take a significant reduction in salary.
The memo from Howrey explains some of the top-line goals of the new program — called the “Tier 1 Associate Program.”
Participants in Howrey’s Tier 1 Program will spend only one-third of their time during the first year on client billable work to permit them to devote the remainder of their time to pro bono representations and a wide range of training programs, including the firm’s signature professional development experience – the Howrey Academies. In Year One, associates will work with Howrey’s full-time, in-house writing instructor, be assigned to trial teams, and take advantage of other programs offered by Howrey’s award-winning professional development team. They will dedicate approximately one-third of their time to pro bono and public interest matters, which will afford them the opportunity to develop the advocacy skills and in court experience that are central to Howrey’s practice. The emphasis on training will continue into Year Two, with client secondments, judicial externships, and other advanced development opportunities added to the curriculum. Billable hours in the second year will be capped at roughly half of total hours.
That is the good, here is the salary information:
The Tier 1 program will be limited to a select number of associates each year. Compensation during the first two years will be adjusted to reflect the nature of the program and the dramatically reduced billable hours expectations. In addition to an annual salary of $100,000, first year participants will receive $25,000 upon acceptance of their job offer to help defray their law school loans or third year law school expenses. In their second year at the firm, participants will receive an annual salary of $125,000 and a $25,000 bonus upon successful completion of the program and entry into Tier 2 of Howrey’s associate development program. Higher compensation may be offered to candidates with special qualifications, such as advanced technical degrees or clerkships.
At least Howrey is trying. More details and the full memo and a reader poll after the jump.
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Posted in:
John Roberts, SCOTUS
The Roberts Court Saves Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act
By Elie Mystal
Don’t you love it when the Supreme Court of the United States makes a concerted effort to avoid constitutional issues? Today, Chief Justice John Roberts got seven other justices together in a truly remarkable display of ignoring an elephant in the room. The WSJ Law Blog reports:
It’s in the waning days of June that the Supreme Court winds up its business for the term, typically with its most high-profile decisions. Today, one such decision was handed down from on high — the case known as Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v. Holder.
At issue in the case was the constitutionality of section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which requires governments in so-called “covered” jurisdictions — state and local governments in areas that once practiced discrimination — to “preclear” changes in election procedures with the Justice Department to ensure that minority voters are protected….
Supreme Court followers and commentators had expected a narrow ruling in the case, with the constitutionality of section 5 possibly turning on the vote of Justice Kennedy. But the Court threw everyone a curve-ball, ruling 8-1 in an opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts that drew a narrower path — keeping Section 5 in place, but allowing the “covered” jurisdiction at issue — a utility district in Austin, Texas — to apply for exemption from the law.
After the jump, SCOTUSblog tells us that by avoiding the constitutional issue, the Court has put Congress on notice that it needs to get off of its ass if it expects section 5 to survive much longer.
Continue reading “The Roberts Court Saves Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act”
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Posted in:
Education / Schools, Student Loans
Minnesota: Protects College Students, Sticks it to Law Students
By Elie Mystal
The state of Minnesota is providing more evidence that law schools are completely out of whack with the current market realities. The state is doing what it can to keep undergraduate tuition low, at the expense of law students who will be drowning in so much debt they’ll need to grow gills.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports the most recent tuition proposal coming out of Minnesota:
Undergraduates catch a break in the next University of Minnesota budget that would keep their tuition increases low despite a cut in state funding.
Graduate and professional students won’t have the same luck.
The students who make up about 40 percent of the student body are the hidden victims of a bad-news budget that the Board of Regents is expected to vote on Wednesday.
By “graduate and professional students” the paper really means to say law students. The proposed tuition hike is larger for future (unemployed) lawyers than other graduate students:
While in-state undergraduate students will face 3.1 percent tuition hikes, most grad students could see a 7.5 percent increase in their bills this year. First-year medical students’ in-state rate may rise 5.2 percent, to $32,328. Newbie Minnesotan law students could pay 15.3 percent more than their counterparts did last year.
Are Minnesota state officials even nominally aware of what is going on in the legal market in their own state? Could somebody point the Board of Regents to www.abovethelaw.com after the jump?
Continue reading “Minnesota: Protects College Students, Sticks it to Law Students”
Here’s an interesting rumor we’ve heard. We’re a little short on details, and we’re trying to chase down additional confirmation. We thought we’d toss it out as a blind item and solicit the missing information from you, our readers.
This is what we’re hearing. One large law firm is so hard up for work that it is starting to give some summer associates what we’d call “fake work.”
To be sure, much of the work given to summer associates, in any economy, is make-work — e.g., write a memo to file on a legal issue that will never actually arise in the litigation. But this isn’t mere make-work; it’s fake-work. Summers are being given assignments for projects that have already been completed. For example, summers are being asked to draft research memos for briefs that have already been filed. And, interestingly enough, multiple summer associates — but located in different offices of the firm, to reduce the likelihood of their comparing notes — are being given the same fake-work assignment.
