In case you hadn't noticed, earlier this week we launched AboveTheLaw 2.0 -- a redesigned, retooled version of ATL, the legal tabloid site you've come to know and love. There have been a few technological hiccups associated with the relaunch -- e.g., most of yesterday -- and there will surely be more in the days (and weeks) ahead. But we will muddle through. Thanks again for your continued patience.

On the question of design, opinions will differ, as they always will on matters aesthetic (and more on that later). But on an objective level, the new site offers several cool new features not available on the old site:

1. Community Section: This is ATL's version of a message board. Annoyed that we haven't yet used your idea for an open thread? Start up the thread yourself! The Community section is open to any readers who wish to post discussion topics of their choosing. To access this part of the site, just click on the "Community" box in the upper right-hand corner (or click here). [FN1]

2. Past Precedents: One of the problems with a blog-style, purely chronological format is that the newest post always goes above the old, regardless of relative importance -- and when a post scrolls off the ATL front page, it's sometimes as if it never existed. So in the "Past Precedents" box on the front page, we draw your attention to recent notable stories and classic ATL items that no longer grace the main page.

3. Comment Capabilities: If you want to take ownership of your most witty or insightful comments, now you can, by registering for a commenter username and password. This is how internet celebrities are born! E.g., Loyola 2L.

But if you prefer to comment anonymously, you can still do that, just as you could on the old site. Simply click on the "Comment as a guest" link, and have at it.

(One minor note: the byline for guest commenters will always read "guest." So if the humor of your comment inheres in the byline, you need to incorporate that into the body of your comment -- which you can easily do by "signing" your comment inside the box provided for comment text.)

4. Hot Topics: Self-explanatory. Certain popular or noteworthy subjects discussed on ATL will be highlighted in the "Hot Topics" band at the top of the page.

And now, the promised word on design. Although some of us are nostalgic for the old design, which had a certain amateurish charm -- we kinda miss the demonic-looking judge of the old site logo -- we've been told that there's no turning back. The new design -- by the professionals over at Concentric Studio, who redesigned our sister sites, Dealbreaker and Fashionista -- is here to stay. (But a few tweaks may be made here and there; feel free to offer constructive criticism, in the comments to this post, or in this Community thread.)

Nevertheless, just out of curiosity -- because we've received both rants and raves, and don't know whether the emails and comments are representative of the readership as a whole -- please take our poll:

We hope that you enjoy the new look and features of the revamped ATL. We'll continue to work hard to make it, in terms of both form and content, a delightful site, informative and entertaining at the same time. Welcome!

[FN1] Please note that we will moderate the Community section, just as we moderate comments on regular posts, primarily to remove spam and other problematic material. Unfortunately, due to%2

U can't touch this. Website. At least for a little while.

We have a little surprise in store for you, loyal readers of Above the Law. We hope you like it.

But the surprise will require us to turn off comments on ATL for a bit, probably a few hours. So if you want to comment on something and are prevented from doing so, now you know why.

Anyway, surely you have better things to do with your evening than to sit in front of your computer, kvetching about the MPRE or speculating about SCOTUS nominees. We hope.

So go out and enjoy yourselves. We'll see you tomorrow.

U Can't Touch This [Wikipedia]

In light of the explosive economic growth of China and the Far East, many top U.S. and global law firms are trying to figure out how to enter Asia. And Above the Law is, too.

We're looking for someone to write a weekly column for us about practicing law in Asia. It would be similar to ATL's other columns -- e.g., Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, Sports and the Law -- but centered on what it's like to be a lawyer in Asia.

The ideal candidate would be someone currently practicing in Asia. But former and future Asia practitioners would also be considered, as long as they can write knowledgeably about working in Asia, have a network of sources on the ground, etc.

The columnist can write under a pseudonym if desired. The gig comes with pay (a modest stipend). It's an excellent opportunity for anyone looking to do some fun, non-legal writing, or to share their expat experience with ATL's large and growing readership.

If you might be interested, please email us (subject line: "Asia column"). Please include a brief bio and a discussion of your vision for the column, including possible topics to write about if you have some in mind.

Thanks! We look forward to reviewing your applications.

