August 2010
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.18.10
* Want to visit Cuba? The Obama administration plans to loosen travel restrictions to la isla bonita. [New York Times] * Two federal judges in D.C., Judges Emmet Sullivan and Ellen Segal Huvelle, refuse to rubber-stamp settlements they view as insufficient, in actions brought by the feds against Barclays (Sullivan’s case) and Citigroup (Huvelle’s case). […]
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Patrick Fitzgerald, Politics, Rod Blagojevich, Trials
Breaking: Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Convicted on One Count - Making False Statements
Ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich was accused of trying to sell President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat in Illinois. The U.S. Attorney for Chicago, Patrick Fitzgerald, seemed to have some great evidence — tape recordings of Blagojevich engaging in apparent wheeling and dealing (and uttering a fair amount of profanity). Today, on the fourteenth day of jury […] - Sponsored
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Harvard, Non-Sequiturs, Supreme Court Clerks, Technology
Non-Sequiturs: 08.17.10
* Five Ways Not to Lose Your Job Playing Around on the Internet. [Going Concern] * A suggested gift for incoming 1Ls. [Someecards] * An interesting Q-and-A with a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act lawyer (which makes FCPA practice sounds a bit like a James Bond movie). [FCPA Professor] * Harvard sells off its some investments […]
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Admin, Announcements, In-House Counsel
Help Wanted: Above the Law Seeks In-House Counsel Columnist
The applications for our Morning Docket opening were so wonderful — and overwhelming (no more apps being accepted) — that we figured we’d go back to the well to fill another freelance position available here on Above the Law. We’re launching a column aimed at in-house counsel, and we’re looking for a writer. We’ve done […] -
Biglaw, Chadbourne & Parke, Crowell & Moring, Ho-Love, Holland & Knight, Howrey LLP, Lovells, Patton Boggs, Rankings, Vault 100 Open Threads: 2011, Vault rankings
Fall Recruiting Open Threads: Vault 61 – 80 (2011)
With fall recruiting gearing up, and the lateral market warming up, we continue our annual series of open threads about the law firms featured in the Vault prestige rankings. These threads provide ATL readers with a forum to discuss the different firms and their various strengths and weaknesses. The end of the Vault 100 is […] -
Harvard Law Review, Law Reviews, Law Schools, Minority Issues, Racism, Women's Issues
Minorities and Women and Law Reviews, Oh My!
Earlier this month, roughly around the time that newly minted law review editors were hearing the good news, we raised the issue of how many minorities and women are being selected for law review. It’s not a new debate; whether underrepresented minorities (URMs) and women are adequately represented on the nation’s leading law journals has […] -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools, Outsourcing, Reader Polls
ABA Ponders Accrediting Offshore Law Schools
In August, 2008 the ABA issued a landmark ethics opinion allowing the outsourcing of U.S. legal work. This August, the ABA is pondering whether to accredit offshore law schools that follow the U.S. system. Because apparently 200 accredited U.S. law schools just isn’t enough. The National Law Journal reports: The American Bar Association is already […] -
Advertising, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
Thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law: BarMax Bonobos Kinney Recruiting Lateral Link Lexis Nexis – CaseMap Lexis Nexis – Discovery Solutions Lexis Nexis – Law Firm Marketing Products Lexis Nexis – Martindale Lexis Nexis – RLS Specialized Law Lexis Nexis – Search Advantage & Hosted Litigation MasterCard MarketPlace Mercedes-Benz Rocket Matter Sunshine […] - Sponsored
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Crime, Politics
Pie-Throwing Protester Arrested
There was a time when Americans knew how to protest a war. Now is not that time. From the Detroit News: One protester, Ahlam Mohsen, a Michigan State University senior from Coldwater, was arrested and faces arraignment today on a felony charge of stalking, as well as misdemeanor counts of assault and disorderly conduct, Big […] -
Biglaw, Contract Attorneys, Document Review, Skaddenfreude
Skaddenfreude: A Look Inside the Life of a Kirkland & Ellis Contract Attorney
