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Racial Discrimination and Sexual Harassment — With a Cucumber? — Alleged at Williams Mullen

williams mullen cucumber.jpgWilliams Mullen is a prominent Richmond-based law firm that is “100 years strong,” according to its website. For 18 of those years, Vietnam native Hanh Nguyen Allgood, 53, was a case manager for the firm. She left in March 2007.

Apparently, the departure was not “all good” with her. She has filed a $950,000 lawsuit against the firm, alleging discrimination and sexual harassment, according to Style Weekly.

Litigation partner Robert Eicher bears the brunt of Allgood’s sexual harassment allegations. According to her complaint [PDF], he asked when he first met her whether “her vagina was vertical or horizontal,” a reference to “a horrible racial slur bandied about by some American soldiers during the Viet Nam War contending that Vietnamese women had vertical vaginas.”

And then there was the cucumber incident….

UPDATE: A statement from the firm has been added after the jump.

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No More Asian Angels For Loyal Lexis Users

Asian Angels withdrawn canceled.jpgLast week, we reported on a questionable offering in the Lexis-Nexis Rewards Program store: an “Asian Angels” calendar.

Shortly after our post went up, the calendar came down. It seems that legal research companies respond well to media coverage.

But the calendar, despite being quickly withdrawn from the Lexis swag offerings, still incurred the ire of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association at UC Berkeley.

Read their response, plus a statement from Lexis, below.

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Sexy LexisNexis Reward

Lexis logo.JPGLexisNexis has a rewards program that allows loyal users to accumulate points for certain research activities and then to use them to “shop from millions of items.”

One of the items makes us want to give LexisNexis an “ex” rating. An ATL reader and loyal Lexis-Nexis user pointed the item out to us, writing:

Search for it in the rewards store. It’s available for 1261 points. Pretty shocking if you ask me. The calendar that is, not the price.

We’re red-flagging this. Check it out, after the jump.

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Survivor: The Lawyer and Law Student Edition

law students lawyers Survivor montage.jpgThe cast for the latest season of Survivor, which premieres on September 17, has been announced. This season, the show’s nineteenth, takes place on the tropical island of Samoa.

Four of the 20 contestants, or a fifth of the field, are either lawyers or law students. Is appearing on a reality television show the best way to wait out the recession?

We believe this to be the highest number of law-related contestants in a single season. We reached out to Charlie Herschel — the former Survivor contestant and current Weil Gotshal associate, who has encyclopedic knowledge of the show — and he said that, as far as he knows, four would be a record. Herschel explained:

Lawyers are making a better showing than bartenders for once on Survivor! There was a lawyer on the first Survivor who sued producers for rigging the show. Word was that they avoided casting lawyers after that.

Also, it’s generally difficult for lawyers to drop everything at a moment’s notice for the casting process and also for the show (which is required), so they have trouble casting lawyers. Most of the lawyers on survivor dont practice anymore.

Perhaps you know one of these four. Let’s learn more about them, shall we?

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New From ‘Thio-Breaker’: Dr. Thio’s Resignation Letter to Dean Revesz

Thio Li Ann Visiting Professor NYU Law School.jpgAbove the Law’s commitment to bring you all of the latest details about the crazy saga of Dr. Li-ann Thio is unmatched. On Wednesday night, we broke the news that Dr. Thio decided against teaching at NYU Law School this fall.

Now we have Dr. Thio’s official statement explaining her decision to withdraw as a visiting professor. According to the resignation letter she sent to NYU Law Dean Richard Revesz, a lack of tolerance changed Dr. Thio’s mind about NYU Law:

As an Asian woman whose legal training has spanned the finest institutions in both East and West, I believe I would have something of value to offer your students. However, the conditions no longer exist to proceed with the visit, given the animus fuelled by irresponsible misrepresentation/distortions and/or concerted invective from certain parties. Friends and colleagues have also expressed serious concerns about my safety and well-being.

I am convinced that a primary condition for learning and teaching, especially in my chosen fields (which are rife with contested concepts) - human rights and constitutional law - is a tolerant, serene environment where different viewpoints emanating from a variety of worldviews are heard with mutual respect and carefully evaluated, in a civilised fashion. I have always striven to ensure my classroom would exemplify such conditions and had planned to bring this practice to my NYU classroom.

Dr. Thio Li-ann appears to be arguing that NYU Law students should respect her beliefs. But some of her beliefs sound pretty disrespectful to gays and lesbians in the NYU Law community. Unless “shoving a straw up your nose to drink” counts as a respectful way of discussing sexual practices.

