Having just discussed Janet Jackson (or her breasts), we're going to remain on the subject of music. This installment in our continuing series of open threads on career alternatives for attorneys -- i.e., "things you can do with a law degree other than Biglaw (or contract attorney work)" -- is inspired by lawyer turned rapper Mekka Don.

There are many attorneys out there with musical side projects. When do you decide to take the leap and dive into your music career full-time? According to Mekka Don, the answer is "after one year at Weil." He wrote to us in March:

My name is Emeka Onyejekwe (aka Mekka Don) and in the spring I left my job at a top ten law firm in order to help save Hip Hop. I graduated from NYU in 2006 and worked at the firm for a little less than a year. Many people (probably including you, lol) think I'm crazy, but I believe it was a calling from God. I've begun to memorialize what I am doing through a reality show.

He may be too late. According to Nas, hip hop is dead! But good luck with that.

ABA Journal's July issue has a profile piece on the "legal hustler." Taking the struggling artist career route sounds challenging. To make ends meet, Onyejekwe is "modeling, event planning and sports marketing along with running a small legal practice with his sister."

Does a legal background help much in this career? Once you make it big, those contracts classes may come in handy. It also looks to be useful in the comments on the ABA piece. Someone questioned Mekka Don's use of "Law & Order" for the title of his mixtape, and he responds by citing the "fair use" doctrine.

More on Mekka Don, after the jump.

Diva-licious D.C. Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown may be upping the musical reference ante placed by SCOTUS Chief John Roberts. Roberts cited Bob Dylan in a recent SCOTUS dissent.

We've had an eye on Brown for a while (see previous coverage here), and she often surfaces as a Supreme Court contender. Perhaps following Roberts' musical legal reference lead will improve her chances. As reported on Slate's legal blog Convictions:

D.C. Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown has taken this trend to a whole new level: Today she opened the court's opinion in K&R Limited Partnership v. Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency [PDF] with a line from ... Jimi Hendrix:

"Forty years ago Jimi Hendrix trilled his plaintive query: "Is this love, baby, or is it ... [just] confusion?" JIMI HENDRIX, Love or Confusion, on ARE YOU EXPERIENCED (Reprise Records 1967). In this False Claims Act case, we face a similar question involving a mortgage subsidy program initiated in that era: Is this fraud, or is it ... just confusion?"

Though Hendrix is arguably "cooler" than Dylan, we are declaring Roberts the winner of the musical reference contest since he actually cites Dylan's original meaning, while Brown uses the Hendrix quote for a turn of phrase. If she is able to somehow reference Hendrix's wicked on-stage distortion in a future opinion, we may reconsider.

Janice Rogers Brown Is Experienced [Convictions]
Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge Brown [PDF]
Love or Confusion [YouTube]

Earlier: SCOTUS Is All Tangled Up in Dylan
Judge Janice Rogers Brown

The legal (and music) world is abuzz in response to Chief Justice John Roberts citing Bob Dylan in his dissent in Sprint v. APCC Services. From the New York Times:

Four pages into his dissent on Monday in an achingly boring dispute between pay phone companies and long distance carriers, John G. Roberts Jr., the chief justice of the United States, put a song lyric where the citation to precedent usually goes.

"The absence of any right to the substantive recovery means that respondents cannot benefit from the judgment they seek and thus lack Article III standing," Chief Justice Roberts wrote. " 'When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.' Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone, on Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia Records 1965)."

Alex B. Long, a law professor at the University of Tennessee and perhaps the nation's leading authority on the citation of popular music in judicial opinions, said this was almost certainly the first use of a rock lyric to buttress a legal proposition in a Supreme Court decision. "It's a landmark opinion," Professor Long said.

Rolling Stone named "Like a Rolling Stone" the best song of all time. Roberts, or the clerk who provided the citation, has good taste, but poor attention to detail. A double negative has gone missing; when Dylan sings it, it is "When you ain't got nothing..."

Rolling Stone points out that Roberts is the first baby boomer SCOTUS chief. It may be true that we'll see more musical legal citations by those raised on the political music of the 60s:

In the lower courts, according to a study Professor Long published in the Washington & Lee Law Review last year, Mr. Dylan is by far the most cited songwriter. He has been quoted in 26 opinions. Paul Simon is next, with 8 (12 if you count those attributed to Simon & Garfunkel). Bruce Springsteen has 5.

Both Dylan and Springsteen had three songs nominated for ATL's Top Ten Law Songs list, though Dylan was the only one to make the final cut with "Hurricane." Johnny Cash had the most songs nominated. Why aren't the courts showing Cash citation love?

