Whenever a judge turns to rational-basis analysis, he’s basically saying, ‘You think two plus two equals five, and I don’t know how to add.’
– Professor Richard Epstein, at an interesting debate sponsored earlier this evening by the Columbia Law School Federalist Society. Professor Epstein and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.) debated the merits of Kelo v. City of New London (2005). Professor Epstein attacked Kelo and Chief Judge Kozinski defended the decision.
(The event was standing room only, even though tonight was Halloween. Clearly this was more fun to CLS students than donning cheap costumes from Ricky’s and marching around the Village in a state of inebriation.)
I’m starting to think that staff attorneys are being discriminated against because they are staff attorneys.
Today Thomson Reuters reports that a racial discrimination lawsuit has been filed against Quinn Emanuel by a former staff attorney. The plaintiff, who is African-American, claims that she was given less desirable work than her white colleagues and that she was forced to work with a person she “feared,” as retaliation for complaining about her treatment at the firm.
I’m not sure if racism really fits into Quinn’s work hard/play hard firm culture. I feel like the only color Quinn cares about is green, as in, “You’ve billed a ton of hours today despite being all kinds of hungover, I think you’re turning green”….
Continue reading “Staff Attorney Claims Discrimination at Quinn Emanuel”
* Would you wear your Halloween costume to court? [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]
* Student/teacher Facebook love is still legal in Missouri. [Adjunct Law Prof Blog]
* An in-depth interview with Tyler Coulson as he nears the end of his epic, totally getting a book deal, journey. [Am Law Daily]
* And here’s a good look at Ted Frank’s crazy class action ways. [WSJ Law Blog]
* If you round up all the sex offenders, what will the kids have to be afraid of when they are trick-or-treating? [The Examiner]
* We’ve mentioned the Jill Filipovic v. TSA freak off before. But never quite so explicitly. [The Legal Satyricon]
* Texas is shooting donkeys. Just another reason why Republicans are more hard core; liberals run around trying to save elephants. [Huffington Post]
Remember how everyone used say, “Don’t post anything on Facebook you wouldn’t want your boss to see. But if you do, just make sure you set your privacy settings so that your boss can’t see.”
Well, things have changed. Now, when companies enter workman’s compensation or personal injury litigation, courts will sometimes order discovery on password-protected Facebook information.
On Thursday, a New York appeals court ruled that a company could not see the plaintiff’s protected data, but not simply because it was private. Let’s see what happened…
Continue reading “New York Court Says Sometimes Facebook Info Might Actually Be Private”
Congratulations to the “Minority 40 Under 40.” This is a distinguished group of 40 minority lawyers, all under the age of 40, who have just been honored by the National Law Journal for their accomplishments within the legal profession.
Let’s learn more about them. Maybe you have friends or colleagues on the list?
Continue reading “Congratulations to the Minority 40 Under 40″
Whenever I ask law school deans to explain their BS employment statistics, they just shovel more BS my way.
But maybe if students themselves asked where these figures come from, they’d get some straight answers.
One student, at a law school that at this point is undisclosed, asked her dean why the school’s employment statistics were clearly misleading. And it looks like the dean broke things down for her.
She used the information to tell another story of the 99%….
Continue reading “The 99 Percent’s Take On Law School Employment Statistics”
A few years ago, the law firm of Nixon Peabody came up with a catchy jingle to celebrate its own fabulosity. You can listen to the song here, in case you’ve never heard it. The chorus went as follows: “Everyone’s a winner at Nixon Peabody!”
Alas, a recent lawsuit filed against Nixon Peabody by a former partner at the firm, David Tamman, does not put the firm in a very winning light. Instead, it just makes everyone look bad.
The allegations are seamy. What does Tamman allege?
Continue reading “Lawsuit of the Day: Everyone’s A Loser in Tamman v. Nixon Peabody”
Allegedly offensive Halloween costume
I thought the rule for Halloween costumes was “don’t dress like Hitler.” But apparently you are also supposed to wear costumes that are nice and compassionate — or else you might be smacked around in the New York Times.
(We won’t smack you around. Please send in Halloween pics, and you might win a t-shirt.)
Over the weekend, you might have seen the Times story on the Stephen J. Baum law firm. As the largest so-called “foreclosure mill” in New York state, representing banks that kick people out of their homes, it’s not the kind of place that receives hugs and kisses from the community. Which is fine; lawyers there are paid for their work.
Every year the Baum firm hosts a huge Halloween party. Last year, employees reportedly dressed up like the some of the people who lose their homes during the course of Baum’s foreclosure business.
Some people are outraged that foreclosure lawyers don’t have “compassion” for their adversaries….
Continue reading “Buffalo ‘Foreclosure Mill’ Employees Don Mean Costumes For Halloween”
Taylor Swift
* Snowtober was a treat for some, but a trick for many more. Let us know how your firm is handling this Halloween horror. Email us or send a text to (646) 820-TIPS. [Reuters]
* Will the legal profession continue to be a slave to ethical rules of the past? Only if lawyers can’t profit from it. And if they can, then say hello to an ABA resolution in 2012. [New York Times]
* Pot trafficker: add this one to the list of career alternatives for attorneys that aren’t working out so well. But if you don’t mind giving up your Benz and getting disbarred, then go for it. [Times Union]
* Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best topless trademark lawsuits of all time. One of the best topless trademark lawsuits of all time! [Daily Mail]
* Urine trouble, lady. Here’s some proof that next time things aren’t going your way in court, you should try peeing all over yourself. [New York Post]
Most of you will be going out on Saturday for Halloween. If anybody is going as a legally themed character, send in your pictures, by email (subject line: “Halloween Costume”). We’ll judge them and pick out the best ones. Winners will get t-shirts and respect. Last year was pretty great, so keep the good times rolling.
