July 2010
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Akin Gump, Biglaw, Drinking, Summer Associates
Akin Gump Summers Ice Some Bros
It’s about time a group of summer associates grew a backbone and showed some personality. At Akin Gump, a group of summers decided to “ice” some of the full-time associates at the firm. In case you’ve been living under a rock, BrosIcingBros is was a website devoted to friends forcing friends to chug a gawd-awful […] -
Movies, Old People, Rankings, Television
The 25 Greatest Fictional Lawyers
The courtroom lends itself to dramatization. A trial has a natural story arc: The adversarial system makes for a clear conflict between characters. There’s a natural end point when both sides rest their cases and the verdict comes down. Plus, lawyers are such loveable characters. And so there are many great movies and TV shows […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Professors, Law Schools
ABA Takes on Law Schools... Over Tenure
Is the American Bar Association going to deal with the unmitigated proliferation of law schools? No. Will the ABA deal with overflow of lawyers entering the profession at a time when few well-paying legal jobs seem to be available? No. Will the organization seriously address the rising cost of legal education? Not really. Instead, the […]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.27.10
* The Tennessee Titans sue USC and football coach Lane Kiffin over offensive move. [CBS News] * Congrats to non-AT&T subscribers. The Library of Congress has issued a “Get Out of Jail” card for the iPhone. You may now pass Go and pay $200 at your local Apple store. [San Francisco Chronicle] * Blago’s defense […]
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Bar Exams
Good Luck to All Bar Takers!
The bar exam begins tomorrow for many of you (e.g., those of you in Above the Law’s home jurisdiction of New York). To those of you sitting for the test tomorrow, we wish you the best of luck. To quote the Facebook status update of a lawyer who has been through the ordeal (and survived): […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 07.26.10
* The Feds are still interested in Barry Bonds. Not the Nats, the Feds. [WSJ Law Blog] * When wrestling with the bimodal salary distribution curve, George Mason law professor Ilya Somin points out that the curve shifts rightward when you take into account yearly pay raises. Fair enough. But wouldn’t the curve shift significantly […] -
Caption Contests, Contests, Pictures, Reader Polls
Caption Contest Finalists: Stalling?
Last week, we gave you a photo from Georgetown Law School of a bar exam studier whose performance anxiety appeared to extend to the bathroom. We asked for captions for the photo and you showered us with them. We’ve chosen our favorites, after the jump. Check them out and vote for the best. (We’ll flush […] -
Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: More Bad News for Military Recruiters at HLS?
I went to Harvard. They didn’t teach war there. — Tom, a trial lawyer “that Fortune 100 companies and hedge funds bring in when billions are at stake.” - Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get… -
Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Summer Associates
Dewey & LeBoeuf 'Pauses' 2011 Summer Program at a Few Offices
‘Tis the season of summer program cancellations. Just don’t call them cancellations. Today we’ve learned that Dewey & LeBoeuf has “paused” its 2011 summer program in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston. You can really see the difficulty of the situation faced by Biglaw firms. Here we are in July of 2010, and firms are supposed […] -
Grade Reform, Law Professors, Law Schools
Grading Shenanigans at Harvard Law School? Spring Evidence Students Confronted 'Irregularities'
It’s nearly August. But at Harvard Law School, administrators are still trying to sort out what happened with Professor Bruce Hay’s spring Evidence course. Not that grades matter all that much at HLS. The most important part of an HLS student’s transcript is the part at the top that says “Harvard Law School.” Heck, the […] -
Pepper Hamilton, Summer Associates
Pepper Hamilton Surprises Its Philly Summers with a 100% Offer Rate
We’ve had our first report of summer offer rates. The news comes to us from the cheesesteak city. Pepper Hamilton gave out offers in its Philadelphia office on Friday, and it did it with style. We’re told that the office’s 11 summer associates — 8 2Ls and 3 1Ls — went to lunch together on […] -
Bar Exams, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Lunacy
A Bar Exam Parody / Hypothetical, Courtesy of Elizabeth Wurtzel
For some of you, the bar exam starts tomorrow. Your friends at Above the Law — and our bar-related advertisers, including Kaplan PMBR and BarMax — wish you the best of luck. If you’re looking for more review questions, check out our post from yesterday, based on Professor Laurence Tribe’s unfortunate incident at a Safeway […] -
Crime, Lawyer of the Day, Partner Issues, Pornography
Partner of the Day: Samuel Logan Allegedly Sent Child Porn From the Office
Federal agents played a little game of “To Catch a Law Firm Partner” last week. After a few weeks of online chatting with Samuel P. Logan, 45, they lured the Foulston Siefkin partner to a mall to meet the 14-year-old girl named “stazie” to whom he thought he had been sending naked photos. Instead of […]
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Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
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Biglaw, Old People
Mentoring: Just Another Thing the Baby Boomers Don't Do Well
As the Baby Boomers continue to age, we’ve been documenting their reluctance to gracefully leave the Biglaw stage. One would think that all these lingering old people would at least be a good mentoring resource for the younger generation. Kash suggested as much when we debated the topic earlier this year. But an article up […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.26.10
* A lawyer with an interesting business model in Florida: When a client didn’t pay his fees, he burglarized his home. [Orlando Sentinel] * Can you sue me now? Mobile phone industry association files a lawsuit against San Francisco over its requirement that cell phones have radiation warnings. [San Francisco Chronicle; Ars Technica] * Pentagon […]
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Biglaw, Law Shucks
This Week in Biglaw: 07.25.10
Ed. note: Law Shucks focuses on life in, and after, BigLaw, including by tracking layoffs, bonuses, and laterals. Above the Law is pleased to bring you this weekly column, which analyzes news at the world’s top law firms. As August approaches, the recruiting process shifts from the summer programs, which are in full (relatively speaking) […] -
Bar Exams, Laurence Tribe, Law Professors, Lawsuit of the Day
Potential Lawsuit / Bar Exam Review Question of the Day: Laurence Tribe v. Safeway?
Last Sunday, the eminent constitutional law scholar Laurence Tribe and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Westling, got stuck in an elevator at the Safeway supermarket in Georgetown. (Professor Tribe is currently in D.C. to serve in the administration of his former student from Harvard Law School, Barack Obama.) Read the (rather humorous) write-up of Tribe’s elevator incident […] -
Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Intellectual Property, Litigatrix, Trademarks
Anatomy of a Trademark Lawsuit: Valentino v. Florence Fashions
After a 16-year-long fight, Valentino has prevailed in litigation with Florence Fashions over the use of the Valentino trademark. Read an interesting interview with Valentino’s lawyer, Anne Sterba, and comment — over at our sister site, Fashionista. Valentino Wins 16-Year Trademark Case; Valentino’s Lawyer Explains the Ruling [Fashionista] -
Contracts, Facebook, Social Networking Websites
The Facebook Lawsuit: Everybody Calm Down and Remember Your 1L Contracts Class
The internet is on fire today. The purported contract between Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and random New York resident Paul Ceglia has hit the worldwide web. We’ve written about Ceglia’s claims to 84% of Facebook before. But now that people have actually seen the document, everybody wants to talk about it. I even ended up […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 07.23.10
* How long before the anonymous lawyer behind Ask a Korean! is outed? We think it’ll be faster than you can say dolsot bibimbap. [City Room/New York Times] * MBE mash-up to entertain bar studiers. [YouTube] * More exam-inspired music, but this will entertain and educate. [YouTube] * If you got a gene in a […]