Archive for July 2011

Building a Defendable, Repeatable, In-House Electronic Discovery Process with a Proven Leader

By Above the Law


Guidance Software is recognized globally as the world leader in e-discovery and other digital investigations.

Since its inception in 1997, EnCase® software has laid the foundation for corporate, government and law enforcement organizations to conduct thorough and effective computer investigations of any kind. This includes everything from intellectual property theft to incident response to compliance auditing. Guidance handles it all while maintaining the forensic integrity of the data.

No other software company in this area can tout Guidance’s record of judicial acceptance in both federal and state court systems. It’s from this history and heritage that Guidance developed its EnCase eDiscovery Solution.

By reaching out across the network from a centralized location and collecting potentially relevant electronically stored information in a forensically sound manner, organizations not only reduce the risk associated with e-discovery but also the cost.

Guidance customers use EnCase eDiscovery to in source the e-discovery process. Doing so enables these companies to gain control and create a defensible, repeatable in-house process, and thereby save millions of dollars.

The company also offers customized services in incident response, computer forensics, evidence presentation and trial testimony. They use a team of e-discovery and litigation support experts, former law enforcement professionals, information assurance specialists and project managers who have front-line, hands-on experience in all areas of e-discovery and digital investigations.

Every year, Guidance Software trains more than 6,000 corporate, law enforcement and government professionals in e-discovery, computer forensics, and computer incident response. Courses and materials are offered in various languages at Guidance facilities worldwide, through corporate partners and online.

As for the eDiscovery Institute Legal Technology Summit 2011, “Guidance Software is proud to be a sponsor of this year’s event,” said VP of Marketing Leo Cole. “We welcome the opportunity to take part in one of the leading electronic discovery conferences in the nation. Many of the speakers and participants represent the divergent landscape of e-discovery. It is our sincere belief that the software, services and training offered by Guidance can help them meet their e-discovery obligations more effectively.”

You can check out GuidanceSoftware.com for more information, as well as get news and expert views from the World Leader in Digital Investigations™ in the Guidance Software Newsroom.

On-Campus Interviewing: Is Anybody Coming To See 3Ls?

By Elie Mystal

Ladies and gentlemen, on-campus interviewing season is upon us. Rising 2Ls are already making their way back to campus, eager to start on a process that will hopefully land them jobs. OCI isn’t how all law students get their post-graduate jobs, especially if they want to work for small law firms, but it is what students should do if they want high-salaried, Biglaw jobs.

That’s the way it works for 2Ls.

Five years ago, 3Ls who (for whatever reason) didn’t have Biglaw jobs lined up after their 2L summers could go back to school and interview with firms looking to hire them for the summer after graduation.

But here in 2011, things are rough going for 3Ls.

How bad? Take our reader poll below and let’s find out….

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Morning Docket: 07.26.11

By Juggalo Law

Jenner Block logo.JPG* Anders Breivik was denied his soapbox as yesterday’s court appearance was held in private. On a related note, Glenn Beck never disappoints. [Los Angeles Times]

* California passed a law that will allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at California universities. What say you, Cheech? [CNN]

* Jenner & Block made a mint defending video games before the Supreme Court. Speaking of video games, this story on something called Dwarf Fortress was excellent. [Washington Post]

* Elie begged for consistency from gay marriage opponents yesterday. Governor Rick Perry of Texas has obliged. Get a room, you two. [Austin American-Statesman]

* One of the biggest providers of kidney dialysis is being charged with wasting large amounts of drugs in order to game Medicare. Say what you will about Amy Winehouse, but she didn’t waste drugs. [New York Times]

* Part Two of our ongoing series on Asian men accused of behaving badly features Representative David Wu of Oregon, who is under fire for an alleged sexual encounter with the teenage daughter of a donor. [USA Today]

* Musical Chairs: former Orrick partner Josh Galper goes in-house, joining Personal as chief policy officer and general counsel. [PR Newswire]

Lawsuit of the Day: Youngblood v. Irell & Manella
Former partner alleges sexual harassment by Morgan Chu.

By David Lat

Morgan Chu

Legendary litigator Morgan Chu, former managing partner and current litigation chair at Irell & Manella, is one of the nation’s top intellectual-property attorneys and trial lawyers. He has tried multiple IP cases to nine-figure jury verdicts, and he has earned every professional accolade under the sun (see his Irell website bio). He is arguably the nation’s #1 IP litigator. (If you disagree, make your case for someone else in the comments.)

