Above the Law’s 2010 Lawyer of the Year contest is now over. Thanks to everyone who nominated a lawyer; thanks to our finalists, for being such accomplished and interesting individuals; and thanks to all the voters, who picked our victor.
Here are ATL’s past Lawyers of the Year:
Two famous figures, and one anonymous one. A man, a woman, and an individual of unknown gender.
For 2010, who will join their distinguished ranks? Let’s find out….
Continue reading “ATL’s Lawyer of the Year (2010): The Winner!”
Please note the headline says “new” evidence. It does not say “good” or “credible” or “definitive” evidence. That’s because the evidence doesn’t really fall into any of those categories. In fact, the headline could have read “F. Lee Bailey Evades Caretakers, Gets to Internet Before Somebody Stops Him.”
But whatever, former Dream Team (and now disbarred) lawyer F. Lee Bailey says he can tell us things about O.J. Simpson that we didn’t know before, things that make O.J. look innocent. And Bailey says that this evidence was not used during O.J.’s trial because of a strategic mistake by the late Johnnie Cochran. That’s right, if Cochran would have just done what Bailey wanted, O.J. Simpson could have been more acquitted! Or something.
Let’s look at what Bailey has to say. It’s one of those things that makes me happy we have “the internet”…
Continue reading “F. Lee Bailey Has New Evidence That O.J. Was Innocent”
It’s like Formula One. You want to see the car crash. We like to go to Rockefeller Center to watch the ice-skaters fall.
— Carol Barbeiro, a lawyer, on why she went to see Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the ill-fated, accident-prone Broadway musical. (Her boyfriend added: “She wants to see blood.”)
Apparently, it's not any better down here.
Nothing depresses me more than when bad things happen in the Caribbean (except for Haiti, ’cause I’m used to it, or Cuba, because they get better health care than we do). Especially during the winter months, I like to imagine that I could leave every material possession behind and move to the Caribbean and find work and happiness.
CORRECTION: The commenters have informed me that Bermuda is not only not a Caribbean island, it is not even a “tropical” island. I apologize for this grievous geographic gaffe. I should also add that my stated desire to move “to the Caribbean” referred to islands in and around the Caribbean. I do not wish to physically reside on the ocean itself, nor with any of the undersea civilizations that ATL commenter-cartographers don’t even know about.
Sadly, it looks like layoffs have a passport. Law Shucks is reporting that lawyers and staff were laid off from the Bermuda law firm of Conyers Dill & Pearman. Many of them were not native to Bermuda. :(.
There is no “paradise,” not in this global economy…
Continue reading “The Grass Is Not Always Greener: Layoffs in Bermuda”
After a year like 2009 (aka the worst year ever for Biglaw), 2010 was bound to be better. According to the nearly 1,000 survey responses we received, 2010 did in fact turn out to be a busier year for most associates. An impressive 73% of respondents hit their firm’s minimum billable hours requirements or unofficial billable hours expectations, which ranged from 1,600 to 2,200 billable hours. You can find a breakdown of the results by minimum billable hours required or expected, as well as by practice area, after the jump.
Stay tuned for our next post, addressing associate satisfaction with 2010 bonus payments. In the meantime, you can learn more about billable hours and bonuses at the nation’s top law firms on the Career Center, hosted by Lateral Link.
Now, on to the survey results….
Continue reading “Career Center Survey Results: A Better Billable Year”
The new U.S. News law school rankings are due out in March. And according to rankings guru Bob Morse, the publication is considering giving numerical rankings to the third-tier law schools.
This would be a big change. For those unfamiliar with the law school rankings (and if you are unfamiliar with the rankings, you must have ended up here looking for information on a Steven Seagal movie), let’s review. U.S. News currently ranks law schools from #1 to #100. After the first 100, U.S. News drops numerical rankings and groups the remaining schools into a “third tier” and a “fourth tier.” These schools are listed in alphabetical order within each tier.
Why? Well, for one thing, it becomes kind of silly to try to make a meaningful distinction between the 120th law school and the 121st. Doing it this way also benefits lower-ranked second-tier law schools. It arguably makes DePaul Law (ranked #98) look significantly better than all of the law schools in the third tier.
