Billy Merck
Posts by Billy Merck
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.25.07
* Nifong’s troubles not over. [CNN] * Write like a man; get convicted like a woman. [CNN] * I knew they were still a bunch of commies. [Jurist] * Is lethal injection constitutional in Georgia? We’ll find out today. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] * “It’s just stunning and very ungovernment-like.” Indeed. [WSJ Law Blog]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 6.22.07
* This thing was filmed in a county adjacent to ours. [Augusta Chronicle] * Good riddance Gitmo. [NYT] * Six Flags has a lawsuit in their future. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] * Don’t like oversight? Eliminate it. [CNN] - Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Funniest Law Blog Contest: Another Plea for Votes
Ok, one last plug for ATL in the Funniest Law Blog Contest. For those of you who followed the link earlier, you will have noticed that the gap between us and Phila Lawyer has narrowed, although it is still quite wide. Luckily for us, there are now prizes for second and third places: three signed […]
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Friday Afternoon Humor
For your enjoyment on a slow-news-day-summer-Friday afternoon, here’s a hilarious bit from Muffie Benson-Perella at our sibling site Dealbreaker.com: Ask Muffie: Cause and Effect Muffie Benson-Perella (muffie AT dealbreaker.com) is an Associate in the Investment Banking Division of a “Bulge Bracket” bank. She holds a B.A. in French and Art from Vassar College and an […] -
Bad Ideas, Eavesdropping / Wiretapping, Lawsuit of the Day, Perverts
Lawsuit of the Day: Belk Cosmetics Contractors Win Damages for Being Watched Undressing
Four women who worked for a private cosmetics contractor, Makeup Art Cosmetics, in a Belk department store in our hometown of Athens, Georgia have each won six-figure verdicts this week after being watched undressing by security guards using a hidden camera in the stockroom of the store. Store managers installed a hidden camera in a […] -
Judicial Reports, State Judges
Will New York Judges Strike?
Judicial Reports thinks they might. From the article: As the State Legislature slouched toward adjournment late Thursday with no breakthrough on the issue of pay raises for judges, an infuriated judiciary began to contemplate an escalation in the salary wars. For many that might mean new or expanded litigation. Some are even whispering “strike.” New […] -
Books
PrawfsBlawg Trashes Chambermaid
James Gimmelman at PrawfsBlawg is none too impressed with Saira Rao’s roman a clef Chambermaid. From his review: The book is an abomination, one of the worst novels I have ever read, both artistically and morally. The affected style, which runs the gamut from “cutesy” to “bench memo,” would be forgivable if the substance weren’t […] -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Clerkships, Money, Skaddenfreude
Clerkship Bonus Watch: Debevoise Joins the $70K Club
Good news for clerks with offers from Debevoise & Plimpton: the bonus is no longer flat. Debevoise is joining the $70K Club for two-year clerks. The announcement email appears after the jump. - Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Learn how emerging tools will likely change and enhance the work of lawyers for years to come in this new report. -
Biglaw, Money, Skaddenfreude
National Pay Raise Watch: Portland
To wrap up the week, we stay in the West and move up the coast to Portland, Oregon. Portland is the nation’s 23rd largest city, and probably the greenest one. We hear the quality of life is pretty good, but what about the money? This comes from a February New York Times article: Holland & […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 6.21.07
* Extra slanty. [The Onion] * Have you seen this lake? [CNN] * Crazy murder trial in Nevada. [Reno Gazette-Journal] * Shuttle landing postponed; will be made up as part of doubleheader later in the year. [New York Times] -
Biglaw, Money, Skaddenfreude
National Pay Raise Watch: Perkins Coie to $160k in California
Perkins Coie is raising to market in California, with a catch. To get the raise, associates must 1) be “on pace” of 1900 hours; and 2) have “no outstanding timesheet penalties.” The memo’s after the jump. -
Alex Kozinski, Benchslaps
A Classic Kozinski Benchslap
In his dissent today from a order denying rehearing en banc in the case of United States v. Ziegler, Kozinski basically calls the rest of the panel morons, or at least hack magicians. The best part is this paragraph: By plucking consent out of its judicial top hat, when neither party has argued it and […] -
Eyes of the Law, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Eyes of the Law: Ginsburg's Little Kicks
This one’s a vicarious “Eyes of the Law” through a source in New York. According to the source: “Since we’re getting close to the end of the Supreme Court’s Term, people might be wondering: Are we going to see any retirements this year? Will Justice John Paul Stevens finally pack it in? Or what about […]
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Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use.
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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…
Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Learn how emerging tools will likely change and enhance the work of lawyers for years to come in this new report.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.
Sponsored
This AI-Powered Document Tool Will Meet You Where You Are
Lexis Create provides simple access to internal and external knowledge — directly within Microsoft Word.
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Lawyer of the Day
Lawyer of the Day: Former Senator Looking for Love
Dean Barkley, fomer U.S. Senator from Minnesota (Nov. 2002-Jan. 2003) as a member of the then Minnesota Reform Party (he was appointed by Gov. Jesse Ventura after the death of Paul Wellstone in a plane crash), is apparently looking for love online. Here is his profile from Match.com. Girls, don’t worry about getting hurt, because […] -
Benchslaps, SCOTUS
More Squabbling from the Tellabs Opinion
We missed this separate benchscuffle from the Tellabs opinion in our haste to look at all three earlier, but Scalia and Stevens, the lone dissenter, went at it as well. Stevens told Scalia that he was “clearly wrong”, and Scalia responded with “it’s you who is ‘mistaken'”. Steven then said “nun uh”, and Scalia said, […] -
Antonin Scalia, Benchslaps, SCOTUS
Scalia Gets Snarky Over Scienter Standard
At issue in the SCOTUS’s decision today in Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd.[SCOTUSblogvia How Appealing] was the definition of the term “strong inference”, and therefore what the standard is for determining whether a plaintiff has met the pleading requirements as to scienter in a securities fraud case. Some mildly saucy benchslaps insued. […] -
Biglaw, Money, Skaddenfreude
National Pay Raise Watch: California
From Vegas we take a short drive through the desert into the beautiful state of California. Since Los Angeles, San Francisco and Silicon Valley are regularly covered on ATL, this open thread will be for the rest of California: San Diego, Sacramento, or any other not-regularly-covered market in the Golden State that you care to […] -
Bad Ideas, Bankruptcy, Benchslaps, Fast Food, Practice Pointers, Rudeness
HappyMealGate Wrap-up: You Want Florida CLE With That?
We have a ruling in the HappyMealGate case (prior coverage here, here, and here of Wiliam P. Smith, the McDermott Will & Emery partner who told Judge Laurel Myerson Isicoff that she was “a few French Fries short of a Happy Meal”). And it’s surprisingly lenient. Judge Isicoff basically gave Smith a stern talking to: […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 6.20.07
* Where do gay men look first? [Huffington Post] * Vigilante justice is alive and well in Texas, but this innocent passenger is not. [BBC] * Walter Reed rent-a-cops get all belligerent with each other. [CNN] * Hawaii’s gonna blow. [AP via Yahoo!] * File another one in the “ridiculous reasons for Muslims to be […] -
CIA
Career CIA Guy Is OK With Torture; Who Knew?
Ok, that’s not exactly right. Technically, he’s not ok with torture, he just defines torture in a manner that allows him to be ok with stuff that most of us would call torture. Would you expect anything less of a CIA lawyer? John Rizzo, acting GC for the CIA and Bush’s nominee for the permanent […]