Eliot Spitzer

Non-Sequiturs: 08.22.11

Albert Haynesworth III

Albert Haynesworth III

* Does your fledgling company need a full-time general counsel? Lance Levy lays out some considerations. [In-House Blog]

* Why is Marc Randazza “the most inappropriate man in the world”? Well, how many briefs have you filed with phallus-filled footnotes? (Say that last part ten times fast.) [Popehat]

* New England Patriots defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth pleads no contest to simple assault, averting a trial for misdemeanor sexual abuse. [ESPN]

* Looking for a job in legal academia? Get to know the members of the hiring committee! [PrawfsBlawg]

* “Federal Filing of the Day: Nebraska Man Says He Left Baylor With GPS Sewn in Armpit.” [Unfair Park / Dallas Observer]

Ashley Alexandra Dupré, Eliot Spitzer's former paramour.

* Eliot Spitzer gets hit with a libel lawsuit seeking $60 million. That’s worth how many hours of Ashley Alexandra Dupré? [New York Observer]

* Congratulations to Ted Frank and his colleagues at the Center for Class Action Fairness on their latest victory — which appears to represent “the first time the Ninth Circuit has vacated approval of a class action settlement since 2003.” [Center for Class Action Fairness]

* Elsewhere in the Ninth Circuit, justice delayed turns out to be justice denied for a prisoner who died while waiting over five years for a federal district judge to rule on his habeas petition. (The magistrate judge had already recommended granting relief.) [Los Angeles Times]

Non-Sequiturs: 07.06.11

I'm pretty sure this was the only child to die under suspicious circumstances in the past three years.

* Caylee’s Law would make it a felony for anybody to grieve for their child in any way that doesn’t involve law enforcement within the hour. I trust the libertarian crowd is going to help me point out how this is dumb. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Big time antitrust lawyer Christine A. Varney is leaving the Justice Department and heading to Cravath (perhaps as a replacement of sorts for Katherine Forrest). So it looks like there was some money left over after spring bonuses for Cravath to make a new hire. Phew. [Dealbook]

* Eliot Spitzer (f.k.a. the steamroller) just got flattened by Erin Burnett. [Dealbreaker]

* Even judges in Flori-duh are allegedly bats**t crazy. [Obscure Store]

* In more reasonable news coming out of Florida, this reminds me of the “mock trial” club in high school. [Miami New Times]

* Courtesy of NALP, here’s more evidence that the class of 2010 is totally screwed. You know, I wish I could have the entire class over to my house for a big pity party. We could all hang out and play Rock Band, and at the end everybody could have a cup of my delicious homemade Kool-Aid. [NALP]

* Chicago law firm merger mania? I just hope nothing messes with the name “Wildman Harrold.” [ABA Journal]

Non-Sequiturs: 04.11.11

Judge A.P. 'Pete' Fuller

* New Egyptian democracy is already putting critics in jail. Dammit Middle East, this is why we can’t have nice things. [Gawker]

* We must make sure this technology never gets into the hands of clients. [LawyerClock]

* So it appears that South Dakota actually does have one badass living and working there — but now they want to kick him off the bench! [WSJ Law Blog]

* I tried so hard to come up with a meta-joke to go along with Ben Kerschberg’s story about metadata — and then I realized that I did and it’s just not that funny. [Forbes]

* You know what really makes Eliot Spitzer look bad? Andrew Cuomo. [Truth on the Market]

* Our very own Jay Shepherd doesn’t want to bill in six-minute increments, but he can present under such time pressure. [ABA Journal]

* Something tells me the fake law firm of Cromwell & Goodwin is about to get some very real resumes résumés. [Am Law Daily]

* When I was a kid, the only things you had to worry about finding on Long Island beaches were hypodermic syringes. Ah, the good old days. [Village Voice]

* Congratulations to Blawg Review. As Admiral Adama says, “Sometimes you have to roll the hard six.” [Blawg Review]

* Hey kids, don’t forget to send us your Law Revue clips. Share your funny — surely you can do better than this guy — with the rest of the world. [Above the Law]

Ashley Alexandra Dupré

This is not Amber Arpaio.

Three years after the Client Number Nine scandal, those involved have moved on to bigger and better things. Well, depending on how you define “bigger and better”: Eliot Spitzer landed a gig at CNN, while his former call girl, Ashley Alexandra Dupré, now pens a sex column for the New York Post and was featured on the cover of Playboy. But some people who weren’t directly involved have had a harder time moving on, namely a woman named Amber Arpaio.

