Earlier this summer, we wrote about the University of Illinois College of Law admissions scandal. Former Illinois governor (and soon to be ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ star) Rod Blagojevich pressured University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman and Heidi Hurd, former dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, to admit underqualified students who were politically connected.

In the eyes of some, it wasn’t all bad. Hurd was reluctant to accept under-performers. In exchange for her willingness to admit TTT students, university officials attempted to obtain jobs for struggling law school grads and offered scholarship money to recruit better students. The admission of one underqualified student meant jobs for five offer-less law grads.

Herman’s severance package isn’t too bad either:

Herman will continue to receive his current salary in a new position: special assistant to the interim president, Hardy said. But he will forgo a $300,000 retention bonus that was due in June.

In June, when his chancellor contract would have been up, he will take a one-year paid sabbatical at a new faculty salary of $244,444. The following year, he will be required to teach two courses a year as a tenured mathematics professor, fewer than his original contract that called for teaching four courses a year.

U. of I. President B. Joseph White and six university trustees have already been replaced. Asked why it took him so long to step down, Herman basically said he doesn’t believe he did anything wrong. He told the press that he believed he “‘was serving the greater good’ of the university by not alienating powerful people who wanted favors.”

Earlier: University of Illinois College of Law Scandal: Now With Emails

U. of I. Chancellor Herman resigns, will join faculty [Chicago Breaking News]

* Judge James Zagel okays Rod Blagojevich’s being a contestant on Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” despite his pending criminal trial, but warns him to be careful during the confessional portions. [Chicago Tribune]

* Kirkland & Ellis rips shreds in Hope case. [Am Law]

* Balloon Boy hoax charges will include conspiracy, attempting to influence a public servant, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and false reporting to authorities. Their attorney warns that arresting the Heenes in front of their children would be child abuse. Perhaps the kids could just hide in the attic during the arrest. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

* Is getting into Florida A&M law school worth filing a lawsuit over? [National Law Journal]

* Chris Rock’s documentary “Good Hair” can grow. Judge Dale S. Fischer watched it and “Nappy Roots” — the premise of which Rock is accused of swiping — and didn’t see significant similarities. [E! Online]

* Texas doesn’t want to see gays get married, but it’s willing to help them divorce. [Reuters]

* California AG Jerry Brown is launching an ACORN investigation. It sounds like the filmmakers will be investigated too. The statement from the AG’s office says, “[W]e have opened an investigation of both ACORN and the circumstances under which ACORN employees were videotaped.” [Fox News]

* This is why you shouldn’t use your clients’ class action settlement to play the stock market. [San Jose Mercury News]

* This Seattle lawyer will be disbarred because of a misunderstanding of the meaning of “flat fee.” [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

* Mrs. Blagojevich wants her day in court too. [Chicago Tribune]

We’ve been following the admissions scandal at the University of Illinois College of Law. So have some top Biglaw firms, and it’s time for them to get paid. Am Law Daily and the Chicago Tribune reports on the tab run up by the University of Illinois:

The University of Illinois has spent nearly $500,000 on legal bills for six firms retained in the past two months to help it navigate an admissions scandal, reports the Chicago Tribune.

The bulk of the money went to Latham & Watkins, which advised the university on cooperating with the state commission reviewing the school’s admissions procedures. In a statement released Friday, University of Illinois general counsel Thomas Bearrows said that Latham has been paid $392,120.

That’s a nice get for Latham, Chicago.

But there are other firms, large and small, that have been suckling off of the law school scandal. More firms after the jump.

This morning, we mentioned the University of Illinois College of Law admissions scandal. It appears that former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich pressured the University of Illinois Chancellor, Richard Herman, and Heidi Hurd, former dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, to admit underqualified students who were politically connected. In exchange for admitting those students, university officials attempted to obtain jobs for graduates of the College of Law.

The Chicago Tribune reports the results of its investigation into the law school:

The documents show for the first time efforts to seek favors — in this case, jobs — for admissions, the most troubling evidence yet of how Illinois’ entrenched system of patronage crept into the state’s most prestigious public university.

They also detail the law school’s system for handling “Special Admits,” students backed by the politically connected, expanding the scope of a scandal prompted by a Chicago Tribune investigation.

