Archive for January 2010

Dodo ‘Dozo Student Makes Some Laugh, Others Cry

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Cardozo school of law logo.JPGIf you attend or graduated from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, you most likely knew this post was coming. For the rest of you, let me bring you up to speed.
Cardozo Law is trying to connect students who want extra tutoring with students who are willing to help. Cardozo’s office of student services asked willing tutors to submit the following information.

1) Your name and class year
2) What course(s) you are interested in tutoring
3) What semester you took the course(s) in
4) What professor you had for the course(s)
5) What grade you received for the course(s)
6) How you wish to be contacted by other students

Hey, from the administration’s perspective, they’re all in the “employed upon graduation” hunt together. If some of the high-achieving students are willing to help some of the stragglers avoid a life of poverty and sadness, why not?
The information requested is appropriate for the position sought. You can’t offer yourself up as a tutor with crappy grades. In fact, the only way there would really be a “story” here is if some amazingly careless gunner submitted his qualifications and accidentally hit “reply all” to the school-wide email.
And really, who’d be stupid enough to do that?

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What Does the Conan-Leno-NBC Debacle Mean for Entertainment Law?

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Conan Leno.jpgOn Tuesday, we tuned in to the late night show debacle unfolding at NBC. On his show that night, Conan O’Brien shared insights about the lawyerly wranglings. From US Magazine:

“Hi, I’m Conan O’Brien, and I’m just three days away from the biggest drinking binge in history,” he said during Tuesday’s monologue. “I spent the afternoon at Universal Studios’ amusement park, enjoying their brand-new ride, the ‘Tunnel of Litigation.’”

Noting reports that he is legally prohibited from bad-mouthing the network behind the mess (Jay Leno is taking over O’Brien’s time slot after his prime time show was axed), O’Brien joked in his monologue Tuesday “Nobody said anything about speaking in Spanish.”

He then rails off an insult in Spanish which translates to: “NBC is run by brainless sons of goats who eat money and crap trouble.”

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that the Litigation Rollercoaster Ride rolled to a stop at 1 a.m. PST, thanks to operators at Gibson Dunn and Glaser Weil.

The final deal includes a payout of approximately $32.5 million for Mr. O’Brien and roughly $12 million for his staff, according a person familiar with the matter. The agreement will allow Mr. O’Brien to appear on another network beginning Sept. 1, the person said….

NBC, which is controlled by General Electric Co., will retain the rights to at least some of the comedic material from the show, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal also includes a non-disparagement clause, both for the 46-year-old comedian and NBC, and a provision that was said to bar or limit Mr. O’Brien from appearing on others’ shows for a period of time, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

Jay Leno gets to reclaim his 11:35 p.m. show starting March 1. Meanwhile, David Letterman is probably just happy that Leno and Conan are monopolizing the late night news cycle instead of his own legal troubles.

What impact will this $45-million ruffling of the Peacock Network’s feathers have on entertainment law practices?

Two experts opine on what this means for the entertainment law industry, and the major takeaway lesson for talent lawyers, after the jump.

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The Deep End Premieres Tonight, and We’ll Be Watching

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Deep End Live blog Marin.JPGIf you’re like most Biglaw attorneys, your days as a first-year associate were some of the best days of your life. The rush of arguing in court with no supervision. The tawdry office romances with beautiful, lonely seventh-years. The 6 p.m. happy hours where you and five of your hard-bodied colleagues sat around O’Neil’s sipping brewskis and bitching about how the firm was taking over your lives. Good times, man. Good friggin’ times.
Luckily, ABC is giving us another chance to relive these glory days with the premiere of The Deep End, a dramedy about a bunch of first-years at an L.A. firm called “Sterling.” The previews show two female associates changing shirts in the middle of the office, a dude waking up after sex, and people throwing paper at each other. That the show promises a laser-accurate, real-life portrayal is beyond question.
I hope you’ll join me as I liveblog the show tonight, starting at 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT. We’ll put up a post here at around 7:30 that will contain a dialog box. To access the liveblog, click the box. You can comment on the side of the box in real time and if I publish your comment, it will appear in the feed. So join me tonight, won’t you, as we crack open an ice cold beverage and tear this show a new one.
Earlier: New ABC Show About Biglaw

Breaking: SCOTUS Expands Free Speech in Politics By Liberalizing Campaign Finance Rules

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This morning the Supreme Court handed down its eagerly awaited decision in Citizens United v. FEC (PDF). The ruling will allow both corporations and labor unions to participate more fully in the political process. The opinion was written, not surprisingly, by Justice Kennedy.

