March 2011

Arlen Specter

Morning Docket: 03.10.11

* Mel Gibson has reached a plea agreement in a battery case involving his ex-girlfriend. #losing #BeaverBlood [Associated Press] * Meanwhile, Lilo isn’t accepting her plea deal. No ma’am. Not for all the Texas booger sugar in the world. Well, maybe for all the Texas booger sugar. But that wasn’t really offered. [New York Post] […]

Biglaw

Howrey LLP, RIP: Partnership Votes to Dissolve

The partners of the law firm of Howrey LLP, founded in 1956, have voted to dissolve the existing Howrey partnership. The dissolution will take effect on March 15, 2011, according to a press release that was issued earlier tonight by the firm. The firm’s chairman and CEO, Robert Ruyak, has not been the most popular […]

Akin Gump

Non-Sequiturs: 03.09.11

* Is concern for “privacy” simply a justification for censorship on the internet? Some thoughts from a lawyer for Google. [Peter Fleischer: Privacy…? via Kashmir Hill / Forbes] * What’s the secret to lawyer happiness? And no, it doesn’t involve illegal drugs or porn stars (Charlie Sheen isn’t a lawyer). [Slaw via Legal Blog Watch] […]

7th Circuit

Quote of the Day: The Best Brief Is a Brief Brief

We add that the appellants’ brief is rambling, and would be more effective if compressed to 14,000 words. — Judge Richard Posner, in a benchslap that denied appellants’ motion to file an oversized brief — and summarily affirmed the district court (full opinion here, via How Appealing).

Advertising

Thanks to This Week’s Advertisers

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Biglaw

Howrey Going to Vote on Dissolution?

Yes. The voting started today at 11:30 AM (Eastern time) and remains underway, according to Am Law Daily. We will keep you posted, either by adding updates to this post or publishing a new post. Meanwhile, the CEO (and poet laureate) of Howrey, Robert Ruyak, gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal about the […]

1st Circuit

Small Firms, Big Lawyers: It’s Not About the Law

Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Small Firms, Big Lawyers, one of Above the Law’s new columns for small-firm lawyers. Let me tell you about a couple of cases I lost. Now, wait: before the Commentariat sharpens its knives (“This guy couldn’t get a big-firm job, then loses all his cases. No wonder […]

Biglaw

I Demand the Answer

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 receive a […]

Death Penalty

Morning Docket: 03.09.11

* The opening of the RaJabba Rajaratnam trial will be gripping, apparently. [Reuters] * The S.E.C. is being attacked again about its ethical standards. It’s not like these problems started with Cam Newton. I mean, the S.E… what’s that? The Securities and Exchange Commission? What? No, I don’t even know what that is. What does […]

Law Schools

The Best Law Schools — Ranked By Law Firm Recruiters

We mentioned them briefly in Morning Docket but didn’t do more, figuring that perhaps you might have rankings fatigue. But we were wrong; apparently you can’t get enough of law school rankings. (This really shouldn’t surprise us, based on the traffic we got for this rankings post, and even this one.) We’ve received several emails […]

Benchslaps

Non-Sequiturs: 03.08.11

* The epic insider trading trial of Raj Rajaratnam got underway today. Bess Levin, of our sister site Dealbreaker, comes up with a (rather hilarious and bizarre) list of possible character witnesses for Raj. [Dealbreaker] * Speaking of the Rajaratnam trial, who were those mystery men observing the proceedings in the courtroom? [Clusterstock] * In […]

Biglaw

Howrey Going to Save the Winston Deal?

We’re hearing reports — not yet confirmed, so please take them with the proverbial grain (or shaker) of salt — that Winston & Strawn has rescinded some or all of its offers to partners of Howrey. The supposed catalyst for the collapse: antitrust star Sean Boland, who had been leading the talks on the Howrey […]