So we're asking our readers to help us pick a new visual for Legal Eagle Wedding Watch. Some of you had gripes about ATL's new design -- here's your chance to put your stamp on a small corner of the site. Your submission can be a photo (an artistic detail shot from your own wedding, perhaps?) or a graphic of your own design. An allusion to the law would be a plus, but the most important thing is that the image convey the theme of impressive people getting married. (And, of course, it must not be an image that's copyrighted by someone else.)

Send us your entries (please e-mail them here and not to ATL's tips line). We'll pick our favorite and give you a big shout-out and heaps of gratitude for perking up this space.

And now, on to this week's finalists:

1.) Suzanne deVries and Adam Decker

2.) Kristy Hong, Jonas Blank III

3.) Elena Klau and Chad Silverman

4.) Natalie MacLean, Russell Leino

More about these candidates, after the jump.

For many years, Harvard Law School had a virtual monopoly on Supreme Court justices judging law school moot court finals. One of the nine robed ones would happily make himself or herself available every time the Ames Moot Court Finals were held up in Cambridge. Other law schools, even highly ranked ones, had a much tougher time scoring SCOTUS members. [FN1]

In the past few years, however, Columbia Law School has managed to wrangle judicial celebrities of the highest order for its Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court finals. For last year's competition, which we covered extensively, the panel consisted of Justice Samuel A. Alito, Judge Susan P. Graber, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

This year, CLS outdid itself. Not content with a mere Associate Justice, they went for the Chief himself. From Adam Liptak's "Sidebar" column, in today's New York Times:

For three days last week, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. heard arguments in a real court in Washington. Then he came to New York to preside over a fake one — the finals of the moot court competition at Columbia Law School. Though he looked a little weary, Chief Justice Roberts’s questions were deft, and his wit was dry.

We like Liptak's description of moot court:

Moot court is a funny institution, part debate club and part “American Idol.” Students are assigned a case, often loosely based on a real one, and they pretend to be appellate lawyers, writing briefs and making arguments. The best advocate wins.

The four students who presented arguments on Thursday had been winnowed from a field of 55. After they made their pitches, Chief Justice Roberts and the three stars of the appellate bench who sat with him gave brief critiques and then selected a winner.

“I particularly liked your rebuttal, Mollie,” said Judge Diana Gribbon Motz of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. “Jordan, I liked the way you started your argument.”

That's "Jordan" with an "a," as in Jordan Connors -- not to be confused with reigning American Idol Jordin Sparks (one of the best Idols ever; but in vocal jeopardy, so please pray for her).

Chief Justice Roberts and Judge Motz -- a Supreme Court short-lister in a Democratic administration, and described as "assuredly attractive" -- were joined by two other high-powered jurists: Judge Michael McConnell (10th CIr.), characterized as a "deserving longshot" for the Supreme Court, and Judge Diane Wood (7th Cir.), known for being "wicked smart.... In short, she is a liberal version of Nino; and that's what makes her so freakin' scary..."

Both Judge McConnell and Judge Wood have been mentioned as possible Supreme Court nominees (in Republican and Democratic administrations, respectively). With the exception of Judge Motz, the panel was composed entirely of members of the Elect. A more luminous moot court bench would be difficult to compile.

(A digression on Judge Wood. If offered a Supreme Court spot, she obviously wouldn't turn it down. But we hear that she's not one of those types who has lived her entire life pining and planning for One First Street. She enjoys her life in Chicago, where she's a beloved (and highly esteemed) member of the legal community. She plays the oboe and English horn in the Chicago Bar Association symphony orchestra. She and her husband, a successful doctor, have a rather large house out in the suburbs, as well as a swanky apartment downtown. Her life is complete without being a SCOTUS justice.)

Oh sorry, we were talking about the CLS moot court! We lost ourselves for a moment there.

Additional discussion, after the jump.

Relax, folks. We are aware that the 2009 law school rankings of U.S. News & World Report have leaked, in advance of their official Friday publication date. They're all over the blogosphere and the message boards (links collected below).

