We're doing a series of "2008 in Review" posts here at ATL. We've previously declared a Lawyer of the Year, as well as two three Law Students of the Year.

We will now announce what we view as the year's ten biggest stories in law-firm land. We've divided them into two groups: the top five stories on the business side, and the top five stories on the gossip side. Collectively these stories reflect the combination of edification and entertainment that we seek to provide here at ATL. We'll start with the #5 stories in each group and work our way up.

The year that's about to end has been full of "business and the law" stories. Most of the news has been terrible. But it really hasn't been all doom and gloom.

Our fifth-place story on the business end of the legal industry is objectively positive news. Read about it after the jump.

* Mukasey is going to be okay. He's telling jokes and talking to the President. A GW doctor said ""The attorney general is conscious, conversant and alert." [CNN]

* Do you feel sorry for sex offenders? The California 4th district court does. They ruled that Jessica's law, a law that prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feel of a school or park constitutes "banishment under another name." [San Francisco Chronicle]

* "A U.S.-triggered spate of global carmaker-bailout proposals may spark trade disputes over whether the Americans are unfairly trying to subsidize their industry or just making up for state aid foreign rivals already enjoy."[Bloomberg]

* Meanwhile, the EU's antittrust chief says the EU should resist an auto-industry bailout. [Bloomberg]

* On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the release of five Algerian prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. [Los Angeles Times]

* If you've been following Proposition 8, you may want to watch an upcoming gay marriage case that will be coming before the Iowa Supreme Court. [Iowa City Press Citizen]

Here's a fact pattern: teen steals liquor, teen gets hammered, adult is called to help, adult drives teen home, teen dies, adult gets charged with... negligent homicide?

That's the reality facing Candice Collard. The 24-year-old woman is being charged with homicide in Utah for failing to help Jess "Micade" Horrocks, 14, who died of alcohol poisoning this past April.

The charge seems especially harsh given that Utah has a criminal statute for failure to render aid. Uintah County Deputy Attorney Greg Lamb said that the homicide charge was warranted because Collard "failed miserably in several areas that could have prevented [Horrocks's] death." Lamb admits that his office is taking a "novel" approach to this case, which should make Collard feel swell.

Collard drove the teen 13 miles to Collard's home instead of 2 miles to the hospital. Horrocks did not receive medical attention until the next day

In retrospect, obviously, Collard's choice was unwise. But Collard neither procured the alcohol nor sat there and poured it down Horrocks's throat.

This charge puts the perverse in legal incentives. When ineffective help puts you in danger of a homicide conviction, wouldn't you rather roll the dice with a failure-to-render-aid charge?

The "go screw yourself, kid" attitude is something we'd expect out of the Bronx, but Utah?

Woman charged in boy's alcohol-poisoning death [Salt Lake Tribune via Fark]

One of our favorite law professor bloggers, Stephen Bainbridge, chimes in on yesterday's summer associate scandal story. His commentary appears here.

Our general view of the matter was summed up by a commenter: "Guys from my high school used to seal the deal with girls from college all the time. It was no big deal." Professor Bainbridge begs to differ.

P.S. Same rules apply. Please don't name any individuals in the comments -- including, but not limited to, the summer associate, the college intern, or the associate who brought the SA's conduct to the attention of the hiring partner. Thanks.

Advice for Young Law Firm Associates: Don't Poop Where You Eat [Punditry - Professor Bainbridge]

Earlier: Summer Associate of the Day: The Cradle Robber

Update: Take our reader poll:

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my law firm. My sin, my soul, my summer intern. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

Now that summer associate programs are over, and most summers have offers safely in hand, it's a good (read: safe) time to dish about SA scandals. If you have a story to share that we haven't previously covered, please email us.

Here's one story that is making the rounds. We've omitted the firm name because the summer class was not very large. Per our usual rules, please don't name the summer associate (or the college student) in the comments.

After a firm-sponsored event, a college student interning at the firm went out for drinks with several summer and full-time associates. She was not old enough to be drinking.

The college intern, in a state of inebriation, left the bar hanging all over one of the summer associates (hereinafter "The Cradle Robber"). Later that evening, the Cradle Robber wrote an email to several associates, claiming that "the deal was sealed" with the college intern.

An associate forwarded the email to the hiring partner. The Cradle Robber did not receive an offer.