Here’s a YouTube clip with an attractive woman offering some fashion advice for law people this weekend….
Continue reading “Some Fashion Tips for Legal Types This Halloween”
I will not be in your porno!
* Maybe one of our readers can answer this dude’s question. Do you have any legal recourse if people keep trying to kidnap you and force you to film Saddam Hussein look-alike porn? [Legal Blawg Watch]
* Muslim students not allowed to form Muslim student group at Catholic University. Funny, you’d think the bigger story would be about how illiterate Muslims were tricked into going to a Catholic school. [Professor Bainbridge]
* The Georgia Bar Exam results are out. Congratulations to all those who passed. For those who didn’t, take comfort in the fact that you can eat a delicious peach. [Georgia Office of Bar Admissions]
* New Jersey: keeping Occupy Trenton protesters in the dark with their mouths shut since October 6. Like that’s such a bad thing. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Guys, if you’re going to cheat on your wife, at least do it with some integrity. [Daily Mail]
* If you scroll down far enough, you’ll see a funny bra ad about swaying a jury. But if you scroll too quickly you’ll miss all the other bra ads. [Retronaut via Overlawyered]
* And this one is called “stop lying” or, in the alternative, “don’t fall asleep on your porch while smoking a cigarette when you’re wasted and then wonder why you’re on fire.” [Legal Juice]
* The DOJ’s $16 muffin fiasco didn’t really happen. But that’s probably not how we’re all going to remember it. [TPM]
The other day, President Obama announced a “new” plan to help ease the burden of student debts, except it wasn’t really new, and it didn’t really help.
The mainstream media parroted the administration’s spin on the proposal, but it makes sense that the White House would want to find some students who were also excited about the plan to reduce the Income Based Repayment percentage to 10% in 2012.
Well, they found one. And he’s a law student.
President Obama is tweeting about this new support….
Continue reading “If This Is the Kind of Law Student Who Supports Obama’s Debt Relief Plans, the President Is in Trouble”
Not surprisingly, we’ve noticed a sharp uptick in same-sex weddings in the NYT since New York legalized gay marriage this summer. If you’re planning your own same-sex celebration, don’t miss this article on “Dressing Two Grooms.” Apparently lesbians are on their own.
Although we don’t have any gay finalists this week, we’ve unintentionally chosen a slate of opposite-sex finalists that looks like a United Colors of Benetton ad campaign. Here are our fabulously diverse contestants:
Mayumi Kawashima and Darius Kharabi
Adiya Dixon and Erin Wiggins
Darpana Sheth and Gregg Nunziata
You can find the juicy details on these couples, plus pictures, after the jump….
Continue reading “Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Buckeye Edition”
Here at Above the Law, it seems like we complain about the American Bar Association on an almost daily basis. But you know what? It’s Friday, so we’re going to cut the ABA some slack.
We’re a little tardy to the party on this one, but today we have some news for law students that could possibly put some money into their pockets, all courtesy of the ABA.
Shocking, right? Law students, you’ll want to take part in this sweepstakes, but act fast, because it all comes to an end on Halloween….
Continue reading “Law Students: The ABA Wants to Help You ‘Put a Dent in Your Debt’”
I bet William and Mary Law students are still allowed to party in Colonial Williamsburg.
It’s been a while since we had a story about an entire law school student body getting banned forever from a party venue. I think maybe the last school law to have this public shame was Tulane? I know things got pretty crazy at the UC Davis Law “prom” last year, but they didn’t get banned from anywhere.
But apparently neither of these schools has anything on the law students at William and Mary. According to the school’s Student Bar Association, the conduct of the students has been so disorderly that they’re running out of places in Williamsburg willing to host law school events.
Man, I guess you can see why a lady like Laura Flippin (she of the alleged .253 BAC) is on the William and Mary Board of Visitors….
Continue reading “William and Mary Running Out of Local Places Willing To Host Law School Events”
Make a law that for every student graduating from law school, he replaces an existing lawyer. That existing lawyer is then sent to an island to make dog bonnets and leg warmers. In a way, it’s a lottery designed to dissuade people from wanting to be lawyers, and increase the quality of our nation’s dog bonnets and leg warmers.
– Greg Gutfeld, host of Fox News Channel’s The Five, proposing a solution to the nation’s law student debt woes.
Welcome to the latest edition of Above the Law’s Grammer Pole of the Weak, a column where we turn questions of English grammar and usage over to our readers for discussion and debate.
Last week, we found out that 52% of our readers thought it was acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition, but with the caveat that it should be avoided if possible. That’s pretty wishy-washy, folks.
This week, we’re going to focus on an issue with a supreme split in authority, and you’re going to have to choose one side or the other. You’re going to pick Clarence Thomas’ side (you’ll soon see why we wrote it that way), or you’re going to pick David Souter’s side, but that’s it. Ooh, that’s a little possessive….
Continue reading “Grammer Pole of the Weak: Getting Possessive with SCOTUS”
