* Kesha’s publicist really needs to talk to Kesha’s lawyers about filing lawsuits that make Kesha Ke$ha look lame. [Thomson Reuters]
* You don’t really think you’re going to get a law school to roll over and pay $40 million to snookered students like a cooking school would? Crappy law schools might not be training great lawyers, but they can certainly afford to hire some. [Inside Scoop SF]
* How to subpoena information put on Facebook, or as I like to call it: “How to ruin it for everybody.” [An Associate's Mind]
* “A less gilded future”: an overview from The Economist of the state of the legal economy. [The Economist]
* Chief Judge Kozinski isn’t the only one who loved the new movie Atlas Shrugged. [Dealbreaker]
* Monica Goodling gets a public reprimand by the Virginia state bar. In other completely pointless actions, I just high-fived a Mexican for Cinco de Mayo. [Virginia Lawyers Weekly]
* Speaking of which, I’ve had too many tequila shots today to get hyped up about the Confederate flag. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Seriously guys, take the hint, it’s Cinco de Mayo — it’s okay to sneak out from work and have a drink with friends… assuming you still have friends. Here are some fun facts and music to get you in the mood. [Christian Science Monitor]
Oh happy day! It brings us news of a beloved figure who has been long absent from these pages: Monica Goodling, our favorite DOJ diva. And the news for Goodling, a high-ranking and influential official in the Bush Administration’s Justice Department, is good.
Remember the case of Gerlich v. U.S. Department of Justice, the putative class action brought by Honors Program rejects who claimed they weren’t hired for political reasons? Many of the claims, as brought by individual plaintiffs — a somewhat dodgy motion for class certification remains pending — have been resoundingly dismissed.
From the Washington Post:
A federal judge this week dismissed civil claims against former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales, rejecting a lawsuit by job applicants who argue that they were blacklisted from the Justice Department during the Bush era because of their ideology.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates concluded that the unsuccessful job candidates had not followed the appropriate steps in the civil service system before filing their lawsuit in the District last year….
Back in February, we broke the news of the engagement of Monica Goodling — the high-powered former Justice Department lawyer, who admitted to “cross[ing] the line” into politics with respect to DOJ hiring — to Michael Krempasky, the Edelman exec and prominent conservative blogger.
We are now pleased to announce that Goodling and Krempasky got married earlier this month. Congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple!
(And condolences to those of you who think of Goodling as a “Sexy Puritan”; she is now officially off the market.)
P.S. Speaking of lawyer nuptials, Legal Eagle Wedding Watch is on a temporary hiatus. But fear not — it will be back soon.
[O]fficials with knowledge of the inspector general’s investigation and defense lawyers who have been involved in it said they did not expect that the investigation would recommend that criminal charges be pursued at this point against Mr. Gonzales or other officials. The report was expected to recommend that investigators continue to pursue some elements of the case, meaning that the legal questions around Mr. Gonzales would continue.
As we expected, celebrity professors Cass Sunstein and Samatha Power were the winners of last week’s July Couple of the Month voting, running away with over 60 percent of the vote. Congratulations to this nerdy-hot duo!
This week’s set of contestants might be the strongest we’ve seen this season. Their write-ups feature five Harvard degrees, a Rhodes, and one of Biglaw’s most exalted surnames. Here are the names of the newlyweds:
In this video clip, Stephen Colbert observes that “you can’t blame all the problems of the past seven years on Monica Goodling.” But that won’t stop some people from trying.
To be sure, Monica Goodling has made mistakes — and she’s the first to admit them. She forthrightly acknowledged, when testifying before Congress, that she “crossed the line,” by taking political considerations into account when hiring career employees at the Department of Justice.
But has the Goodling Blame Game gone too far? Has she become the new Karl Rove, responsible for everything from DOJ politicization to childhood obesity to the war between Russia and Georgia?
Quite possibly. Read more, after the jump.
Thanks to the Inspector General’s report shedding full light on the DOJ’s politicized hiring, Monica Goodling and company have become “stars” outside of the legal insider world. Welcome to Comedy Central, Monica Goodling! Jon Stewart sets his sights on the hiring scandal and ATL’s favorite DOJ diva in this “news report:”
Click to the 2:50 mark for a classic Goodling moment.
The fact that the link was sent to us by a senior producer at Comedy Central, whose wife is an ATL fan, made us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. We’re suckers for acceptance from the MSM-ish types. Illegally Blonde [The Daily Show] Earlier:Soon To Be Breaking: Inspector General’s Monica Goodling Report
We hear that the Justice Department’s special report on our favorite DOJ diva, Monica Goodling, will be coming out later today — in fact, later this morning. Perhaps within 15 minutes or so, give or take….