The paper has published the incriminating emails (PDF) it has uncovered. Warning, these emails are not safe for naive people who are unaccustomed with the “Chicago style” of getting things done. Here’s an exchange between the Chancellor and the Dean about what jobs would be appropriate in exchange for admitting politically connected students:

I suppose there are worse things than a dean trying to aggressively secure employment for her law graduates can’t pass the bar and can’t think. Of course, you’d hope that the dean would be even more focused on educating students so that they can pass the bar and, you know, think — but why cry over spilled milk?

In fact, some Illinois law graduates we spoke with had a very positive impression of Dean Hurd. Depending, of course, on what you mean by positive.

Some student impressions of the dean, and more emails, after the jump.

The dean of the DePaul University College of Law, Glen Weissenberger, has been removed. But this doesn’t sound like your ordinary law school administration shuffle. Dean Weissenberger alleged that there was a significant mistake in the documents DePaul sumbitted to the ABA for its accreditation review, and now he is gone.

The university provost told the faculty and staff yesterday:

Dear College of Law Faculty and Staff,

I write today to inform you that there will be a change in leadership at the College of Law effective immediately. At my recommendation, the president and I have removed Glen Weissenberger as dean and hired a new interim dean who will be announced soon.

I can assure you that this decision, which is being made in the best interests of our students and the College of Law, was made only after long and careful thought and consideration. I respect all you have accomplished under Glen’s leadership. However, the working relationship between the dean and the administration had deteriorated to the point where it had become difficult to accomplish the college’s work, hence my recommendation to the president for this action.

Our faculty and staff are the lifeblood of the College of Law, and I recognize that you have a right to be informed about why I made this difficult decision. I invite all faculty and staff to attend a private meeting at [Redacted] where I will answer questions to the best of my ability, recognizing that this is, in part, a personnel matter and I will not be able to answer all inquiries.

We have selected a highly qualified and respected member of the legal community to serve as interim dean, ensure a smooth transition and continue the momentum you have given to the college. I look forward to making an announcement about the candidate in the very near future.

Sincerely,

Helmut Epp
Provost

We reached out to Dean Weissenberger and his response suggested that this situation is far beyond a mere administrative disagreement.

Details after the jump. And an update.

* Musical Chairs: Kirkland & Ellis loses the majority of its West Coast bankruptcy and restructuring team to Jones Day. Six L.A. lawyers and one N.Y. associate are making the Jones Day jump. [American Lawyer]

* A personal injury firm in Connecticut has sued Google for selling its name to a competing firm. Stratton Faxon is also trying to get an injunction to prevent Google from selling law firm names as adwords at all. Note that this firm specializes in personal injuries and not IP law. [Connecticut Law Tribune]

* SCOTUS lifts restrictions on questioning suspects without their lawyers present. [Seattle Times]

* A transcript of a conversation between Roland Burris and the brother of Rod Blagojevich proves that Burris likes Titanic quotes. The Senate Ethics Committee and a state attorney get to decide if it also proves Burris made improper offers in exchange for Obama’s vacated seat in the Senate. [Courthouse News Service]

* A 53-year-old martial arts instructor in Texas is quite the middle-aged ladies’ man. He has his hair, a flat stomach, a Corvette, and a French accent. Unfortunately, he also has AIDS and has been convicted of six counts of sexual assault for knowingly infecting his partners. [Dallas Morning News via ABA Journal]

* Back in her Yale days, SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor had a nasty OCI with the firm formerly known as Shaw Pittman, now Pillsbury. [Los Angeles Times]

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, the guy who replaced Rod Blagojevich, wants to institute public financing for judicial elections. He’s set up a commission and everything!

The latest proposal floating around the Illinois statehouse would require lawyers to foot the bill on behalf of campaigning judges. A tipster reports:

[Pat Quinn] has proposed public financing of judicial elections beginning in 2010. Of course, Illinois, like many big states, is deeply in dept, so the governor plans to pay for this “reform” by taxing each lawyer $50, as an extra charge on his or her annual bar registration fee. Needless to say, many lawyers see this as bad policy and a terrible precedent. Why should a government, which has no money, pay for the cost of judicial campaigns, or transfer the cost to lawyers?

