SMU Law Dean John Attanasio
Students at the SMU Dedman School of Law are having a tough time securing jobs. Not shocking, I know. (But please send us your thoughts on how recruiting is going, or text us at 646-820-TIPS.)
The legal job market has been so bad for so long that it hardly even feels like news when we get more information that stinks.
But the terrible legal economy apparently counted as “emergency” news to the students at SMU. At least, that’s how the dean sees it. Students report that Dean John B. Attanasio called an emergency meeting last week to update students about the job market.
UPDATE: SMU sources now report that it wasn’t an “emergency” meeting, but a mandatory graduation meeting.
During the meeting, the dean revealed that he saw the terrible legal economy coming as far back as 2008. Which makes you wonder why he didn’t call such a meeting back in 2008…
Continue reading “SMU Law Dean Knew About Terrible Job Market in 2008: But Did He Tell Anybody?”
I like to think of this column as a conduit for information relevant to small firm practices. Given the variety of practice settings we’re lumping into the phrase “small law,” it’s important that you hear from people other than myself. I know, you’re crushed — me too. Toward that end, I’ll be interviewing small firm lawyers over the coming weeks (months?), and posting their thoughts and responses. I’ve talked to several of you out there (don’t think I’ve forgotten!), and I would love to hear from others interested in sharing their stories (please email me).
As an aside, I’m cognizant of the tension between asking my readers to tell me their stories and writing from behind a pseudonym. I actually would much prefer to drop the “Little Richard” moniker (c’mon, you’ll miss it a little), but am holding off until I get a green light from my current employer. I agree that you should know who’s talking to you, and I’m working on that.
In that vein, there are plenty of people besides me who are already talking to you, and doing so without the anonymity. Thus, I welcome you to my periodic roundup of news and musings from the small firm blogosphere. Think of it as your morning docket, only it won’t be up in the morning, it won’t be every day, and it will probably be less clever.
With that ringing introduction, let’s get to the list…
Continue reading “Under the Shingle: 10.11.2010″
* The Bureau of Labor Statistics says legal jobs are on the rise. Looks like the BLS has been smoking some of the good sh*t. [Am Law Daily]
* Your case might not be right for the Supreme Court, but it’ll look great on your lawyer’s resume. [New York Times]
* In Connecticut, those too dumb to get out of jury duty may also be swayed by sarcasm used at trial. [Connecticut Law Tribune]
* Dora explores a lawsuit. We have to tell our lawyers to sue! Pongan pleito! [New York Times Arts Beat]
* Animal advocacy groups sue over wild, wild horses being dragged away in Colorado. [Wall Street Journal]
* Big Boies don’t cry, except when they aren’t appointed to the BP oil spill steering committee. [Reuters]
* Thanks to the Second Circuit, you can finally get your “LAW GOD” license plate in Vermont. [New York Law Journal]
* Justice Thomas might want to take some advice from Antoine Dodson and hide his wife. [New York Times]
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.
Despite this being the busy season for the hiring and (in the few firms that cling to the traditional calendar) onboarding processes, things have been relatively quiet lately. Actually, we almost forgot about deferred associates – some of the members of the "lost" Class of 2009 are finally starting to trickle back to BigLaw.
Bimodal distribution is still the bugaboo of the legal industry. In the BigLaw section of the curve (i.e., that big spike out to the right), the good news for incoming associates is that $160,000 is still the norm for the largest firms in the top markets, despite some drift back to the left over the past few years as firms dropped down to $145,000. Don’t expect to hear cries of "NY to 180k" for at least a little while yet, even though the official word is that the recession ended in June 2009 (which coincides closely with the end of the peak of law firm layoffs). Flat is still the new up, and most of 21 managing partners who did an impromptu straw poll are optimistic.
Those salaries have to be supported by income, though. And no place beats New York for billable rates.
Unless you count the entertainment industry. Then, $900/hour is a bargain compared to the traditional commission-based structure for literary agents.
After the jump, we focus exclusively on the firms this week. No client work – we’ve got rankings, mergers, laterals, and, of course, layoffs.
