Jamie Gorelick is a Washington D.C. power lawyer. She’s a former Deputy Attorney General, former general counsel to the Defense Department, and current partner at WilmerHale, where she chairs the national security and public policy practice groups. She’s had — and continues to have — an amazing career.
But does she really want to be the legal face of the BP disaster?
Former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick will head the legal team for British oil giant BP PLC as it prepares to respond to legal challenges related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Greenwire reported Wednesday.
“We have been retained to help the company respond to the numerous congressional inquiries that are underway,” Gorelick, now of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, said in an e-mail to Greenwire. “We have not been retained to advocate for any position.”
Does WilmerHale really want this? Yesterday, the Daily News called BP’s CEO Tony Hayward the most hated man in America — and the headline was probably an understatement. There’s a new Facebook group entitled I vote we plug the Gulf oil leak with BP executives.
Do Gorelick and WilmerHale really want to be the lawyers for his company? Isn’t there some white-baby-killing, terrorist Nazi out there who would make for a more sympathetic client right now?
Oh, but the fees, the fees…
Continue reading “Can Jamie Gorelick Clean Up BP’s Mess?”
Last night, I was momentarily distracted from watching the Mets blow another Johan Santana start by the game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians. As most sports fans already know, Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga threw a perfect game last night — only he didn’t get credit for it, because umpire Jim Joyce blew the call on the 27th and final out. Joyce called Indians featherweight hitter Jason Donald safe at first. Replays later showed conclusively that Donald was out.
This morning, the sports world is buzzing about what (if anything) can be done about this terrible miscarriage of justice. The legal world is buzzing too. Baseball and the law work so perfectly together because they are both rules-oriented systems where the rules are designed to promote justice and fair play. People care deeply about the rules of law, and the rules of baseball, so it’s really not that surprising to see lawyers weigh in about Galarraga’s should-have-been perfect game.
The WSJ Law Blog did a good job of collecting some of the reaction to Joyce’s blown call. Most of the talk centers around forcing the resistant-to-change game of baseball to adopt instant replay.
But there are other rules-oriented ways to handle the situation. An Above the Law reader has started a Facebook petition to get Major League Baseball to adopt “The Galarraga Rule” …
Continue reading “Free Legal Advice For Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig”
[D]efendants oppose the motion on the grounds that the plaintiffs have failed to specify what their job duties are, and so have not established that they and the other members of the proposed class are similarly situated. This is a ridiculous argument.
The Court has not spent her life under a toadstool — I know what waiters, busboys and bartenders do when they go to work.
– Judge Colleen McMahon, granting a motion for conditional collective action certification in Shajan v. Barolo, Ltd. (S.D.N.Y. June 2, 2010).
You know something is capturing cultural attention when your mother asks, “Did you write about that woman who got fired for being attractive?”
Earlier this week, the Village Voice ran a cover story on a woman who is suing Citibank for wrongful termination. She claims that her bosses found her too hot — and thus distracting to the other people trying to do their jobs.
I know, I know — pictures or it didn’t happen….
Continue reading “Lawsuit of the Day: Woman Claims She Was Fired for Being Too Attractive”
* J.P. Morgan Chase gets smacked, hard. [Wall Street Journal]
* The Blagojevich trial is going to be more dramatic than TNT’s summer lineup. [Chicago Sun-Times]
* Southern prosecutors are still very successful at excluding African-Americans from juries. [New York Times]
* .. Which isn’t to say the South hasn’t made a lot of progress. After all it’s not like they’re getting sued for slavery. No, that honor belongs to the U.S. Military. [Courthouse News Service]
* DLA Piper is raiding Nixon Peabody. [Am Law Daily]
* Obama plans to meet with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer today. I hope he has identification. [CNN]
* Nuke the oil spill! [Salon]
Southern Florida has been hit by a storm of insensitivity that has achieved gale force — Peggy Gehl force. Complaints about Judge Peggy Gehl and inappropriate comments she allegedly made from the bench were recently lodged with Chief Judge Victor Tobin of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit.
(The story broke last week in the South Florida blogosphere. But it hasn’t received much attention beyond the Sunshine State, perhaps because it happened right before Memorial Day weekend.)
