June 2009

* More evidence that Venable is the weirdest and/or coolest law firm in DC. [On the Record] * Is Harvard Law School just too…. nice? [The Stimulist] * Should veils be allowed on the witness stand? [Volokh Conspiracy] * Yesterday, we reported on a Saudi law firm that went a little too far in its […]

If you have ever been on financial aid, you know that many law schools require you to work over the summer and make financial contributions towards your debts based on your summer employment. Harvard Law School has such a requirement. Financial aid awards have been traditionally determined based on a ten-week, minimum summer work requirement. […]

Wait, there are people out there who want banking lawyers? Really? This is excellent news! Morgan Lewis & Bockius announced today that it has acquired eleven people: five partners and six associates, from Bingham McCutchen’s Boston office. But the real shocker is that all of the lawyers are from Bingham’s Banking and Leveraged Finance Group: […]

Congratulations to newlyweds Stefanie Schneider and David Alpert, voted Couple of the Week by ATL readers in last week’s LEWW poll. Today, our five May Couples of the Week compete for Couple of the Month honors. It’s a very strong field, including an Olympic medalist, a Wachtell associate, and a wedding officiated by a future […]

Yesterday we participated in an extremely interesting panel discussion, Breaking Back into a Large Law Firm: How to Make Your Way Back into a Top Law Firm. It was part of a day-long conference, co-sponsored by the New York City Bar and Vault, entitled Getting Back in the Game: How to Restart Your Career in […]

We reported last month that the head of U.S. litigation for Clifford Chance, Mark Kirsch, was leaving the firm’s New York office — and that layoffs in the litigation practice group were imminent. We didn’t know at the time where Kirsch was heading or how many of the 29 litigation associates in the Magic Circle […]

[Ed. note: This post is authored by ATL guest columnist Hope Winters. Hope is an early retired lawyer, turned Senate staffer, turned corporate lobbyist. She lives in Washington, DC. Read her previous work here.] Well, as I told you in my last piece, I have been desperately searching for inner peace during these incredibly depressing […]

The Bingham McCutchen “Stepford Secretary” has decided to speak out about her termination from Bingham and her decision to hire a lawyer. In an email she sent to Above the Law, the Stepford Secretary describes her firm wide CHARACTER email as “totally harmless.” She also describes the way in which she was fired from Bingham: […]

* Adam Trenk is a rising 3L at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Thanks to his drawing a king of hearts in an election tiebreaker, this law school hottie is also a newly minted Cave Creek Councilman. [New York Times] * Greg Bachand, 60, is a first-year associate at a Connecticut […]

* It really hasn’t been the best couple of days for White & Case. Not only is one of their attorneys involved in a sex scandal, but now their Moscow office has been raided by Russian authorities. [The Lawyer] * It’s also not the best day to be working at Freshfields. [ABA Journal] * Meanwhile, […]

Yesterday, we told you about a bizarre love triangle — or perhaps pentagon — between a husband, a wife, and an associate in the Miami office of White & Case. Today, the wife (a.k.a. “SexyLexus”) called us to explain her side of the story and her relationship with her husband (a.k.a. “Cuckolded in Canada”) and […]

Above the Law has received reports that Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt will be cutting associate salaries and laying off staff. Never heard of Schwabe Williamson? Well then you need to Lewis & Clark your way out to the Pacific Northwest more often. Schwabe Williamson is the second largest firm in Portland, OR. According to NALP, […]

As you know, many international law firms are affiliated with local counsel based around the world. The magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has an affiliation with a Saudi firm named, The Law Firm of Salah Al Hejailan, or LFSH. LFSH is hiring a new attorney. The firm sent out an email to the recruiting […]

On Friday, we reported that Cravath offered a voluntary deferral option to up to 50% of its incoming class of first year associates. People who are not yet associates can count on $80,000, health care, and loan repayment assistance from the firm in exchange for taking a year off. Apparently, that was the last straw […]

There are certain staples that tend to be recession-proof: alcohol, toilet paper, Spam. You can add smartphones to that list, reports the New York Times. Sales of BlackBerrys, iPhones and other smartphone models are projected to increase by 25% this year. In case you’re thinking about contributing to that increase, Gizmodo has a guide to […]

Simpson Thacher laid off a number of staffers yesterday. Our sources report that there was massive confusion for associates and clients while the cuts were being made. People around the office have been calling it “Black Monday,” and it looks like the firm isn’t done laying people off. Simpson Thacher did not respond to our […]

* Cristina Warthen née Schultz, aka the Stanford Law Escort, is the 2001 Stanford law grad turned call girl turned filthy rich wife of Ask Jeeves founder David Warthen. But apparently, she’s no longer filthy rich, and will not be married for much longer. Warthen was wiped out by the stock market plunge and their […]

As noted even in the New York Times, the global mega-firm of White & Case has been hit hard by the recession. But allegedly one of the firm’s associates has been hitting it up — with another man’s wife. The supposedly cuckolded husband has no intention of allowing this White & Case attorney to get […]

* “The Supramarket”: If you’re a Bluebook dork, you will laugh out loud. [Courtoons] * Harvard Business School professors: even crazier than their colleagues at HLS? [Dealbreaker] * It seems that Andrew Sullivan may have been wrong when he described one of the DOJ attorneys on the DOMA brief as “a Bush administration holdover” and […]

In this economy, firms are looking for efficiency wherever they can find it. Above the Law has been able to confirm that 25 staffers will be let go at the end of July as Paul Hastings moves its document production services to its Los Angeles office. The goal, as we understand it, is to centralize […]