Read our take on this series of events, after the jump.

Kids these days just have no respect for teachers. Third-graders hatch murder plots against them. Some students get all litigious when branded with crosses or when they suffer permanent hearing damage. I bet teachers miss the good old days when they could call their students ugly and bratty, and give them a quick kick to the rear without fear of a lawsuit.

Those days are over. From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

According to the lawsuit, [Mount Miguel High School choir teacher Heather] Hargett had picked several groups of students to deliver the singing grams and "intentionally excluded" [freshman Jade Ray]. The 14-year-old asked why, and Hargett answered that she "looked bad" and had no choir T-shirt.

Jade asked whether the T-shirt really cost $15, and Hargett told her to leave the class, the lawsuit said. When Jade asked if she was serious, Hargett said that if she couldn't afford a T-shirt, she had to leave. The teacher called Jade a "brat" and "ugly" and kicked her, the lawsuit said. The kick landed on her buttocks, [attorney John] Gomez said.

This sounds like the kind of exaggerated story that kids tell their parents when they hate their teacher. But Jade says it happened in front of 50 other kids. If so, that is, like, totally embarrassing. It looks like a jury gets to decide if it's $75,000 worth of embarrassment.

Student files suit vs. teacher [San Diego Union-Tribune]

The legal and tech blogs are abuzz with the news that retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is diving into the gaming world. From Wired's Game Life blog:

Delivering the keynote address Wednesday at the annual Games For Change conference at Parsons the New School For Design, O'Connor detailed a project she is spearheading called Our Courts, which she described as an "online, interactive civic education project for seventh- and eighth-graders" that familiarizes students with the legal system. O'Connor believes that America's youth aren't learning enough about civics, and thinks that the educational power of videogames is just the thing to change that.

"Only one-third of Americans can name the three branches of government," O'Connor said, "but two-thirds can name a judge on American Idol."

Executive, legislative, judicial -- boring! Crazy tales of Paula Abdul molesting Idol contestants -- exciting! We hope SOC realizes there needs to be an excitement factor if she wants to engage the kiddies. With this in mind, we suggest the following for the video game cover:

Sandra Day O'Connor: Game Designer [Wired]
Former Supreme Court Justice Switches to Video Games [Slashdot]
In Surprise to Herself, Justice O'Connor Makes Foray Into Digital Gaming [WSJ Law Blog]

Today's ATL / Lateral Link survey asks a question that a number of associates have been asking lately: Will your firm let you have children and a career at the same time?

Or, for that matter, are you even comfortable trying?

--
Justin Bernold is a Director at Lateral Link, the sponsor of this Associate Life Survey.

Despite the recent turmoil in the economy and the stock market, all appears to be well at Milbank Tweed Hadley McCloy. A tipster provided us with the highlights of chairman Mel Immergut's "State of the Firm" address from last week:

1. Primary caregiver leave is now 18 weeks paid.

2. Blackberries will get replaced every two years instead of three.

3. "We're not getting fired."

It appears that Milbank has effectively made a "no layoffs" promise. It learned that lesson the hard way:

Mel stressed that in the last downturn, they had slowed hiring, and then found themselves at a loss for mid-level associates when things picked up later. So the plan is to continue to hire new people (our summer program is the largest to date at 100+) and retain, but not really hire laterals.

Will other firms make a similar pledge? We'll see.

For the record, here's some follow-up on two Bay State lawyers previously discussed in these pages, who have been cleared of the charges against them. At least to some extent.

First, remember Carl Stanley McGee (right), who was arrested after being accused of going down on a 15-year-old boy? Earlier this week, Florida prosecutors decided to drop the case.

Apparently the teen had trouble identifying McGee. But maybe he also learned that it's bad form to complain about getting a BJ. Unless teeth are involved.

Second, remember the handsome Gary Zerola (below right), named a "Most Eligible Bachelor" by People magazine, and accused of rape and attempted rape by three different women? One of the cases against him went to trial, and he was acquitted (back in January; we missed the news when it came out).

A second trial is currently underway. In that case, as reported in today's Boston Herald, Zerola's defense team argues that the victim wanted to shakedown their client for $150,000.

The third incident, which is the one that we wrote about, has not yet gone to trial.