Of course, since we are dealing with Dr. Thio, the letter goes on. Brevity is not her strong suit. Read more after the jump.

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Dr. Li-Ann Thio: All About Her Mother

Thio Su Mien Dr Su Mien Thio Li Ann Thio mother.jpgWe sometimes like to think of the figures we write about in these pages as characters in a novel. Viewed in this way, Dr. Li-ann Thio, the visiting NYU law professor who apparently isn’t a fan of gay rights, is one of the most compelling we’ve come across recently.

We have a weakness for strong, outspoken Asian women — hi Mom! — and this description fits Dr. Thio to a T. Our only disappointment: Dr. Thio was whiny when attacked. (We agree with Professor Brian Leiter — playing the victim card was weak, Dr. Thio.)

Now, meet an even more compelling character — one who wouldn’t have responded to a random IT guy by playing victim, but by treating him like Obama treated that fly. She’s the original Dr. Thio: Li-ann Thio’s mother, Dr. Su Mien Thio (pictured), who taught Thio the Younger everything she knows (e.g., that gay sex is evil).

From a tipster:

It looks like Dr. Thio’s mother — a former judge who inspired Li-ann Thio’s own rise in politics — was involved in some serious anti-gay drama this year, after battling what she saw as a conspiracy to generate a “generation of lesbians.”

It all started with unrest over a screening of Spider Lilies, a lusty Taiwanese movie about an Internet cam girl [Ed. note: A cam girl? Like SexyLexus?] falling in love with another girl. The elder Dr. Thio, filled with the same heroic indignation as her daughter, filled with the same heroic indignation as her daughter, ended up locked out of a building after a failed takeover of a feminist organization.

And the trailer for the movie is totally hot!

Update: Not surprisingly, given her staunch opposition to homosexuality, Dr. Thio Su Mien is also against abortion. A headline from Roll on Friday: “Leading Singaporean lawyer blames abortion for SARS.”

More about the Spider Lilies controversy and Dr. Su Mien Thio’s impressive résumé, after the jump.

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Biglaw Siblings Take Gold in the Amazing Race

tammy and victor jih.jpgBack in January, we interviewed siblings Victor Jih, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, and Tammy Jih, an associate at Quinn Emanuel, who starred on this season’s Amazing Race. Little did we know in January that we were talking to this season’s race winners. Last night, the Jihs beat out some cheerleaders and a deaf kid and his mom to win the Amazing Race prize.

(For the uninitiated, the Amazing Race is a reality TV show where teams of two race around the world in the hopes of winning $1 million.)

Not everyone is thrilled for the Harvard Law grads. The Chicago Sun-Times is asking whether the Mandarin-speaking Chinese-American siblings had an unfair advantage in China. And the Associated Press called the finish of the race “heartbreaking:”

Luke Adams, 22, just graduated as the valedictorian of the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, and raced with his mother Margie, 50. They were in the lead heading into the last competition, which involved picking out surfboards with insignias representing every leg of their trip. Luke started fast but couldn’t get the last one right.

As he was frustrated, Victor Jih completed his task and headed into a taxi for the finish line.

Maybe the AP would be happier for the twins if they realized how tough lawyers have it these days. Or maybe not. Regardless, we bet that $500k bonus feels pretty good to each sibling. We checked in with them via e-mail, but got just a brief reply from Tammy:

Thanks for watching the show! Sorry we could not respond earlier. I have not been on the internet, but I am assuming you have already written your article. Sorry for the delayed response, but we have had a busy last 24 hours, as I am sure you can imagine!

Actually, we’ve been delinquent in watching the show regularly this season, but we got reviews from folks who have. The reviews and a photo of the Jihs in (admittedly-conservative) beach attire, after the jump.

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Biglaw Girls Don’t Cartwheel, But Biglaw Partners Do Cry

tammy and victor jih.jpgOn Sunday night, the third episode of this season’s Amazing Race aired. Biglaw sibling team Victor and Tammy Jih, who came in first the previous week, barely avoided being eliminated.

(We interviewed the Jihs last month. Victor Jih is a partner at O’Melveny and Myers, while Tammy Jih is an associate at Quinn Emanuel. )

On Sunday, on the reality TV show where teams race around the world completing challenges, Tammy and Victor had to head to Romania to do gymnastics and go hiking. They struggled at both. Tammy had some issues with the balance beam and floor routine during the gymnastics challenge, complaining that she “can’t cartwheel.” Victor, um, consoled her by telling her afterward, “I think your brain just froze.”

