This email exchange, between two law students at Washington University Law, took place late last month. It’s reminiscent of that Greenberg Traurig email exchange from the other day — which, in our book, is high praise.
Some background, from our tipster:
I’m an avid reader of ATL. Although I don’t see much law school coverage on your site, I thought you might find this email string between a couple Washington University in St. Louis law students amusing.
Note that the email string starts as a solicitation sent to the entire school, marketing a washer/dryer for sale. The proceeding communications are also copied to the ENTIRE school of law (including professors, deans, etc.).
A tipster drew our attention to this Craigslist posting, to which he appended a single line of commentary: “Discriminatory? Ha Ha.”
It seems that only the title of the posting implicates motherhood. The main body of the listing refers to the candidate as “he or she,” and the job responsibilities do not require a maternal figure. E.g., breastfeeding the CEO is not required. Moms Wanted – General Counsel, Part time/flexible hours (Midtown East) [craigslist]
Lawyers aren’t known for being the most stylish of professionals. So Cleary Gottlieb brought a fashion magazine editor in for a luncheon talk, to give some fashion and style pointers. From Jezebel:
[A] recent slide show by an unidentified Glamour editor on the “Dos and Don’ts of Corporate Fashion” at a New York law firm shed some light on the topic, according to this month’s American Lawyer magazine.
“First slide up: an African American woman sporting an Afro. A real no-no, announced the ‘Glamour’ editor to the 40 or so lawyers in the room. As for dreadlocks: How truly dreadful! The style maven said it was ‘shocking’ that some people still think it ‘appropriate’ to wear those hairstyles at the office. ‘No offense,’ she sniffed, but those ‘political’ hairstyles really have to go.”
Not surprisingly, such un-PC sentiments didn’t go over too well at Cleary:
The story ends happily, with the law firm Cleary Gottlieb’s managing partner Mark Walker, who wasn’t at the lady luncheon, sending everyone an email pointing out the stupidty of the Glamour editor and of fashion magazines and yeah pretty much all the things we here at Jezebel hold so near and reviled.
For those of you who just took the bar exam, the last thing you want is another essay question. But just for fun, and to see how much you’ve retained, here’s one for you (in the style of an MPT question):
Your client is a junior associate at a top New York law firm. She agreed to be interviewed and photographed for an article in the New York Times.
When the article appeared, your client was captured in this unfortunate pose:
Your client is distraught. She admits that she consented to the interview and photo shoot. But when she did, she had no idea the Times photo editors would choose THAT picture (out of literally hundreds that were taken).
What possible theories of liability would you explore as the basis for a possible lawsuit by your client against the New York Times?
(Hint: New York does not recognize the tort of “Being negligently photographed in the Sharon Stone pose.”) Update: At least one of you thinks this photo is no big deal. But we view the photograph as brilliantly composed, fascinating, and tantalizing. It’s like the smile of the Mona Lisa: the more you stare, the more elusive the mystery becomes. For Young Earners in Big City, a Gap in Women’s Favor [New York Times]
We come not to rank on this motion, but to praise it. It’s cute, it’s funny, and it’s appropriate Friday fodder:
Could one make fun of this hapless husband, for letting his wife drag him on a 350-mile bike tour? Sure. But this motion, while chuckle-worthy in a sitcom sort of way, isn’t TRULY embarrassing to the lawyer in question — unlike, say, moving for an extension on account of “inebriation constituting excusable neglect.”
We hope the court granted the motion, and that Mr. Azbill’s counsel is enjoying the bicycle trip — perhaps taking place as you read this. Update: A commenter reports: “motion was granted on 7/23. counsel was able to ‘please his wife.’”
So what do lawyers do when they leave the hallowed halls of Cravath, Swaine & Moore?
Some move on to smaller firms. Some, like former corporate partner Robert Kindler, go into investment banking (and make even more money).
But some take more surprising paths. From the current issue of the New Yorker:
A former associate at Cravath, Swain [sic] & Moore, [Roy Den Hollander] had moved to Russia to work as a private investigator. There he met a woman, with whom he returned to New York. They were married in March, 2000, and separated by December. In Den Hollander v. Flash Dancers Topless Club et al., Den Hollander sued his ex-wife and her employer under the auspices of a civil RICO statute. The suit was dismissed.
Did that romantic misadventure leave Hollander with hostility towards women? It might explain his latest legal quest, which is our Lawsuit of the Day:
In June, [Hollander] filed a federal lawsuit alleging that ladies’ nights constitute a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Citing invidious discrimination, he named as defendants the night clubs A.E.R., Lotus, Sol, China Club, and the Copacabana—which charged lower admission fees for women at, respectively, their Remix Thursdays, Velvet List Wednesdays, Models and Bottles Fridays, Metropolis Fridays, and College Party Thursdays.
What do other crusaders for gender equality make of the case? Karen DeCrow, vice-president of the Greater Syracuse chapter of the National Organization for Women, agreed with Hollander’s legal theory — even if, she noted, “it probably wouldn’t be very fun to go out to dinner with him.” On the Docket: Hey, La-a-a-dies! [New Yorker] N.Y. Lawsuit Calls ‘Ladies’ Night’ Discriminatory [National Law Journal]
* We say: Ignorance is bliss. [Althouse]
* The Genarlow Wilson case: let’s go to the videotape! Oh wait… [Concurring Opinions]
* If you’re going to drop the d-word, at least spell it correctly. [PrawfsBlawg]
* Every time an unlawful, creepy houseboat is sunsetted out of existence, a little piece of America dies. [Never Yet Melted via Overlawyered]
* Is Quiznos about to get burned? [Akron Beacon Journal]
* Someday sex-change operations may be tax-deductible. (Can we take a deduction for blogging as a woman?) [MSNBC]
* He killed, but it was a tough crowd; they crucified him. [CNN]
* Jeez, all sorts of shenanigans going on with convicted murderers. [CNN]
* It’s not going away folks. [Jurist]
* Yep, it’s still constitutional in Georgia. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
* Is this going to lead to people who suck at it not even being allowed to play golf? [WSJ Law Blog]
If so, then please take this survey.