You may remember her name and perhaps even her driver’s license photo from this YouTube video released by “Girls Gone Wild.” At the height of the Client Number Nine media frenzy, Joe Francis offered Dupré one million dollars to do a “Girls Gone Wild” magazine shoot and promotional tour. He withdrew that offer when he serendipitously realized he already had footage of Dupré from earlier times in his archive. Dupré then sued him, saying she was only 17 at the time that footage was shot.

Francis responded by releasing a video of Dupré mugging for the camera in a towel, claiming to be 18, and saying her name was Amber Arpaio. The camera then lingers on Arpaio’s New Jersey license for about 30 seconds. The video was widely circulated on the Web, and led Dupré to drop her lawsuit — Francis and ‘Girls Gone Wild’ were triumphant!

Well, until Amber Arpaio filed her own lawsuit against Dupré and “Girls Gone Wild,” for defamation and invasion of privacy…

Read on at Forbes….

Non-Sequiturs: 10.22.10

Andrew and Sarah Speaker

* We’re sure this post will be warmly received by our readers: “Dear Legal Community, Enough With the Cynicism.” [World Wide Whit]

* Remember Andrew Speaker, aka TB Andy? Congratulations are in order. [How Appealing]

* Jose Cuervo to Eliot Spitzer: Forget the Harvard Club and come party with us instead. Will the “responsible festivities” include Ashley Dupré? [MarketWatch]

* They say water is necessary for life; apparently so are lawyers. [WSJ Law Blog]

* You posted the “roommate wanted” ad at your church; was it really necessary to include the word “Christian”? [Fox News]

* Meg Whitman’s kids can’t seem to stay out of legal trouble. [Gawker]

Eliot Spitzer: Harvard Club reject

In April, we reported that Eliot Spitzer — former governor and attorney general of New York, until he resigned from office in the wake of a prostitution scandal — was applying for admission to the Harvard Club of New York. Spitzer graduated from Harvard Law School in 1984.

Well, the jury has reached a verdict for the ex-prosecutor — and the news for Spitzer is not good. His application was rejected earlier this year, according to an article by Sewell Chan and Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times.

So what did Spitzer, famously known as Client No. 9, have to say about his rejection?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Harvard Club Rejects Eliot Spitzer (aka Client No. 9)”

There’s been an Eliot Spitzer outbreak; time to break out the topical cream.

If you follow cable news, you already know that there was a major prime-time shakeup yesterday. Campbell Brown, the CNN anchor for the 8:00 p.m. time slot, is out. Her resignation letter is one of the most candid things you’ll read from a media professional:

I’m pretty sure the last time any anchor could honestly ignore ratings was well before I was born. Of course I pay attention to ratings. And simply put, the ratings for my program are not where I would like them to be. It is largely for this reason that I am stepping down as anchor of CNN’s “Campbell Brown”…

The simple fact is that not enough people want to watch my program, and I owe it to myself and to CNN to get out of the way so that CNN can try something else.

The Washington Examiner is pushing the rumor that CNN’s “something else” will be Eliot Spitzer.

The former Sheriff of Wall Street, who went after big banks during his time as New York Attorney General, denies that he is up for the CNN job. But that man is up to something…

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “What’s Next For Eliot Spitzer?”

We’ve had plenty of unnamed sources insisting on the heterosexuality of Solicitor General and Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. The most notable was the anonymous administration official who told the Washington Post that Kagan isn’t gay, in response to an online column by conservative blogger Ben Domenech claiming otherwise.

But there have been other such sources. I previously mentioned one, a Clinton Administration official involved in vetting Kagan when she was nominated to the D.C. Circuit, who insisted to me that she’s straight. Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic cited “[p]eople who know Kagan very well” in reporting that she’s not gay.

Now we have an identified individual going on the record to say that the Divine Miss K enjoys the big D. From Politico:

Elena Kagan is not a lesbian, one of her best friends told POLITICO Tuesday night, responding to persistent rumors and innuendo about the Supreme Court nominee’s personal life.

“I’ve known her for most of her adult life and I know she’s straight,” said Sarah Walzer, Kagan’s roommate in law school and a close friend since then. “She dated men when we were in law school, we talked about men — who in our class was cute, who she would like to date, all of those things. She definitely dated when she was in D.C. after law school, when she was in Chicago – and she just didn’t find the right person.”

A denial that the likely 112th justice of the Supreme Court is a devotee of Sappho? This is just… so… ridiculous. But fun! God bless America.

