Archive for August 2009

Non-Sequiturs: 08.26.09

By Elie Mystal

Lehman.JPG* All you need to know about Joe Gregory’s claim against Lehman. [Dealbreaker]
* The danger of killing the billable hour. [Legally Drawn]
* Now is the time where T-14 students learn how the other half lives. [Big Debt, Small Law]
* When recruiters aren’t busy laughing at you, here’s what they want to hear. [Young Lawyers Blog]
* Twitter = publishing opportunity. [Marketing Strategy & The Law]
* “To be Irish is to know that, in the end, the world will break your heart.” [What About Clients?]
* Does Vogue have an equivalent for Paul Begala? [Fashionista]
* Lat was on with Brian Cuban yesterday, ranting about Sotomayor, firms and scandals. He dislikes the camera angle, but it’s still better than what Jacob is exposed to. [Cuban Revolution]
* Don’t forget to tell us how your hours are looking in our poll.

UT-Austin OCI: Great for Employers, Bad For Students

By Elie Mystal

UT Austin school of law logo.JPGDuring on-campus interviewing this year, the power is clearly with the recruiters. There are going to be a lot more law students looking for summer internships than employers looking for fresh talent.
We all know this. But do recruiters have to be so damn happy about it? Here’s one report from a 2L at University of Texas School of Law, in Austin:

I am walking up the stairs to get to my OCI appointment. I overhear some interviewers from various firms talking to each other as I hold the door for them and their heavy bags of firm-branded crap.

One lady says to another, “Did you get a lot more applicants from UT this year?” Lady 2 says, “No, it was the usual number for us.” Lady 1 replies, “I had 200 applicants from UT alone for the 15 total spots we will fill this year.” Lady 2 says, “I think it’s gonna be a great year for employers!” They all laugh.

Yes, it’s the sweet sweet tears of law students that make employers strong and profitable. What could be funnier than that?
After the jump, our tipster has some advice for OCI season.

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No Offer Watch: The Baker Botts Bread Isn’t Rising

By Elie Mystal

no offer factories.jpgOffer season (a.k.a. no offer season) is here in full force. The latest news comes from Baker Botts, and it appears that you didn’t have to be involved in a Texas scandal to get no-offered by the firm.
Multiple tipsters independently report that the offer rate at Baker Botts was between 50 to 55 percent firm-wide. The no offerees we spoke to felt the firm should have brought fewer people on for the summer if it was going to throw so many people back into the pool of 3L recruiting:

No offered. Man that sucked. Should have summered at a firm that wasn’t going to waste my time. At least I’m not alone.

But summers that received an offer understandably had a more positive take on the experience:

I got an offer, but I know a lot of people who didn’t. I suppose that is unfair, but I feel like we all knew that it was going to be a competitive summer and not everybody was going to make it.

Make it? Ask the class of 2009 whether getting an offer at the end of the summer bears any relation to actually having a full-time job upon graduation.
While Baker Botts made offers to about half of its summer class overall, the Baker Botts summers in the firm’s New York office were not nearly as lucky. Details after the jump.

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The Hours: How are yours looking for 2009?

By Kashmir Hill

billable hours for 2009.jpgThe billable hour may be under attack, but for now, it still rules the lives of most lawyers slaving away in Biglaw offices around the country.
An ATL reader recently wrote to us and asked if we would do a survey of the health of associate hours this year. With the work slowdown, we imagine hours for 2009 are on track to be a bit lower than last year.
Most people have had their mid-year reviews. How are your hours looking? Is 1600 the new black? Are you trailing the pack?
Take our survey and obsessively compare your hours discuss after the jump.

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Morgan Lewis’s New Compensation Structure = Less Base Compensation?

By Elie Mystal

Morgan Lewis.JPGA month and a half ago, Morgan Lewis announced that it was canceling its 2010 summer program and moving away from lockstep compensation. At the time, some people criticized me for looking at a move away from lockstep compensation as tantamount to a salary cut.
A firm could move away from lockstep to give its associates a larger share of the profits they generate. Is that what Morgan Lewis is thinking?
Morgan Lewis is in the process of holding a series of meetings with associates in various offices. The goal is to let the associates know what the firm is planning to do with salaries starting January 1, 2010.
According to a firm spokesperson, these meetings are preliminary in nature:

As our Chair announced earlier this year, we have decided to move away from lockstep to a performance-based evaluation and compensation model. We are still in the process of developing the new model and are meeting with associates around the firm to solicit their input. We have not yet determined or announced any specific terms of the model, so any reports regarding compensation cuts at this point are pure speculation and false rumor.

Associates who have been in these meetings have a different take on what’s going on.

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How Has the Recession Affected You?

