* SCOTUS will decide whether juveniles can get life sentences for non-homicide crimes. [New York Times]

* Another law professor is heading to court. Columbia’s Philip Bobbitt sued the law firm formerly known as Milberg Weiss this week for allegedly messing up a class action suit. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Blind gamer sues Sony because its video games discriminate against the visually impaired. Perhaps just stick to Rock Band? [True/Slant]

* Ex-SEC lawyer pleads guilty to helping Marc Dreier scam hedge funds. [Bloomberg]

* Kamee B. Verdrager is taking her wrongful termination suit against Mintz Levin to Suffolk County Court. Verdrager alleges she was fired for becoming preggers. Longtime readers may remember this as the “I suppose we have your honeymoon to blame for this” case. [Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (subscription)]

* J-Lo would like to keep her sex tape on the downlow. [True/Slant]

* Scott Rothstein’s assets seized. If you know a lawyer who has eight houses worth $18 million, several luxury cars, a yacht, and two other boats, you might know a lawyer running a Ponzi scheme. [Associated Press]

As we’ve noted in Morning Docket for the past two days, lawyer Scott Rothstein is in all kinds of trouble in Florida. From what we understand, it’s Marc Dreier redux, the sunshine state version.

We’re still trying to wrap our heads around the story, but as the Bard would say, the sh** hath hitteth the fan this week.

The WSJ Law Blog is similarly perplexed by the scandal (See What’s Going on at Rothstein Rosenfeldt? Part I and Part II).

Scott Rothstein, a founding partner of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, has been out of the country for the last few days, making this all even more confusing. He just flew back into Miami an hour ago and police have surrounded his firm. We give you context after the jump.

* Florida has its own Marc Dreier. Scott Rothstein is accused of swindling investors. His 70-lawyer firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, will dissolve. [AmLaw and Associated Press]

* Store clerk steals man’s $1 million lottery ticket. The Texas Lottery Commission considers the thief to be entitled to the prize, because he signed the back of the winning ticket. [Associated Press]

* The Supreme Court will decide whether mutual fund advisors are paid too much. [New York Times]

* Conman who posed as a lawyer “to win the affections of women” has been jailed for three years. [BBC News]

* Attorneys for sniper John Allen Muhammad plan to appeal to the Supreme Court to try to prevent next week’s execution. [Associated Press]

* RIP, Prof. Michael Goldsmith of BYU. [TaxProf Blog]

Law professors generally don’t earn as much as Biglaw partners. Legal academic salaries, while generally in the low six-figures, rarely go over, say, $400,000.

But some law profs own very, very nice homes. See, e.g. (in descending order by value):

• Columbia professor Hans Smit ($30 million mansion — yup, that’s seven zeros);

• Yale professor James Whitman ($5.7 million co-op);

• NYU professor Cathy Sharkey ($5.2 million apartment);

• “Feldsuk,” aka Harvard professors Jeannie Suk, who has a new book out that looks quite interesting, and Noah Feldman ($2.8 million mansion);

• Columbia professor Edward Morrison ($2.6 million townhouse); and

• Columbia professor Sarah Cleveland ($2.5 million townhouse).

  Sometimes the professors get financial assistance for these purchases from the schools that employ them. But sometimes the professors buy them on their own, without any university help.

  For example, as reported in the New York Observer, Daniel Fischel, former dean of the University of Chicago Law School, just picked up an $8.45 million Manhattan pied-à-terre. As breathlessly described by writer Max Abelson, the apartment features “custom electric shades, a steam shower, and a Sub-Zero wine refrigerator.”

  Sounds fabulous! Maybe Professor Fischel can donate a weekend in this apartment to the CLF public interest auction?

  Fischel’s famous neighbors, plus the story of how he got this rich — being a law school dean pays well, but not that well — after the jump.

* Former basketball player Len Elmore was a partner at Dreier LLP. Now he’s sad. [Bitter Lawyer via ABA Journal]

* Suing law firms isn’t just for laid off attorneys anymore. Now legal recruiters are getting into the act. [Am Law Daily]

* And apparently law firms aren’t the only institutions that can be sued for sexual harassment. That’s a lesson George Mason Law is learning the hard way. [Law Librarian Blog]

* Alternatives to the traditional Biglaw business model abound. Will any of them stick? [Ideoblog]

* Do law clerks affect judicial performance? [Concurring Opinions]

* Roman Polanski is staying put in Switzerland for now. Somebody should slip him a Quaalude so he doesn’t even notice the time passing by. [WSJ Law Blog]

Vanity Fair has a detailed article on Marc Dreier. It’s TLDR fascinating. The magazine has a great quote from Dreier explaining how his life felt after he got divorced and split from his longtime business partner:

All this sent Dreier into an emotional tailspin. “I was very distraught,” he says. “I was very disappointed in my life. I felt my career and my marriage were over. I was 52 and [I felt] maybe life was passing me by…. I felt like I was a failure.” His feelings of despair were deepened by his keen, lifelong sense of entitlement, a hard-core belief that he was destined to achieve great things.

