David Lat
David Lat, the founding editor of Above the Law, is a lawyer turned writer and speaker. You can read his latest writing about law and the legal profession by subscribing to Original Jurisdiction, his newsletter on the Substack platform. David's book, Supreme Ambitions: A Novel (2014), was described by the New York Times as "the most buzzed-about novel of the year" among legal elites. David previously worked as a federal prosecutor, a litigation associate at Wachtell Lipton, and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can learn more about David on his personal website; you can connect with him on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at davidlat@substack.com.
Posts by David Lat
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5th Circuit, Edith Jones, Federal Judges, Federalist Society, Judicial Divas, Old People, SCOTUS Potential
Judge Edith Jones: And She Brakes for Small Animals, Too
For years we’ve been huge fans of Judith Edith H. Jones. She had a reputation as a tough, smart, conservative judge. She was known as as a badass of the bench, more than capable of eviscerating counsel or colleagues who crossed her. Her dramatic nickname — “horsewoman of the right-wing apocalypse” — pretty much said […] -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Legal Fee Voyeurism, Mergers and Acquisitions, Money
Legal Fee Voyeurism: Merger Mania Moolah
Today is a banner day for mergers-and-acquisitions lawyers. Our big brother takes note of Blackstone Group’s gigantic proposed buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust, the nation’s largest office-building owner and manager, for roughly $36 billion ($20 billion plus $16 billion in assumed debt). And that’s not the only deal. The WSJ Law Blog ticks off […] - Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get… -
Federalist Society, Parties, Pictures
ATL Party Crash: The Federalist Society Annual Dinner (Part 2)
This post is a continuation of our prior post, ATL Party Crash: The Federalist Society Annual Dinner (Part 1). It consists of additional pictures from the 2006 Annual Dinner of the Federalist Society, which took place last Thursday, at the Marriott Wardman Park. The Fed Soc banquet is like Oscars night for the legal conservative […]
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Breasts, FDA, Tort Reform, Walter Olson
They're Silicone, and They're Spectacular
Last Friday, something happened that made Walter Olson, the distinguished scholar and “intellectual guru of tort reform,” a very happy man: “The government on Friday rescinded a 14-year ban on silicone gel implants for cosmetic breast enhancement, a decision praised by some for providing women with a better product but criticized by others who still […] -
Federalist Society, Parties, Pictures
ATL Party Crash: The Federalist Society Annual Dinner (Part 1)
As we mentioned earlier, we spent much of the past few days attending events at the Federalist Society’s 2006 National Lawyers Convention. Conveniently enough, the convention was held right here in Washington, D.C. (primarily at the Mayflower Hotel). For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Society, here’s a blurb about them from their […] -
Airplanes / Aviation, Environment / Environmental Law, Food, Gay Marriage, Media and Journalism, Morning Docket, O.J. Simpson, Politics, Sandra Day O'Connor, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 11.20.06
* Let’s see. Romney wants the Massachusetts Supreme Court to force an anti-gay marriage amendment onto the ballot if the legislature fails to act on the issue before the session ends January 2. Wouldn’t that be, um, I dunno, activist? [Associated Press via How Appealing] * It’s important to find something to occupy your time […]
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Laurence Tribe, Pets
Laurence Tribe's Petrified Pooch
Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School is one of the country’s most distinguished constitutional scholars and Supreme Court advocates. Having argued before the Court numerous times, Professor Tribe has no fear of the coutroom. So why did Professor Tribe flee from the Ames Courtroom of Harvard Law School last Thursday? He was scheduled to […] -
5th Circuit, Bad Ideas, Bar Exams, Email Scandals, Emily Pataki, Fast Food, Federalist Society, Food, Judicial Nominations, Politics, R. Ted Cruz, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sex, Week in Review
ATL Week in Review: November 13-17
* Emily Pataki, the attractive and accomplished daughter of New York governor George Pataki, failed the New York bar exam — and sent around an office-wide email about it. The story was broken by the mainstream media. * We heard from some of Emily’s law school classmates about the incident. In a reader poll, you […] - 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… -
Borat, Gloria Allred, Movies, Rudeness
A Rapidly-Growing Practice Area: Borat Law
Litigation surrounding Sacha Baron Cohen’s controversial comedy, Borat, is turning into a cottage industry for the legal profession. Here’s the latest news: The owner of an etiquette business who was handed a plastic bag supposedly containing feces in the hit movie “Borat” says she was [falsely] told the filming would be used for a documentary […] -
Biglaw, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Department of Justice, Musical Chairs
Musical Chairs: 11.17.06