Please note that the survey is for WOMEN LAWYERS ONLY (sorry, boys). It’s being conducted by the ABA Journal and the Center for WorkLife Law, at U.C. Hastings. The goal of the study is to find out how women lawyers treat each other in the workplace.
(We could offer a few editorial thoughts of our own on that subject. But we should probably refrain, so as not to skew the survey results — or get ourselves in trouble….)
To take the survey, please click here. And please feel free to forward the survey link to your female lawyer friends. The survey will be kept open through the end of June.
Thanks! Women Lawyers Working Together [Survey Monkey]
The front page of today’s Washington Post has an interesting article about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent yesterday in Ledbetter v. Goodyear:
The court ruled 5 to 4 that Lilly Ledbetter, the lone female supervisor at a tire plant in Gadsden, Ala., did not file her lawsuit against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in the timely manner specified by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The decision moved Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to read a dissent from the bench, a usually rare practice that she has now employed twice in the past six weeks to criticize the majority for opinions that she said undermine women’s rights.
Speaking for the three other dissenting justices, Ginsburg’s voice was as precise and emotionless as if she were reading a banking decision, but the words were stinging.
Justice Ginsburg’s style of delivery should come as no surprise to regular visitors to the Court. She’s generally regarded as the most soporific when it comes to reading opinions from the bench.
But Justice Ginsburg’s decision to dissent from the bench is interesting. A number of more hard-core liberals — e.g., Judge Stephen Reinhardt, of the Ninth Circuit — view RBG as insufficiently liberal (or insufficiently outspoken in defense of her liberal views). They see her as something of a disappointment on the SCOTUS, given her pre-robescent background as a crusading lawyer for the ACLU and feminist legal scholar.
But RBG’s vociferous dissents in Ledbetter and in Gonzalez v. Carhart, the partial-birth abortion case from earlier in the Term, raise a question: Could Justice Ginsburg finally be flowering as liberal leader of the Supreme Court?
P.S. To be sure, “flowering” is not a term usually applied to Justice Ginsburg. But you know what we mean.
P.P.S. Among the federal appeals courts, we’d say the Eleventh Circuit has the greatest track record of producing liberal lionesses. E.g., Rosemary Barkett; Phyllis Kravitch.
But there are some noteworthy liberal judicial divas on other circuit courts. E.g., that New England ice queen, Sandra Lynch, of the First Circuit; that luscious Latina, Sonia Sotomayor, of the Second Circuit; the frighteningly brilliant Diane Wood, of the Seventh Circuit; the ancient yet energetic Betty Fletcher, of the Ninth Circuit; and the magically delicious Marsha Berzon, also of the Ninth Circuit. Over Ginsburg’s Dissent, Court Limits Bias Suits [Washington Post]
A college graduate without student loan debt is akin to reading a kind quote about Kim Kardashian in a tabloid—it’s rare.
In the past eight years, student loan debt has nearly tripled to a whopping $1.1 trillion, and in the past 10 years, the percentage of 25-year-olds with such debt has risen from 25% to 43%
It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that New York Fed economists warned last month that the burden of student debt could stilt consumer spending by twentysomethings, as well as further hamper the recovery of the housing market and economy.
To get a better idea of what massive student loan debt (we’re talking over $100,000 massive) looks like, we talked to an attorney who graduated with a large student loan debt. We also consulted LearnVest Planning Services CFP® Katie Brewer to see just how their repayment plans stack up.
S. Fischer, 36, Attorney Graduated: 2001
How Much I Borrowed: $100,000
What I Still Owe: $45,000
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Ed. note: The Asia Chronicles column is authored by Kinney Recruiting. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates, counsels and partners in Asia than any other recruiting firm in each of the past six years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com.
Deal flow has clearly picked recently up for most US associates, counsels and partners in Hong Kong/China and Singapore. We are on the phone with a lot of these folks on a daily basis, many of whom we have known for years. Further, the head of our Asia team, Evan Jowers, and Kinney’s founder and president, Robert Kinney, frequently meet in person with leading US partners in Asia to assess their needs and keep on top of the inside scoop at as many firms as possible. The need for legal recruiting help in Asia from experienced recruiters appears to be live and well. In March, Evan and Robert were in Beijing at such meetings, in April, Evan was in Hong Kong, and for half of June Evan will be in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Thus its pretty easy for us to tell when there has been an across-the-market pick up in capital markets and corporate work.
On an average day in Asia when Evan and Robert visit firms, they typically have 5 to 9 meetings a day, mostly with US partners in the market. The reason they have these meetings is not simply because Kinney makes a lot of US attorney placements in Asia and that a particular firm may have openings; instead these are just visits with friends. After years of working together as business partners, the folks at Kinney are actually these peoples’ friends. The firms Kinney work closely with in Asia (which is just about every law firm – call us if you want to know the one firm in the world we will never place anyone with again, ever, and why) look forward to the visits, or at least act like they do. After seven years in the market, many of the client partners are former associate candidates. Also, these US partners see Kinney as a very good source of market information as well, because they know how deep their contacts are in the market and how frequently they are speaking to counterparts at peer firms.
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This email exchange, between two law students at Washington University Law, took place late last month. It’s reminiscent of that Greenberg Traurig email exchange from the other day — which, in our book, is high praise.
