December 2010
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Animal Law, Morning Docket, Outsourcing, Pets, Politics, Sonia Sotomayor, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Morning Docket: 12.28.10
* Demand for attorneys well-versed in animal law is on the rise as pet owners push for recognition of their pets as family members rather than ordinary property. Which reminds me of my dog Rascal. He ate his own crap, licked furniture, and once peed on a baby. And when he died, my parents looked […]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.27.10
* Still pissed about your bonus? Don’t blame partners. Sure they’re making more money this year while forcing you to work harder for the same pay, but… umm… look, just don’t blame them for anything, ever. [WSJ Law Blog] * If you commuted into work today, you don’t know how to accept a gift. [Village […] - Sponsored
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Biglaw, Disasters / Emergencies, In-House Counsel, Pictures
Snowpocalypse Open Thread
As I alluded to last week, today I was supposed to be getting some action down in sunny Florida. Alas, thanks to the massive blizzard that hit the East Coast last night, I’m stuck in my Manhattan apartment — after three consecutive flights got canceled on me. I’m grumpy, but understanding (and enjoying a Glee […]
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Biglaw, Bonuses, In-House Counsel, Money
Inside Straight: Corporate Bonuses Announced!
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s new column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. This just in: Corporations have matched the Cravath bonus scale! Correction: The preceding sentence is not just false, but unintelligible. Several folks have told me that a good way to juice readership of […] -
Elizabeth Wurtzel, Food, Law Schools
A Politically Correct Holiday Cake
Check it out below — and guess where it’s from…. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.27.10
* Instead of writing a blurb about this story featuring new lawyers down in Florida embroiled in the mortgage mess, allow me to hand it over to one of the article’s online commenters: “Imagine that crooked lawyers !!! Who ever said kill all the lawyers ? Great quote . We all do realize the government […]
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Admin, Announcements, Holidays and Seasons, Shopping, Shopping For Others
Happy Holidays, from Above the Law!
Or, if you’ll forgive the expression, a merry Christmas (to those of you who celebrate it). The entire team here at Above the Law sends you the warmest wishes of the season (subject to Manatt’s lawyerly disclaimers). If you need some extra inspiration to get into the holiday spirit, check out the lovely Christmas poem […] -
9th Circuit, Drugs, Marijuana, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.23.10
* Pat Robertson might be Yale Law School’s most disgraceful graduate, but at least he now has somewhat reasonable views about marijuana. [Raw Story] * Choire Sicha was not a fan of Elie’s take on a possible Clementi v. Rutgers lawsuit. [The Awl] * For my fellow hotel groupies: “Hilton Settles with Starwood Over Dumb […] - 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… -
Gay, Hotties, Kirsten Gillibrand, Politics
Kirsten Gillibrand: 'This One Time, at Band Camp Davis Polk...'
In today’s New York Times, there’s an interesting profile of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who replaced Senatrix Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate. To be honest, despite my weakness for high-powered women with gold-plated credentials — Gillibrand’s résumé features Dartmouth, UCLA Law, a Second Circuit clerkship, Davis Polk, and Boies Schiller (where she was a partner) […] -
Law Schools, Rankings, U.S. News
If you regret going to law school....
and wind up unemployed and some six figures in debt, despite graduating from a highly ranked school, can you sue… U.S. News and World Report? It sounds ridiculous, right? And yet…. -
Lawyer of the Day, Sports
ATL Lawyer of the Year: 1974
1974 was a good year. The IRA bombed the Tower of London, President Nixon was forced to resign in scandal, gasoline shortages led to long lines at the pump, a smallpox epidemic ripped through India, and famine savaged the continent of Africa. So yeah… great year, history! But in the midst of all this human […] -
9/11, Crime, Drinking, Screw-Ups, Sentencing Law
Harvard Law Grad Turned 9/11 Chapel Arsonist Pleads Guilty
This year Sidley Austin gave out very good, but not ridiculously good, associate bonuses. Alas, Brian Schroeder was not there to enjoy them. As you may recall, Schroeder is the 27-year-old Harvard Law School graduate who set fire to a memorial housing the remains of unidentified 9/11 victims, on Halloween 2009. Schroeder then did the […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Orrick's Merit-Based Total Comp Will Use Cravath as a Baseline
While some firms ran away from their merit-based compensation plans almost as soon as the economy began to turn around, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe stuck with it. Depending on your performance reviews, you might make less at Orrick than your peers at competitive firms, but you also might make a whole lot more. Click here […]
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Breasts, In-House Counsel, Morning Docket, Politics
Morning Docket: 12.23.10
* Got milk? Obama’s latest tax break gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “living off the government tit.” [Washington Post] * Joe Miller is hoping for a Christmas miracle because the Alaska Supreme Court gave his lawsuit the pink slip. [Los Angeles Times] * This holiday season, the TSA reminds you to leave […]
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Admin, Announcements, Contests, Reader Polls
ATL Lawyer of the Year: Nominations Needed
For the past few years here at Above the Law, we have named a LAWYER OF THE YEAR. Or perhaps we should say that you have named a Lawyer of the Year, since readers play a major role in the process. We’ll run things the way we’ve done in the past: You submit your nominees […] -
Arlen Specter, Department of Justice, John Yoo, Non-Sequiturs, Office of Legal Counsel, Richard Epstein
Non-Sequiturs: 12.22.10
* How much would you need to be paid to spend 40 hours in prison? Does $200,000 sound about right? [Maryland Daily Record] * C’mon, libs, John Yoo isn’t heartless — he opposes slavery, for crying out loud. Meanwhile, Richard Epstein agrees with Yoo that the original Constitution was far from perfect. [Ricochet (Yoo); Ricochet […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Curtis Mallet Matches Cravath (With a Little Sweetener for Some)
Bonus news is out at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle. Basically the firm matched the Cravath scale. “Totally expected and acceptable,” said a contented Curtis associate, “since hours aren’t terrible and people (generally) don’t hate their lives.” It was “basically” a Cravath match, because even Curtis — which only has around 200 lawyers, and which […] -
Canada, Gender, Lawsuit of the Day, Sports
Lawyer of the Day: Dad Badgers Little Girl into Quitting Hockey Team
Is there anything more pathetic than a “sports dad”? You know, one of those middle-aged losers who takes his kid’s athletic competitions way too seriously because he wants little Junior to “be a winner” — a title the father undoubtedly never achieved in his own life? I hate these punks, and if I ever have […] -
Department of Justice, Holidays and Seasons, Media and Journalism, Nina Totenberg, Quote of the Day, Religion
Nina Totenberg Wishes You A Very Merry Christmas!
Yesterday we mentioned, as our Quote of the Day, a quip by NPR legal affairs commentator Nina Totenberg that some conservative bloggers interpreted as being anti-Christmas. As it turns out, La Totenberg loves Christmas — and her innocent remark was badly misinterpreted. She explained everything to Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger, of the Washington Post’s […] -
Crime, Deaths, Education / Schools, Gay, Privacy, Suicide
Tyler Clementi's Parents Might Sue Rutgers Over Son's Death
I’m pretty sure we all saw this coming. The parents of Tyler Clementi — the Rutgers freshman who killed himself after his roommate taped and broadcast Tyler’s gay hook-up — have declared their intent preserved their right to sue the university. The Clementis suggest that the university failed to protect their son, articulating various tort […]