Bad Ideas
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Bad Ideas, Constitutional Law, Crime
Another Reason To Be Suspicious of Psychotherapy
The 10th Circuit had an ugly case on its hands last week. While all psychotherapy seems mildly sadistic, this case is especially bad. Per Wikipedia, psychotherapy is supposed to “increase an individual’s sense of well-being and reduce subjective discomforting experience.” A Kansas couple running a home for the mentally ill had a slightly different approach. […] -
Associate Advice, Bad Ideas
Lonely Lawyers This Weekend
It’s not too late to get a date for the weekend instead of sitting at home and playing Rock Band 2. Not too late at all, if you don’t mind putting up with a lawyer. From Craigslist: Older Attorney Seeks Younger Girlfriend – 39 Call it a mid-life crisis, but I want a younger girlfriend. […] - Sponsored
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Bad Ideas, Biglaw, Holidays and Seasons, Travel / Vacation
How Does A Turkey Write A Vacation Memo?
We here at ATL are big believers in push-back. Tell the partners and your colleagues about your personal needs and desires, and try your best to take some control over your work schedule. The firm can survive without you. But the theory behind successful push back is that you are not the most important person […]
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Bad Ideas, Breasts, Romance and Dating, Sexual Harassment, Weirdness
The Curious Case Of Randy: Part 3
[Ed Note: This is the third and final installment in the Curious Case of Randy, a rather eccentric law firm partner. You can read Part 1 over here and Part 2 over here.] Weeks pass, and Randy continues to be randy. Stopping by my office no less than three times a day. Gawking at the […] -
Bad Ideas, State Judges
And you thought you were having a crappy day...
We like the occasional poo-poo joke here at ATL, but we’re torn between amusement and disgust in the case of Cornell Tyler, 37, who is being tried for murder in Markham Courthouse in Illinois. His actions give new meaning to Freud’s anal-sadistic phase. Tyler used sandwich bags from lunch to create excrement bombs on Thursday. […] -
Bad Ideas, Email Scandals, Law Schools
More Advice for Law Students: Don't Do This
We recently offered some helpful hints for new law students, distilled from over 200 reader suggestions. We now have an addendum to our list of tips, based on an ill-advised email that found its way into our inbox. Some background: Today, all members of last year’s Law Review Editorial Board at [George Washington University Law […] -
Bad Ideas, Cars, Crime, Drinking, Summer Associates
Summer Associates of the Day: Grand Theft Auto
Labor Day is behind us. You know what that means: no wearing white, no gin and tonics, and no qualms about sending summer associate stories to ATL. If you have an SA story to share that we haven’t previously covered, please email us. This latest tale, posted below, puts the “MoFo” in Morrison & Foerster. […] -
Bad Ideas, Food, Nauseating Things
Why You Shouldn't Steal Food From the Law Firm Fridge
Stealing Swiss Miss from your law firm’s kitchen is not a good idea. If you’re a summer associate, it’s a recipe for getting no-offered. And stealing food from the law firm refrigerator is also unwise. See here (and note the “FYI” postscript). Does anyone care to guess — or actually know — the law firm […] - 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. -
Bad Ideas, Feminism, Gender, Litigators, Litigatrix, Media and Journalism
Naming a magazine for female attorneys: Chill out, Trial Mama?
The makers of KNOW: The Magazine for Paralegals have another legal publication in the works. A tipster forwarded us an e-mail about a “new magazine for women professionals in litigation.” Imagining the love child of Glamour and the American Lawyer, we expected to see planned articles on hot courtroom studs and legal fashion faux pas. […] -
Bad Ideas, Contempt, Fashion, Rudeness, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns
Should Wearing Short Shorts Be A Crime?
Judges who hold people in contempt, or even jail them, for letting their cellphones go off in court — e.g., Robert Restaino, Diane Boswell — may be overreacting. The same can’t be said for Judge Janet Booth, of Garrard County, Kentucky. Judge Booth just sent a woman to jail, for three days, for wearing short […] -
ATL Idol, Bad Ideas, Police, Pornography
Legal Ploy of the Day: Why Didn't He Try This at a Gynecologist?
