February 2010
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Federalist Society, John Yoo, Politics
John Yoo v. Bob Barr Debate Presidential PowerAnd: Did Yoo just accuse the Bush Administration of 'incompetence and stupidity'?
This afternoon, the Federalist Society at the University of Chicago Law School sponsored an interesting debate. It featured Berkeley law professor John Yoo, author of the so-called “torture memos,” and Bob Barr, the prominent libertarian and former congressman, debating the following subject: “Presidential Power v. Civil Liberties in Times of War.” (Executive power is the […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2009, Associate Salaries, Biglaw, Bonuses, Killing Lockstep, Money
Bingham McCutchen: Lockstep Base Pay, Merit Bonuses -- It's a Hybrid Plan That Seems to be Working
Maybe Toyota should take a lesson from Bingham McCutchen: don’t try to cut corners when producing a hybrid. Back in October, Bingham announced that it would be adopting a new “merit-lockstep” hybrid approach to associate compensation. The plan came with the stamp of approval from Bingham partners and associates. And a majority of Above the […] - Sponsored
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Biglaw, Billable Hours, Conferences / Symposia, In-House Counsel
What GCs Want
Last week, we dropped by NY LegalTech to find out What’s on the Mind of the General Counsel. Three GCs were on the panel: Seth Krauss of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.; Dawson Horn III of Tyco International; and Jonathan Broder of Conrail. Conrail is, of course, the railroad company. Take-Two is a software and video […]
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Art, Heller Ehrman, Money, Shopping
Update: Heller Ehrman Art Auction Exceeds Expectations
As we previously reported, a sizable portion of the art collection of defunct law firm Heller Ehrman was sold at auction yesterday. The auction took place at Bonhams in San Francisco, before a standing-room-only crowd. We submitted absentee bids on the following: lot 1, Pale Orange Begonia (we bid $500; it sold for $1,159); lot […] -
Bad Ideas, In-House Counsel
Dear In-House Counsel for Macy's: Buy a Shredder. HTH.
In October, we mentioned that the giant department store, Macy’s, was having some trouble disposing of its sensitive documents. Reports surfaced that internal documents, some of which included the Social Security numbers of Macy’s customers, were being disposed of on the streets of St. Louis, in lidless containers. Now, months after the initial, embarrassing incident, […] -
Fashion, Gender, listserv, Ridiculousness
Northwestern's Gender Neutral -- Possibly Hermaphroditic -- Barrister 'Rulers'
A few months back, the Student Bar Association at Northwestern University School of Law got its panties in a bunch over inappropriate language and the “unthinking use of stereotypes.” Saying that you were “raped” by an exam, for example, was offensive to some on campus, said the SBA. (They preferred that Northwestern students engage only […] -
Guns / Firearms, Law Schools, Parties
Update: Philly Shooting Victim Continues To Recover
Here’s some good news about Edward DiDonato, the Villanova lacrosse star and son of a Fox Rothschild partner, who was allegedly shot by Gerald Ung, a Temple University law student. From Lacrosse News: Former Villanova lacrosse captain Eddie DiDonato has cleared all serious life-threatening obstacles and has been taken off his ventilator following a ninth […] -
Tobacco / Smoking, Tort Reform
Judge to Mitigate Damages Out of Pity For Philip Morris Counsel
A Florida state court judge, Jeffrey Streitfeld, has decided that the largest individual award to a former smoker is excessive. The Daily Business Review (gavel bang: ABA Journal) reports on the good news for tobacco peddler Philip Morris: Calling the $300 million jury verdict “excessive” and “shocking,” Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld said he would determine a […] - Sponsored
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket 02.09.10
* “Justice Hillary Clinton?” Next up in this traffic-whoring Daily Beast series: “Supreme Court Justice Palin?” [Daily Beast] * Faegre & Benson partner Robert Matthews and his brother died in a small plane crash over the weekend. Matthews had a mid-air collision while piloting a Cirrus SR20 plane, also killing the other pilot. [Denver Business […]
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Federal Judges, Gay, Gay Marriage
The Prop 8 Judge May Be Gay: Does It Matter?