Greetings from the great -- but frigid -- city of Chicago. We're hanging out with friends and doing some sightseeing, but the main reason for our visit is this event, taking place on Thursday (and open to the public):

Judges As Public Figures
Thursday, February 21, 2008, 4:15 PM
University of Chicago Law School, Room II

Judge Richard Posner
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

David Lat
Above the Law
Underneath Their Robes

Professor Lior Strahilevitz
University of Chicago Law School

While in Chi-town, we will also be meeting readers at an ATL "Happy Hour," similar to the event we held in Miami last year. It will take place on Wednesday, February 20, sometime after work (time and place to be determined).

Update: The Chicago "Happy Hour" will take place on Wednesday, February 20, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Miller's Pub (134 S. Wabash). Hope to see you there!

Schedule of Events [University of Chicago Law School Federalist Society]

[Ed. note: We're looking for someone to share Morning Docket duties with B. Clerker (on an alternating-week schedule). If you'd like to be considered for this position, please follow the application instructions contained in this post. The main thing that has changed between then and now is that the gig now comes with pay -- a modest stipend. Thanks.]

* MSFT + YHOO = Antitrust Scrutiny. Also, the identities of the law firms advising on the mega-deal. [WSJ Law Blog; New York Times]

* The quality of mercy is not strained... except in the Office of the United States Pardon Attorney. [New York Times via How Appealing]

* Hidden-camera video evidence leads to reopening of Natalee Holloway investigation in Aruba. [ABC News; AP]

* HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson accused of favoritism and retaliation in lawsuit. [Washington Post]

* Prominent conservatives Steven Calabresi and John McGinnis, on Sen. McCain and Supreme Court nominations: "the nomination of John McCain is the best option to preserve the ongoing restoration of constitutional government." [Wall Street Journal via How Appealing]

Our friends at the ABA Journal are working on an interesting piece about associates getting "pigeonholed" at their law firms. They're looking for some sources, opinions, and ideas. We're hoping that you can help.

Some background, from Richard Acello, the reporter on the story:

By pigeonholing, we mean the tendency of an associate to get locked into a practice area -- depending on what the firm does -- because he/she was assigned to a lawyer or group upon joining the firm. So let's say it was an intellectual property firm, and the associate does all patent prosecutions. (We can probably think of similar specialty/subspecialty examples in other practices.)

How does the associate branch out? After all, they probably don't want to rock the boat or have partners think they're unhappy, especially when compared to other associates who, say, have happily accepted being pigeonholed.

Who should be responsible for this? Should the firm have a built in way to make sure associates get a variety of work, or should it be the associate's responsibility to speak up?

These are all excellent questions. If you have some thoughts, please opine in the comments (and provide some descriptive information in your signature if possible -- e.g., "IP associate at East Coast law firm"). You can also contact reporter Rich Acello directly, via email, by clicking here. Thanks.

[Ed. note: As you may recall, last month we solicited applications for the position of ATL's sports columnist. We thank the many fine applicants who threw their hats into the ring.

Today we're pleased to introduce you to this site's new sportswriter: Marc Edelman, a sports lawyer and law professor. You can reach him directly by email (click here). And now, without further ado, we turn the floor over to Professor Edelman.]

As a young boy, I remember sitting with my father watching Super Bowl XXI. In that game, New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms completed 22-of-25 passes for 268 yards, leading my hometown G-Men to a 39-20 victory over John Elway’s Denver Broncos. At that moment, I knew that I would one day work in sports.

Flash forward 21 years. The Giants are back in the Super Bowl. Their then-famous center Bart Oates is now a practicing attorney, and I recently was named as a professor of sports law at New York Law School, Seton Hall University, and Manhattanville College. I am also the new sports columnist at Above the Law.

In the coming weeks, my column Sports and the Law will focus on issues involving the legal aspects of sports, including moral issues, labor policy, and antitrust policy (or lack thereof). This column will also discuss how lawyers can find jobs in the sports field.

Read the first column, after the jump.

Today we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the pioneering civil rights leader. Dr. King's birthday was actually on January 15th, but the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year.

Many of you are not in the office today, in honor of the holiday. If you're not at work, we hope that you are enjoying the day off. (We are around, but will be posting less than usual.)

If you are looking for something to do, we suggest that you treat today as an opportunity for public service. You can look up a service project in your area at MLKDay.gov.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Blawg Review #143 [Public Defender Stuff via Blawg Review]
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service [MLKDay.gov]

If you're a victim of the latest round of associate layoffs at large law firms, we'd like to interview you. The subject of layoffs is an important one, and the legal community is keenly interested in it. But getting firsthand information -- from lawyers who have been laid off themselves, as opposed to people who just know things "through the grapevine" -- can be tough.