[Ed. note: This post is by FROLIC & DETOUR, one of the finalists in ATL Idol, the “reality blogging” competition that will determine ATL’s next editor. It is marked with Frolic & Detour’s avatar (at right).] A man claiming to be a police detective entered a Longmont, Colo. adult store and demanded to see the […] -
Bad Ideas, Nude Dancing, Summer Associates
'Sheer'-man Not So Sterling?(Or: Where not to take your female summer associates.)
This summer associate (or “vacation schemer”) story comes to us from across the pond. An attorney in the London office of Shearman & Sterling had an interesting take on appropriate summer associate events. Legal Week reports that a bunch of Shearman partners and attorneys took the “trainees” out to the bars one Friday last month. […] -
Bad Ideas, Breasts, Sex, Sex Scandals, Summer Associates
Summer Associate of the Day the Mid-1990s: The Necklace Maker
Based on your feedback, it seems that the story of office sex between two Skadden summer associates may just be urban legend. But we don’t feel that bad, since it’s a story that very well could have happened — and surely has, in other years or at other firms. As promised, we’re going to make […]
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Bad Ideas, Breasts, Depositions, Fashion
'Respectfully, I think he's just referring to the fact that he can see your breasts.'
This may not happen to men, but many a woman has put on an outfit and discovered later that it is more sheer than she realized in the dim light of her home. In sunlight, or in an office’s bright fluorescent glow, the underthings suddenly become visible — if one is lucky enough to be […] -
Bad Ideas, Contests, Hotties, Reader Polls
Skadden's Hotness Contest, Chilled By the Powers That Be
Everyone’s written about this story already; we don’t have much to add. Maybe we’ll write more later if the spirit moves us, but we’re not feeling terribly inspired right now. In the meantime, check out the numerous links collected below, opine in the comments, and take our poll. We’re curious about what you think of […] -
Airplanes / Aviation, Bad Ideas, Crime, Dubious Defenses, Fashion, Free Speech
From the Department of Dubious Defenses: Shouting Fire in a Crowded... Airport?
In the wake of our recent post about a dubious defense, here’s another one: A lawyer for an MIT student held at gunpoint after she walked into Logan International Airport wearing what authorities believed was a bomb asked a judge to throw out the charges Friday, saying the device was a legitimate form of free […] -
Bad Ideas, Drugs, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Murder, Police, Politics, Prostitution
Morning Docket: 01.31.08
* New accounting rules for M&A. [DealBook] * Lilly contemplates $1 billion payment to settle civil and criminal investigations relating to its marketing of Zyprexa. [New York Times] * NYPD officer accused of pimping child. [MSNBC] * Ex-priest jailed for murder via exorcism. [CNN] * Indiana man arrested for making his own crosswalk. [The Indy […]
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Bad Ideas, Drinking, DUI / DWI, Lawyer of the Day, Rank Stupidity, Reader Polls, Rudeness, Sex Scandals
Lawyer of the Day: People's Choice
Last week was a busy one in terms of bonus news. In addition, we were prevented from publishing as much as we wanted by technical difficulties (which lie outside the jurisdiction of your undersigned blogger, a mere writer and not a tech person). Our recent neglect of the “misbehaving lawyers” beat has given rise to […] -
Bad Ideas, Dubious Defenses, Kids, Murder, Trials
From the Department of Dubious Defenses
Defendants in deep doo-doo come up with all sorts of innovative defenses. Last week, we learned that fashion mogul Dov Charney, accused of sexually harassing a former employee, claimed in a deposition that when he appeared before the plaintiff wearing nothing but a strategically placed sock, he was merely testing a new line of underwear. […] -
Bad Ideas, Celebrities, Litigatrix, Star Jones, Television
Sometimes We Feel Guilty About How Easy This All Is
The tipster who forwarded this invite to us pretty much said it all: “Weil: Are you joking?” Weil is currently ranked #9 on the Vault 100. How many spots should they be docked for this? (In case you’re wondering, yes, we did contact the firm for comment. We did not hear back from them.) WEIL […]