* 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 Justice Department wants to see Google Books succeed in building a vast digital library but not a monopoly. [New York Times]
* Inspired by Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, a judge ordered a lawyer who cursed out his opposing counsel to go to dinner with his opponent: “And do as adversaries do in law, Strive mightily but eat and drink as friends.” [Legal Intelligencer]
* Legal Secretary of the Day: Mary Merten. She is charged with stealing $700,000 from her New York law firm. [Mid-Hudson News]
* This sounds like a class action waiting to be filed in New York. [Gothamist]
* Laid off? Take a hike. Literally. [Wall Street Journal]
Archive for September 2009
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Posted in:
Caption Contests, Lawyer of the Day, Pictures
ATL Caption Contest: We Dig This
By Kashmir HillWhen 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 anyway, but we’ll give you the back story now… or after the jump rather. Same rules apply as always: Submit possible captions in the comments. We’ll choose our favorites — with preference given to those with a legal bent — and let you vote for the best one.
Here’s the photo of a bunch of legal types:
Think of a great caption. Write it down. Then check out the real and incredibly bizarre caption for this photo after the jump.
We’re heading into the weekend and the autumnal equinox is not far off. It got us to thinking, who is still waiting on news about their offers from the summer? We know that some firms have already indicated that they would be making late decisions, but it occurred to us that some summers are honestly still in the dark.
Is there anybody out there in that situation? I feel we keep hearing about one firm in particular that hasn’t made offers yet, but gosh I just can’t remember which one. I think the first name starts with an M, and the last name rhymes with “frown.”
Are there other firms that aren’t even telling 2009 summers when a decision will be made?
Vent in the comments. We’re sure your firms haven’t completely forgotten about you. But you know what they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of no offers
* It’s Carolyn Elefant’s last day at Legal Blog Watch. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors. [Legal Blog Watch]
* Does America need more Congresspeople? Given the low approval ratings of Congress, this is probably the kind of thing that can only happen through the courts. Apparently, somebody is trying. [WSJ Law Blog]
* The UBS prosecution is … working? [Blackbook Legal]
* Is anybody looking for a good lawyer in D.C.? [What About Clients?]
* Tax breaks in the sale of the Chicago Cubs. [Tax Prof Blog]
* I actually thought that Nancy Pelosi’s displaying of emotion was moving. I … might be alone on that one. [Althouse]
* Abercrombie & Fitch v. Beyonce over the Fierce fragrance. You’d think Abercrombie would just work something out where Beyonce gets the name but she has to wear a little bit of Abercrombie clothing in an ad. A very little bit. [Popsquire]
Last week, we offered you this photo of Vice President Joe Biden at Syracuse University School of Law and asked you to give us your funniest caption suggestions. We then asked you to vote among ten finalists, noting that one of the finalists was not our pick. Guess which finalist won.
You guys just love rooting for the underdog, don’t you?
It was a close race, with the winner taking only 18.3% of the nearly 2500 votes cast. Our second place winner captured 17.8% of the votes:
“I hope you like it – the chef was one of our best students.”
A good dig at Syracuse is bested only by a good dig at Washington’s socialist agenda. Thanks for all your captions and for voting!
Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com.
Dear ATL,
What are your thoughts on whether I should take off for the Friday of Rosh Hashanah and/or the Monday of Yom Kippur? I probably wouldn’t go to synagogue (yes, I’m Jewish), but I’d like to just take the day off to, ya know, just observe the holiday in my own way. I don’t want to get on anybody’s bad side at my white shoe firm by taking days off, especially since this place has been known to conduct stealth layoffs.
Do They Know It’s Christmastime At All?
Dear Do They Know It’s Christmastime At All,
When it comes to holidays (Jewish, Christian, Baha’i, Wiccan, whatever) you need to do what you feel is meaningful, law firm be damned. Your firm may penalize you for not showing up to work, but since there’s no hell in Judaism, you can rest easy knowing that God won’t.
The corporate slogan of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is “A sweet New Year.” For some that may mean going to temple for two days and being around family. I know for a fact that God does not want to me to go to temple and run into better looking, more successful people or the guy from my middle school class who invented topical Viagra and now has a license to print money. God wants me to start off the new year right by sleeping in and eating cheese fries. Instead of weeping and fasting on Yom Kippur, the Jewish answer to Lent, God may want you to punish yourself by reading Dan Brown’s new book or going to a Nickelback concert. There’s just no right way to celebrate.
If you choose not to take off, working through the holidays can still be a wonderful and moving tribute to your heritage. As you work through the night drafting disclosure schedules, you will experience firsthand the anguish of your ancestors who were slaves in Egypt building pyramids for the evil tyrant Ramses II.