Sex Case Against MA Guv's Aide Dropped [AP]
'Most eligible bachelor' acquitted in attempted rape case [Boston Globe]
Zerola team: Alleged victim sought $150G [Boston Herald]

Earlier: Lawyer of the Day: Carl Stanley McGee
Most Eligible Bachelor Becomes Considerably Less Eligible

Over the last couple of weeks, we've posted four sets of results from last month's ATL / Lateral Link survey on leave and part-time arrangements:

 • your thoughts on whether you would rather work fewer hours for less pay,
 • a running table of firms' paid maternity leave policies (mirrored here),
 • a breakdown of part-time and flex-time availability, and
 • a breakdown of childcare options (with slightly more detail provided informally here).

Today we address a fifth set of results, by popular demand: paternity leave.

As one tipster put it:

Can you also keep track of paternity leave? Firms will never really embrace work-life balance issues until they recognize that they affect both women AND men. Moreover, having lengthy maternity leave and poor paternity leave discriminates against gay couples and assumes that a woman will always be the primary caretaker.

The reason maternity leave is provided is because pregnancy is a legal disability. Therefore, employers (most of them) must provide you with the same rights as if you were disabled in any other way (if you've been there for a year), even though pregnancy is a voluntary disability. So if your firm has a 12-week disability, then it's 12 weeks etc. (See Pregnancy Discrimination Act if I'm wrong on any of this, I've only seen it tangentially).

So far, we've posted three sets of results from last week's ATL / Lateral Link survey on leave and part-time arrangements:

 • your thoughts on whether you would rather work fewer hours for less pay,
 • a running table of firms' paid maternity leave policies (mirrored here and updated today to add King & Spalding), and
 • a breakdown of part-time and flex-time availability.

Today we'll discuss a fourth set of results: childcare support. But first, a fresh survey! One reader of the maternity leave results made an interesting point in the comments:

I would imagine these stats to be far less important to working moms than how permissive a firm is with flexible schedules. The maternity leave is a one time deal at the very beginning of the baby's life, but the child will need the mom to be there for far longer.

Also, family friendly policies such as long maternity leave and flex schedules provide significant benefits to society in general. Firms too benefit in many ways.

Some of yesterday's results suggest our tipster is right, but which policies really matter most to you? Let's find out:

We'll post results next week. In the meantime, find out how law firms fare on childcare options after the jump.

Results are still flowing in from last week's ATL / Lateral Link survey on leave and part-time arrangements. So far, we're up to almost 700 responses, and we have received quite a few tips about maternity leave.

The running table of firms' paid maternity leave policies that we posted yesterday has now been updated to include new information on Heller Ehrman, Nixon Peabody, Kaye Scholer, Cahill Gordon, Kirkland & Ellis, Freshfields, Kramer Levin, Thelen Reid, Goodwin Procter, and to correct information on Winston & Strawn and Mayer Brown.

Today, let's talk about how associates view their firms' policies, and also explore the availability of part-time, flex-time, and other alternative work/life-styles.

Overall, it looks like firms have room to improve:

Discussion continues, after the jump.

Yesterday, we posted some preliminary results from last week's ATL / Lateral Link survey on leave and part-time arrangements. Today, we're going to get a little bit deeper into the maternity leave data.

We now have more than 600 responses, and roughly three-fifths of respondents have reported that their firms offer twelve weeks of paid maternity leave. Another 17% of respondents are at firms that have adopted an eighteen-week leave policy. Since some of you have been clamoring for charts (and others have been less enthusiastic), a chart showing the overall breakdown of responses is here.

Of course, the number of responses and the number of firms are different animals, so today we're going to start a running table of firms' paid maternity leave policies. Check it out, after the jump.

These announcements aren't the most exciting things to read (or report on). But we've spoken to a number of associates and law students, especially women, who follow them closely. So we'll continue posting them (and they're easy to skip over anyway).

The latest law firm to improve its parental leave policy is Mayer Brown. Check out their memo, issued earlier today, after the jump.

This blog has posted several entries over the last few months, and even this morning, about law firms updating their parental leave policies. That's a great trend in the industry, but there's probably not an associate pirate out there who doesn't still get at least a call a week from associates who want to go part-time, but just don't feel comfortable asking their firms.

So today's ATL / Lateral Link survey explores both the substance and the accessibility of your firm's policies.

