December 2010
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Contests, Holidays and Seasons, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Much Shelist
Above the Law's Second Annual Holiday Card Contest
Last year we held our first annual contest for law firm holiday cards. It was a fun feature, as well as a big hit with Above the Law readers. The winner, in a landslide, was Akin Gump. Check out their delightful card, which is still online, over here. (The clever 2010 holiday card of Manatt, […] -
Lawyer of the Day, Violence
Lawyer of the Day: Indiana Lawyer Accused of Beating Her Boyfriend, Roughing Up Corrections Officer
In general people are not as outraged about domestic violence when the perpetrator is a woman. For whatever reason, people tend to think that male victims of domestic violence “had it coming” in some way. You can make a hit Broadway musical centered around women who kill their husbands — but I’m going to guess […] - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Advertising, Biglaw, Career Center, Partner Issues, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Career Center Survey Results: Top Partners to Work for - Washington, D.C. (Part 2)
Earlier this week, we introduced six Washington, D.C. law firm partners chosen by our readers as the best partners to work for. The next six partners we present to you today come from some of the nation’s finest law firms: Gibson Dunn, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Orrick, White & Case, and Willkie Farr. […]
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Biglaw, Continuing Legal Education / CLE, In-House Counsel
Inside Straight: Business Development (Part 1)
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s new column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. Business development: What works? I was on the other side — the law firm side — of the business development coin for 25 years. And those 25 years taught me this about generating […] -
Bonuses, Job Survey, Money, Small Law Firms
Small Firm Bonuses: The Results
It was almost two weeks ago that I, still fat from Thanksgiving turkey, wondered publicly about the status of bonuses at small law firms. Well, it’s time to get the results of that status check. I recall Elie using the term “anemic” to describe Cravath’s bonus numbers (which were looking like the standard for Biglaw […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.09.10
* The House passed the DREAM Act last night. My DREAM Act? It involves Jesus, giant eagle’s wings, and Skynyrd. And I’m in the front row, hammered drunk. [Bloomberg] * Some Oklahomans hate Muneer Awad because he’s “a foreigner” trying to change Oklahoma’s laws. I hate him because he’s a recent law school grad with […]
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Guns / Firearms, New York Times, Quote of the Day, Sarah Palin
Quote of the Day: Actually, Doesn't HLS Have a Shooting Club?
Sarah’s view of America is primitive. You’re either a pointy-headed graduate of Harvard Law School or you’re eviscerating animals for fun, which she presents as somehow more authentic. — Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, discussing Sarah Palin. -
Constitutional Law, Family Law, Gender
Lawyers, Where Do Babies Come From?
Hopefully you paid attention during middle school sex-ed, because you’re unlikely to learn about the birds and bees at law school. According a recently released survey by Law Students for Reproductive Justice, only 18 percent of U.S. law schools have offered reproductive rights law courses over the last seven years. More specifically: there have been […] - Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.08.10
* SCOTUS could be prepared to uphold Arizona immigration law. Apparently federal law has about the same preemptive effect as the Cravath bonus. [WSJ Law Blog] * Dahlia Lithwick will be teaching a class at the University of Georgia School of Law. Emory must feel a little bit like Cravath right now; I bet they […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010
Associate Bonus Watch: Cahill Gordon DESTROYS the Cravath Bonus
Hey now, this is just coming into our tips box, but we’ve now got two sources reporting that Cahill Gordon will be giving between $15,000 and $20,000 in bonuses to all associate classes this month. And then giving bonuses according to the standard 2010 Cravath scale in January — “at least” the Cravath scale, according […] -
Crime, Deaths, Old People, Pets
Most Horrifying Thing You'll Hear Today
I overuse the words “horrifying” and “terrifying.” Most people do, but I blog, so I probably do it more than most. But this right here, this is truly horrifying. This is something out of the movie Seven. I’m going to have nightmares over this. And now, so will you. Let’s check out the allegations…. -
Biglaw, Fabulosity, Law Schools, Pro Bono, Public Interest
Congratulations to the 2011 Skadden Fellows
Biglaw isn’t all about high-stakes mergers and bet-the-company litigation. Many Biglaw firms take their commitment to pro bono very seriously. Obviously, these firms need to pay the bills, first and foremost. But when they can, many firms do try to give back. As many of you already know, Skadden takes that commitment quite a bit […] -
Crime, Food, Law Schools, Screw-Ups, Violence
BU Law Student Threatens Beatings and Death to (Non-Existent) Lunch Thief
What should a law student do when somebody steals his lunch? Lunch thieves are notoriously hungry; they have no shame when it comes to satisfying their need for other people’s food. And they are sneaky little people, always ready to take your well-prepared sandwich within minutes (or, you know, hours and hours) after you leave […]
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The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
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Advertising, Holidays and Seasons, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
Thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law, who are helping us stuff our stockings this holiday season: American Express BarMax Delta Kinney Recruiting Lateral Link Lexis Nexis – Discovery Solutions Lexis Nexis – File & Serve Lexis Nexis – Law Firm Marketing Products Lexis Nexis – RLS Specialized Law Livescribe New York Times […] -
Federal Judges, G. Thomas Porteous, Politics
Senate Votes to Remove Judge Porteous from the Bench
This morning the United States Senate voted to convict Judge G. Thomas Porteous of Louisiana on all four articles of impeachment he faced. These convictions will remove him from his lifetime seat on the federal bench, making him only the eighth federal judge in U.S. history to suffer this fate, and strip him of the […] -
Education / Schools, Law Schools
University of Delaware Starts the New Law School Process
Yesterday, University of Delaware President Patrick Harker announced that the university is thinking about founding a law school. It would be Delaware’s first public law school — Widener Law School is a private institution. It will be some time before the proposed law school is ready for approval by the Delaware Board of Trustees. Law […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.08.10
* Lawrence Taylor’s lawyers accuse cops of false start in their arrest of Taylor for statutory rape. [New York Daily News] * Listen, we know Julian Assange did something illegal. We just need to do a helluva lot of research to figure out what it is! And your constant, y’know, questions and stuff aren’t going […]
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Biglaw, California, Silicon Valley, Skaddenfreude, Staff Layoffs
Skadden Takes Its Heart from San Francisco -- and Closes Its S.F. Office
Late last week, word started to leak out that Skadden Arps plans to close its San Francisco office, by the end of June 2011. A meeting was held on Friday where the closure was announced to the office. The S.F. office is essentially being folded into the firm’s Silicon Valley outpost. Some of the initial […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Dewey & LeBoeuf Matches(With footnotes, one good.)
This shouldn’t come as any great surprise, but Dewey & LeBoeuf has announced bonuses for its U.S. counsel and associates. And — shocker — they are following the 2010 Cravath bonus scale. For the most part; there are some caveats and prerequisites. And there’s also some extra upside, for selected top performers. You know you’re […] -
Barack Obama, John Edwards, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.07.10
* Elizabeth Edwards has passed away, R.I.P. (Wait, John and Rielle — too soon, too soon.) [WRAL] * During the New York Attorney General Debate, I predicted that Eric Dinallo would make a good partner at Debevoise & Plimpton. He just seemed so “nice.” Well, turns out I was spot on: Dinallo and Debevoise are […]