May the New Year bring jobs for everyone and make us all repulsively rich.
Your friend,
Marin
After the jump, Death Match: Christmas v. Hannukah.
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Posted in:
Georgetown Law School, Lawyer of the Day
Law Student of the Day: He Says He’s Not Dating Rihanna, But Everybody Thinks He Is
By Elie Mystal
From what we can tell, Janero Marchand was just your normal everyday law student. Well, a normal everyday law student who allegedly dated this woman.
Hey, the man likes fine clothes and fine women; there’s nothing wrong with that. But the gossip blog Bossip blew up his world this morning, when it made Marchand front page news:
According to our source, Rihanna has been spotted around town with a new man accompanying her by the name of Janero Marchand. 22 year old Janero is the former boyfriend of video chick Dollicia Bryan and is a current NYU Law Student. Janero, who wishes to stay out of the limelight, has been the missing link to Rihanna’s life; offering her love and support during her split with Chris Brown.
As the cops in a South Park episode might say, “nice … nice.”
There’s only one problem with the story, it’s not true.
Pesky, pesky details after the jump.
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Posted in:
Lawsuit of the Day, Sex
Lawsuit of the Day: Getting Off on Knock-off Virtual Sex Toys
By Kashmir Hill
Second Life is a virtual world where people can create avatars and live “second lives” online. Started in 2003, it claims to be the largest such virtual community. The appeal seems to be that it’s just like real life — people “have jobs, purchase land, commit crimes, build homes and careers, make friends, fall in love, have sex, visit museums, and make and spend money” — except in Second Life, your avatar can also do crazy things, like fly, change appearances, and have really nasty sex.
We’re intimately familiar with neither Second Life nor sex toys, but our understanding is that the two go hand in hand. Eros LLC, a virtual sex toy maker, has apparently made a pretty penny selling sex goods in Second Life. But now other Second Life vendors are ripping off its designs and selling knock-offs. Eros’s CEO Kevin Alderman — who goes by Stroker Serpentine in Second Life and built the first in-world sex bed, a digital bed with built-in sex position animations — is filing a class-action suit against Second Life’s creators for enabling this virtual counterfeiting.
Alderman, who has been called “the ‘Hugh Heffner’ of the digital millennium,” wants Second Life to shut down its virtual version of Canal Street (counterfeit central in New York). From MediaPost:
Entrepreneur Kevin Alderman, who sells virtual erotic goods in Second Life, said in court papers that [Second Life creator/owner] Linden Lab allows other virtual marketers to offer knock-offs of his “SexGen” beds and other products.
“Eros’s virtual erotic SexGen products sold for use in Second Life have been counterfeited, cloned, and ripped off countless times by a multitude of Second Life residents,” the lawsuit alleges. “The manner in which this has occurred is akin to the knockoff handbags and purses sold near Canal Street in New York City. Some of the bags are stolen, but actual brand-name handbags sold at deep discounts, while many others are knockoffs that merely use the brand-name makers’ designs and trademarks.”
Circuit judge Richard Posner has weighed in on patent infringement of sex toys before, ruling that a company couldn’t patent the glass dildo. But what about virtual sex toy counterfeiting? We’re entering virgin territory here.
Continue reading “Lawsuit of the Day: Getting Off on Knock-off Virtual Sex Toys”
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Posted in:
Boston College Law School, Gay, Gay Marriage
Not All BC Law Professors Believe in Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
By Elie Mystal
We’ve been waiting for this. We’ve been covering Boston College Law Professor Scott Fitzgibbon and his commercial against gay-marriage. That commercial is now being shown on national television (I caught it being discussed on Dylan Ratigan’s show this morning). I can’t imagine how proud the BC Law community is to have their law school prominently featured in an ad that — as one legal blogger put it: “relies on inflammatory and unfounded rhetoric.”
Today, a group of BC Law professors put out a statement that tries to soothe the feelings of gays and lesbians that may feel the university as a whole doesn’t think they should be given equal treatment.
Read it after the jump.
Continue reading “Not All BC Law Professors Believe in Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation”
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Posted in:
Job of the Week, Sponsored Content
Job of the Week: Flying South for The Winter
By Above the Law
Birds are smart enough to fly south when things get rough up north. Can attorneys figure out how to do it too? As always, the Job of the Week is
brought to you by our friends over at Lateral Link. As we mentioned with yesterday’s career survey lateral hiring is picking up. Lateral Link has added over 25 new jobs in the last week and has placed attorneys in over a dozen law firm and in-house positions so far this month. If you are looking for a new position, consider registering for Lateral Link.
