Can we talk about how much ATL has gone downhill?
I thought it would be worth setting up a thread to discuss the quality of ATL as of late. I used to really enjoy checking in with ATL a few times a day - it was a great resource. Lately, it has become a bastion of terrible writing and stories which are, essentially, copied from other sites, most notably the WSJ Blog.
I am not intending this to become a place to bash the current posters, even if you believe they (read: Hope Winters) deserve bashing. I am also not talking about stupid syntax and typing errors. This is more fundamental. Where has the substance gone?
(18) Comments
i agree. I think the site tied itself to the mast of "NY to 190" euphoria, and it would have taken some real imagination and skill to adjust to the new world in which we find ourselves. Lat's style (breathless tabloidism) fit a particular zeitgeist, and it seems pretty spent. Maybe it'll come back, but in the mean time, the site has definitely gone down hill.
Hope Winters is here as a revenue-generating ploy. The more that people comment and click on the links to read the comments as they roll in the more money ATL pulls in from ad revenue. I admonished commenters in the latest Hope Winters fiasco not to comment or check on the comments. I broke my own advice moments ago to see that my admonition was deleted through selective comment editing. Not surprising, I guess. This site has become really disappointing.
ATL sucks. Lat must have something new up his sleeve if he's left this site to rot.
ATL is awesome. STFU.
If you don't like the site, don't read it. It really is that simple.
Starting threads like this one is pretty pointless (although it does generate more pageviews and more ad revenue for ATL - so maybe that is the point).
I think a big reason the site has lost its content is the lack of salary news. This was the place everyone came to during salary wars, and that was much more exciting than this measly layoff news.
Space fillers like LEWW and Judge of the Day used to be a nice little buffer between important posts on salary, bonuses, and recruiting. Since most of that information has dried up, the site has become swallowed by those "distraction" posts.
Even the "Fall Recruiting Open Threads" were great last year (based on region) and relatively crappy this year (based on vault ranking).
4:58 -- Your argument is akin to saying "don't like the U.S. government? Move elsewhere."
Some of us prefer to address the inadequacies of once capable institutions, rather than just moving on.
The change in authors (away from Lat) has been one issue. Perhaps things will improve as we enter bonus season. I agree with the OP that a lot of the content lately seems to be lifted from other sites without attribution.
People don't provide enough inside gossip anymore.
As a result, space is filled with irrelevant stories and vague musings.
Could it be that the market has reacted to the stories and thus they aren't around anymore.
Summer 2007 was filled with hilarious tales of summer associate misconduct. When I showed up at my SA gig in '08, we were told "don't do anything that ends up on ATL and you'll be fine." To wit, Summer 2008 was completely devoid of SA news.
Firms are getting smarter, though I do expect some decent news to hit the tubes once bonus season comes around.
I agree that my interest level in ATLs content, as well as the content quality has significantly decreased. Legal Eagle Wedding Watch is perhaps the dumbest and least interesting series. I highly recommend it get dropped. Also Hope Winters columns are horrible and there is no context (are they even real stories or is this a serial from Reader's Digest?). The SA stories this year were also lame however I realize that is not entirely within ATLs control.
Bring back greedyassociates!!!!
Agree on LEWW. Worthless fluff about people who no one cares about for people who need their heads checked.
author of thread--
can we talk about how small your balls are?
I have been blocked from commenting!
Seriously, they need to bring Lat back. Elie doesn't proofread, and doesn't pick good articles. Oh, and the commentary is just terrible. I don't think that there is a witty bone in Elie's body.
I thought I posted - don't know where it went. ANYway - there's way too much emphasis on law students and all of their wants and needs and demands. It's insane that summers and first-years are paid so much. They get courted and wined and dined and then are grossly overpaid. Once they start work, they are waited on and treated like little princes/princesses - no wonder retention is so low -- their expectations are built up and then they find they have to WORK?! So forget them, and write about the practice of law, for real.
Elie should be fired. Her stories are terrible, her writing is witless, and she has used this platform to condone rape, so long as she believes the victim deserves it. What more should it take?