The next challenge was hiking to some coffins — yeah, the show loves cultural stereotypes, with gypsies, gymnastics, and Transylvania references featured prominently in Romania — and Victor took the lead as trail guide, perhaps because Tammy’s brain was still frozen from cartwheeling. He proceeded to follow the wrong markers. They got terribly lost. “Look, we’re doing so great,” says Victor optimistically. “This sucks,” Tammy replies.

After much wandering, Victor finally acknowledges he’s led them astray by kneeling, sobbing, and asking Tammy to take over. Biglaw partner. Sobbing. Handing control over to the midlevel associate.

She leads them back down the mountain, and to the coffins. Victor, still very upset, drags a coffin haphazardly down the hill, saying, “I don’t care if I die.” They finish far behind all but one of the other teams (who got stuck in Amsterdam). When they discover they’re still in the race, Victor cries some more. See the video, and more episode highlights, after the jump.

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Taiwanese 1L Has Serious Daddy Issues

UVA lw school building.JPGChen Chih-chung was kicked out of UVA Law before he could start his 1L year for missing the school’s orientation meeting.

At least that is UVA’s official response.

No ordinary 1L would be kicked out of school for missing one meeting — but Chen is no ordinary 1L. As Virginia Law Weekly reports:

[Chen] is the son of Taiwan’s former President, Chen Shui-bian, who served from 2000 to 2008. After leaving office in May, he was indicted for his alleged role in a large-scale embezzlement and money laundering scheme.

The younger Chen missed the Law School’s orientation when he flew home to cooperate with an inquiry into whether he played a role in the alleged criminal enterprise. Chen Chih-chung has since been added as a defendant in the investigation.

The family denies any wrongdoing.

Why Chen missed the mixer, after the jump.

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The Asia Chronicles: Can You Go Home Again?

Tokyo Japan Shinjuku.jpgIn prior installments of the Asia Chronicles, we’ve discussed the pros and cons of working as an American attorney in Asia, how to choose a law firm to work for, and the importance of language skills. Thus far we have been focusing on how to get over to Asia, but many of you have also been asking: “What happens if I want to come back?”

While most of the Asia Corporate Lawyers have sworn that we’re never going to work anywhere else (as Biglaw attorneys at least), we didn’t always know that we were going to want to stay here in Asia indefinitely. As brand-new associates, we worried that if we came out too early in our careers or spent too much time here, we might somehow fall behind our U.S. peers, be permanently labeled the “Asia” guys, or even be left with no career options beyond delivering pizzas upon returning to America. But it turns out there was no need to worry; in fact, we think that in some ways we are getting better training and experience than we would have in New York.

Let’s get one thing straight from the beginning: American attorneys in Asia only practice U.S. law, not local law (unless they also happen to be admitted to the local bar), so fundamentally they work with the same laws and regulations as they would in the U.S. If local law enters into a deal, then local counsel will be hired to advise on it. So while U.S. attorneys in Asia may pick up some knowledge about local laws in passing, and even informally advise on it, their main task is to advise on U.S. law, just as their counterparts in the U.S. do. Most commonly, they will advise on U.S. federal securities laws and New York contract law and, to a lesser extent, U.S. tax law and state corporate laws. Of course, much of an attorney’s work has nothing to do with the law, and U.S. lawyers in Asia also spend much of their time drafting and reviewing documents, conducting due diligence, and generally protecting their clients’ interests.

So if the work and the laws are basically the same, what is different about working in Asia?

Read more, below the fold.

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Say Hello to Shinyung Oh, Author of the Paul Hastings Farewell Email

Shinyung Oh Paul Hastings.jpgThe folks over at the WSJ Law Blog have just given us a late-night treat: an interview with Shinyung Oh of Paul Hastings.

Oh is the author of the famous (and fabulous) PH Farewell Email — aka The Email That Launched A Thousand Blog Comments — and a heroine in the eyes of many Biglaw associates around the country. Here are a few highlights from the interview:

[T]he former associate, Shinyung Oh (University of Chicago ’93, Georgetown Law ’98), a commercial litigation lawyer…. says she sent the now-infamous email because she didn’t want other associates who may be laid off because of downsizing by the firm – but told it is because of their performance – to doubt their own abilities.

“I want them to feel like they’re not completely alone and not to worry about their own performance when it’s the firm doing something for economic reasons” and because of a “desire to increase partner profits,” she said.

