Nude Dancing

X-Summers: The Magnificent Mooner

By

X Men small X Summers X Summer Associates Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgWe push forward with our series on summer associate screw-ups. If you have a tale to tell, please review our submission guidelines, and then email us.
In light of our earlier item about the bocce court at Venable, we thought this story would be apropos:
1. Superhero name: The Magnificent Mooner
2. Special power: Ability to destroy all hope for an offer in a matter of seconds.
3. Summered: Briggs & Morgan, “a few years ago”
4. Claim to fame: “Went lawn bowling (the Midwest equivalent of bocce) with the firm, after being ridiculously quiet all summer. After a day of drinking, culminating in his bowling the winning ball, he decided that the only appropriate reaction was to drop his pants in celebration.”
5. What happened to him: “[A]n offer was not in his future.”
We assume he didn’t file a lawsuit over getting no-offered. But there is precedent for an accused mooner going to court, claiming overreaction to his overexposure.
(The usual rules apply. Please don’t name the Magnificent Mooner or speculate about his identity. Thanks.)
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of summer associates (scroll down)
Lawsuit of the Day: High School Wise Ass Claims He Got a Bum Rap

Sign up for the Above the Law newsletter

Subscribe to our free daily email and get breaking news, commentary, and opinions on law firms, lawyers, law schools, lawsuits, judges, and more.

X-Summers: The Nekkid Sleeper

By

X Men small X Summers X Summer Associates Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgWe continue our series of posts about summer associate misadventures. If you have an anecdote you’d be willing to share, please check out the submission guidelines, and then email us.
We’re continuing with our theme of summer associates as superheroes. Move over, X-Men; make way for the X-Summers!!!
1. Superhero name: The Nekkid Sleeper
2. Special power: Drunken, semi-nude slumbering.
3. Summered: Baker & Hostetler, Cleveland, summer 2001
4. Claim to fame: From a Midwestern tipster:

“After a Saturday-night firm event, followed by a non-firm-sponsored night of drinking, The Nekkid Sleeper found himself stranded downtown without a car. It was after the rapid (light rail line) shut down for the evening, and he didn’t have enough money for a cab, so he decided he’d crash in his office at the firm.”

naked sleeper nekkid sleeper Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpg“One problem: That summer, the firm didn’t have enough office space for all the summers, so every other week, the summers would have to rotate offices. This particular week, The Nekkid Sleeper’s office was a cube in the firm’s library. The Nekkid Sleeper stumbled up to the firm library, found a sofa, and passed out in a drunken haze. It was hot and humid, so he unconsciously (or so he claimed) removed his shirt sometime in the middle of the night.”

“All was well until 6 a.m. Sunday, when a female partner who had a big upcoming trial wandered into the firm library to get a book — and saw what she thought was a half-nude hobo, sprawled out on the firm’s nice sofa….”

5. What happened next: “Rumor was that the incident happened about a week before the mid-summer reviews were to take place, and he got a stern lecture about inappropriate behavior… Word on the street was that he got an offer, but took a clerkship and then never returned to the firm.”
(The usual rules apply. Please don’t name the Nekkid Sleeper or speculate about his identity. Thanks.)
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of summer associates (scroll down)

More Than You Ever Cared To Know About Legal Aid Lawyers and Their Attire

By

Legal Aid Society New York Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgIn the discussion about Peter Barta, the Legal Aid lawyer who allegedly made secret videotapes of his female colleagues getting dressed in the office, one question keeps coming up, again and again.
This comment is representative:

“[C]an someone explain why people are getting dressed/undressed at the Legal Aid office in the first place?”

We were curious ourselves. So we undertook an ATL investigation, contacting a few sources with firsthand knowledge.
If you’re curious, the results of our investigation appear after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “More Than You Ever Cared To Know About Legal Aid Lawyers and Their Attire”

Reading the Bartameter (Part 3): What Is Up With Those Policy Debaters?

