The global megafirm that is Skadden is known for its "work hard, play hard" culture. We were hoping to get the chance to observe it firsthand, after one of the Skadden Insider bloggers toyed with the idea of inviting us to the firm's 60th anniversary celebration on Ellis Island last month. Alas, it didn't happen.
Skadden's "macho" firm culture has been raised in a lawsuit that was covered in the press last week. From an article by Anthony Lin in the New York Law Journal:
Rita W. Gordon, a former counsel in the firm's litigation department, was fired in 2005 for allegedly inappropriately charging clients for personal car service use. The firm reported her to the Departmental Disciplinary Committee and reimbursed several clients.
But Gordon claims her car service use was no different from that of other lawyers at the firm and that Skadden's real aim "was to find a non-discriminatory excuse for terminating a 60-year-old woman and replace her with a younger man whose demeanor and conduct was more consistent with the 'macho' image of Skadden's Litigation Department."
Gordon filed suit against the firm and senior litigation partner Samuel Kadet in August 2006.
One former Skaddenite is surprised about Kadet being named as a defendant:
[O]f all the partners in the Skadden Litigation department, Sam Kadet is widely recognized as being one of the most polite and genuinely caring individuals there. While it's not shocking that any Big Law firm might be on the receiving end of these allegations, it struck me as bizarre that Sam Kadet was personally named, given his exceedingly positive reputation.
Here's another aspect of Rita Gordon's case that some might find a little odd. From the NYLJ article:
According to her suit, Gordon was summoned to Kadet's office in May 2005 and summarily fired for unauthorized car service charges totalling $50,000. Gordon claims the figure was reduced to $23,000 over a five-year period when the firm reported her to disciplinary authorities two weeks later.
Fifty grand in car service charges? Talk about a carbon footprint. Translated into Unlimited Ride MetroCards, that would have purchased Gordon about fifty years' worth of subway usage.
But, global warming be damned, Gordon wasn't a much of a straphanger:
Skadden lawyers are permitted to take cars home when they work past a certain hour at night, as well as at other times when client service demands. But Gordon is arguing she was justified in taking cars to and from her apartment at times other than late at night because she worked on client matters at home. She claims a 1994 back injury made it painful for her to sit at her desk for long hours or to work on papers back and forth on the subway.
Sitting at a desk for long hours? Isn't that the definition of being an attorney?
(In all seriousness, if Gordon did have the need for some sort of accommodation, she probably should have cleared it with firm management in advance, with appropriate documentation placed in her personnel file. Just our two cents.)
Since yesterday, when the big Eliot Spitzer news broke, we've been on a bad-behavior kick here at ATL. So let's keep going down that path. A tipster sent us a juicy story, with this intro:
This is wild. And by wild, I mean INSANE... He's 61. She's 25. He likes booze, cocaine, and turtlenecks.
Police drew their guns and broke open a door to get former District Court Judge John Brennan to stop choking his 25-year-old girlfriend, according to Albuquerque police reports released Monday.
According to the reports, Brennan, 61, appeared to be extremely intoxicated, denied that he attacked the woman and was wearing only a mock turtleneck and gray underwear when confronted by officers.
Brennan was arrested on charges of domestic violence, kidnapping and aggravated battery against a household member in connection with the Sunday incident. He made his first appearance in Metropolitan Court on Monday.
Well, good for him for having a girlfriend young enough to be his granddaughter (at least in our nation's more rural areas).
More details -- and yes, once again, allegations of prostitute involvement -- after the jump.
The late Pope John Paul II was an expert skier. Even after he became Pope, and into his 60's, the Holy Father would slip away from the Vatican for secret ski trips.
So, although we'd like them removed from all interstate highways, we have no problem with oldies on the slopes. This, however, is more troubling:
A 60-year-old man is taking an 8-year-old boy and his dad to court, claiming the boy caused a ski-slope collision that left the older man with a shoulder injury. David J. Pfahler of Allentown, Pa., sued in federal court in Denver, claiming Scott Swimm, then 7, was skiing fast and recklessly when they collided in January, the Vail Daily reported Thursday.
Looks like Pfahler is making a federal case of it (literally). He claims -- quite conveniently, for diversity jurisdiction purposes -- losses in excess of $75,000.
Scott's father, Robb Swimm, said that he saw the crash and that Scott was skiing slowly and in control. "It wasn't a violent collision or anything; Scott just kind of tapped his ski boots," he said this week.