Position: Litigation Associate
Location: Miami, FL
Description: The Miami office of a prominent national firm is seeking a mid-level litigation associate. Ideal candidate would be a 2005 graduate, but a 2004-2006 graduate will be considered. Florida bar is preferred.
For more information about this position, please contact Lateral Link’s Director for the Southeast, Jordan Abshire. Jordan is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a former Troutman Sanders attorney. Current Lateral Link members can also view Position #5296
on Lateral Link. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.
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Posted in:
Law Schools, UVA Law, Vicious Infighting
UVA 3Ls Threaten to Eat Their Young
By Elie Mystal
I’ll admit, I did not participate in any kind of fake court moot court competitions during law school. It just wasn’t my thing. But for other students, moot court can be a really exciting way to pass the time while you are waiting for law school to stop charging you money. I totally respect that.
Unless people take it too seriously. When moot court turns into gunner heaven, it’s hard not to laugh at all the Lil’ Boies running around acting like the competition is more important than 1L torts.
But at UVA Law School, it looks like the people running the school’s William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition have taken things to an entirely new level of pettiness. A UVA 2L explains it this way:
[T]he Lile Moot Court competition is our intramural moot court that 240 2Ls are competing in. It is run by appx. 10 incredibly rude and power-hungry 3Ls … and they have been inconsiderate to say the least. It’s the talk of the campus, or at least of the 2Ls.
You see what happens, Larry? You see what happens when 3Ls don’t have secure firm jobs waiting for them upon graduation?
After the jump, the members of the UVA moot court board completely lose their ever lovin’ minds.
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Posted in:
Harvard Law School, NALP, Sullivan & Cromwell
Harvard Law School to the Rescue
By Elie Mystal[Speaking in the voice of the late, great Don LaFontaine] In a world where 2Ls are terrified. In a time when Biglaw openly flouts NALP rules. There was one man who would not take it anymore.
[Cue sweeping and inspiring theme song]
That man was Harvard Law School’s Assistant Dean for Career Services, Mark Weber.
Without the knowledge of the general public, the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell told 2Ls interviewing with the firm that it would disregard the 45 day waiting period for holding open offers. Instead, the firm would expect a decision in just two weeks. Am Law Daily reports:
In late July, S&C called several of the nation’s top law schools and informed career services personnel at those schools that the firm would not be following the 45-day guideline, according to six sources with direct knowledge of the situation. All six spoke only on the condition that they not be identified publicly.
Instead, S&C told the career services personnel, the firm would require prospects to respond yes or no in two weeks.
But S&C wasn’t prepared for Mark Weber.
Click below to continue listening to this trailer.
* Happy Rosh Hashanah. [ABC]
* Mayer Brown and Reed Smith could be trying to kill the billable hour too. [Legal Week]
* When it comes to executing prisoners, should we allow mulligans? [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
* A Maryland police officer who t-boned a car and killed the driver could not be charged with vehicular manslaughter thanks to the state’s tough mens rea requirement. So instead, a civil jury has entered a $4 million verdict against him. [Washington Post]
* However, two Florida school administrators who violated a consent decree by leading prayer in a public school could face jail time if convicted. [CNN]
* The Senate has passed a bill to make Amtrak a more appealing travel option: Guns on trains! Now you’ll have a toy to play with during the inevitable train break down. Thanks, Second Amendment! [New York Times]
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Posted in:
Email Scandals, Fordham School of Law, listserv
New York State Bar Association Listserv Madness
By Elie Mystal
A couple of days ago, an attorney sent in an email to the New York State Bar Association listserv. Like many people, the attorney was looking for a job. He decided to ask the listserv for some helpful tips:
Subject: [nysba-nonres] (somewhat) new attorney still seeking first FT position
From: [Redacted]
To: nysba-nonres@lists.nysba.org
Its a difficult time for new lawyers graduating with gigantic student loan debts and a bad economy. I’ve been searching for two years sending out hundreds of resumes and applying for an online jobs every chance I get but it now seems hopeless.
I’m a Fordham Law School graduate and have an internship working at a small bankruptcy/divorce/immigration firm and also have been doing debt collection in state court and attending 341 hearings as a per diem attorney. I also have an interest in criminal law and litigation and therefore took hands on courses in law school: civil litigation drafting, trial advocacy, fundamental lawyering skills, criminal procedure.
I want a full time position but contract work would be helpful also.
If anyone has any suggestion as to where to apply or what to do please advise.
Everybody tells you to network to find a job in this economy. But what if you don’t know anybody? One can understand how the state bar association listserv could seem like a viable option to a recent Fordgam graduate.
