February 2010
-
Law Shucks
This Week in Layoffs: 02.28.10
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. How many times have we heard this before? The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly increased last week, a sign that […] -
Quote of the Day, Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities Law
Quote of the Weekend: Bad Math
They’re overlawyered. They’re poisoned by lawyers. — Harry Markopolos, on what’s wrong with the SEC. - Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Learn how emerging tools will likely change and enhance the work of lawyers for years to come in this new report. -
Courtship Connection
For New Yorkers Without A Snow Buddy This Weekend...
We encourage you to put your love life in our hands. We’re accepting participants in Courtship Connections through Sunday. We have nearly 100 lone legal eagles thus far. Over 60% of respondents are between the ages of 26 and 30, with slightly more females (53%) than males. This weekend is the last chance for New […]
-
Boutique Law Firms, Musical Chairs, Sonnenschein, Technology
Musical Chairs: Sonnenschein Internet Practice Group Leaders to Launch New Boutique
Today is the last day at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal for Marc Zwillinger and Christian Genetski — the chair and vice-chair, respectively, of SNR’s internet practice group. Their bios have already been removed from the Sonnenschein website (our links go to cached versions), and if you email them — as we did, to confirm the […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 02.26.10
* Sorry, I can’t think of anything less important than the stupid Winter Olympics. I wouldn’t grant anybody a continuance in order to participate in reindeer games. [BL1Y] * Blackmailing people into having sex with you is wrong. I do not support sexual extortion. Is that clear? Okay. Now, please take a look at this […] -
Law School Deans, Law Schools
Former Maryland Law Dean Asked to Return 'Questionable' Compensation -- But Will She?
Today brings some updates in the controversy concerning the compensation of Karen Rothenberg, former dean of the University of Maryland School of Law. From this morning’s Baltimore Sun: State university system officials have asked the former dean of the University of Maryland School of Law to return $60,000 in unauthorized compensation and have referred questionable […] -
New York Times, Weddings
Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Couple of the Year! (Plus New January Couples)
LEWW congratulates Caroline Nyenke and LaRue Robinson, who narrowly edged out Tracy Zuckerman and Ryan Van Grack in Couple of the Year voting to take the 2009 crown. Unfortunately, we have no trophy to award them, but maybe someone will be moved by this honor to buy Caroline and LaRue that cutlery set they still […] -
Job Searches, NALP, National Association for Law Placement (NALP)
Meet the New NALP Recruiting Guidelines, They're Substantially Similar to the Old NALP Recruiting Guidelines.
If it seems I’m hard on the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), understand that it is out of love. We want NALP to succeed. We want them to gather reliable information from law firms; we want them to provide reasonable guidance for law students, schools, and firms. Having an organization like NALP sounds like […] - Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Fantasy SCOTUS
Fantasy Ethics: Cheating on FantasySCOTUS?
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.” In the four months since I launched FantasySCOTUS.net, nearly 4,000 people have signed up, and made nearly 8,000 predictions for the 81 cases currently pending before […] -
Deferral Stipend
If You Bail on Biglaw, Do You Have to Repay Your Deferral Stipend?
Last week, we wrote about an interesting claim made by Russ Ferguson in the American Spectator. The Georgetown Law grad suggested that fellow deferred grads who had a taste of the sweet nectar of the public interest lawyer lifestyle may not be willing to swallow Biglaw when the time comes. Even with a six-figure salary […] -
Andrew Cuomo, Eliot Spitzer, Politics, Violence
New York Governor David Paterson Will Not Seek Reelection
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, you’re up…. -
Abortion, Women's Issues
Utah Punishes Failed Mothers
Is a miscarriage murder? In Utah, they aren’t quite going that far, but they do want to punish women who “recklessly” miscarry. The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The Utah Senate has joined the House in allowing homicide charges against expectant mothers who arrange illegal abortions. The bill responds to a case in which a Vernal […] -
Craigslist, Law Schools, Ridiculousness, Shopping
Craigslist Post of the Day: Top-Tier Law Degree ($59,250)
This should sound familiar to many of you: After several years of practicing law, a San Francisco lawyer has come to regret the decision to go to law school. Unlike many of you, this lawyer has decided to try to hawk their law degree on Craigslist. From the “For Sale – Collectibles” section of SF […]
Sponsored
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use.
Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so…
Sponsored
This AI-Powered Document Tool Will Meet You Where You Are
Lexis Create provides simple access to internal and external knowledge — directly within Microsoft Word.
Sponsored
Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Learn how emerging tools will likely change and enhance the work of lawyers for years to come in this new report.
Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.
-
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 02.26.10
* House ethics panel reminds everybody why Charlie Rangel needs to resign now. [New York Post] * Snow and trees conspire to commit homicide. [Daily Beast] * But only killer whales have the malice aforethought to commit murder. [USA Today] * Activia is full of s***. [Cleveland.com] * Malpractice liability gets its place in the […]
-
Law Professors, Law Schools, Screw-Ups, William and Mary School of Law
Hey, Teacher ... Give Those Kids Their Grades!Grades delayed at W&M, UT - Austin... anywhere else?
How long should students have to wait for fall semester grades? Two weeks? A month? Some students at William and Mary School of Law are still waiting for fall semester grades — and they might not be alone. I understand that law professors would rather drink wine straight from the box than grade a paper. […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 02.25.10
* Nice to see that the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers paid less in state taxes than I did. Hey, maybe it’s part of some sweet loophole California included when they decided to steal baseball from New York City because they couldn’t make their own. [Tax Prof Blog] * Miranda now offers 14-day interrogation […] -
Bar Exams, BARBRI
Bar Exam Open Thread: Reviewing Bar Review
The February bar exam is now over, for everyone, everywhere. Rejoice and enjoy that Inuit prostitute. Some of you have suggested on open threads that things went reasonably well. Others are hot messes, desperately trying to figure out firm policy when it comes to second-time failing of the bar. Many February takers are bar veterans. […] -
Lawyerly Lairs, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Real Estate
Covington & Burling Partners Did Not Plunder in 2009
This morning, we wrote about the partners at DLA Piper sharing in the pain of 2009. The trend at many firms reporting 2009 numbers has been the revenue line heading south while the profits-per-partner line heads north. At DLA, however, revenue and PPP were down at the firm, so Elie gave them a shout-out for […] -
pls hndle thx
Pls Hndle Thx: On Multiple Bars & Migrant Workers
Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com. ATL, I am a junior associate with a good job, but sadly, job security for attorneys in this market is virtually non-existent. Especially in the secondary market in which I work. If I were ever to lose my job, finding another one […] -
NALP, National Association for Law Placement (NALP), Vault rankings, Women's Issues
Vault Explains Why It's Better Than NALP
Yesterday we wrote about NALP’s decision to allow firms to blur the equity / non-equity partner distinction. Today, the WSJ Law Blog, the ABA Journal, and Business Insider have coverage of the issue. But NALP isn’t the only organization attempting to gather information on law firm partnerships. Vault is also in that game, and according […]