Continue reading “This Week in Biglaw: 10.10.10″
[W]ouldn’t we be perturbed if a justice decided that a little rhinestone trim along the sleeves would be quite nice? Or what if a justice decided that a mink collar would be quite lovely in the winter?
– Robin Givhan, fashion critic of the Washington Post, opining on Supreme Court fashion.
The Social Network, aka the Facebook movie - check it out this weekend!
* Did the Justice Department strong-arm a federal judge into “disappearing” an opinion — and replacing it with a new one containing different facts? [ProPublica]
* Why are Canadians such perverts? First the judges, and now the law librarians. [National Post]
* The real stars of The Social Network: the lawyers. Does the film glorify litigation over innovation? [News Real Blog]
* A very interesting profile of Brian Cuban — lawyer, blogger, and brother of colorful billionaire Mark Cuban — who is “a sober voice in favor of medical marijuana.” [Dallas Morning News]
* An extremely thorough look at the current state of LGBT advocacy, by Chris Geidner. [Metro Weekly]
* Scott Greenfield is joining up with Hull McGuire, the firm headed by Dan Hull of What About Clients? fame. If you think that’s too much sass for a single firm, Greenfield has four words for you: “Get used to it.” [Simple Justice]
Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com
Dear Above the Law,
I’m a jobless 3L with waning hope (shocking). I want to practice patent law in some capacity, but I majored in mathematics and only gained patent bar eligibility through an 8 hour engineering exam last April. Apparently I’m not a hedonist these days. Anyway, by the time I got my passing results on the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering exam), the summer Chicago Patent Firm Festival application deadline had lapsed.
I’m now considering going back to school to get a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Do you think it would injure my (non-existent) law career to take a couple years away from the law in order to educate myself further in eventual pursuit of patent aspirations?? (And to give myself a back up career, let’s be serious).
– Patently Nerdy
Dear Patently Nerdy,
I stared at the sentence “Apparently I’m not a hedonist these days,” wondering what that meant and if it was final confirmation that I had lost cognitive abilities after the concussion, but I concluded that that sentence makes no sense and that you were trying to say “I’m a glutton for punishment.”
Let’s move on, quickly…
Continue reading “Pls Hndle Thx: Getting Schooled”
The University of Illinois College of Law knows a thing our two about scandals. It’s a public university in one of the most politically corrupt states in the union, so we can forgive the occasional admissions scandal (like the one that popped up back in 2009).
You’d think that a school which has had its own problems keeping everything on the up-and-up wouldn’t be so eager to go after its own students who commit the little white crime of illegally downloading something off of the internet. But you’d be wrong. Apparently the Illinois Law administration will aggressively discipline students caught making illegal downloads.
Wonderful — so the job market is in the tank, you’re starting to figure out that living in Champaign is nothing like living in Chicago, and now the law school itself is going to come down on you if grab Iron Man 2 without paying Paramount its pound of flesh? Things are rough…
Continue reading “Illinois Law Never Got the ‘No Snitching’ Memo; It May Rat Out Its Own Students About Illegal Downloads”
Say Cheese!!!
Yesterday our social media columnist, Adrian Dayton, asked you: What’s wrong with your law firm bio?
One possible answer: your photograph (or lack thereof). As law firm marketing consultant Dion Algeri told Adrian, pictures are “extremely important” to attorney bios on law firm websites. Over at Great Jakes, Algeri analyzes the lawyer photos on the websites of ten different law firms: Axiom, Babcock Partners, Boies Schiller, Cravath, Edelson McGuire, Greenberg Traurig, Linklaters, Proskauer, Walkers, and White & Case. He notes a trend: “[F]irms are now recognizing the importance of these images and are investing in more lush and engaging photos.”
We’ve previously explored the world of law firm website photos in the pages of ATL. We’ve poked gentle fun at the body shots at Ballard Spahr and the action shots at Cox Smith. We’ve marveled at the split personalities of lawyers at the Van Winkle Law Firm. We’ve ogled the hotties on the website of Davis Polk.
But we’ve never come across an attorney profile photo as awesome as this one….
