November 2009

Lawsuit of the Day: Friendless Man Sues Nintendo

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Rosalina Wii lawsuit.JPGHere 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 in order to enjoy himself. Game Spot has the report (gavel bang: Overlawyered):

In the suit, the San Jose, California, gamer takes exception to a recent Nintendo Wii system update that disables access to unauthorized third-party programs like the Homebrew Channel. Specifically, the plaintiff is upset about losing the ability to use a program that would unlock the character Rosalina in Mario Kart Wii. Ordinarily, a player would need to have a Super Mario Galaxy save file on the system in order to unlock that character.

Cause of action? The gamer — and I use that term very generously, considering we’re talking about somebody who loves the Wii — says that Nintendo is ruining his pursuit of happiness.
Details after the jump.

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Nationwide (Possibly Temporary) Salary Cut Watch: Haynes and Boone

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Salary Cuts.jpgHaynes 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 know the news:

I’m an incoming first -ear at Haynes and Boone in Texas. We start on the 30th and just got an email saying our salaries will be $145k. This is the first time any of us even knew the firm was considering cutting salaries, and they did it with a bull**** email. So much for being committed to competing with other Texas firms.

But there is a chance that incoming first-years will be paid on a $145K scale for only a month. Above the Law reached out to spokespeople for Haynes and Boone, and they told us that the salary scale for 2010 has not yet been set.
So salaries could be going back up, if that’s where the Texas market settles.
There are actually a couple of interesting things Haynes is doing with its incoming class for their first month on the job.

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The State Schools That Make Out-of-State Students Stay Away

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Crushing Debt Obligations.jpgEd. 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 as it tried to push through tuition hikes. I’ve argued that out-of-state students should think twice before crossing state lines to go to law school in California.
But it looks like they don’t need my advice. Tax Prof Blog reports:

U.S. News & World Report has published a ranking of the public universities in its 2010 ranking of the Best National Universities by the percentage of out-of-state students in the freshman class that entered in Fall 2008.

The list of public schools with less than ten percent out-of-state students is full of U.C. Schools.
After the jump, it’s time for a chart.

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Law Student of the Day: Shady Yassin

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shady yassin.jpgWhen 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 was studying at a coffee shop in Grand Rapids, Michigan last week. A would-be robber walked in with a hunting rifle, according to the Grand Rapid Press, and demanded that all the patrons give him their laptops and valuables.
That’s when Yassin morphed into a coffeehouse superhero. Like a former Law Student of the Day, Arizona State’s Alex Botsios, Yassin decided to fight off the laptop-stealing villain.

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Reading the Revenue Writing on the Wall

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pyramid scheme capstone small.jpgThe 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 York was down 4.9 percent through September, compared to the same period a year ago.

Do these numbers help explain the 50% drop in associate bonuses?
Firms might be making less money, but at least lawyers are working fewer hours.

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Morning Docket 11.23.09

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DNA.jpg* 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 way into the Senate. [New York Times]
* Is marijuana legalization a possibility in the not-so distant future? [Washington Post]

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Chief Judge Paul Michel To Retire Next Year

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Paul Michel Chief Judge Paul R Michel Federal Circuit.jpgWe 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.

Why is Chief Judge Michel stepping down? Is it due to inadequate judicial pay?
Apparently not, according to our source:

[H]e said he’s motivated to retire instead of moving to senior judge status because he hates the muzzle that comes with being an Article III judge. He wants to lobby. He feels pretty strongly that certain parts of the pending patent reform act are outrageous.

Read more at Patently-O and the BLT (links below).
Federal Circuit Chief Judge Paul Michel Announces that he is Leaving the Bench [Patently-O]
Federal Circuit Chief Judge Paul Michel Announces Retirement [The BLT: Blog of the Legal Times]

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Lawsuit of the Day: Hand Model Sues Meanies on Co-Op Board

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Christina Ambers lawsuit co-op.jpgYesterday 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 the bodega owner was talking to all of us and translating where necessary.
I love this town!
I would have loved this conversation if we had been talking about dog poop. But instead the four of us were talking about a lawsuit that New Yorkers have been buzzing about all day. The cover story in yesterday’s Daily News involves a pretty lady (pictured) suing her co-op board:

Christina Ambers, once dubbed the “Heidi Klum of foot models,” says a romance with her porter-turned-husband, Angel Rotger, turned her into a pariah among workers at 340 E. 74th St., who made her hail taxis and retrieve packages on her own.
“I hope that people can understand how awful it is to come home and to then be treated with hostility in a building where I have paid a lot of money to live,” Ambers told the Daily News. “Nobody should have to live this way.”

Oh, to live on the Upper East Side — as I do — is to know the true definition of pettiness.
At the bodega, I made the mistake of telling my interlocutors that I “write a legal blog.” At that point, the bodega owner, the construction worker who speaks Spanish, and the Brazilian nanny had all kinds of legal questions.
Details about the suit and the street-level reaction, after the jump.

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Bar Exam Results Open Thread: California Dreaming

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california republic.jpgCalifornian 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 out at 6:00 pm pst today… counting down the hours until I found out I failed….

Releasing results on a Friday is a great idea. It means that the successful can live it up and the not-so-successful can drink themselves into a sad stupor. And everyone can sleep it off on Saturday morning.
Here’s an open thread for those who want a place to comment while chugging.
July 2009 California Bar Examination Pass List [State Bar of California]

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Non-Sequiturs: 11.20.09

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Tom Daschle.jpg* 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?]
* If it’s good enough for Yale Law, then it should be good enough for New York Law School. [Adjunct Law Prof Blog]
* It’s holiday sale time in Biglaw. [Young Lawyers Blog]
* Brick Breaker prowess doesn’t always translate into firm success. But when it does, it is awesome. [Litination]
* The ATL running group will be meeting tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 a.m., at the East River 6th Street track. All are welcome. [Above the Law]

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