Archive for July 2009

Career Center: The Associate Experience

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Career Center AboveTheLaw Lateral Link ATL.jpgIs my associate experience better than your associate experience?
One of the cooler features on the Above The Law Career Center, powered by Lateral Link, is the ability to compare firms based on associate experience in a number of areas including firm management, partnership prospects, parental leave policies, vacation policies, billable hours expectations, etc. You can see how your experience stacks up against the experience of associates at other firms by running your own side-by-side comparisons in the firm comparison section.
Thousands of readers have used this feature, and today we wanted to highlight which firms you have most often pitted against one another. We also want to remind all of you summer associates out there to take our short summer associate survey – Click Here for that (of course the survey is completely confidential).
So which firms do our readers compare most frequently?
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is the firm most often compared to others. Its most frequent "rivals" are Latham & Watkins, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. These firms are compared to Skadden more than 30% of the time a comparison including Skadden is generated.
Other frequent comparisons, after the jump.

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Pls Hndle Thx: The Fugitive?

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Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com.

pls hndle copy 2.jpgATL,
I am a first year associate in a small/mid-sized firm. I graduated during during the height of the recession, so it took me many months to find this job. I have been working there for about three months (and I hate it).
Recently, I have noticed oppressive and harassing behavior in the workplace by the senior/managing partners. In addition, I have a strong suspicion of unethical practices occurring in the firm, but I do have not have clear evidence to confirm my suspicions. I have a strong inclination to leave the firm for these reasons.
However, if I leave, I am stuck as to how I will answer if asked why I left after just three months. Moreover, trying to find another job in the current economy in California is difficult. I’m afraid if I disclose the real reason I left, I may be saying untrue things about the firm, and/or be viewed as a whistleblower or someone who cannot be trusted. Any other answers will surely raise eyebrows as to my commitment considering the short time period spent at the current firm.
Advice?
Give a Little Whistle

Give a Little Whistle,
I was sitting at home watching Cake Boss when my phone rang. It was Lat. He asked me what I was doing and I said, “Watching Cake Boss, this show is actually not that bad.” He then reminded me that I had a Pls Hndle Thx due the next day and when I said that I didn’t have any witty responses to the question posed above, he ordered me to – you guessed it – write a poem.
“It doesn’t have to rhyme,” he said, to which I responded, “Actually, last time I checked, ALL poems had to rhyme,” and he immediately conceded this point. So without further ado, I present to you, “Ratting on Your Firm on a Snowy Evening.”
Marin’s Poem and Elie’s Susan Boyle impersonation after the jump.

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Nationwide Layoff Watch: Layoffs Weeks in the Making Finally Come to Dechert

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Dechert logo.JPGDechert’s stealthiness when it comes to layoffs have been well documented in these pages. But it has been an open secret around the firm that another round of layoffs were coming. Above the Law has spoken to sources that have been talking about Dechert’s impending layoffs for nearly a month.
Today, the ax is finally falling. We don’t have official numbers (Dechert has ignored our numerous requests for comment), but we have information suggesting that around 25 associates are being let go today. In addition to the associates, other tipsters report that “a bunch” of paralegals have been laid off, as well as some staff attorneys and legal secretaries.
Sources report that the pain is being spread between Dechert’s Mass Torts and Product Liability group (about a dozen attorneys) and its general litigation practice (another dozen or so attorneys).
We also understand that the vast majority of cuts affected 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year lawyers.
Today’s moves are the culmination of weeks of planning at Dechert.
More details after the jump.

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Nationwide Layoff Watch: Fulbright & Jaworski

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Fulbright logo.JPGYou know, call me naive but I really thought we’d make it through the whole week without anybody getting laid off in Biglaw. After the government bloodletting earlier this week, I just had a good feeling about private practices retaining all their people for a week.
If I were in a Star Wars movie, I’d probably be dead now. Multiple independent sources report that Fulbright & Jaworski laid off ten people: six associates and four staff.
The numbers aren’t huge, but our sources tell us that this was not a “performance review” cut:

All but one of the associates were first years who started in September. [Fulbright] hasn’t claimed there was gross incompetence on the part of [the laid off first years].

Sorry first years.
Office details after the jump.