Stay tuned. We’ll update this space with more as it emerges. Update (10:08 AM): As we predicted, the report of the Office of the Inspector General, “An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the Attorney General,” has been released. To access it, click here (PDF).
We haven’t head the chance to read it yet (since we’re juggling several stories this morning). If you take a look at the report, please feel free to point out the most interesting portions, in the comments. Further Update: More from NPR, the AP, and the WSJ Law Blog. Justice Dept.’s Hiring Tactics Illegal, Report Says [National Public Radio] DOJ: Former aide broke law in hiring scandal [Associated Press] Who’s to Blame for GonzoGate? DOJ Report Points to Goodling [WSJ Law Blog]
Make that a Post-script — a shout-out in the Washington Post, for both the happy couple and ATL. From the WaPo’s delicious Reliable Source column (which has new details about the Goodling/Krempasky engagement, including their ages and the story of their courtship):
Engaged: Monica Goodling, 34, the former Alberto Gonzales adviser, to Michael Krempasky, 33, a top PR guy at Edelman and founding blogger with RedState.com.
The betrothal of the Pennsylvania natives (first reported by the legal blog AboveTheLaw.com) proves that even a congressional subpoena can have a happy ending: The two dated just after college, then lost touch for a decade — until he saw her name last spring in the front-page stories about the controversial firings of several U.S. attorneys, and called to wish her well. He surprised her with a Valentine’s Day proposal at the same restaurant where they spent V-Day 12 years ago; no date set.
This just in: the super-fabulous Monica Goodling, one of ATL’s all-time favorite people, is engaged! Monica Marie Goodling, of Alexandria, is engaged to be married to Michael Krempasky, of Falls Church. The wedding is planned for later this year.
The future bride, a consultant, previously served as senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and White House liaison at the U.S. Department of Justice. She graduated cum laude from Messiah College and received J.D. and M.A. degrees from Regent University.
Mr. Krempasky is a senior vice president at Edelman, a full-service, global public relations firm. He is also a founder of RedState, a leading conservative blog.
Although Monica Goodling and Mike Krempasky are a “power couple” here in Washington, their story goes back more than a decade and originates outside the Beltway. Look for more details later, either in these pages or elsewhere (e.g., their official engagement or wedding announcement). Update: More details about their courtship appear here.
Congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple! Full-size engagement photographs, exclusive to ATL, appear after the jump.
Part of a blogger’s job description is to shamelessly rip off stuff from the mainstream media. So we’re going to follow in the footsteps of the ABA Journal and the WSJ Law Blog, and name ATL’s first annual Lawyer of the Year. (Of course, it’s not that original an idea to begin with, insofar as it’s inspired by Time magazine’s Person of the Year.)
The WSJ crew is still accepting nominations, so we don’t know the identity of their pick. But the ABA Journal’s honoree for 2007, Alberto Gonzales, has generatedsomecontroversy. The Journal’s editor and publisher, Edward A. Adams, explained the pick to the Washington Post: “It’s about who has had the most effect in the world of lawyers this year. We’re not saying Gonzales is good or bad. We’re just saying this is the leading newsmaker in our part of the world.”
Additional discussion, plus how to submit your nomination for ATL’s Lawyer of the Year, after the jump.
Of all the characters in the U.S. Attorney firings drama, Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was not our favorite. When he testified on Capitol Hill, he was earnest, sweaty, and decidedly non-fabulous — unlike Monica Goodling, who took the Senate Judiciary Committee by storm with a dazzling performance.
But even though his government service ended inauspiciously, Sampson has done just fine for himself. From the Salt Lake Tribune:
Three Washington lawyers with Utah ties – including the chief of staff to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – are joining the food and drug practice at the firm Hunton & Williams.
D. Kyle Sampson, a Cedar City native, was Gonzales’ chief of staff at the Justice Department until he resigned amid a controversy over the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys, a move that spawned congressional investigations. Sampson, who compiled the list of attorneys who were fired, testified for hours before House and Senate committees in public hearings and private interviews.
Before joining the Justice Department he was an Associate Counsel to the President at the White House, was director of personnel for the Bush administration, and was an aide to Sen. Orrin Hatch on the Judiciary Committee. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Chicago University law school.
We wonder if the Mormon Mafia had a hand in his hiring. They are to the legal world what the Gay Mafia is to fashion! Sampson, ex-aide to Gonzales, joins law firm [Salt Lake Tribune]
Of all the characters in the U.S. Attorney firings drama, Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was not our favorite. When he testified on Capitol Hill, he was earnest, sweaty, and decidedly non-fabulous — unlike Monica Goodling, who took the Senate Judiciary Committee by storm with a dazzling performance.
