April 2011
-
Law Schools, Money, New York Times, Student Loans, Stupid Lawyer Tricks
Quote of the Day: Law School Scholarship Funny Money?
By the middle of second semester of that first year, everyone saw the system for what it was. We were furious. We realized that statistically, because of the curve, there was no way for many of us to keep our scholarships. But at that point, you’re a year in. They’ve got you. You feel stuck. […] -
Asians, Books, Education / Schools, Fabulosity, Harvard, Jed Rubenfeld, Kids, Law Professors
It's Official: Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, aka the Tiger Cub, Has Made Her College Decision!
Where’s she going? Let’s find out…. - 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… -
Biglaw, Conferences / Symposia, Fenwick & West, Howrey LLP, Killing Lockstep, NALP, National Association for Law Placement (NALP)
NALP 2011: Performance-Based Compensation Systems
The official title of the NALP conference panel that I attended on merit-based compensation contained a playful shout-out to Sarah Palin: “How Is That Performance-Based Compensation System Working for Ya?” The panel was originally supposed to have featured a representative of the now-defunct Howrey law firm. So the snarky answer to the question presented might […]
-
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 04.29.11
* I want to smoke so badly. Maybe tonight will be the night that I light up again, and then continue until I die. But if I do, that’ll be my fault, not the tobacco companies’. [WSJ Law Blog] * Mike Tyson’s face tattoo artist is holding up the release of Hangover II. Surely the […] -
Old People, Politics, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Should Ruthie Stay Or Should She Go?
Here’s the question swirling through the blogosphere today: Should Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg resign now — because if she dies under a Republican president, it will be a disaster for every ideal she fights for? The question was teed up on the WSJ Law Blog this morning after an AP report noted that some liberals […] -
Biglaw, Gay, Gay Marriage, King & Spalding, New York Times, Paul Clement, Politics, Quote of the Day
Quotes of the Day: When Ken Cuccinelli and the New York Times agree you screwed up, you screwed up.
King & Spalding’s willingness to drop a client, the U.S. House of Representatives, in connection with the lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was such an obsequious act of weakness that I feel compelled to end your legal association with Virginia so that there is no chance that one of my legal clients […] -
Disasters / Emergencies, Law Schools
Alabama Law Dean: Efficient Manager or Callous Task Master?
Yesterday, we devoted some coverage to the devastation down in Alabama due to the terrible storms there earlier this week. In the National Law Journal, Karen Sloan has an excellent report about how the tornadoes are affecting operations at the University of Alabama, including its law school. It appears that the storms affected the college […] -
Law School Deans, Law Schools, Rankings, U.S. News
Looks Like The U.S. News Law School Rankings Cost Someone A Job
Many people, especially law school administrators, bemoan the U.S. News law school rankings. Sure, they have their pedagogical reasons for hating the rankings, but there are larger issues here. When schools drop in the rankings, heads tend to roll. Of course, law schools deans rarely admit they were ousted because of the U.S. News. But […] - 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. -
Arnold & Porter, Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
Which Firms Are Definitely NOT Paying Spring Bonuses?
It’s April 29. Monarchists have long circled this day as an opportunity to praise the vestigial structures of imperial domination. But this day means a lot to people who earn their fortune through work instead of birth. Today is a huge day for Biglaw associates. For many, today is the day spring bonus payments hit […] -
Bad Ideas, Facebook, Health Care / Medicine, Privacy, Screw-Ups, Social Networking Websites, Technology
ER Doc Forgets Patient Info is Private, Gets Fired for Facebook Overshare
I’m done whining about Facebook privacy issues. Everyone should know by now that Facebook and privacy are basically mutually exclusive. But every once in a while, someone does something stupid relating to Facebook privacy in a new, exciting way — like stealing a computer and posting photos of yourself on the owner’s page, or uploading […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.29.11
* In Connecticut, going to grade school in a rich white neighborhood while black is now a crime. Brb, putting on my chunky racebaiting heels. [New York Times] * People in glass houses shouldn’t throw Air Jordans. A pair of new sneakers settled a wrongful death suit in Baltimore this week. [Baltimore Sun] * Florida […]
-
Celebrities, Fabulosity, Letter from London, Magic Circle, Politics, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Weddings, Weirdness
The Royal Wedding: A Legal Look (Part 3)
Ed. note This is the final installment in London-based journalist Alex Aldridge’s series of stories for Above the Law about the royal wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton. You can read the prior posts here and here. Well, they got married. Best man Prince Harry remembered the ring. None of Wills’ disgruntled exes […] -
Biglaw, Law School Deans, Money, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: Wall of Shame, or Wall of Virtuous Restraint?
This is what you see in the law firm world. Law firms try to keep up with Cravath, but it might not be financially prudent. You try to keep up with Cravath, and then two or three years later you go bankrupt. — Dean Frank H. Wu of UC Hastings Law, discussing the legal profession’s […]
Sponsored
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.
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get…
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use.
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: 04.28.11
* Here are some first hand accounts from Alabama Law students about the tornadoes. Finals have been pushed back until Monday. [National Law Journal] * This post contains some notes on the tornado relief efforts, as well as information on where you can help. [An Associate’s Mind] * Skadden will make Forbes’s list of largest […] -
Small Law Firms
Size Matters: What Not To Do With A Small Firm Website
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Size Matters, one of Above the Law’s new columns for small-firm lawyers. I recently saw the Whoopi Goldberg commercial for Poise and I wondered to myself, why would she take part in such an ad. Maybe I am missing something, but I think it is a bad […] -
Depositions, Divorce Train Wrecks, Family Law, Lawyer of the Day, Rudeness
Shortest Deposition Ever
If you already know what I’m talking about, I’m sorry — I don’t have very much to add. The deposition is so damn short, the transcript doesn’t contain case-identifying information, and the pdf has been stripped of its metadata. Really, I only know what you know: a hilarious deposition took place earlier this month. For […] -
Advertising, Associate Salaries, Biglaw, Bonuses, Job Survey, Killing Lockstep, Money, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Career Center Survey: Comparing Compensation Systems
In the throes of the recession, many Biglaw firms jumped on the bandwagon to kill lockstep compensation in favor of a more merit-based system (though some have already fallen off the bandwagon). With a variety of compensation models currently in use among firms today, we want to hear from you about how you get compensated […] -
Biglaw, Rankings, Women's Issues
Top Ten Family Friendly Firms According to Yale Law Women
At the begining of 2011, there were a bunch of stories about Biglaw women and their struggles to have (or produce) a family while hanging onto their jobs. We saw some important information about the rampant sexism in the legal profession. And there were the familiar cries from women who professed to “have it all” […] -
In-House Counsel, Social Networking Websites, Technology, Twittering
Inside Straight: Empirical Proof That Twitter Doesn't Work!
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. I understand using blogging as a form of business development for lawyers. I did it when I was in private practice. It produced the sorts of returns you might expect from the endeavor. And […] -
Disasters / Emergencies
Severe Weather Open Thread: Everybody Alright Down There?
Tornadoes don’t get cute names like hurricanes. Unlike volcanoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes there’s really only been one cool disaster movie about tornadoes with halfway decent CGI — and it wasn’t a very good movie because you can’t be a good movie when your main star is Bill Paxton. And since tornadoes mostly strike in the […]