November 2009

Here we have another lawsuit that is based on Nintendo’s Wii, the wildly popular gaming system for children that adults are strangely not embarrassed to love. Sadly, this lawsuit doesn’t involve a grown woman making herself sick by refusing to urinate. Instead, we have a guy who needs to play as a space traveling princess […]

Haynes and Boone deferred its incoming first-year associates to November 30. First-years at the firm will be happy to know that the firm is keeping its promise and they will be starting just after Thanksgiving. But they won’t be starting at full salary. Incoming associates got the news on Friday. An angry tipster let us […]

Ed. Note: This is actually a list on out-of-state enrollment at public universities. It’s not law school specific (as I had initially thought). I still think it’s interesting to look at which schools have more out of state pull, so I’m leaving it up. We’ve been documenting the struggles at the University of California system […]

When talking about instances of normal people exhibiting superhuman strength and bravery, the most common example is the mother who lifts a car when her child is trapped beneath it, thanks to an adrenaline rush. It seems that law school students are similarly inspired by threats to their laptops. Thomas M. Cooley 3L Shady Yassin […]

The New York Law Journal is reporting that 2009 revenue numbers are going to be ugly. New York law firms experienced a 9 percent drop in revenue through the third quarter, according to a new survey. The data, gathered by the Wachovia Legal Specialty Group, also showed that net income at law firms based in […]

* New law prohibits genetic discrimination. [Los Angeles Times] * Paralyzed UC Davis law grad Sara Granda, who fought to take the California bar exam, among those who passed on Friday. [Associated Press] * The problem of monitoring sex offenders. [Washington Post] * The path is cleared for the health care debate to make its […]

We received this info last night, from several readers in attendance. One of them wrote: For the patent nerds out there, including me, Chief Judge Paul R. Michel of the Federal Circuit is retiring effective May 31, 2010. Just personally announced it at the FCBA annual dinner. Sent his resignation letter to Obama this morning. […]

Yesterday I had the quintessential New York City moment. At the bodega around the corner from Breaking Media’s lavish Nolita office, the bodega’s proprietor engaged me and two other people in a conversation involving three languages. I was speaking English, another guy was speaking Spanish, and I believe the third woman was speaking Portuguese, and […]

Californian bar takers are hoping to have something to be thankful for next Thursday. They get their bar exam results today at 6 p.m. PST. Results are available to bar takers tonight and to the general public on Sunday at 6 a.m. PST. Says one tipster who is not too confident: California Bar Results come […]

* Tom Daschle is going to DLA as an advisor, not for help with his taxes. [USA Today] * Deloitte pays to make Parmalat go away. [Going Concern] * Indiana Law Professor proposes shipping at-risk kids back to Africa. Oh, where to begin? [True/Slant] * Is perfectionism a blessing or a curse? [What About Clients?] […]

Ed. note: Welcome to ATL’s first foray into serial fiction. “My Job Is Murder,” a mystery set in a D.C. appellate boutique, will appear one chapter at a time, M-W-F, over the next few weeks. Prior installments appear here; please read them first. Susanna Dokupil can be reached by email at sdokupil@sbcglobal.net or on Facebook. […]

Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com. ATL, “I’m a law student with a record. Larceny by trick, we’ll call it. It happened a while ago. I have reasonable assurances from bar members in my state and my law school that if I disclose and explain (and obviously, don’t […]

The bonus news is coming fast and furious today. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is trying to nail down the market at the Cravath level. Multiple tipsters sent in the STB bonus announcement and the firm is following Cravath at all class levels. Regular Above the Law readers will note that there is absolutely no surprise […]

Seyfarth Shaw is set to become the latest firm to flip its incoming associates the Bird. A very angry tipster reports: [Seyfarth] just deferred all incoming associates to October 2010 with only $2000/month as a stipend beginning on our former start date of January 19, 2010! It’s a joke … we know for a fact […]

Earlier this month, we asked you if holiday parties were still on this year. Many people said that they were, albeit more subdued than the halcyon days of yore. But one deferred associate had this question: Aside from the question of which firms may be abandoning their holiday parties this year, it would be interesting […]

Bonus season is now in full swing. Sources report that Willkie Farr has announced bonuses that match the Cravath scale. Here’s the breakdown: From: The Executive CommitteeTo: ASSOCIATES – NY; ASSOCIATES – DCCc: PARTNERS – FIRMWIDESent: Fri Nov 20 11:11:01 2009Subject: 2009 Associate Bonuses The Executive Committee is pleased to announce the following year-end bonuses […]

Ed. note: ATL has teamed up with FantasySCOTUS, the premier Supreme Court fantasy league. (For more background, check out this WSJ Law Blog post.) On Fridays, the 10th Justice will analyze league voting to predict how the Supreme Court may decide upcoming cases. This is the 10th Justice’s first post on ATL. Welcome to the […]

* Reaction to Full-Cravath’s (f.k.a. Skadden) bonus continues to ripple through the blogosphere. [ABA Journal] * Details continue to leak out about a merger between Hogan & Hartson and Lovells. Apparently, Ho-Love will retain separate profit pools for the two sets of partners. [The BLT: Blog of the Legal Times] * Junior Gotti is so […]

Earlier today, we reported that protests over the proposed tuition hike at UCLA got a bit testy. But we also noted that the protests didn’t seem to include a lot of law students, even though their tuition is going through the roof as well. One friend had this apathetic response when asked about the protests: […]

* The Army Corps of Engineers doesn’t care about black people. [WSJ Blog] * Thank God for Brian Leiter. Here’s what the Super Lawyers rankings look like, adjusted for class size, not adjusted for U.S. News Top-14 status. Now I can comfortably say, HLS to #1! [Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports] * Sometimes I park, […]