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  • 23 Jul 2009 at 11:40 AM
  • Politics

New Jersey Corruption Has Seton Hall Law Connection

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New Jersey corruption.JPGTwitter is a twitter with news about the corruption scandal in New Jersey. To this point, 30 people have been taken into custody. The Newark-Star Ledger reports:

The arrests are the result of a two-year FBI and IRS probe that began with an investigation of money transfers by members of the Syrian enclaves in Deal and Brooklyn. Those arrested this morning include key religious leaders in the tight-knit, wealthy communities.

Political corruption is always exciting. Unless it happens in New Jersey, New York, or Illinois. Then, it’s somewhat expected.
Two New Jersey mayors have been caught up in this investigation. Not Newark mayor, the first next black president Cory Booker. But Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, and Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell.
A tipster reports that Mayor Cammarano has brought shame to our Seton Hall readers:

He and his wife are 2002 Seton Hall Law grads and he won in an election closer than the MN Senatorial election.

On the bright side, if you are a rising 3L at Seton Hall Law, it looks like some more jobs will be opening up in your community.
N.J. officials, N.Y. rabbis caught in federal money laundering, corruption sweep [Newark-Star Ledger]
Breaking: Sweep of Arrests Underway in ‘Major’ N.J. Corruption Probe [WSJ Law Blog]

Ahhhhhhhh. The Bar Exam! And a Fire!

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fire.jpgLast night, NYU had two “firestorms”: the announcement that Dr. Thio would not be coming to campus, and a more literal fire at NYU’s Bobst library.
From a tipster around 5 p.m. yesterday:

Just got out of NYU’s Bobst library. There was a small fire and they evacuated everybody inside. I had to run down 6 flights of smoke filled stairs. Great way to prep for the bar exam…

Our correspondent from Greenwich had particularly bad luck:

I actually think if I went down the main stairs I would be fine. They herded us towards two separate fire exits (on the washington park side), and the one I went down was the one filled with smoke. It cleared up around the first floor, so maybe the fire was on the second floor? … The ironic thing is, the other set of stairs seemed fine, and I’m not even a student at NYU. I just came here for one day to see a friend and for the change of atmosphere.

We’d advise heading to the NYU Law Library to study instead, but we have heard that mysterious smells lurk there.
Soooooo, the bar exam is next week. How’s that studying going? Feel free to kvetch in the comments.
Earlier: Breaking: Dr. Thio Is Not Coming To NYU Law
Breaking: Mystery Smell Hits NYU Law Library!!!

Career Clinic Principle #3: Awareness–Learn from the Past

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logo_final_w_tagline_resized (2).jpg
When I work with clients on this principle, we not only explore their career history but we also analyze the work histories of their family. My experience is that parents are often the most influential on someone’s career choices in one of four ways:

  1. The parents put pressure on a child to fulfill a certain career direction that does not suit the child, and the child conforms anyway which leads to dissatisfaction.
  2. The parents encourage the child to follow their most authentic path and provide support and guidance, and the child finds their calling.
  3. The parents do not help a child choose a career, which leads to confusion.
  4. The parents do not help a child choose a career, which leads to the child finding their calling anyway.

Part of the process is to help each person separate the wishes of their parents from their own. I have had many clients of all ages still trying to please parents with their career choices and making themselves miserable in the process. So here are a few questions to ask yourself so you can begin to understand your own history:

  1. If you had to rate your parents’ job satisfaction from 1-10, how would they rate?
  2. What are your parents’ attitudes about work?
  3. What attitudes do you have about work that you learned from your parents?
  4. What attitudes did you learn from your parents that will not serve you in your next career chapter?

If you are interested to find out how The New World Institute can help you transform your career, then call (347) 445-5763 for more information.
Laurel Donnellan is the President and Co-Founder of The New World Institute.
www.thenewworldinstitute.com