More after the jump.

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Open Thread: How Was Your First Day of Work?

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start dates being pushed back to 2010 2011.jpgThis past Tuesday, January 19, was the first day of work for many class of 2009 associates. They’ve been deferred, they’ve been scraping by on stipends, but yesterday many of them finally got to start work.
Right?
On our most recent start date round-up, we noted a number of firms that pinned their class of 2009 start date to January 19th, 2010.
Were those people actually able to start on time? How did it go? Let’s discuss after the jump.

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Morning Docket: 01.21.10

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Scott Brown wins Massachusetts Senate seat.jpg* Duane Morris partner Daniel Winslow, chief legal counsel to Republican Senator-elect Scott Brown, discusses Brown’s path to victory. [National Law Journal]
* Meanwhile, a former U.S. senator — the famous trial lawyer and one-time VP candidate, John Edwards — has admitted he’s the father of his ex-mistress’s 2-year-old daughter. [The Lede / New York Times]
John Edwards Senator John Edwards ATL Above the Law blog.jpg* NBC and Conan O’Brien (finally) make a deal. [Associated Press]
* Does the SEC need a more effective system for handling whistleblower complaints? [Washington Post]
* The Supreme Court is not so great at predicting the future…. [New York TImes]
* …. but it was able to trigger a mistrial in Dallas. [Politico]

Dorsey & Whitney: Clerical Error Fans Layoff Fears

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Dorsey Whitney better logo.jpgDorsey & Whitney is not planning on more layoffs. Not in California. Anything you may have heard to the contrary is false.
If you happen to work for Dorsey & Whitney in California, you may have noticed a recent report in the San Jose Mercury News. Tons of readers sent the story to Above the Law. The news organization reprinted a list of companies that had filed layoff notices in compliance with California’s WARN regulations. Companies with more than 75 employees must provide 60 days’ notice in advance of laying off 50 or more employees.
Here’s the list. You’ll note that Dorsey & Whitney is prominently listed on the top of the page. In three separate entries, the paper makes it look like Dorsey & Whitney is planning on laying off 72 people sometime in 2010.
That’s not correct. First of all, the entries list Dorsey & Whitney as laying off people in Valencia, when in fact Dorsey’s Southern California’s office is in Irvine. Also, there aren’t even 72 people working in Dorsey’s Irvine office. It would be mathematically impossible for the firm to lay off that many people in Southern California.
The WARN filing is just a big clerical error. How did this mistake happen? The firm explains after the jump.

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Non-Sequiturs: 01.20.10

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To Kill a Mockingbird.JPG* 20 legal movies every law student should see. [Legal Writing Prof Blog]
* Jeff Toobin would like Obama to be more active when it comes to judges. [The New Yorker]
* Incoming ABA president talks, lawyers desperate for protectionist policies should listen. [Legal Blog Watch]
* Obama’s Office of Personnel Management needs to get out of the stone age. [Law Dork]
* Maybe we should nominate Steven Seagal for head of TSA? [The Volokh Conspiracy]
* Litigators you don’t want to mess with in court, but you might be able to take them in a bar fight. [Business Insider]
* If you’re in D.C. tomorrow, January 21, come hear me (and others) discuss the legal job market — such that there is. [D.C. Bar]

Herman Thomas: Could the ‘Spanking Judge’ Become the ‘Spanking Senator’?

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judge herman_thomas.jpgWe’re taking some trips down memory lane this week at Above the Law. Yesterday we wrote about Peter John, a Lawyer of the Day from 2007.
Today we bring you news about Herman Thomas, a Judge of the Day from 2007. He was accused of improperly paddling prisoners, but was acquitted at trial.
Now he’s exploring new opportunities in the political realm. From WKRG:

Three months after he was found not guilty of paddling and sexually abusing inmates, former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas is running for State Senate.

“I wish to continue my commitment to serve my community that has done so much for me and my family,” Thomas said.

Like acquitting you on charges of spanking male prisoners and trading favorable treatment for sexual favors?
Herman Thomas isn’t the first former judge to go into politics. Over the years, there has been significant movement between the judicial and the legislative branches. (Linda Greenhouse has this nice write-up of the phenomenon.)
But ex-Judge Thomas’s move still seems a bit… random. Could there be another reason he’s running for elected office?

