November 2011
-
Biglaw, Billable Hours, Bonuses, Money, Partner Profits
You Want Your Bonus? We Want Your Time Sheets.
As we all know from the law-and-economics reasoning that was taught to us in law school, people -- yes, this includes lawyers -- respond to incentives. At one leading law firm, bonus anxiety is being shrewdly harnessed in service of collections efforts. CHECK YOU TIME SHEETS.... -
Crime, Law Schools
Former Hofstra 1L Accused of Impersonating a Psychiatrist
Maybe Amora Rachelle missed the day they talked about fraud statutes at Hofstra Law? There is a crazy story coming out of Long Island, my homeland, about Rachelle, a woman who was arrested for fraud for posing as a psychiatrist and billing insurance companies despite not having a medical license. Rachelle already made the news […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Asians, Kids, Law Professors, Law Schools, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: Paging Amy Chua
She told me that I had not only embarrassed myself, but also her, my entire immediate family, all Chinese people, all Asian people, all humans, and in fact all carbon-based life forms. — Asian-American law professor Peter Huang of the University of Colorado, opining on the wrath of his tiger mother in an essay entitled […]
-
Breasts, Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Law Schools, Shoes, Women's Issues
A Message from Career Services: Ladies, Please Learn How to Dress Yourselves
We thought that we had gotten the point across on this in October: ladies, if you dress like hookers, the only jobs you'll get will be underneath a partner's desk. But apparently that message fell on deaf ears, because one law school's Career & Professional Development Office had to co-sponsor an event with the school's Women Law Students Association on how to properly dress for an interview.... -
Holidays and Seasons, Small Law Firms
The Practice: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like a Non-Biglaw Christmas
If you’re a newly departed Biglaw lawyer, that silence you hear is the absence of the email from the firm’s office manager asking you how many Christmas, sorry, “holiday” cards you need to send out this year. And if you’re in the first year or so of your own practice, I bet you can’t wait […] -
Education / Schools, Law Schools, New York Times, Practical Law Company (PLC), Student Loans
Pay to Go to Law School or Get Paid to Quit: You Won't Be Learning Anything Either Way
How screwed up is legal education these days? One mainstream publication recently published an article suggesting law students should be paid to not go to law school, while the paper of record noted that nobody learns how to be a lawyer in law school anyway. Welcome to law school, the red-headed stepchild of American professional schools.... -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Trials
Inside Straight: Showing, Not Telling, That You're Competent
When we write briefs, we show — we don’t tell — the reader that we win. Thus, we do not tell the reader: “This case is barred by the statute of limitations,” which is mere assertion. Instead, we show the reader why we win: “The accident in which plaintiff was hurt occurred on June 1, […] -
Barack Obama, Biglaw, Drinking, Election 2012, Family Law, Kids, Morning Docket, New Jersey, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Morning Docket: 11.21.11
* I guess it really doesn’t matter how much lawyers love Ron Paul if Biglaw firms keep emptying their seemingly overflowing coffers into Obama’s re-election campaign. [Washington Post] * Congratulations to Yale Law School graduate Ronan Farrow, son of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow. Ronan probably isn’t shallow and empty with no ideas and nothing […]
- 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… -
Bar Exams, California
Congrats, California Bar Takers; Or Condolences, as the Case May Be
At 6:00 p.m. Pacific on Friday night, Elie was one of the only black guys -- oops, Redguards -- in Skyrim. But if you took the California Bar in July, you were clicking around trying to figure out if you passed. Don't worry, it was pretty simple to find out, and if you failed, you had the whole weekend to prepare before everybody knew it.... -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 11.18.11
* When you let anyone with half a brain into law school and key the bar exam at a level where most people can pass it, you’re going to end up with lawyers like these. [New York Personal Injury Law Blog] * On Southwest, bags fly free, but you are going to pay for your […] -
Asians, Law School Deans, Law Schools, listserv
Closing the Loop on the Case of Bro Versus Thailand
Earlier this week, we told you about the Northwestern Law student who made a joke about Thailand on the Northwestern listserv. The joke was in poor taste, especially given that it was in response to a solicitation for charitable donations after a deadly flood in Thailand. I thought the penalty would be a chorus of […] -
Gay, Lawsuit of the Day, Religion
Vatican Sues Over Pictures of Pope Sucking Face
I’m not sure it’s fair to call the Vatican “homophobic.” Homophobia contemplates a kind of fear. It’s a prejudice that, like so many, comes out of ignorance. The Vatican is different. They think they’re at war with gays and lesbians — and who knows how many of these guys are at war with their own […] -
Biglaw, Boutique Law Firms, California, Litigators, Silicon Valley, Small Law Firms
From Biglaw to Boutique: Trading Places
Some people thought he might be nuts for leaving litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel. But the prospects of starting his own firm and building a practice from the ground up were too compelling to ignore. Please welcome our new small-firm columnist, Tom Wallerstein!
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
-
Bad Ideas, Breasts, Gender, Kids, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Women's Issues
NINJA NIPs to Stage a Courthouse 'Nurse-In' Protest in Michigan
Earlier this week, we wrote about Natalie Hegedus, a young Michigan mother who claims she was “humiliated” after a judge called her out for breastfeeding in court. Women across the country were outraged that a judge would find this sort of behavior in his courtroom to be inappropriate. As we noted previously, Michigan is is […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Wall Street
The 1% Would Like Their Bonuses... NOW
Last year, on November 17th, we asked where the Biglaw bonuses were. Cravath announced five days later. So if the firms are waiting for a personal invitation to announce their 2011 bonus payments, they should feel free to RSVP to this post. We're ready for the bonuses now.... -
English Grammar and Usage, Reader Polls
Grammer Pole of the Weak: That's Irregardless...
Welcome to the latest edition of Above the Law’s Grammer Pole of the Weak, a column where we turn questions of legal writing and English grammar and usage over to our readers for discussion and debate. This week, we turn to a question of grammar. Have you been using the word "irregardless" instead of "regardless"? -
Brett Kavanaugh, Clerkships, Department of Justice, Fabulosity, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Feeder Judges, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, SCOTUS, Solicitor General's Office, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Clerks
Congratulations to the 2012 Bristow Fellows
Congratulations to the 2012 Bristow Fellows, who learned of their selection earlier this month. These one-year fellowships in the U.S. Solicitor General's Office, awarded to recent law school graduates with outstanding academic records and top clerkships, are generally regarded as second only to Supreme Court clerkships in prestige. Let's take a look at the next crop of Bristow Fellows.... -
Barack Obama, Holidays and Seasons, LLMs, Morning Docket, Pornography, Supreme Court Clerks, Tax Law
Morning Docket: 11.18.11
* John Wilkes Booth. Lee Harvey Oswald. Oscar Ortega-Hernandez. Sorry, Oscar, you have three names, but you didn’t actually kill the president, so you don’t get to join the club. [New York Times] * Former SCOTUS clerk Roy McLeese III has been nominated for a seat on the D.C. Court of Appeals. I don’t have […]
-
Canada, Career Alternatives, Job Searches, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Music
Open Thread: What Would You Have Done Instead of Going to Law School?
Given all of the other opportunities that you may have had, was going to law school the best choice you could have made? If you knew then what you now know, would you still have signed on the dotted line and accepted your seat in the class? What would you have done instead of going to law school? -
Art, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 11.17.11
* Prop 8 proponents have standing. So, I guess the Ninth Circuit will now be looking at the merits of bigotry? [MetroWeekly] * Five ways to get your clients to pay you faster. How did “breaking kneecaps” not make the list? [Open Forum] * Ethics for cops. Not that I agree with her, but if […]