November 2010
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Associate Salaries, Biglaw, Billable Hours
Mayer Brown: Hours Requirements for Salary Increase
As we said yesterday, there’s still time left in the year for associates to crank out some billable hours to hit their targets. There’s still time to participate in our hours survey, where the early returns suggest that many of you are quite busy. That’s a good thing, especially if you are at Mayer Brown, […] -
Advertising, Career Center, Job Searches, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Career Center: Conducting a Stealth Job Search
There will likely come a time in your legal career when you decide to look for another job – and for the majority of lawyers, there will be many of those points. Whether you are ready to leave your current job or just want to test the waters, job seekers should be cautious about the […] - 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, Fabulosity, Perks / Fringe Benefits, Shopping For Others, Technology
Associate Benefits Watch: Proskauer to iPads
It feels a little bit weird to talk (and bitch) about the high-end lifestyle enjoyed Biglaw associates on Veterans Day. We’re all very thankful for the people who risk their lives to keep us safe, secure, and free. Okay, random moment of conscience over. Where are the goddamn bonuses? The first Biglaw bonus memo still […]
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Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners
Spurning Biglaw: Graduates Choose Starting a Small Firm Over Getting a Big Paycheck
America is often called the “Land of Opportunity.” To many, that means cashing in on one’s education, ideas and talent as soon as possible. The corollary is that we frequently assume that folks who aren’t rich are only so positioned because they failed at all their attempts to become rich. After all, actually turning down […] -
Football, Religion, Sports
Is Tim Tebow in the Super Best Friends?
Readers, please buckle your seatbelts and prepare to be astounded, because I am about to talk to you about football. Yes, I know — football and breasts don’t normally mix (hello, Ines Sainz) – but Elie, who would usually write about football and the law, is pulling me from the JV squad and letting me […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.11.10
* Things just got real for Judge Judy wannabe DeAnn Salcido. With 39 counts of judicial misconduct, this über benchslap has got to sting. [San Diego Union Tribune] * The ABA Journal is asking readers to submit haikus about life in the law. My entry: Just graduated. My class is totally screwed. Waahh, soul-crushing debt. […]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Barack Obama, India, Outsourcing
ABA Asks Obama To Make India Play Fair
If you’ve been following along with the trend towards outsourcing over the past few years, you know what American lawyers are up against. Indian lawyers can do American legal work… while American attorneys are shut out of India’s (large and growing) legal market. As many of you know, President Obama recently fled traveled to India, […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 11.10.10
* Why chase the ambulance when you can just meet it at its final destination? [New York Personal Injury Law Blog] * Somebody at PwC-Ireland sent around a list ranking the hotness of their female associates. Now it’s gone viral and somebody is going to get in trouble. Ladies, if you think this doesn’t happen […] - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Harriet Miers, Quote of the Day, Samuel Alito, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Quote of the Day: Maybe He Can Offer Her a Clerkship?
Sam, you ought to thank Harriet Miers for making this possible. — President George W. Bush to newly confirmed Justice Samuel Alito, as recounted in President Bush’s new memoir, Decision Points (via Jan Crawford). -
Advertising, Continuing Legal Education / CLE, Legal Ethics, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
CLE Offering of the Week: Networking Professionally and Ethically
We’ve repeatedly discussed the importance to lawyers of networking. It matters whether you’re at a small firm or at a large one. It’s a necessary skill, in terms of getting the best assignments, making partner, and remaining a partner — no longer a guaranteed outcome, in these challenging times. But networking also raises some ethical […] -
Biglaw, Federal Government, Jamie Gorelick, Money, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Seth Waxman, Ted Olson
How Much Do D.C. Lawyers Make? A Washington Lawyer Salary Survey
What are the differences between Washington lawyers and New York lawyers? One broad generalization — crude, but largely accurate — is that D.C. attorneys are all about power and prestige, and NYC attorneys are all about money. It’s certainly true that, in the Biglaw world, New York-based law firms generally enjoy higher profits per partner […] -
Biglaw, Billable Hours, Bonuses
The Hours Open Thread: Mad Dash To Hit Your Hours Target for 2010
With just about six weeks to go in 2010, it’s time to check in on how people are doing with their billable hours. At the start of the recession, hitting your hours could mean the difference between having a job and emailing Above the Law about stealth layoffs at your firm. This year, there hopefully […] -
Advertising, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
Thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law: American Express BarMax BMW Delta Kinney Recruiting Lateral Link Lexis Nexis – Discovery Solutions Lexis Nexis – Law Firm Marketing Products Lexis Nexis – RLS Specialized Law Lexis Nexis – Search Advantage & Hosted Litigation New York Times Thomson Reuters WestlawNext If you’re interested in advertising […]
Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
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Bar Exams, In-House Counsel, Legal Ethics
New York State Bar Association Wants to Make Things Easier for In-House Counsel
If you think about it, rules that prevent lawyers from practicing law in other states are kind of anachronistic anyway. This isn’t 1810. We’ve got planes and trains and automobiles. Clients can have legal issues in many jurisdictions, and it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to require that they use a different […] -
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Biglaw
NLJ 250 Confirms the Biggest Still Aren't Hiring
Yesterday, the National Law Journal compiled its annual report on the biggest law firms in all the land. The top line news: Biglaw still isn’t hiring. Not really. The NLJ reports that the 250 largest law firms shed 1,400 lawyers, about 1.1% of total headcount. Biglaw shed 4% headcount last year. Putting the two years […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.10.10
* The CIA may have destroyed interrogation tapes, but the DOJ isn’t pressing charges. Government bros before terrorist hoes. [Washington Post] * Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee Bimbo Bakeries. Cleary Gottlieb, Morgan Lewis, and White & Case are helping to close this mega-bakery deal. [Am Law Daily] * DOMA made GLAD mad, so GLAD joined […]
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Biglaw, Labor / Employment, Lawsuit of the Day, Racism, Rudeness, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Sex, Sex Scandals
Lawsuit of the Day: Ex-Jones Day Secretary Alleges Racial Slurs, Sex Scandals, and More
UPDATE (7/25/2011): Please note that this case, making allegations that Jones Day describes as “baseless and inflammatory,” has been dismissed. Oh boy. Discrimination lawsuits filed by former employees against law firms can get pretty salacious. But we haven’t seen a complaint this juicy since Allgood v. Williams Mullen (aka the “cucumber incident”), or maybe Braude […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 11.09.10
* Should we hang illegal immigrants who commit crimes? Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you your newly elected Tea Party Congressmen. Have fun. [Huffington Post] * Meanwhile, a Daily Show producer allegedly punched a Truther who was heckling Jon Stewart at a book signing. The level of political discourse is really high in this country. […] -
Biglaw, Blind Item, Musical Chairs, Partner Issues, Prostitution
Biglaw Blind Item: Client No. 10?
A prominent partner left his white-shoe law firm some time ago, purportedly for falsifying expenses. A juicy detail that is less widely known: some of the fake expenses were for what might be described as improper forms of entertainment. (This blind item — relating to someone who left his firm prior to 2010 — has […]