Back in October, we informed our readers that law school litigators Jesse Strauss and David Anziska intended to file class action lawsuits against 15 additional schools, on top of the two they’d already filed against Cooley Law and New York Law School. In mid-December, we brought you an update on the status of those potential filings after Anziska told us that at least three named plaintiffs had been secured for 11 out of the 15 law schools on October’s target list. And now, about a month and a half later, have we got some news for you.
Anziska quipped in an interview with us last year that he hoped to turn 2012 into the year of “law school litigation.” Well, the class action crusader is off to a great start, because today, Team Strauss/Anziska partnered up with six other law firms and filed lawsuits against 12 law schools around the country. According to Anziska, “these lawsuits will define a generation.”
Which law firms have joined in their mighty quest, and which law schools have been sued? Find out all of this information, plus additional details that we learned during today’s media conference call, after the jump….
Continue reading “Twelve More Law Schools Slapped with Class Action Lawsuits Over Employment Data”
Back in October, we brought you the news that Jesse Strauss and David Anziska intended to sue 15 more law schools over their post-graduate employment rates, in addition to their already pending class action suits against Cooley Law and New York Law School. As mentioned during their October 5 media conference, Team Strauss/Anziska will not sue a law school unless they are able to gather three named plaintiffs to represent the class.
Now that it’s mid-December, we’re still waiting for these lawsuits to be filed. What’s the hold up? These crusading lawyers say that they are ready, willing, and able to sue all 15 law schools, but there’s just one teeny, tiny problem. Here’s where our loyal readers come in.
Are you a disgruntled law school graduate? Did you rely on your law school’s employment data, only to find that you are now unemployed or unemployable, despite your law degree?
If so, then consider heeding this call, if you want to help crowdsource a lawsuit against what Anziska calls the “law school industry cartel”….
Continue reading “Calling All Disgruntled Law School Graduates: Will You Ring in the New Year By Suing Your School?”
We recently found out that a student group from a New York area law school is holding a Man Auction this Friday. We hear that this event has gone off without a hitch in the past, but this year, the group has changed the name of the event to the “Cake Sale.” Maybe they got in trouble with the administration, but who can resist a beefcake sale?
Our question is: what kind of a law school allows one of its student organizations to hold an annual Man Auction? An awesome one!
Though it appears some of our readers disagree with that characterization….
Continue reading “What Kind of a Law School Has a ‘Man Auction’?”
Herman Cain: victim of a high-tech lynching?
* Here is Bess Levin’s take on the Groomzilla lawsuit brought by Todd J. Remis, son of a Goodwin Procter partner. [Dealbreaker]
* What advice would crisis management guru Lanny Davis give to Herman Cain about Cain’s sexual harassment scandal? Here’s an imagined conversation. [The Hill]
* And here is a real conversation — between Herman Cain and Ginni Thomas, also about the sexual harassment allegations. [Daily Caller]
* Current law students, at Brooklyn Law and Cardozo, call upon the ABA to get its act together. [BLS Advocate; Cardozo Jurist]
Judge J. Paul Oetken (S.D.N.Y.)
* The legal career of NBA star Ben Wallace is off to a great start. [Yahoo! Sports]
* Antonin Pribetic asks: “Are GCs Shifting The Balance of BigLaw Power?” [The Trial Warrior]
* Congratulations to Judge Paul Oetken on joining the distinguished S.D.N.Y. bench! (I was lucky enough to attend his ceremonial induction last week, which was fabulous.) [Poliglot / Metro Weekly]
* And congratulations to the Dave Nee Foundation, a non-profit committed to fighting depression and preventing suicide, on its record number of law firm supporters for this year’s masquerade ball (taking place tomorrow night). [Dave Nee Foundation (press release)]
Back in August, we reported that Kurzon Strauss had filed class action lawsuits against Thomas M. Cooley Law School and New York Law School for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and deceptive business practices. And earlier this week, we started to wonder how those cases would be moving forward, because Kurzon Strauss is apparently no more.