Dreier felt that way at 52. How many young lawyers feel that way at 25, after getting laid off early in their career or no offered entirely? Of course, some people rebound from that feeling with renewed motivation. Dreier used the emotion to underpin criminal activity. Our friends at Dealbreaker get into Dreier’s head this way:

It’d be enough to send anyone to a place where the next logical thing to do would be impersonate hedge fund managers and stage fake conference calls! And honestly, not to insult anyone here, but do you know how easy it is to scam these hedgie guys? Like crazy easy. It almost seems like the crime would be to not scam them, if you think about it.

If you don’t have the time to get through the whole VF article, check out the highlights on Dealbreaker.

Marc Dreier’s Crime of Destiny [Vanity Fair]
Marc Dreier Got Into The Ponzi Biz To Fulfill His Destiny For Greatness, To Fill A Void, And To Buy A Beach House [Dealbreaker]

* Naked shorting: it sounds hot, but it might just get you into trouble with the SEC. [Dealbreaker]

* So you worked for Bernie Madoff — or Marc Dreier, aka Mini-Madoff. Is it okay to lie on your résumé? [Let’s Talk Turkey]

* Are Canadian law students and lawyers cuter than their American counterparts? Based on the ones in this video, yes. [Law Is Cool]

* In case you’re wondering, Professor Ann Althouse kept her name when she married her commenter / suitor — no “Mrs. Meade” for her. [Althouse]

* Boobies!!! (Maybe NSFW, but probably not — it’s artsy photography, for Australian Vogue.) [Fashionista]

Mega-fraudster Marc Dreier, who recently traded a magnificent penthouse for a cell at the MCC (look him up in the handy Inmate Locator), isn’t the only New York lawyer with new digs.

The iconic CBS Building (aka “Black Rock”), longtime home of Wachtell Lipton, has another prestigious legal tenant. From the New York Observer:

Law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe was expected Thursday to sign a lease for approximately 220,000 square feet at CBS’ 38-story granite slab known as Black Rock, at 51 West 52nd Street, according to industry sources.

As part of the deal, Orrick is taking the space being vacated by UBS and Cushman & Wakefield, which will consolidate its midtown offices at 1290 Avenue of the Americas. Sources say that UBS paid more than $32 million to terminate its lease early, money which CBS applied to the Orrick deal to absorb the costs of Orrick’s build-out of the noncontiguous space to the tune of $150 a square foot, and which will reduce the firm’s rent in the building.

It’s a great building, with handsome, elegant architecture (courtesy of Eero Saarinen). Because the footprint is relatively small, it doesn’t have the impersonal, warehouse-like feel of many other New York office buildings. The midtown location is super-convenient, and the higher floors offer amazing views. (We know Black Rock well, having spent several thousand hours in it while working at Wachtell.)

An Orrick spokesperson confirmed to ATL that the deal, described by the Observer as “expected,” has closed. Congratulations to Orrick on the fabulous new digs!

Links and press release, after the jump.

A certain big-time lawyer turned big-time fraudster — Marc Dreier, aka “Mini-Madoff” — will probably spend the rest of his life behind bars. He must miss his days of house arrest, when he got to hole up in 34C — not just a great bra size, but also a great apartment — at One Beacon Court.

That apartment is no longer his. The New York Law Journal reports:

The luxury midtown Manhattan apartment of disgraced attorney Marc S. Dreier was sold at auction for $8.2 million, about $2 million less than the $10.43 million he paid in 2007.

The sale of the condominium at 151 E. 58th St. came just one week after Southern District Judge Jed S. Rakoff sentenced Mr. Dreier to 20 years in prison for orchestrating a multi-year Ponzi scheme that fleeced more than $400 million from clients of Dreier LLP and investors to whom he sold bogus promissory notes.

Forty-six bidders registered for the auction held at Southern District Bankruptcy Court. In just five minutes, the price of Mr. Dreier’s 3,000-square-foot apartment in the Bloomberg Building at One Beacon Court rocketed to $8.15 million from an initial bid of $3 million.

Eight million isn’t chump change. But look at everything the buyer is getting!

Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com.

ATL,

I am a first year associate in a small/mid-sized firm. I graduated during during the height of the recession, so it took me many months to find this job. I have been working there for about three months (and I hate it).

Recently, I have noticed oppressive and harassing behavior in the workplace by the senior/managing partners. In addition, I have a strong suspicion of unethical practices occurring in the firm, but I do have not have clear evidence to confirm my suspicions. I have a strong inclination to leave the firm for these reasons.

