August 2010
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Advertising, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
Thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law: Bonobos Kinney Recruiting Lateral Link Lexis Nexis – Discovery Solutions Lexis Nexis – Law Firm Marketing Products Lexis Nexis – Martindale Lexis Nexis – RLS Specialized Law Lexis Nexis – Search Advantage & Hosted Litigation Martini Network – Suntrust MasterCard MarketPlace Rocket Matter Sunshine Suites Suntrust […] -
Biglaw, Document Review, India, Job Searches, Outsourcing
Outsourcing: Here Come the Expats
Well, it was only a matter of time before the lawyers started to go where the work is. And, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that the work is in India. Western-trained lawyers are heading to India, to manage the country’s burgeoning legal outsourcing resources. From the New York Times (gavel bang: WSJ Law […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Biglaw, Billable Hours, Partner Issues, Skaddenfreude
Nixon Peabody Partner Gets Chastised by a Federal Judge for Work Hoarding
Nixon Peabody was a winner in Signature Flight Support Corp. v. Landow Aviation, a dispute between two aviation companies at the Washington Dulles airport. Nixon landed a victory for Signature Flight, and filed a motion for Landow to pay attorneys’ fees in the case. Landow thought Nixon’s fees were sky-high and opposed the motion, resulting […]
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Harvard Law Review, Law Reviews, Law Schools, Minority Issues, Racism
Congratulations, New Law Review Editors!(And a question about minorities on law review.)
It’s early August. Law students are getting ready to go back to school. And some students — lucky or unlucky, you be the judge — are going back earlier than others, to work on their schools’ law reviews. Over the summer, rising 2Ls around the country received the rather important news: whether they made it […] -
Banking Law, Musical Chairs, Wall Street
Musical Chairs: Milbank Poaches Latham's Global Banking Co-Chair and Four Others
Partners are on the move, and this time it’s major. Latham & Watkins is losing some serious firepower from its banking group, with the windfall going to Milbank. Am Law Daily reports: Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy made a rare venture into the U.S. lateral market Tuesday, announcing that it had lured five Latham & […] -
Benchslaps, Federal Judges, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: Not a Quick Fix
I am not the Maytag repairman of federal judges desperately hoping for something to do. — Nevada Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen, explaining why it took her so long to issue a scathing sanction [PDF] of defense counsel. (Gavel bang: Las Vegas Review-Journal via ABA Journal.) -
Associate Salaries, Biglaw, Money, New York Times, Salary Cuts
Don't Be So Quick to Lump Biglaw in with Corporate Salary Slashers
The New York Times has a nice survey piece about all the salary cuts imposed upon American workers. It’s a story that anybody holding down a job through this recession is probably aware of: Local and state governments, as well as some companies, are squeezing their employees to work the same amount for less money […] -
Elena Kagan, Gay, Gay Marriage, Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.04.10
* Today Judge Vaughn Walker will issue his ruling in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the constitutional challenge to the Prop 8 gay marriage ban in California. Lawyer/journalist Chris Geidner has this great FAQ about it. [Metro Weekly] * A bankruptcy examiner’s report brings mostly good news for lawyers at Brown Rudnick, who had been accused of […]
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Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Diane Wood, Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Federal Judges, Kim McLane Wardlaw, Litigatrix, Reader Polls, Shoes, Shopping, Susan Graber
Wearing Peep-Toe Shoes to Court? Women Judges Weigh In
Earlier today, on the Senate floor, debate took place on whether to confirm Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the nation’s 112th Supreme Court justice. The Kagan nomination is not very controversial, due to the nominee’s impeccable credentials and the Democrats’ 59 votes in the Senate. In the legal blogosphere, a far more divisive debate is […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 08.03.10
