Latest Stories

ATL March Madness: Law Schools, Round 1 (Part 1)

By

We noticed that you guys enjoy trash talking about rival law schools. And we also realize, despite our general ignorance about sports, that we are now in the midst of “March Madness.” So, as several of you requested, we are introducing a March Madness-inspired feature to ATL.

Welcome to ATL MARCH MADNESS: LAW SCHOOLS!!!

Here are the brackets. They’re based, as you might have guessed, on the U.S. News and World Report rankings. At least they’re good for something!
(Where schools were tied, we assigned seeds based on where the schools appear on the USNWR list, which seemed to break ties based on alphabetical order.)
law school tournament brackets.GIF
Here’s how the tournament will work. Law schools will advance to the next round based on reader polls, in which we ask you which law school is “cooler.” You can define “cooler” in whatever way you wish. Basically, it’s a popularity contest.
The first set of polls appears after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “ATL March Madness: Law Schools, Round 1 (Part 1)”

64 Comments

Brokeback Lawfirm: Oh the Irony

By

Gandolfo DiBlasi 2 Vincent DiBlasi Gandolfo V DiBlasi Vince DiBlasi Above the Law Blog.JPGOne of you posted this in the comments, and we subsequently verified it with sources at the firm. Late last week, this announcement was made internally at Sullivan & Cromwell:

I am pleased to announce that Vince DiBlasi, Andrew Gerlach, Tracy Richelle High, Jessica Klein, Keith Pagnani, Melissa Sawyer, Karen Seymour, and Fred Rich, as Chair, have agreed to serve on a new working group focusing on the recruiting process and the associate experience. The group has been charged with looking at all aspects of our recruiting strategy and process, and, in conjunction with the Associate Development Committee, our approach to associate career development and every aspect of the associate experience at the firm.

We have no higher priority than continuing to attract the most promising law students, and then to provide them, and all our current lawyers, with training, professional opportunities and an overall experience that is second to none. I would be grateful if each of you would share your own ideas and suggestions with any member of this group.

Rodgin Cohen

Some of you will accuse us of seeing everything through an Aaron Charney lens, but we’ll pose the question anyway: Could this be a response to the public relations fallout from Charney v. S&C?
As for the composition of the working group, we have to ask: What’s up with the half measures, Rodge? If you want to put S&C’s best, jack-booted foot forward, why not throw Krautheimer and Korry on it too?
If you have any suggestions for the S&C committee, please offer them in the comments. We recommend weekly Leni Riefenstahl screenings to improve associate morale.
(The timing couldn’t be better — there’s a Riefenstahl renaissance afoot.)

48 Comments

Morning Docket: 03.26.07

By

Alberto Gonzales 2 Attorney General Alberto R Gonzales Above the Law blog.JPG* Feel like putting down a couple hundred on Barack Obama or John Edwards? [Slate]
* Sen. Hagel uses the “i” word. [MSNBC]
* “New U.S. attorneys seem to have partisan records.” [McClatchy via Election Law Blog]
* AG Gonzales feeling more heat from GOP Senators. [How Appealing (linkwrap)]
* Does DVR violate copyright laws? [Law.com]

1 Comment

She Doesn’t Wake Up For Less Than $10,000 A Day

By

naomi campbell Above the Law Legal Tabloid.GIFUnless required to do so as part of court-ordered community service. But even when scrubbing toilets, she still looks like a million bucks. From the NYT:

First there was a cry, then a murmur, and finally a swoon. Naomi Campbell, the millionaire fashion model, emerged yesterday from a grimy Department of Sanitation garage in a floor-length evening gown, marking the end of her court-ordered community service.

She waved with her right hand, pulled up the shimmering silver gown with her left, smiled for the cameras and then ducked into her Rolls-Royce limousine, a silver Phantom costing at least $340,000. She did not say a word.

This runway girl was definitely “working it” — with a broom:

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., she swept, mopped and wiped at the garage, which has garbage and recycling facilities. She received no preferential treatment, [Sanitation Department officiall Albert] Durrell said. Ms. Campbell ate pizza from Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn, like the others in her work crew.

Yes, Mr. Durrell acknowledged, Ms. Campbell did clean toilets. No, he said, she did not have to be taught how to use a mop or broom. Ms. Campbell “was on her hands and knees at some point cleaning the walls and floors on the second floor,” he said.

One of Campbell’s community service colleagues described her as “wonderful” and “a pleasure to work with.” Who says rehabilitation is dead?
After 5 Days of Mopping and Scrubbing, What Else Would a Model Wear? [New York Times]
Nice and clean [New York Daily News]
The pleasure’s all mine, Naomi [New York Daily News]

2 Comments

Non-Sequiturs: 03.23.07

By

Pregnant Belly 2 Above the Law blog.JPG* With the advanced state of medical technology, it won’t be long before some pol subjects every pregnant woman to a recording of her fetus pleading, “Please, Mommy, don’t kill me!” [MSN]
* What on earth was he planning on doing with all that money? I’m thinking a tragic Gatsby-esque scenario. [ABA Journal E-Report]
* Did Craigslist receive a threatening phone call from the Starbucks legal department? I’ve never been a barrista, but even I could not help but shake my head in amusement and utter, “So true, so true.” [Starbucks Gossip]
* In law school, I stuck to those guys in the backrooms of dive bars, who lent me tuition money on a handshake. Now that’s honest business… Of course, now they’ve pimped me out to a law firm. [New York Times]

7 Comments

Slim Shady’s Thin Skin?