The Chief Justice, Dylan and the Disappearing Double Negative [New York Times]
Chief Justice John Roberts (Almost) Quotes Bob Dylan [Rolling Stone]

There was a fierce battle for #1 law song between The Clash's "I Fought the Law" and Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns, and Money." The Clash took home the prize. See poll results here.

There was some bellyaching about who should get credit for songs: the original creator or the performer. We think how you sing it matters. Bobby Fuller 4 pleasantly fight the law, while the Clash punk-rock the law, earning them the top spot. The song was originally written by Sonny Curtis and The Crickets. If you've actually listened to that version, kudos to you. You're a true music connoisseur, even if you don't rock.

Thanks to everyone who voted. Here's the official ATL Top Ten Law Song list:

1. I Fought The Law - The Clash [ Lyrics│YouTube ]
2. Lawyers, Guns, and Money - Warren Zevon [ Lyrics│YouTube ]
3. 99 Problems - Jay-Z [ Lyrics│YouTube ]
4. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash [ Lyrics│YouTube ]
5. We're All Winners, as arranged by Nixon Peabody [ Explanation]
6. Law and Order theme song [ YouTube │Dance Remix ]
7. Hurricane - Bob Dylan [ Lyrics│YouTube ]
8. Alice's Restaurant - Arlo Guthrie [ Lyrics│YouTube ]
9. I Fought The Law - Bobby Fuller 4 [ Lyrics│YouTube ]
10. The Road Goes on Forever - Robert Earl Keen [ Lyrics│YouTube ]

A little background on the songs appears after the jump. Warning: This is Above The Law, not Rolling Stone, so set your expectations for music analysis accordingly.

Last week, we were inspired by the intersection of music and law in the R. Kelly trial, so we launched a call for best songs about the law. We had lots of songs thrown our way. We've rounded them up after the jump, so you can vote for the best. We'll take the top ten and anoint them "ATL's Top Ten Law Songs."

Now, back to R. Kelly, who could rightfully do a cover of "I fought the law (and the law I won)." He was acquitted Friday in his child porn trial. The Chicago Tribune has a profile piece on one of his lawyers, Sam Adam, Jr., who "delivered a largely improvised monologue filled with pop culture references, biblical quotations and a glimpse at how much the trial's outcome meant to him personally." Kelly's spokesperson is quoted as saying Adam is on his way to "becoming a superstar." Nice to see a lawyer getting rock-star-esque media coverage.

On to the voting. Check out the massive poll after the jump.

As the jury deliberates in the R. Kelly trial, our minds are turning to music and the law. During the trial, Chicago lawyer Mike Roman earned an ATL Lawyer of the Day mention for trying to pawn his band's cd off on Kelly mid-trial. When that didn't work, he tried to sell the "Cha Cha" cd to Kelly's attorney for $15.

Judges like to have musical side projects too. The Washington Post did a profile piece on the D.C.-based Deaf Dogs and the Indictments last year. They're a "Motown-inspired group of seven Superior Court judges and their psychologist-drummer." And for you D.C. folks, we hear they're playing the Grog and Tankard this Saturday.

With music on the brain, we're inviting you to nominate songs for an ATL "law and music" best-of list. The ones that leap out to us are The Clash's "I fought the law," Jane's Addiction's "Been caught stealing," and Bob Dylan's "Hurricane." What would you put on the list?

What the R. Kelly jury is figuring out [Chicago Tribune]
UPDATE: Kennedy Center Gig Booked, Judges' Band Is on a Roll [Washington Post]

The title of this post reflects the majority view of the BAR/BRI bar review course. We actually enjoyed studying for the bar. Our overall reaction: "Wow. We're learning so much.... LAW!"

But most of you don't seem to be fans of Bar/Bri. You find it rather unpleasant -- or maybe weird. Here's one email we received:

Longtime fan, first-time writer. I was wondering if you could do a discussion thread on the Barbri course we are taking?

Would especially like to start with a mention of the Property I lecture today by Seton Hall law professor Paula Franzese. While pretty excellent, it certainly had its totally surreal moments -- especially her long divergence about a fundraiser involving N-Sync and her (then) five-year-old daughter.

Also, the singing. She sings a lot -- it's totally something to behold!

Indeed. We recall Professor Franzese's property coverage as one of the highlights of bar review. She managed to make a potentially dry subject at least somewhat entertaining.

