July 2011
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Bar Exams, Gay, Gay Marriage, Immigration
Bar Review Diaries: Don't Panic
Well, we are just two weeks away. The bar exam looms. Our columnists have given up discussing country life and making fake advice lists. They are putting their noses to their respective grindstones. This week at the Bar Review Diaries, we hear some crowd-sourced opinions about studying for the bar, we learn the secret to […] -
Cheapness, Midsize Firms / Regional Firms, Money, Small Law Firms
The Mandatory Firm Retreat Associates Have To Pay For Out Of Pocket
Traditionally, if your employer is going to make you go to a mandatory retreat, then the employer is going to cover the hotel and airfare of the employees. That's just how corporate America works. But associates at one midsize firm seem to be getting the short end of the stick: their firm is apparently forcing them to attend a two-night retreat, but is only paying for a one-night stay in their hotel rooms. - 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… -
Boutique Law Firms, Fabulosity, Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Small Law Firms
Size Matters: No White After Labor Day Is Not Fashion Law
I consider myself to be pretty fashionable. Indeed, I (like so many others) pray to the patron saint of fashion, the Duchess of Cambridge. I am well versed in the laws of fashion. For example: 1. Thou shalt not wear a romper after age 22. 2. Thou shalt wear white any season. 3. Khakis are […]
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Law School Deans, Law Schools
What Might Have Happened at the Albany Law School Admissions Office
When a law school apparently replaces almost all of its admissions staff, it's problematic. When we reached out to the school, we were given a quick "no comment," but our readers certainly weren't short on comments, and we now believe we know more about what might have happened in upstate New York. -
Advertising, Biglaw, Career Center, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Career Center: Feedback and the Art of Patience
In this week’s Career Center Summer Associate Tips Series, Lateral Link’s Frank Kimball, an expert recruiter and former Biglaw hiring partner, demystifies the process of receiving feedback as a summer associate. As a law student, you may ask yourself: “What is it about attorneys and their inability to provide quality feedback in a reasonable amount […] -
Crime, Deaths, Law Schools, Murder, Violence
An Update On a Mercer Law Student's Untimely Death
A week and a half ago, we told you about the death of a Mercer Law student. The student has now been officially identified as Lauren Giddings, a recent Mercer Law graduate who was back in Macon studying for the bar. We have an update from Macon: our sources are telling us that the police have two persons of interest, but law students are still being questioned. -
Movies, Politics, Tort Reform
InJustice: Tort Reform's High Cost Documentary Infomercial
In Above the Law’s last film review, we spoke about Hot Coffee, a documentary film about the evils of tort reform in America. The film, which received rave reviews from publications like the New York Times and the Washington Post, was produced by former trial lawyer Susan Saladoff. Now, just two weeks later, InJustice, a […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.12.11
* A Casey Anthony video may be released, but it’s not the pornucopia that the male public is hoping for. I hope Nancy Grace did Kegels this weekend, because she’s about to have another cow. [ABC News] * First comes love, then comes gay marriage, then comes the best dressed and most fashionable baby ever […]
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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… -
Clerkships, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Fabulosity, Federal Judges, Feeder Judges, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Clerks
Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: The Changing of the Guard
At One First Street, home of the Supreme Court of the United States (aka "SCOTUS"), clerk classes are transitioning. July is when outgoing Supreme Court clerks leave the marble palace -- do pass go, do collect a $250,000 signing bonus -- and their replacements arrive. Interested in having a look at July's update on Supreme Court law clerk hiring? -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 07.11.11
* Wait, having your boss walk in screaming “Penis, Penis, Penis” doesn’t happen in every place of business? [Jezebel] * Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s case has been adjourned until August. [Thomson Reuters] * Yeah, well I told the phone what to do, so maybe I’m the “smart” one, and the phone has just gotten better at listening […] -
Contests, Crime, Lawyer of the Day, Mark Cuban, Prostitution, Reader Polls
June Lawyer of the Month: Score One For The Practice Of Law
So far, our Lawyers of the Month have been a motley crew. Dying helps. So does being incredibly stupid. But this month we have a lawyer who won our Lawyer of the Month competition just for his old-fashioned practice of the law. Yep, in a month where we had naked people and dead people, an […] -
California, Cars, Rudeness
Law License Plates: Cruising Credentials
It's been a while since our last post on law-related vanity license plates, but this submission comes to us all the way from California. Apparently the people out there are so laid-back that they're willing to freely offer up reasons to key their cars and slash their tires. You better leave a good tip for the valet, especially when this is your license plate. -
Admin, Announcements, Blogging, In-House Counsel
Help Wanted: Above the Law Seeks A Second In-House Columnist
Our first column for in-house counsel — Inside Straight, by Mark Herrmann — has been received warmly, by Above the Law readers and advertisers alike. Inspired by its success, we have decided to seek a second columnist to cover the world of corporate counsel. We already have two writers on the small-firm beat (Jay Shepherd […]
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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Law Schools, Videos, YouTube
Everyone Should Go To Law School
If you can’t beat them, join them. I just watched a three-part, 25-minute-long YouTube song arguing that everybody should go to law school. It was an experience. In the chorus of the song, they talked about “law school housewives” helping their community. It was a happy song until the end. And it was free. Look, […] -
Law School Deans, Law Schools
What Happened at the Albany Law School Admissions Office?
When a law school is in the middle of making major cuts all around, you'd figure that the administration would want to keep some people on board who know the ropes -- especially the people in charge of admitting new cash cows students. But, apparently, that is not the case in upstate New York. -
Blogging, Career Alternatives, DealBreaker, Goldman Sachs
Career Alternatives for Attorneys: Seriously Guys, This Blogging Thing Might Have Legs
If you are lawyer who is looking for a career change, you really might want to give blogging a try. You won’t make as much money as you would in a Biglaw job. You probably won’t make as much as you would working for a well-respected small law firm. But money isn’t everything. Take it […] -
Arent Fox, Barack Obama, Biglaw, Election 2012, Patton Boggs, Politics
Candidates For President And The Law Firms That Love Them
It doesn't matter which party you are from, or what your political platform is. It doesn't matter if you believe Obamacare is exactly like your own health care plan, or if you think marriage is a sacred vow shared by a man, a woman, and millions of viewers on The Bachelor. But what does matter is whether you have competent legal counsel. -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Old People, Practice Pointers, Screw-Ups
Inside Straight: The Ghosts Of Incompetents Past
There’s a reason why people get crotchety when they get old. People forget about things that went right in their professional lives; that’s like water off a duck. But people remember things that got screwed up; that’s what sticks in their craws. You personally are not necessarily incompetent. But you’re tarred by the ghosts of […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.11.11
* Reason No. 564,857,495,736 Why Law Graduates Are Unemployable: They don’t have good skills. You know, like social skills, networking skills, bow hunting skills. Just the usual. [Wall Street Journal] * At 91, Justice Stevens has got a virile mind, but he may have suffered a premature evacuation from the bench of the Supreme Court. […]
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Biglaw, Choate Hall & Stewart, Fabulosity, Lawyerly Lairs, Money, Partner Issues, Real Estate
Lawyerly Lairs: A Wicked Awesome, $13 Million Penthouse Condo
One Boston attorney has enough free cash flow to buy the most expensive condominium ever sold in Boston -- the very best penthouse at the Mandarin Oriental Residences, on tony Boylston Street. And who is the lucky lawyer who will get to spend another seven-figure sum finishing and then furnishing this 7,000-square-foot space?