But do these distinctions make sense? The U.S. News people are examining that issue…
Continue reading “Third Tier Rankings?”
Julian Assange
* Judy Clarke, counsel to Jared Lee Loughner, is known as the “One-Woman Dream Team.” Here’s to hoping the prosecution doesn’t get played like Frédéric Weis. [USA Today]
* There is a time when the operation of the merger becomes so odious… plaintiff’s attorneys have got to put their bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and they’ve got to make it more expensive. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Toileteers rejoice! U.S. News might start giving numerical rankings to third-tier law schools. [National Law Journal]
* Julian Assange’s lawyer says the government’s Twitter subpoena amounts to harassment. #unfunnylegalblurbs [Bloomberg]
* This Times article explores the seedy underbelly of bail bondsmen. Apparently there’s more to bail bonds than sponsoring ragtag baseball teams full of misfits. [New York Times]
* Badonkadonk, Cute Face, and Wookie Kardashian Odom have been sued over a scuttled prepaid debit card-type thing. [CBS Money Watch]
Amy Chua: Yale Law professor and Tiger Mother.
Right now the legal world is abuzz about an essay published over the weekend in the Wall Street Journal by Amy Chua, a prominent (and pulchritudinous) professor at Yale Law School. The essay’s title, Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior, pretty much says it all. The piece is based on Chua’s new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, described by its publisher as “[a]n awe-inspiring, often hilarious, and unerringly honest story of one mother’s exercise in extreme parenting, revealing the rewards-and the costs-of raising her children the Chinese way.”
What does raising children “the Chinese way” entail? It’s not hard to guess. Here’s a good summary from Vivia Chen (one of the many Asian-American females to write about Chua; see also Jen Chung of Gothamist and Elizabeth Chang of the Washington Post): “Chua is an überachiever who’s hell-bent on raising her kids to be at least as accomplished as she is. Chua seems to delight in playing up to the stereotype of the pushy, academically obsessed Asian mom. So much so that I thought (for a moment) that she was pulling our legs. But she’s serious.”
Very serious. Let’s take a look at how Chua and her husband — Jed Rubenfeld, a Yale law professor, overachiever, and certified hottie, just like his wife — raise their two daughters, Sophia and Louisa Chua-Rubenfeld….
Continue reading “Yale Law Professor Amy Chua Writes in Praise of Crazy Asian Moms”
Being a federal prosecutor is a great legal job, but it has its downsides. One of them, at least for me, was the anonymity. In your work as an assistant U.S. attorney, it’s not about you; it’s about the merits of the cases, and seeing that justice is done. That’s public-spirited and all, but it’s not very fabulous (at least not to a shameless attention-seeker like myself).
Given the relative anonymity of being an AUSA, it’s not normal for the New York Post to cover the hiring of any single one. But Tali Farhadian, who’s joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), isn’t your normal AUSA.
How many federal prosecutors are as brilliant, as beautiful, and as filthy rich as Farhadian? And how many are as controversial?
Let’s learn why this lush Persian beauty is so celebrated in some quarters, and so loathed in others. And see some photos, too…
Continue reading “Musical Chairs: A Brooklyn-Bound Beauty”
Tom DeLay
* Tom DeLay gets sentenced to three years. [WSJ Law Blog]
* If we want to ban threatening speech against Congresspeople, what will we really be banning? [Volokh Conspiracy]
* Apparently my final solution on guns could lead to the well-regulated militia rising up. [First One @ One First]
* Maybe it isn’t impossible to teach transactional practice in law school. [Concurring Opinions]
* Jared Lee Loughner entered might enter an insanity plea, and it looks like his mug shot will be the first exhibit. [Slate]
And you thought the burger at DB Bistro was expensive....
* If you’re a mere law firm partner — as opposed to a Wall Street managing director or, better yet, a hedge fund mogul — you probably can’t afford the $5,000 hamburger at this Las Vegas resort hotel. [Dealbreaker]
* Bush 43′s dog lent a helping paw in the judicial nomination process. Laugh all you want, but Barney is better than a Ouija board. [Tex Parte Blog]
* Electronic health records can be great — but they present some legal risks, notes Ben Kerschberg. [Huffington Post]
* Killing and death figure prominently in Blawg Review #293. [The Defense Rests via Blawg Review]
I bet partners could use a hug.