By

Eminem Marshall Mathers Above the Law blog.jpgPeople in certain lines of work — e.g., litigation, rapping, blogging — develop pretty thick skins. If you get attacked, insulted, and criticized on a daily basis, you stop noticing it pretty quickly.
So why is Eminem so sensitive?
(He claims he’s going to court to protect his 11-year-old daughter, Hailie, from being exposed to negative comments about her father. But we suspect she has plenty of other issues.)
Eminem goes to court to shut Kim up [Detroit News via Drudge Report]

4 Comments

Friday Afternoon Argument Fodder: Most Underrated Law Schools

By

chart.gifWe know you guys love arguing over stuff in the comments. So here’s some red meat for your to chew upon: Vault’s list of the top 25 most underrated law schools.
Is your law school on the list? Should it be?
Here are the top 10, as collected over at TaxProf Blog:
1. Emory
2. Fordham
3. Howard
4. Chicago-Kent
5. Oregon
6. George Mason
7. Illinois
8. William & Mary
9. Vanderbilt
10. Georgia
What we’d like to see: a list of the ten most OVERrated law schools.
(Yeah, we know — there is a fair case that our alma mater should be on any such list. But the Vault list looks at schools from the perspective of law firms looking for associates to hire, not law schools looking for prospective faculty members.)
Most Underrated Law Schools [Vault via TaxProf Blog]

164 Comments

The AEF Annual Benefit Dinner (Part 2)

By

AEF 18.JPG
Here are the rest of our photos from the delightful AEF annual dinner. We posted the first batch of pictures, along with a brief write-up, over here.
The balance of the pics, plus a few stray comments, appear after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “The AEF Annual Benefit Dinner (Part 2)”

11 Comments

October Term 2007 Clerk Hiring: Filling in the Blanks

By

Supreme Court hallway Above the Law Above the Law Above the Law.JPGOur recent post about Supreme Court clerk hiring for October 2007 generated a wealth of tips — just as we hoped it would. You drew our attention to a number of future clerks whose hirings were not reflected in our last listing.
Like Leslie Kendrick, a former Rhodes scholar and current Wilkinson clerk. We like the story of how Justice Souter offered her a job:

Kendrick was working at her desk on an ordinary Friday afternoon when the call from Souter came though. “I wondered if you were still in the market for a clerkship?” she recalled Souter asking. Of course, the answer was yes.

We believe that we now have the names of all the OT 2007 clerks. Also, Justice Thomas has hired almost all of his OT 2008 clerks, and Justice Alito has hired at least one.
You can check out the complete listing of next Term’s clerks, as well as some OT 2008 info, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “October Term 2007 Clerk Hiring: Filling in the Blanks”

9 Comments

Judge Richard Conway Casey, R.I.P.

By

Richard Casey Judge Richard Conway Casey blind Above the Law blog.jpgThe Honorable Richard Conway Casey, of the Southern District of New York, passed away yesterday. He was well-known for being the first blind person to be named a federal trial judge. (Appeals court judge David Tatel, of the D.C. Circuit, was the first blind federal judge.)
An amusing anecdote about Judge Casey, from the AP:

Judge Richard Conway Casey recalls the time he accidentally bumped into a courtroom wall at the beginning of a mob trial. Lawyers and spectators shifted uncomfortably – for just a moment.

“You’re fired!” Casey, 68, told his law clerk, who had accompanied him. “Bring back my guide dog!”

The courtroom burst into laughter.

We extend our condolences to Judge Casey’s family and to his extended family of former law clerks.
Richard C. Casey bio [FJC]
Richard C. Casey [Wikipedia]
Blind Federal Judge an Inspiration [Associated Press]

11 Comments

Some Interrogatories from Your Friends at ATL

By

Please take a few seconds to fill out our (anonymous) reader survey. You can access it by clicking here.
And please don’t overlook question number 9, in which you can offer us editorial feedback — what you like, what you dislike, what you’d like to see more or less of in these pages, etc. Thanks!
Above the Law Reader Survey [SurveyMonkey.com]

3 Comments
  • 23 Mar 2007 at 12:04 PM

Tad DiBiase: A Few More Details

By

Thomas DiBiase Tad DiBiase AUSA Above the Law blog.jpgLook, we were not trying to be coy in our last post. We are just trying, as one commenter suggested, not to get our asses sued.
Here is what we can tell you for now. The following facts have been confirmed with multiple sources:
1. Thomas “Tad” DiBiase is a prominent, well-connected assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. He served (and may technically still be) the Director of Professional Development for the office, as well as Deputy Chief of the Homicide Section.
2. His duties as Director of Professional Development include making sure assistant U.S. attorneys all get their mandatory ethics and sexual harrassment training.
3. Earlier this week, something changed with respect to Mr. DiBiase’s employment status. We haven’t nailed this down yet. But if you send a message to his DOJ email address, you receive the following:

I will be out of the office until further notice. I will not be checking my email. Please call Glenn Kirschner at 514-xxxx regarding any homicide matters.

We’ll have more to share once we hear back from more sources. Since yesterday, we’ve left multiple voice-mail and e-mail messages for Mr. DiBiase (who still has DOJ voice-mail and email accounts); a lawyer we’re told is representing him; and Channing Phillips, the office spokesperson.
Nobody has gotten back to us — but you can’t accuse us of not trying to verify our facts. We are crossing our t’s and dotting our i’s on this one. We don’t want to be accused of reckless disregard with respect to anything.
(You may comment on this post. But please remember that, under Section 230, individual commenters — NOT ATL — bear legal responsibility for their own comments. Thank you.)
Earlier: Request for Information: AUSA Tad DiBiase

Page 1332 of 14661...132813291330133113321333133413351336...1466