What are the advantages of this approach? After the jump.
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Posted in:
Georgetown Law School, Job Searches, Summer Associates
Advice For Summers From Georgetown
By Elie Mystal
Many summers can already see the writing on the wall. It’s going to be a no-offer party this fall. Law school career service professionals are trying to prepare their students for the inevitable.
The career services offices at Georgetown University Law Center sent around a very thoughtful letter, on Friday. Summer associates should take heed. Let’s get the obvious news out of the way first:
What are we hearing?
I have been speaking with many of our close contacts in law firms across the country to assess what firms are planning in terms of post-graduate offers to their summer associates. Most firms indicate that they are waiting until the latest possible date to finalize their strategy so as to take into account as much market information as possible, but a few themes are emerging:
1. Unlike past years, many firms will not be making offers to all or almost all their summers. I hear of offer rates that range from 80% at the high end to 50% at the low end. Note that there is significant variation from firm to firm and region to region, and all the firms I speak with are trying their best to make offers to as many of their summer associates as possible.
2. Many firms are considering making deferred offers to some or all of their current summer associates to begin work sometime in 2011, and some have already announced that they will do so. Firms are not clear as to what stipend, if any, they will pay deferred associates in the coming year, and what conditions (e.g. working in the public sector) must be met to receive a stipend.
The class of 2009 thought that they were the “lost generation.” But would they want to switch places with the class of 2010?
After the jump, more bad news from GULC career services.
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Posted in:
Law School Deans, Yale Law School
Robert Post Named New Dean of Yale Law School
By David Lat
We told you so — over a week ago. This past weekend, at the ACS National Convention, we received further confirmation from Yale Law School sources. So today’s announcement of Professor Robert Post as the new dean of YLS comes as no surprise.
The official announcement from Yale president Richard Levin, plus one student’s take on the Post pick, after the jump.
Continue reading “Robert Post Named New Dean of Yale Law School”
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Posted in:
Deferral Stipend, Start Dates
Deferred Associates Cause Ethical Dilemma and the Booting of Clerks in Massachusetts
By Kashmir Hill
Last week, the Massachusetts Trial Court got approval for a unique solution to address its budget shortfall, reported Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly:
The Supreme Judicial Court’s Committee on Judicial Ethics has approved a proposal by Chief Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan that would allow deferred law-firm associates to work for the Trial Court as “volunteer interns” while on the payroll of the firms that hired them.
Great for the court — it doesn’t have to pay for clerks. Great for deferred associates — they get valuable experience during their deferral year. Great for BigLaw — their incoming associates get clerkship experience. Everyone’s happy, right?
Well, not the 24 clerks who had been slotted to get those positions whose offers have been withdrawn. And not those troubled by the ethics of corporate-sponsored clerks in the courtroom. Though approving the arrangement, the Committee on Judicial Ethics admitted that there’s something a bit troubling about it:
The CJE acknowledged that allowing law firms to pay the salaries of clerks implicates portions of the Judicial Code of Conduct that require judges to avoid impropriety and appear unbiased. It also stated that the plan raises the issue of whether the volunteer interns are a “gift” or “favor” to the judges of the Trial Court from the law firms.
The CJE had a solution for that. Keep it all secret!
“Structuring the program in such a way that the law firms’ involvement is unknown not only to the public but also to the judges who will be ‘employing’ the volunteer interns will negate any impression that those law firms are in a special position to influence the judge,” the CJE panel wrote.
Members of the public might not be aware of the connection when they have a case before the court, but the general news-consuming public of Massachusetts knows about the plan now. It’s in the Boston Globe and is currently the newspaper’s number four most e-mailed story.
What do you think about the ethical hullabaloo? Vote in our poll, after the jump.
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Posted in:
Asia Chronicles, Sponsored Content
The Asia Chronicles: HK / China Market – June ’09
By Kinney Recruiting
[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]
Evan here. Apologies for the delay in getting this post up. I just returned Tuesday from a few weeks of hectic work travel – Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York – and have been slammed the first couple of days back in the office. It was the typical non-stop meetings for 16 days (with both candidates and firms), plus I also made a few associate placements in HK (two M&A and one cap markets) earlier this month.
We are representing a large number of both US associate and partner candidates in Asia now, especially in HK / China, and our entire team is being kept quite busy. Robert and I traveled to Hong Kong the past couple of weeks mainly in order to help some of our partner candidates pitch their skill set and books to their target firms, as well as help firms attract key partner additions they need.
I plan to return to HK / China later this summer for a longer six week trip, as well, after a short Dubai trip. Of course, Alexis is based in HK. Yuliya is in Russia all summer working in that market (things are starting to pick up deal flow wise in Russia, but it will be a while before firms there start hiring again).