I’m surprised the government hasn’t put more “sin taxes” on the legal profession already. Should lawyers have to pay for a judge’s campaign? Probably not. Are you going to get the general public to rally to the defense of lawyers? Certainly not.

But it’s not too late to act. More details about the plan after the jump.

* Marc Dreier pleaded guilty yesterday. “He has disgraced the honorable profession of law,” said Judge Jed S. Rakoff. [New York Times]

* Dreier’s $400 million swindle obviously supported quite a lavish lifestyle. Check out his 2500+ sq. ft. Southampton beach house to be auctioned off next month. [David R. Maltz & Co.]

* The Legal Intelligencer has launched a series looking at the way the legal industry is changing. First part of the series gives kudos to Eckert Seamans for recognizing that first-year associates are worthless. [Legal Intelligencer]

* Judge lets Rod Blagojevich use his campaign fund for his defense costs and lets him have all the lawyers his little heart desires. [Chicago Tribune]

* The SCOTUS nomination process continues to generate massive speculation. Today, the Washington Post says there’s a strong push for a Hispanic justice. But the article has this insightful tidbit: “The White House is constructing its appointment strategy on the belief that this will not be [Obama’s] only appointment to the court and that he need not reach his goal of changing the racial, ethnic and gender balance on the court with just one pick.” [Washington Post]

* The trustees of the estate of Leona Helmsley, the famous hotelier and heiress who left her Bijon $12 million and much of the rest of her estate to the care of dogs, will not be carrying out her wishes. They reduced the Bijon’s trust fund to $2,000,000 (that is a lot of Purina) and will only donate $1 million to animal-related charities. Was it so wrong for Leona to think that animals are more worthy than people? [The New York Times]

* 16 of 62 Congressmen who left government last year are now working for lobbying firms. Will they have to wear the scarlet L around Washington now? [USA Today]

* A federal judge rejected Blagojevich’s request that he be allowed to travel to Costa Rica to tape the reality T.V. show “I’m a Celebrity…Get me Out of Here!” Blago said he needed the money he’d get from fighting Heidi Montag in the jungle. The judge said the former governor does not seem to understand “the position he finds himself in.” [The New York Times]

* There seems to be surprisingly little protest against the expansion of gay marriage across the country. They’re all at tea parties—at least the recession is good for something. [ABC.com]

* Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling predicts the UK’s worst recession since World War II. The only comparison more depressing than the Depression. [Bloomberg]

* It is no news to loyal readers that law student’s job prospects are grim, but here is another story about it just in case. [Law.com]

* Northwestern University steps up to the plate for its deferred 3Ls. The school is helping with the pro bono deferral job search and offering up loan forbearance programs. [Chicago Tribune]

* Minnesota should have two sitting Senators in Washington. However, while Amy Klobuchar holds down the fort in D.C., Norm Coleman and Al Franken continue to vie for the other Senate seat and are spending their time sitting in lawyers’ offices in Minneapolis. It’s the legal battle that never ends. Yes, it goes on and on, my friends… [New York Times]

* Financial disclosure forms give us a peek at the salaries of attorneys and partners at Biglaw’s safest firm, the “notoriously tight-lipped” Williams & Connolly. [Legal Times]

* Judge Richard Posner pleasures Eliot Spitzer… with his opinion on executive compensation. [Slate]

* No need for concern. Turns out Texas billionaire Allen Stanford can afford a lawyer. [Reuters]

* … But Rod Blagojevich is not so lucky or, rather, flush. [City Room/Chicago Public Radio]

* Jenner & Block opens L.A. office. Steals Recruits two Kirkland partners to do it. [National Law Journal]

* Over the summer, we told you about a lawsuit filed against Texas Attorney Richard Laminack in a post titled Paralegal: Will Collate, Will Not Fellate. There will be no further litigation over collation or fellatio. The judge granted summary judgment in the case on Wednesday. [Houston Chronicle]

* University of Colorado Ex-professor Ward Churchill won his wrongful termination suit (mentioned in Morning Docket yesterday). It was a moral victory rather than a financial one. The jury awarded Churchill just one little George Washington in damages. [New York Times]