Were the employed attorneys helpful to the young Fordham ram? What do you think?
Continue reading “New York State Bar Association Listserv Madness”
* Yesterday’s O’Melveny news is still rippling through the blogosphere. Will the firm now be known as the Martin Luther of Biglaw? [Law and More]
* Remember, if you are in Washington, D.C. next Wednesday September 23rd, head down to Georgetown to meet David Lat and talk about new media and the law. [Georgetown Federalist Society Blog]
* One prominent legal blogger — and BC Law grad — is disappointed with Professor Fitzgibbon. Not because the Professor expressed his viewpoint, but because of his blatant distortion of the truth. [Legal Blog Watch]
* Can 1Ls going to law school in Maryland let us know about the defense of home case law in the state? Thanks. [Adjunct Law Prof Blog]
* Legal Rebel Tour, the week one recap. [ABA Journal]
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Posted in:
Clerkships, Federal Judges, Feeder Judges, Job Searches
Clerkship Application Season: D-Day
By David Lat
It’s the afternoon of Thursday, September 17. Do you know where your clerkship is?
Today is the first day, pursuant to the Law Clerk Hiring Plan for 2009 — which some judges follow, and some don’t — when interviews may be held and offers made. The plan even specifies a time of day for interviews and offers to begin — “8.00 a.m. (EDT)” — perhaps because, in years past, some judges brought applicants in for midnight meetings.
Relive the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, perhaps by (anonymously) disclosing your credentials and the clerkship(s) you got (or didn’t get), in the comments to this open thread.
Law Clerk Addict
Clerkship Notification Blog: 2010-11 Clerkship Season
THE LAW CLERK HIRING PLAN FOR 2009 [Federal Judges Law Clerk Hiring Plan]
About OSCAR [Online System for Clerkship Application & Review]
Earlier: Clerkship Application Season: Clear The Phones
Clerkship Application Season: Open Thread
Oh happy day! It brings us news of a beloved figure who has been long absent from these pages: Monica Goodling, our favorite DOJ diva. And the news for Goodling, a high-ranking and influential official in the Bush Administration’s Justice Department, is good.
Remember the case of Gerlich v. U.S. Department of Justice, the putative class action brought by Honors Program rejects who claimed they weren’t hired for political reasons? Many of the claims, as brought by individual plaintiffs — a somewhat dodgy motion for class certification remains pending — have been resoundingly dismissed.
From the Washington Post:
A federal judge this week dismissed civil claims against former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales, rejecting a lawsuit by job applicants who argue that they were blacklisted from the Justice Department during the Bush era because of their ideology.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates concluded that the unsuccessful job candidates had not followed the appropriate steps in the civil service system before filing their lawsuit in the District last year….
More discussion and links, after the jump.
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Posted in:
Advertising, Biglaw, Career Center, Job Searches, This Is an Ad
Career Center: How Is Your Career Looking?
By Above the Law
Over the last month, we’ve seen a significant spike in the number of ATL readers making use of the information on the Career Center. With hundreds of thousands of visitors to the law firm snapshots and tens of thousands of law firm comparisons generated on the Career Center, we want to know what is on our readers’ minds when it comes to your careers.
Could it be that a year after Lehman’s collapse, and with Bernake’s reassurances that the recession is "very likely over," attorneys feel it is safe to go back on the job hunt? Perhaps the recent layoffs are creating concern that things are getting worse, and people want to know their options? Either way, the good news is that our friends over at Lateral Link tell us that hiring is starting to pick up and they have dozens of attorneys interviewing, so options are out there.
If you have information about your firm that you want to share with other career center users, please email us at careercenter@abovethelaw.com. Thanks.
ATL Career Center [powered by Lateral Link]
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Posted in:
Federal Judges, Judge of the Day, Money
Judge Stephen G. Larson Resigns Because Judges are Underpaid (But Are They Really?)
By Kashmir Hill & David Lat
Federal judges have been complaining about their salaries for years now, but all they’ve managed to get recently is a small cost of living increase.
Federal judge Stephen Larson of the Central District of California is taking a stand on the issue — by quitting. From the National Law Journal:
U.S. District Judge Stephen G. Larson of the Los Angeles-based Central District of California said in a prepared statement on Sept. 15 that the failure by Congress to increase judicial salaries made it impossible to support his seven children, all under age 18.
“The costs associated with raising our family are increasing significantly, while our salary remains stagnant and, in terms of purchasing power, is actually declining,” he said. “The short of it is that I know I must place my family’s interest, particularly the future of my children, ahead of my own fervent desire to remain a federal judge.”
