April 2011
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Animal Law, Email Scandals, Law Schools, listserv, Pets, Violence, Weirdness
Sicko Mass-Emails Animal Death Fantasy To Law School Classmates
Yesterday, there was a wonderful story coming out of Kansas Law School (gavel bang: @VaultLaw). A student there is starting the first animal cruelty prosecution clinic in the country. That’s what the scholars call “awesome.” There are simply not enough lawyers who are even familiar with animal cruelty laws. If more people know how to […] -
Celebrities, Fabulosity, In-House Counsel, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Weddings
The Royal Wedding: A Legal Look (Part 1)
Ed. note This is the first in a series of posts that Alex Aldridge, a London-based journalist who covers legal affairs, will be writing for Above the Law about the upcoming royal wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton. So, you wish you had a royal family, eh? Judging by the content of your […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Grade Reform, Law Schools
Notre Dame Goes for Two
It’s been a rough year in South Bend. A promising new head football coach led the Fighting Irish to a disappointing 7-5 regular season. The #5-ranked basketball team forgot to show up during March Madness (but at least the women’s team exceeded expectations). It was a year that many Irish fans would like to rewrite. […]
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Baseball, Canada, Guns / Firearms, Insider Trading, Morning Docket, Sports, Weddings
Morning Docket: 04.22.11
* Attorney Jason Goldfarb pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy yesterday in a case that originated with the Rajabba investigation. Here’s his firm website photo. [WSJ Law Blog] * Harvard Law is being investigated for violating Title IX. As someone who did not attend Harvard, I assume IX rhymes with sticks. Which brings me […]
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Advertising, Job Searches, Law Schools, Practical Law Company (PLC), Shameless Plugs, Summer Associates, This Is an Ad, Videos
ATL Webcast: Career Advice for This Summer (Part 1)Introductions, and how to find a summer job.
Earlier this month, Above the Law recorded a webcast, We Know What You Should Do This Summer. We convened a panel of career experts to discuss how law students can make the most of their summers. The panel was sponsored by our friends at the Practical Law Company. (We previously explained PLC and its mission […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 04.21.11
* There were a bunch of stories about the Barbie Bratz decision today (woot: Orrick), but this one had the best title. [Street Sweep/Forbes] * Do you trust your government with your identity? [An Associate’s Mind] * A lesbian couple won $22,000 from a comedian after a “tirade” of offensive jokes. Wow, that’s gonna have […] -
Advertising, Associate Advice, Biglaw, Career Center, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Career Center Tip of the Day: Making Work-Life Work (Part 1)
Coming off a successful year in which some firms even saw record-setting revenues and profits, many Biglaw associates are now the busiest they have been in recent memory. While this uptick in work may initially be a welcome relief for some, in the long run associates often find themselves struggling to balance an increased workload […] -
Small Law Firms, Technology
Size Matters: Brothers-In-Law Make For Good Business Partners
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Size Matters, one of Above the Law’s new columns for small-firm lawyers. Like everyone, I enjoy me a Bush’s Baked Beans commercial. Jay and Duke’s witty banter over the secret family recipe highlights the joy of working with family. Unfortunately, not many of us can work with […] - 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… -
Constitutional Law, Gay, Gay Marriage, King & Spalding, Media and Journalism, Paul Clement, Politics, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: Defending the Defense of the Defense of Marriage Act
[A] lawyer who defends an individual or a law, no matter how unpopular or distasteful, helps ensure that the outcome is viewed as fair. If DOMA is struck down, the fact that it was defended effectively will make the victory for its opponents more credible…. We hope [Paul] Clement loses, but we don’t begrudge him […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Open Thread: Class of 2010 Associate Bonus Bitch-Fest
Personally, I think it’s time for Biglaw associates in the class of 2010 to drink a tall glass of shut the hell up. They got jobs at a time when many of their classmates did not. They received $160K salaries just after there was a significant effort by some firms to push starting salaries down […] -
Cyberlaw, FCC, Technology
Just Like Us, Europe Isn't Sure How to Handle Net Neutrality
Isn’t it annoying when the YouTube video you’re watching just stops loading right in the middle? Or when your Skype connection suddenly starts sucking in the middle of a video conversation? Well, it turns out that in Europe, sometimes stuff like that doesn’t happen accidentally. Internet Service Providers intentionally “throttle” certain kinds of web traffic. […] -
Federalist Society, Law Schools, Minority Issues, Racism
Continuing Misadventures in Law School Decor: Is This Poster Racist?