On May 26, Howard Finkelstein — public defender for Broward County, as well as a television personality with his own show — sent a letter to Chief Judge Tobin, describing “four incidents wherein Judge Gehl made racist comments.” Here’s the first fun allegation:
Maybe Judge Gehl should have asked Wright Muir for a Red Stripe too?
This was just one of four incidents. We describe the other allegations against Judge Gehl — and interview PD Howard Finkelstein, a colorful character in his own right — after the jump.
Continue reading “Judge of the Day: Peggy Gehl
Floridian jurist admires Jews; Jamaicans, not so much.“
Sharon Eliza Nichols (a.k.a. SEN)
* For those of you who still remember days gone by here at ATL, former guest editor “SEN” just graduated from law school. Congratulations, Sharon! [Thank You Ma'am]
* Here are three strikes against the whole “judge-umpire” analogy — and a suggestion for a better baseball comparison to describe the role of Supreme Court justice. [Huffington Post]
* Geordi has a tax problem? Lay off the man, the brother can’t see right. [Going Concern]
* Roy Moore, best known as the Alabama judge who wanted the Ten Commandments in the courthouse, lost in the Republican gubernatorial primary. [BL1Y]
* An event at the NYC bar association tomorrow night will teach you practical skills that might actually help you get a job. [New York City Bar Association]
* Apparently the site you’re currently reading is a “gangsta-ass law blog.” [Rap Genius]
Do you remember the scene in the Amityville Horror House movie where the toilet says to the family, “Get out”? That seems to be what firms are telling incoming associates when they defer first-years until 2012.
Today, we’ve got another firm that has decided to put some of its incoming associates on the long march towards nowhere in particular. Missouri Lawyers reports:
St. Louis-based Bryan Cave is among the firms that have pushed off start dates on new associates to 2012.
The firm’s St. Louis office made 14 total offers last fall to 2010 law school graduates, but told seven of them at the time that they wouldn’t be starting until January 2012, said managing partner Peter Van Cleve. The other seven were extended offers to start in January 2011.
Remember, Bryan Cave is still trying to absorb the members of the class of 2009 — at least the ones who didn’t already take the firm’s offer to split…
Continue reading “Incoming Bryan Cave Associates: Welcome to 2012.”
You’ve got to love lawyers sometimes. If nothing else, they’re a resourceful group of people. If there is information out there that can help win a case, you can count on a lawyer to find it, massage it, and use it to their client’s advantage. What makes a good lawyer? Research, baby, research.
We’ve mentioned before that divorce attorneys have figured out how to use incriminating text messages to their advantage. So it should really come as no surprise that divorce attorneys are also using Facebook to dig up information on the soon-to-be-ex spouses of their clients.
If anything, the only surprising thing is how stupid people are on Facebook even when they are in the midst of active litigation. CNN had a nice story yesterday, documenting this trend:
Before the explosion of social media, Ken Altshuler, a divorce lawyer in Maine, dug up dirt on his client’s spouses the old-fashioned way: with private investigators and subpoenas. Now the first place his team checks for evidence is Facebook…
“Facebook is a great source of evidence,” Altshuler said. “It’s absolutely solid evidence because he’s the author of it. How do you deny that you put that on?”
What kind of idiots put something on Facebook they don’t want their spouse to see? Apparently, the cheating kind….
Continue reading “Divorce Lawyers Turn Facebook into a Case-Winning Gold Mine”
Lance David Lewis had one of the best jobs in the world. He was getting paid a couple grand a week, and he didn’t have to do any work for it. Too bad it wasn’t legit.
Early last month, the former Pennsylvania lawyer was finally disbarred with consent (meaning that he can’t defend the charges against him). Why?
Well, first, he was once charged with attempted murder. However, that charge was later dropped, and he pleaded guilty to some misdemeanor assault charges. Hell, who hasn’t that happen to them at least once or twice?
Oh, and he also swindled a portion of a settlement away from one of his clients. So, thus far, he’s batting 2 for 2.
What really accelerated Lewis’s downfall from the law? Lance David Lewis may very well be one of the first e-discovery contract attorneys to be disbarred for his malfeasance on a document review project — or, better put, off of a document review project.
In nine months, Lewis managed to rake in nearly $80,000 for work he never performed, contracting at a law firm via a staffing agency. In this case, the staffing agency was HireCounsel, and the law firm was Pepper Hamilton.
So how was he able to pull this off? The Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Pennsylvania Bar lays this out in pretty excruciating detail….