By David Lat

Now that the New York Times has covered it, it’s official: the recession has hit the legal profession.
Here’s more evidence. Yesterday afternoon, while walking along 53rd Street in Manhattan (between Broadway and Eighth), we came across The Man in a Van. Aaron Heideman, aka The Man in a Van, is traveling around the country, collecting stories of how people have been affected by the recession. Contributors write down their narratives on a giant poster (which, when unfurled, spans 50 yards). Selected stories are written on the van itself.
Here is one person’s story, from a former law clerk — someone who would usually have no trouble landing a job:
how has the recession affected you man in a van project.jpg
Two additional pictures — a larger shot of the banner, plus one of the van — after the jump.

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Lawsuit of the Day: The Real Mothers-in-Law of NYC

By Elie Mystal

Sunda Croonquist 1.JPGMy wife and I live four blocks away from my mother. I have a little bit of experience balancing one’s mother and one’s wife and not getting crushed by a domestic pincer attack of disastrous consequences.
As any good husband-son will tell you, the best policy is to stay far, far away from any skirmishes between your wife and your mother. Never underestimate the power of “selective deafness.” My wife and my mother can be having a conversation right in front of me, and if I hear something that could lead to conflict, I can “un-hear” statements before they make it to my hippocampus. All I hear is “First-and-ten on the Dallas 40. Manning drops back … incomplete.”
Later I can agree with my wife’s interpretation and my mother’s interpretation with perfect honesty. What do I know? I wasn’t even there!
Of course, such familial gymnastics might not be possible if my wife were a public person. For instance, my mother-in-law lives thousands of miles away. I like that. On the public forum of this blog, all you’ll ever hear me say is “my mother-in-law is the bestest most awesomest person ever! It only took her a decade to learn how to pronounce my name!”
New York comedian Sunda Croonquist apparently doesn’t have my skill for tact. Her act, which has been featured on Comedy Central, apparently contains a number of jokes made at her mother-in-law’s expense.
Is she hoping to get a sitcom? Probably. But instead she’s earned a defamation lawsuit — filed by her mother-in-law.

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Career Alternatives for Attorneys: Gay Porn Star?

By David Lat

porn pornography XXX video.jpgWe’ve written extensively in the past about law students and lawyers taking their clothes off for the camera. For whatever reason, most have been women. For example:

  • an associate from Thacher Proffitt (& Wood — hehe), who previously posed for Playboy;
  • a U. Miami law school graduate, who also posed for Playboy;
  • a UNC law student, who auditioned for Playboy’s pages; and
  • a Brooklyn law student, who appeared on Playboy TV.

    • But we are equal opportunity oglers here at Above the Law. We’re more than happy to write about naked male hotties (or clothed male hotties, at Davis Polk).
    Meet “Jacob” (surely not his real name). He’s a male law student who has turned to performing in gay pornography to pay his tuition.
    NOTE: We’ve included a screencap. It is safe for work, but it does include shots of a shirtless man, which some may find risqué. Accordingly, we’ve posted the image AFTER THE JUMP.
    Do NOT click on the “Continue reading” link below unless you are prepared to see some skin. Thanks.

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    Thanks to This Week’s Advertisers

    By Above the Law

    thank you post it note.JPGA quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:

  • Applied Discovery
  • Kinney Recruiting
  • Lateral Link
  • Law.com
  • Mestel
  • The New York Times
  • OCI Advantage
  • University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Isenberg School of Management
    If you’re interested in advertising on Above the Law or any other site in the Breaking Media network, download our media kits, or email advertising@breakingmedia.com. Thanks!

    Maverick Law: The ABA Journal’s ‘Legal Rebels’

    By Elie Mystal

    Legal Mavericks.jpgThe ABA Journal is kicking off a series on legal rebels. It’s not an oxymoronic phrase; there are innovators and mavericks all throughout our risk averse profession. Here’s what the publication is looking for:

    Over the next three months, the Journal will profile 50 of the profession’s leading innovators on www.LegalRebels.com, with at least three profiles added every week. Each profile will include multimedia features like video interviews, audio podcasts, photo slideshows and live chats.
    [T]he recession is totally changing the practice of law, and the Legal Rebels project is documenting the individual lawyers who are leading the changes.

    But you don’t have to be featured by the ABA Journal to be a legal rebel. Check out the rebel manifesto, after the jump.

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    Morning Docket: 08.26.09

    By David Lat

    burka burqa burkha burqha Dubai Doha UAE Qatar Above the Law blog.jpgEd. note: We’ve already discussed the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy and the New York Times article about the state of the legal job market.
    * Diversity among federal judges: low, but increasing. [Washington Post]
    * Speaking of federal judges, the super-stylish Judge Preska just ordered the Federal Reserve to reveal emergency bank loan records. [Bloomberg]
    * Chris Brown sentenced to five years probation and 180 days of community labor for assaulting Rihanna; evidence of prior domestic violence incidents emerges. [Los Angeles Times]
    * If you show up to a Michigan trial court in a burqa, you may now be forced to remove it. [CNN]
    * Some news from Pakistan: lawyers gone wild? [Am Law Daily]

    All the News That’s Fit to Recycle
    (NYT reports: ‘Legal job market is hard!’)