If you thought that obsessing about money and feeling underpaid and underappreciated when it comes to your compensation stops once you become a Biglaw partner, think again. Am Law Daily reports on a new study done by Major Lindsey & Africa. The study shows that 61% of partners think they should be paid more.
Oh, you partners are generally satisfied with your take home. It’s just that, like Mr. Burns, you’d give it all away to have just a little bit more.
To which I say, yay (or “Huzzah” if you prefer). Welcome, Biglaw partners. For too long you have talked in the shadows, wondering how your pay stacked up to that of your peers, hoping to somehow find a way to maximize your earning potential. We know your struggles: mortgages, private schools, alimony or divorce settlements (for the unluckiest among you) — it all adds up. You’re working just as hard as you’ve ever worked, dealing with the pressure that can only come from having final responsibility over a project or an entire client strategy. And there’s always the expectation to bring in business, keep business, and generate new business, even during a down economy.
You put in all that time and effort for a take-home pay that shames you when you talk to your friends in finance and business. It’s not right, is it? So welcome, welcome, this is a safe place. Your financial desires commingled with your sense of entitlement will find friends here…
Continue reading “Partners, I Feel Your Pain”
Above the Law’s second annual holiday card contest was a great success. Thanks to everyone who responded to our call for nominations, thanks to the finalists who created such great holiday cards, and thanks to all the voters.
The campaigning was vigorous. And the final winner actually wasn’t one of the two firms that was leading early in the voting. There was an eleventh-hour surge over the weekend from one of the contenders.
Let’s find out who won this thing….
Continue reading “ATL Holiday Card Contest: The Winner!”
Something that kills people.
I’m on record as thinking that it’s inappropriate to blame Sarah Palin or any other source of fiery political rhetoric for the horrific shooting that took place in Tucson on Saturday. I said it in real time as facts were coming to light; I said it on Twitter.
There are any number of reasons why psychos like Jared Lee Loughner try to kill people. I don’t think political rhetoric is a useful reason to focus on. The long view of history shows that crazy people will twist any number of words into an excuse for violence.
You can’t talk to crazy. You can’t reason with crazy. You can’t know what crazy will do to your words. I mean, people have used the words of Jesus Christ (a hippie pacifist who hung out with prostitutes and lepers) as a call to violence, bigotry, and hate. If Jesus can’t craft an ironclad message that defies misinterpretation, how can we say that Sarah Palin somehow created a culture of violence? Sorry, but I refuse to live in a world where the rhetorical skills of Sarah Palin explain anything.
Instead, I’d like to blame a much more obvious culprit…
Continue reading “Sarah Palin Doesn’t Kill People. Guns, On the Other Hand…”
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s new column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann.
I like what Steven Harper’s doing these days. After 30 years at Kirkland & Ellis, he retired from the fray, and he now comments on big law firms from an outsider’s perspective, at The Belly of the Beast. Although Harper’s critiques are often cutting, I think they reflect his underlying concern, not animosity, about law firm life.
But, to my eye, Harper recently missed a trick. In a recent column at the AmLaw Daily, Harper speculated that big law firms may prefer lockstep compensation to merit-based systems because merit-based reviews require partners to invest nonbillable time thinking carefully about associate performance. There’s no incentive for partners to invest that nonbillable time, says Harper, so firms settle for lockstep — and firms thus delay giving meaningful (and ultimately helpful) guidance to associates.
I think it’s worse than that. I think there’s actually an invidious incentive for partners at large firms to mislead associates about their performance. Why?
Continue reading “Inside Straight: A Tangent on Merit-Based Compensation”
I can’t count all the lawyers who say their firms have organized remedial classes for all the associates who can’t write.
— William Fitzhugh, publisher of The Concord Review, a quarterly journal of exemplary high school research papers.
Like many of you, I read the epic New York Times article on law school debt over the weekend. To answer the most consistent question I’ve received in the past 36 hours: no, I don’t feel like I’ve “won.” And I don’t feel like the NYT has somehow validated some of my commentary over the past two years.