We've been sitting on this item for a little while -- coordinating with our other posts this morning, taking into account our traffic patterns, etc. There is a method to our madness.

Ideally we'd hold this item even longer (which would allow us to do a more detailed write-up). But it's clear that you're all dying to talk about the rankings RIGHT NOW. And we don't want to get any more emails and comments of the "why aren't you writing about U.S. News" variety.

So here you go. Rankings and discussion, after the jump (i.e., click on the "Continue reading" link below).

[Ed. note: As you may recall, last month we solicited applications for the position of ATL's sports columnist. We thank the many fine applicants who threw their hats into the ring.

Today we're pleased to introduce you to this site's new sportswriter: Marc Edelman, a sports lawyer and law professor. You can reach him directly by email (click here). And now, without further ado, we turn the floor over to Professor Edelman.]

As a young boy, I remember sitting with my father watching Super Bowl XXI. In that game, New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms completed 22-of-25 passes for 268 yards, leading my hometown G-Men to a 39-20 victory over John Elway’s Denver Broncos. At that moment, I knew that I would one day work in sports.

Flash forward 21 years. The Giants are back in the Super Bowl. Their then-famous center Bart Oates is now a practicing attorney, and I recently was named as a professor of sports law at New York Law School, Seton Hall University, and Manhattanville College. I am also the new sports columnist at Above the Law.

In the coming weeks, my column Sports and the Law will focus on issues involving the legal aspects of sports, including moral issues, labor policy, and antitrust policy (or lack thereof). This column will also discuss how lawyers can find jobs in the sports field.

Read the first column, after the jump.

In Chicago, gay lawyers get to attend exclusive parties. In New York, they enjoy a finer prize: luxury real estate.

The law schools of Columbia and NYU have been battling over faculty superstars for several years. And now NYU is bringing out the heavy artillery: multimillion-dollar condo purchases. From the New York Times:

Columbia University, in a never-ending search for a larger campus, has long had an outpost for faculty housing at 455 Central Park West — 53 apartments in an 26-story tower attached to the French Renaissance chateau at West 106th Street.

So it was something of a surprise when a foundation associated with New York University bought a large condominium in the complex. The unit, which cost $5.2 million, is built into one of the huge turrets of the chateau.... The duplex apartment has a round living and dining room with 37-foot high ceilings and Central Park views, along with three more conventional bedrooms.

Sounds fabulous! Who gets to inhabit this fabulous pad?

Find out, after the jump.

Yes, yes, LEWW has been a tad neglectful of our wedding-watching duties. Our full-time job has been, well -- full-time. And then there are all our fabulous society engagements.

Anyway, let's face it: High wedding season ended in mid-October. You know people aren't focusing on weddings when the Times hauls out the perennial "Is the Bride Changing her Name?" article. Yawn. But fear not -- while you're focusing on Christmas shopping and year-end bonuses, LEWW will be watching the weddings.

And here's the latest bunch:

1.) Matthew Morningstar and Alan Van Capelle

2.) Elizabeth Hack and Richard Larach

3.) Allison Hersh and Daniel London

4.) Hayley Lattman and Ryan Geftman

More about these couples, after the jump.

A reader alerted us to this informative article (registration-free) from the New York Law Journal. A summary from our correspondent:

This piece talks about the New York State bar passage rate, and specifically how the Tier 2 schools jumped up the ranks this year. Cardozo moved to the third-highest bar passage rate out of all the New York law schools, beating out both Fordham and Cornell.

I think with all the tier 2 trash talking on this site lately, you should give a post dedicated to the surprising accomplishment of those tier 2 bar takers in NY.

An excerpt from the article:

For as long as anyone in the legal academy remembers, the top three spots have shifted a few percentage points among Cornell Law, NYU Law and Columbia Law. And for the past several years, Cardozo Law, which opened its doors in 1976, has contended with St. John's University School of Law and Fordham Law for the coveted fourth spot.

