* Remember the Mystery Pimp from our recent column about Cadwalader? Peter Lattman, who works in the same building as CWT, has solved the mystery. Fantastic! [WSJ Law Blog]
* "Despondent Microsoft Has Nervous Breakdown; Jumps Into Elliott Bay To Live With Alien Sea Creatures." [What About Clients?]
* New digs for The American Lawyer. Their landlord is now Larry Silverstein, who was recently featured on the magazine's cover. Did they get a break on the rent for that kind of publicity? [The Real Estate]
* Brilliant Harvard Law professors rush to the defense of... online poker! Charlie Nesson and Alan Dershowitz? Now that's what we call a full house. [Conglomerate]
* "Is Dumbledore gay simply because Rowling says he is?" Discuss. [PrawfsBlawg]
Thursday, September 27, 2007 3:45 PM - By David Lat
Over the past few months, a number of you have written to us about A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar. It's a critically acclaimed, independent documentary film about lawyers and the legal profession.
The movie made the rounds on the film festival circuit earlier this year, and now it's out on DVD. Here's a brief synopsis:
A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar... is a celebration of the law and triumph over adversity that follows 6 future lawyers of all ages and backgrounds as they undertake the rigorous and excruciating California Bar Exam while also dealing thematically with certain hot button issues in our profession. The [themes of the film] include, among other things, stress, big firm economics, substance abuse, law as a calling, frivolous litigation, bar exam economics, women in the law and other threads that you can likely intuit.
These subjects are all near and dear to the hearts of ATL readers. And there's stuff in the film that ties into this week's special theme, non-top-tier law school graduates:
The cast members run the gamut, from a former Marine who has taken and failed the California Bar Exam 41 times, to top and middle graduates of the Loyola and UCLA Law Schools, to a Latina activist from East L.A. who attended a non-accredited law school, to other diverse and interesting people.
Sadly, the film was produced before the rise to fame of Loyola 2L. But it features other legal celebrities, such as Alan Dershowitz, Scott Turow, and Nancy Grace -- all of whom appear in this short clip:
Some of our favorite films are documentaries -- e.g., Spellbound, Capturing the Friedmans -- and some of our favorite people are lawyers. We haven't seen A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar yet, but we intend to; it looks like it's right up our alley. Exciting stuff!
Last Friday, in the Scooter Libby case, Judge Reggie Walton delivered quite the benchslap. Some brief background, from Ana Marie Cox:
A group of exceedingly prominent law professors (including Alan Dershowitz and Robert Bork) filed an amicus brief to Judge Reggie Walton [on Friday], arguing that the Libby verdict could possibly be overturned on appeal because of the "close question" about the constitutionality of the special prosecutor....
I was struck (as were others) by the footnote Judge Walton appended to his agreement to have the brief submitted:
Here's the feisty footnote:
It is an impressive show of public service when twelve prominent and distinguished current and former law professors of well-respected schools are able to amass their collective wisdom in the course of only several days to provide their legal expertise to the Court on behalf of a criminal defendant. The Court trusts that this is a reflection of these eminent academics' willingness in the future to step to the plate and provide like assistance in cases involving any of the numerous litigants, both in this Court and throughout the courts of our nation, who lack the financial means to fully and properly articulate the merits of their legal positions even in instances where failure to do so could result in monetary penalties, incarceration, or worse. The Court will certainly not hesitate to call for such assistance from these luminaries, as necessary in the interests of justice and equity, whenever similar questions arise in the cases that come before it.
Judge Walton, feel free to call upon The Dersh for help in future cases. He's more than happy to offer his opinion on any subject under the sun. In fact, you may quickly come to regret your "call for such assistance" from that loquacious luminary.
(But you might want to give Judge Bork a break. He's a little preoccupied right now....)
Update: The WSJ Law Blog has more here, including the names of additional celebrity professors on the brief.
Recently we asked you for juicy gossip about gigantic legal fees. We didn't expect to receive a response so quickly. From the WSJ Law Blog:
NYU Law School professor Burt Neuborne worked for nearly eight years to help Holocaust survivors win a $1.25 billion settlement from Swiss banks accused of helping the Nazis steal Jewish property. He then submitted a bill for $4,760,000. The rest, as they say, is controversy.
New York magazine has a feature on the fee flap. A group of Holocaust survivors are furious with Neuborne for charging so much money for his services. Many say they thought Neuborne had taken the case pro bono and that he had said so many times. The executive director of the World Jewish Congress calls the bill a “moral disgrace.” Neuborne already made $4.4 million in a similar suit against German industry.
This got us thinking about other law professors who handle litigation or serve as consultants on the side -- and get paid handsomely for it. A few examples off the top of our head: Laurence Tribe, of Harvard Law School (litigation, esp. appellate litigation); Alan Dershowitz, also of HLS (helping to get rich people out of deep doo-doo); George Priest, of Yale Law School (consulting, expert witness service); Dean Dan Fischel, of the University of Chicago (law and economics consulting).
In the comments to this post -- or by email if you prefer -- please share with us any dirt on this subject. The more specific the information -- dollar figures if you know them (or can guess) -- the better. Thanks!
Thursday, September 28, 2006 10:49 AM - By David Lat
For those of you in the New York area, our current location -- we're up visiting from Washington, DC -- here's an event next month you might be interested in:
Sunday - Tuesday, October 22-24, 2006 Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Three-day conference: "Jews and the Legal Profession", at 55 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street.
Participants include Alan Dershowitz, Stuart Eizenstat, and many others. For more information and registration, please e-mail xxx@yahoo.com or call 212-xxx-xxxx.
Other conferences you might enjoy:
-- "Japanese Chefs and Sushi Preparation"
-- "Koreans and the Dry Cleaning Industry"
-- "Filipinos and the Domestic Arts"
We're sticking to the Asians 'cause, well, that's what we are.*
Here is the conference's website. We suggest that the organizers reach out to the "Jews and Web Page Design" crew.
* Three notes of preemptive defense: (1) it's not "racist" to note that certain racial or ethnic groups make up a disproportionate percentage of a particular profession or industry; (2) this is less objectionable than a lot of material you'd see on The Daily Show, SNL, etc.; (3) we are not commenting, negatively or positively, on the contributions Jews have made to the legal profession. We're merely suggesting that, in the grand scheme of things, there are more urgent topics out there to hold conferences about. Thank you.
* Remember the Mystery Pimp from our recent column about Cadwalader? Peter Lattman, who works in the same building as CWT, has solved the mystery. Fantastic! [WSJ Law Blog]
(11) Comments
Last Friday, in the Scooter Libby case, Judge Reggie Walton delivered quite the benchslap. Some brief background, from 
Recently we asked you for 
For those of you in the New York area, our current location -- we're up visiting from Washington, DC -- here's an event next month you might be interested in:
