November 2009

Fact: Eliot Spitzer had sex with prostitutes. Fact: Eliot Spitzer is a hypocrite. Fact: David Paterson has been a horrible Governor. Conclusion: Having sex with prostitutes and being a total hypocrite isn’t the worst thing in the world? And so, the rehabilitation of Eliot Spitzer continues. He’s on T.V., he’s writing, he’s teaching a class. […]

English couple Caroline and Steve Cartwright have a healthy sex life. But it doesn’t sound healthy. According to BBC News, their love-making sounds to neighbors like “murder” and has been described as “unnatural.” So prudish, those Brits. Neighbors complained the noise kept them up all night, making them oversleep in the morning and arrive late […]

A little while ago, we asked our readers to tell us if their jobs are making them sick. Over 51% of our respondents reported feeling some kind of depression. I guess that means we have some fantastic attorneys reading Above the Law. A new study from Australia says that general unhappiness has a positive correlation […]

* Special report: What a first-year law student looks like to an outsider. “It might surprise some students to learn that talking to a real-life law student is not actually all that scary,” writes the reporter. [Oregon Daily Emerald] * The paralyzed still have the right to bear arms. [Associated Press] * The ex-communications director […]

Last month, we reported that bankrupt law firm Heller Ehrman would be selling some of its art to raise money for its creditors. Heller hopes to raise $1 million (or more) through a series of sales, in New York and California. The first of several Heller art auctions took place yesterday at Bonhams & Butterfields, […]

Williams Mullen is a prominent Richmond-based law firm that is “100 years strong,” according to its website. For 18 of those years, Vietnam native Hanh Nguyen Allgood, 53, was a case manager for the firm. She left in March 2007. Apparently, the departure was not “all good” with her. She has filed a $950,000 lawsuit […]

* Happy Veteran’s Day. Thanks to all who serve. [Army JAG; Navy JAG] * If you think law school looks like a terrible financial investment, you are correct. [Tax Prof Blog] * Punching women isn’t the best way to make a point about racial injustice. [The Legal Satyricon] * A pro-wrestler fell down, but not […]

After Cleary announced its 2009 associate bonus, we asked you if the market had been set at the Cravath level. In response to the question “is it over,” 83% of you said “yes.” Not so fast my friends. There was an all associates meeting at the D.C. office of Sidley Austin. Tipsters report that the […]

Ed. note: Welcome to ATL’s first foray into serial fiction. “My Job Is Murder,” a mystery set in a D.C. appellate boutique firm, will appear one chapter at a time, M-W-F, over the next few weeks. The first chapter appears here; please read it first. The author, a former appellate lawyer, wishes to emphasize that […]

The American Bar Association has a plan to help out unemployed lawyers with their student loans. Seriously. An actual plan. The National Law Journal reports: The ABA wants the government to let unemployed graduates convert private loans into federal ones. The change could allow them to defer repaying those loans for as long as three […]

The Associated Press reports that John J. O’Connor III died today at 79 of complications arising from Alzheimer’s disease. John and Sandra Day O’Connor met as law students at Stanford. The O’Connors were married in 1952 and became a leading couple on Washington’s social scene when they moved from Arizona in 1981 following her confirmation […]

We’ve mentioned Corri Fetman before, mainly because she’s a lawyer who has posed for Playboy. But today she’s making news that doesn’t have anything to do with her boobs. The Chicago Tribune reports: The Chicago divorce lawyer who stirred up controversy with a racy billboard for her law firm and later bared it all for […]

In today’s Morning Docket, we mentioned the recent benchslap administered to Sidley Austin by Judge Diane Cannon (pictured), an Illinois state court judge. Lynne Marek of the NLJ reports: A court hearing on Tuesday in Chicago at which former Northwestern University journalism students planned to fight a subpoena for their records and grades turned into […]

Ed. note: Welcome to “Notes from the Breadline,” a column by a laid-off lawyer in New York. Prior columns are collected here. You can reach Roxana St. Thomas by email, follow her on Twitter, or find her on Facebook. You can also read more about her at www.notesfromthebreadline.net. Dear Readers, I hope this message finds […]

A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law: Assara Laser The Atlantic Harvard Business School Kinney Recruiting Lateral Link LexisNexis The Tikvah Center at NYU School of Law The Red Cross University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Isenberg School of Management If you’re interested in advertising on Above the Law or any […]

You know how much we love rankings around these parts. But apparently there is a list of law firm rankings out there that actually matters. The National Law Journal reports: An Association of Corporate Counsel law firm rating system unveiled last month has triggered a lot of interest from the association’s in-house lawyer members, who […]

* Judge Diane Cannon — no relation to actress Dyan Cannon (who played a judge on Ally McBeal) — benchslaps Sidley Austin for its brief in the high-profile case involving Northwestern University journalism students fighting a subpoena for their records and grades. [National Law Journal] * Speaking of journalistic freedom, was prior restraint applied to […]

I have criticized U.S. News for caring about the number of books available in a law school library. I’ve criticized the Thomas Cooley law school rankings for caring about the size of a law school library. Clearly, I don’t know what a law school library should be used for. But students at UC Davis do.

* Looking for Christmas gift items already? How about Supreme Court justice baseball cards? [National Law Journal] * Or hedge-fund billionaire playing cards? [Dealbreaker] * Professor Michael Risch on yesterday’s Bilski argument in the Supreme Court. [PrawfsBlawg] * Professor Ann Althouse on L’Affaire Prejean. [Althouse] * Deloitte helps keep lawyers in business. [Going Concern]

Congratulations to Williams & Connolly and Hughes Hubbard & Reed, the firms that represented Ralph Cioffi, and Brune & Richard, the litigation boutique that represented Matthew Tannin. Ed. note: This post has been corrected; an earlier version switched the defendants around. Thanks for pointing out the mistake, commenters. Not Guilty! [Dealbreaker] Breaking News: Bear Defendants […]