Inducing crippling self-doubt among associates is one of the most pernicious things about “stealth layoffs,” in which economically-driven dismissals are cast by firms as purely performance-based. We know this from having spoken to stealth-layoff victims, who have described how their self-confidence was shattered when their firms dismissed them, purportedly for poor performance.

While there may be a “six of one, half-dozen of another” quality to this debate — as Dan Weiner of Hughes Hubbard & Reed just told the WSJ Law Blog, “is it economic or is it performance-related is a false dichotomy,” since if you have to make cuts, “you’re not going to pick people randomly” — we still think it’s the better part of valor for firms to take the reputational hit, rather than stick it to their associates. At any rate, it’s certainly fair for law students and lateral candidates to shun firms that get called out for being less-than-candid about their personnel decisions.

Back to the interview. Here’s the $64,000 — or three-months-severance — question: What was Shinyung Oh thinking when she sent out that email?

[Oh said] she knew that the email, which was sent to associates firm-wide, litigation partners in her office and the top management of Paul Hastings, could ruin her chances of landing another big-firm job. She said she isn’t considering suing the firm, and said she doesn’t feel she was discriminated against because of her pregnancy.

Oh Shinyung, are you sure? After Aaron Charney settled with Sullivan & Cromwell, he got himself a nice new apartment. Then again, if you were planning to sue, you probably shouldn’t have told the Wall Street Journal that you didn’t feel discriminated against on account of your pregnancy.

As for what’s next, Oh, who immigrated from South Korea when she was eight and grew up in New York and Houston, said she’s not sure. But she said that since the email was posted online, she’s received an outpouring of support from lawyers in the Bay Area and across the country. Several are trying to help her find a new job.

Shinyung, if you’re looking for headhunter recommendations, drop us a line — we can hook you up. And if you ever get the urge to send out another barn-burning, firmwide email, definitely give us a heads up. Based on the way that your email resonated with readers, it’s clear that you have writerly talent that deserves a wider audience.

In all seriousness, we wish Shinyung Oh the best of luck. We commend her for the courage it took to write that farewell email. We have every confidence that she will land on her feet — recall our prior post, quoting a colleague who praised her as someone who “ran a huge class action and got excellent results” — and we look forward to following her career in the years ahead.

Update: Jane Genova shares our optimism about Oh’s future. She writes: Oh “has almost an infinite number of fresh career options, within and outside law…. [enumerates options]…. Being the good solider, girl scout or boy scout has no payoff in the current career marketplace. Bold risks do…. Wild risk is the only secure path.”

P.S. Congrats to Amir Efrati on the interview. Read the full post over here. Check out a copy of Shinyung Oh’s 2006 performance review, also obtained by the WSJ, over here (PDF).

A screencap of her firm bio is saved for posterity, after the jump.

Fired Paul Hastings Associate Talks to Law Blog [WSJ Law Blog]
The New Risky Business - Shinyung Oh’s E-Mail Strategy [Law and More]

Earlier: Breaking: A Dramatic Farewell Email (And proof of Paul Hastings layoffs.)
Miscarriage of Justice at Paul Hastings? The Blogosphere Reacts
Nationwide Layoff Watch: Paul Hastings

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Musical Chairs: Jim Ho Replaces Ted Cruz as Texas SG

James Ho James C Ho Jim Ho Above the Law blog.jpgCongratulations to our old friend James Ho. The good news first surfaced on Sophistic Miltonian Serbonian Blog:

A quiet trickle of a rumor last week was that James C. Ho, currently of counsel with Gibson Dunn and a former law clerk to Justice Thomas at SCOTUS, has been tapped to serve as the next Solicitor General of Texas. If this is true, Texas will be in very capable hands as Jim Ho is certainly one of the best appellate lawyers in the state (and the country for that matter), and has demonstrated great and valuable political savvy on the national stage as well.

Moreover, it is interesting to note that, now, three of the four solicitors general have clerked for SCOTUS (Greg Coleman-Justice Thomas; Ted Cruz-the late Chief Rehnquist; and Jim Ho-Justice Thomas). A SCOTUS clerkship now appears to be a prerequisite to the post, which makes eminent sense because one of the OSG’s main functions is to represent the State before SCOTUS-a job we have noted current General Cruz has done extremely well.

That preliminary report appeared on Tuesday; the news is now confirmed. Here are press releases from the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, both praising Ho for his past achievements, and wishing him well in his latest endeavor.

Read more, after the jump.

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ATL Seeks An Asia Columnist

Asia Asian law blogger blawg Above the Law blog.jpgIn 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.