Scott's mother, Susan Swimm, said her son weighs 48 pounds and couldn't have been going more than 10 mph. "Who in the world sues a child?" she said.
Scott: How much do you have in your piggy bank? Pfahler is nearing retirement age -- and Social Security doesn't cover many ski trips.
This next story is not new; it was reported last year by CBS. But we have an update to bring you, via YouTube, which is why we're revisiting it.
For those of you who missed it, here's a quick recap:
[A] woman was referred to a lawyer to represent her in a car accident case. But what she experienced in the meetings with that 72-year-old attorney later led her to file a formal criminal complaint with the NYPD....
The 47-year old woman -- who has asked CBS 2 not to reveal her identity -- claims that during her initial visit to lawyer Allen Isaac, he asked her for oral sex as part of his fee for taking her personal injury case.
"He said I'm going to want oral sex from you. I'm going to want it twice before the case begins, then I'm going to want it every week after if I get you a very good result," she said.
Now that's what we call a "success fee."
More discussion, plus the recently uploaded YouTube clip, after the jump.
Thursday, November 29, 2007 1:25 PM - By David Lat
Compared to their colleagues in the trial court, appellate judges have a reputation for being delicate, academic creatures, with less in the way of "street smarts." But don't lump New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge Ira Robinson in that group.
New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge Ira Robinson expected the worst Tuesday night when he fell to the ground as he tried to fight off a man lunging at him with a knife.
"I really thought the son of a gun was gonna stab me when I was down," he said.
So how did it all unfold?
Robinson, 65, said in an interview Wednesday that the ski-mask-wearing assailant demanded valuables from him and two cousins visiting from San Diego as they walked to their car parked near La Fonda about 10 p.m.
But Robinson refused the robber's demands:
"He said 'Give me your money, (expletive)!' I said, 'I'm not gonna give you a damn thing!'''
Nice. But we do wish the judge had invoked his judicial office. Maybe he could have held his assailant in contempt?
Back in July 2005, shortly after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her resignation from the Supreme Court, Professor Orin Kerr wrote an L.A. Times op-ed about how the Court might be affected by her departure. Its provocative title: O'Connor's Successor Will Likely Be a Swinger.
We were reminded of Professor Kerr's op-ed when we read this piece, by SOC biographer Joan Biskupic, in USA Today:
Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's husband, who suffers from Alzheimer's, has found a new romance, and his happiness is a relief to his wife, an Arizona TV report reveals.
The report, which quoted the couple's oldest son, Scott O'Connor, focused on Alzheimer's patients who forget their spouses and fall in love with someone else. Experts say the scenario is somewhat common.
[T]he report spotlighted John O'Connor, 77. He and the woman, referred to only as "Kay," live at a Phoenix facility for people with Alzheimer's.
A lesser woman might be troubled by the December-December romance. But Justice O'Connor, who understands the nature of her husband's devastating illness, is fine with it -- in fact, more than fine:
"Mom was thrilled that Dad was relaxed and happy and comfortable living here and wasn't complaining," Scott, 50, told KPNX-Channel 12 in Phoenix in a story that aired Thursday. The station is owned by Gannett, as is USA TODAY....
Scott compared his father to "a teenager in love" and said, "For Mom to visit when he's happy … visiting with his girlfriend, sitting on the porch swing holding hands," was a relief after a painful period.
In any event, Justice O'Connor is too busy with her own work to be consumed by petty jealousies. Her busy schedule of meetings and speaking engagements has kept her on the road, both nationally and internationally. Recently she was in Paris -- c'est magnifique!
Earlier today, SOC spoke at Columbia Law School. A report on her visit appears after the jump.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 12:37 PM - By David Lat
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.
Law firms love free publicity. Especially law firms that have been in the news for having to pay $27.5 million to settle age discrimination claims by former partners.
In case you're not familiar with the show, here's a synopsis:
"Tiffany "New York" Pollard is jumping back into the dating pool to find the man of her dreams. A fresh crop of twenty men are brought together to compete for her heart and this time the selection process has a twist....some of the chosen contestants vying for New York's heart have been hand-picked by online users and some have been chosen by Tiffany's outspoken mother, Sister Patterson."
Back to our tipster:
[Otunga] was brought in as one of three or four "Mama's Boys" (potential suitors selected by New York's mother) and nicknamed "Punk." He told New York that he was perfect for her, since he was an HLS grad and a lawyer at "one of the top law firms in the world."