Continue reading “All Play and No Work Made Lance a Disbarred Boy”
Here’s a headline from the ABA Journal this morning:
African-American Law Firm Elects Unusual CEO
Unusual, you say? Well, when you click on that link, aren’t you expecting something really outside the box? Maybe they picked a CEO with no private sector experience? Maybe they picked a CEO who used to be in the CIA? Maybe they picked Triumph the Insult Comic Dog? You know, something “unusual.”
But no, here’s the interesting twist to this story:
Detroit-based firm Lewis & Munday, which was founded in 1972 by David Baker Lewis and two African-American partners, named partner Blair Person as its new president and CEO this month… some might find it curious to learn that Person is white.
That’s it? A law firm elected a white guy to be CEO. That’s news? That’s unusual?
Wait, let me back up a second. Aside from the fact that black people founded the place, what the hell makes this an “African-American” law firm? I don’t think you’d see a headline in 2010 calling Wachtell a “Jewish” law firm. And what in God’s name is unusual about black owners selecting a white person to run their business? In short, what the hell is going here?
Continue reading “White Guy Gets a Promotion — And Suddenly It’s News”
A law professor from Minnesota is not having a very good start to his summer break. As we previously mentioned in the Memorial Day Docket, a William Mitchell College of Law professor, Peter Erlinder, 62, traveled to Rwanda last month to help with the legal defense of Victoire Ingabire, an opposition leader running against current-President Paul Kagame in the central African country’s August elections.
Erlinder, who previously defended a Rwandan accused of genocide during the International Criminal Tribunals in 2003, was arrested within a week of his arrival for denying that genocide occurred there. (If you need a history lesson here, watch Hotel Rwanda.) From the Associated Press:
Erlinder is accused of violating Rwanda’s laws against minimizing the genocide in which more than 500,000 Rwandans, the vast majority of them ethnic Tutsis, were massacred by Hutus in 100 days. Erlinder doesn’t deny massive violence happened but contends it’s inaccurate to blame just one side.
Erlinder’s views are generally controversial. See, e.g., this open letter he wrote about Darfur (via the WSJ).
Erlinder could face up to 25 years in prison. His defenders say his arrest has more to do with his efforts on behalf of an opposition candidate than his views on genocide. But the Rwandan government has a different view:
[Rwandan Prosecutor General Martin] Ngoga’s office compared Rwanda’s laws to those in some European countries against denying the Holocaust.
“We understand that human rights activists schooled in the U.S. Bill of Rights may find this objectionable,” government spokeswoman Louise Mushikiwabo said in a statement. “But for Rwandans — schooled in the tragedy of the 1994 genocide and who long for peace — Mr. Erlinder’s arrest is an act of justice.”
How did Erlinder get into this mess? We corresponded with his daughter, who shed some light on the situation….
Continue reading “‘Genocide-Denying’ Law Professor Peter Erlinder Imprisoned in Rwanda”
A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:
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Ed. note: This post is written by Will Meyerhofer, a Biglaw attorney turned psychotherapist, whom we profiled. A former Sullivan & Cromwell associate, he holds degrees from Harvard, NYU Law, and The Hunter College School of Social Work. He blogs at The People’s Therapist.
Here’s a letter I received recently. Yes, it’s real, but I’ve removed anything identifiable to protect the sender:
Hi Will,
I read your thoughts of the legal profession on Above the Law and thought you neatly summarized my situation. I wish I was the type of person who could expel all the anger but instead I feel my self esteem disintegrating. It’s starting to become apparent to my co-workers (i.e. I cry at work). There’s one other female associate in my office and she’s going through the same thing. My problem is I believe the negative things my bosses tell me. I explained this to my boss (when he asked why we were crying) and promised him I would try to develop better coping skills. How do I make myself not care when he goes off on me?
For better or worse, this letter is typical; I hear a lot of stories like this.
An institute director I used to work with, a grizzled veteran of the therapy trenches, used to tell patients he wished he could make the world a better place, but he couldn’t. He could only better prepare them to deal with the world the way it is.
That’s how I feel about law firms. They can be brutal, and I can’t do much about that. But there are ways to deal.
My advice to this woman is to stop acting like a baby bird….
