June 2009
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Salary Cuts, Snell & Wilmer
Nationwide Salary Cut Watch: Snell & Wilmer Cuts Salaries
Earlier this week, we reported that salary cuts have spread to the Pacific Northwest. Now it appears that the salary cutting craze has migrated to the Southwest. Surely, our territories in Guam will be next. The Phoenix based firm Snell & Wilmer has cut associate salaries by 10%. Above the Law received this statement from […] -
2nd Circuit, New York Times, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Clerks, UVA Law, Weddings
Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 6.14: Chemistry Lesson
We’ll bottom-line this week’s contest, folks: The SCOTUS clerk wins. Yep, after a long absence, LEWW’s favorite credential makes a welcome appearance in the NYT weddings section, and we’ve got the details for you. But first, congratulations to Sabrina Charles and Jamie Dycus, who readers overwhelmingly voted Legal Eagle Couple of the Month for May, […] - Sponsored
How AI Is The Catalyst For Reshaping Every Aspect Of Legal Work
Findings from the "Future of Professionals Report," based on a survey of 1,200 professionals from North and South America and the UK. -
Law School Deans, Law Schools
DePaul College of Law Dean Ousted
The dean of the DePaul University College of Law, Glen Weissenberger, has been removed. But this doesn’t sound like your ordinary law school administration shuffle. Dean Weissenberger alleged that there was a significant mistake in the documents DePaul sumbitted to the ABA for its accreditation review, and now he is gone. The university provost told […]
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Kiwi Camara
$80,000 Per Song Could 'Backfire,' Says K.A.D. Camara
As we mentioned this morning, K.A.D. (Kiwi) Camara was on the wrong side of the news cycle yesterday. A federal jury ruled that his client, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, violated copyrights on 24 songs she downloaded, and hit her with a whopping $1.92 million judgment — which works out to $80,000 per downloaded song. Camara has achieved […] -
Solo Practitioners
Start Up LLP: Creating Your Own Law Firm
Starting your own law firm: it isn’t for everyone. Some of you may recall that Roxana, of Notes from the Breadline, viewed herself as ill-suited to solo practice. But many other lawyers do want to strike out on their own. And some attorneys, faced with the difficult legal job market, decide that they have no […] -
Judge of the Day
Judge of the Day: What's more [cowardly] than [vandalizing] another man's automobile?
A Texas judge has been indicted for keying his neighbor’s Range Rover. The Houston Chronicle reports the possible penalties for criminal mischief in Texas: Woody Ray Densen, 69, could face 180 days to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted. He could also be disciplined by the […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.19.09
* Don’t cheap your Dad on Father’s Day. [Bloomberg] * Allen Stanford has been arrested and indicted. [Los Angeles Times] * The RIAA won big in its file sharing suit. Very big. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune via WSJ Law Blog] * Never ask questions you don’t already know the answer to. Especially on T.V. Especially when a […]
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Career Alternatives, Job Searches
Career Alternatives for Attorneys: A Panel Discussion
The other night, a commenter with insomnia wrote: Is there someone living in Flint, Michigan who will exchange their $18,000 house for my worthless JD? I will even take over the payments from your inflated mortgage. My piece of paper does not even provide shelter for my skinny ass. In exchange you could be a […] - Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Partner Issues
Partner De-Equitization At Paul Hastings
Earlier this week, we reported on staff layoffs at Paul Hastings. Since Lehman collapsed, Paul Hastings has been through few rounds of attorney layoffs as well. But Paul Hastings partners haven’t exactly been sitting back and counting cash. Especially younger partners. Above the Law has been able to confirm that a number of partners have […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 06.18.09
* Lat and Kash put on their black turtlenecks and went to the theater. They’ve written a review for Monetizing Emma. [Dealbreaker] * What’s more scary than law firms outsourcing legal work offshore? How about clients going directly to Indian law firms, obviating the U.S. and U.K. altogether? [Legally India] * Can fashion knock off […] -
Bar Exams, BARBRI
Open Thread: How Does Everyone Like Bar/Bri So Far?Revised and updated; please see after the jump.
