April 2011
-
Email Scandals, Sports, Vicious Infighting
This Is Why Law Students Shouldn't Play Sports
You might think that watching law students play sports would be like watching U. Conn. and Butler play basketball. You know, undersized, intense people playing in an ugly and painful style. You’d think that watching law students play a pick-up game of 21 would be indistinguishable from watching Butler unsuccessfully try to throw a ball […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.05.11
* Did Malcolm Gladwell’s endorsement lead to an increase in Colorado Law applicants? Malcolm Gladwell, a man whose book Blink was described by Richard Posner as “written like a book intended for people who do not read books.” [Law Week Colorado] * A litany of legal challenges faces the Obama administration now that they’ve backtracked […]
- Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Biglaw, Boutique Law Firms, Musical Chairs, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Preston Gates & Ellis, Small Law Firms
Musical Chairs: A Departmental Defection at K&L Gates in Seattle
We’ve previously discussed the trend of partners leaving Biglaw to launch their own firms. We’ve seen a lot of this action in New York and D.C., home to such well-regarded boutiques as MoloLamken, started by former Shearman & Sterling and Baker Botts partners, and BuckleySandler, started by former Skadden partners. It’s happening out on the […]
-
Biglaw, Cars, Guantanamo Bay, John Yoo, Non-Sequiturs, War on Terror
Non-Sequiturs: 04.04.11
* Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be tried by a military commission at Guantanamo, but John Yoo is still not satisfied. He wants to capture people and hold them indefinitely without trial proof that the Obama Administration can conduct terror trials successfully. Obviously, the elegant solution is to make KSM live in Yoo’s basement until one […] -
Biglaw, Contests, March Madness, Reader Polls
ATL March Madness: The Finals
It is time for the finals in Above the Law’s Coolest Law Firm Contest. While the real NCAA men’s basketball tournament has devolved into a three-point shooting exhibition, the ATL bracket pits an irresistible force against an immovable object: Davis Polk versus Sullivan & Cromwell, or hot versus rich. Check out the bracket below and […] -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel
Inside Straight: On Lawyers' Garnitures
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. Lawyers in private practice collect things. The lawyers use those collections to adorn professional biographies that appear on firm web pages. The garnitures generally include (1) experiences (which are trumpeted in the form of […] -
Attorney Misconduct, Crime, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Murder, Small Law Firms, Trials
Mistrial After Judge Is 'Astonished' By Touro Grad's Incompetence
Look, Touro Law students and alumni, please don’t get mad at me. I’m just the messenger. The Washington Post is reporting that a D.C. Superior Court judge, William Jackson, declared a mistrial in a murder case on Friday so that the defendant could fire his lawyer. The attorney, Joseph Rakofsky, a 2009 graduate of Touro […] -
Art, Job Searches, Law Schools, UVA Law
Most Creative Way To Shame Your Office of Career Services
We spend a lot of time with soon-to-be-unemployed 3Ls who are looking for some way to express their dissatisfaction with their law school and the career services they received. When people pay or borrow over $100K for three years of legal education and their employment future still comes down to how they perform during McDonald’s […] - Sponsored
This AI-Powered Document Tool Will Meet You Where You Are
Lexis Create provides simple access to internal and external knowledge — directly within Microsoft Word. -
Media and Journalism, Practice Pointers, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Six Steps to Becoming an Expert
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Small Firms, Big Lawyers, one of Above the Law’s new columns for small-firm lawyers. So you’re at a small firm and you want to be successful. Good. Why you wouldn’t want that is beyond me. But if you want to be a successful lawyer, you need to […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Ho-Love, Hogan & Hartson, Lovells, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Ho-Love Gives Bonus Love
Every day that major law firms do not announce spring bonuses makes them look like below-market, “non-peer” institutions. It has become very clear that firms claiming to pay market compensation need to be providing spring bonuses. The latest firm to yield to market realities is Hogan Lovells. The relatively new Ho-Love, formed by the merger […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.04.11
* Duke alumnus Richard Milhous Nixon (Law, ’37) is being celebrated at his alma mater with a bit of musical theater. Sock it to him? [New York Times] * Harvard alumnus Daron Roberts (Law, ’07) is now the wide receivers and special teams coach at West Virginia. [Charleston Daily Mail] * Two law professors, who […]
-
Bar Exams
Recent Bar Exam Results: Open ThreadIllinois, Kansas -- any others?