Unfortunately, that law firm -- Sidley Austin -- didn't appreciate his appearance on the show, and the firm recently "suggested" to him that it may be in his best interest to pursue his "acting career" instead of his legal career. He's no longer on the firm's webpage.
* Mandatory retirement for law firm partners: pro or con? Depends on what you dislike more: rigid and economically irrational rules, or funny-smelling old people walking the halls. [Adam Smith, Esq.]
* We're still investigating those Latham layoff rumors. In the meantime, you can follow Wall Street layoffs over at our big sibling site. [DealBreaker]
* Hillary Clinton: She who laughs loudest, laughs worst? [TalkLeft]
* Blawg Review #128 -- coming all the way from Trinity College, Ireland's oldest university. [Lex Ferenda via Blawg Review]
Update (5:15 PM): With respect to Latham, a firm spokesperson stated that any layoff rumors are untrue. We've checked with a few of our own sources at the firm, and they also expressed no knowledge of any layoffs. If you've heard anything to the contrary, please drop us a line.
Usually when we highlight individual lawyers or judges in these pages, it's to poke (good-natured) fun at them. But it's Friday afternoon, so let's send you into the weekend on a warm and fuzzy note.
From a reader who was on the train today:
A man in his mid- to late-twenties, wearing a yellow shirt and carrying a Jones Day bag, helped carry an elderly gentleman onto the train and into his seat. Around an hour into the train ride, the old man's wife tried to wake him up, but could not.
The Jones Day man lifted the gentleman out of his seat, placed him in the aisle, and began CPR. The train conductor's took over, the train was put onto a side track, and EMS was called.
Unfortunately, all efforts to resuscitate the man were unsuccessful. We were later transferred to another train. On this second train, which was now overcrowded, the same man later gave up his seat when an older passenger got on.
Not all that humorous, but I thought this chivalry by a "Big Bad Biglaw Lawyer" might merit your attention.
Indeed it does. We thank our reader for this interesting story -- and commend the Jones Day fellow (associate? paralegal?) for his kindness and human decency.
(And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming. Whom should we make fun of next?)
Chief Justice John G. Roberts was hospitalized Monday after falling while on vacation in Maine, the Supreme Court told NBC News. Roberts, 52, fell at his summer home off Port Clyde [previously profiled in Lawyerly Lairs]. The court said he was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
The nation's top judge was fully awake and coherent both at his home and later at the hospital, the court said.
Lyle Denniston has a few more details over at SCOTUSblog.
The upshot: JGR is doing just fine. But it's a reminder that anything can happen -- that life is full of unpredictability.
Because if any member of the Supreme Court were to star in a Lifealert commercial -- and utter those famous words, "I've fallen, and I can't get up!" -- wouldn't it to be Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
Or maybe John Paul Stevens, who bears a reasonably strong resemblance to the man who cries out, "I'm having chest pain!" If you disagree, refresh your recollection here:
Not allowing the defendant to allocute before pronouncing sentence is a rookie mistake for a judge to make. So if a judge makes it, despite having been on the bench for over 25 years, he can expect to get benchslapped. From a Wisconsin reader:
Not sure if this is quite up your alley, but Federal District Judge John Shabaz got bench-slapped pretty hard by the Seventh Circuit in an opinion that came down today.
He's like a million years old and is best known around here for falling asleep during trials and objecting himself and sustaining his own objections. We've decided not to get really worried until he starts overruling himself.
Well, as long as a former clerk doesn't write a tell-all memoir, Judge Shabaz should be just fine.
Today we tackle a subject that's kinda boring, but very important: retirement benefits and financial planning. If you don't think about this stuff now, you'll be chewing ramen with your dentures in fifty years.
So what does your employer do on this front? Do you get a 401(k) or an IRA? Is there an employer contribution?
And one reader also wants to know: Do any firms provide their associates with help in terms of financial planning? Do they assist you in navigating the maze of confusing options?
Who says that conservative judicial icon Robert Bork, of the famously ill-fated Supreme Court nomination, is anti-plaintiff?
Judge Bork is all in favor of punitive damages -- when, for example, he's demanding them in his Complaint (PDF). The distinguished law professor and former judge has filed a slip-and-fall lawsuit against the Yale Club of New York City.
Bork's fellow traveler in conservative circles, Ted Frank -- who's currently a fellow at AEI, where Bork used to be a fellow -- "sympathize[s] with Judge Bork's serious injuries." But even Frank deems Bork's claim for punitives a bit dubious.
P.S. Bork groupies, mark your calendars: On June 26, the Federalist Society is holding Borkapalooza in Washington, DC. More details here.