But even though his government service ended inauspiciously, Sampson has done just fine for himself. From the Salt Lake Tribune:
Three Washington lawyers with Utah ties – including the chief of staff to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – are joining the food and drug practice at the firm Hunton & Williams.
D. Kyle Sampson, a Cedar City native, was Gonzales’ chief of staff at the Justice Department until he resigned amid a controversy over the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys, a move that spawned congressional investigations. Sampson, who compiled the list of attorneys who were fired, testified for hours before House and Senate committees in public hearings and private interviews.
Before joining the Justice Department he was an Associate Counsel to the President at the White House, was director of personnel for the Bush administration, and was an aide to Sen. Orrin Hatch on the Judiciary Committee. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Chicago University law school.
We wonder if the Mormon Mafia had a hand in his hiring. They are to the legal world what the Gay Mafia is to fashion! Sampson, ex-aide to Gonzales, joins law firm [Salt Lake Tribune]
In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been experiencing technical difficulties around here (due to unusually high site traffic today). We’ve actually been trying to post new material for a while, but without success until now. Tech folks are investigating the problems, and hopefully things will return to normal shortly.
We’re now pleased to bring the second half of our interview with Adam Key, the Regent Law School second-year student who has found himself in a bit of hot water. Background on the controversy, a free-speech dispute between Key and the Regent administration, is available here and here.
The first part of our interview with Adam Key is accessible here. The balance of the interview — in which Adam Key reveals his professional wrestling nickname, talks about his new book, and discusses his Regent sister, Monica Goodling — appears after the jump.
The most famous student or graduate of Regent University School of Law, the conservative law school founded by the American televangelist Pat Robertson, is probably the fabulous Monica Goodling. If you’re on Facebook, you can join her fan club here.
But a husky, heavily tattooed freak-show 2L is giving La Goodling a run for her money. From the Virginian-Pilot:
Regent University officials have threatened to discipline a law student for posting on his Facebook page an unflattering photo of Regent President Pat Robertson.
The student, Adam M. Key, defended his action as constitutionally protected free speech in a 14-page legal brief he presented to the dean of the law school.
Regent officials gave Key two choices: publicly apologize for posting the picture and refrain from commenting about the matter in a “public medium,” or write a brief defending the posting. He faces punishment that could include expulsion.
Key, a second-year law student, said he refused to apologize and “be muzzled” by the university, so he composed the document, which includes citations from noted First Amendment cases.
It’s a Friday afternoon in June. Of course it couldn’t pass without a high-profile resignation. From WRAL:
Mike Nifong made the announcement at the end of his testimony Friday at his State Bar ethics trial to the surprise of the families and defense attorneys of the cleared lacrosse players.
“Throughout the years I have served as a prosecutor I have always tried to do the right thing,” a tearful Nifong said. “In this case, I was trying to todo the right thing. Much of the criticism directed to me in the is case is justified. The allegations that I’m a liar, however, are not justified.”
But is Michael Nifong… a plagiarist?
(No, of course we’re not serious. We just like to connect every story to Monica Goodling.) Embattled DA Mike Nifong Resigns [WRAL.com via Drudge Report]
Department of Justice official Brad Schlozman — who currently serves as Associate Counsel to the Director, in the Executive Office for United States Attorneys — is about to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. His testimony is part of a panel entitled “Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?”
Maybe we’ll tune in, at least for a few minutes; but we don’t expect to watch the entire proceedings. Brad Schlozman is no Monica Goodling. And we can barely pronounce his last name.
On Friday night, in preparation for today’s session, the DOJ’s Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) sent the Republican members of the committee a list of proposed “softball” or friendly questions for Schlozman. This question caught our eye:
Clevenger, you may recall, has raised allegations about the politicization of hiring at Main Justice. But he may be best known to ATL readers as a source for stories about that delicious DOJ diva, Shanetta Cutlar (about whom we’ve heard nothing new, sadly).
By the way, in case you’re wondering, question #5 wasn’t well-received by GOP staffers on Capitol Hill. We hear that the Republican staffers “are offended that DOJ expects them to do its political dirty work.”
As you could probably tell from the results thus far in our reader polls, Georgia lawyer Andrew Speaker — the patient with drug-resistant tuberculosis, who engaged in extensive air travel despite knowing of his condition — hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the world.
If you run a search for “Andrew Speaker” on Facebook, here’s what you get:
We don’t endorse what Andy Speaker did; but we find these anti-Andy clubs a bit over-the-top. If you’re going to join a Facebook group centered on a specific individual, why not join one that’s about celebration rather than condemnation? Search: Andrew Speaker [Facebook] Monica Goodling Fan Club [Facebook]
Those of you who read our extensive liveblogging of Monica Goodling’s testimony on Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee know how deeply impressed we were.
