March 2011
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Lawsuit of the Day
Lawsuit of the Day: Doesn't the 8th Amendment Protect Us From Being Forced To Go To... New Jersey?
A couple of points before we start: I know who Elie Tahari is because he spells and pronounces his first name just like I do (it’s like “Eliot” without the “it”). I once told a toll lady on the New Jersey Turnpike: “You know, you should really have to pay me for having to drive […] -
3rd Circuit, Benchslaps, Federal Judges, Old People
Quote of the Day: Oh, precedent is overrated.
Judge Fullam is a very experienced and hard working jurist and he has devoted decades of service to the federal bench. Nothing we have said in this opinion should detract from that. However, neither this court, nor any other court, can tolerate a situation where a judge decides to follow his/her own custom and concepts […] - 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… -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.18.11
* Gloria Allred is tired of Lindsay Lohan strutting her stuff into the courtroom like a debutante instead of a defendant. Chill out, Gloria. At least it’s actually LiLo’s stuff, unless that silicone was stolen, too. [New York Times] * The ABA is thinking up ways for law schools to more creatively rig their nine-months-after-graduation […]
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Lawsuit of the Day, STDs
Lawsuit of the Day: It Only Costs $4.3 Million To Give Somebody Herpes
I thought the most sketchy thing I’d see today was this article about people photoshopping the heads of their Facebook friends onto naked bodies and then masturbating. There’s nothing wrong with jerking off, but doing it to friends based on their profiles just seems violative. Of course, there are things that seem wrong, and then […] -
Holidays and Seasons, Insider Trading, Non-Sequiturs, Tax Law, Videos, YouTube
Non-Sequiturs: 03.17.11
* Is associate hiring bouncing back? Not so fast. [Young Lawyers Blog] * Tape-recorded trash talk at the Raj Rajaratnam trial. [Dealbreaker] * Here’s a good response to Mark Herrmann’s request for examples of crappy behavior by partners: “Miss a deadline, and then throw your secretary and associate under the bus when called out for […] -
Associate Salaries, Biglaw, Killing Lockstep, Money
Associate Salary Watch: Big (and Good) News from Winston & Strawn
Well that didn’t take long, did it? On Tuesday afternoon, we wrote about associates at Winston & Strawn who were upset over the lack of news on seniority-based salary bumps. Since we’re well into a new year, associates at top law firms should be getting raises, with first-years becoming second-years ($160K to $170K), second-years becoming […] -
Cardozo Law School, Law Schools, Rankings, U.S. News
Start Your Whining (Part 2): U.S. News Makes Law Schools Squirm All Across the Land
Yesterday we talked about a couple of schools that fell in this year’s U.S. News law school rankings, whose deans promptly devoted school-wide emails making excuses for their programs dropping. Predictably, they criticized U.S. News’s latest methodology, even though this year’s formula did a better job of focusing on factors law students actually care about […] -
Benchslaps, Copyright, Cyberlaw, Federal Judges, Intellectual Property, Pornography, Privacy, Technology
Suing Hundreds of Anonymous People Will Not Make You Popular
It’s not everyday you get porn, file sharing lawsuits, amateur motions to quash subpoenas, and a federal judge quoting Shakespeare’s King John, all wrapped up in a nice legal bundle of joy. Here we go, from the beginning: Chicago attorney John Steele, whose firm website is located at www.WeFightPiracy.com, represents CP Productions, the filmmakers behind […] - 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. -
Biglaw, Job Searches, Small Law Firms
Size Matters: Advice From A Real Expert on Choosing a Small Firm
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Size Matters, one of Above the Law’s new columns for small-firm lawyers. As discussed previously, Steven Harper threw down the gauntlet when it comes to top law schools focusing all their recruiting efforts on Biglaw placements. And the woman who reads my tea leaves said that small […] -
Biglaw, Disasters / Emergencies, Holland & Knight, Pro Bono, Public Interest
More Law Firms Contributing to Japanese Relief Efforts
On Tuesday we told you that McGuireWoods, Dewey & LeBoeuf, and Weil Gosthal were all contributing to the relief efforts under way in Japan. The response has been pretty great. While some people seem to think Japan’s status as a rich nation means it doesn’t need any international aid, I don’t see how the country’s […] -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Partner Issues, Rudeness
Inside Straight: 'How To Be A Crappy Partner'
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. I need your help here. I occasionally give “book talks” about my silly little ditty, The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law. During those talks, I explain that my book is written in the voice […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.17.11
* Drunk, poor, and unemployed. No, the Wall Street Journal isn’t talking about ways to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day – they’re talking about the reasons why people aren’t applying to law school. [Wall Street Journal] * Is it really in the public interest to hear what John Edwards had to say in his depo about […]
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California, Cars, Drinking, DUI / DWI, Rudeness
Law License Plates: Don't Drink and Drive (With This License Plate)
Based on the overwhelming number of submissions we’ve received — please don’t be offended if yours doesn’t make the cut — it seems you’re enjoying our recent series on legally-themed license plates. You can send in your photos via email (subject line: “Vanity License Plate”). Here’s one license plate we received that’s not explicitly law-related. […]
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
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Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 03.16.11
* It’s amazingly self-centered and really quite stupid for the tragedy in Japan to be making everybody in America freak out about the safety of our nuclear facilities. But you couldn’t throw a dart at New York and come up with a geologically worse place to put a nuclear facility than Indian Point, so if […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Good News from Dewey & LeBoeuf
Bonus news is starting to look like something we’ll be having all year long. Today, Dewey & LeBoeuf announced via teleconference that the firm will be paying out “spring bonuses,” along the top-of-the-line Cravath scale. These are on top of the regular Dewey bonuses that are being paid on April 1st. Most of the other […] -
Advertising, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
If you’re a litigator who’s not satisfied with your current system for managing transcripts, check out this week’s sponsored post: A new day in transcript management has arrived! And now, let’s thank this week’s advertisers on Above the Law: American Express BarMax Black Socks Columbia Business School IMS ExpertServices Kinney Recruiting (sponsor of the Asia […] -
Job Searches, Law Schools, Rankings, U.S. News
Start Your Whining: Schools Make Excuses for Their Poor U.S. News Rankings
We’ve already noted that there was no change at the very top of the 2012 U.S. News Law School Rankings. The best schools remain the best schools. Further down the list, we start to see some volatility. Now, every year there needs to be some change in the rankings; how else is U.S. News going […] -
Money, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Green Beans and Credit Cards
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Small Firms, Big Lawyers, one of Above the Law’s new columns for small-firm lawyers. There’s this great little Chilean sandwich shop near my office in Boston. Now I don’t know the first thing about Chilean cuisine, but it says “Chilean” on the sign, so that’s good enough […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Howrey LLP, Money, Partner Issues, Partner Profits
Associate Bonus Watch: Seyfarth Shaw
This week, Seyfarth Shaw announced the arrival of two construction litigators from Howrey, David Mancini and James Newland Jr. The two partners have been on the Seyfarth website for a while, as we noted last week, but Seyfarth made it official on Monday with a press release. The other big news this week at Seyfarth: […] -
Advertising, Associate Advice, Biglaw, Career Center, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
How to Become an (Almost) Indispensable Junior Associate (Part 2)
In the first part of our Career Center “Tip of the Day” series, focused on how junior associates can become more indispensable to their law firms, we covered the importance of taking ownership of your work. Today, we’ll highlight a productive way to spend your precious non-billable time. These tips are provided by the experienced […]