Archive for July 2010

Caption Contest Winner: Who Wants a Hug?

By David Lat

This is the photo we gave you for our latest caption contest — a picture of David Boies and Ted Olson, adversaries turned allies, sharing a hug.

You voted on eight clever captions. Which one won?

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How’s This for Symbolism: DOJ Files Against Arizona Immigration Law on Tuesday After Independence Day

By Elie Mystal

The Obama administration has been utterly spineless when it comes to the gay marriage, but they seem to have found their voice on the culture war issue of 2010. The DOJ is filing suit today against the state of Arizona over the state’s controversial immigration law. AZ Central reports:

The U.S. Justice Department is filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Arizona’s new law targeting illegal immigrants, setting the stage for a clash between the federal government and state over the nation’s toughest immigration crackdown.

The planned lawsuit was confirmed to The Associated Press by a Justice Department official with knowledge of the plans. The official didn’t want to be identified before a public announcement planned for later Tuesday.

This morning, the WSJ Law Blog reminded us that the DOJ won’t be running around arguing over racial profiling. Instead the Justice Department will be making a claim about supremacy — constitutional supremacy, that is…

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Quote of the Day: A Belated July 4th Reflection

By David Lat

Freedom is a hard thing to preserve. In order to have enough you must have too much.

– Legendary lawyer Clarence Darrow, whose letters were made public last week by the University of Minnesota Law School library.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Slows the Good News Train

By Elie Mystal

Over the past few months, it’s seemed like the legal economy was picking back up. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May saw job gains in the legal sector.

June was not so kind. Am Law Daily reports that the legal economy isn’t out of the toilet just yet:

After what initially seemed like a promising month in May, the legal sector saw its employment numbers drop by 3,900 in June, according to the latest economic report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Thanks a lot, Bureau of Labor Statistics. You just ruined the iced coffee I was enjoying here at the Breaking Media cooling center…

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The Rise of the Contract Attorney

By Kashmir Hill

staff attorney contract attorney doc review.jpgThe recession has forced Biglaw firms to lay off some of the best and the brightest in the legal field. Many of these Biglaw refugees have wound up seeking out contract work (despite the long-term risks), and that means the pool of contract attorneys is mighty pretty right now. In-house legal departments have noticed and are taking advantage, reports the Legal Intelligencer (in an article we mentioned in the Holiday Docket yesterday).

In an ACC survey about the effects of the recession that we wrote about last week, 51% of in-house folks reported an increased workload last year. And staffing firms say that general counsel are looking to them to help out. Gina Passarella writes:

Project attorneys are a more viable answer to the budget problem in part because there are so many skilled lawyers out of work due to layoffs at AmLaw 200 firms and the consolidation of legal departments prior to the economic downturn, which led to cuts in those departments as well, [staffing firm owner James] LaRosa said.

“The pool of contract attorneys right now is exceptional,” he said.

A typical candidate right now would have experience at either an AmLaw 200 firm or a specialized boutique, and oftentimes will have law department experience as well.

The pool may be exceptional, but the pay is not. Will contract attorneys be as appealing once the economy bounces back and Harvard grads can get big-paying, Biglaw jobs again?

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Career Center: Five Tips for a Convincing Legal Résumé

By Above the Law

In today’s Career Center post, we’ve decided to take a short break from the updates on the results of our Associate Satisfaction Survey to share with you the latest career development article featured in the Associate Resources section of the Career Center, powered by Lateral Link.  This article, along with the others in this section, provides practical advice on advancing your career.

The last several weeks have seen a surge of new lateral associate openings at law firms across the country.  Even with the surge in openings, however, competition remains fierce for associate positions. In fact, employers have reported receiving upwards of 100 résumés for a single position. That means that it is more important than ever for your résumé to stand out from the competition. Fair or not, often the best résumés – and not the best candidates – generate interviews.

How can you develop a convincing legal résumé? Here are five tips….

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How to Sell a Law School to Texans

By Elie Mystal

In Morning Docket we mentioned that the new public law school at UMass is off to a flying start. Let’s check back in with those students in three years when they are in massive debt and have no job prospects.

We’ve slammed UMass Law quite a bit. But there are other university systems that are looking to fleece those interested in a legal education. Last year, we reported that the University of North Texas was going forward with its plans to start a public law school.