And there’s more….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “It’s Official: Elena Kagan Is Straight!”

So what is Eliot Spitzer, former attorney general (and governor) of this great state of New York, up to these days?

Spitzer is not the type to be idle for long. After all, he’s famed for his stamina. Could he possibly run for office again?

As it turns out, it seems that the man formerly known as Client No. 9 is seeking elective office….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “An Update on Eliot Spitzer”

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, you’re up….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “New York Governor David Paterson Will Not Seek Reelection”

Spitzer evades charges.JPGFact: Eliot Spitzer had sex with prostitutes.
Fact: Eliot Spitzer is a hypocrite.
Fact: David Paterson has been a horrible Governor.
Conclusion: Having sex with prostitutes and being a total hypocrite isn’t the worst thing in the world?
And so, the rehabilitation of Eliot Spitzer continues. He’s on T.V., he’s writing, he’s teaching a class. I think the lesson here is supposed to be that a man’s inability to keep it in his pants doesn’t mean that he can’t be a useful voice about the economic crisis and regulatory reform.
So it’s not entirely surprising that Spitzer has been invited to speak at Harvard University by HLS professor Lawrence Lessig. The ABA Journal reports on the focus of the talk:

Spitzer’s lecture apparently will focus on law and policy: It is titled “From Ayn Rand to Ken Feinberg–How Quickly the Paradigm Shifts. What Should Be the Rationale for Government Participation in the Market?” according to a Harvard website listing for the free public talk.

Fair enough, but Professor Lessig is the director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. And it’s the Center for Ethics that will be hosting the event.
Ethics + Eliot = Ewww.
You know things are off when a pimp is writing to a Harvard Law School professor to complain. That is precisely what is happening here, according to the Daily News. Details after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Client #9 to Speak at Harvard’s Center for Ethics”

ATL 2008 in review.jpgIn Monday’s ATL / Lateral Link survey, we asked you to cast your vote for the 2008 ATL Lawyer of the Year.

More than three thousand ballots were cast, but there can be only one Lawyer of the Year.

Starting at the bottom, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich may not have hit the very lowest point in Chicago political history, but he did manage to get the lowest tally in our vote, with only 96 supporters.

Harvard Law Avenger Phil Telfeyan was a close second-to-last in your esteem, with a mere 110 votes.

funny-pictures-princess-cat-is-finally-being-recognized.jpgJudge Halverson rounded out the bottom three at 167 votes.

That makes THREE! THREE! THREE candidates who did worse than Count Layoffula! HA! HA! HA! (He received a total of 233 votes.)

Listen dude, you really want the Spitzer? Apparently not. The prosecutor-turned-commentator came up only average in our slate of nominees, with 288 votes.

Nervous T-10 1L may not have found a job this year, but he touched the hearts of 428 voters, landing him in the Final Four.

Marc Dreier — if that’s his real name — swindled up 485 ballots, more votes than disgraced governors Eliot Spitzer and Rod Blagojevich combined. Way to rock the scandal vote, sir. You’re the Second Runner-Up for the 2008 ATL Lawyer of the Year.

That leaves us with the final two. Will last year’s runner-up, President-elect Barack Obama, finally be Number That One? Or will The Anonymous Laid-Off Big Firm Attorney finally get something to soothe his pain? (Elie won’t share his pot.)

Find out who will be crowned the 2008 ATL Lawyer of the Year, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Associate Life Survey: Lawyer of the Year”

Spitzer evades charges.JPGNo charges will be filed against Eliot Spitzer for his participation in a prostitution ring. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said that investigators found no evidence that Mr. Spitzer or his office misused public or campaign funds for prostitution. Federal prosecutors typically don’t prosecute clients of prostitution rings.

I suppose losing your job, your career, and being publicly humiliated is punishment enough. But couldn’t they at least have made him pick up trash in Central Park for 80 hours?

Spitzer’s statement was apologetic:

I appreciate the impartiality and thoroughness of the investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and I acknowledge and accept responsibility for the conduct it disclosed. I resigned my position as Governor because I recognized that conduct was unworthy of an elected official. I once again apologize for my actions.

Anybody want to set the odds for a Spitzer 2012 comeback? Lieberman-Spitzer could lead the Excommunication Party.

Prosecutors Won’t Charge Spitzer in Prostitution Scandal [WSJ]

Eliot Spitzer Governor Eliot Spitzer prostitute prostitution Above the Law blog.jpgThere is so much blame to go around over the AIG debacle that even “Governor John” Eliot Spitzer is getting knocked around.