And now Morgan Chu is the subject of sexual-harassment allegations. In a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court on Friday, former Irell partner Juliette Youngblood alleges that Chu sexually harassed her, then retaliated against her after she rejected his advances.

Morgan Chu is widely admired — at Irell, where his rainmaking monsoon-making helps generate robust partner profits (over $2.9 million in PPP in 2010), as well as above-market associate bonuses; in IP litigation circles, where he is a fearsome adversary; and among Asian-American lawyers, where he stands as proof that we can excel at litigation as well as transactional work.

It’s hard to believe that such a beloved figure has been hit with such salacious allegations (which we must emphasize are mere allegations at this point, nothing more). But let’s forge ahead and check them out — along with the pertly pretty plaintiff who is making them….

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Former partner alleges sexual harassment by Morgan Chu.“

  • 25 Jul 2011 at 5:03 PM
  • Bar Exams

Bar Review Diaries: Best of Luck on the Bar Exam!

By Christopher Danzig

For all our readers and friends starting the bar exam tomorrow: Good luck! You can do it!

Keep reading for a few last-minute tips. And let’s see if any of the many readers who have already passed the big test have some advice…

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Non-Sequiturs: 07.25.11

By Elie Mystal

* Now the “we patented buying things on your phone” guys, Lodsys, has amended their complaint to mess with Angry Birds. [TPM]

* Warren Jeffs, it’s time for your closeup. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Advice for law students: don’t sit around waiting for legal-education reform; instead, “[l]earn to stop worrying and love to blog.” [Tabulaw]

* Who doesn’t like crazy cover letters? [Trolling for Jobs]

* A useful lawyer blog dies so a person can get back to living his life. [Simple Justice]

* This looks like an awesome present to get somebody who has just taken the bar. Just make sure you get it for a person who is likely to pass the bar. [Approach the Bench]

* Congressman Peter King just said the dumbest thing ever. [New York 1]

Quote of the Day: From Law Professor to Senator?
(Hey, it worked for Obama.)

By David Lat

She’s an enormously affable, accessible person. I don’t think she would come with the baggage that someone from an elite university might sometimes have.

– Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School, discussing the possibility that his colleague, Professor Elizabeth Warren, might run to represent Massachusetts in the United States Senate.

Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Getting Your Name Out There

By Jay Shepherd

Twenty years ago this September, I started law school not knowing anyone there. More importantly, no one there knew me.

Now, mind you, this was at Boston College Law School, where such things aren’t really emphasized. I mean, it’s not like at that school across the Charles, where people like the Winklevii both wear and file suits. At BC Law, which (at least back then) prided itself on being a kinder, gentler law school, it wasn’t really about who you knew, or who knew you. (Yes, one of those whos should really be a whom, but only someone at Harvard would actually say it that way.)

Still, it’s nice to have people know who are you are, and it’s a useful skill to develop for after school, when you need to know how to market your services as a lawyer.

So three weeks after school started, almost everyone knew my name. You see, I had a secret weapon.…

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Could the Anti-Marriage-Equality People Please Make Up Their Minds?

By Elie Mystal

For years, the anti-gay-marriage crowd has been railing against unelected judges “imposing” marriage equality on a people not yet ready for social progress. But New York’s gay marriage bill was approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor last month, and marriages began yesterday. As we mentioned in Morning Docket, it was really beautiful here in the city this weekend. The new law appeared to be quite popular.

And so, of course, the anti-marriage-equality people now want judges — yes, judges — to interfere in the political process, and put a stop to all these people walking around and loving each other….

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Nelson v. Jones Day: Case Dismissed

By David Lat

Back in November 2010, we reported on the lawsuit of Nelson v. Jones Day. Plaintiff Jaki Nelson, an African-American woman who worked as a legal secretary in the Los Angeles office of Jones Day, sued the firm, alleging race-based discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and infliction of emotional distress. In her lawsuit, Nelson made some rather lurid allegations.

Allegations that, it appears, were lacking in merit. The case has been dismissed.

Let’s learn more — and see what the firm has to say about the dismissal….

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To Be Young, An Executive, And Above the Law: Thoughts on the Debt Ceiling Impasse

By Elie Mystal

As Republicans continue to play chicken with the nation’s solvency, the idea that the president doesn’t need congressional approval to raise the debt ceiling is gaining traction. The thought bubble suggests that President Obama can raise the debt ceiling because of language in the Fourteenth Amendment stating that the nation’s debt “shall not be questioned.”

