November 2012
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6th Circuit, Affirmative Action, Federal Judges, Politics, Quote of the Day, Richard Posner, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Quote of the Day: Partisan Hearts Beating Underneath Their Robes?
How political are federal judges? Pretty darn political, according to a new book (co-authored by a noted federal judge). -
ATL Career Center Survey, Career Alternatives, Career Center, Reader Polls
Calling All Lapsed Lawyers
We are reaching out to lapsed lawyers to ask them their personal stories. Please take our survey and share your experiences. - 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… -
Celebrities, China, Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Shoes
Fashion Law & Order: Hand Over the Cash, or Risk Kidnapping Over Peep-Toes
Would you take hostages over a pair of shoes? That's apparently what's happening in China, and it's all Wendy Williams's fault.
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Money, Student Loans
Gradenfreude: Loan Debt Repayment for Law Grads Is a Scam
An underemployed law grad contemplates the government's loan debt repayment schemes, and doesn't like it one bit. Is it a scam? -
Admin, Announcements, Blogging, Job Searches, Media and Journalism, Shameless Plugs
Above The Law Seeks An Additional Writer And An Intern
If you might be interested in working with us, either full-time or as a paid intern, keep reading. -
Copyright, Facebook, Intellectual Property, Privacy, Social Media, Social Networking Websites, Technology
Facebook Laughs as Peon Users Attempt to Reclaim Their Privacy and Copyright Interests
Facebook's privacy rules are changing, and people are attempting to use status updates to override the system. That doesn't exactly compute with the real world... -
Associate Bonus Watch 2012, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Tax Law
Weil Won't Pay Bonuses Until January: Associates See Sinister Tax Motives
Did Weil just kick its associates over the fiscal cliff? -
Crime, Fashion, Free Speech, Music
Feline Riot
Do you know what a "balaclava" is? And that wearing one under certain circumstances can be a crime? - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Biglaw, Holidays and Seasons, Parties, Partner Issues
Buying In: O What A Night...
Anonymous Partner thinks holiday parties are a waste of time and money. Here's his proposal for what to replace them with. -
Crime, Deaths, Facebook, Intellectual Property, Kids, Law Schools, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Patents, Trademarks
Morning Docket: 11.27.12
* In case you missed this yesterday during the Cravath bonus-mania-palooza, David Kappos, the director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, announced that he’d be stepping down from his position in January 2013. [Blog of Legal Times]
* And speaking of bonuses, somebody’s not probably getting one this year, because here come the lawsuits: Hewlett-Packard just got slapped with a securities class action suit as a result of the company’s allegedly fraudulent Autonomy acquisition. [Reuters]
* Will Penn State’s former general counsel be able to testify against Gary Schultz and Tim Curley in post-Sandusky criminal proceedings? Considering she’s “a key witness,” she better be. [Corporate Counsel]
* Of course Vermont Law School is considering offering voluntary staff buyouts, the school has a freakin’ $3.3M budget shortfall. In other news, they’ll be upping LL.M. programs to make up the cash. [National Law Journal]
* Paul Ceglia, the man who claims he owns half of Facebook, has been indicted on federal wire and mail fraud charges. He’ll appear in court this Wednesday, but who knows if he’ll have a lawyer by then. [Bloomberg]
* Jay Jaffe, law firm public relations pioneer, RIP. [PRWeek]
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Holidays and Seasons, Job Searches, Law Schools
2012 Law Grad Has Thanksgiving Message of Threats And Recriminations for Law School Faculty
An unhappy recent law grad flips a Thanksgiving bird to his law school... -
Alston & Bird, Biglaw, Blogging, Bloomberg, David Boies, Health Care / Medicine, Law Schools, Mergers and Acquisitions, Money, Non-Sequiturs, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities Law, Supreme Court, Ted Olson
Non-Sequiturs: 11.26.12
* As soon as Mary Schapiro announced she was stepping down as chairwoman of the SEC, Obama nominated another woman to take her place. Congrats to SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter! [WSJ Law Blog] * In other breaking news that no one will care about now that bonus season is upon us, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg swapped out her neck doily for a blingy necklace from Glamour. [Josh Blackman's Blog] * You know what the ancient Romans would’ve hated more than watching the fall of the Roman empire? The Citizens United decision. Cato, Cicero, and Julius Caesar wouldn’t have been impressed with this. [Slate] * Why go to law school if you’re already doing well financially? Perhaps you’re just another prestige hunter. If you are, then all the better for you, because that seems to be what all of the law schools are selling these days. [Inside the Law School Scam] * Don’t cry for Argentina: they may be in the middle of a billion-dollar bond dispute, but the uber-prestigious lawyers on either side of the case (Boies; Olson) are enough to make you forget about their troubles. [Reuters] * A Biglaw attorney from Alston & Bird with a rare sleep disorder confronts Big Pharma and… doesn’t win. At least not yet. But on the bright side, she’s not sleeping for 18 hours anymore. [The Last Word on Nothing] * We’re honored to announce that Above the Law was named as one of the ten law blogs in the ABA Journal’s inaugural Blawg 100 Hall of Fame. Please click here if you’d like to help us win again this year. [ABA Journal] * After the jump, Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia speaks with a Bill Lawlor, a Dechert partner, who claims that “hope springs eternal for M&A attorneys.” Will the mergers and acquisitions market begin to boom once again? -
Associate Bonus Watch 2012, Biglaw, Bonuses, Holy Crap, Money
Breaking: Cravath Announces Year-End Bonuses; Let the 2012 Bonus Season Begin!
