September 2009
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Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Staff Salary Freeze From Wilson Sonsini
It’s been a while since we’ve had any news about how legal secretaries and staffs are weathering the recession. Well, at least no news that pertains to secretaries who are potty trained and don’t care about CHARACTER. To the extent that firms are still looking to make cuts, it feels like they are more focused […] -
American Bar Association / ABA, Media and Journalism, Shameless Plugs, Videos
A Conversation with Am Law Founder Steven Brill
As previously mentioned in these pages, your above-signed scribe has been named a Legal Rebel — one of “50 leading innovators” in the legal profession, as selected by the ABA Journal. The profile, written by Rachel Zahorsky, appears here. For more background on the Legal Rebels project, see our prior post, or the Legal Rebels […] - Sponsored
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Job Searches
Disturbing Message About the Legal Job Market From Columbia Law School
We all know about the difficult legal job market facing current law students. But is it so bad that J.D. candidates would have been better off never going to law school in the first place? At Columbia Law School — the fourth best law school in the country according to U.S. News — is suggesting […]
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Admin, Advertising, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law: The Atlantic De Beers Harvard Business School Kinney Recruiting Lateral Link LexisNexis Quimbee: The case brief database Soul Calibur 4 PSP If you’re interested in advertising on Above the Law or any other site in the Breaking Media network, download our media […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket 09.23.09
* New role for the Justice Department: Keeper of secrets (or not). [Washington Post] * California AG Jerry Brown is going after one of Madoff’s friends in the golden state. [Courthouse News Service and American Lawyer] * Ben Roethlisberger’s lawyers want a Nevada court to sanction the attorney who brought rape charges against the Steelers […]
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Job Searches, Romance and Dating, Summer Associates
Summer Fling, Don't Mean a Thing?(Or: Another perspective on the summer associate experience and no offers.)
Here at ATL, we’ve received many, many emails about “no offers.” We’ve provided extensive coverage and open threads galore. The general message conveyed in these comments and emails is that firms somehow “owe” full-time, post-graduation employment to their summer associates. Under this line of thinking, once firms invite law students to spend a summer with […] -
Federal Judges, Money
Judicial Pay: Is There a Crisis Coming?
Last week, we wrote about federal judge Stephen Larson’s decision to step down from the bench because of unrequited salary longings. He said his salary of $169,300 was not enough to support his family. We’re skeptical of a six-figure salary not being enough to support a family, but Larson does have seven kids and lives […] -
Job Searches, No Offers, Summer Associates
Should 2Ls Accept All of Their Offers to The Detriment of Fellow Students
On Friday, we mentioned that Harvard Law School took on Sullivan & Cromwell over how long to firm would hold open offers for summer associates. It was a good show by HLS. But the question of what 2Ls should do if they get multiple summer associate offers remains open. Earlier, we suggested that instead of […] - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 09.21.09
* We all need to be thrifty these days, so this question has to be asked. Is it okay to take away leftovers from a business lunch or dinner? [Corporette] * A wanna-be reality star is suing the reality show producer for being mocked. I think I’d have more sympathy for an ax murderer. [True/Slant] […] -
Lawyer of the Day, Murder, Violence
Taking the Adversarial System A Little Too Far
Mental note: Do not mess with lawyers in South Carolina. Don’t believe me? Just read the Charlotte Observer: Conway Attorney Irby Walker was charged today with trying to hire someone to kill another attorney, according to police. Walker, 58, was charged with solicitation of a felony after Doug Thornton told police Sept. 11 that Walker […] -
Benchslaps
Benchslap: Judge Orders Local Attorney to 'Re-Read ... FRCP'
David W. Glasser, a local attorney in Daytona Florida, received a major benchslap from U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell. It is short, it is sweet, and it appears entirely deserved. Here’s the order from the court. Glasser is the plaintiff’s lawyer: This matter came before the Court without oral argument upon consideration of Plaintiff’s, Carolyn […] -
Jed Rakoff, New York Times, Robert Katzmann, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Clerks, Weddings
Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 9.13: Devine Inspiration
Supreme Court clerks continue to flood the NYT wedding pages this month, creating grim LEWW odds for mere-mortal Cornell grads and Skadden associates. Like Troy playing Florida or North Texas playing Alabama, these folks are welcome to suit up, but the only question is how bad their whuppin’ is going to hurt. Here are your […] -
Politics, Sonnenschein
Sonnenschein Claims Paterson Crony
But for the state of Illinois, New York State would be receiving more national recognition for its state political situation. Even the President is embarrassed by the performance of New York Governor David Paterson. Perhaps Paterson’s chances of beating Andrew Cuomo, or Rudolph Giuliani, or the Naked Cowboy are depressed because of stories like these. […]
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Bar Exams
Florida Bar Exam Results
We trumpeted the terrible performance turned in by the state of Florida on the February bar exam. So it’s only fair that we give you sunshine staters a chance to talk about the July bar exam. The results were posted today. Bar results are out, all three major Florida college football teams are ranked in […] -
Allen & Overy, Layoffs, Prostitution, Sex, Sex Scandals
Deidre Dare Proposes Prostitution as a Layoff Solution?
Deidre Dare is one of our favorite laid-off lawyers. She was working in Russia for Allen & Overy, and decided to pen a salacious online novel about her expat adventures. The literary critics at A&O were not pleased with the novel, which featured lots of drinking, sex, drugs, donkeys, and dwarves. After she lost her […] -
Alston & Bird, Start Dates
Deferral Extension Season: Alston & Bird Make Indefinite Deferral
The contest of horror between the class of 2009 and the class of 2010 rages on. Based on Friday’s no offer thread, you’d think that the class of 2010 was surging ahead. We know 3L recruiting is depressed this year, so if you got no offered from your summer firm, your chances of snagging a […] -
Lawyer of the Day
Law Student of the Day: He Says He's Not Dating Rihanna, And He's Not Gay. Not That There's Anything Wrong With That.
Friday afternoon, we brought you the story of a law student who was allegedly dating pop star Rihanna. The rumor was posted on the blog Bossip. But the student, Janero Marchand, vehemently denied the rumor on his twitter account. We posted some of Janero’s tweets in our story on Friday. Predictably, Above the Law commenters […] -
Law Shucks, Layoffs
Last Week in Layoffs: 09.21.09
Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks. Law Shucks has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker. A piece in Wednesday’s WSJ brought into stark relief the futility of using unemployment data for any sort of analysis, as we futilely do […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket 09.21.09
* The New York Attorney General isn’t the only one going after Bank of America’s lawyers at Cleary. Congressman Edolphus Towns says BofA’s merger discussions with Merrill Lynch are not covered by attorney-client privilege and that the bank must turn over its legal documents by noon today. [New York Times and Business Insider] * The […]
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Caption Contests, Lawyer of the Day, Pictures
ATL Caption Contest: We Dig This
When we run caption contests here at ATL, we prefer to withhold the back story on the photo. However, this photo, and the story behind it, has gone viral. We’ve gotten it many times in tips — Thanks, tipsters! — and even our non-lawyer friends have been sending it to us. We’re running a contest […]