Back in October 2007, we wondered:
Why does Florida produce so many TV judges? It is because of their penchant, noted by PD Howard Finkelstein, for being rude and abusive?
The following are former Floridian jurists who left the state bench for the boob tube: Marilyn Milian, of the People’s Court (previously discussed here); Alex Ferrer, a/k/a “Judge Alex”; David Young, the gay TV judge; and the notorious Anna Nicole Smith judge, Larry Seidlin (not on air yet, but rumored to arrive in fall 2008).
Sadly, the world is now down two Miami TV judges. One of them, Judge David Young (pictured above), was trying to be The Gay TV Judge.
The country may be growing more receptive to gay marriage. But when it comes to television judges, it seems we like ‘em straight.
Courtroom TV: Two of Miami’s TV judges get the ax [Daily Business Review]
Stalking, cat fights, cheating, assault, and a secret marriage. This is the scandalous news out of Vinton, Virginia (pop: 7,782) this week, thanks to a lawyer-lawyer-paralegal love triangle.
If you surf over to WDBJ to check out the tale, we advise watching the video and skipping the transcribed broadcast. It hurt our head to translate it. And it hurt our eyes to Photoshop the image at right — click to enlarge (if you dare).
Two bankruptcy law attorneys, Jeffrey Kessler and Ann Marie Miller (an Appalachian School of Law ’06 grad), had been partnering on cases and in the bedroom. Ick. Apparently, Kessler then started secretly dating a younger woman, paralegal Jennifer Kelley.
That’s when things got messy — and, allegedly, violent.
Continue reading “Legal Love Triangle We Wish We Hadn’t Heard About”
We don’t know who Rick Pitino is — his Wikipedia entry suggests he’s a college basketball coach — or why he’s important. We don’t know anything about sports. Elie, come back from vacation; we need you!
What we do know, and what makes Rick Pitino relevant for these pages, is that he was supposed to speak at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University — until his appearance was canceled. The law school administration sent out this brief message:
Coach Pitino and Samford University have mutually agreed to cancel the luncheon scheduled for September 10, 2009 at the Harbert Center. If you have already made payment for this event, your check will be returned to you.
Many readers alerted us to this development (which is why we decided to write about it). One tipster told us:
Cumberland School of Law at Samford University was going to have Coach Pitino visit next month. Normally, this may not be a big deal, but Samford is a Baptist School. It could have been an interesting luncheon…
If you know (or care) more about Rick Pitino than we do, read more at Deadspin and NPR.
Rick Pitino Deemed Unworthy Of Samford Law School’s Leadership Luncheon [Deadspin]
Rick Pitino Embroiled In Extortion Case [NPR]
We’ve written about numerous lawyers turned reality TV stars here at ATL. When we’ve done so, we’ve identified them and/or their employers by name. E.g., Jeremy Anderson (Hunton & Williams / The Bachelorette), Charlie Herschel (Weil Gotshal / Survivor), Victor and Tammy Jih (O’Melveny / Quinn Emanuel / Amazing Race), Yul Kwon (McKinsey / Survivor), David Otunga (Sidley / I Love New York), etc.
If you voluntarily appear on a nationally televised reality show, whether as a contestant or a friend or relative of a contestant, it’s a bit ridiculous to complain of privacy violation, isn’t it?
Continue reading “Gibson Dunn Associate Turned Reality TV Star Wants To Have Her Cake and Eat It Too”
On Monday, we tossed out a blind item about future layoffs at a Manhattan law firm, mentioned in the Washington Post as a client of the Five O’Clock Club, an outplacement firm. On Tuesday, with the help of Law Shucks, we narrowed down the list of suspects.
We’re happy to report that we can advance the ball on this. Three firms should be cleared of suspicion:
1. Dewey & LeBoeuf: A spokesperson from D&L stated that it is not the firm in question and has no layoff plans.
2. Schulte Roth & Zabel: A spokesperson from SRZ stated that it is not the firm in question and has not hired a layoff consultant or outplacement consultant.
3. White & Case: A reader pointed out to us that White & Case is listed as a Five O’Clock Club client (PDF). [Update: Looks like the client list has been removed, but we downloaded it; check it out here.]