Over the weekend, a tipster sent us the pitch North Texas is using on Texans who don’t know any better. Here’s the school’s headline:

Opening a public law school at the right time in the right place

You have got to be freaking kidding me…

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Biglaw Perk Watch: Google’s Gay Gross-Up

By David Lat

It’s good to be gay at Google — or a “Gaygler,” as they call themselves. And not just because the company sometimes has a float in the San Francisco Pride parade.

The New York Times recently reported:

[Last] Thursday, Google [began] covering a cost that gay and lesbian employees must pay when their partners receive domestic partner health benefits, largely to compensate them for an extra tax that heterosexual married couples do not pay. The increase will be retroactive to the beginning of the year.

“It’s a fairly cutting edge thing to do,” said Todd A. Solomon, a partner in the employee benefits department of McDermott Will & Emery, a law firm in Chicago, and author of “Domestic Partner Benefits: An Employer’s Guide.”

Why do gay and lesbian employees pay more in taxes to begin with?

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Morning Docket: 07.06.10

By Kashmir Hill

* In its review of the 2009/2010 term of the Supreme Court, the New York Times editorial board gives it a thumbs down. [New York Times]

* Illinois woman files a RICO complaint against Jersey Shore for organized criminal activity to promote profits. [Courthouse News Service; Asbury Park Press]

* The Ninth Circuit will not abort a whistleblower suit against Planned Parenthood for birth control over-billing. [Catholic News Agency]

* Troy Davis, the Georgia death row inmate granted a hearing by the Supreme Court to prove his innocence to a federal judge, is swimming in uncharted legal waters. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

* 1Ls rush in at UMass Law. [Boston Globe]

* A case of possible voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party is causing discord at the DOJ. [Fox News]

Holiday Docket: 07.05.10

By Kashmir Hill

Ed. note: Your Above the Law editors are still celebrating their freedom today. We will get back to our regular publishing schedule on Tuesday, July 6.

* The paper of political record gives Elena Kagan a thumbs up. [The Washington Post]

* States try to figure out what to do about cyberbullies. (And what kind of middle schooler has a Blackberry Tour?) [New York Times]

* An Oregon attorney got way too friendly with opposing counsel at an anniversary party. [Oregonian]

* The rise of the contract attorney. [The Legal Intelligencer]

* Joran van der Sloot sues the lawyer who represented him during his confession to Peruvian police. [Associated Press]

* Fourth of July eating contest sends Japanese champ to jail. [Associated Press]

The Asia Chronicles: KINNEY LAUNCHES DAILY ASIA BIGLAW BLOG – THEASIACHRONICLES.COM / WHY EXPAT / COLA DID NOT FALL IN HONG KONG

By Kinney Recruiting


[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here. Please note that we have launched a new daily blog – THEASIACHRONICLES.COM – that will include our posts here at Above The Law, but also add additional daily posts, as well as source relevant Asia biglaw news from various media. You can search through all posts using “tags” (ie, expat packages) or any search term you come up with. Here is the latest post below:
***********************

WHY EXPAT / COLA DID NOT FALL IN HONG KONG

By Evan Jowers

A great draw of US biglaw associates to Hong Kong is the lucrative and somewhat illogical expat / cola allowances. Even though the cost of living in Hong Kong is not much different than New York (housing is a bit higher in HK), it is common to receive an expat / cola allowance of well over $60,000 USD.

Last year most in the Hong Kong market expected the lucrative US associate expat / cola allowances to lower dramatically, due to the global recession (which did greatly reduce deal flow in HK / China from late ’08 to mid ’09) and with many firms on global hiring freeze at the time. However, in reality, the expat / cola allowances at the more competitive US and UK firms in HK were never really in danger of dropping much, even during the very slow lateral biglaw hiring period in HK from December ’08 until October ’09.