Remember Attorney General Spitzer orchestrated AIG founder Maurice “Hank” Greenberg’s resignation, back in 2005. But since then some of the charges against Greenberg have been dropped, while Greenberg continues to fight other allegations.

Greenberg was but one of many “triumphs” Spitzer notched on his bedpost as Attorney General. His zealous prosecution of wall street corruption catapulted him to fame, higher office, and (we now know) abject hypocrisy.

But as the AP points out, it may be a little too easy –and partisan– to blame Spitzer for AIG’s collapse:

“I think the AIG problems were probably even bigger than Hank Greenberg and Eliot Spitzer,” said Professor James D. Cox of the School of Law at Duke University. “I would hope that something of this scale _ which is mammoth, both the bailout and the problems that led up to it _ are bigger than just politics.”

Columbia Law Professor John Coffee blames AIG’s troubles on AIG owns practices: “Ratings agencies don’t downgrade anyone because Eliot Spitzer doesn’t like them.”

Spitzer didn’t break Wall Street, but his particular path to power should be a warning to future attorneys general. Sticking up for the little guy is all well and good. But you shouldn’t use the office to get nice copy for future campaign ads.

Are you listening Andrew Cuomo? Prosecutors are supposed to tackle “corruption” because it is their job, not because it’s a resume builder for higher office. It’s a rule we think both parties should be able to follow.

Analysis: Some see Spitzer role in AIG’s crisis [Associated Press]

AIG Dinallo Spitzer.gifMake no mistake: the future of AIG is in the hands of Eric Dinallo, superintendent of insurance for New York State.
Insurance companies are regulated by many different agencies, but because so many of the companies are incorporated in New York, the state’s superintendent of insurance becomes the de-facto primary regulator. Dinallo led the charge with bailouts of Ambac and MBIA. According to the WSJ Law Blog:

With AIG gasping for air, these days are Dinallo’s Stanley Cup, so to speak. According to the WSJ, Dinallo (Vassar, NYU Law) “took a significant role” in AIG’s survival talks over the weekend.

Dinallo rose to power under former-Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s tutelage. But Spitzer’s infamous downfall almost made him a star. As many know, “Client #9″ was exposed after his liaison with Ashlee Alexandra Dupree in room 871 of the Mayflower hotel in Washington.
Spitzer’s traveling companion earlier that day? Eric Dinallo. The two men were in Washington to give testimony on the how downgrading the ratings of insurance agencies would kill the municipal bond market.
It’s pretty clear that Dinallo did not see anything troubling regarding the former governor, and he has steadfastly refused to say anything about the day Spitzer went down. But to be that close to a train wreck and walk away unscathed speaks volumes of Dinallo’s private fortitude and public character.
AIG’s fate is in the hands of a pretty straight shooter.
Working for the Weekend: Lawyering up Merrill/BoA, Lehman, AIG [WSJ Law Blog]

avatar Marin ATL Idol.jpg[Ed. note: This post is by MARIN, one of the finalists in ATL Idol, the "reality blogging" competition that will determine ATL's next editor. It is marked with Marin's avatar (at right).]
From ergonomic wrist supports to dual computer monitors, law firms wring every ounce of productivity from the attorneys they haven’t axed (yet). But while firms close branch offices and fire scores of lawyers, we submit that the answer to the current economic slump isn’t merging firms – it’s merging people. Everybody knows that two lawyers are better than one. It’s time for firms to get both and pay half; time for attorney mating.
No more legions of staff attorneys or filibuster roll-calls. Say goodbye to team meetings that resemble the Last Supper. Through attorney mating, firms can combine, say, the skills of master litigators with those of corporate powerhouses in order to produce uberlawyers with the efficiency of ten Aeron chairs. Using genetic samples from parent attorneys and the latest in Photoshop technology, we’ll give you a sneak peak at the offspring of some of the most sought-after combinations.
Read more, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “What if They Mated: Legal All-Stars Edition”

A Pair of Eliot Spitzer Links

Eliot Spitzer Governor Eliot Spitzer prostitute prostitution Above the Law blog.jpg1. Playgirl Magazine invites Spitzer to pose: If Eliot Spitzer weren’t the scion of a super-rich New York real estate family, maybe he would take Playgirl up on this offer.
2. Ashley Alexandra Dupre was 17 in “Girls Gone Wild” videos: Quips our tipster of Joe Francis, “And he thought he saved $1M…”
Open Playgirl Casting Call to Eliot Spitzer [Playgirl Magazine Blog]
Attorney: Spitzer escort was 17 in ‘Wild’ videos [AP]