Lawyer of the Day: James Jackson

Pinoy Power Filipino Power Nena Ruiz Above the Law blog.jpgUnlike yesterday — and by the way, we’ll keep the reader poll open for a few more hours — today we have no difficulty picking our Lawyer of the Day. Hollywood lawyer James Jackson maltreated his Filipino maid. We do not like it when you mess with our peeps.

From the AP (via Law.com):

A former Hollywood studio attorney and his wife were sentenced Monday for abusive treatment of their Filipino maid in a case federal prosecutors said “amounts to modern-day slavery.”

James Jackson, the former vice president of legal affairs at Sony Pictures, was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine. His wife, Elizabeth, was sentenced to three years in prison after her attorneys unsuccessfully pleaded for her to receive home detention.

These Hollywood types are ruthless (we’ve watched “Entourage”). Studio lawyers make Biglaw partners look like social workers. Consider the treatment alleged by the former maid in her civil suit against the couple:

[Former maid Nena] Ruiz claimed in her civil lawsuit that Elizabeth Jackson regularly slapped her and pulled her hair. She also said she was forced to sleep on a dog bed and was given three-day-old food to eat even as she was expected to clean and provide fresh fruit to the Jacksons’ pets. The Jacksons only paid her $300 for her work….

See? Studio lawyers are meaner than law firm partners. At least associates get paid $160K for their suffering.

Happily, Nena Ruiz ultimately made out quite well. She was awarded $825,000 in damages by the jury that heard her case.

P.S. In fairness to Mr. Jackson, it appears that much of the abuse was perpetrated by his wife. In her allocution, Elizabeth Jackson told the court: “In my life I have always tried and strived to do the right thing. I failed in this case.” Um, yeah.

P.P.S. A tipster observes: “Is it just me, or have these modern-day slavery stories been popping up a lot lately? See here.”

Former Sony Pictures Lawyer and Wife Sentenced in Forced Labor of Filipino Maid [AP via Law.com]
Hollywood couple sentenced in Filipino maid ‘slave’ case [AFP via Philippine Inquirer]
In Pictures: Long Island Slaver Family On Facebook [Gawker]

A Collection of PSAs from Your Friends at ATL

bullhorn announcement public service announcement Above the Law blog.jpgWe don’t normally do this (and probably won’t make this a regular feature). But since we have a few on hand right now, we’d like to pass along the following public service announcements:

* Attention Washingtonians. There’s an interesting panel discussion taking place here in D.C. next week: “Practicing Law in the E-Court of Public Opinion: How the Internet Can Make or Break a Lawyer’s or Law Firm’s Reputation and What You Can Do About It.”

We are on the panel, along with Mark Britton of Avvo, Andrew Mirsky of Mirsky Legal, and fellow bloggers Carolyn Elefant, of My Shingle, and Jonathan Frieden, of E-Commerce Law. [Avvo Blog; MyShingle.com]

* Attention Asian American lawyers and law students (but all are welcome; this isn’t the K&E GLBT party). There’s an interesting conference taking place next month in Philadelphia, PA: “Emerging Asia: Shedding New Light on the Legal Landscape.” We’re delivering the keynote address at dinner. [APALSA]

* Attention South Asian lawyers and law students (but again, all are welcome). There’s an interesting conference taking place next month in Los Angeles, CA: “Reflecting Back, Reaching Forward: Building on a Decade of Progress.” [NASALSA]

* Attention essayists. Check out this essay contest: “How Do We Close the Gap Between Baby Boomers and Millennials on Work/Life Balance?” It’s sponsored by Ms. JD and The Project for Attorney Retention. Prize of $1,000; entry deadline of February 29. [Ms. JD]

* Attention prospective bone marrow donors. A tipster writes:

A former Simpson Thacher associate needs a bone marrow transplant, most likely to come from someone Jewish, and we’re trying to notify as many people as possible to get on the donor list.

More details, after the jump.

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Cumberland Law School Clusterf**k: Law School Listserv Lunacy

Cumberland School of Law Samford University Above the Law blog.jpgThis actually happened quite some time ago — last month, to be exact. But we’re happy to write about it because (1) it hasn’t been blogged about elsewhere, as far as we know, and (2) with the passage of time, tempers have cooled. So maybe now people can look back on it with amusement rather than anger.

A summary, from one of the several tipsters who drew our attention to this:

A friend of mine at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama, sent me this. Apparently some girl sent out a mass email about President Bush’s veto of some health care legislation. This set off a whole clusterf**k of responding emails, with the debate devolving into one over race and class. From reading through the several threads, it’s almost frightening that some of these people are actually going to become lawyers.