Actually, when it comes to expat / cola at major US and UK firms in HK, there are two groups:

Competitive: the majority of the top 20 US and UK magic circle firms, and a minority of lower ranked firms, pay expat / cola somewhere in a range of $60,000 to $90,000 (for singles with no children; some of these firms give much higher expat / cola to associates with kids, especially school-aged), with the majority of those in mid 60’s and only a handful at $80,000 or above. These firms all have set in stone non-negotiable expat / cola allowances for each US associate and it is the same allowance at all associate seniority levels. double red triangle arrows Continue reading “The Asia Chronicles: KINNEY LAUNCHES DAILY ASIA BIGLAW BLOG – THEASIACHRONICLES.COM / WHY EXPAT / COLA DID NOT FALL IN HONG KONG”

Caption Contest Finalists: Who Wants A Hug?

By David Lat

Earlier this week, we solicited funny captions for this photo (a great image for the July 4th weekend, given all the American flags):

You responded with around 70 comments. This was a smaller-than-usual number of nominees, but they were of high quality. There were about 25 or so that we saw as worthy contenders. Alas, to make the contest workable, we winnowed the entries down to a shortlist of eight.

Check them out and vote — warning: some crude / juvenile humor ahead (if you can’t handle it, stop reading now) — after the jump.

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Non-Sequiturs: 07.02.10

By Kashmir Hill

* A moving eyewitness account of the last day of the Supreme Court’s October Term 2009, by Mike Sacks of First One @ One First. [ABA Journal]

* Summer associates, please tell us about the fun things your firm is doing with you, for you, or to you. [Above the Law]

* The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel is disappointed in the grades that its senators earned from Professor Elie. [Proof and Hearsay / Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel]

* Solo practitioners are afraid of becoming the Lewis & Clark Law School of the U.S. News rankings. [Smallfirmville]

* They’ve got a whole different definition of expert testimony in Vietnam. [MSNBC]

* Social media networking tips for lawyers: “Consider calling instead.” [New York Law Journal]

* “There’s always a place for cute shoes in the courtroom.” [Flashionista]

* “The primary misconception about ex-lawyers is that we remember any law.” [The Ex-Lawyers Club]

An Update on the Temple Law Shooter: Trial Date Set
And the victim, Eddie DiDonato, continues to recover.

By David Lat

It has been a while since we last wrote about Gerald Ung, the Temple Law student who was arrested in January for shooting Edward “Eddie” DiDonato Jr. (a former college lacrosse star who also has a legal connection — his father is a partner at Fox Rothschild, the prominent Philadelphia firm). Today we have two updates.

First, a reader alerted us to some updates in the criminal case against Ung, who faces five charges, including attempted murder. According to the docket, it appears that a scheduling took place last week, on June 24, and a trial date was set.

The trial date: February 7, 2011. Wondered our reader: “Huh? Do they usually wait that long for an attempted murder trial?”

We have some thoughts on this, plus an update on Eddie DiDonato….

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And the victim, Eddie DiDonato, continues to recover.“

Wisconsin Supreme Court Devolves Into Anarchy

By Elie Mystal

The Wisconsin State Supreme Court

There’s a simple rule in Wisconsin regarding judicial elections. You can’t make a campaign ad that knowingly misrepresents your opponent. While you’d imagine that reasonable people might disagree about what constitutes misrepresentation, one expects that judges wouldn’t really get anywhere close to the line.

But not so in the election between Justice Michael Gableman and Louis Butler. Gabelman made a controversial ad and won the election, and then all hell broke loose. People argued he violated judicial codes of conduct, it went to the State Supreme Court, Gabelman had to recuse himself, and then the court split 3 -3 and issued two different decisions. So, you know, all the trappings of anarchy.

Of course race is involved. Because people don’t generally lose their minds and start acting like idiots in this country unless race is involved somehow…

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A ‘Genius’ Use of Deferral Time

By Kashmir Hill

A little over a year ago, law firms came up with a unique plan to deal with the problem of too many associates and not enough work to go around: the deferral. It did not apply just to incoming associates; it was also offered up to those already at the firm who were open to a year-long sabbatical.

We know that many of you decided (or had to) seek out work in the public sector. But when the mainstream media picked up on the fact that law firms were paying their employees to go away from a year, they focused on those doing fun things, like the Skadden Sidebar associate planning a trip around the world. How many other deferred dreamers have taken the opportunity to do something offbeat?