Kristen 3 Eliot Spitzer Ashley Youmans Ashley Alexandra Dupre Above the Law blog.JPGIf you have Eliot Spitzer fatigue, stop reading here. If not, feel free to continue.
The Spitzer scandal raised this question: How are lawyers like prostitutes? It’s an admittedly groan-worthy joke, fit to be told by an inebriated guest at a local bar association dinner. But maybe there are a few insights to be gleaned from comparing the learned profession to the oldest profession. For brief musings, see our column in this week’s Observer.
Additional Spitzer whore news, from the AP:

Stop that $1 million check: It turns out the call girl linked to Eliot Spitzer had already shed her clothes for “Girls Gone Wild” as an 18-year-old while partying in Miami, Florida, the video company’s founder said Tuesday.

Upon learning that Ashley Alexandra Dupre was already in his company’s archives, Joe Francis revoked his $1 million offer for her to appear in a non-nude spread for his company’s new magazine.
But shed no tears for “Kristen.” As Rachel Sklar reports over at Eat the Press, the sultry songstress has earned a small fortune — definitely six figures, possibly seven — from online downloads of her music. She also has offers to pose for Penthouse and Hustler that could yield a million-dollar payday.
Big Law and Big Pimpin’ Together at Last [New York Observer]
Millionaire Call Girl? Spitzer’s Hooker Rakes In A Fortune Online From Her Music [Eat the Press / Huffington Post]

Mayflower Hotel exterior Above the Law blog.jpgWe just came back from meeting a friend for drinks at the Mayflower Hotel, here in Washington, DC. We expressed a desire to see the door of the infamous room where New York Governor Eliot Spitzer got it on with that high-class hooker, “Kristen.” But we’d heard, on the radio, that the hotel had stationed a guard on the eighth floor, to prevent gawkers from walking past the notorious room 871 (just as travelers have besieged the Minneapolis airport bathroom made famous by Senator Larry Craig).
As it turned out, we were in luck. Our friend was staying at the Mayflower — on the eighth floor, conveniently enough. So we were able to make our way up there without any problem.
When we got up there, we didn’t see a guard; perhaps the guard was removed after the initial frenzy died down. But we did notice the hotel had removed the “871″ nameplate, presumably to prevent scandal-tourists like ourselves from taking photographs of it.
Correction: It appears that the “871″ room number wasn’t removed by the hotel, but was stolen.
So all we can give you are photos of (1) the door to room no. 871, and (2) the marks where the nameplate used to be. Check them out, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “ATL Field Trip: Room 871 of the Mayflower Hotel”

tongue Eliot Spitzer ass butt rim job rimming Above the Law blog.jpgHere’s the latest crazy Eliot Spitzer rumor we’ve heard. In the past few days, there has been a torrent of Spitzer coverage, so we apologize if it has surfaced elsewhere. But we don’t recall coming across this tidbit already, and our Google News and Technorati searches for “spitzer lick” came up… clean.
This comes from a reliable ATL tipster, whose true identity is known to us, and who has given us good info in the past. But the tipster is two degrees removed from the young woman who allegedly interacted with Governor Spitzer, so apply whatever gossip discount factor you deem appropriate. Here it is:

[A friend of a friend is] a Swiss-Brazilian girl who went to D.C. to f**k Spitzer over the summer. Apparently he’s been up to this for awhile.

Apparently, his dirty request is for girls to lick his ass. Which seems peculiarly apropos. And he wanted to get his wife in on the action. My friend thought his wife might have known, but wasn’t sure.

Sounds pretty incredible, right? But the notion of New York’s governor patronizing prostitutes would have sounded pretty incredible too, prior to Monday. If you can buy the notion of a sitting governor hiring hookers, why can’t you imagine him sitting on their faces?
Also, our source claims to have heard about it three weeks ago, well before the scandal became public. At the time, he says, he “thought it was bogus.” Little did he know.
It’s hard to believe that Governor Spitzer thought he could keep his patronage of prostitutes secret for long, given his political prominence. As we heard someone quip on a talk radio show a few days ago, “Does he really believe that prostitutes don’t read newspapers?”
Update: Comment of the day:

The tipster forgot to mention that he made the girls wear AIG T-Shirts when they had to slobber up.

Posted by: silda wall | March 13, 2008 03:31 PM