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Pls Hndle Thx: The $100,000 Question

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Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com.

pls hndle copy 2.jpgATL Editors,
I just got my grades, and needless to say they were less than stellar, approximately a 2.0 GPA. I got my Biochemistry PhD prior to attending a 2nd tier law school on a great scholarship, but now I stand to lose my scholarship lest I get a 4.0 (obviously unlikely due to my struggle this past semester).
What do I do? Obviously I need to buck up, work on my writing skills, and work harder at learning how to take law tests. However, I will now be forced to pay full price for two years of law school.
Assuming my grades will be mostly A’s and B’s going forward, do I still have a chance at a decent firm paying a decent enough wage to fend off the potential debt? Or should I pack it in and say it was a nice try?
– C Change

Dear C Change,
Can someone please explain to me what the hell people with advanced degrees are doing in law school? Law school is for generically smart people who lack other marketable money-earning skills. It is your duty as someone with a biochemistry Ph.D. to do important things like develop AIDS vaccines or effective cellulite treatments. Or just go to Pfizer and make a bagillion dollars ASAP. God did not intend for you to squander your math and science skills in a monkey hole somewhere attaching schedules to Chipotle securities offerings. That’s why He invented outsourcing.
The downfall of many smart people — such as yourself — is that they think they’re great at everything. If you’re getting multiple C’s your first semester at a T2 school,um, outlook NOT GOOD. Use that big brain of yours to cut your losses and quit, rather than rack up $100,000 just to slog through a degree because of pride. One advanced degree is enough! Mother always said you were greedy.
Listen, law isn’t your strong suit. It wasn’t mine, either. And that’s ok. You clearly excel in the sciences; I’m gifted at insulting people in fresh and exciting ways. We must each capitalize on these divine talents to forge our careers.
I hope this helps.
Your friend,
Marin

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Nationwide Staff Layoff Watch: Wilson Sonsini Makes Cuts

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wsgr logo.JPGLast week, Seyfarth Shaw kicked off a round of 2010 layoffs. Today, Wilson Sonsini followed suit.
The firm just announced that it is laying off staff. Here’s an excerpt from the firm-wide memo:

[A]fter a long and thorough analysis, we have concluded that these changes have made it necessary to downsize the ranks of our staff by approximately 20 employees nationwide, primarily in the secretarial area. We emphasize that the downsizing is a regretful but prudent business decision and no reflection on the skills and performance of the employees involved, who already have been informed of the specifics of this decision. The firm will provide separation pay and support services to help them transition.

It looks like another law firm just got a look at its 2009 profit numbers and found them unappealing. But at Wilson, this is the second year in a row that the new year has brought about new layoffs. In January 2009, Wilson Sonsini laid off 113 people (68 staff) because of the economy. At least this round of New Year’s layoffs isn’t as deep.
In September, Wilson froze the salaries of its secretaries, evidently the firm decided it needed to make a stronger move.
Good luck, Wilson Sonsini friends.
Read the full firm memo after the jump.

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Musical Chairs: Former New York D.A. Bob Morgenthau to Wachtell Lipton

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Robert Morgenthau Robert Morris Morgenthau Robert M Morgenthau Bob Morgenthau.jpgPerhaps Herb Wachtell and Marty Lipton wanted some company as Legendary Old Dudes at 51 West 52nd Street. From the Associated Press:

Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has joined the New York-based law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Morgenthau retired at age 90 as district attorney, after 35 years in the job.

In a release Wednesday, Morgenthau said he’s long admired Wachtell Lipton. He said it has helped to advance the law and the legal profession.

As well as the residential real estate markets in Manhattan and Westchester County. Wachtell Lipton routinely tops the American Lawyer’s list of the nation’s most profitable large law firms. The firm had profits per partner of just over $4 million in 2008, according to the 2009 Am Law 100 survey.

The firm represents many financial institutions.

That’s an understatement. The firm’s financial institutions group, led by the unstoppable Ed Herlihy, is second to none in the field of banking M&A (with the possible exception of Sullivan & Cromwell’s FIG group, headed by Rodge Cohen).
So what can Bob Morgenthau expect while working at the CBS Building?

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