Or something about beats. Rap Genius, a website that analyzes rap lyrics (called ingenious by Nick Antosca of the Huffington Post for its breakdown of Empire State of Mind), is the creation of a DL Pursuer. The site is now nine months old, and Mahbod Moghadam (Stanford Law ’08) is hoping it’s his escape out of law. Which would be a good thing, since Dewey & LeBeouf is having a hard time reabsorbing its DL Pursuits associates.

Moghadam is quite a character: he sent us a bizarre photo involving a carrot, he’s the ex-boyfriend of Victoria of Downtown Girls, and he convinced two Yale friends to quit their jobs (at Google and D. E. Shaw) to work with him on Rap Genius. What kind of Jedi mind tricks is this guy using?

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Shearman & Sterling Belatedly Sets Start Dates for Deferred Class of 2009

By Kashmir Hill

Shearman & Sterling is setting off some fireworks at the start of this Fourth of July weekend. It sent out a memo this morning to its deferred associates from 2009. (Remember them? They got $65,000 last year if they volunteered to go away until September 2010.)

The deferred associates expected a letter two months ago telling them about their practice groups and start dates, as well as $15,000 salary advance checks starting on June 15th. Those dates passed with no information or money. Today, the firm finally contacted them.

It has announced the start dates for these folks and they’re not in 2010. A Shearman tipster sent along the memo noting:

Here is the text from the just received memo that is f***ing me over… I am so pissed that I can’t really talk about it right now.

So what’s the deal?

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Pls Hndle Thx: Too Good for $10?

By Marin

Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com

ATL,

I wasn’t going to send this in to ATL until I saw a post that informed me that some other schools will actually pay employers to try out their students post-graduation. Here at Northwestern U, graduates lacking jobs get insulting offers of $10/hr “for as many as ten hours” per week working for professors, which I presume is being done only an effort to avoid sinking NU’s post-graduation employment percentage. I don’t have a job…but should I take this $10/hr gig?

Fries With That

Dear Fries With That,

During the year and one month I was unemployed, I had rent to pay, a dog that required $120 haircuts called “The Trojan,” and a host of other expenses (waxing, highlights, youth serums, Lexapro, alcohol, etc) necessary to maintain my fierce looks and fresh personality….

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Job of the Week: How Green Is Your Silicon Valley?

By Above the Law

What’s more American than Silicon Valley tech transactions! Celebrate Independence Day by shooting for a new job at a top firm in the Bay Area.

The Job of the Week is brought to you by Lateral Link, which has an inside track with this firm — their recruiters, Betsy Sandler and Gloria Noh Cannon, recently placed two corporate associates in this office.

Position: IP Transactional Associate

Location: Silicon Valley, CA

Bonus: This position qualifies for Lateral Link’s $10,000 placement bonus.

Description: A top firm has an immediate opening for an IP transactional associate in their Silicon Valley office. The candidate will focus primarily on IP transactions but will also do some general corporate work. Candidates must have 3-4 years of experience in IP transactional matters. Top academic credentials and large law firm experience are required.

For more details, please see position #6530 on the Lateral Link website or contact Carolyn Brenner, cbrenner@laterallink.com. If you are not currently a Lateral Link member, you can sign up for free at www.laterallink.com.

Nationwide Layoff Watch: A Dozen Down at the Bronx DA’s Office

By David Lat

Working as a lawyer for the government is regarded by many as the life raft for riding out the recession. But thanks to shrinking budgets, attorneys in the public sector are also losing their jobs.

Yesterday the Bronx District Attorney, Robert T. Johnson, issued a letter announcing a layoff of 12 assistant district attorneys in his office, scheduled to take effect by the end of this month. The prosecutors who are losing their jobs have already been notified. Johnson blamed the New York City financial plan, which significantly reduces the office’s funding for the fiscal years of 2011, which started yesterday, and 2012.

The cuts were not unexpected, since Johnson had laid the groundwork for layoffs in a letter back in May. In that letter, first reported by the New York Daily News, Johnson predicted that he might have to lay off as many as 45 ADAs. So the cut of 12 ADAs could be seen as “good news,” since it’s smaller than some expected. (In his letter yesterday, Johnson said that he was able to avoid larger cuts thanks in part to some cost-saving measures in the office.)

But Robert Johnson announced another piece of news at the same time, which a number of veteran prosecutors found strange and upsetting….

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