It looks like there may have been a mini-riot at the Bar/Bri lecture today. Apparently some students felt that the Con Law lecturer wasn’t entirely on top of all the salient issues. We heard from a few of them; here is one report: I’m one of thousands of BarBri students studying for the New York […] -
Associate Advice, pls hndle thx
Pls Hndle Thx: Is it Written in the Stars?
Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com. Dear Above The Law, I am a summer associate at a BigLaw firm in New York. I have no work and I spend my day surfing the net. My assignment coordinator forbade me from getting work from anyone else, but won’t give […] -
Biglaw, Money, Salary Cuts, Salary Freeze, Skaddenfreude
Nationwide Pay Freeze Update: Slurpees Still on Ice (or Poured Out)
At the beginning of 2009, we were tracking salary freezes as law firms across the country froze their salaries at 2008 levels, rather than instituting lockstep raises based on seniority. Our most recent salary freeze round-up was in February. (We also acknowledged those that had raises as normal.) Since then though, the salary freeze watch […]
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Are Small Firms Going Big On Legal Tech?
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
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How AI Is The Catalyst For Reshaping Every Aspect Of Legal Work
Document Automation For Law Firms: The Definitive Guide
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Admin, Advertising, Career Center, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Career Center: Popular, You're Gonna Be Popular
Some people compare Biglaw to high school, but there wasn’t a lot of statistical evidence that proved popularity in high school. Thankfully, the Career Center can provide some hard data on the most popular firms in Biglaw. In the month and a half since its launch, the Firm Snapshots on the Career Center have been […] -
Constitutional Law, SCOTUS
No Constitutional Right to DNA Evidence for Criminals
Today, the Supreme Court ruled that convicted criminals do not have a constitutional right to possibly exculpatory DNA evidence. The Court decided District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne by a 5 – 4 margin. SCOTUSblog reports Chief Justice John Roberts’s majority opinion: The task of writing rules to control access to DNA evidence “belongs primarily” to […] -
Layoffs, Notes from the Breadline, Running
Notes from the Breadline: Tangled Up in Blue
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. After my 30 Rock-induced crying jag, sleep settles over me […] -
Biglaw, Deferral Stipend, Start Dates
Profitable Law Firms Don't Do Deferrals ... For the Most Part
This isn’t going to come as a galloping shock to most people, but it turns out that the firms that are making the most profit aren’t feeling the need to defer their incoming first year associates. Am Law Daily reports: The only top ten firm that is making deferrals mandatory this year is Schulte, Roth […] -
Lawrence Lessig, Morning Docket, Summer Associates
Morning Docket 06.18.09
* Justice may be blind, but she needs to see your face in Michigan. [True/Slant] * Lawyers for Allen Stanford, the Texas financier accused of a massive swindle, want Baker Botts off the case. [Reuters] * Convicted terrorist Jose Padilla can sue John Yoo for the legal memos he wrote at the Justice Department defending […]
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Associate Advice, Boutique Law Firms, Job Searches, Midsize Firms / Regional Firms
Casting a Wider Net: Small to Mid-Sized Law Firms
Biglaw is suffering — big time. Meanwhile, many smaller and midsize law firms are doing just fine, even thriving. (A number of them — e.g., Silver Golub & Teitell, McKool Smith, and Stone & Magnanini — are expanding, with the help of job postings on Above the Law.) These days, Am Law 200 firms are […] -
Gambling / Gaming, Law Schools, UVA Law
Law Student of the Day: Leo Wolpert
We usually wouldn’t recommend that law school students try to pay their tuition through gambling — but if you’re a former poker pro, it might not be such a bad idea. Leo Wolpert, a rising 2L at the University of Virginia, just won “Event 29,” a $10,000 no-limit hold ’em heads-up tournament in the World […]