This caused us to wonder if White & Case might be the firm at issue. But White & Case denies it.
Continue reading “Blind Item Follow-Up: Denials of Upcoming Layoffs from Dewey, Schulte, and White & Case”
With hundreds of thousands of visitors to the law firm snapshots and tens of thousands of law firm comparisons generated on the Career Center, the law firm information is the biggest draw. But we wanted to remind you about some of the other great Resources available on the Career Center, powered by Lateral Link.
In addition, since the Career Center is dynamic and we are continually updating the information, we want to know what parts of the Career Center you find to be the most valuable:
Now, on to the other career-enhancing features….
Continue reading “Career Center: Beyond Law Firm Information”
Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com.
ATL -
I will soon leave my biglaw job for greener pastures. My time at the firm has been awful — soul-crushing work, very low morale among associates, distrust of management, and stealth layoffs (luckily I’m not one of those). Recently a lot of those given “forced attrition” have been leaving, and they all say goodbye with falsely upbeat, suck-up emails, full of “I have been grateful for world-class colleagues,” and “I have grown into a well-trained attorney,” and even “I’ll miss my time here.”
I would like nothing better than to send a real, honest email — calling management out for their greed and mismanagement of the firm, stealth layoffs that decimate careers and reputations, and the low morale fostered by bad leadership. Is that career suicide?
Blazing Saddles
Dear Blazing Saddles,
Messages of rage, despair and other unseemly emotions clog the draft sent box of nearly every person’s email account. Most people have the self-restraint to “save as draft” the please die/FYI you were horrible in bed anyway emails. Others have learned from their accidental send mistakes and now draft all break-up and rot in hell emails in MS Word. And still others — the Jerry Maguires among us — press send, and set into motion a parade of horribles.
Let’s say you send a firm-wide email, informing the firm that they’ve robbed you of 5 years of your life and that you’ll see them all in hell. For about 3 seconds, you’ll feel liberated. You sure showed them! Unfortunately, the flipside of liberation is exile. You won’t be seen as a folk hero, carried out on the shoulders of paralegals because even your co-workers who share your FU sentiments will perceive the mere act of sending the email as 100% insane. They’ll immediately forward it on to everyone they know with captions like “HAHA – OMG,” and “Bellevue.” ATL will procure a copy, we’ll do an entire post on it, and then your law career will really be over. The minute you send the email, you’ll be liberated, alright — from your next prospective job, and the one after that, and the one after that, and so on and so forth until a thousand years have passed.
You don’t have to be a complete nerd and send one of those ludicrous “I feel privileged to have worked here/I hope our paths will cross again/please keep in touch” eulogy emails. Don’t send anything at all and proceed immediately to a pub where you turn your rage inwards and abuse your body with alcohol and onion rings.
If you do send the email, pls bcc tips@abovethelaw.com.
Your friend,
Marin
I reprise the role of Elie, who’s on vacation, after the jump.
Continue reading “Pls Hndle Thx: Blaze of Glory”
Yesterday we covered the decision of Fordham Law School to ban Reed Smith from recruiting on-campus for the next five years, in response to the firm’s last-minute withdrawal from on-campus interviewing at Fordham. The decision was announced by Dean William Treanor in a strongly worded email message.
Dean Treanor’s email, while harsh, seemed to be well-received, at least among ATL readers. In our reader poll, over 80 percent of you deemed it an appropriate response to Reed Smith’s late pullout from Fordham EIW (Early Interview Week).
Reed Smith has now addressed the situation. From the Legal Intelligencer:
Michael B. Pollack, global head of strategy at Reed Smith, said this certainly isn’t a situation the firm was looking for and he suspects the ban isn’t a good situation for the firm or the students. He said he hopes Treanor would reconsider.
“We’re trying to run a business just like he’s trying to run a law school and I appreciate the pressures that he is under and I would hope he would appreciate the pressures we’re under,” Pollack said.
Additional comments by Pollack appear in Gina Passarella’s article.
We also reached out to Reed Smith, which sent us a detailed — and dignified — statement. Check it out, after the jump.