The idea has been trumpeted by none other than former president Bill Clinton. Clinton said that he would unilaterally raise the debt ceiling and “force the courts to stop me.”

Of course, President Clinton had what the scientists call “balls.” He knew how to handle a group of intractable Republicans more concerned with scoring political points than governing.

President Obama? The New York Times has his response: “I have talked to my lawyers. They are not persuaded that that is a winning argument.”

Can Aaron Sorkin please write a “Let Obama Be Obama” episode? Because sometimes Barack Obama really likes to dangle his feet in the water of whatever the hell it is he dangles his feet in, when he wants to make it look like he’s trying without pissing too many people off.

In any event, is invoking Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment a “winning” argument that could solve this debt crisis?

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Inside Straight: A Billable Life

By Mark Herrmann

Call me a step slow.  I’ve only recently stumbled across the memo prepared by Yale Law School warning students about the tyranny of the billable hour. As someone who billed hours for more than 25 years but no longer plays in that sandbox, I feel compelled to comment.

At the outset, let me type words that may startle lawyers just now beginning their careers:  I never felt burdened by the need to bill hours.  (Let the abuse begin!) After clerking, I started my career in the 1980s at a small firm that didn’t make a big deal about billing time.  I was instructed by one senior partner (and I very nearly quote):  “You learn the area of law that you’re researching; that’s what will make you a valuable lawyer some day.  I’ll take care of the bill, making sure that our client pays only a fair price for your work.”  (I later dedicated a book to that guy.)

I was told by another partner:  “We’re a small firm, so we’re not as prominent as the big firms are.  It’s part of your job to help raise the collective profile of this firm and its lawyers.  We don’t particularly care whether you join a bar association, write articles, or go on the board of a non-profit, but we do care that you do something to let people in the community know that we exist.  It’s part of your job.”

I thought those guys were right, and I took that attitude with me when I later (must have popped a gasket and) moved from a small firm in San Francisco to one of the world’s largest firms in Cleveland.  I continued to stay busy with client work, but I also made a point of helping to raise the firm’s profile in the world. I occasionally felt burdened by the crush of work, but I never felt burdened by the need to “bill hours.”  In the course of 25 years, while I practiced law at two different firms, no one ever said a word to me about the number of hours that I billed.

That cuts in both directions. On the one hand, no one ever asked me why I was foolishly wasting all that non-billable time teaching classes and working on non-profit boards. On the other hand (at least after I left San Francisco), no one ever said, “Congratulations for having written those books,” or, “Congratulations on getting that article published in the Wall Street Journal.”  But I, at least, took far more satisfaction in those accomplishments, and in the results that I achieved for clients, than I ever took in having billed a lot of hours (which seems to me like a uniquely unsatisfying professional goal).

How many hours did I bill?

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Morning Docket: 07.25.11

By Juggalo Law

Image via Getty

* Where does Amy Winehouse’s estate go? Here’s a suggestion that it goes… wait for it… Back to Blake. Get it? You guys get it. [Gawker]

* In the other news that dominated the weekend, Norway’s resident nightmare factory, Anders Breivik, wants to explain himself in court. [Reuters]

* Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s accuser has begun her media blitz. Last prosecutor out, please turn off the lights. [Newsweek via New York Post]

* To those who pout about the generally positive coverage of gay marriage on this site, here’s a Washington Times story connecting Jonathan Turley’s Sister Wives lawsuit to gay marriage. You’re welcome. [Washington Times]

* And to those who can’t get enough positive coverage of gay marriage, a recap of all the gay marrying in New York over the weekend. Congratulations, Ms. Siegel and Ms. Kopelov. You kids crushed it. [New York Times]

* A new rule proposed by the Labor Department may require law firms to disclose work they do if it’s used to “persuade workers on union activity.” Seems like as good a time as any to link to this bunny rabbit eating parsley. [Washington Post]

* Charles Manatt, former DNC chair and founding partner of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, R.I.P. [Los Angeles Times]

Caption Contest: New York Law School

By David Lat

The past week has been an interesting one for New York Law School. The school started off the week as the focal point of a major New York Times article, entitled Law School Economics: Ka-Ching! (which we discussed here).

The school’s outgoing dean, Richard Matasar, struck back with a forceful response. We took note of it on Tuesday.

We started the week with NYLS, so let’s end the week with NYLS. After the jump, we provide you with the photo for our latest caption contest….