Continue reading “Best Law Firm Website Photo Ever”
I hope Anthony Kennedy is happy. It’s Justice Kennedy’s world now, and we’re all just playing by the rules he lays down. Despite all the talking points you may have heard about how Citizens United really isn’t that big of a deal, what Justice Kennedy calls speech is flooding American politics ahead of this November’s mid-term elections. So reports Michael Luo of the New York Times.
I know what you are thinking, especially if “you” happen to be Justice Alito: Not True! But you have theories about what might happen, while the Times has facts about what is happening.
And the facts speak for themselves. According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which monitors political advertising, “television spending by outside interest groups has more than doubled what was spent at this point in the 2006 midterms.”
Of course, at least four Supreme Court justices could have told you that would happen. And I’d imagine that even the other five damn well knew that tons of corporate money would flood into politics, and just didn’t care. What’s marginally more interesting than the “water is wet” fact that money is pouring in is the reason why captains of industry are speaking spending freely…
Continue reading “Money’s Assault on American Politics Is Well Underway — Thanks to the Psychological Effects of Citizens United”
Monday, October 4, marked the start of a new Supreme Court Term — October Term 2010, to be more specific. It also marked the first day of oral arguments for the newest member of the Court — Lady Kaga, aka Associate Justice Elena Kagan. As Justice White famously observed, a new justice makes a new court.
New Term, new justice, new court — and that’s not all that’s new in SCOTUS-related matters. There’s a new conservative sheriff in town, at least according to Jan Crawford. There’s a new book out about the Court — the long-awaited biography of Justice Brennan, by Seth Stern and Stephen Wermiel.
And, of course, we have new Supreme Court clerk hires to report, for the Term after this one — October Term 2011. Not all the justices are done hiring, at least as far as we know; but if you covet a Supreme Court clerkship, accurately described by Adam Liptak as “the most coveted credential in American law,” you should know that the window of opportunity is closing — fast. One justice has even hired a clerk for October Term 2012.
Let’s check out the new hires, shall we?
Continue reading “Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: New Term, New Hires”
It’s like picking up a whole baseball team just to get a shortstop.
– an anonymous partner at Akin Gump, commenting on the failed merger talks with Orrick.
Season 3 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA) premiered this week on Bravo. Why, you might ask, are we covering a reality show that features more catfighting and hair pulling than a prize-off between Kenneth Kratz and Jack Camp?
Because the new season brought with it a new cast member who is not only a southern belle, but is also the managing partner of her very own boutique tiny law firm. She describes herself as fabulous, fierce, and beautiful. She’s even been nominated as one of Atlanta’s Top 100 Black Women of Influence for 2010.
Most importantly, she knows she can have it all.
Meet Phaedra Parks, a graduate of Wesleyan College, University of Georgia School of Law, and an entertainment Super Lawyer! To listen to Phaedra, you’d think she was a direct descendant of Johnny Cochran. He’s the one who told her to hang out her own shingle — though it’s unclear if Cochran was suffering the effects of his fatal brain tumor when he made this suggestion…
Continue reading “Another Real ‘House’wife – Welcome Phaedra Parks to the Neighborhood”
HLS grad turned 9/11 memorial vandal Brian Schroeder.
* Sh*t just got real. Real canceled. [New York Daily News]
* Some activist judge in Michigan refused to strike down Obamacare. [Los Angeles Times]
* Aaah, burqa burqa burqa. [CNN]
* Guys at Elie’s law school burned 9/11 memorials all the time, it was no big deal. Until prosecutors got tough. [New York Post]
* If buying soda with food stamps is outlawed, only outlaws with food stamps will have soda. Wait…what? [New York Times]
* More than 100 lawyers have applied to lead the way against BP and their big oily hole. Big names like David Boies, Mike Espy, and Derriel McCorvey, who “noted that he was an all-Southeastern Conference defensive back at Louisiana State University.” [Associated Press]
Big dudes bank more.
There was a lovely report in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, if you are a big dude. The report was less lovely if you are salad-eating waif of a man, and downright offensive if you are a normal-sized woman.