* Alabama wants to put a tax on gym membership. Let me get this straight: Alabama has so many fat people that when I go down there people hand me brochures about the dangers of anorexia. They’ve got so many fat people the Crimson Tide mascot only needs a costume for his face. The state’s […] -
Death Penalty, Gregory Garre, New York Times, Pro Bono, SCOTUS, Screw-Ups, Supreme Court
Sullivan & Cromwell's Mailroom of Death: A Law Firm's Error Could Cost a Man His Life
Last year, we covered a mistake made in a death penalty case by the white-shoe firm of Sullivan & Cromwell. It was a noteworthy development because of the rarity of the occurrence — S&C doesn’t often make mistakes, at least not ones as elementary as missing a deadline — and because of the stakes involved. […] -
From Playboy to Biglaw: New Orrick CFO Has A Bitchin' Resume
Let’s be honest: although we strive to bring you the inside scoop about major law firms around the country, we don’t usually report on new law firm Chief Financial Officers. But the new CFO at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Linda Havard, is special. Check out her prior experience, from Orrick’s press release announcing the new […] -
Rape, Sex, Sex Scandals, Skaddenfreude, Sports, Trials
The Bluegrass State's Sordid Sports Trial (Or: University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino must really hate Karen Sypher)
Every sports fan we know is bugging us to cover the prosecution of Karen Sypher, a former car-show model and auto-glass saleswoman, who is being tried for extorting University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, lying to the FBI, and retaliation against a witness. Since it concerns balls, it seems like a natural fit for […]
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
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Associate Salaries, Killing Lockstep
Biglaw Salary Stragglers: Foley & Lardner
We’ve done a number of reports over the last few weeks on salary cuts of 2009 that are being reversed in 2010. Sure, some firms are still trying to be cute when it comes to associate pay. But many Biglaw firms are back on the $160K scale for associate salaries, at least in major markets. […] -
9/11, Civil Rights, Real Estate, Religion
Allahu Akbar! Mosque Near Ground Zero Clears a Final Hurdle
Who knew that zoning law and land use could be so controversial? A proposal to build a Muslim center and mosque just two blocks away from Ground Zero has become a huge issue here in New York — and, in fact, around the country. Opponents of the project — originally known as Cordoba House, but […] -
Cardozo Law School, Celebrities, Law Schools, Lawyerly Lairs, Real Estate
Lawyerly Lairs: Recent Cardozo Grad Buys $1.7 Million Condo -- from Alan Colmes!
This week seems to be Cardozo Law School week here at Above the Law. Yesterday we wrote about Jeremy Weg, a studious rising 2L who posed a question to The Ethicist. Today we bring you the story of Catherine Haldy Jarman, a 2010 Cardozo Law graduate who just bought a fabulous piece of real estate: […] -
Law Schools, Rankings
Is Law School Prestige Wildly Overrated?
I don’t know how I missed this last week, but a study reported in the WSJ Law Blog claims that law school prestige is overrated. Significantly overrated. The ABA Journal — which picked up the story this morning — summarizes the work of a professor from UCLA and a professor from Brooklyn Law: [UCLA law […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.03.10
* Apparently, the FBI doesn’t have better things to do than this. The Bureau asks Wikipedia not to use its seal. [New York Times] * Freedom, privacy, and Crackberries. [New York Times] * Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli II takes a page from Arizona’s law book on immigration. [Washington Post] * Your transcript matters more than […]
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Blogging, Law Schools
Sticky Drama's Christopher Stone Is Stuck on Southwestern Law School
On Southwestern Law School’s Web page for prospective students, the dean writes: “A remarkable number of major figures in the legal and business sides of the entertainment industry also come from Southwestern — as do many leaders of more traditional legal careers in both private and public sectors… We encourage you also to remember that […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 08.02.10
* Can the iPad help you do doc review? [Young Lawyers Blog] * Or maybe the iPad can help you select a jury? Let me ask a different question: Is the iPad the first Cylon? [ABA Journal] * Money isn’t everything. Sure, it’s really important when you want to do things like pay your rent, […]