    By David Lat

    New York Times screaming headline.jpgCheck out this article, wherein the New York Times tells you what you already knew. We’ve been covering these developments for weeks here at Above the Law.
    To all the mainstream media reporters who complain about blogs repackaging their content without adequate attribution, we say: it looks recycling is a two-way street.
    In fairness to the NYT, they’re writing for a general audience. Some of their readers might actually find it newsworthy that (1) legal employment is down during this recession, (2) people often have to go into debt to attend law school, and (3) some of these people are having a hard time finding jobs now.
    Regular visitors to ATL will find the Times piece more boring than incorrect. But one paragraph was wildly off the mark.

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    (NYT reports: ‘Legal job market is hard!’)“

    Breaking: Ted Kennedy, RIP

    By David Lat

    Senator Kennedy.jpgSenator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) passed away shortly before midnight on Tuesday, while at home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. He was 77. From CNN:

    “We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever,” a family statement said. “We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice.”

    Kennedy, nicknamed “Ted,” was the younger brother of slain President John F. Kennedy and New York Sen. Robert Kennedy, who was gunned down while seeking the White House in 1968. However, his own presidential aspirations were hobbled by the controversy around a 1969 auto accident that left a young woman dead, and a 1980 primary challenge to then-President Jimmy Carter that ended in defeat.

    Senator Kennedy was a lawyer. He graduated in 1959 from the University of Virginia School of Law (where he won a moot court competition), became a member of the Massachusetts bar, and served as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County from 1961 to 1962. But he was more known for his long and distinguished political career than for his legal one.
    Update: Over at True/Slant, Elie asks: “Could a 30 year old Edward Kennedy get elected to the Senate today? Would he have survived the scandals of his youth to become entrenched in the U.S. Senate?”
    Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy dead [CNN]
    Ted Kennedy Dies of Brain Cancer at Age 77 [ABC News]
    Senator Edward Kennedy, 77, dies [Reuters via Drudge]

    Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Ken Basin, Harvard Law ’08, Sure Does.

    By David Lat

    Kenneth Basin Kenneth D Basin Ken Basin.jpgMeet Ken Basin. This legal prodigy, just 24 years old, is an associate at Greenberg Glusker, one of the top entertainment law firms in the country. Basin graduated last year from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude and with a Sears Prize, at the tender age of 23.

    Basin isn’t just a handsome legal genius; he’s also a trivia ace. Back in 2003, he made it to the semifinals of College Jeopardy (which, incidentally, his girlfriend won back in 2000).

    On Sunday, Basin was back in the hot seat. He made it all the way to the million-dollar question on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

    So how did things turn out for Ken Basin? Did he join the ranks of lawyers who have won seven-figure sums on television — e.g., Victor and Tammy Jih, of Harvard Law School and the Amazing Race, and Yul Kwon, of Yale Law School and Survivor?

    Find out how he fared, after the jump.

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    Non-Sequiturs: 08.25.09

    By Elie Mystal

    JesusPets.jpg* Some people sit around and make fun of those who believe in the coming rapture. Others make money. [The Faculty Lounge]
    * Is the debate about the billable hour really a question of trust? [Adam Smith, Esq.]
    * From Marin: “Stanley Kaplan of Kaplan LSAT prep fame died today. He lowered his pulse by 100%.” [Daily News]
    * Calling Courtney Love bat***t is insulting to bat***t. [Gawker]
    * Planning your great escape from Biglaw. [Technolawyer]
    * “Killing al-Qaeda kingpins isn’t just sound policy; it also stands on solid legal ground.” [National Review Online]
    * Two of three fired Maryland public defenders have gotten their jobs back! [Underdog]
    * Is thinking like a lawyer vastly overrated? [What About Clients?]
    * Exposing the Propofol timeline in the Jackson homicide. [Popsquire]

    Talking about Skanks With Daniel Solove
    (Or: How To Become the Legal Expert On Privacy in Less Than 10 Years)

    By Kashmir Hill

    cohen port skanks in nyc.jpgWe mentioned the ‘Skanks in NYC’ case in yesterday’s Morning Docket, and I’ve written about it extensively over at True/Slant.

    To summarize: a blogger started a website called ‘Skanks in NYC’ in order to say nasty things about model Liskula Cohen. Cohen discovered the site containing just five posts, in which the blogger called Cohen a skank, a ho, and an old hag, among other nasty things, and posted photos of her.