By

Peter Barta 2 Peter A Barta Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgWe continue to follow the story of Peter Barta, the Legal Aid lawyer who allegedly made secret videotapes of his female colleagues getting dressed. Tales like this — along with associate pay raises, of course — are the raison d’etre of ATL.
After we quoted a tipster stressing that Peter Barta did policy or cross-examination debate in high school, rather than Lincoln-Douglas debate, commenters argued vociferously over whether C-X or L-D debaters get laid more. One commenter helpfully provided a link to the website for alumni of the Stuyvesant High School debate team. Here’s the entry on Barta:

Peter Barta ’92 – Debated with Eric Yuen. Came back and coached for a while. “After NYU, I went to law school at Georgetown. Now, I work as a public defender with the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan. Essentially, I’m still debating.” (3/12/03)

And still acting like a horny high schooler. And living at home with mom.
As it turns out, though, Peter Barta is not the Stuy policy debate team’s most (in)famous alumnus. That honor surely belongs to Dick Morris, the noted political commentator and consultant.
Yes, THAT Dick Morris. The self-described “sex addict”. And devotee of toe-sucking.
A new nickname for C-X debaters: C-XXX debaters?
Stuyvesant Policy Debate Alumni [official website]

Reading the Bartameter (Part 2): Fluent Hungarian Is the Ultimate Aphrodisiac

By

Peter Barta 2 Peter A Barta Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgThe reader tips about Peter Barta, the Legal Aid Lawyer who allegedly made surreptitious videos of his female co-workers getting changed, are starting to flow into our inbox. From a former colleague:

I used to work at the Criminal Defense Division (CDD) in Manhattan with Peter Barta. He would sidle up to female co-workers, bragging about his fluent Hungarian: “Did you know that the only language related to Hungarian is Finnish?”

Uh, yeah, I’m not an idiot. And if I didn’t know that already, I would have remembered from the seventeenth time you told me.

He would then mention, with no apparent self-consciousness, that he lived with his mother. Finally, he’d try to ask the girl — not me, I was too rude to him — out.

We’re repulsed. But at the same time, we can’t help wondering: Was Peter Barta just lonely and misunderstood? Could Judd Apatow, writer of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, write a screenplay that would make Barta appear sympathetic — a lovable schlub, a la Ben Stone (Seth Rogen)?
Even our tipster has a soft spot for her former colleague:

Creepy as he was/is, what a sad way to end one’s legal career. (Though I suppose he should have thought of that before he recorded “bare breasts and buttocks” on a nannycam.)

Ah, the Bartameter. We hardly knew ye …

Food for thought: Would Peter Barta’s clock / camera be covered by the Skadden technology allowance?
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Peter Barta (scroll down)

Reading the Bartameter: More About Peter Barta (Part 1)

By

Peter Barta 2 Peter A Barta Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgYesterday we named Peter Barta our Lawyer of the Weekend. Here’s what he allegedly did to earn this distinction, according to the NYDN:

A nerdy legal aid lawyer used a spy camera to videotape female colleagues changing their clothes — until the women turned the tables and caught him red-handed, officials said.

Peter Barta, 32, bought a $179 gizmo from Sharper Image that looked like a desk clock but contained a motion-activated camcorder, prosecutors said.

He allegedly planted the clock in co-workers’ offices and downloaded the racy images onto a tape seized at his Queens home.

We solicited information on Peter Barta from people who know him personally. One high school classmate had this to say:

I guess I’m not surprised that he resorted to these sorts of antics; he always seemed a bit strange. So sad that it’s come down to this in his 30s!

I feel badly. He wasn’t a bad guy, but I guess he was a bit off.

Peter Barta was described in news accounts as a master debater (hehe) at New York’s elite Stuyvesant High School. Another ex-debater chimed in as follows:

Please point out to your readers that Peter Barta was a POLICY debater. Those of us who did L-D [Lincoln-Douglas] debate do NOT want the good name of our event tarnished.

If you have firsthand information about The Bartameter, please email us (subject line: “Peter Barta”). Thanks.
Update: More about Peter Barta appears here.
Earlier: Lawyer of the Weekend: Peter Barta

Lawyer of the Weekend: Peter Barta

By

Do you know this man? His name is Peter Barta, and he’s ATL’s Lawyer of the Day Weekend. If you did what he allegedly did — see here and here (plus more links collected below) — you deserve to be honored on more than one day.
Peter Barta 1 Peter A Barta Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpg
We’re preparing a more detailed post on Peter Barta that we’ll publish tomorrow. Right now we are collecting information about him from people who know him personally — from high school (Stuyvesant High School in New York), law school (Georgetown Law), work (the Legal Aid Society), or any other context.
We’ve heard from a few folks, but we’re hungry for more. If you have info to share, please email us (subject line: “Peter Barta”). Thanks.
Lawyer Accused of Secretly Filming Colleagues [New York Times]
Geek took secret pix of women – officials [New York Daily News]
‘PEEPER’S’ PORN STASH HAULED OFF [New York Post]
Legal Aid Peeping Tom: “Nice,” “Has An Attitude” [Gothamist]
Jeepers, Creepers! [WSJ Law Blog]