However, if I leave, I am stuck as to how I will answer if asked why I left after just three months. Moreover, trying to find another job in the current economy in California is difficult. I’m afraid if I disclose the real reason I left, I may be saying untrue things about the firm, and/or be viewed as a whistleblower or someone who cannot be trusted. Any other answers will surely raise eyebrows as to my commitment considering the short time period spent at the current firm.

Advice?

Give a Little Whistle

Give a Little Whistle,

I was sitting at home watching Cake Boss when my phone rang. It was Lat. He asked me what I was doing and I said, “Watching Cake Boss, this show is actually not that bad.” He then reminded me that I had a Pls Hndle Thx due the next day and when I said that I didn’t have any witty responses to the question posed above, he ordered me to - you guessed it - write a poem.

“It doesn’t have to rhyme,” he said, to which I responded, “Actually, last time I checked, ALL poems had to rhyme,” and he immediately conceded this point. So without further ado, I present to you, “Ratting on Your Firm on a Snowy Evening.”

Marin’s Poem and Elie’s Susan Boyle impersonation after the jump.

* A look at the Dreier detective work performed by Mark F. Pomerantz of Paul Weiss (with a little human resources consulting thrown in). [New York Times]

* Neil Armstrong Dial dreamed of going to space, but instead he went to Foster Pepper in Seattle. [Seattle Times]

* Ex-SEC head Christopher Cox is heading to Bingham McCutchen. [Bloomberg via Dealbreaker]

* Slaughterhouse rules no more? [SCOTUSblog]

* We gave you a special Sonia Sotomayor Weekend Non-Sequitur posting, but we have yet two more links to share. The hearings were a disappointment to liberals hoping to get a “liberal Scalia,” says the Washington Post, and asks: “Did the hearings reveal a true absence of liberal ideas in the 55-year-old judge President Obama chose to fill his first Supreme Court vacancy? Or did they reflect sheer political pragmatism by someone, coached by White House staff members and following the model of other recent nominees, seeking to maximize support by avoiding controversy? ” [Washington Post]

* This is an excellent moment at which to have Jeffrey Toobin explain the “Bork effect.” [New Yorker]

The long (inter)national Marc Dreier nightmare is almost at an end. He’s been sentenced to 20 years for defrauding his clients and investors. The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports:

Prosecutors had asked for a 145-year sentence, which harked back to the 150-year sentence U.S. District Judge Denny Chin readily handed down to Bernie Madoff, whose massive Ponzi scheme drained the bank accounts of countless investors. In both cases defense attorneys sought a fraction of that. Dreier’s attorney sought no more than 12-and-a-half years.

But Dreier drew U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who has been highly critical of the length of sentences under the federal sentencing guidelines, particularly in white collar crime cases.

Bernie Madoff gets 150 years, but Dreier only gets 20? Justice may be blind, but she’s certainly not deaf.

Breaking: Marc Dreier Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison [WSJ Law Blog]

Earlier: Is Marc Dreier Almost As Bad as Bernie Madoff?

The federal government seems to think so, based on the sentence they’re seeking. We’re kind of proud that one of our own, a lawyer, can rank up there with one of the greatest swindlers of all time.

And what does Marc Dreier think he deserves? No more than 12 1/2 years, according to his sentencing memo. More details, including excerpts from Dreier’s seemingly heartfelt letter to Judge Rakoff, over at the WSJ Law Blog.

U.S. Seeks 145-Year Sentence for Lawyer in Fraud Case [City Room]
Sentencing Looming, Dreier Asks For No More than 12 1/2 Years [WSJ Law Blog]

Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com.

Dear Above The Law,

I am currently clerking and the term ends Sept. ‘09, and I’ve applied to a bunch of firms for an associate job, but none have responded to my resume.

I routinely field calls from whiny associates and partners from firms that have declined to interview me. During these calls, the attorneys are looking for some leniency from me (and ultimately the judge), usually because of some oversight their firm made in the filings, etc.

Am I really expected to bend over backwards to help out attorneys from a firm that wants nothing to do with me? Would respectfully and carefully hinting at the fact that I would enjoy an associate position with the firm have any positive impact, at all, at my current job (lack of) situation?

Circle of Life

Dear Circle of Life,

Listen to me very carefully. Take your law school diploma off the wall. Proceed to the bathroom. Place it in the toilet. Stand on top of the toilet, take a gun and then shoot your degree.

If you are seriously asking whether granting judicial favors, however small, in return for a job, is acceptable behavior, maybe it is time to burn down the country and start over. I had hoped that we had made some progress since the time when Richard the Lionheart slaughtered the nobles of Gascony and then imposed crushing taxes on the survivors to obtain their fealty. I read about that episode while sitting by the pool in a West Palm Beach retirement community and I remember thinking, “Those medieval people had it bad!” But maybe the framers of the Constitution have it worse, because a mere two hundred something years after the ratification of their glorious document, some pipsqueak clerk took a sh*t on it.