Goodling was poised, intelligent, and articulate. She showed flashes of wit, as well as consistent honesty and forthrightness. She looked like a million bucks.
On a scale of 0 to 10, we’d score Monica Goodling’s performance on Capitol Hill as a 9.3. It wasn’t a perfect 10; Rep. Artur Davis landed a few punches in the eleventh round. But Monica “Hurts So” Goodling ultimately emerged victorious from the boxing ring of the Rayburn House Office Building, with barely a glove laid on her.
We weren’t alone in our assessment. Distinguished legal commentators, including law professors like Orin Kerr and Adam Gershowitz, also raved over La Goodling’s star turn.
And this morning, via Howard Bashman, we come across more praise of Goodling, from an unlikely source. Check out this great online essay (registration required), by Eve Fairbanks of The New Republic — no bastion of conservatism.
Discussion continues after the jump.
We have to step away from our computer now, to go meet our running group. We are training for the New York City marathon. If you’d like to support our efforts with a tax-deductible donation to fund cancer research, which is almost as worthy a cause as the Monica Goodling Legal Defense Fund, please click here.
This means we’re going to miss the last ten minutes or so of Monica Goodling’s testimony. If anything insane happens, please note it in the comments, or email us.
Also, we’re not the only ones who were impressed by Goodling’s performance today. Distinguished legal analysts concur in our assessment that La Monica acquitted herself very well before the House Judiciary Committee.
By way of example, check out these posts at two leading law blogs:
Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past five years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com
Happy Chinese New Year! We were extremely busy the past few months, including most of our US based team working from our Hong Kong offices during November and December.
As a follow up from our recent post, which listed our 62 US associate and counsel placements in Asia last year (vast majority in HK / China), please note that thus far in January ’12, we have already made seven US associate and counsel placements in Asia. This is an especially impressive number, considering the biglaw lateral hiring market in Asia is down right now (see state of the market brief overview below). These new placements are of new hires in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, who were interviewing with their new firm for a month or more and they are spread out among different practice areas, including project finance, litigation, fund formation, M&A and cap markets. We are close on four additional new associate placements, in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, that we expect to close soon. We do not discuss partner placements in these articles, but the pace of partner recruitment in Asia (a large part of our business) has continued.
Hedge Fund In-House Openings in Hong Kong
We are seeing a small run of new in-house openings in Hong Kong at hedge funds. We are currently filling three different in-house positions at three different hedge funds in Hong Kong, two of these searches we are handling on an exclusive basis. All three will most likely be filled by a US associate, with about 4 to 6 years of experience. Mandarin not required. Candidates from NYC and London will be considered, but at one of these funds the new hire will likely come from Hong Kong / China or Singapore (with HK being the strong preference).
Please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com if you are interested in these hedge fund openings. As you probably would expect, the competition for these spots will be fierce and the funds will be very selective when choosing which candidates to interview.
In 2009, a small group of Harvard Law School students noticed an absurd monopoly in the bar prep space, held by an unchallenged leader with a non-evolving product. In response, these students teamed up with Harvard Law alumni to launch BarMax on January 14, 2010.
The mission: democratize bar prep by embracing new technologies to provide the very best bar exam review courses at a fraction of the cost normally associated with these courses.
Since then, with the encouragement of thousands of students and an unwavering commitment to their success, BarMax has established itself as a comprehensive alternative to the stagnant, over-priced status quo.
As we continue to expand, we do not want to lose sight of the basic premises that led us to create BarMax in the first place. If you are a law student who believes that there is something fundamentally wrong with being forced to take out yet another loan to pay for a $4,000 bar exam prep course, you are not alone.
Oh happy day! It brings us news of a beloved figure who has been long absent from these pages: 
Continue reading “Monica Goodling, Vindicated”
Make that a Post-script — a shout-out in the Washington Post, for both the happy couple and ATL. From the WaPo’s delicious 
Part of a blogger’s job description is to shamelessly rip off stuff from the mainstream media. So we’re going to follow in the footsteps of the 
Of all the characters in the U.S. Attorney firings drama, 
In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been experiencing technical difficulties around here (due to unusually high site traffic today). We’ve actually been trying to post new material for a while, but without success until now. Tech folks are investigating the problems, and hopefully things will return to normal shortly.
It’s a Friday afternoon in June. Of course it couldn’t pass without a high-profile resignation. From 
Those of you who read our extensive liveblogging of Monica Goodling’s testimony on Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee know how deeply impressed we were.
We have to step away from our computer now, to go meet our running group. We are training for the New York City marathon. If you’d like to support our efforts with a tax-deductible donation to fund cancer research, which is almost as worthy a cause as the Monica Goodling Legal Defense Fund, please click 