We have a few urgent associate openings right now in HK / China (many more slower moving openings, but these are the most urgent):
1) 5 to 10 years cap markets US associate / counsel, fluent Mandarin, Hong Kong
2) 7+ years energy / project finance US associate / counsel, fluent Mandarin, Hong Kong / China
3) 4 to 7 years PE / M&A associate, Mandarin preferred, Hong Kong
4) 7+ years IP / TMT (litigation and transactional experience needed) associate / counsel / junior partner, Mandarin fluent, Hong Kong
***More after the jump.
Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: HK / China Market – June ’09″
[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.]
Let’s all move to Nebraska! In a week in which unemployment was up in 48 out of 50 states (plus DC), Nebraska’s unemployment dropped by 0.1%, keeping it tied with North Dakota for the lowest in the nation at 4.4% (tie goes to the state with the Championship Subdivision (formerly D-I) football program).
At the other end of the spectrum, the state with the finest football program in the nation has the highest unemployment rate: Michigan at 14.1% (Go Blue!).
Closer to home, New York’s unemployment has hit 9%, the highest rate in more than a decade due to continuing deep cuts in the financial-services industry that spins off so much legal work.
After the jump, we detail the effects that has had on law firms this week.
* One bra size does not fit all. There are so many different reasons why one might get a severe rash from a Victoria’s Secret bra that the 17 suits filed in various states cannot be consolidated into one. [On Point News]
* More on Law Student of the Day: Leo Wolpert. The UVA Law card shark is spending his summer writing memos for the ACLU. Money quote from the article: “With the economy as it is, it’s definitely nice to have poker to fall back on.” [Washington Post]
* A North Carolina company had a big day in court last week. On Thursday, MIG Inc. filed for bankruptcy and filed a big lawsuit against Paul Weiss. MIG alleges that stock offering documents drafted by the firm were unprofessional and filled with errors that cost it $140 million when it merged with another company in 2007. [American Lawyer]
* Rihanna may sing from the witness stand today in Chris Brown’s assault trial. [CNN]
* Federal Judge Denny Chin of the Southern District of New York has a flair for the dramatic. [Studio 360]
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Posted in:
Advertising, Shameless Plugs, Sponsored Content, This Is an Ad
The BarMax Manifesto: “We Are Not Sheep”
By Above the Law
In 2009, a small group of Harvard Law School students noticed an absurd monopoly in the bar prep space, held by an unchallenged leader with a non-evolving product. In response, these students teamed up with Harvard Law alumni to launch BarMax on January 14, 2010.The mission: democratize bar prep by embracing new technologies to provide the very best bar exam review courses at a fraction of the cost normally associated with these courses.
Since then, with the encouragement of thousands of students and an unwavering commitment to their success, BarMax has established itself as a comprehensive alternative to the stagnant, over-priced status quo.
As we continue to expand, we do not want to lose sight of the basic premises that led us to create BarMax in the first place. If you are a law student who believes that there is something fundamentally wrong with being forced to take out yet another loan to pay for a $4,000 bar exam prep course, you are not alone.
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Posted in:
Advertising, Asia Chronicles, Shameless Plugs, Sponsored Content, This Is an Ad
The Asia Chronicles: In-House Openings at Hedge Funds In Hong Kong / State Of The Market / 7 New Kinney ’12 US Associate Placements In HK / China
By Kinney Recruiting
Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past five years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.comHappy Chinese New Year! We were extremely busy the past few months, including most of our US based team working from our Hong Kong offices during November and December.
As a follow up from our recent post, which listed our 62 US associate and counsel placements in Asia last year (vast majority in HK / China), please note that thus far in January ’12, we have already made seven US associate and counsel placements in Asia. This is an especially impressive number, considering the biglaw lateral hiring market in Asia is down right now (see state of the market brief overview below). These new placements are of new hires in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, who were interviewing with their new firm for a month or more and they are spread out among different practice areas, including project finance, litigation, fund formation, M&A and cap markets. We are close on four additional new associate placements, in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, that we expect to close soon. We do not discuss partner placements in these articles, but the pace of partner recruitment in Asia (a large part of our business) has continued.
Hedge Fund In-House Openings in Hong Kong
We are seeing a small run of new in-house openings in Hong Kong at hedge funds. We are currently filling three different in-house positions at three different hedge funds in Hong Kong, two of these searches we are handling on an exclusive basis. All three will most likely be filled by a US associate, with about 4 to 6 years of experience. Mandarin not required. Candidates from NYC and London will be considered, but at one of these funds the new hire will likely come from Hong Kong / China or Singapore (with HK being the strong preference).
Please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com if you are interested in these hedge fund openings. As you probably would expect, the competition for these spots will be fierce and the funds will be very selective when choosing which candidates to interview.
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Posted in:
Careers