If you “respectfully and carefully” hint at the fact that you’d like a job at the firm that’s calling the judge for a favor, the only “positive impact” you will have is that you will never have to worry about getting a legal job again after your disbarment proceedings.

Your friend,

Marin

Elie alerts the bar association authorities, after the jump.

Find out over at our sister site, Dealbreaker, which has the latest news.

Dreier Sheets [Dealbreaker]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Marc Dreier

* 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]

* Marc Dreier will plead guilty on May 11. Defense attorney Gerald Shargel said he “wants to enter the plea to demonstrate his acceptance of responsibility and his profound remorse.” Or maybe it’s just because he ran out of money to pay Shargel. [Forbes]

* Forget the office attire debate over suit vs. blazer and skirt suit vs. pant suit. Mexico City attorneys are sporting surgical masks. (And midtown Manhattan firms, watch out. There’s been an outbreak at Ernst & Young’s Times Square office. Okay, not an outbreak. One case. But we feel a strange journalistic urge to fan the flames of panic.) [National Law Journal]

* Is it just us or do the media seem gleeful about the fact that summer associates will actually have to work hard this summer? [Forbes]

* Alleged Craigslist killer and BU med student Philip Markoff could afford a $1,400 luxury one-bedroom in Quincy, but can’t afford an attorney. [Boston Globe]

* Maybe Markoff should burglarize some cars in order to fence stolen property to pay his lawyer. That’s what this Wisconsin teen tried to do. [United Press International]

* No more getting freaky in Chicago. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan demands that Craigslist take down its erotic services section. Like other state AGs, she is doing it in response to the Craigslist killings, but the legal issue is that people are getting freaky for money, and that Craigslist is not donating the profits to charity. [Los Angeles Times]

* Sheppard Mullin’s LA office had a scary Friday. [Contra Costa Times]

Quite some time has passed since our last discussion of Marc Dreier, the once highflying, now disgraced Manhattan litigator. We’d like to belatedly draw your attention to three items. First, an article from the New York Post:

Disgraced attorney Marc Dreier could be on the hook for $1.5 million to the white-shoe lawyers who took over his finances after he was busted in a $700 million impersonation scheme.

The eye-popping bill even includes a 27-percent discount off the fees and expenses normally charged by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, court-appointed receiver Mark Pomerantz said.

Sorting through the finances of a big-time fraudster: nice work if you can get it. No wonder Paul Weiss made it to the Final Four.

Second, if you haven’t seen it already, this New York magazine article about Marc Dreier is a must-read. It contains a detailed account of Dreier’s alleged fraud, as well as a history of his colorful career prior to his arrest. The article was written by a leading chronicler of Biglaw scandal, Robert Kolker — whom you may recall as the author of a lengthy piece about Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell. (If you don’t have time to read the whole profile, here are some highlights.)

Third, from a tipster:

A group of us visited 499 Park last month and picked through the ashes of Dreier LLP [at a property auction]. We took this picture of a notice posted on a fridge. We thought you might get a kick out of it.

Check out the photo, after the jump.

* Deferred incoming associates should head to New Jersey. This Wednesday, there will be a job fair. But there should also be an opportunity for 3Ls to get together and start planning the revolution. [New Jersey Deferred Associates Job Fair]

* Sarah Palin has retained Robert Barnett as she plans to get a seven figure book deal, and potentially run for President in 2012. You betcha. [Washingtonian]

* Remember when the stereotypical Republican was wealthy, well educated, and tactful? I miss those days. [TaxProf Blog]

* The wild men of all history. Alan Dershowitz should totally be on this list. [What About Clients?]

* Acting > Lying. [Law and More]

* Is Brooklyn Law School taking a page out of Loyola’s book? [Blackbook Legal]

* Don’t forget to vote in our Safest Firms Final. This classic battle between litigation and corporate is really close. [Above the Law]

* It’s Tartan Day. Seems like an appropriate time to name your favorite Scotsman. I’ll start the bidding with Desmond Hume. [May it Please the Court via Blawg Review]

As mentioned previously, your above-signed writer is currently at the annual education conference of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). Yesterday we attended some excellent events.

One of our favorite presentations, despite its deeply depressing nature, was “Understanding the Current Legal Economy.” Law firm management guru James Jones — Managing Director of Hildebrandt International, and former managing partner of Arnold & Porter — spoke to a packed ballroom about how the legal industry is, in short, completely screwed (at least for 2009, and probably beyond).

We took some notes on Jim Jones’s talk, which we’ve written up in this post. It is, we confess, what some might call a notebook dump. Alas, we don’t have the time for a more polished write-up.

Even if inelegantly written, we think you’ll find it interesting. Check it out, after the jump.