Another day, another controversy over something hanging in a law school. Why is law school decor such a charged issue these days? As some of may already know, I served as vice president of the Yale Federalist Society when I was in law school. My campaign was non-controversial. At the time, the VP was responsible […] -
Biglaw, General Counsel, In-House Counsel, Partner Issues
Inside Straight: Hiring Law Firms Or Lawyers?
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. Can we just put this one to rest? At every conference, and in many articles, people pose the question: “As a client, do you hire law firms, or do you hire lawyers?” The clients […]
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Bar Exams, Law Schools, Money, UVA Law
This is How A Top Law School Should Look Out For Unemployed Grads
A couple of days ago, we told you that NYU 3Ls without jobs lined up are receiving discounts on tickets to their law school formal. It’s a nice gesture, but some NYU Law School students wanted more action from the NYU administration regarding the soon-to-be-unemployed students. Well, maybe the NYU kids should have gone to […] -
Baseball, BP, Guns / Firearms, Immigration, Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Sports, Supreme Court, Tax Law
Morning Docket: 04.21.11
* BP has its granny panties in a bunch over Transocean’s liability for the oil spill. So they’re suing. [Bloomberg] * Major League Baseball sought to take over the Dodgers from Frank McCourt yesterday. Your move, Wilpon. [Los Angeles Times] * Tax Lady Roni DEUTCH may be thrown in jail. I’m not entirely sure what’s […]
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Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Musical Chairs, Partner Issues, Texas
Associate Bonus Watch: Vinson & Elkins Gives Me A Headache Takes Spring Bonuses to Texas
The law firm of Vinson & Elkins, one of Texas’s top shops, once represented Enron. I was reminded of this fact in trying to write up V&E’s bonus news (year-end bonuses and spring bonuses, which the firm just announced). Lawyers at Vinson & Elkins seem to thrive on complexity — in the service of hiding […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 04.20.11
* I thought the four magic words for women lawyers were: “you still have time,” but apparently this is what they need to hear. [Forbes/She Negotiates via Legal Blog Watch] * Samuel Alito’s mere existence is making it difficult for women to protect their reproductive rights. [Slate] * Taco Bell presses its advantage and is […] -
Advertising, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to the Easter Bunny -- This Week's Advertisers
Just like the Easter Bunny, our advertisers bring us sweet treats, for which we thank them. Here they are: BarMax Betterment Black Socks Delta DKLB BKLYN Emirates Kinney Recruiting (sponsor of the Asia Chronicles) Lateral Link LexisNexis – Discovery Services LexisNexis – Juris LexisNexis – Search Advantage LexisNexis – Textmap New York by Gehry at […] -
Law Schools, Minority Issues, Pictures, Racism
Finally! Pictures of the Unwelcoming African-Americans at Indy Law
If you had told me at the beginning of the week that something happening at Indiana School of Law – Indianapolis would turn into a three-day Above the Law story, I would have said, “No dude, I’m not going to race-bait the Jews during Passover.” But it turns out that my powers of racial inflammation […] -
Billable Hours, Quote of the Day, Ridiculousness, Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners, Ted Frank
Quote of the Day: And you thought you billed a lot of hours....
[Lawyer Dennis] Gingold claims to have billed an astonishing 48,772 hours on this case—which works out to almost 9.5 hours a day, every day without a single day off, between November 4, 1995, and December 7, 2009. This includes a seven-year stretch where Mr. Gingold billed 28,230 hours—an average of eleven hours a day, every […]