Cravath just announced its 2012 year-end bonuses. How much will CSM - and, of course, the many firms that follow CSM - be paying out this year?
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Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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Disasters / Emergencies, Nude Dancing
Who's Liable for This Massachusetts Strip Club Explosion?
A strip club explodes, and all we can think about is who'll be on the hook for damages in the ensuing lawsuit. -
Holidays and Seasons, Small Law Firms
The Practice: Closing Out the Year
Small-firm columnist Brian Tannebaum has some advice for lawyers about year-end planning... -
Football, Law Schools, Quote of the Day, Sports
Quote of the Day: When Football Completely Scrambles Your Brain, Law School Sounds Like a Great Idea
A former NFL football player is now a law school rookie. Which school is he attending? -
Bad Ideas, Blog Wars, Blogging, Defamation, Federal Government, Free Speech, New Orleans, Rank Stupidity, Technology, U.S. Attorneys Offices
When Anonymous Commenting Goes Wronger
Can you believe what's going on in the U.S. Attorney's Office down in New Orleans? -
Law Schools, LSAT
A Law School Finally Does Something About Decreasing Applications And Starts Offering Voluntary Buyouts
Law schools are entering a period of consequences... -
Education / Schools, Food, In-House Counsel, Travel / Vacation, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Inside Straight: A Native's View Of London
In-house columnist Mark Herrmann shares his reflections on London, where he has been living for the past few months. -
2nd Circuit, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, California, Cellphones, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Facebook, Federal Judges, Gay Marriage, Gender, Morning Docket, Privacy, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Technology
Morning Docket: 11.26.12
* Will it be DOMA or Prop 8? The countdown until Friday starts now, because everyone’s waiting to see whether the Supreme Court will grant cert on one of the five same-sex marriage cases that has come before the high court. [UPI]
* Walk like an Egyptian — or, in this case, you can protest like one. Judges and lawyers are on strike and filing legal challenges to President Mohamed Morsi’s “unprecedented attack on judicial independence.” [New York Times]
* Dewey know when this failed firm’s bankruptcy plan will be approved? Team Togut is hoping for a February resolution, but the rascally retirees may throw a wrench in things with their committee’s continued existence. [Am Law Daily]
* Even though the Northern District of California has a historic all-women federal bench — a courthouse of their own, if you will — there’s probably no need to tell them that THERE’S NO CRYING IN LITIGATION. No crying! [The Recorder]
* New technology + old laws = a privacy clusterf**k. This week, a Senate committee will contemplate whether the Electronic Communications Privacy Act needs to be updated to get with the times. [New York Times]
* The New York State Bar Association may oppose it, but Jacoby & Meyers’s challenge to the state’s ban on non-lawyer firm ownership shall live to see another day thanks to the Second Circuit. [New York Law Journal]
* An Alabama Slammer is both a dangerous cocktail and a term for what happens when your Southern law school refuses to cut its class size and you’re left woefully unemployed after graduation. [Birmingham News]
* Casey Anthony finds relevancy again! Girls in my high school used to search for “foolproof suffocation” on Google and later get acquitted of murdering their daughters all the time; it was no big deal. [USA Today]
* Dean Boland, aka Paul Ceglia’s gazillionth lawyer in the Facebook ownership case, will soon find out if can withdraw as counsel. He’s got other things to deal with, like a $300K child porn judgment. [Wall Street Journal]