The day is still young, but we already have our Lawyer of the Day -- and we doubt that anyone we hear about later today can steal this honor away from him. Via the Boston Globe:

A top official in the [Gov. Deval] Patrick administration has been placed on unpaid leave because he was arrested in Florida and charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old male in a steam room at a $500-a-night Gulf Coast resort.

Carl Stanley McGee, 38, assistant secretary for policy and planning, is scheduled to be arraigned next week for sexual battery in Lee County, Fla.... According to police reports, McGee was arrested Dec. 28 and accused of performing oral sex on the 15-year-old, who was a guest at The Gasparilla Inn & Club, a 95-year-old hotel and championship golf course in Boca Grande.

As they like to say up in Massachusetts, "Thar he blows."

McGee, a former Rhodes scholar and Harvard Law School graduate, was previously a corporate lawyer at the law firm WilmerHale. He was instrumental in the movement seeking to defeat efforts to overturn legalization of same-sex marriage, serving as director of the civic and business outreach efforts of the advocacy group MassEquality.

A year after same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts in May 2004, McGee's wedding to John Finley IV was highlighted in the "Vows" section of The New York Times....

Known for his shock of platinum hair, McGee was named one of The Boston Globe's 25 most stylish Bostonians in November. In the article, he described his style as "traditional, but it's also subversive and ironic."

"Traditional," but "subversive." Sort of like married men engaging in steam-room hook-ups?

Good thing Carl McGee isn't running for office. We're reminded of the famous quotation by former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards, who once boasted that he couldn't lose an upcoming election unless he was "caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."

Update: Just a reminder that these are obviously mere allegations. Sources mentioned in the Globe article said they "were stunned by the news of McGee's arrest and said they do not believe the charges." One colleague of McGee told the paper, "I know it didn't happen."

Further Update: Best comment thus far, from an observant, Spanish-speaking reader: "He was arrested for blowing a 15 year old in... huhuhuh... Boca Grande..."

Key aide to Patrick accused of sex assault [Boston Globe]
John Finley IV and Stan McGee [New York Times]

For Monday's Lawyer of the Day, we faced an embarrassment of riches -- of embarrassment. So we nominated a quintet of contenders: a North Carolina lawyer caught reading Maxim in court, a former prosecutor who allegedly had sex with two teenage boys, an AUSA arrested on DUI charges, a Canadian lawyer/politician who allegedly overbilled an order of nuns, and a Chicago lawyer who keyed a Marine's car. Then we had you vote on who should take the honors.

Participation was enthusiastic, with almost 1,300 votes cast. Two contenders emerged early in the voting: Beth Modica, the allegedly predatory prosecutrix, and Jay Grodner, who pleaded guilty to keying the Marine's vehicle. Competition was fierce. But in the end, Mrs. Modica came out on top.

So congratulations, Beth Modica. You take the prize as Monday's Lawyer of the Day!

Read more about her alleged misadventures, after the jump.

Biglaw is becoming kinder and gentler. The number of large law firms enhancing their parental leave policies continues to grow. The latest to join the club: Debevoise & Plimpton.

From a (male) tipster:

18 weeks. Not bad. Of course, since I'm unlikely to give birth to a child anytime soon, I'll have to be satisfied with 10 weeks.

Also, what's with this "primary childcare giver" business? Of the new parents I've known, the first few months seemed like one needed at least two primary childcare givers, if not more. Eh, I doubt D&P will be sending auditors into associates' homes to check who bills the most hours with the baby.

The email announcing Debevoise's policy, plus a list of firms that have recently enhanced their parental leave policies, after the jump.

Defendants in deep doo-doo come up with all sorts of innovative defenses. Last week, we learned that fashion mogul Dov Charney, accused of sexually harassing a former employee, claimed in a deposition that when he appeared before the plaintiff wearing nothing but a strategically placed sock, he was merely testing a new line of underwear.

But this is even more dubious. At a murder trial underway in New York, a father accused of killing his seven-year-old stepdaughter has introduced into evidence a "World's Greatest Dad" mug she once bought for him.

If the mug has writing on it, you must acquit.

'World's Greatest Dad' Mug Seen In Nixzmary Trial [wcbstv.com]
Implausible defense department [Overlawyered]