Hence this open call for sources. If you've been laid off and would be willing to be interviewed about your situation -- and please note, you can remain anonymous -- we hope that you'll drop us a line. You'd be doing a service to your peers and contributing valuable information to the public discourse.

If you'd be willing to chat, please email us, and we can set up a time to talk. Thanks.

Belated congratulations to the winners of the inaugural Blawg 100 readers' choice contest, sponsored by the ABA Journal, which were announced late last week. More than 25,000 votes were cast in 12 categories.

We previously wrote about the extremely close race between Overlawyered and Quizlaw, duking it out in the Generally Speaking category. Congrats to Quizlaw, which prevailed by 19 votes.

Also, thanks to everyone who voted for ATL for Best Gossip Blog category, which we won handily. We're tremendously grateful for your support.

And not just in these blog contests, but on a more general level -- through your readership, your comments (even the attacks on us -- they're all pageviews), and your tips and info. The legal blogosophere may be plateauing or reaching a saturation point, as suggested by Orin Kerr and Daniel Solove, among others. But ATL has been growing pretty consistently since its launch, with November 2007 as this site's biggest month ever in terms of traffic. We thank Cravath for the early Christmas gift of a big traffic boost, in the form of its October bonus announcement, which triggered a bonus season that lasted for two months (and is still going on, to a certain extent).

So once again, congratulations to our fellow winners, and thanks to you, our readers, for your support. We're looking forward to another great year in 2008.

Readers’ Choice Winners Named in ABA Journal Blawg 100 [ABA Journal]
One More Time with Feeling [QuizLaw]
Has the Legal Blogosphere Stabilized? [Concurring Opinions]
The Blawgosphere in 2007 [Volokh Conspiracy]

Earlier: 'Tis the Season... for Blog Contests

Happy New Year, dear readers of ATL! We hope that you had an enjoyable and restful holiday season; we know we did.

Now we're back, after a pleasant holiday hiatus. Did you miss us?

We're looking forward to another fun year of dishing legal gossip, as well as chronicling associate pay raises and partner profits (God willing). We're still in the process of catching up on email and legal news, so please bear with us. If you have a juicy tip to share, please do email us.

Here are some of our ATL-related New Year's resolutions:

1. Wake up earlier. (When you work from home, it's easy to oversleep.)

2. Respond more promptly to emails that require a response.

3. Stop feeling guilty about not being able to respond to every last email (because, given the volume of email we receive around here, it's not possible to respond individually to each and every message -- for which we apologize).

We've shown you ours; now you show us yours. Have you made your New Year's resolutions yet? If so, feel free to share them in the comments. If not, check out the interesting links below, from some of our favorite non-legal blogs, which offer guidance and reflections about the resolution-making process.

Once again, we wish you fun and prosperity in 2008!

Economics and New Year’s Resolutions [Freakonomics / NYT]
Will Your Resolutions Last Until February? [Well / NYT]
It's January 2008. Make a happiness-project resolution now! [The Happiness Project]
Start a Happiness Project for 2008! [The Happiness Project]

Earlier: Happy Holidays from ATL!

To read ATL posts from December 2007, please click here. Thanks.

We hope that you're having a wonderful holiday season and are getting some well-deserved rest -- as are we.

As was the case last year, we'll be on a reduced publication schedule between now and the new year. We'll return to a normal schedule on Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

To those of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas! And a happy new year to all.

A major legal story that's related to sports? Oh noes! We are completely ignorant.

But we've collected some links about former Senator George Mitchell's report on steroid use in major legal baseball. Feel free to discuss in the comments.

P.S. Would any of you be interested in writing a column for ATL on sports and the law? If so, please email us (subject line: "Sports Column"), and tell us a bit about yourself, your vision for such a column, possible topics, etc.

In 2008, we're going to be making some changes to ATL -- e.g., a site redesign, new servers, etc. -- and bringing aboard some outside columnists is part of that plan. So feel free to send column ideas our way.

Thanks, bro. (Talking like a jock -- it's really not that hard.)

Steroid Report Implicates Top Players [New York Times]
Clemens, Tejada named in Report [Sports Illustrated / SI.com]
Law Blog Lawyer Of the Day: DLA’s George Mitchell [WSJ Law Blog]

We're writing to correct two earlier items. We've appended corrections to both stories within each post, but we wanted to do a separate post, at the top of the main page, to draw attention to these errors. We are big believers in owning up to our mistakes around here; it's critical to maintaining our credibility.