We first heard about this months ago — back in September, from another speaker at the Lavender Law conference. We didn’t mention it at the time, though, since we’re not that comfortable outing people. But now that the cat has been let out of the bag — or closet, as the case may be — […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 02.08.10
* Michael Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, has officially been charged with involuntary manslaughter. How did the alleged crime go down? Well: He came into MJ’s Apartment, he left the bloodstains on the carpet. MJ ran underneath the table, he could see MJ was unable. So MJ ran into the bedroom MJ was struck down, it […] -
Lawyer of the Day, Prisons, Pro Se Litigants, Seth Waxman, Supreme Court
Jailhouse Lawyer of the Day: Shon Hopwood
“I used to be a bank robber.” That’s an attention-grabbing lede for a personal essay for a law school application. Or: “The Supreme Court granted my very first petition for cert. And then ruled in my favor unanimously.” Shon Hopwood, 34, could start his application with either one of those statements. Convicted of five robberies […] -
Football, Law Schools, Sports
Tulane Cancels Class Tomorrow: Students Free to Party With The Saints
I lived in Indiana for 13 months and 9 days (not that I was counting), so last night’s Super Bowl was a little bit disappointing. The night featured the return of the Manning Face, the ads were pretty boring (I did like the Auto-Tune one, Kash liked Google). A game between the two best offenses […]
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Law Schools
Case Western Law: Maybe They Are Top Tier After All?
We’ve said a lot about the atrocious ABC television show, The Deep End. One particularly annoying aspect of the show is that of the four — purportedly “best in the country” — first-year associates, one of them graduated from the Case Western Reserve School of Law. With all due respect to the good people at […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2009
Vinson & Elkins Makes Good by its Texas & D.C. Associates
A couple of weeks ago, we reported on the Vinson & Elkins bonus payouts. At the time, we noted that associates in New York were generally pleased with the payout, but associates in V&E’s Texas offices — notably, the firm’s Houston office — were not at all happy with their bonuses. The issue appeared to […] -
Technology
Looking for LegalTech Linkage?
Just a quick note, over at Gabe’s Guide, I’ve posted a bunch of links on LegalTech – New York, as well as a few of the snowpocolapse here in D.C. Still trying to dig my way out over here. Lazy Sunday Links 2.7.10: The LegalTech Aftermath/Superbowl Sunday/Snowmageddon, Edition [Gabe’s Guide] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2009, Associate Salaries, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Jenner & Block: Salaries and Bonuses Come in Low
We’ve been having some fun documenting the curious game of chicken happening in Chicago. The top firms in the city seem to be waiting for each other to set the associate salary market — even though that market has already been set. Kirkland set the market by never freezing associate salaries in the first place. […] -
Art, Heller Ehrman, Money, Shopping
Heller Ehrman Art To Be Auctioned Off Today
If you’ve always wanted to own a piece of defunct law firm Heller Ehrman, today is your lucky day. A sizable portion of the firm’s art collection is hitting the auction block in about an hour, at Bonhams & Butterfields in San Francisco. We previously covered a prior Heller art auction, here in New York, […] -
Technology
The Audacity of Hopelessness: When Resigning to Your Fate May Be A Good Thing
At LegalTech, I had a chance to attend a panel with some very interesting speakers on the “future” of law. During this panel, a question was posed to a person — we’ll call him “David L.” — on whether law students are feeling better about the market now as opposed to six or twelve months […] -
American Bar Association / ABA, Education / Schools, Minority Issues, Money, Racism
The Recession's Impact on Diversity Initiatives
The ABA is out with a new report that suggests the recession has negatively impacted diversity in the legal profession. The report also confirms reports we’ve heard about layoffs disproportionately affecting minority attorneys: The ABA Journal summarizes the findings: “While law firms have increasingly come to recognize that diverse corporate clients and international markets often […]