Continue reading “Fordham Law v. Big Law: Reed Smith’s Response”
Speaking of judges with tempers… From the Washington Post:
A Charles County judge is under investigation for allegedly letting the air out of the tire of a car belonging to a woman who works as a part-time cleaning worker at the courthouse, according to the car owner and sources familiar with the incident.
Two county sheriff’s jail officers said they saw Circuit Court Judge Robert C. Nalley letting the air out of the back right tire of a 2004 Toyota Corolla parked just outside the La Plata courthouse about 3:45 p.m. Monday, according to the two sources.
Apparently, the woman had taken Nalley’s spot:
Jean Washington, the owner of the Toyota, said in an interview that she had just entered the courthouse for her work shift when a sheriff’s deputy alerted her, “Jean, you need to move your car. Judge Nalley’s going to let the air out of it.”
Washington, 51, said she rushed out and moved her car to a different parking lot, farther from the courthouse. When she pulled into another parking spot, another sheriff’s deputy told her that her rear passenger tire was flat, Washington said.
Judge Nalley, we kind of love you. That’s what you get for taking a judge’s parking spot, cleaner lady!
Unfortunately, Nalley may not be entitled to his parking spot righteousness.
Continue reading “Judge of the Day: Robert C. Nalley”
* As we’ve noted before, practicing law in Russia can involve serious violence. It also involves crooked judges and police who help corporate raiders hijack businesses using the court system. [Washington Post]
* Three law student interns won the “legal lottery” this summer, submitting a murder case brief to SCOTUS. [Lancaster Eagle Gazette]
* Calling someone homosexual is no longer defamation per se in New York. [New York Law Journal]
* Confederate flag clothing (at school): not fashionable and not protected by the Constitution. [Associated Press]
* There are many questions in the U.S. attorney firings probe, but only one burning question. [Associated Press]
* Law firm bookkeeper sentenced to almost five years for stealing nearly $100,000 from her Kentucky firm. [WZTV]
* ‘Can I haz my ten million but plead the Fifth about how it got into my bank account?’ Texas billionaire and alleged fraudster, Allen Stanford, needs money for his defense, but to get it he would have to testify that his assets are untainted. [Bloomberg]
Earlier this week, we showed you a photo of a protest before an undisclosed law firm, then asked you to suggest captions. We now have six finalists and would like you to vote for the best of the bunch. To refresh your recollection, here’s the photo:
And here are the finalists:
A. “Laid off associates try a new strategy after their restatement section 90 claims fail.”
B. “Firms run a risk of bad publicity when they lay off both labor lawyers and the print shop staff at the same time.”
C. “So you say they underpay their staff and associates, treat all employees poorly, and offer no medical or retirement benefits whatsoever? . . . Are they hiring?”
D. “What do we want?”
“Jobs!”
“When do we want ‘em?”
“No earlier than January 2011, economic concerns permitting!”
E. “Shame on Firm X for only laying off 2 employees. Doesn’t it realize we’re in a recession?”
F. “In a classic labor protest rookie mistake, the former associates wasted their budget on a fancy sign and failed to reserve funds for doughnuts, resulting in awkwardly low participation.”
The poll closes on Thursday at 11:59 PM EST. We’ll bring you the winner, plus the story (and firm) behind the photo, on Friday.
Earlier: ATL Caption Contest: Shame on You
* If you see a lady driving around wearing a burqa, resist the urge to tailgate her. [Volokh Conspiracy]
* A social networking site for “accountants, lawyers, and lenders” — a recipe for a hot ménage à trois, or just folks to help with your taxes? [Going Concern]
* The 51st Best Law Firm For Women? [WSJ Law Blog]
* The Harvard Law Review gets smacked down — by a college kid. [True/Slant]
Jeffrey L. Marcuzzo is a Nebraska county judge with a temper. Leigh Jones at the National Law Journal reports that Marcuzzo’s corn got husked when a prosecutor rescheduled a matter before him back in October 2007. Marcuzzo called and left a vulgar message on the prosecutor’s voicemail:
“I did not appreciate that one f**king bit. And if I find out you ever did that again to me or any other members of the county court bench, I’ll shove it up your a** so f**king far it will make your throat hurt.”
