December 2009

The two-thirds of the Above The Law team in New York report that it’s starting to look and feel a lot like Christmas in the Northeast. Some of those reports are overly graphic. The one-third of the team spending the holiday in Florida attests to warmth and sunshine. This post is dedicated to the loved […]

Yesterday, we reported that K&L Gates cut salaries for its incoming associates. The salary cut is just for a few of the firm’s many offices, but it looks like I got the offices wrong. The firm still hasn’t responded to my request for clarification, but tipsters who work at K&L Gates have helped set the […]

* The decade’s 25 biggest legal stories. [National Law Journal] * A former Fried Frank litigation associate, Julie Kamps, who previously filed a employment discrimination claim, is now filing a lawsuit against the firm, alleging sexual harassment by a female partner and discrimination because she is gay. She’s suing for $50 million and partnership. If […]

It has not been a great year for Latham & Watkins. Everybody knows that the firm laid off a ton of people — 440, to be exact — in February. But it was the firm’s decision to fire first-years who had been at the firm for just a few months that seemed to shock the […]

* The law firm at the center of the mini-Tiger cover-up story. [WSJ Law Blog] * You can’t imprison every whack job who disagrees with you. [The Legal Satyricon] * The Clintons are so last century. [ABA Journal] * Not only is being naked in your own home a crime in Virginia, it’s also comparable […]

We mentioned this story on Friday (second item). But since we’re continuing to get tips about it, we thought it might merit further mention. From today’s New York Daily News: A lawyer got his nose bent out of shape during an altercation over an occupied bathroom stall — and retaliated by chomping off part of […]

Condé Nast, which publishes Vogue, GQ, and a number of other publications that can be found at the airport, is suing to defend its pictures. Fashionista reports: This morning brings news of a more literal form of infringement, filed by none other than Condé Nast. Who are they battling, you ask? An internet hacker–which is […]

Time for a belated bonus announcement. A few weeks ago, associate bonuses were announced at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The bonuses were basically on the Cravath scale, provided you meet “the bonus criteria set forth in the bonus policy.” We’re advised that the bonus criteria focus for the most part on hours, with bonuses triggered […]

For our latest caption contest, we gave you this photo: You voted on the ten finalists. The winner, plus the backstory on the picture, after the jump.

We previously expressed skepticism towards the notion of a salary thaw. As Elie wrote, “Ha. Haha. Unfreezing? Yeah. Let me just ride my unicorn down the streets of El Dorado and see what there is to see.” But perhaps the joke is on us. It seems that some firms are unfreezing salaries. On this subject, […]

Some new associates at Haynes and Boone aren’t feeling the holiday spirit. Just last month, they learned that their salaries were being cut — about a week before their start date. But at least their law firm has a really cool holiday card. Check it out: Have you come across a particularly fun firm holiday […]

We have some good news and some bad news for incoming K&L Gates associates. I’m feeling charitable, so I’ll lead with the good news. Our sources report that everybody is officially set to start on January 4th. The firm called people over the weekend to mention some final, minor details, but people will have a […]

This story actually broke last week, but I wanted to make sure you guys saw it. The Daily News reports: A Queens softball player is suing the city, claiming she busted her ankle because her high school coach never taught her how to slide. Alina Cerda, 15, says she’s been sidelined for seven months and […]

We like to keep track of “new partner” announcements here at Above the Law (under our “New Partner Watch” feature). Partnership decisions often shed light on the current state of a firm, its prospects for the future, and its priorities. How many new partners did a firm make? How does the number of new partners […]

* If you’re a regular ATL reader, this Bloomberg article on law firm bonuses being squeezed won’t hold many surprises. [Bloomberg] * Being naked in your own home is a crime. [The Post Chronicle] * In 2007, a National Enquirer reporter spotted Tiger Woods visiting a church parking lot for some non-religious ecstasy. Los Angeles […]

Duke Law School dominated our Douchiest Law School contest earlier this year, beating out Harvard to take home the title. At the time, some complained that Duke Law and Duke’s undergrad population were being conflated. [Ed. note: As a Duke ’03 grad, Kash is mildly offended by that argument.] One commenter wrote: Does no one […]

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. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of modern American unemployment. In this case, […]

Sometimes I find myself recycling my own material. I’ll make a joke in front of one group of friends, they’ll laugh, and I’ll use the same joke in front of a different group of friends. The second audience can’t know that I’ve already used the joke with a different audience, lest I be exposed as […]

* If anyone ever wanted to give me anything free, I’d be more than happy to disclose it. Theoretically, that makes me a better person than Gwyneth Paltrow. Practically, my life is infinitely less fabulous. [Jezebel] * I got your nose. Literally. [Bad Lawyer] * Worst tax of the decade. [Going Concern] * Top celebrity […]

Ed. note: ATL has teamed up with the 10th Justice to predict how the Supreme Court may decide upcoming cases. CNN has called FantasySCOTUS the ” hottest new fantasy-league game.” Hillary: The Movie did not have much impact at the box office, but it’s become quite a hit at One First Street. It’s so popular […]