More on Oona O’Connell: The ‘Ignorant Tipster’ Apologizes

By

Oona O'Connell South Beach Miami 4 small Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.JPG[Thumbnail image. Click to enlarge. Photograph provided courtesy of Oona O'Connell.]
Today has been painfully slow, even for a Friday. Thankfully, we can always return to a subject that never fails to give a rise to our traffic: Oona O’Connell, the fabulously glamorous young lawyer who has graced the pages of Playboy.
Remember the ATL tipster who first informed us of Oona O’Connell? As you may recall, Ms. O’Connell was pretty pissed:

Oona O’Connell is my given name. It was the name my parents chose for me and I found it very hurtful to hear it described by your ignorant ‘tipster’ as coming from a ‘porn-name generator’.

After reading our recent email correspondence with Oona O’Connell, the tipster felt bad — and expressed his sentiments in an email.
Check out his message, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “More on Oona O’Connell: The ‘Ignorant Tipster’ Apologizes”

ATL’s New Pen Pal: Oona O’Connell, Lawyer Turned Playboy Model (Part 3)

By

Oona O'Connell redacted balcony 3 small Playboy Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.JPG
Our email correspondence with the super-hot lawyer turned Playboy model, Oona O’Connell, continues.
A brief question-and-answer session, plus an uncropped version of this Oonalicious photo, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “ATL’s New Pen Pal: Oona O’Connell, Lawyer Turned Playboy Model (Part 3)”

ATL’s New Pen Pal: Oona O’Connell, Lawyer Turned Playboy Model (Part 2)

By

Oona O'Connell South Beach Miami 2 small Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.JPG
[Thumbnail image. Click to enlarge. Photograph courtesy of Oona O'Connell.]
There should be a law — against this kind of hotness in a U.S. law school classroom!
As you may recall, lawyer cum Playboy model Oona O’Connell was not pleased by our prior coverage of her. She recently sent us an angry email, taking us to task for publishing malicious gossip.
Our response to Oona O’Connell, followed by her reply, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “ATL’s New Pen Pal: Oona O’Connell, Lawyer Turned Playboy Model (Part 2)”

ATL’s New Pen Pal: Oona O’Connell, Lawyer Turned Playboy Model (Part 1)

By

Oona O'Connell South Beach Miami 1 small Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.JPG
[Thumbnail image. Click to enlarge. Photograph courtesy of Oona O'Connell.]
WOW. Wouldn’t sitting next to this hottie in Torts class be just a wee bit distracting?
We rarely hear from people about whom we’ve written. This is generally a good thing.
But every now and then, one of them drops us a line. And sometimes they’re none too pleased. Like Oona O’Connell, the superhottie lawyer who posed for Playboy, as discussed back in this post.
You can read Ms. O’Connell’s email, which we reprint with her permission, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “ATL’s New Pen Pal: Oona O’Connell, Lawyer Turned Playboy Model (Part 1)”

Judge of the Day: Lord Justice Richards

By

British judges wigs Above the Law blog.jpgWhen we think of British judges, we think of wigs. But now, thanks to our latest Judge of the Day, we may start associating them with Calvin Klein briefs.
From the Daily Record:

A SENIOR judge yesterday showed a court his Calvin Klein pants as he denied twice flashing at a woman on a train.

Lord Justice Richards, 56, held up his trendy black briefs as he began his defence of charges that he opened his trousers to show his penis.

He told David Fisher QC, defending, he would need to use both hands to open his underwear enough to expose himself. He added: “That is the natural way of doing it.”

“Whether one could do it with one hand I don’t know, it is not something I do. For a man, it is natural to use two hands to assist in removing one’s penis.”

If that’s not a Perry Mason moment, we don’t know what is.
Update: As noted by a commenter, Lord Justice Richards got off. In a manner of speaking.
More fun after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Judge of the Day: Lord Justice Richards”