That’s right, the law firm that brought us some of the most prolific class action lawsuits of the year has broken up. Breaking up is hard to do, especially when you’ve got major cases like Gomez-Jimenez v. NYLS and MacDonald v. Cooley Law to deal with.
So, what’s a lawyer to do? Apparently the solution is to file fifteen more class action lawsuits against law schools with questionable post-graduate employment data.
Is your law school or alma mater a defendant? Let’s find out….
Continue reading “Fifteen More Law Schools to Be Hit with Class Action Lawsuits Over Post-Grad Employment Rates”
Dennis Block
Big news out of New York today: Dennis Block, a leading mergers and acquisitions attorney, is on the move. Known for being extremely successful — but notoriously difficult to work with — Block is stepping away from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and bringing his huge book of business to Greenberg Traurig.
This Brooklyn Law School graduate proves that you don’t need to go to a T-14 school to have a great career. Block has served as counsel on several big time affairs, including Pfizer’s $68 billion Wyeth takeover, and JPMorgan’s Bear Stearns buyout.
Let’s learn more about Block’s past, and see what Cadwalader has to say about this partner’s defection….
Continue reading “Musical Chairs: Greenberg Traurig Snags a Major Player from Cadwalader”
Under new management?
There has been a lot of talk in the media lately about how law schools are failing to adequately prepare recent graduates for the working world. Because after having your nose in a book for three years, let’s face it, you probably don’t know how to do “useful things with the law” that would actually help a client.
Law schools have also been under fire for their apparently inability to employ recent graduates in the legal work force. While some law schools are simply gaming their employment numbers, others are creating temporary employment opportunities so their graduates can be employed at graduation.
And in the spirit of killing two birds with one stone, law schools may soon have a solution for both of these problems. Instead of inventing temporary jobs to make you “practice-ready,” they might invent a whole law firm….
Continue reading “Can’t Get a Job? Lacking Lawyer Skills? Try Working for Your School’s Law Firm”
And just like that, it’s December. Flurries fill the sky, Wham’s “Last Christmas” saturates the airwaves, and the list of weddings in the New York Times shortens dramatically. Quality tends to decline along with quantity, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised to find plenty of comment-worthy nuptials (and attractive brides!) over the past couple of weeks.
Here are the three weddings that most caught caught our eye:
Elizabeth Kronick and Michael Kleinman
Alexandra Endelson and Michael Bassik
Lucy Martinez and James Sullivan Jr.
Check out these couples’ pictures and write-ups, including one jaw-dropping wedding registry — plus a list of all the recent legal eagle weddings — after the jump.
Continue reading “Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Registry Error”
The library at Brooklyn Law School is fast becoming the most sexual law library in America. Last week, the class of 2010 dedicated a plaque inside the library warning students, “It’s supposed to be hard.” This week, we’ve learned that the law library also plays host to some hard bodies.
Apparently, Brooklyn Law allowed models from Diesel Jeans to use its law library for a photoshoot. The jeans didn’t stay on for long. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the law library for the 67th best law school in America….
WARNING: The pictures after the jump should be safe for work — there’s no nudity — but they are mildly risqué. Read on at your own risk.
Continue reading “Hot Models Get Busy in Brooklyn Law Library”
The class of 2010 at Brooklyn Law School decided to give themselves a plaque in the library for their class gift. Given the state of the legal job market, I’m impressed that this class gift phenomenon still exists, it’s a testaments to man’s ability to look on the bright side of getting screwed with your pants on.
At the risk of starting a flood of emails about stupid class gifts, a tipster sent us the picture of the Brooklyn Law plaque that simply begs to be mocked. In fact, other students at Brooklyn are mocking it already.
Take a look at the plaque, but then you have to get a look at the explanation the class of ’10 gave for going with a plaque…
Continue reading “Brooklyn Law 2010 Class Gift is More Like a Terrible High-School Yearbook Quote”
Earlier this week, we told you to look out for a former Clifford Chance associate — Georgetown Law grad James Weir — on the upcoming recession-inspired edition of “The Apprentice.” We lamented that Donald Trump was providing work to only one unemployed lawyer.
