January 2011
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Biglaw, Layoffs, Staff Layoffs
Staff Layoff Watch: Hughes Hubbard & Reed (Los Angeles)
Law firm layoffs might be down, but they’re not out. Today we bring news of staff layoffs in the Los Angeles office of Hughes Hubbard & Reed. We heard reports that approximately 12 out of 18 support staff members have been or will be laid off. According to these reports, eleven were laid off earlier […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Layoffs, Money, Partner Issues, Partner Profits
The State of Biglaw: With Layoffs Down Dramatically, Will Spring Bring Bonuses?
This evening, many of us — and six Supreme Court justices, according to an announcement this morning from the Court — will listen to the State of the Union address. Don’t be shocked if President Obama tells us that the state of the union is “strong.” When was the last time a president appeared before […] - Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Zach Warren from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the potential and the pitfalls. -
Constitutional Law, Crime, Guns / Firearms, Law Schools, Violence
Idaho Law Student Wants Right to Carry Guns on Campus
Do we really need to make it easier for people to have weapons on school campuses? Really? We’re not worried about school shootings anymore? Is the Second Amendment really so broad that it requires us to allow students to weaponize their law school dorm rooms? Is there no “safe zone” in America where I can […]
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Asians, Books, Kids, Law Professors, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: Good Question
If everyone hates this lady, why is her book selling so incredibly well? Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother has been a blockbuster, ranking in Amazon’s top five last week. Parents have had no trouble laying down $25 and sacrificing five hours of late-night television to soak up Chua’s story. — bestselling author Po Bronson, […] -
Advertising, Career Center, Holidays and Seasons, Job Survey, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Career Center Survey: Did you work on MLK Day?
When it comes to working on holidays, we all know that Biglaw attorneys are some of the worst offenders. In today’s Career Center survey, brought to you by Lateral Link, tell us if you were off on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or if it was just business as usual. Then check back later this […] -
Health Care / Medicine, Kids, Lawyer of the Day, Weirdness
Lawyer of the Day: The Foreskin Restorer
It’s been pretty slow here at the Above the Law circumcision law desk. So slow, in fact, that Lat has considered putting me on another assignment: “There’s just not enough news surrounding the intersection of foreskin and the legal community. While I appreciate your enthusiasm for the amusing dong beat…I don’t know if the financials […] -
Fame Brief, Kids, Nude Dancing, Pornography, Television
Fame Brief: Is MTV's 'Skins' Child Porn?
By now you’ve probably watched or seen an ad for MTV Skins, a fictional show about, well… I’ll let MTV explain this gem: Skins is a wild ride through the lives of a group of high school friends stumbling through the mine field of adolescence… and stepping on most of the mines as they go…. […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.25.11
* “Rahm Emanuel faces a double-barreled legal problem.” Good thing we’re okay with violence-tinged political metaphors again, because those Tribune writers killed that opener. [Chicago Tribune] * A report released yesterday charged the Bush White House with breaking the law during the ’06 elections, which sent shockwaves through the small but growing community of scholars […]
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AI’s Impact On Law Firms Of Every Size
How solo lawyers, midsize firms, and global large law firms have an opportunity to adjust the way they work. -
Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Barack Obama, Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan, John Roberts, Politics, Reader Polls, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, SCOTUS, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court
Will SCOTUS Go to the SOTU This Year?
Tomorrow night, many of us will tune in to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address — hoping to catch more catfighting than on an episode of Jersey Shore. Last year’s SOTU did not disappoint drama-seekers. As you may recall, an Article II vs. Article III smackdown took place: President Obama chided the Supreme […] -
Joe Biden, Jury Duty, Non-Sequiturs, Solicitor General's Office
Non-Sequiturs: 01.24.11
* Obama plans to nominate Don Verrilli as the next Solicitor General. He’s currently working a former partner at Jenner & Block, currently working at the White House. [WSJ Law Blog] * Through his attorney, Judy Clarke, a smiling and nodding Jared Lee Loughner pleaded not guilty today to charges arising out of the Tucson […] -
Fast Food, Food, Lawsuit of the Day, Nauseating Things
You Didn't Really Think You Were Eating 'Beef' at Taco Bell, Did You?
This story is an excuse for us to post pictures of tacos on Above the Law! -
Biglaw, Money, Partner Issues, Partner Profits
Quinn Emanuel Profits Per Partner Head Higher Into the Stratosphere
Friday brought good news for associates at Sullivan & Cromwell. The firm announced generous springtime bonuses, which will double bonus compensation for some of the more junior classes. If you missed the news, which broke late on Friday, check it out over here. But Friday brought even better news about litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel. As […] -
Election Law, Politics
Rahm Emanuel Booted From Chicago Ballot
An appellate panel voted 2-1 today to kick former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel off of the ballot for the Chicago mayoralty elections. The majority concluded that Emanuel didn’t meet the residency requirements. What happens next?
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The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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AI’s Impact On Law Firms Of Every Size
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Law Schools, Money, Student Loans
Law Student Solicits Donations on eBay
We talk a lot about how expensive legal education is and how prospective law students need to think rationally about their debt exposure before they try to finance a legal education. I’m not sure if this law student did any of that thinking. But I am sure that her solution to the high cost of […] -
Clarence Thomas, Federal Judges, Money, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Clarence Thomas and His Wife's $680,000 of Unreported Income
Who knew that working for a conservative think tank paid so well? The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Virginia Thomas, the politically active wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, earned over $680,000 over five years while working at the Heritage Foundation. That’s pretty nice scratch. A possible problem: according to Common Cause, Clarence […] -
Books, In-House Counsel, Job Searches, Law Reviews, Law Schools, Shameless Plugs
Inside Straight: Hire This Unemployed Chicago-Kent Editor-in-Chief!
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s new column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. First, a story; then, an attempt to find a job for an unemployed former editor-in-chief of the Chicago-Kent Law Review. Here’s the story: After I wrote The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law, I […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.24.11
* The case against Jared Lee Loughner may take years, so get used to that sh*t-eating wackadoo grin. It’s going to be around awhile. [Associated Press] * Former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are being defended on the taxpayers’ dime. Except, the dime is worth millions. Numismatists found the last two sentences hilarious. […]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 01.21.11
* The owners of the Atlanta Thrashers are suing King & Spalding, claiming that a flawed contract is preventing them from selling the team. Yeah, it’s the lawyers’ fault; it has nothing to do with the fact that you own an ice hockey team in freaking Georgia. [Atlanta Journal Constitution] * It won’t be long […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Fabulosity, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Sullivan & Cromwell Pays Generous Spring Bonuses!
Friday afternoons are for bad news. When you have some news that you want to disappear into the ether, you announce it on Friday afternoon. It’s a favorite time for disgraced D.C. figures to resign from office in order to “spend more time with their families.” So why did Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the […] -
Bad Ideas, Email Scandals, Law Schools, Social Networking Websites
Networking 101: Don't Send Networking Emails Like This One
Here at Above the Law, we’re still enjoying the awesomeness of 1Ls and 2Ls going to war over the appropriate use of a listserv. Today we’ve got an email more mundane in subject matter, but no less objectionable. It’s from a 1L (of course), who is trying to “network” with fellow 1Ls. And it’s written […]