Losing Your Mind: A Primer

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sweet hot justice logo.jpg[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.]
There are a few moments in any young lawyer’s life guaranteed to perk up the day. Closing a deal after a marathon of strained, sleepless nights. Winning a case after three years of document review and trial prep. Finding out you haven’t been included in the firm’s latest slaughter. But none comes close to the thrill of witnessing your opposing counsel have a public, full-out mental breakdown. Call me a sucker for schadenfreude, but there’s just a greasy comfort that sets in when you realize that there’s someone–anyone–outside of your own tortured corner of Big Law who’s closer to losing his mind than you are. Only thing is, that comfort comes with strings–and if you’re not careful, it’s only a matter of time before they’ll double back and take a nice, firm chokehold right around your own neck.
Don’t believe me? Imagine, if you will, the scene that played out in my office a few weeks back: I’d been working on a nightmare bond deal with the most repulsive type of cretin partner imaginable, a deal made all the more ridiculous by the incessant, obnoxious demands from the monumentally horrid senior associate first-chairing for the other side, a 6th-year I’ll call Mitch Haklafti. After a couple of weeks of his tirades, all it took was seeing “Haklafti, Mitch” in my Outlook inbox to set off a fresh round of stomach cramps.
So, around 2 a.m. the night before the deal was set to sign, after a string of all-nighters and increasingly hostile emails from all sides, when I saw a new message arrive from Haklafti, I took another swig of Diet Dr. Pepper and braced myself for what I assumed would be another dose of pain. What I wasn’t prepared for, though, was this–including the 16-point, lavender script font:

“Assorted buddies, daddies and babies: please review and let me know if you have any nits by 4.45 a.m. e.s.t., at which time I will send to the totality of working group. Client hasn’t seen. Usual caveats.

-M.H., The WalruS. goo goo gjoob “

Break out your straitjacket and keep on reading, after the jump.

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Morning Docket 07.23.09

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edwards angell palmer dodge logo.jpg* Stephen R. Connoni, formerly a partner at K&L Gates and at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, is suing Edwards Angell for firing him. [New York Law Journal]
* ESPN will now let its reporters talk about the sexual assault case against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. [New York Times]
* Obama weighs in on Gatesgate, saying police acted stupidly. [Washington Post]
* New York AG Andrew Cuomo has sued 35 law firms. [New York Daily News]
* Donald Trump settled his suits against his lawyers at Morrison Cohen. [New York Law Journal]

Breaking: Dr. Thio Is Not Coming To NYU Law
Update: Official NYU statement now available.

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Thio Li Ann Visiting Professor NYU Law School.jpgDetails are still sketchy, but word on the street is that Dr. Li-ann Thio will not be coming to NYU Law School this fall. It appears that Dr. Thio has voluntarily decided not to serve as a visiting professor.
As many of you know, Dr. Thio has been heavily criticized by some in the NYU community (and beyond) for the allegedly anti-gay views she professed as a member of Singapore’s Parliament. But up to this point, Dr. Thio has enjoyed the support of Dean Richard Revesz and the NYU administration.
We previously reported that early returns showed low student registration for Dr. Thio’s classes this fall. A petition protesting her appointment garnered over 800 signatures. It’s too early to tell if any of this affected her decision to withdraw.
We will let you know when we receive official word from the law school or Dr. Thio.
UPDATE: The official announcement is now available. Check it out after the jump.

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Update: Official NYU statement now available.“

Non-Sequiturs: 07.22.09

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Rocky Balboa.JPG* I believe it was the great Rocky Balboa who once said “If I can change, and yous can change, then maybe we all cannnnwrrrgghhlubbbbb.” [Copyranter]
* Some jobs can only get done properly in the Bronx. [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]
* Don’t Go To Law School ™, now available in list form. [Tax Prof Blog]
* Is this where laid off Biglaw lawyers end up? [Legal Writing Prof Blog]
* Deferred pay for Indian lawyers. They really aren’t lying when they call it a “global” economic crisis are they? [Legally India]
* Are lawyers counter-intuitively bad at establishing standards? [What About Clients?]

Quinn Defers Half of the Incoming First Years in S.F. & Silicon Valley

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Quinn logo.jpgIf you are an incoming first year at Quinn Emanuel’s San Francisco or Silicon Valley office, you are probably on the final stretch of your CA bar exam preparations. If so, please stop reading this post right now. We don’t want to put any extra pressure on you guys.
For everybody else, you might be interested to know that Quinn Emanuel has deferred half of its incoming first year class in those two offices until January 2010.
As we understand it, the firm is not offering any kind of deferral stipend for the affected incoming associates.
Tipsters have been critical of the firm’s decision:

This is a double whammy. First, they hadn’t been deferred at all, were planning on starting in two months, so this is late notice. And second, telling people one week before the bar?!?!? that’s cold.

Well, it’s better than being told between the first and second day of the bar exam.
After the jump, Quinn Emanuel’s managing partner, John Quinn, explains the reason for this decision.

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