* The Blagojevich indictments came rolling in yesterday. Kudos to the Chicago Tribune for this line: “After turning Illinois politics into an amusement-park ride, most notably for allegedly trying to sell President Barack Obama’s Senate seat, Blagojevich spent the day of his indictment with his family at Disney World.” [Chicago Tribune]

* Did Obama violate copyright law with his Ipod gift to the Queen? [Threat Level/Wired]

* Maryland legislators intervene to prevent a pirate porn screening at the University of Maryland. If the XXX ship had sailed, the University might have forfeited its state funding. Arrrgh. [Washington Post]

* The Blackberry balance sheet continues to thrive. This WSJ article on Research in Motion hints that there may be a cheap iPhone competitor on the market soon: RIM is “working on a slew of new devices for this year, and would reduce costs by building them using standard components. The company declined to confirm whether they include a touch-screen Blackberry that also has a traditional keypad as expected.” [Wall Street Journal (subscription)]

* A U.S. District Judge in Virginia, Rebecca Beach Smith, will soon decide whether preserved Titanic artifacts must remain available to the public. [The San Francisco Chronicle]

* Adam Liptak gives us a lively look into the Supreme Court discussion about the highly critical Hillary documentary. [The New York Times]

* Obama’s lawyers were in lock-step with Bush policies Tuesday, arguing in favor of the decision to refuse one of Europe’s leading Muslim intellectuals entry in to the U.S. [Reuters]

* Pakistan’s supreme court chief justice returned to court Tuesday amid dancing supporters. [The Associated Press]

* Attorneys cringe as Blagojevich continues to put himself in the spotlight despite his pending federal corruption indictment. [The Associated Press]

* Dreier LLP may be able to reduce a $29 million claim from Wachovia. They need all the help they can get. [Greenwich Time]

* Barney Frank defends calling Scalia a “homophobe.” [The Boston Globe]

* Illinois Sen. Roland Burris is under fire for more extensive contact with the Blagojeviches than previously admitted. He says he wasn’t trying to pay for the seat, but he did offer to throw a few fundraisers. Luckily, he’s not a good fundraiser. [New York Times]

* Status update from Facebook, “We messed up.” [CNet]

* Privacy advocates got Facebook to back down. But they lost against The Google. The Borings of Pennsylvania lost their invasion of privacy case against Google Street View. [CNet]

* Jones Day is not a fan of hyperlinking. [On Point News]

* Courtroom police officers are furious at Philadelphia Judge Craig M. Washington for removing photos of a slain officer from his courtroom. We hope he is not in need of protection in the courtroom any time soon. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* We haven’t heard from Don Johnson since his attempt to play a lawyer in the failed WB show Just Legal. Johnson is returning to the real life world of law this week, suing for tens of millions in profits from 1990s “Nash Bridges.” [Reuters]

* Breaking Media — ATL’s parent company, which Lat now runs — is hiring new writers (about finance and accounting). [DealBreaker]

* Who is going to win the SuperBowl. I already know. See, I have a system. [Sports Judge Blog]

* Military service as a punishment? Yes. Yes. We are “de-volving.” Soon we shall once again open up the great arena deathly gladiatorial combat. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Scalia’s got nothing but funny money. [What About Clients?]

* More reactions to Evan Chesler’s billable hour howling. [Ideoblog]

* Oooh, does Mahatma Blagojevich now get to be disbarred? [Cuban Revolution]

* Whatever has to happen to make the Broadway Thriller not happen needs to happen. [Popsquire]

* The New York Times is on to the “kill the billable hour” story. Cravath says it is increasingly charging clients flat fees rather than by the hour. Scott Turow manages to get quoted even though he only responded to the reporter by e-mail. [New York Times]

* Political veterans “marvel at the sheer number of lawyers Obama has appointed or nominated so far,” and warn him not to let the White House counsel’s office grow more influential than the Justice Department. [The Washington Post]

* The Southern District of New York is the Ivy League of U.S. Attorneys’ offices, sending its alumni on to prominent positions in politics, academia, and law. [New York Times]

* Like so many Americans, Ron Rod Blagojevich has lost his job. Northwestern Law grad, Lieutenant Gov. Patrick Quinn, steps in to take his place. [Chicago Tribune]