Shortly thereafter, we found out that the Donald had in fact been more gracious than that to the legal profession. He has given work to at least two down-and-out legal eagles. A tipster wrote:
Saw your post about the former Clifford Chance attorney who was cast for this upcoming season of the Apprentice and wanted to let you know there is also a recent Brooklyn Law grad named Mahsa Saiedi-Azcuy on the show. She graduated in 2009 and was actually hired by the Brooklyn DA, uncertain as to her current employment status though.
We look forward to this match-up: Woman vs. Man. Brooklyn Law vs. Georgetown Law. DA’s Office vs. Biglaw.
Plus, Saiedi-Azcuy is hot…
Continue reading “Another Legal Eagle on the Upcoming ‘Laid-off’ Edition of ‘The Apprentice’”
MTV has sunk low. Really low. Its newest program, Downtown Girls — a reality TV show about a group of hot girls living in TriBeCa — is using the New York bar exam as a dramatic narrative hook.
We wrote before about the law grad on the show in our post: Why Unemployed Lawyers Shouldn’t Go On Reality TV Shows — Exhibit A: Victoria, of MTV’s Downtown Girls. Her bio on the MTV site described her as an aspiring attorney who is “a source of rattlebrained comic relief” and “currently awaiting the results of her second attempt at the bar exam.”
We’ve since learned from tipsters that Victoria is a Brooklyn Law School grad. Her results came in on episode 4 of the show. The show’s lead Carrie Bradshaw-inspired character real person is Shallon, who narrates at the beginning of the episode: “Victoria is about to find out the results of her bar exam and that could totally shift the course of her whole life.”
Consider life shifted. The second time was not the charm for Victoria. So what do you do if you find out that you failed the bar exam on national television?
Continue reading “Reality TV Star Victoria, of Downtown Girls, Fails the Bar Exam”
Over the past year, we’ve devoted a great deal of coverage to the value proposition of going to law school. While reasonable people disagree on just how much law school should cost (Canadian professor Robert Martin starts the bidding at $12 a year), there is a growing consensus that the cost of legal education is already too high — and is continuing to go up, despite the faltering job market.
Law schools can’t be counted on to help their students get jobs in this economy — but that’s not about to make them stop raising tuition. And we are now in the season of tuition hikes. Over the summer, when students are off campus and thus generally unable to engage in violent protest, many administrations look to raise tuition.
We’d like to track these hikes on Above the Law, so send us your tips when your school raises (or, God forbid, doesn’t raise) tuition.
As a jumping off point, we have news that Brooklyn Law School is raising tuition. Because you know, anytime you can sport a sub-80% employed at graduation rate, a tuition hike makes a lot of sense….
Continue reading “Open Thread: It’s Time For Another Round of Tuition Hikes”
Every now and then, we like to offer our readers some career alternatives — things you can do with your law degree and legal training that don’t involve, say, working in a large law firm or as a contract lawyer. We’ve profiled a wide range of individuals, from lawyers who have left the law for everything from football coaching to CEO-ing to therapy (giving, not receiving).
A number of past profiles have involved attorneys turned entrepreneurs. We’ve looked at lawyers who have started restaurants and gone into college admissions consulting. We’ve profiled a lawyer who makes hot tamales, and a lawyer who is a hot tamale.
Today we continue down the path of attorneys who have gone from representing companies to launching them. Our latest interviewee has started a company, Urban Interns, that might be of interest to any ATL readers who are looking to hire interns — or any ATL readers who are looking for internships, which can provide valuable experience and/or a paycheck (of great value during these times of still-high unemployment).
Meet Cari Sommer, a Biglaw alum who last year launched Urban Interns….