Here are a few of the most notable moves within the legal profession: Reunited and It Feels So Good: * Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld has returned to the New York office of McDermott, Will & Emery. This year, Weld unsuccessfully ran for the chance to get trounced by Eliot Spitzer the Republican nomination for […] -
Bad Ideas, Biglaw, Email Scandals
When It's Okay To Send a Firm-Wide Email
We recently quoted from this reader comment: Repeat after me: an office wide email is never, ever a good idea. This advice, while generally sound, is slightly overbroad. We can think of at least one occasion when an office-wide email is appropriate. When you leave a job, it’s perfectly appropriate to send around a farewell […] -
5th Circuit, Federal Judges, J. Michael Luttig, Judicial Nominations, Politics, R. Ted Cruz, William Rehnquist
More Fifth Circuit Scuttlebutt: R. Ted Cruz
In our detailed review of possible nominees for the two open Fifth Circuit seats in Texas, we mentioned Texas’s Solicitor General, R. Ted Cruz, as a possible nominee. After we dropped his name, a number of you wrote in to share your thoughts about him (as frequently happens after we mention someone in these pages). […] -
Bar Exams, Biglaw, Email Scandals, Emily Pataki, Reader Polls, White & Case
ATL Poll Results: Emily Pataki's Post-Bar Exam Email
Both Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes have a “message recall” feature. Of course, it’s a bit late for Emily Pataki to invoke it, so as to retract the office-wide email she sent to her White & Case colleagues about failing the New York bar exam. But if Emily agrees with the majority of you, she […]
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Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get…
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…
Sponsored
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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The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms.
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Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.
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Arlen Specter, Federal Judges, Federalist Society, Judicial Nominations, SCOTUS, SCOTUS Potential, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court
At the Federalist Society Conference: Senator Specter
Today’s sessions at the Federalist Society annual conference kicked off with a speech by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), the current (but outgoing) chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His remarks, which focused on the judicial nominations process, were engaging and informative. The crowd enjoyed his dry wit. We may have more to say about Senator […] -
Ann Coulter, Crime, Food, John Paul Stevens, Lunacy, Rank Stupidity, Sandra Day O'Connor, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
And Stay Away from Ann Coulter's Creme Brulee
Earlier this year, controversial blonde pundit Ann Coulter joked about putting rat poison in Justice John Paul Stevens’s creme brulee. Did Coulter give someone an idea? Check out this story, from the Star-Telegram of Forth Worth: When federal appellate Judge Danny Boggs said at a Friday legal conference at Las Colinas that physical assaults aimed […] -
Bar Exams, Biglaw, Blogging, Email Scandals, Emily Pataki, New York Observer, Politics, White & Case, WSJ Law Blog
The Emily Pataki Story: Credit Where Credit Is Due
PG of De Novo, in a post entitled Bad Judgment at White & Case and ATL, had this to say about our Emily Pataki coverage: I’m disappointed to see that someone forwarded this to David Lat, and that he chose to publish it. The July 2006 New York Bar Exam pass list is not yet […] -
Animal Law, Bad Ideas, Food, Perverts, Pets, Sex
Doe, A Deer, A Female Deer = Sexytime!
Bestiality-oriented necrophiliacs who live in Wisconsin, we bring you some potentially good news. In the next few weeks, a court could hold that you may have your way with whatever animals you please — as long as they’re dead. From The Smoking Gun: Meet Bryan James Hathaway, alleged venison lover. The Wisconsin man, 20, is […] -
Bar Exams, Biglaw, Email Scandals, Emily Pataki, Politics, White & Case
Emily Pataki: Her Law School Classmates Weigh In
As we discussed yesterday, Emily Pataki — daughter of lame duck New York governor George Pataki, a graduate of Columbia Law School, and now an associate a supervised legal intern at White & Case — did not pass the New York bar. This fact became widely known after Emily sent around an office-wide email about […] -
Food, Nauseating Things, New Jersey, State Judges
The NJ Supreme Court Cafeteria: They Don't Give a Rat's Ass, They Eat It
First the New Jersey Supreme Court has to suffer the indignity of the worst judicial portrait ever. And now, this: A rodent infestation at the Hughes Justice Complex’s cafeteria in Trenton has led state officials to close it down indefinitely and end the contract with the vendor that ran it. After a health inspection last […] -
Fashion, Federalist Society, Paul Clement, Tony Mauro
A Quick Update from the Fed Soc Convention
Alas, celebrity professor Tim Wu — who was originally scheduled to appear on the Federalist Society Convention panel we just returned from, addressing net neutrality — was not there. We were graced by the presence of Professor Christopher Yoo, however, and his presentation was excellent. Alas, due to the time constraints, he had to cover […]