"I'm not deeply invested in bar pass rates," said Cardozo Law Dean David Rudenstine. "But I have to confess, I'm really touched. This is a milestone for our school."

Congratulations, Cardozo! Your grads rock the New York bar exam.

Law Schools Report Record Gains in Bar Exam Pass Rate [New York Law Journal]

Speaking of the Federalist Society, the Columbia Law School chapter has invited us to speak. We'll be doing an event there tomorrow. It will be a pretty casual Q-and-A, less formal than last year's appearance.

Here are the details:

Tuesday, November 20, 12:25 PM

A Q-and-A with David Lat, Editor of Above the Law

Columbia Law School
Jerome Greene Hall, Room 107
435 West 116th St. (at Amsterdam Avenue)

It's free and open to the public. So if you're a CLS student or otherwise in the area, please feel free to stop by. Thanks.

As we mentioned earlier, we don't watch How I Met Your Mother. But maybe we should start, since lately it has been very topical for lawyers and law students.

From a devoted reader of ATL and watcher of HIMYM:

No snarky write-up of last night's episode? Marshall anxiously awaiting his bar results figures prominently. He loses his password, so he can't log into the NY bar site. Meanwhile, Doogie Howser (as he will forever be named in my mind) concocts an elaborate scheme to hack into the site to get his results -- and shows Marshall a dog pooping on a baby, instead.

As an aside, Marshall graduated from Columbia Law School, my alma mater, so I'm feeling particularly sentimental about the show.

Recap: Episode 308 [How I Met Your Mother / CBS]

Earlier: How I Met Your... Partner?

Back in July 2005, shortly after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her resignation from the Supreme Court, Professor Orin Kerr wrote an L.A. Times op-ed about how the Court might be affected by her departure. Its provocative title: O'Connor's Successor Will Likely Be a Swinger.

We were reminded of Professor Kerr's op-ed when we read this piece, by SOC biographer Joan Biskupic, in USA Today:

Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's husband, who suffers from Alzheimer's, has found a new romance, and his happiness is a relief to his wife, an Arizona TV report reveals.

The report, which quoted the couple's oldest son, Scott O'Connor, focused on Alzheimer's patients who forget their spouses and fall in love with someone else. Experts say the scenario is somewhat common.

[T]he report spotlighted John O'Connor, 77. He and the woman, referred to only as "Kay," live at a Phoenix facility for people with Alzheimer's.

A lesser woman might be troubled by the December-December romance. But Justice O'Connor, who understands the nature of her husband's devastating illness, is fine with it -- in fact, more than fine:

"Mom was thrilled that Dad was relaxed and happy and comfortable living here and wasn't complaining," Scott, 50, told KPNX-Channel 12 in Phoenix in a story that aired Thursday. The station is owned by Gannett, as is USA TODAY....

Scott compared his father to "a teenager in love" and said, "For Mom to visit when he's happy … visiting with his girlfriend, sitting on the porch swing holding hands," was a relief after a painful period.

In any event, Justice O'Connor is too busy with her own work to be consumed by petty jealousies. Her busy schedule of meetings and speaking engagements has kept her on the road, both nationally and internationally. Recently she was in Paris -- c'est magnifique!

Earlier today, SOC spoke at Columbia Law School. A report on her visit appears after the jump.

It's Friday, just shy of 5 PM Eastern time. Where are the bonus announcements? The silence is suspicious. If you're sitting on bonus news that we haven't reported, please reach out to us by email (subject line: "Associate Bonus Watch"). Thanks.

* Ann Althouse: We love it when she gets medieval -- or should we say me-diva? -- on a hapless blogger's a**. [Althouse]

* Jesse Sneed: The Indiana University law student, who riddled his casebooks with bullets, is going home to grandma. [Blogonaut]

* Tim Wu: These ladies aren't the only ones in love with the high-profile prof; Google thinks he's pretty cool, too. [BusinessWeek]

* Barry Richard: S**tstirrer extraordinaire. [National Law Journal]

Continue reading "Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 10.14 and 10.21: Plantation, All I Ever Wanted"

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