David Lat

David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Observer, Washingtonian magazine, and New York magazine. Prior to ATL, David worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, in New York; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. David graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School, where he served as book reviews editor of the Yale Law Journal. David has received several awards for his work on ATL, including recognition as an ABA Journal Legal Rebel, a group of innovators within the legal profession, and inclusion as a member of the Fastcase 50, "the fifty most interesting, provocative, and courageous leaders in the world of law, scholarship, and legal technology." You can connect with him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

Posts by David Lat

Not All Indians Who Get Shot At Own Convenience Stores

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glock gun Above the Law Above the Law handgun Above the Law.jpgLaw school can be stressful. Very stressful. Sometimes people crack under the pressure.
Several tipsters directed our attention to this unusual story:

A University of Pennsylvania law student couldn’t shake his paranoid suspicion that his two neighbors, Drexel University graduate students, were foreign spies sent to work on some sort of a terrorism plot, police said.

His anger-laced curiosity grew after he approached the roommates, both Indian-born bio-engineering majors, during a seemingly friendly conversation yesterday morning….

At about 12:30 p.m, the 31-year-old Korean-American law student returned home, took out his legal Glock-9, and knocked on his neighbors’ front door.

The 22-year-old Drexel student, the only one inside, ignored the pounding. The Penn student’s anger exploded as he fired about 15 shots into the apartment’s door, three of which sliced through the door’s lock.

The wannabe lawyer, whose name wasn’t released, left the building as the graduate student hid in a bedroom, police said.

“It is a strange case,” said Lt. John Walker..

You can say that again. Here’s are quotes from two area students:

“Spies – that is out of left field. Spies in West Philly – that is ridiculous.”

“You’d think a law student would be smarter than that.”

Indeed. A serious law student wouldn’t mess up his stereotypes. It’s the Arabs who are plotting to kill us all, not the Indians.
(The Penn Law student’s name will become a matter of public record upon his arraignment. But perhaps it will emerge in the comments to this post before that time…)
P.S. Jeez, running a blog aimed at lawyers can suck sometimes. Lawyers are critical by training and serious by disposition (for the most part). We are therefore compelled to issue the following disclaimers:

1. Please do not take offense at the title of this post. It cannot be denied that (a) many South Asians own convenience stores and (b) many are held up at gunpoint. Pointing this out is no more offensive than the character of “Apu” on the Simpsons.

2. The sentence about getting stereotypes straight is tongue-in-cheek. We are NOT saying that Arab-Americans are terrorists, etc.

3. Please do not write to us to point out that the Penn law student in question is probably mentally ill, that mental illness is no laughing matter etc. We know. If you want to have a pissing contest with us over sensitivity to mental illness, bring it.

Student shoots at ‘spies’ [Philadelphia Daily News]
Law student arrested for firing at neighbors [Daily Pennsylvanian]

55 Comments

Flying the Friendly, Federal Judicial Skies: An Open Letter from Judge Alex Kozinski

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Alex Kozinski Alex S Kozinski Judge Above the Law hot hottie superhottie federal judiciary.jpgYesterday we put up a post about the mishaps of a federal judge and her family on a recent plane trip. You can read that post by clicking here.
A number of you found it amusing. But not everyone was so pleased.
This morning we received an email from Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Kozinski is one of the most highly respected members of the federal judiciary. He is a brilliant thinker, a great writer, and a colorful character. He is a top-ranked feeder judge, and a former Supreme Court clerk himself. Most importantly, he is the reigning Superhottie of the Federal Judiciary.
We reprint Judge Kozinski’s letter below (and after the jump). We are running the letter without interruption, in unredacted form. In a later post, we will reprint his letter again, but with our paragraph-by-paragraph commentary.
And now, Judge Kozinski:

Dear David:

I’ve been a long-time fan of your efforts to demystify and humanize the federal judiciary. Which is why I was so shocked and disappointed by your recent posting about my colleague, Judge [Marsha] Berzon. The part dealing with the incident on the airplane is a vicious and wholly gratuitous personal attack on Judge Berzon and her family. Assuming it bears some nodding resemblance to the truth, which I seriously doubt, it is so laden with pejoratives and half-witticisms that it seems designed only to wound and deride, rather than to enlighten. Federal judges may be public figures who must endure whatever criticism is leveled at us for our work product, but what possible justification is there for holding up members of our families for public ridicule?

