March 2010

Biglaw

Most Influential Lawyers of the Aughts

Today, the National Law Journal lets us in on an ambitious project. The publication has tried to identify the 40 most influential lawyers of the decade. The 40 people they came up with are relatively well known to the general Above the Law readership, but they won’t be household names to your lay-friends: The list […]

Real Estate

Are You Breaking the Law Right Now?

The high cost of living in New York is no secret. It may be contributing, at least in part, to D.C.’s current thrashing of New York in our 2010 March Madness competition. But could New York’s expensiveness also be contributing to… a wave of rampant illegality in NYC? If you’re a Gothamite, is your living […]

Morning Docket

Morning Docket 03.29.10

* The Chicago Tribune takes a close look at the Tribune Company’s bankruptcy bills, and doesn’t like that Sidley Austin has charged $110,000 for photocopies. [Chicago Tribune via Romenesko] * The lawyer behind the legal discovery that has brought sex abuse in the Catholic Church — and Pope Benedict XVI’s knowledge of it — to […]

Law Shucks

This Week in Layoffs: 03.28.10

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. In February, unemployment rose in 27 states and declined in just six. We already knew the unemployment rate was steady at 9.7%, but as we’ve […]

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 03.26.10

* Susan Finkelstein (pictured), the Philadelphia Phillies fan who offered love for World Series tickets, was convicted for attempted prostitution. [Legal Blog Watch] * If California legalizes pot, maybe all the voters will get high and support gay marriage. Free love. [True/Slant] * Can somebody please tell me who the hell Justin Beiber is? [THR […]

Tax Law

No Sin Taxes in the Champagne Room

Many of the things I enjoy in life (smoking, drinking, kicking children who speak out of turn) are either illegal or subject to a sin tax. Luckily, most of the laws against my illegal vices are unenforceable if I commit infractions discretely. (“I don’t know what happened to little Jimmy. He must have fallen onto […]

Judge of the Day

Judge of the Day: Shirley Strickland Saffold

When weighing in on cases, it’s best for judges to limit their opinions to their Opinions. They’ve been warned before to be careful on Facebook and on blogs they author. But the case of Ohio judge, Shirley Strickland Saffold, shows they should exercise caution with anonymous online commentary as well. An online commenter named “lawmiss” […]

The PC Police Have Perfect Playground Jail

For two days now the New York Times has been all over a playground in Bedford-Stuyvesant. People have been very offended by one piece of equipment: [A]n orange jungle gym adorned with the word “Jail,” a cell door and prison bars has, six years after its installation, set off outrage in the neighborhood and the […]

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.26.10

* The state of Maryland and Perdue Chicken are ganging up on the University of Maryland Law School. [Baltimore Sun] * UConn sued for age discrimination against a 13-year-old. [Associated Press] * We have a deal for Ground Zero reconstruction! [Daily News] * What is the proper venue for lawsuits against Toyota? I don’t know, […]