Here is the requested open thread. While we're on the subject of BarBri blonde beauties with musical talents, here is "Bar/Bri Girl," a music video parody set to the tune of "Barbie Girl." It was our favorite number from this year's NYU Law Review Revue, which we had the pleasure of attending this spring:

NYU Law Revue 2008 - Barbri Girl [YouTube]

Today's Lawyer of the Day would have had a great "Behind the Music" story, if only had his ploy worked. From Friday's Chicago Tribune:

A lawyer was booted from the Cook County Criminal Courts Building today after attempting to foist his own music CD on R. Kelly in the courtroom where his trial is taking place.

Attorney Mike Roman approached Kelly on Friday morning while the singer was sitting alone at the defense table. With his lawyers and the prosecutors meeting privately in the judge's chambers, the R&B superstar was left to fend off the man's overture.

Roman -- a local criminal-defense lawyer who fronts the Latin rock band, Mike Roman and the Tellstars, in his spare time -- offered Kelly a free copy of his CD "Cha Cha Time." Kelly, 41, is considered one of the music industry's most prolific songwriters and producers....

"I'm a lawyer and I'm musician," Roman told the authorities. "What's wrong with that?"

Do you really want us to answer that? We've been to your website.

Roman cooperated with his removal -- but not before trying to sell a "Cha Cha Time" CD to one of Kelly's defense attorneys for $15.

From the snippets on Mike Roman and The Tellstars website, we doubt R. Kelly would have dug the music even if he'd taken the cd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it's Cha Cha time."

Attorney's musical overture hits sour note [Chicago Tribune]

Marc Dann's had a good run on ATL. Last month, he was our Lawyer of the Day. That led to our Party is Over post, when heads started rolling in the Ohio AG office. Yesterday, we bid him Hasta La Vista, when rumors of his resignation hit the press as the Ohio General Assembly threatened impeachment.

Well, now it's really over. Dann has finally resigned as Ohio's AG. Dann the man may not know how to run the AG office, or how to keep it in his pants, or how to choose staff, but he does know how to draw out a resignation for all it's worth.

Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Professor Jonathan Adler reports on a possible FBI investigation into Dann's ties to gambling interests. Gosh, we thought his hands were full, conducting an extramarital affair with his scheduler, picking up staff arrested for DUIs, handling office sexual harassment complaints, and tapping state property for personal use.

If you haven't been following Dann's misdeeds, you can catch up with this little ditty, Marc Dann's Party Pad song. It's pretty catchy and includes a shout-out to the "big dogs in Columbus."

Marc Dann Resigns as Ohio Attorney General [WSJ Law Blog]
Caged Dannimal [Volokh Conspiracy]

* Oral argument in New Jersey v. Delaware. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF) via How Appealing]

* I'll have a Joey Bag of Lawsuits. [AP via Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

* TB Andy didn't hurt anybody. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

* Grandpa got screwed over by a lawsuit ... [AP via Reno Gazette-Journal]

* Pakistan lets (almost) everyone go, but will the rule of law return? [Jurist]

* Paul Tvetenstrand, managing partner of Thacher Proffitt & Wood, talks to the Wall Street Journal's Jamie Heller about the imminent associate layoffs (previously discussed here). [WSJ Law Blog]

* Our law school classmate, Professor Lior Strahilevitz, has a fascinating new article coming out in the Northwestern University Law Review: "Reputation Nation: Law in an Era of Ubiquitous Personal Information." [SSRN via Concurring Opinions]

* Outgoing American Red Cross president Mark W. Everson would have been our Lawyer of the Day (except the former IRS commissioner is not a lawyer). [Washington Post]

* "The High Price of Meat Loaf." [New York Times (second item)]

* Attention Loyola 2L: rising stars of legal academia are about to descend upon your law school. [PrawfsBlawg]

* For those of you old enough to remember Crocodile Dundee: "That's not a Blawg Review -- that's a Blawg Review." Here's Blawg Review #136, courtesy of Aussie Peter Black. [Freedom to Differ via Blawg Review; see also Blawg Review (video plug)]

Okay, not in the centerfold -- we wish. But as we recently mentioned, this fine website is featured in the December 2007 issue of Playboy magazine (p. 61). It's far more thrilling than a shout-out in the New York Times or the Washington Post.

A reader kindly sent the mention our way; it appears to the right. In case you're curious about what surrounded the item, check out more of the page, after the jump.

