November 2009
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Job Searches, Law Schools
Boston College Law School Has A Plan For Its Jobless 1Ls and 2Ls
Career service offices can be scary places these days, given the tough job-searching environment for law school students. The summer plans of many 1Ls and 2Ls are still up in the air this year, as firm offers are sparse. Many law school students have given up hope of finding a job. One law school may […] -
Bar Exams, Holidays and Seasons, Shopping
'Tis the Season for Horrible Gift Ideas
I was in Georgia yesterday. After speaking to the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (nice meeting you, we’ll have to do that again), and playing a ridiculous game of telephone trying to keep current with Above the Law (an HLS grad set S&C on fire on a $7,500 dare?), I was looking forward to a […] - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Craigslist, Job Searches
Graduate from 'Tier 1' Law School Decides Education is Worth $0
What does it say about the value of a law school education if recent law graduates are begging for an opportunity to work for free? I wonder if applicants for the law school class of 2013 are paying attention. We mentioned this Craigslist post in Non-Sequiturs last night: NY licensed attorney work for free (DC/Maryland/Virginia) […]
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Blogging, D. Marvin Jones, Defamation, Free Speech, Law Professors, Lawsuit of the Day, Media and Journalism, Pro Se Litigants
Lawsuit of the Day: Jones v. Minkin(Or: Above the Law gets sued!!!)
For the first time in over three years of operation, Above the Law has been sued. We feel the lawsuit has no merit, but we will not comment further on this ongoing litigation. To access the pro se complaint, coverage by other news outlets and blogs, and ATL’s prior posts about Professor Donald Jones, click […] -
Layoffs, No Offers, Start Dates, Summer Associates
Further Deferrals at Winston & Strawn(Plus other goings-on at the firm.)
The signals seem mixed in terms of whether the legal profession is on the road to recovery. On the one hand, the pace of layoffs is certainly slowing. On the other hand, firms are taking other steps to keep headcount (and expenses) down. They are not yet in a mode where they need more hands […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket 11.03.09
* Florida has its own Marc Dreier. Scott Rothstein is accused of swindling investors. His 70-lawyer firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, will dissolve. [AmLaw and Associated Press] * Store clerk steals man’s $1 million lottery ticket. The Texas Lottery Commission considers the thief to be entitled to the prize, because he signed the back of the […]
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9/11, Deferral Stipend, Start Dates
Sidley Austin's Plans for 2010 Law School Grads(Plus another testimonial about Brian Schroeder.)
The big news out of Sidley Austin today involves Brian Schroeder, a 2009 Harvard Law School graduate who recently turned himself in for setting fire to a chapel housing the remains of 9/11 victims. Earlier today, the firm told ATL it was rescinding Schroeder’s job offer. But there are other developments at Sidley too. Regarding […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs 11.02.09
* Will work for food free. [Craigslist] * An argument against privatizing prisons? [New York Times] * County jail doesn’t sound so great either. [Ann Arbor Chronicle via Daily Kos] * For the iPhone obsessed. [Business Insider] * Nothing like a Justice Stevens podcast to get you through a marathon. [Concurring Opinions] * Looking for […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
11th Circuit, Death Penalty, Pro Bono, Screw-Ups
Sullivan & Cromwell's Life-or-Death Mistake?Leading law firm blows deadline in death penalty case.
More than a decade ago, Cory Maples of Alabama murdered two people. After an evening of heavy drinking, playing pool, and riding around in a friend’s car, Maples killed two friends, shooting them execution-style. According to court documents, he signed a confession, “stating that he: (1) shot both victims around midnight; (2) had drunk six […] -
H. Rodgin Cohen, Real Estate
Do Jon Mechanic and Fried Frank Have the 'Un-Midas' Touch?
What role do lawyers have in advising their clients on business matters? Some might say: None. “The client decides on the business objective, and the lawyer helps the client reach that objective, as long as it’s legal,” this line of thinking goes. “And why would you want lawyers giving business advice anyway? They have no […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2009, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Reader Polls
Breaking: Cravath Bonuses Are Out (and Down)
Year-end bonuses have been announced at the market-leading firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. And they are even lower than last year’s Cravath bonuses. But look, this is 2009. Welcome to the Great Recession. Your true bonus is: you get to keep your job. That shouldn’t be taken for granted, even at Cravath. Anyway, here’s […] -
9/11, Crime, Screw-Ups
Sidley Austin Rescinds Brian Schroeder's Job Offer
We wrote earlier today about Brian Schroeder’s Halloween misadventures. On the morning of October 31, the Harvard Law ’09 grad set fire to a chapel housing the remains of unidentified 9/11 victims. He turned himself in that evening. Sidley Austin has responded to our inquiry regarding Schroeder, who had summered with the firm in 2008. […] -
Baseball, Sports, Tort Reform
Do Baseball Bats Need Warning Labels?
At first blush, the judgment awarded to the parents of a fallen baseball player is enough to make a tort reformer vomit. The Helena Independent Record reports (gavel bang: Overlawyered): After 12 hours of deliberation, a jury sided with the parents of former Miles City American Legion baseball pitcher Brandon Patch in a civil suit […]
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
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Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Caption Contests, Contests, Holidays and Seasons, Job Searches, Pictures, Reader Polls
ATL Caption Contest Winner: Spooky Services
Happy belated Halloween, ATL readers. We hope your holidays were fun and free of criminal activity. Over 2,000 people checked in over the weekend to vote in our caption contest. The winner after the jump. -
Bad Ideas, Fashion, Holidays and Seasons, Law Schools
Law Student of the Day: Bad Idea Costume
Trick-or-treaters can get into serious trouble on Halloween. Especially if their Halloween activities involve arson. Or blackface. Or guns. A student at BYU Law School donned a costume last week that was police-raid worthy. From the Salt Lake Tribune: When Attorney General Mark Shurtleff spoke at a BYU Law School criminal procedures class Thursday, one […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket 11.02.09
* John O’Quinn, the legendary personal injury attorney killed in a car accident last week, had over 800 cars worth more than $100 million. What happens to them now? [United Press International] * Can political connections help Florida attorney Scott Rothstein stay out of trouble? [Miami Herald] * Judge decides Anna Nicole Smith’s boyfriend and […]
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9/11, Bad Ideas, Crime
Harvard Law Grad Sets Fire to 9/11 Chapel (and His Future Legal Career?)
Delaying start dates for incoming associates may have another downside: leaving them with nothing to do but get into trouble. Brian Schroeder has an impressive résumé. The Texan graduated from Duke in 2005, having majored in theater studies, and went on to Harvard Law School. There, he was an editor of the Harvard Latino Law […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2009, Bonuses, Law Shucks, Layoffs
This Week in Layoffs: 11.01.09
Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks, which has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker. Last week we wrote that jobless claims were higher than expected and that predicting anything with any degree of confidence seemed pointless. This week, the […]