This isn’t going to shock anybody who is trying to make a living by servicing clients, but thin women make more than average-weight or plus-sized women. Over $15,000 more. I don’t know if your law degree makes your ass look fat, but a fat ass will make your law degree less profitable.
But what will surprise some people is that thin men make less than bigger fellas. About $8,000 less. Booya! How do you like them apples? In fact, keep your stinking apples, I’m off to have a dinner of steak and potatoes. Gotta keep those revenue enhancements coming in.
I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be celebrating while my big-boned sisters are out there feeling like the entire world is against them. Here, grab a tub of ice cream, sit on the couch next to the Big Sexy, and let’s talk this through…
Continue reading “Can You Earn a Fat Paycheck With a Fat Ass?”
Tyler Clementi
* I’ve already shared my incisive thoughts on this matter via Twitter, but I think my “street-level hyperbole” about Judge Joseph Williams has its own charm. [Simple Justice]
* Forget about bedbugs. The real question is: Have you douchebag-proofed your office? [TechnoLawyer]
* Somebody get John Locke on the phone, because law schools have broken the social contract. And trust me, you want this call going to Locke. Don’t make me fire up the Leviathan-signal and get Hobbes on your ass. [Law Librarian Blog]
* Alan Hevesi pleaded guilty. One corrupt New York politician down, only a few hundred more to go. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Prosecutors have subpoenaed emails from Rutgers about how they handled the Tyler Clementi situation. If prosecutors can’t hang the dastardly duo of Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, you better believe they’ll be coming after the school — hard. [Newark Star-Ledger]
* Kash already has some thoughts about what Rutgers should have been doing. [Forbes]
* The United Kingdom has created a Legal Ombudsman. Like having law as an undergraduate degree, this kind of efficiency will probably never make its way across the pond. [ABA Journal]
Don’t take it personally. Nobody is perfect, but unfortunately, when it comes to law firm bios — well, most of them stink. They tout the vast accomplishments of the lawyer: where they went to law school, if they graduated with honors, whether they were on law review. Then they often include a laundry list of each and every type of legal matter the attorney has ever dealt with in their life. The main problem is, attorney bios are often created with very little thought into strategy. This is unfortunate, especially considering how important bios are.
Your bio matters to decision makers. Ninety percent of general counsel claim the attorney bios are the most important part of a law firm’s website (2009 Wicker Park Group). Studies have also shown that bios are the most viewed pages on law firm websites, generating over 50% of the page views. If a good bio can help you land one more client this next year, what would that be worth to you? What about five new clients? Perhaps your bio deserves a little more attention than you are giving it.
There are three major problems that plague the bios of law firms, and some of them are pretty easy to fix….
Continue reading “What’s Wrong With Your Law Firm Bio?”
[A]ll of us in a pluralistic society have components to our identity; we are Republicans or Democrats, we are Christians or atheists, we are single or married, we are old or young.
– Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, waxing poetic at oral argument in Snyder v. Phelps (via Jan Crawford).
Managing expectations is a very important skill — when it comes to personal relationships, movie enjoyment, and, of course, dealing with your co-workers and clients.
You need to know how to set boundaries. After you’ve pulled two all-nighters in a row, for example, it’s okay to tell the partner you work for that you just can’t do a third. If you give an inch, your colleague or client will take the proverbial mile.
But has one South Carolina law firm taken boundary-setting too far? Check out the Client Expectations section of the Pincus Family Law website (via Jim Calloway, via ABA Journal):
We do not work on the weekends and do not provide emergency numbers for the weekends. There are times we may look at and answer your email over the weekend, but this is generally the exception and not to be relied upon by you that we are accessible on weekends.
And they don’t do windows, either.
Do not think we are perfect. We make mistakes. We are competent attorneys and paralegals, but we make mistakes. We will correct a mistake if we find it or if you point it out. Please do not yell at us, accuse us of not doing our job, or insult us over a mistake.
And please do not sue us for malpractice. We warned you at the outset that “[w]e make mistakes.”
And that’s not all….
Continue reading “Law Firm to Clients: We Don’t Work Weekends”