* Marc Dreier was indicted yesterday. In the words of his attorney, “the indictment is not a surprise.” [Bloomberg]

* At least the era of partisanship — that is nowhere near over— can still be kind of funny. [TaxProf Blog]

* Extra, extra, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been ousted by the Illinois State Senate. In other breaking news, Aristotle now believes man to be a “political” animal. More news at 11. [MSNBC]

* I’ve still yet to receive a satisfactory answer as to why gambling is illegal in the first place. [Underdog]

* Williams & Connolly and the White House need to get a room. [Washingtonian]

* In all seriousness though, shouldn’t this year’s Vault rankings look substantially different than last year’s results? [Litination]

* Young fool. Your feeble tort-reform skills are no match for the power of plaintiff’s bar. [Law and More]

* Cha-ching. Harvard Law gets an anonymous $10 million gift to endow a Laurence Tribe chair. [Associated Press]

* Gov. Rod Blagojevich has decided to swing by his impeachment trial in time to deliver the closing argument. [Chicago Tribune]

* Martin T. Manton would have been a Judge of the Day back in 1939, had ATL existed then. The Second Circuit judge, who was nearly appointed to the Supreme Court, was found guilty of taking bribes, resigned, and spent 19 months in prison. Now, what to do with his portrait? [New York Times]

* This story is going to hurt the lawyerly reputation. Not only did this attorney steal from his clients, he stole from physically and mentally impaired clients. New York lawyer Steven Rondos stole $4 million from his clients’ medical malpractice settlements to pay his mortgage and buy a home theater system. [New York Daily News]

* President Obama brings Biglaw hours and a less formal dress code to the White House. [New York Times]

* Restless rainmakers. [Legal Times]

* Cheerleaders get respect, but lose the ability to sue. The Wisconsin Supreme Court rules that cheerleading is a contact sport, and so its participants can’t be sued for accidentally causing injuries. [CNN]

* Rod Blagojevich is participating in his impeachment trial by audio tape only. While the Illinois Senate listened to the recordings of the governor’s crass conversations, Blago continues to make the interview rounds in the hopes of winning the trial of public opinion. [New York Times]

* Last October, Connecticut Judge E. Curtissa Cofield got hauled in by the coppers for drunken driving and side-swiping a police car. She displays her displeasure with being arrested in the recently released police video. The state’s first black female judge hurled racial epithets at the troopers and blamed her ill mood on “Negro-itis.” [Hartford Courant]

* President Obama is getting his revenge on SCOTUS Chief John Roberts for that oath flub with his first White House legislation. On Thursday, Obama will reverse a recent Supreme Court ruling that had restricted the ability of women and other workers to sue for pay discrimination. [San Francisco Chronicle]

* A review of the latest Blackberry model. Gizmodo gives the Blackberry Curve 8900 a thumbs up. [Gizmodo]

* New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed former Merrill Lynch honcho John Thain. Cuomo wants to ask the question that is on all of our minds. What’s with those billions in bonuses you gave out before Merrill merged with Bank of America? [New York Daily News]

* Cristina Warthen née Schultz, aka the Stanford Law Escort, is the 2001 Stanford law grad turned call girl turned filthy rich wife of Ask Jeeves founder David Warthen. Yesterday, she pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges stemming from her prostitution earnings and will be paying the government back to the tune of $313,000. [San Jose Mercury News]

* Dana Milbank dubs Gov. Rod Blagojevich the “unofficial poet laureate of the criminal justice system” after yesterday’s media tour. [Washington Post]

* This article by Debra Weiss at the ABA Journal is titled “How Two Lawyers Managed To Look Busy,” but it would be more accurately titled, “How One Lawyer Tried to Look Busy, but Got Fired Anyway.” [ABA Journal]

* Pennsylvania Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are stepping down and heading to prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges for accepting kickbacks. Apparently, the judges were making millions by locking kids up over minor offenses and making sure they wound up in certain detention facilities. [Associated Press]

* Nationwide Pay Freeze Watch: Missouri judges. [Associated Press]

* Cadwalader may sue the London partners who left the firm for Paul Hastings. [Legal Week]