A few readers contacted us to mention that some states have announced the results of the February 2011 bar exam. It seems that Illinois and Kansas, for example, released results on Friday — i.e., April Fools’ Day, notorious for its pranks. That’s a bit cruel, no? But if you’re an IL or KS bar taker […] -
Holidays and Seasons, Intellectual Property, Lawsuit of the Day, Pranks, Trademarks, Twittering
Cease and Desist Follow Up: Check You Calendar
As many of you figured out, the cease and desist letter from Chris Webby, claiming ownership of the hashtag #webby, was an April Fool’s hoax. This week’s sign that the apocalypse is upon was a hologram launched by the Webby Awards people. Here’s the official reveal. Really, we thought a few more of our loyal […]
Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
This AI-Powered Document Tool Will Meet You Where You Are
Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
-
Asians, Fashion, Federal Judges, Feldsuk, Gay, Judicial Nominations, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Noah Feldman, Non-Sequiturs, S.D.N.Y.
Non-Sequiturs: 04.01.11
* The Southern District of New York: gay bench, or the gayest bench? Like fellow S.D.N.Y. nominee Paul Oetken, Alison Nathan is an openly gay lawyer who clerked for SCOTUS and served as an associate White House counsel. [Poliglot / Metro Weekly; Main Justice] * Maybe this is why Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld decided to leave New […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Spring Bonuses At Gibson Dunn? Are They Happening? Only In New York? Is This Some Kind of Joke?
Well, Gibson Dunn, it’s come to this. You’ve made your associates so desperate and confused that they don’t know where the sun even rises anymore. They want a spring bonus. They’ve read about spring bonuses at Latham and O’Melveny and think that they should be making as much as their colleagues at peer firms. Gibson […] -
Affirmative Action, Department of Justice, Federal Government, Judicial Nominations, Shanetta Cutlar, Ty Clevenger, Violence
Shanetta Cutlar, Back in the News
Longtime readers of Above the Law will recall the colorful figure of Shanetta Cutlar. She was a high-powered Department of Justice lawyer who was known for her high-handed treatment of DOJ subordinates and colleagues. (Read the blockquote in this post to get a sense of her antics, or read this juicy letter to former Deputy […] -
Crime, Hate Crimes, Kids, Religion
Hate Crime Laws Applied in Increasingly Stupid Ways
I’m on record as being somewhat uncomfortable with hate crimes legislation. I’m just not wild about the government punishing people for what’s in their thoughts. But I do see why society might want to make racial animus an aggravating factor in crimes. It’s complicated, and that makes me think that prosecutors should show some flex […] -
Cars, Law Schools
SUV Smashes a Hole Into Pitt Law School
I feel bad for Pittsburgh Law students. Just ten days ago, career services embarrassed them by offering students jobs putting fliers on parked cars. And now today, an out-of-control driver punched a hole into their law building. Literally. Last night an SUV crashed into the Barco Law Building and punched a hole in the wall. […] -
Asians, Books, Education / Schools, Harvard, Jed Rubenfeld, Kids, Law Professors
Tiger Mom Triumphant: Her Cub Got Into Harvard!
Yale law professor Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, has received a great deal of criticism — and, to be fair, book royalties — since her controversial parenting memoir’s publication in January. Many observers criticized her harsh, so-called “Chinese” parenting style as excessive, even abusive. You can criticize all you want, […] -
Intellectual Property, Lawsuit of the Day, Rap, Trademarks, Twittering
Cease and Desist Letter of the Day: Who Owns Your Hashtag?
If you enjoy the fact that a company called PeerViews apparently claims ownership of the term “Small Law,” you’re going to love this latest piece of IP ridiculousness. Rapper Chris Webby has sent a cease and desist order to the Webby Awards. He wants them to stop using the hashtag, #webby. I’m pretty sure that […]