We can see where he’s coming from. Larson, 44, hasn’t seen big(law) money since 1991, when he was a second-year associate at O’Melveny & Myers. Since then he’s been in public service, as an assistant U.S. attorney and a judge.
We have so many questions!
Finally, we wonder: are federal judges underpaid? Find out how much judges make, and vote in our poll as to whether they’re underpaid, after the jump.
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Posted in:
Clifford Chance, Fabulosity, Fashion, Perks / Fringe Benefits
Biglaw Perk Watch: Clifford Chance’s Lingerie Allowance?
By Elie Mystal
Like most days, I started my morning with a Red Bull and the best morning man in the business, Pat Kiernan. Everything was proceeding normally, until I received this tip in the ATL inbox:
Women lawyers at City firm Clifford Chance have been given a £90 lingerie allowance.
Now, as you can well imagine, I don’t normally “spring” into anything — much less action. But within nanoseconds of receiving this information, I fired off a flurry of emails.
It turns out that the story comes from the Guardian – U.K. Here are some additional details about this (lacy?) fringe benefit:
Women lawyers at top City firm Clifford Chance are bucking the trend for reduced expenses now that their £90 lingerie-and-blouse allowance, if they work later than 11pm, has been reinstated. Inevitably dubbed the “90 nicker knicker allowance”, this may or may not be the most reliable indicator yet that the credit crunch is over. (Business is apparently so hectic that the firm has also installed sleeping pods.)
If you “work” later than 11 o’clock, you get to buy new panties? Why didn’t I think of that? More importantly, why didn’t Ben Franklin think of that and put it in the Constitution?
After consulting colleagues in London, a spokesperson for Clifford Chance in New York got back to me about bringing this commitment to sensual excellence to America. Sadly, it turns out that what sounds like one of the greatest Biglaw perks ever is in fact just a pedestrian acknowledgment of basic hygiene.
Continue reading “Biglaw Perk Watch: Clifford Chance’s Lingerie Allowance?”
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Posted in:
Advertising, Shameless Plugs, Sponsored Content, This Is an Ad
The BarMax Manifesto: “We Are Not Sheep”
By Above the Law
In 2009, a small group of Harvard Law School students noticed an absurd monopoly in the bar prep space, held by an unchallenged leader with a non-evolving product. In response, these students teamed up with Harvard Law alumni to launch BarMax on January 14, 2010.The mission: democratize bar prep by embracing new technologies to provide the very best bar exam review courses at a fraction of the cost normally associated with these courses.
Since then, with the encouragement of thousands of students and an unwavering commitment to their success, BarMax has established itself as a comprehensive alternative to the stagnant, over-priced status quo.
As we continue to expand, we do not want to lose sight of the basic premises that led us to create BarMax in the first place. If you are a law student who believes that there is something fundamentally wrong with being forced to take out yet another loan to pay for a $4,000 bar exam prep course, you are not alone.
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Posted in:
Advertising, Asia Chronicles, Shameless Plugs, Sponsored Content, This Is an Ad
The Asia Chronicles: In-House Openings at Hedge Funds In Hong Kong / State Of The Market / 7 New Kinney ’12 US Associate Placements In HK / China
By Kinney Recruiting
Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past five years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.comHappy Chinese New Year! We were extremely busy the past few months, including most of our US based team working from our Hong Kong offices during November and December.
As a follow up from our recent post, which listed our 62 US associate and counsel placements in Asia last year (vast majority in HK / China), please note that thus far in January ’12, we have already made seven US associate and counsel placements in Asia. This is an especially impressive number, considering the biglaw lateral hiring market in Asia is down right now (see state of the market brief overview below). These new placements are of new hires in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, who were interviewing with their new firm for a month or more and they are spread out among different practice areas, including project finance, litigation, fund formation, M&A and cap markets. We are close on four additional new associate placements, in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, that we expect to close soon. We do not discuss partner placements in these articles, but the pace of partner recruitment in Asia (a large part of our business) has continued.
Hedge Fund In-House Openings in Hong Kong
We are seeing a small run of new in-house openings in Hong Kong at hedge funds. We are currently filling three different in-house positions at three different hedge funds in Hong Kong, two of these searches we are handling on an exclusive basis. All three will most likely be filled by a US associate, with about 4 to 6 years of experience. Mandarin not required. Candidates from NYC and London will be considered, but at one of these funds the new hire will likely come from Hong Kong / China or Singapore (with HK being the strong preference).
Please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com if you are interested in these hedge fund openings. As you probably would expect, the competition for these spots will be fierce and the funds will be very selective when choosing which candidates to interview.
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Posted in:
Careers