1. Simpson Thacher "facetime requirements." On Friday, we summarily dismissed the rumor of new, firm-wide "facetime requirements" for associates at Simpson Thacher. Our rejection of the rumor was based, in part, upon the comment by partner James Cross that the rumor was "inaccurate."

The rumor was "inaccurate," insofar as it was not 100 percent true in all particulars. But neither was it completely false. It turns out that certain STB associates were in fact read the riot act about being in the office from 9:30 to 6:00, but it was a specific subset of associates: junior corporate associates in the New York office. (The sources we contacted for confirmation do not fall into this group, which is why they denied the rumor when we asked them.)

So the rumor, as we presented it to Mr. Cross for comment, was "inaccurate." But it was not completely devoid of truth. For more details, see the corrected version of our Friday post.

2. O'Melveny & Myers "special bonuses." Earlier today, based on what an OMM partner said at an associates' meeting in Washington, DC, we reported that OMM will not be matching the market-level special bonuses in New York. We got a lot of pushback on this item. Shortly after our post, the firm sent around this email in its New York office:

Please note that we are aware of the recent posting on abovethelaw.com and we want to assure everyone that it is NOT ACCURATE.

Brad Okun will address the issue of the 2008 bonus structure at the ACAC lunch meeting this Wednesday.

See you all there.

Once again, note the use of the "not accurate" language. When dealing with lawyers, never read a statement for more than it's worth. Remember the logical reasoning section of the LSAT?

O'Melveny did not announce that it is, in fact, matching market-level special bonuses in its New York office (which it very easily could have done). Instead, it simply called the rumor "not accurate" -- without identifying the specific inaccuracies -- and offered a placeholder announcement: wait 'til Wednesday, where "the issue of the 2008 bonus structure" will be addressed.

As for what's really going on at OMM, this comment outlines one possible scenario:

[At today's meeting,] the DC partner misspoke. The email to NY associates is real. Lat reported what happened in DC, and his report was accurate. But the statement made in DC was not accurate. It is worth noting though that the DC partner made clear that his comments were based on "his knowledge," and were not meant to be authoritative. But thanks to the glorious blogs, it hit the wire and the shit hit the fan. The email in NY has hopefully calmed everyone down.

But see also this comment, which offers an alternate hypothesis:

All you OMM associates complaining about Lat's bad reporting should stop your whining. You should be thanking Lat. The DC partner probably didn't mis-speak, but reported what, at the time, was accurate information.

The pre-formal-announcement backlash, thanks to Lat's post, may just have saved the special bonus for the NY (and possibly other) OMM associates.

We are inclined to agree with the latter comment. Our guess is that OMM partners in all offices were informed of the firm's decisions with regard to bonus levels, including a non-match in New York, and the D.C. partner prematurely let the cat out of the bag.

Also, please note that we consider a "true match" to be payment of year-end and special bonuses, at the levels announced by Cravath (or Debevoise for the most senior classes [FN1]), to ALL associates, and WITHOUT a billable hours requirement. If OMM's "special bonuses" come with an hours requirement attached, we will consider our original report of a non-match vindicated.

At this point, there's nothing left to do but wait until that Wednesday meeting. We would be happy for our speculation to be proven wrong, and for OMM to announce a "true match" of market-level, New York special bonuses. But please don't shoot the messenger and get angry at us because we passed along inside information from a D.C. partner who spoke prematurely (but truthfully).

(By the way, we have reached out to Brad Okun, managing partner of O'Melveny's New York office, for comment. We will let you know if and when we hear back from him.)

[FN1] Because Cravath has such a short partnership track, its year-end bonuses top out at $60,000, for the Classes of 2001 and 2000. Many firms with longer partnership tracks pay a year-end bonus of $65,000 to the most senior classes.

It's the Friday after Thanksgiving. The stock market is now closed -- and so are we. We'll be back with new posts on Monday, barring a surprise weekend announcement of "NY to 190."

In the meantime, here's some fodder for possible discussion, for the unfortunate few who are at work today (or were at work yesterday). From a reader:

I thought it might be interesting to get the best/worst stories from associates that had to work over the Thanksgiving holiday. I fortunately don't have a terrible story to share that happened to me personally, but I have heard of bad things happening to others. For example, I heard of opposing counsel on the East Coast that scheduled a deposition on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, knowing that the counsel from California will likely have Thanksgiving plans torpedoed.

