March 2010
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Advertising, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law: BarMax John Varvatos Kaplan PMBR Kinney Recruiting Lateral Link Lexis Nexis – Discovery Solutions Lexis Nexis – Law Firm Marketing Products Lexis Nexis – RLS Specialized Law Practical Law Company Race Suntrust 2010 PWM Legal Thomson Reuters USCL If you’re interested in […] -
Courtship Connection, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
ATL Courtship Connection: Lawyers in Love with Lillie's
We set up three lawyerly blind dates last week. One got off to a rough start. One shut a restaurant down. And the third… well, our magic 8-ball of love says “reply hazy.” I set these two up because they’re both over 30, like tonic as a mixer, and listed Ruth Bader Ginsburg as their […] - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Gender, Sex, Sexism, Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment: It's Not Just For Women Anymore
It’s funny how being laid off really puts all of your workplace problems into perspective. The Wall Street Journal reports that more and more men are claiming they are victims of sexual harassment: Since the start of the recession, a growing number of sexual harassment complaints have come from men. Some 16.4% of all sexual […]
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Layoffs
Layoff Patterns: Was There a Method to the Madness?
We’ve talked a lot about the cluster of factors that led to massive law firm layoffs throughout 2009. But why did law firms fire the specific people they let go? Let’s say that a firm fired 10% of its associates (whether openly or stealthily) in 2009. That would mean that 9 out of 10 associates […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.24.10
* Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (pictured), a hero to conservatives, has sued the federal government over health care reform, based on a recently passed Virginia law that bars the government from requiring people to buy health insurance. [Washington Post] * Doctors introduce poor people to lawyers, who help them out through “preventive law.” [New […]
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March Madness, March Madness 2010, Reader Polls
ATL March Madness: Best City to Practice Law (Regional Finals). East and South.
We’re past the first round of our Best City to Practice Law, March Madness bracket. Last week saw a few upsets in terms of overall city population, but few true surprises: This is good for ATL office pool participants Kash and Lat. They are both tied for first place having picked 7 of the 8 […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 03.23.10
* West Virginia has the worst legal climate in the nation. Unless your practice focuses on spelunking injuries. Then you’re golden. [Institute for Legal Reform] * How the hell does a former lawyer get 76,000 followers on twitter? Unless he’s figured out how to film lipstick lesbians using only 140 characters, I really don’t get […] -
Career Alternatives, Layoffs, Reality TV, Television
Career Alternatives for Laid-off Attorneys: The Apprentice Wants You!
Donald Trump is in the market for a lawyer, and if you’re unemployable, laid-off, or suffering because of the recession, you might just be the attorney for him. The next iteration of “The Apprentice” will be devoted to recession refugees, and the producers are looking to cast some legal types. If your world has been […] - 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… -
Advertising, Law Schools
Business Cards for Law Students: Terrific or Tool-tastic?
We’ve written before about clever and mortifying business cards for lawyers. But everyone would agree that business cards are essential for practicing attorneys. What about for attorneys-to-be, i.e., law students? A reader asks: Emails have been gone around NYU and Columbia law schools recently about business cards. More specifically, about me needing to buy school […] -
Howrey LLP, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: Biglaw Mummification
I’m sorry but the pyramid [structure of law firms] is not going to last as long as those in Egypt. — Robert Ruyak, managing partner and CEO of Howrey LLP -
Bankruptcy, Money, Student Loans
Supreme Court Tackles Student Loan Debt
The Supreme Court ruled that a student’s failure to show undue hardship didn’t void a bankruptcy agreement to discharge student debt. It’s a minor victory for student debtors everywhere, and Justice Clarence Thomas did all he could to limit its effect. The decision came down today in the case of United Student Aid Funds v. […] -
Advertising, Parties, Shameless Plugs, Summer Associates, This Is an Ad
Practical Law Company and ATL Try To Save Your Summer
It’s a talk, it’s a party, it’s an opportunity for us to tell you how to increase your chances of landing an offer from your summer associateship. Save the date: April 13th, at Amity Hall. Your Above the Law editors will be heading to the Summer Associate Kick-Off Party, hosted by the Practical Law Company […] -
Health Care / Medicine
Baker Hostetler Partners Eager to Get Their Names All Over Health Care Reform Lawsuits
Just after 11:00 a.m. today, President Obama will sign health care reform into law. Very soon after that, the constitutional challenges will begin. And two Baker Hostetler partners want to lead the charge. The National Law Journal reports: David Rivkin Jr. and Lee Casey argued for months that the health care overhaul under consideration in […]
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
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Art, Biglaw, Career Alternatives
Nathan Sawaya Gives Up Corporate Law for Legos
Nathan Sawaya went to the trouble of getting a law degree, but now he’s making a living with a skill he mastered in kindergarten. Instead of building cases these days, Sawaya is building large-scale sculptures out of LEGOs. He’s been a LEGO fanatic since he got his first set at 5 years old. He told […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket 03.23.10
* Here’s one student loan debt solution: game show appearances. UC Hastings College of Law grad Victoria Smith has boring plans for her $100K Wheel of Fortune prize. [San Jose Mercury News] * Former Bush lawyer John Michael Farren is swinging around the Fifth Amendment instead of flashlights in a hearing in his Skadden wife’s […]
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Courtship Connection
ATL Courtship Connection: Third Time's the Charm?
We know a lot about law here at ATL, and maybe we know a little about love too. We’ve sent a handful of New York legal types out on dates as part of ATL Courtship Connection, our amateur stab at matchmaking. We’ve gotten three reports back so far. Elie’s matchmaking attempt fell flat. Lat’s set-up […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 03.22.10
* Law firms have 18 months left to figure out how to provide services at a cost their clients can afford. Really? 18 additional months? Wow, I guess clients are dumber and slower moving than we thought. [WSJ Law Blog] * Flight attendants have no duty to examine your scrotum. [BL1Y] * What can we […] -
Attorney Misconduct, Legal Ethics, Partner Issues
Mark McCombs's Overbilling Costs Greenberg Traurig $3.2 Million
Prestige has a price. Former Greenberg Traurig partner Mark McCombs found a sucker to foot the bill for him. As we reported earlier this month, he was the village attorney to Calumet Park, Illinois. He was charged with bilking the village of over one million dollars — money he allegedly sought not for personal gain, […] -
Law Schools
Mercer Law Students Fight With Faculty on Facebook
You have to love it when law students air the dirty laundry about their school over Facebook. But it’s even better when faculty responds to student concerns on Facebook — and better still when faculty get touchy and defensive on Facebook. All of that is happening at Mercer University School of Law, where students turned […] -
Alston & Bird, Department of Justice, Federal Government, Litigatrix, Shanetta Cutlar, Ty Clevenger
In Defense of Shanetta Cutlar
On Friday, we broke the news that Shanetta Cutlar will be stepping down as head of the Special Litigation Section (“SPL”), in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. This news was met with rejoicing in some quarters; Cutlar was not universally loved as a boss. Much of our past coverage of Shanetta […]