January 2011
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Facebook, Pictures, Pregnancy / Paternity, Privacy, Social Networking Websites, Technology
PPP: Poor Placental Precedent?
When you allow a photo to be taken, you should expect that it will be shown to others. That’s at the heart of a judge’s decision in the famous placenta photo case. Unless you’ve been stuck inside a womb, you must have heard by now about the placenta that almost aborted a nursing student’s career. […] -
Divorce Train Wrecks, Family Law, Screw-Ups, Sports
Law Firm Screw-Up Reveals Allegations About Gilbert Arenas
Full disclosure: Gilbert Arenas is one of my favorite basketball players. Sure, he’s a selfish, me-first player. And he seems to be one of the gun-nut whackos I would never want as a neighbor. But the man is the author of one of the best quotes of all time. Check out Deadspin for Gilbert’s full […] - 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, Allen & Overy, Career Center, Chadbourne & Parke, Holidays and Seasons, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Career Center Survey Results: A Working Holiday
We received over 1,300 responses to this week’s Career Center survey on whether you made MLK Day “A Day On, Not A Day Off” — for your employer. The majority of respondents, 66 percent, reported working on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Not surprisingly, the top reason for putting in extra billable hours was that […]
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Bad Ideas, Crime, Law Schools, State Judges
Massachusetts Law Student Engages in Epic Judicial Intimidation
I don’t know where Ray Wolfe goes to law school, and I don’t want to know. This guy seems unhinged and dangerous. You don’t have to take my word for it; you can look at the letters this guy sent to judges in Missouri. According to court documents, Wolfe was a law student in Massachusetts, […] -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Litigators
Inside Straight: Where Law Is Not King
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s new column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. There are many advantages to working for a corporation instead of a law firm: You learn a business from the inside out; work regularly with business people, rather than other lawyers; are spared […] -
Law Schools, Rankings, U.S. News
Closing the Loop on the Crowdsourced Law School Rankings
Last week we told you that The Conglomerate was crowdsourcing a set of law school rankings. It called upon participants to make head-to-head comparisons between different law schools, then crunched the numbers to produce overall rankings. We covered the early returns, in which Stanford was leading, with Yale in second place. Then came the University […] -
Federal Judges, Gay, Morning Docket, S.D.N.Y.
Morning Docket: 01.27.11
* Breast implants linked to cancer, looking awesome. [Associated Press] * A Russian man is accused of posing as an immigration lawyer and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from fellow countrymen. Police say they knew he was lying when he began doing bizarre, and ridiculously obvious, things with Oreos. [Sun-Sentinel] * You know how […]
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Canada, Law Schools, Student Loans
Canada Has A Better System for Prescription Meds and Law Schools?
It seems like the number of applications to American law schools is finally going down. Maybe that number would go down even further if prospective American law students knew more about the magical land up north. Yes, we’re talking about Canada. America’s homely cousin might not be as hot, but she’s got a great personality […] - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 01.26.11
* Yes, she was a cheerleader in high school — but this is probably the first time Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has ever been called a “Hot Slut.” [Dlisted] * Yale law professor Amy Chua went on The Colbert Report to promote her controversial new book — and seemed to charm Stephen Colbert with her […] -
Jews, Lawsuit of the Day, Sports
Lawsuit of the Day: Anaheim Ducks Charged With Discrimination Against Jewish Hockey Player
Shout-out to Nathan Koppel at the WSJ Law Blog (or his editor), for coming up with the perfect title for this post: The Frozen One? Jewish hockey player Jason Bailey is suing the Anaheim Ducks NHL team, alleging that he was subjected to a hostile working environment. Not the run-of-the-mill hostility that comes from playing […] -
Biglaw, Blogging, Heller Ehrman, Howrey LLP, Law Firm Mergers, Partner Issues
Howrey Going to Get Out of This Pickle?
When we last wrote about goings-on at Howrey, the once-strong law firm that’s now experiencing troubled times, we mentioned the possibility of partner losses in the Chicago office. The firm pushed back on this, denying knowledge of any imminent defections in the Windy City. It now seems, however, that additional partner departures may be on […] -
Jonathan Lee Riches, Lawsuit of the Day, Lunacy, Pro Se Litigants, Ridiculousness
Pro Se Filing of the Day: Jonathan Lee Riches v. Jared Lee Loughner
Over the past year, we haven’t covered a lot of the crazy lawsuits initiated by Jonathan Lee Riches. The man has sued everybody from Eliot Spitzer to Molly Ringwald. At some point, you get used to the drill. And there are always other crazy pro se litigants to write about. But the embarrassment of riches […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Simpson Thacher Matches S&C Spring Bonuses!
Wow, it’s starting to feel like 2008 (pre-Lehman) up in here! Earlier today, the Dow Jones broke the 12,000 mark. And now law firms — law firms that could treat their associates like dirt and still have have no problems with retention, according to some people — are once again competing with each other in […]
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
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Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Benchslaps, Federal Judges, Law Reviews, Legal Research, Quote of the Day, Richard Posner
Quote of the Day: Judge Posner Benchslaps the Bluebook
[N]eedless to say, I have not read the nineteenth edition. I have dipped into it, much as one might dip one’s toes in a pail of freezing water. I am put in mind of Mr. Kurtz’s dying words in Heart of Darkness — ‘The horror! The horror!’ — and am tempted to end there. — […] -
Advertising, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law: American Express BarMax Buy With Me Columbia Business School EMBA Kinney Recruiting Lateral Link Thomson Reuters WestlawNext If you’re interested in advertising on Above the Law or any other site in the Breaking Media network, please download our media kits, or email […] -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Litigators, Litigatrix, Partner Issues
Call of the Wild
Ed. note: This post is by Will Meyerhofer, a former Sullivan & Cromwell attorney turned psychotherapist. He holds degrees from Harvard, NYU Law, and The Hunter College School of Social Work, and he blogs at The People’s Therapist. His new book, Life is a Brief Opportunity for Joy, is available on Amazon. I’ll never forget […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.26.11
* Rahmbo repeatedly invoked President Obama in legal briefs filed with the Illinois Supreme Court. Name dropping is something not stressed enough in legal writing classes. [Washington Post] * State legislators are crafting various laws aimed at combating distracted pedestrians. There’s a state senator somewhere saying “This is our sputnik moment, guys!” [New York Times] […]
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Barack Obama, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
The State of the Union: Open Thread
President Barack Obama just finished delivering his State of the Union address for 2011. Alas, it wasn’t as exciting as last year, which featured a confrontation between the president and the Supreme Court. This time around, six justices attended — Chief Justice Roberts, joined by Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan — but they […] -
Cars, Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Football, Labor / Employment, Sports
Packers Fan Fired Over Team Necktie; Will Litigation Ensue?
I saw this story on Mike & Mike this morning, and it’s just been gathering steam all day. A Green Bay Packers fan showed up to his job on Monday at a Chicago area car dealership wearing a Packers tie. As many of you know, the Packers defeated their hated rivals, the Chicago Bears, in […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 01.25.11
* Professor Rick Hasen thinks the Illinois Supreme Court is leaning towards letting Rahm Emanuel back into the race for Mayor of Chicago. Hopefully this means that Emanuel’s lawyer, Kevin Forde, will get his family back really soon. [Election Law Blog] * Have you ever seen a notary in a bar, drunk, with her notary […]