Speaking of playboys, check out this article -- an oldie, but a goodie -- about Germany's answer to Hugh Hefner. From Spiegel Online:

Aging German playboy Rolf Eden has rarely taken no for an answer. And he's not about to start. He has filed charges against a 19-year-old for refusing to sleep with him. The complaint? Ageism....

the 77-year-old Eden has filed suit against a 19-year-old Berlin woman for the following reason: Despite a night on the town with Eden, which ended back at his place, she refused to have sex with him, saying the he was too old for her.

"That was shattering. No woman has ever said that to me before," Eden told the tabloid. "I was crushed." He has filed charges with the prosecutors' office, he said. "After all, there are laws against discrimination."

Partners whose advances have been rejected by summer associates surely agree.

German Playboy, 77, Sues for Sex [Spiegel Online]

Earlier: Not Everyone's A Winner at Nixon Peabody

We enjoy keeping track of law firm screw-ups during the recruiting process. See, e.g., here and here.

But not everything that's embarrassing is accidental; some tackiness is intentional. From a tipster:

"A friend of mine was recently rejected by Nixon Peabody. They broke the news by sending her the attached notice printed on an envelope-sized piece of cardboard."

(Thumbnail image; click to enlarge.)

Makes sense to us. Why waste perfectly good letterhead on personalized rejection letters? Save the money for your theme song (mp3).

P.S. Speaking of the Nixon Peabody theme song controversy, we hear there's a shout-out to it (and Above the Law) in the December 2007 issue of Playboy (p. 61).

Now, we haven't seen this for ourselves, 'cause Playboy isn't our cup of tea, you see. But if somebody would like to send us a scan of the relevant page, we'd be most grateful.

ATL has been mentioned in such publications as the New York Times and the Washington Post (which dubbed it "a must-read legal blog"). But an appearance in Playboy? This is our proudest moment.

Earlier: Public Humiliation, Courtesy of Your Friends at Wilson Sonsini
Fall Recruiting Snafu Watch: You Know They Really Don't Want You When...

Sexual harassment comes in all shapes and sizes. From the Connecticut Employment Law Blog:

I enjoy my work as an employment lawyer for the simple fact that each case is different and "you can't make this stuff up."

An article in today's The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, proves that theory correct. [It's] about a female town of Stamford employee who was disciplined for allegedly harassing a male supervisor, [and] contains the sorts of details that you really can't make up.

According to the article, the alleged harassment by the female employee included sending an e-mail with lyrics from a Barenaked Ladies song.

Considering the weirdness of this incident, of course it happened in a law office. The victim of the purported harassment was Stamford's Director of Legal Affairs.

The lyric that got the employee in trouble -- "I knew you before the fall of Rome," from the song "It's All Been Done" -- is surprising. But this case, involving a female employee allegedly harassing her male supervisor, is not your run-of-the-mill harassment incident.

It would be much more probable for a male supervisor to harass a female subordinate -- with a song lyric like, for example, "Hike up your skirt a little more, and show your world to me" (Dave Matthews Band, "Crash").

Report: Female Employee Uses "Barenaked Ladies" to Harass Male Supervisor [Connecticut Employment Law Blog]
City disciplines female employee for harassing male supervisor [Stamford Advocate]

A law firm for which we have special affection here at ATL, Nixon Peabody, has raised starting salaries to $160,000 in its Washington office. Cue the theme song!

Oddly enough, this change isn't reflected in the firm's NALP form, which lists them at $145,000. But Nixon Peabody is advising recruits that it now pays $160K in DC (and perhaps it has raised in other offices, although we've only heard about Washington).

In case you're curious, the firm's email to recruits appears after the jump.

* Happy Birthday, Mrs. President! Scott Shrake conducts an astrological analysis of Hillary Clinton. [Huffington Post]

* Speaking of witch, is Stephen Colbert "the best-scripted candidate this side of Hillary Clinton"? [Radar Online]

* "'Terrorism,' Censored Legal Briefs & The Blogosphere: Awesome Together." [Fishbowl NY]

* Lawsuit of the Day: Mom of "Let's Go Crazy" Baby fights back. [ABC News]

* Benchslap of the Day: federal judge tells SEC lawyer, to "sit down" and "shut up." [WSJ Law Blog]

We just finished watching America's Next Top Model. So it's quite appropriate for us to pass along this modeling montage video, which is amusingly bizarre. From a tipster:

I hate to pile it on, but you have to check out this YouTube clip of a University of Miami 1L. It's a seven-minute clip of various glamour shots, set to the soothing sounds of flamenco guitar. I think my favorite photos involve her posing with a samurai sword.