Continue reading “In-House Counseling: Not a Baby Bird”
We’re nearing the mid-way point of 2010. By popular demand, it’s time to check in on how people are doing for billable hours. We mentioned yesterday that in-house counsel are not looking to raise the billables of outside counsel, so we wanted to take the temperature of the community.
We did this survey last year in August. At the time, a majority of you said that you were on track to bill less than 2,000 hours.
Luckily, that was a snapshot of the sad and pathetic 2009. We are now well into the awesome and great 2010. RECOVERY SECURE … right?
So how are you doing on hours this year? Take the survey below and share you thoughts in the comments. We’ll do a follow up later this week on how you and your peers are doing.
Here’s hoping many of you are on track for that 1,900 – 2,100 hour sweet spot. We don’t want you to burn out, or get fired…
Continue reading “The Hours Open Thread: How Are Your 2010 Billables?”
* Here’s a nice primer on the legal landscape faced by BP, already confronting some 150 civil lawsuits, as well as governmental investigation. [New York Times]
* Despite condemnation from the White House and a possible federal lawsuit brought by the Justice Department, Arizona’s tough new immigration law enjoys popular support among the American electorate. [ABA Journal]
* Alleged racial discrimination by private social clubs in Kentucky has spawned litigation and political controversy. [Washington Post]
* Former New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, now at Wachtell Lipton, has stepped down from his role as special master in a racial discrimination lawsuit brought by minority firefighters in NYC. His replacement: former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White. [City Room / New York Times]
* Conan O’Brien sings the legal blues — and mentions his mother, a former corporate partner at Ropes & Gray in Boston. [Am Law Daily]
* Just like Elie, Christopher Hitchens has some strong feelings about the Justice Department’s siding with the Vatican in a case now before the Supreme Court. [Slate via WSJ Law Blog]
We gave you this photo before the holiday weekend:
We asked for creative and hilarious caption submissions. You did not disappoint.
This is the first caption contest we’ve run since instituting the new comment system. We have taken your “likes” into account in choosing our finalists. Check out the top ten, and vote for the best one, after the jump.
Continue reading “ATL Caption Contest: Legal Lexus Nexus Finalists”
* Al and Tipper Gore are getting separated. So far, there’s no hint of scandal. It’s refreshing to think that a man and a woman can just grow apart after 40 years of marriage without one of them having to carry on an illicit affair for the end to become clear. [Politico]
* This jackass tried to punk Kash over the weekend. I hope I never meet him, I don’t feel like buying a prosthetic limb to replace the foot I’d break off in his ass. [True/Slant]
* If you paid attention to David Souter’s speech at Harvard’s commencement, apparently you received quite an old-school defense of judicial activism. [AOL: Politics Daily]
* Here are five excellent tips for new Biglaw lawyers looking to retain a bit of their sanity. [TechnoLawyer]
* The list of things that are like war seems to keep growing — apparently, trial law is now on said list. I want to do something that is not like war. Are there professions that are like sitting on a beach with a good book and drinks that are expecting rain? [Underdog]
* I understand how to spin the colossal failure of “quit Facebook day” as a victory. I learned the trick during the million man march. [PC World]
* Speaking of quit Facebook day, this week’s Blawg Review takes a look a privacy concerns from the perspective of a lawyer down under. [Freedom to Differ via Blawg Review]
It’s June 1st. Summer is upon us! Yay.
So how are you doing for hours? As much as we talk about merit-based compensation and alternative fee arrangements — surprise — billable hours are still here and still very, very important.
But if in-house attorneys have anything to say about it, your hours will be low this year…
Continue reading “In-House Counsel Don’t Intend to Give You Hours”
Earlier this year, in one of its many format changes, Facebook forced users to make their profile info more public via Community Pages. Facebook created pages based on users’ lists of interests, jobs, and favorite things to help people find others “who share similar interests and experiences.”
So if you, for example, listed “document review” as something you like, you’d be a member of this page. And maybe this page too.
One issue discussed in some circles was the potential trademark violation in Facebook’s automatically creating and populating Community pages for businesses and brands. Another issue picked up by the National Law Journal was that some of the Community Pages created aren’t very flattering to law firms.
If you listed your employment as “Slave” at Skadden Arps, for example, you’re responsible for this page:
What are some of the other interesting law firm-affiliated Community Pages on Facebook?
Continue reading “Law Firm Facebook Pages Reveal How Associates Really Feel”