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Non-Sequiturs: 07.22.11

By Elie Mystal

Rashard Mendenhall

* You’ve got to check out this lawsuit (in case you missed it earlier). An athlete says nonsensical tripe over Twitter, loses his endorsements, and then wants to sue. Yeah, Rashard Mendenhall has the right to say whatever he wants, and we have the right to spend a lifetime calling him an idiot. [Legal Blitz]

* I’m not sure that creating jobs for prison inmates is exactly what the voters in Wisconsin had in mind. [Adjunct Law Prof Blog]

* The Winklevoss twins really justify all the hate I’ve ever had for the trust fund, Final Club set at Harvard. [Dealbreaker]

* When law firms fight back (against News Corp.). [Am Law Daily]

* I’ve never read somebody waxing so poetically about the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. [What About Clients?]

* The state of intellectual property is… well, confusing. [Law &Technology / Forbes]

* I’m telling you, this is the most intelligent explanation of why Twitter is what it is. [An Associate's Mind]

Lawsuit of the Day: Asking For Proof Of Panties Is One Way To Put Them in a Bunch

By Elie Mystal

The tyranny of air travel continues. But every day, the resistance grows.

Today brings us word of another attempt by the allies of freedom to fight against the invasive and demeaning tactics our government uses against air travelers. There’s been a lawsuit filed by financial consultant Malinda Knowles against JetBlue Airways.

Her allegation? An airline worker asked her to confirm that she was wearing panties.

Knowles claims that was escorted off the plane, then made to lift up her shirt. Even after she showed her drawers to the worker’s satisfaction, she was still booted off of the flight.

And this wasn’t even ordered by a member of the TSA goonsquad under some BS security rationale. Knowles was allegedly asked to flash a JetBlue worker to confirm that she met with JetBlue’s dress code….

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The Broken Law School Model: What Is To Be Done?

By David Lat

Yale Law School

Here at Above the Law, we’ve been discussing problems with the current law school model for quite some time now. My colleague Elie Mystal, for example, has railed against the high cost of law school, the crippling debt taken on by many law students, and the scarcity of jobs waiting for them on the other side.

By now we’re all aware of the problems. What about possible solutions?

In the wake of David Segal’s most recent New York Times exposé on law school shenanigans, the Times’s Room for Debate section solicited perspectives from a number of experts — including yours truly — on whether and how to reform legal education.

The responses are quite interesting. Let’s check them out, shall we?

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Quote of the Day: The Bloom Is Off Obama?

By David Lat

I think he’s done a terrible job with Organizing for America and for his base, and with the recognition of the people who worked for him. I frankly think the staff, the reelection staff, are incompetent fools.

– Willard Taylor, former partner (and current of counsel) at Sullivan & Cromwell, commenting to Politico on the reelection effort of President Barack Obama. Taylor served as a fundraiser for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

(Gavel bang: David Ingram.)

Don’t Call It A Loophole

By Elie Mystal

I love it when this kind of thing happens. I’ve loved it ever since my very first day of Property class. I love it whenever anybody, anywhere in this country, seeks or gains title to something via adverse possession.

Every time it happens, it’s just tangible freaking proof that laws aren’t just a bunch of grand theories written in tomes that grow lonely from disuse. Adverse possession isn’t an existential contemplation, it’s a real-ass way that property can be transferred from those who are hoarding it to those who can use it.

And the fact that laypeople always freak out when confronted with this most basic of property concepts delights me to no end. Everybody loves private property in this country, but 200 million of them have no idea where it comes from. You’d think “fee simple” is something they would teach in middle school in a country like ours, but you need a graduate degree before people even try to teach you about real property.

I’m trying to say that the man who’s trying to get a $330,000 house for $16 bucks is a great American….

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Job of the Week: Opportunities Abound in Houston

By Above the Law

The job market in Houston is ready for liftoff. Several of Lateral Link’s top law firm clients are looking for associates with experience in finance, capital markets, energy transactions and patent prosecution. This week we are featuring a corporate position for attorneys with capital markets experience. If you are interested in this Job of the Week or would like information on one of the several other open positions in Texas, contact T.J. Duane, at tjduane@laterallink.com.

Position: Capital Markets Associate

Location: Houston, TX

Description: The Houston office of a prominent law firm is seeking a corporate associate with 2-6 years of sophisticated capital markets work. Strong academic credentials are required.

If you are currently a Lateral Link member, see position #9350 for more information. Not a member? Join Lateral Link to access hundreds of law firm and in-house jobs and to work with a recruiter.