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Victory for Fish & Richardson in ATL’s Summer Associate Event Contest (and the Mark Cuban Insider Trading Case)

Friday, July 17, 2009 6:36 PM - By Kashmir Hill

fish and richardson summer associate event winner.jpgThe Dallas office of Fish & Richardson has won the contest for best summer associate event of 2009, capturing almost two-thirds of the 1757 votes in the runoff with the Carlton Fields fishing trip.

Fish & Richardson’s winning event was called “Harpdygal IV.” It is part of a series of “Biglaw counter-culture” events started four summers ago by associate Kip Mendrygal and partner Geoff Harper.

Back when summer associates were indulged, pampered, and treated to incredibly lavish lunches, dinners, and golf outings, Harper and Mendrygal wanted to offer something offbeat. So they took summers to WWE Friday Night SmackDown, a Professional Bull Riders event, and a demolition derby. This year, Harpdrygal was an outing to an all-female roller derby.

We congratulate Fish & Richardson for being crowned winner of the Best Summer Associate Event of 2009 (and for the firm’s recent legal victory, alongside Dewey & LeBoeuf, in Mark Cuban’s insider trading case).

Harper and Mendrygal sent us their acceptance speech via email. Here’s an excerpt:

[A]s for winning the ATL vote, Kip and I can truly say that this is the single greatest honor we have ever received for anything we’ve ever done. Ever. And, not to brag, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to get another $50 added to our budget, which will allow us to invite another 8 people to Harpdrygal V next year. It’s funny (actually sad) to us that, when we started Harpdrygal four years ago, our shtick was to be a low-brow gag event buried in the middle of fancy dinners, wine tastings, and sports suites. Now, with financial Armageddon approaching (here?), our events are substantially less shocking.

Read the message in its entirety, after the jump.

A MESSAGE FROM HARPDRYGAL FOUNDERS, GEOFF HARPER AND KIP MENDRYGAL

First: If you want a bit more detail on the event, here is part of an email we sent out internally to describe this year’s event to non-attendees:

When we pulled up at Dad’s Broadway Skateland in beautiful Mesquite, Texas, the attendees were thrilled(?) to see that Harpdrygal IV was …full contact roller derby. That’s right, we loaded up the group and took them to an “Assassination City Roller Derby” match where we were treated to two flat-track, full-contact matches. First, we saw the visiting River Valley Roller Girls narrowly defeat the Lone Star Assassins behind the high-octane scoring of “Smack the Ripper” and punishing hits delivered by blockers “Trigger Mortis” and “Juana Hit.” Then, in the nightcap, the always lethal Deadly Kennedys (lead by “Illegally Blonde” and “Brandi Danger”) crushed the Bombshell Brigade despite a great effort by their lead blocker “Nebrass Kick’r.” For those who have never been, this is a real sport with real rules played by real athletes who hit and get hit. See sample bio here: http://acderby.com/cms/content/view/25/53/. It was a blast—if you haven’t been, you need to go. But be advised that you might see someone you know—one of the girls claimed to be a paralegal at a prominent Dallas firm.

[As a side note, Kip believes that these girls’ parents unfairly disadvantaged them by bestowing these unfortunate names at birth. If your birth name is “Ivana Krushya,” “Pyro Maim Ya,” or “Massey Graves,” do you have any real chance to be a dentist? Mr. and Mrs. Krushya pre-destined their daughter for roller derby.]…

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Second, as for winning the ATL vote, Kip and I can truly say that this is the single greatest honor we have ever received for anything we’ve ever done. Ever. And, not to brag, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to get another $50 added to our budget, which will allow us to invite another 8 people to Harpdrygal V next year. It’s funny (actually sad) to us that, when we started Harpdrygal four years ago, our shtick was to be a low-brow gag event buried in the middle of fancy dinners, wine tastings, and sports suites. Now, with financial Armageddon approaching (here?), our events are substantially less shocking.

Anyway, planning is already underway for Harpdrygal V, which will propel us to new lows. Though Harpdrygal I-V have covered many of the things that make Texas awesome, dozens of Texas-specific activities remain, including cow tipping, water witching, beef jerky making, animal husbandry, and donning masks and chainsaws and chasing teenage tourists through the woods. If this sounds like your kind of good time, come on down for a visit before Texas follows through on its threats to secede from the United States.

Earlier: ATL Summer Associate Event Contest of 2009: Fish & Richardson Roller Derby vs. Carlton Fields Fishing Trip

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