Because the New York Times article, by David Segal, simply captures a story that everybody who has been paying attention already knows: law students are getting themselves into serious debt problems, with no plan for how to pay the debts back. This we know.
But there are things we don’t know. How do you get prospective law students to pay attention to the harsh economic realities before they sign up for law school? What can be done to make those economic realities a little bit less harsh? And what can be done after somebody makes a ruinous investment in higher education?
Now, as far as getting prospective law students to pay attention, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe a big-time article like this in the NYT helps. We already know, however, that unless it shows up in the U.S. News Law School Rankings, prospective law students don’t really care.
So let’s focus on the other questions…
Continue reading “Now That the New York Times Acknowledges the Perils of Law School Debt, the Next Question Is How to Recover From the Ruin”
* An obituary for Judge Roll. [Wall Street Journal]
* The Supreme Court will alter its schedule to allow for a moment of silence this morning. [The BLT: Blog of Legal Times]
* Judy Clarke, whose roster of clients has included the Unabomber, Zacarias Moussaoui, and Susan Smith, will be representing Jared Lee Loughner. [CNN via TPM]
* Jack Shafer writes that all this concern about inflammatory political discourse is overblown. If he’s implying that we’re a nation of wusses, I suggest he get in line behind Ed Rendell and…Elie. [Slate]
* This Times article asks if law school is a losing game. Does the Pope crap in the woods? [New York Times]
* Proposed changes to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have sparked protests in that country. Just mentioning Allah makes Mike Tyson hungry. [CNN]
* The tradition of Festivus begins with an airing of grievances. Tom Delay’s trial will end with one. [Washington Post]
Judge John Roll
We’re not going to weigh in on all the rampant speculation about what gave rise to the shooting today in Arizona involving Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona). But we did want to inform you that news outlets are now reporting that federal judge John Roll was one of the victims in the shooting in Tucson.
UPDATE: President Obama is also confirming that Chief Judge John M. Roll (D. Ariz.) was fatally shot in Tucson. Here’s a statement from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano:
“I am deeply saddened by reports that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Chief Judge John Roll and others were attacked this afternoon in Tucson, Arizona. There is no place in our society or discourse for such senseless and unconscionable acts of violence. Gabby is a steadfast representative for southern Arizona and both she and John are dedicated public servants.
“The Department of Homeland Security has offered all possible assistance to the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, who are leading the investigation. My thoughts and prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her family and staff, and all those who were injured in this difficult time.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
Some more details on Judge Roll, plus several UPDATES, after the jump…
Continue reading “Federal Judge John Roll Among Victims in Arizona Congresswoman Shooting”
Our law firm holiday card contest is still underway, but we’re in the home stretch. Voting closes tomorrow, January 9, at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern time). If you haven’t done so already, review the finalists and vote over here.
In the our earlier post, we promised a post in which we’d (1) give shout-outs to some holiday cards that were strong but narrowly missed our cut and (2) poke fun at some of the Christmas cards we found especially disappointing. Here is the promised post.
Let’s look at some of these honorable and dishonorable mentions. Perhaps your law firm’s card is among them?
Continue reading “ATL Holiday Card Contest: Honorable and Dishonorable Mentions”
* Elie here: Remember yesterday when I said that it was a prick move by the cop to issue that ticket on the mother of that comatose 13-year-old girl, and then all those commenters said the cops had no choice because issuing the ticket was an important matter in terms of the civil liability of the driver? Yeah, well, I stand by my initial analysis that the cop was a jerkhat. [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]
* We were unimpressed by Holland & Knight giving iPads to its associates — and we’re not alone. [South Florida Lawyers]
* The merger talks between Reed Smith and Thompson & Knight are apparently off (assuming this isn’t another case of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton). [Am Law Daily]
* How can lawyers dress to impress in 2011? [Lawyerist]
* So let me get this straight, it’s not okay for me to drink Four Loko and drive, but it’s okay for my car to do it? What’s up with that? [Alt Transport]
* Were passports biased against gays? Well, now they won’t be. [Huffington Post]
* If you’ve been following along with the most important news of today — which is obviously that the study showing that a crying woman is a total buzzkill — here’s an important counterpoint. Crying might be nature’s way of saying: “Stop beating on your wife you freaking a**hole. [Newsweek]