    Cohen decided she wanted to file a defamation suit against the anonymous blogger, so her lawyer subpoenaed Google — which hosted ‘Skanks in NYC’ at Blogger — to obtain the writer’s e-mail and IP address. The blogger’s lawyer fought the subpoena but lost. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden ordered Google to turn over the information. Google sent it along. Cohen filed her defamation suit outing her alleged defamer: Rosemary Port, a 29-year-old Fashion Institute of Technology student who was mad at Cohen for saying nasty things about her to Port’s boyfriend.

    The press wrote lots of stories about the case and about Port, whose name the media obtained from court papers. Cohen then dropped her $3 million defamation suit, making it appear that this may have been a Cyberslapp: “a new form of lawsuit… threatening to overturn the promise of anonymous online speech and chill the freedom of expression that is central to the online world.”
    Now Port wants to slap Google with a $15 million lawsuit, saying Google violated her First Amendment rights by complying with the court order. Her lawyer went so far as to compare ‘Skanks in NYC’ with the Federalist Papers. From the New York Daily News:

    “I’m ready to take this all the way to the Supreme Court,” [Port's lawyer, Salvatore] Strazzullo said. “Our Founding Fathers wrote ‘The Federalist Papers’ under pseudonyms. Inherent in the First Amendment is the right to speak anonymously. Shouldn’t that right extend to the new public square of the Internet?”

    It’s been widely reported, but what are the actual merits of the suit against Google? We spoke with renowned privacy expert and George Washington Law professor Daniel Solove about the case and have an answer for you after the jump. While we had him on the phone, we also discussed how one becomes the foremost U.S. expert on privacy by age 37.

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    (Or: How To Become the Legal Expert On Privacy in Less Than 10 Years)”

    Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 16-20 (2010)

    By Elie Mystal

    comparing.jpgLet’s finish off the prestigious Vault 20. Here we have some firms on the rise, and some firms that are … not.
    Here is the next batch of firms:

    16. WilmerHale
    17. Latham & Watkins
    18. Arnold & Porter
    19. Jones Day
    20. White & Case

    Okay, before we discuss Latham and White & Case, let’s give a good cheer for WilmerHale (up one spot from last year), Arnold & Porter (up two spots from last year), and Jones Day (up four spots from last year).
    The Jones Day surge is particularly impressive. You’ll remember that the firm slammed its competitors earlier this month. But it seems like the firm is walking the walk as well as talking the talk.
    After the jump, you know what happens next.

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    How to Avoid Getting Fired

    By Elie Mystal

    I don’t speak Russian, so I have no idea what this commercial is about.
    But it seems like it should be about what associates should do when the “firing partner” is making the rounds:

    If a Russian speaker wants to translate for us in the comments, that would be great. But I’ll definitely be implementing some of these design ideas in the ATL office. (Gavel Bang: Justin Bernold)

    Mobile Law Office

    By Elie Mystal

    Mobile law office kansas.jpgBefore the recession, this would have surprised me. Now, it seems relatively pedestrian. The Joplin Globe reports (via the ABA Journal):

    BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — Lawyers Chris Meek and Nathan Coleman are taking it on the road. They have turned a 2002 Volkswagen Rialta into a mobile law office.
    “It’s a convenience factor for our clients,” Coleman said of the recreational vehicle, sometimes called a Winnebago Rialta.

    If an ambulance leaves Manhattan, KS, traveling at 75 mph, and a mobile law office leaves Baxter Springs, KS, traveling at 50 mph, at what point do the two vehicles collide and open a portal to another dimension heralding the apocalypse?
    Baxter Springs and Joplin law partners bring office to clients [Joplin Globe]
    Lawyers Turn a 2002 RV into a Mobile Law Office [ABA Journal]

    Lawsuit of the Day: Don’t Lie About Brain Tumors

    By Elie Mystal

    Stupid lying plaintiff.jpgThe Connecticut Employment Law Blog reports on the kind of plaintiff that gives other plaintiffs a bad name:

    In the middle of trial, a plaintiff (who is claiming his employment was terminated, among other reasons, in retaliation of his exercise of FMLA rights) drops a bombshell:

    “[In the prior October], I learned that I had — have stage III prostate cancer with a metastatic brain lesion.”

    What kind of client just blurts out “metastatic brain lesion” in open court? What kind of counsel allows that to happen?
    Not surprisingly, defense counsel moved for a mistrial. The judge called a hearing, and then the idiot plaintiff had something else to say:

    During the hearing, however, there’s another another unexpected development: The medical records show that the employee did not have (and never had) a metastatic brain lesion.

    The plaintiff knew he didn’t have a brain lesion — though it seems self evident that something upstairs is not working properly in this guy’s head.
    Is this a situation that demands more than a mistrial?

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