We call it Skaddenfreude: taking pleasure in the misfortune of others who work at large law firms. Today’s tale of Skaddenfreude involves a contract attorney working a project in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis. Let’s kick it off with a picture…. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.17.10
* Former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) celebrates the Justice Department’s decision to drop its six-year investigation of his dealings with ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. [Washington Post] * Speaking of money and politics, state judicial elections are being flooded with cash. [How Appealing] * Two Stanford Law students strike a blow against California’s three-strikes law. […]
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9th Circuit, Gay, Gay Marriage, Lesbians, Weddings
Breaking: Ninth Circuit Issues Stay Pending Appeal in Prop 8 Case, Schedules Oral Arguments for December
The three-judge motions panel — consisting of Judges Edward Leavy, Michael Daly Hawkins, and Sidney Thomas — has issued a stay pending appeal in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case in which Judge Vaughn Walker (N.D. Cal.) struck down Proposition 8’s ban on gay marriage in California. More about the ruling and a link to the […] -
Admin, Announcements, Blogging, Media and Journalism, Privacy
Departure Memo: Kashing Out
As I mentioned on Friday, today is my last day as a daily contributor at Above the Law. I’m off to write about The Not-So Private Parts for Forbes. It’s been two and a half years since my first post for ATL. What have I learned about lawyers since? After the jump is a list […]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 08.16.10
* When in Starbucks, do as the baristas do. [New York Magazine] * A warning to Biglaw ladies: don’t make more money than your husband or else he’ll cheat on you. Really, at all times women should just assume they’re married to a bonobo. [Gawker] * Columbia wants more space in Harlem. It claims the […] -
Nauseating Things, Vermin / Rodents / Pests
Bed Bug Emails From Brooklyn
Over the weekend, we linked to the Gothamist story about the bed bug problem plaguing the Kings County D.A.’s office. The bed bug epidemic is sweeping New York. Yes, California, have your laughs. Just know that in New York we slough off bed begs; in California, the Earth itself will scratch you off into the […] -
Bad Ideas, Biglaw, Parties
Would You Want to Join the 'Big Law Society'?
A D.C.-based friend of Above the Law sent us an email Friday, with very simple instructions: LOL … please find out more about these d-bags: http://biglawsociety.eventbrite.com/ The link took us to an invitation to the launch party for the “Big Law Society.” It’s tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at the BlackFinn American Saloon. While BlackFinn […] -
Crime, Death Penalty, Deaths, Suicide
Craigslist Killer's Self-Imposed Death Sentence Leaves Some Unsatisfied
Here’s an interesting issue for the pro-death penalty crowd: If killing violent offenders passes as justice, are they happy when a violent offender kills himself? That’s the question being bandied about the blogosphere in the wake of Philip Markoff’s apparent suicide. Markoff was in jail awaiting trial as the “Craigslist Killer.” He allegedly murdered Julissa […] -
Biglaw, Billable Hours
Drinker Biddle's Latest Attack on the Billable Hour
Have you ever heard of a “chief value officer”? Let’s assume your answer is “no,” because you don’t spend your free time reading synergistic white papers produced by McKinsey & Co. But that’s something the good people at Drinker Biddle would like to change. The Legal Intelligencer reports that Drinker Biddle is creating a new […] -
Crime, Money, Murder, Prisons, Rape, Reader Polls
How Should Years of Wrongful Imprisonment Be Valued?
In Friday’s Non-Sequiturs, while linking to an interesting article about a man who served 27 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, I used an intentionally inflammatory blurb: Would Michael Green, exonerated of rape charges by DNA evidence, be worth $2.2 million today if he hadn’t gone to prison? Just asking. Judging […] -
Biglaw, Summer Associates
A Collection of Funny Summer Associate Stories from a Bygone Age
Some people were disappointed in the summer associate tales this year. We had only one really salacious story this summer. (If there were others we missed, email us.) Thank you, Oenophile Olympian, for your addition to the summer associate rules of etiquette. Our schadenfreude-loving readers were terribly disappointed by the scarcity of scandal. Shame on […]