The Supreme Court of Nebraska has disciplined the judge for violating judicial disciplinary rules and sentenced him to a 120-day suspension without pay.
We were curious: How did the prosecutor react to the profane message?
Continue reading “Judge of the F&*%ing Day: Jeffrey L. Marcuzzo”
The Fox Reality Channel has launched a rip-off twist on Bravo’s very successful “Real Housewives” series: Househusbands of Hollywood.
From the New York Daily News:
The reality series, premiering Aug. 15 at 9 p.m., features five stay-at-home men who run the house while their wives head to work.
It features former L.A. Dodger Billy Ashley; aspiring actor Danny Barclay; former “A Different World” star Darryl M. Bell, who’s married to “Cosby Show” actress Tempestt Bledsoe; one-time “Gentleman Bandit” star Charlie Mattera, and Grant Reynolds, husband of “Good Day LA” anchor Jillian Reynolds.
The working woman behind househusband and aspiring actor Danny Barclay is a “high-powered Los Angeles attorney.” The New York Times focuses on the Barclays in its write-up of the episode premiere, due to the morning to-do list that Danny Barclay gets from his wife via e-mail every day, and his sad man-cave in the garage:
Fox Reality describes Katherine Barclay as a “high-powered attorney.” A check with the California Bar Association turned up no trace of her; a Fox publicist said Ms. Barclay practices under another name, which she would not provide, citing “client sensitivities and upcoming trials.”
Thanks to tipsters, we’ve managed to do what the Times couldn’t: identify Katherine Barclay. Find out which firm she’s with, and see clips from the first Househusbands episode, after the jump.
Continue reading “Biglaw Associate and Her Househusband Star in New Fox Reality TV Show”
When the going gets tough, the tough get…. hoeing? On this morning’s open thread regarding 3L recruiting, one commenter recommended that instead of applying for legal jobs — perhaps a futile task in this economy — 3Ls should “[t]ry subsistence farming instead.”
Good idea! From the Associated Press:
They are lawyers, factory workers, insurance adjusters, even an accountant and a dentist. All share the same dream: They want to farm.
And all have applied to a special Iowa program that tries to link aspiring farmers with seasoned landowners who are looking toward retirement — or just planning for the future.
Seriously? We thought the legal job market in Iowa was relatively strong.
So what’s the lure of the land for lawyers?
Continue reading “Career Alternatives for Attorneys: Farmer?”
We’ve heard from many frustrated law students who bid on a particular law firm for on-campus interviewing only to learn, after using up a bid or an interview slot, that the firm in question wouldn’t be coming to OCI after all. We’ve even heard from students who were told, mid-interview, that the office they were supposedly interviewing for wouldn’t be having a summer program (but more on that later).
Law firms are certainly entitled to pick which schools they want to interview at. But, as a matter of basic professional courtesy and respect, they should make those decisions as early in the process as possible. When a law firm withdraws from the fall recruiting process at a given school at the eleventh hour, it causes great inconvenience to law students and schools.
What do most law schools do when firms pull out from OCI at the last minute? As far as we know, nothing. In this economy, law firms are in the driver’s seat. They’re the people with jobs to dole out.
But at least one law school has decided to take a stand against rudeness. After Reed Smith announced its late withdrawal from the recruiting process at Fordham Law, the school struck back, banning the firm from recruiting at Fordham for the next five years.
Dean William Treanor announced the move to the law school in a saucy email that truly puts the “F.U.” in Fordham University. The Fordham law folks are located at Lincoln Center rather than Rose Hill, but this message suggests they can brawl like their Bronx brethren.
Update (8/13/09): The firm’s response to the situation appears here.
Read the dean’s complete email message, and vote in our reader poll — yes, another one, we can’t help ourselves (we love to get your opinion on such matters) — after the jump.
Continue reading “Fordham Law Lashes Out at Reed Smith Rudeness
Dean Treanor to firm: Don’t come ’round here no more.“
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.
