June 2011
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Allen & Overy, Books, Layoffs, Magic Circle, Sexual Harassment, Unemployment
Deidre Dare Wants $$$ For Her Sexy Little Adventure Story
Deidre Dare, the expat lawyer who was terminated from Allen & Overy after writing a “sexy” e-novel, is back, and this time she’s suing the firm in the Big Apple. Her claims of unfair termination didn’t work in London, so now she’s asking the courts for $35 million over her supervising partner’s alleged sexual advances. Maybe this will help her raise money to publish her new book…
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Biglaw, General Counsel, In-House Counsel, Interview Stories, Job Searches, Summer Associates
Inside Straight: Biglaw Versus In-House Interviews
Is there a difference between an interview for an in-house job and an interview for a Biglaw firm? Of course there is — actually, according to Mark Herrmann, interviews for in-house jobs matter more than interviews for summer slots in Biglaw. Read on for advice on how to successfully tackle an interview for an in-house job…
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3 Big Student Loan Myths Demystified
When was the last time you took a second look at your student loans? If you’re like most borrowers, you probably try hard not to think about them. After all, dwelling on your debt isn’t going to make it go away any faster. Or is it?
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Biglaw, Gay, Gay Marriage, Health Care / Medicine, Money, Perks / Fringe Benefits, Tax Law
Biglaw Perk Watch: The Gay Gross-Up Gains Traction
As many of you know, here at Above the Law we have been tracking which major law firms offer a non-salary benefit that we’ve dubbed the gay gross-up. As we’ve previously explained, quoting a memo issued by Simpson Thacher, the gay gross-up is “[a] ‘gross-up’ for employees who enroll same-sex partners in the Firm’s health […]
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Associate Advice, In-House Counsel, Small Law Firms, Sports
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Tell Them Why the Trains Are Late
As you probably know, the Boston Bruins won their first Stanley Cup since the Nixon Administration. I’m no kind of hockey fan, but as a Boston sports fan, I took a passing interest in it. Which is to say that I watched Game 7 on Wednesday. Mine was a short ride on the bandwagon. (I […]
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9th Circuit, Antonin Scalia, Gender, Labor / Employment, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Ted Frank, Ted Olson, Wal-Mart, Women's Issues
Supreme Court Rejects Nationwide Class Action Against Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart: where you can save money and live better, except if you’re a woman. Yesterday, SCOTUS reversed the Ninth Circuit in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, and held that class action certification should not have been granted in this case involving claims of pay and promotion discrimination against female employees.
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B for Beauty, Gender, Lawsuit of the Day, Women's Issues
Lawsuit of the Day: Putting the ‘Man’ Back in Manicure
Would you like a MAN-icure? A Maryland man is suing his nail salon for $200,000 for a $1 overcharge on his manicure. His lawyer (who, in the past, sued the same nail salon as a plaintiff, for the same cause of action) is comparing his client to Rosa Parks. Seriously?
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* Because there’s nothing funny about being a political prisoner in Iran for this long, I’m going to pull a Juggalo and show you a kitten stuck in a hamster ball. [New York Times] * Lawyers on television used to be pretty bland, so I’m glad I grew up in the era of Ally McBeal’s […]
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* Working in the Obama Administration is kind of like a feeder school for getting into Harvard Law School. I guess the hardest part really is getting in. [Law and More] * Strangely, I feel sorry for this victim of bike theft. The police won’t be able to help; let’s help her get her bike […]
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Crime, Federal Government, S.D.N.Y., U.S. Attorneys Offices, Wall Street, White-Collar Crime
Last week I attended an interesting talk by Preet Bharara, currently serving as the U.S. Attorney for the (extremely powerful and prestigious) Southern District of New York. I had heard great things about Bharara from many people, including current and former colleagues in the U.S. Attorney’s office and people who previously worked with him on […]
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INNOVATION IN ENTRY LEVEL RECRUITING
We’ve all heard how dysfunctional entry-level legal recruiting is: Inordinate expense, decisions made on the briefest of subjective impressions with opacity all around, and what do firms reap for all their efforts? Shocking attrition rates among junior associates. It’s time for a conference on what could work better, and this is it.
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California, Job Searches, Law Schools, Litigators, Student Loans
Could Thomas Jefferson School Of Law Actually Lose?
For the most part, I’ve just been happy that the lawsuit against Thomas Jefferson School of Law, over the school’s allegedly misleading employment statistics, exists. It’s not about winning or losing; it’s about raising awareness of the disingenuous way law schools go about filling up their classes. Of course, anytime somebody says “it’s not about […]
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Crime, Prisons, State Judges, Technology, Trials, Videos
Video Arraignments Save Money and Make Judges Feel Safer
Maybe I’m just naive, but I find the concept of conducting any courtroom business via video enthralling but also a bit unnerving. It seems so inconsistent with the mythical and timeless ideals of the hallowed halls of justice, yadda yadda yadda. Whether we like it or not, however, video conferencing is creeping into courthouses across […]
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Deaths, Divorce Train Wrecks, Family Law, Suicide, Violence
Man Literally Sets Himself On Fire On The Courthouse Steps
Back when things were real, musicians didn’t get hurt jet skiing. They got shot. And if realness can be measured in bullet wounds, nobody was as real as rapper extraordinare and do-rag styling visionary Tupac Shakur, who was shot five times in 1994 and then again, fatally, in 1996. None of the gunmen from either […]
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Biglaw, Musical Chairs, Partner Issues, Start Dates
Good News at O’Melveny & Myers
We have recently covered a number of notable partner departures from O’Melveny & Myers. While some of the losses were “not undesired,” as one source put it, others were bad news for OMM. But, in fairness to the firm, there is good news coming out of O’Melveny these days as well. Let’s discuss some of […]
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Piercing Your Cat Will Not Make You Better at Being a Goth
Something we don’t really get a chance to write about that often on Above the Law is the rise of the Goth subculture in America — and that’s probably because no one cares about it. Just like how no one cared about most Goth kids when they were growing up, which led them to believe […]
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* What’s going on over at the Empire State Building? If the allegations are true, this is one hell of a way to try to oust a tenant. [New York Daily News] * Of course a man would argue that stripping is a “beneficial social activity.” I guess that’s an improvement, since other items on […]
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Contests, Movies, Reader Polls, Television
Fictional Lawyer Madness: Round 1, Part 2
Yesterday we kicked off the Fictional Lawyer Madness by starting the voting on the left side of the bracket. Today, we’re opening up the right side. On this side of the bracket we have more movie characters, and more female characters. And there has been one big change from yesterday’s bracket. I forgot to add […]
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Document Review, Non-Sequiturs, Paul Clement, Summer Associates
* “I doubt this is constitutional, but let’s just do it.” Sounds like business as usual down in the Senate as to plans to extend the FBI Director’s term. [Blog of Legal Times] * Are we really still talking about desegregating schools in Arkansas? I can’t even believe that this is a serious proposition. [WSJ […]
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KINNEY’S EVAN JOWERS IN HONG KONG TODAY THROUGH MARCH 4
Kinney’s head of Asia recruiting, Evan Jowers, is in Hong Kong today through March 4 and has some slots still available for meetings on this trip. Please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com if you would like to set up a meeting with Evan. His next trip to Hong Kong will be in late March.