I also heard of a partner who told an associate that a party was moving for a TRO on the Monday following Thanksgiving. The associate worked on the case on Thanksgiving and the weekend. The associate later found out that the partner learned on Wednesday that the TRO was off-calendar, but the partner neglected to tell the associate -- because the partner was preoccupied with getting out of the office for his own Thanksgiving plans.

These aren't the greatest stories I realize, but I'm sure plenty of readers have some.

Have a tale of your own to tell? Please share it in the comments.

Happy Black Friday! And enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend.

Greetings, ATL readers. Please accept our wishes for a very Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope that you aren't spending much time in front of the computer today. But if you are -- for some depressing reason, like work -- feel free to bemoan your fate in the comments.

Or, on a more cheery note, list what you're thankful for. This year, we are thankful for ATL's large and devoted readership. We are also thankful for our Best Law Blog award, which we won thanks to reader support. Thanks, everyone!

P.S. Apologies to ATL's sizable readership in Canada; we're taking off today. Why not just move your Thanksgiving so that it coincides with ours?

[Photo credit: yours truly.]

As we first reported, Cravath, Swaine & Moore has kicked off the 2007 bonus season, with yesterday's announcement of "special" and year-end bonuses for its associates. Here's coverage from the New York Law Journal and the WSJ Law Blog, who actually got Cravath to talk to them. (CSM declined ATL's request for comment.) Both sources credit ATL; we thank Anthony Lin and Peter Lattman for the shout-outs.

This leads us to the second stage of bonus season: waiting for the other shoes to drop. We intend to cover bonus developments as closely as we did last year. If a firm is a Vault 100 or AmLaw 100 law firm, or even if its name rings a vague sort of bell, we want to hear about its bonus announcement.

We can't cover this subject without your help. We need you to let us know, as soon as possible, when your firm makes a bonus announcement. Per ATL standard operating procedure, we will NOT identify you as our source.

Here's how to reach us with bonus news:

1. As you probably already know, you can send bonus news and memos to us by email (subject line: "Associate Bonus Watch: [firm name]".

2. To be on the safe side, email us from a non-work email account (but preferably one with your real name, so we can confirm that you actually work where you work, by looking you up on the firm website).

3. To be on the super-safe side, save your email in draft form in your non-work account (e.g., Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.). When you're ready to send, access that account using the web browser in your Blackberry or other wireless device, open the saved draft, and hit "send." (You could also send the message when you get home, but that would take forever.)

4. Another way to contact us: send us a Facebook message. Even if your firm monitors the websites you visit, being on Facebook won't get you in trouble (provided you do it in moderation).

5. Yet another way to reach us: by instant messenger or Gmail chat. If you're a regular ATL tipster, or if you're our Facebook friend, you know where to reach us on AIM and on Gmail chat.

6. Yet another way to reach us: by phone. Many of you have our phone number, which is also listed in our Facebook profile.

As you know, we prefer to have full memos (although we'll take just the numbers if that's all we can get). Please keep your friends at ATL in mind this bonus season, and send us your news ASAP. The project of bringing greater transparency to associate compensation can't work unless you do your part. Thanks!

Cravath First! Let BigLaw’s Associate Bonus Season Begin [WSJ Law Blog]
Cravath to Give Associates Special Bonus Plus Year-End Bonus [New York Law Journal]

Earlier: Cravath Announces Bonuses -- 'Special' and Otherwise!!!

A few of the more-alert readers here have noticed there's an unusual name in the byline, today.

Let me introduce myself. My nom de plume is Piercie Shafton, an evocative moniker for a guest-editor of Above the Law, I'm sure you'll agree.

Don't bother to Google me. I'm not that Piercie Shafton: "the meddling tool of wise plotters--a hair-brained trafficker in treason--a champion of the Pope, employed as a forlorn hope by those more politic heads, who have more will to work mischief, than valour to encounter danger." But I imagine that, in another time and place, I may well have been a figment of the imagination of a lawyer who published controversial writings under an assumed name.

And so, I find myself at the keyboard, today, unexpectedly blogging away about stuff that is none of my damn business.

I feel this inordinate amount of social pressure to be a bastard.

Comments are open for suggestions...

In case you haven't noticed, we aren't publishing today (even though many of you, except for the government workers among you, are probably at work). For more explanation, see this post, over at our big sibling site.

Happy Columbus Day! We'll see you tomorrow.

Happy Columbus Day! [DealBreaker]