As the summer drifts by with no sign of viable employment prospects, I realize I am suffering from a pernicious affliction which, while common amongst lawyers, has reached epidemic proportions here in the breadline. In a word, the problem is this: slavery.
No, friends: I’m not referring to the kind of involuntary servitude expressly prohibited by the Thirteenth Amendment (of which I am not, of course, making light). I’m talking about the unique bondage of the BlackBerry, which ensnares us with invisible, but often impermeable, shackles. Or, if you are infinitely cooler and have an iPhone, there’s probably an app for that.
Following this realization, I resolve to develop a more normal relationship with my BlackBerry. No one is calling or emailing to offer me a fantastic job, I remind myself. Being hyper-attuned to the blinking red light that would, in theory, alert me to new messages or missed calls has not, thus far, caused any new messages or missed calls to materialize. So, I decide, I will take the bold step of leaving my BlackBerry at home when I go out to do errands.
“Don’t worry,” I say to the device anxiously, as I prepare for a Berry-free outing. “I won’t be gone long.” In some cultures, offering reassurance to a phone might be considered … well, strange. But those cultures, I tell myself, are judgmental and parochial.
Alas, my leap of faith is rewarded with an email from a recruiter looking to fill a temporary position “ASAP!!,” and although I send him my resume as soon as I can, he writes back to tell me that the job has already been filled. Irritated, I notice that I have also missed a call. When I check my voicemail, there is a message from a former colleague. “You didn’t respond to the Evite, Roxana,” she says. “I hope you didn’t forget about our reunion dinner tomorrow night.”
The dinner she is referring to is a yearly gathering for alumni of a Big Law Firm where I once worked — which, in fact, I forgot about. But, while I usually look forward to the event, I find myself regarding it with dread. How many times will I have to announce that I was laid off? How many questions will I have to answer about my job search? What if I’m the only person there who is unemployed?
Continue reading “Notes from the Breadline: To Be On Your Own (Part II)”
It’s legal, so it’s within our jurisdiction. But our sister sites have written it up already, so we’ll simply refer you to their coverage.
UBS is Naming Names (Finally) [Going Concern]
UBS Eagerly Pays Extortion Money [Dealbreaker]
Are green shoots sprouting in Biglaw? Preliminary reports on summer associate offer rates suggest that the news isn’t all bad.
But even if things are improving, there’s no denying that the job market is still tough. Not every firm can boast a 100 percent offer rate (as we’ll be reporting in the weeks ahead).
So what should you do if you don’t get an offer from your 2L summer firm? Or what if the firm you summered at won’t get back to you about offers for a few months, effectively forcing you to participate in on-campus interviewing as a 3L? A reader requests:
[M]aybe you can write a post or create a thread about recruiting and interviewing tips for 3Ls this fall. I think there’s a severe lack of information. A lot of my friends don’t have jobs lined up after graduation but don’t know what avenues to pursue, since firms (inexplicably, in my opinion) find 3Ls anathema. This is in addition to the fact that most listed jobs require experience. Just a thought.
From a second correspondent:
I just ended finished my summer associate gig, and my firm (V20 in NYC) gave me a great review and a non-committal “we will discuss offers in the upcoming months.” I’m facing a terrible OCI at my school for 3Ls, a pretty dismal shot at a clerkship in any city I would ever consider living in, and pretty tough government employment prospects….
I know this is the same situation at least four of my friends are facing…. What should we do?
More commentary and a reader poll, after the jump.
Continue reading “Open Thread: Fall Recruiting for 3Ls
(Or: Abandon hope all ye who enter here?)”
Back when we worked at a law firm, one partner was obsessed with the concept of the “paperless office.” He wanted to have as many documents as possible scanned and stored electronically, in order to eliminate any unnecessary use of paper. It was a bit OCD of him, and his jihad against paper was viewed with mild amusement around the firm.
Perhaps this partner was ahead of his time. Back in 2006, law firms were described as the “last frontier in going paperless.” But now the trend is moving strongly in the direction of a paperless world. These days it seems that everyone wants to go commando.
Continue reading “The Paper(less) Chase”