Continue reading “Career Alternatives: Internship Market Maker”
Welcome to the top … of the second tier. We are at the point where the value proposition of going to law school is questionable. But the “nailing attractive co-eds” possibilities remain high. Check out some of the schools ranked in this batch. If you are going to spend three years and six figures on something, you’re going to need more than illusory job prospects to keep you warm at night:
52. Pepperdine
52. Cardozo
54. Florida State
54. Yale Law School’s Hartford Campus/University of Connecticut (j/k)
56. Case Western Reserve
56. Loyola (Los Angeles)
56. Cincinnati
56. San Diego
60. Georgia State
60. University of Houston
60. Miami
60. Tennessee
64. Baylor
64. Lewis & Clark College
64. Kentucky
67. Brooklyn
67. Kansas
67. New Mexico
67. Pittsburgh
67. Villanova
72. Penn State
72. Seton Hall
72. St. John’s
72. Temple
72. Hawaii
72. Oklahoma
See what I’m saying. I bet young law students are just cutting a swath through the undergrads at Yeshiva University.
Seriously though, FSU, Miami, Rocky Top, Ha-freaking-Waii. Good times! You know, unless you want to get a job…
Continue reading “Open Thread: 2011 U.S. News Law School Rankings (52 – 72)”
The Good Wife is one of the few legal dramas out there that is worth a damn. The writing is good, the situations are believable yet not so realistic as to be boring, and the acting is quality.
The producers of the Good Wife brought their show to the campus of Brooklyn Law School this week. There was much gawking at the show’s stars: Julianna Margulies and Chris Noth. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports:
The TV show was filming on the Brooklyn Law School campus this week on Joralemon Street, as well as outside Brooklyn federal court. Students reportedly not only witnessed the legal drama being filmed, but also had a spread of snacks and treats set up for them by the show’s producers. Refreshments had attached notes saying, “Have a good day?” according to the Daily News.
Don’t take candy from strangers. Don’t take candy from strangers!!
Continue reading “Here’s One Job Brooklyn Law Students Are Definitely Qualified For”
Some students at Brooklyn Law School seem a bit frustrated by their job prospects.
So they constructed this, outside one of the residence halls….
UPDATE: We’ve added a second, better photo of what the BLS students built, also after the jump.
Continue reading “Talk About a Frozen Job Market”
As was evident last year, I kind of get giddy around the time colleges and law schools start picking their commencement speakers. I don’t know why. You remember graduation for the rest of your life and it’s interesting to me to see the people your school picks to give you a proper send-off.
And you never know when commencement will put you in the prime seat for history changing news. Remember, the Marshall Plan was unveiled at Harvard Commencement, 1947.
The highlight of last year’s law school commencement speaker circuit was Columbia’s choice of former California Governor Gray Davis. Obviously, I’m talking about “highlight” in terms of comedic value. I mean, any time you can invite a (failed) Governor to speak at your school, it’s an opportunity you have to take.
It’s a little bit early to start a full tally of law school commencement speakers. But one of the early entries is pretty exciting.
Check out who is coming to Brooklyn Law School this spring, after the jump.
Continue reading “Let’s Commence Commencement Speaker Watch”
As expected, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner easily won our October Couple of the Month poll. You can read all about Ivanka’s newlywed bliss here, here, and here (she’s already “gadding about the city ringless.”)
Now we plummet back to earth to turn the LEWW spotlight on more ordinary folk. This week’s contestant-couples:
1. Lisa Klein and Blake Sparrow
2. Sarah Goodstine and Laurie Levin
3. Rachel Moston and Garrett Ross
Get the scoop on these newlyweds, after the jump.
Continue reading “Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 11.1: The Beard”
Yesterday we reported on this announcement by Brooklyn Law School:
This semester we have received several warnings from our Internet service provider that copyrighted movies and TV shows are being downloaded illegally via our wireless network. The Information Technology office is now ascertaining who is doing this. Once we have names of the individuals involved, we intend to give them to the copyright holders for enforcement purposes.
This stance proved unpopular with BLS students, as well as ATL readers. In a poll, about 75 percent of readers answered “yes” when asked, “Should Brooklyn Law School do more to protect its students from being sued for illegal downloading?”
It seems that Brooklyn Law School has had a change of heart. Check out the email that went out this afternoon, plus selected reader comments, after the jump.
Continue reading “Brooklyn Law Won’t Proactively Rat Out Its Students”