[One of the more] recent post[s] is especially enlightening…. [T]he author states that “The powers that be count on sellouts to climb the ladder of success and refuse to help those underneath them. That way they can use you sellouts as tokens….”

However, the most hilarious part of this whole thing is where one of the black (1L) students responds to an Asian student by saying, “To the Asian…..u aint black.” Further idiocy follows.

The aforementioned “idiocy,” after the jump.

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 10.7.07: Sweet Virginia

LEWW logo.jpgWe had a tough time picking our finalist couples this week, and LEWW will be the first to admit that we’re not totally certain we chose the right three. (We’re sure our commenters and e-mailers will let us know if we’ve dropped the ball.) Specifically, in addition to our three finalists, we considered these three couples, and if you work at Shearman, Simpson Thacher, Wachtell, Willkie, or Ropes & Gray, you might want to click on those links to read about your colleagues or their spawn.

But onward to this week’s finalists! Here they are:

1.) Nisa Leung and James Lin

2.) Beth Schonmuller and John Williams

3.) Virginia Boyd and J. B. Lockhart IV

More on these couples, after the jump.

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Lawyer of the Day: Lord Peter Goldsmith

Kim Hollis Lord Goldsmith Debevoise Plimpton Above the Law blog.jpgLast week, we mentioned in passing the news that the former U.K. Attorney-General, Lord Peter Goldsmith, QC, is joining Debevoise & Plimpton. Lord Goldsmith will head up Debevoise’s European litigation practice.

The Times of London reported the news here, and the WSJ Law Blog posted on the move here. But both write-ups omitted the most notable part of Lord Goldsmith’s resume (as mentioned by a WSJ commenter):

On 17 February 2007, the Mail on Sunday reported that Goldsmith, who is married, had been having an affair with Kim Hollis, Britain’s first Asian QC.

Good stuff. And more dirty details, after the jump.

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Playing ‘Peekaboo’ with Debra Wong Yang of Gibson Dunn

Gibson Dunn Crutcher LLP Above the Law blog.JPGHere are some of the comments appended to our recent post about Gibson Dunn’s snazzy new website:

“I like the pictures on the main directory. Those are the best part. Except that they don’t have too many women, and one of the women is in a very high school girl peek-a-boo around the brick wall pose. They’d never put up a picture of a man doing that.”

“I agree… Shame on you, peek-a-boo posing Asian woman!”

“Uh, that ‘peek-a-boo posing Asian woman’ is Debra Yang, the former U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, whom GDC allegedly paid a $1 mil signing bonus. She can peek-a-boo around whatever the hell she wants to peek-a-boo around.”

“Debra Yang’s picture’s been taken down.”

“Wait, the peek-a-boo is still there. Now spotted in the mix over at Practices. Please, GDC, put up a different picture of Ms. Yang.”

Curious to see what all the fuss is about? Check out the controversial photo of Gibson Dunn partner (and former U.S. attorney) Debra Wong Yang, after the jump.

Continue reading "Playing ‘Peekaboo’ with Debra Wong Yang of Gibson Dunn"

Musical Chairs: Wan Kim Leaves the Civil Rights Division

Wan Kim Wan J Kim Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgWe’re deep into the lazy days of August — and today is Friday. So of course there’s news of a high-profile resignation from the Department of Justice.

From the New York Times:

The head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division announced Thursday that he was resigning, the latest in a long string of departures from the department in the midst of a furor over the leadership of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

The department said that the resignation of the official, Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim, had nothing to do with the recent controversies over Mr. Gonzales’s performance, and that Mr. Kim had been planning his departure for months.

We can confirm that. Kim’s resignation, effective at the end of this month, does not come as a surprise to DOJ insiders. Recall what we wrote in these pages almost two months ago:

Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim, who oversees the Justice Department’s important (and controversial) Civil Rights Division, will step down from his post before the end of the year. He was sworn in as AAG in November 2005, so by this fall he will have held the job for two years — a long-enough stint in that position.

So stick with us, kids. We bring you the legal news as — and sometimes even before — it happens.

(Another DOJ departure: Bradley J. Schlozman, who preceded Kim in heading the CRD (on an acting basis). We hear that Schlozman won’t exactly be missed, even by fellow conservatives at Main Justice.)

Civil Rights Division Head Resigning at Justice Dept. [New York Times]
Statement of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on the Resignation of Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim [U.S. Department of Justice]

Earlier: Musical Chairs: Another Rumored DOJ Departure