Note to Fed Soc folks: Do not place Judge Bork's dais at an "unreasonable" height, and be sure to have handrails on the stairs leading up to it. You're welcome.
* Pay per view internet porn is a lot like bottled water -- the industry has somehow convinced the collective masses that because it's not free, it's a better product with no funny aftertaste. [Yahoo! Finance]
* I believe these are important developments for criminal lawyers, crack whores and Lindsay Lohan. [Sentencing Law and Policy]
* The best case scenario is that this 88-year-old man is senile and/or cataracts-ridden; the worse case scenario is that he's been doing this for nearly 70 years. [CBS5]
The trend of on-site day care is catching on at law firms. Sounds like a good thing, right?
But take a close look at this article. The intro anecdote is all about how when work gets "too intense," a 61-year-old founding partner unwinds by visiting the firm's nursery to hang out with other lawyers' kids! She calls it a "baby break." Yes, the partner is a woman, so it's not quite as creepy as it could be. But it's still pretty creepy!
Firms already get every figurative ounce of their associates' blood, sweat, and tears, and now they want to put our offspring in their human petting zoos? What's next, partners harvesting associate placentas to make life-restoring lotions for their wizened skin?
Seriously, raise your hand if you want your kid serving as some kind of spa tonic for your co-workers. We're getting a weird vision of tiny babies lined up in their cribs while lawyers in suits draw sustenance from their sweet little talcum-powder scents, sort of like in The Matrix.
* Is internet radio on its way out? I don't much care about Sirius, but what about Pandora, or the other stations you stream at work? [Tech News World]
We've been learning all sorts of things about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lately. Like her history as a high school cheerleader (which is, by the way, a perilous pursuit).
And now we learn her secret nickname at One First Street. From the Washington Examiner:
Anyone who has seen Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg knows that, although she’s big on law, she’s short on physical stature. Some of the employees who work around her in the Supreme Court Building find her diminutive size rather endearing and have taken to calling her Little Tweety Bird, a moniker they use only within their small circle.
But, lest you think that Ginsburg might rule such a nickname as “out of order,” that same circle insists that it’s a kind nickname, and one meant to reflect the notion that they feel very protective of Ginsburg.
Does that make Justice Scalia into Sylvester the Cat? Probably not. Justices Scalia and Ginsburg are close personal friends. They share a love of opera, and their families sometimes spend New Year's Eve together.
We nominate Justice Thomas for the role of Sylvester the Cat. In the 1947 cartoon Tweetie Pie, the Sylvester the Cat character went by the name "Thomas." MEOW!
The global megafirm that is Skadden is known for its "work hard, play hard" culture. We were hoping to get the chance to observe it firsthand, after one of the Skadden Insider bloggers toyed with the idea of inviting us to the firm's 60th anniversary celebration on Ellis Island last month. Alas, it didn't happen.
(41) Comments
Police drew their guns and broke open a door to get former District Court Judge John Brennan to stop choking his 25-year-old girlfriend, according to Albuquerque police reports released Monday.
The late Pope John Paul II was an expert skier. Even after he became Pope, and into his 60's, the Holy Father would slip away from the Vatican for 
Scott's mother, Susan Swimm, said her son weighs 48 pounds and couldn't have been going more than 10 mph. "Who in the world sues a child?" she said.
This next story is not new; it was reported last year by 
Compared to their colleagues in the trial court, appellate judges have a reputation for being delicate, academic creatures, with less in the way of "street smarts." But don't lump New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge 
Back in July 2005, shortly after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her resignation from the Supreme Court, Professor Orin Kerr wrote an L.A. Times op-ed about how the Court might be affected by her departure. Its provocative title: 
Okay, not in the centerfold -- we wish. But as we recently 
Law firms love free publicity. Especially law firms that have been in the news for having to 
Usually when we highlight individual lawyers or judges in these pages, it's to poke (good-natured) fun at them. But it's Friday afternoon, so let's send you into the weekend on a warm and fuzzy note.
Breaking news, from 
Not allowing the defendant to allocute before pronouncing sentence is a rookie mistake for a judge to make. So if a judge makes it, despite having been on the bench for over 25 years, he can expect to get benchslapped. From a Wisconsin reader:
We continue our series examining perks or fringe benefits provided by legal employers. We've already covered 
Who says that conservative judicial icon 
* This is what will happen if we don't reform the Social Security system. [
We've been learning all sorts of things about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lately. Like her history as a 