Will a single one of your readers have been enlightened or helped in any way by learning what a lawyer who may be nursing a grudge against the judge based on his appearances before her, thinks about her family’s airplane demeanor?

We reprint the rest of Judge Kozinski’s letter after the jump.

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Gallion & Spielvogel: Evolution of a Website

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Last night, gsbarristers.com, the website of Gallion & Spielvogel — the extremely prestigious, highly regarded, supremely pedigreed, boutique law firm — looked like this:
Gallion Spielvogel 2 gsbarristers Edward Gallion Steven Spielvogel.jpg
Yup, that’s right — just lots of blank grey space. Avinti.com is an internet hosting company and service provider, which presumably hosts the Gallion & Spielvogel site.
This morning, however, gsbarristers.com sports a whole new look:
Gallion Spielvogel 3 gsbarristers Edward Gallion Steven Spielvogel.jpg
Très understated. Perhaps Gallion & Spielvogel is taking the Hollywood talent agency route, with a minimal to non-existent web presence? See, e.g., CAA (where we once worked for a summer).
We sincerely hope that this is NOT the case. We pray that the current site is merely a placeholder, to be replaced on some future date with a more elaborate presentation. We’re already missing paeans to the name partners’ “coveted,” “extremely prestigious” clerkships, as well as encomiums to their stints at Sullivan & Cromwell, “one of the most prominent Wall Street law firms,” where they represented “many of the world’s largest corporations,” and “any number” of corporate executives.
We want the old gsbarristers.com to return. Please, guys, come back — we miss you!
Gallion & Spielvogel [current, official website]
GSBarristers.com [older version of website, via Archive.org]
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Gallion & Spielvogel (scroll down)

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Skaddenfreude: The Morning Catch

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100 dollar bill Above the Law Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGWelcome to this morning’s open thread for associate salary information and news about pay raises.
First, here are a few links to mainstream media coverage of associate compensation from the past few days. We’ve noted which firms are discussed in each article, so you can decide whether you wish to click through and read the whole piece.
1. Three More Firms Raise First-Year Associate Pay [Legal Times]
Firms discussed: WilmerHale, Steptoe & Johnson, and Patton Boggs.
2. Most Calif. Firms Still Not Matching N.Y. Associates’ Pay [The Recorder]
Firms discussed: O’Melveny & Myers; Morrison & Foerster; Sheppard Mullin; Paul Hastings; Quinn Emanuel.
3. Fish & Richardson, Covington & Burling Join Salary-Raise Parade [Legal Times]
Firms discussed: Fish & Richardson; Covington & Burling.
4. The First One Falls [Fulton County Daily Report]
Firms discussed: Troutman Sanders; Morris, Manning & Martin; Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; Kilpatrick Stockton.
Second, after the jump, a verified memo from Hughes Hubbard & Reed. If your firm has a memo or email announcement that hasn’t previously appeared on the main page of ATL, please email it to us. We will then add them as updates to this post, or publish them in a subsequent post. Thanks.

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Skaddenfreude: Two Non-Announcements, and End of Day Open Thread

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100 dollar bill Above the Law Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGWe’ve reached the end of another exciting day in the salary wars.
Okay, exciting may be an overstatement. But it’s obvious that reader interest in this subject remains high.
After the jump, we reprint a pair of non-announcements — or perhaps they could be called “placeholder announcements” — from DLA Piper and Morgan Lewis & Bockius. We also provide space for you to chime in on the latest compensation news, argue over pay differentials in different cities, and bitch about your hours.
To quote Hillary Clinton: “Let the conversation begin!!!”

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Is H. Rodgin Cohen ‘The Queen’?

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H Rodgin Cohen The Queen Helen Mirren Above the Law.JPGWe haven’t seen as many films this year as we usually do. But one of our favorites, either our #1 or #2 pick for the year, is The Queen (directed, and brilliantly so, by Stephen Frears).
Here’s a decent plot summary:

In late August 1997, just as Prime Minister Tony Blair was moving into 10 Downing Street, Princess Diana died in a Paris car wreck. England went into traumatized mourning deeper than anyone could have predicted, while the royal family — Diana’s estranged former inlaws — offered no public reaction at all.

As resentment toward the royal cold shoulder built into a monarchical crisis of public opinion, young Mr. Blair [attempts to intervene] with the Queen, [urging] the House of Windsor [to make] a public demonstration of something like humanity.

But Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) resists Blair’s call for a more public show of empathy. She is a deeply traditional woman, and as far as she’s concerned, Diana’s death is a “private matter” — since Diana, divorced from Prince Charles some time ago, was no longer a “royal” or “HRH” at the time of her death.
The Queen’s commitment to tradition makes her tone deaf on the public relations front. She does not know how to navigate the complex and challenging world of the modern mass media. The Queen fails to see the crisis in confidence that is looming — a crisis that threatens the institution of the monarchy, which she loves above all.
What we must now ask is:

Is H. Rodgin Cohen, the chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell, the Biglaw version of “The Queen”?

Our reflections on this question, after the jump.

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Skaddenfreude: Cahill Matches

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Cahill Gordon & Reindel has raised base salaries for its associates. The memo — posted on Infirmation, verified to us by one source at the firm, and emailed to us by another — appears after the jump.

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78 Comments

Flying the Friendly, Federal Judicial Skies

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airplane cabin 2 Above the Law Legal Blog.jpgThe story we’re about to share with you is great, gossipy fun. But we must warn you that it’s not for everyone. It’s on the long side, and it’s aimed at a rather narrow demographic.

It’s most likely to entertain (1) current or former Ninth Circuit clerks and (2) people who follow the federal judiciary very, very closely. If you were a reader of Underneath Their Robes back in the day, then this story is for you.

In recognition of its “inside baseball” nature — and so as not to inflict it upon people who just want Biglaw salary info — we’ve placed the complete story after the jump.

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Some Fun With Blind Items: Bad Bosses

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WSJ Law Blog Peter Lattman Above the Law.jpgThe Justice Department’s Shanetta Cutlar isn’t the only idiosyncratic manager in the legal profession. The WSJ Law Blog offers up some interesting blind items about bosses from hell challenging supervisors in the world of private practice.
From the main post:

[Wall Street Journal columnist Carol Hymowitz] interviewed Gary Hayes, a psychologist and consultant, who says he worked with a New York law firm where a senior partner flung heavy law books across the room at an associate.

“The associate told me it was all right since the partner intentionally threw to miss — not hit him,” says Hayes. “But the associate soon moved to another firm.”

It’s okay to hurl F.3ds at your underlings, as long as you have crappy aim.
And from the comments:

“In the eighties there was a story making the rounds about a partner at a major firm (yes I do know which one) who punctuated a heated discussion by ripping a telephone out of the wall and flinging it across the room at another partner. Does partner v. partner mean it’s ok?”

“There is a certain partner at a certain well-known firm who is reputed to have hit her secretary in the head with a phone.”

“It just happened to me on Monday. A partner started yelling at me, reaching a high-pitched crescendo, because I handed him a photocopy of the wrong e-mail in an informal discussion. I almost started laughing, which infuriated him even more. The guy was on the verge of a stroke. I pity the man. He is a punishment to himself.”

If you’d like to enlighten us about these blind items, or speculate as to the individuals involved, you may do so — at your own risk — in the comments.
We will remind you, as we’ve done before, that under Section 230, YOU are responsible for any defamatory comments you post. We are providing the forum for discussion, but YOU are the speaker or publisher of your own remarks.
(And only YOU can prevent forest fires.)
The Scream [WSJ Law Blog]

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: January 7, 2007

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch NYT wedding announcements Above the Law.jpgFor those of you who are new to ATL, welcome to Legal Eagle Wedding Watch. In this recurring feature, we review the wedding announcements in the storied society pages of the New York Times, pick out three couples in which one spouse is a lawyer, and then score them numerically — on their credentials, families, looks, and “couple balance.” Each week, we declare a winning couple. The winners then square off in our “Couple of the Month” contest.
Due to competing claims on our attention — e.g., associate pay raise news — we’ve fallen a few weeks behind in LEWW. If you can think back that far, please cast your mind back to early January….
The weekend of January 6-7, the first wedding weekend of the new year, was a busy one. The most notable nuptials: the marriage of Ann Leventhal and Judge Jon O. Newman, of the Second Circuit. Numerous legal blogs took note of it.
But there were other lawyer weddings that weekend. Here are the three that we will review and score:

1. Ann Leventhal, Jon Newman

2. Erica Piccininni, Andrew Brettler

3. Debra Salz, David Finkelstein

Scores and commentary for the aforementioned couples, after the jump.

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