We agree; nothing beats a samurai sword paired with fishnets. But the pics of her in a midriff-baring schoolgirl outfit, replete with pigtails, are also pretty great. As is the photo of her humping a white banister, which kicks off the whole thing.

You don't need to watch the entire video, since the shots start to repeat after a while, but stick around at least until "Hotel California." Enjoy!

Update (12:15 AM): Sigh. If you click on the video below, you'll see that it has been pulled. We seem to have the anti-Midas touch when it comes to law school videos: everything we link to gets yanked. See, e.g., here (Harvard) and here (Columbia).

A little bit more, after the jump.

Attention, ATL readers -- your wit and wisdom are needed. From Cal Law (via Blogonaut):

Boalt Hall School of Law has hired San Francisco brand consulting firm Marshall Strategy Inc. to poll students, faculty, alumni and others in aid of devising a “single brand” name for the school, a Boalt spokeswoman said.

San Francisco Bay Area locals call the school Boalt Hall. But outside of California, that colloquialism often draws blank looks. Thus, what has been dubbed the “identity project”—to come up with a more readily identifiable name for the prestigious law school.

The school officially goes by University of California, Berkeley School of Law, according to spokesperson Susan Gluss. But in its its newsletters, Web pages, and other places, there are "about a dozen different names and iterations."

Speaking of "a dozen different names," that's what we'd like from you. In the comments to this post, please offer suggested new names for Boalt Hall. We'll pick the ten or twelve we like the most, hold an ATL reader poll, and forward the winning nomination to the Boalt Hall administration, for its consideration.

Our personal nomination: the Marsha Berzon School of Law, named after the distinguished and delicious Ninth Circuit judge (and Boalt Hall alumna). But whether our pick prevails will be up to you, the readership, when we hold the poll. We look forward to receiving and reviewing your nominations.

P.S. While we're talking about Boalt Hall, an ATL shout-out to the talented (and handsome) Josh Keesan, Boalt '09, who composes and performs clever songs with legal themes. From a tipster:

Forget Nixon Peabody, Boalt has the newest singing sensation. Check it: www.joshkeesan.com.

This kid is the love child of Oliver Wendell Holmes and John Mayer. Plus, in the aftermath of the Nixon Peabody atrocity, your readers need something to cleanse that awful taste in their mouths/ears.

He's taken Boalt by storm. The screams of his groupies at the annual public interest auction last year were deafening. So, give the West Coast some love, and post it!

More about Josh Keesan from the WSJ Law Blog. Maybe Boalt Hall could be rennamed the "Josh Keesan School of Law"?

Boalt Hall School of Law Will Change Name by January [Blogonaut]
Boalt Hall Looking at a Name Change [The Recorder via Yahoo News]
Law Blog Rocker of the Day: Boalt Hall’s Josh Keesan [WSJ Law Blog]

Calvin Broadus, a/k/a Snoop Dogg.

Because the caption of the case lacked that all-important a/k/a, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Helen I. Bendix didn't realize with whom she was dealing:

A judge hearing a lawsuit brought by Snoop Dogg against his former record label said Thursday she didn't realize it involved the famous rapper because court papers refer to him by his real name, Calvin Broadus.

But once she peeped out the manuscript, she saw that it was a must that Broadus drop some gangsta s**t.

Snoop has his mind on the $2 million he says his label Priority Records owes him under a 1998 agreement, and he has the $950,000 advance promised after recording "The Last Meal" on his mind. He also claims the label didn't consult with him before releasing his greatest hits CD (cover pictured at right).

Now that she knows who Broadus is, Bendix finds the case "very interesting" (the ladies can't resist Snoop).

Judge to Snoop Dogg: Who Is Calvin Broadus? [CNN]

A reader drew a legally-themed music video to our attention:

It's from a specialized patent blog, but some of your readers may find it funny -- especially because is an actual partner from a large firm singing the song. Is this a new BigLaw marketing trend?

Check out the video via Patently O. As you can see from the lyrics, the song is a comparison of dating to the Patent Act.

Performer Lana Knedlik, a fine-boned, pixieish beauty, looks like she could be an indie film actress or Indigo Girl. She strikes us as considerably younger and more attractive than the average (1) registered patent attorney or (2) partner at a large law firm.

(No offense to patent lawyers or Biglaw partners. We're just sayin'...)

Redefining the Bar Date [Patently O]
Bar Date by Lana Knedlik [YouTube]
Lana M. Knedlik bio [Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP]