Maybe we should feature stories about the full-time associates who mistreat summer associates. For one such story, involving a senior associate in New York who’s an a**hole of Ari Gold proportions, see here.
Or maybe we should feature stories about partners who, despite being partners, comport themselves in a manner that would make Aquagirl blush. For one such story — from a few years ago, and from the other side of the pond, but trust us, it’s good — see here.
We’ll tell you that the two naughty female partners were from Shearman & Sterling. But please respect the house rules and don’t identify them further. Considering the great nicknames developed for partner #2, including “The Human Stain” and “The Sprinker,” it’s just not necessary. Thanks.
Stories from the Belly of Biglaw: Curious George [Urbanagora]
Yank skanks [TheLawyer.com]
Latest Stories
Up until this point, we had perhaps shaky evidence that Nina Totenberg, legal affairs correspondent for NPR, is a diva.
There was the (now closed) ATL reader poll, in which 30 percent of you declared La Totenberg to be a true diva. There were various stories of diva-like behavior. There was her recent, diva-licious appearance on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, in which she gave Scooter Libby prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald a piece of her mind. (Click here, select “Not My Job: Patrick Fitzgerald,” and skip ahead to the 7:30 mark.)
But now it’s official: Nina Totenberg really IS a diva, narrowly defined as “[a] female opera star of great rank or pretension.” Click here, and listen to her operatically trill the four finalists for a new “All Things Considered” jingle.
Although some of the notes in Nina’s upper register sound a little thin, on the whole she’s in fine voice. We’re very impressed!
From one tipster: “Can I suggest a barbershop quartet, consisting of Nina Totenberg, Joan Biskupic, Jan Crawford Greenburg, and Linda Greenhouse?” Or maybe a sing-off between Nina Totenberg and Judge Marjorie Rendell (3d Cir.), another diva in the figurative and literal senses of the word?
Now if only we can get Nina Totenberg to sing Everyone’s A Winner at Nixon Peabody…
Vote for ‘All Things Considered’ Theme Song Lyrics [NPR]
Not My Job: Patrick Fitzgerald (around 7:30 mark) [Wait Wait Don't Tell Me / NPR]
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Nina Totenberg (scroll down)
- Education / Schools, Georgetown Law School, Law Schools, Television, War on Terror, Weirdness, Yale Law School
Best Law School Course Ever?
By David LatWe’re not being sarcastic. This course, to be offered at Georgetown Law in spring 2008, sounds awesome. To the average law student, it’s probably way more interesting than securities regulation (or even ERISA — one of our favorite law school classes). [FN1]
From the GULC course catalog:
The Law of “24″
Professor W. Sharp
LL.M Course 853 (cross-listed) | 2 credit hoursThe award winning Fox Television drama series 24 explores America’s fictional response to international terrorism through the eyes of Jack Bauer, a U.S. counter-terrorism agent. Oftentimes without remorse or regard for the law, Agent Bauer is willing to do what has to be done when faced with the threat of kidnappings, assassinations, nuclear detonations, and bioterrorism on U.S. soil – despite traitors in his family, his unit, and the White House; partisan politics; sleeper cells; and hidden agendas.
This course provides a detailed understanding of a very wide-range of U.S. domestic and international legal issues concerning counterterrorism in the context of the utilitarian and sometimes desperate responses to terrorism raised by the plot of 24. Course requirements include active classroom discussion and a paper of approximately 25 pages.
If Jack Goldsmith’s new book is correct, it seems some members of the Bush Administration legal team might benefit from this class.
The instructor, adjunct professor Walter Sharp, sounds pretty badass. He’s a Naval Academy grad who currently serves as Associate Deputy General Counsel for International Affairs at the Defense Department. He previously served as Deputy Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pretty cool!
[FN1] We followed, with interest and amusement, this recent spirited commenters’ debate over whether you can get a “real” legal education at Yale. For those of you who care, we offer some thoughts on that subject after the jump.
The Law of “24″ [Georgetown University Law Center]
Faculty bio: Walter Gary Sharp [Georgetown University Law Center]
The devoted readership of ATL down in ATL will appreciate this update. From an article by Meredith Hobbs in yesterday’s Fulton County Daily Report:
More law firms have capitulated in Atlanta’s second round of pay raises this year.
Jones Day will raise starting pay to $150,000, and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker will go to $145,000 — an increase of $15,000 at each firm.
The raises are effective Jan. 1, 2008, when pay raises go into effect at several other Atlanta firms, including Alston & Bird, King & Spalding and Troutman Sanders.
The rest of the article, which contains discussion of salaries for more senior associates (compression!!! aargh!!!), is available here.
Three Law Firms Pump Up Pay for First-Years [Fulton County Daily Report]
Recently submitted to Fortune magazine by “Bored in BlackBerryLand”:
I am a recent law-school graduate and, though I’m not yet working at a law firm, I have friends who are. I understand that things in international firms happen 24/7, 365 days a year, and I want to be as supportive of my friends’ careers as I expect them to be of mine.
My question is, to what degree in social settings, on a regular basis, should friends be checking their BlackBerries, and at what point should I say something? What’s rude and what’s truly necessary?
So, readers, whaddya think? Check out what the expert had to say, express yourselves in the comments, and take our poll — after the jump.
Continue reading “To Blackberry, or Not to Blackberry? That Is the Question”
* Um, let me get this straight: a U.S. judge is holding a hearing about whether France will comply with the Geneva Conventions? [BBC]
* Don’t be fooled by the arbitration award that she got; she’s still Jenny from the block. [AP via Fulton County Daily Report]
* Haditha officers sanctioned, but not criminals. [CNN]
* The Law Blog follows through on its whip count promise with a quiz. [WSJ Law Blog]
* And here are the answers (60 lawyers, if you want to cut to the chase). [WSJ Law Blog]
- Harriet Miers, Jan Crawford Greenburg, Jeffrey Toobin, John Roberts, Judicial Nominations, Media and Journalism, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Harriet Miers: Who Deserves the Blame?
By David LatSigh. Too much to write about, not enough time (or energy). We should have written about this on Tuesday. But since we didn’t, we now have the luxury of assembling a post by commenting on what other people have already written — and snarkily noting that they all say the same thing.
It all started with this article from the Washington Post (via the Huffington Post):
It was John G. Roberts Jr., now the chief justice of the United States, who suggested [Harriet] Miers to Bush as a possible Supreme Court justice, according to the [new] book [Dead Certain, an examination of the Bush presidency, by Robert Draper].
Miers, the White House counsel and a Bush loyalist from Texas, did not want the job, but Bush and first lady Laura Bush prevailed on her to accept the nomination, Draper writes.
Sounds juicy, right? But not so fast.
If you’re already familiar with this controversy, you can probably skip the rest of this post. But if not — or if you are, but want some commentary on the commentary — you can read more after the jump.
* Sadly, the Nixon Peabody theme song didn’t make the cut. [TechnoLawyer]
* “Sonnenschein sued for millions by former partner.” [Legal Times]
* News you can use: “How much income can parents have before losing all financial aid for their kids’ college?” [TaxProf Blog]
* We’re late in linking to this, but here’s Blawg Review #124. [George's Employment Blawg via Blawg Review]
* We’re REALLY late in linking to this, but it’s timely once again in light of the imminent announcement (tomorrow) that he’s officially running for president. Here are some interesting reflections from Fred Thompson on the law and his career as a practicing lawyer. [Power Line]
- American Constitution Society (ACS), Brett Kavanaugh, Clerkships, Federalist Society, Hotties, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, John Roberts, Kids, SCOTUS, Sports, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Clerks, UVA Law, You Go Girl
Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: OT 2008 (Update #5)
By David LatNot too long ago, we said we had a “gut feeling” that some Supreme Court clerk hiring was going on (despite the Court being in recess). We were right.
Meet Porter Wilkinson. And don’t hate her because she’s beautiful. Or brilliant. Or rich. Or the daughter of a top feeder judge and frequent Supreme Court short-lister, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson (4th Cir.).
Or, for that matter, a future Supreme Court clerk. We hear that Judge Wilkinson’s daughter — yes, Porter is a girl’s name, if you’re a WASP — just landed an October Term 2008 clerkship with Chief Justice John Roberts. Congratulations, Porter!
Not surprisingly, we hear that the young Ms. Wilkinson is fairly conservative — in case you couldn’t have guessed that from the fact that she’s currently clerking for Judge Brett Kavanaugh (D.C. Cir.) (alongside the lovely, and recently married, Zina Gelman).
And where did we hear about Porter’s politics? From Judge Wilkinson himself!
In late July, we attended the excellent national convention of the American Constitution Society, in Washington, DC. Judge Wilkinson was on one of the panels. In thanking the ACS for inviting him, he noted that his son is a member of the liberal organization — but that he’s balanced out by his sister Porter, a card-carrying member of the Federalist Society. We bet the Wilkinsons must have interesting dinner table conversations.
Porter Wilkinson continues the trend of fathers and daughters who both clerked for the Court (as noted by Tony Mauro). See here.
Update: A tipster tells us, “FYI, Porter was an All-American lacrosse player at UNC. See here. Her husband [Christian Cook] was lacrosse Defenseman of the Year at Princeton and three-time national champion. Formerly of the Secret Service. See here. They got married this past summer in Charlottesville.”
With Porter Wilkinson added, the current list of OT 2008 clerks thus far appears after the jump.
Graduation Awards: Four in the Class of 2007: Porter Wilkinson [Virginia Law]
Carter Phillips’ Kin Is Alito Clerk [Legal Times]
Continue reading “Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: OT 2008 (Update #5)”
Well, this guy — Eduardo Arrocha, who just started as a 1L at Thomas M. Cooley Law School — really IS a freak. Quite literally.
Here’s why Arrocha is leaving the Coney Island Circus Sideshow to go into law:
“I know it sounds weird, but I want to be a freak lawyer. I hope to have a little office in New York and work with the alternative people . . . all the so-called riff-raff, to give them legal representation that is not judgmental.”
What a pity. As someone used to eating lying on top of nails for money, he would have made a great Biglaw associate.
America’s Newest Law Student [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]
Law Blog One L of the Day: Eak the Geek [WSJ Law Blog]
- Benchslaps, Herman Thomas, Judge of the Day, Perverts, Prisons, Sentencing Law, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Violence
Judge of the Day: Herman Thomas
By David LatMobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas is ATL’s Judge of the Day. He takes the prize for his innovative approach to sentencing. From the Mobile Press-Register:
Authorities are investigating allegations that now-suspended Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas periodically removed prisoners from Mobile County Metro Jail and spanked them in a room at the courthouse, according to courthouse sources involved in the inquiry.
Once inside the room, according to the sources, the judge would ask the young men to drop their pants and prepare to be spanked with what they described as a wooden or fraternity-like paddle.
To quote ex-inmate Paris Hilton, “That’s hot.” We agree with these commenters:
“[I]n San Francisco we have lots of people who pay $200 a session for that kind of treatment. Perhaps this judge has a bright future in Bay Area.”
“That’s some kinky place. I think Senator Larry Craig would like to break INTO that prison!”
More details — including a description of the secret six-by-eight room that allegedly served as the judge’s S-and-M dungeon — are available here.
Authorities investigating paddling allegations against Judge Thomas [Mobile Press-Register]
Judge Accused Of Paddling Inmates [WKRG.com]
For those of you who might be interested, here’s another version of yesterday’s story about the Bruised Booze Cruiser — a Kirkland & Ellis summer associate who got slugged by a local lass in Chicago (after getting drunk on the firm-sponsored booze cruise and calling said woman a “fat bitch”).
We actually received many accounts of this event. The one that we decided go with came from someone who was at K&E this summer and attended the events in question, so we viewed it as fairly reliable.
But here’s a second version, also from someone who claims to have been there. And we like it — in some ways, it’s even better than the original — so we’re passing it along.
According to our latest tipster, the Bruised Booze Cruisier (hereinafter “BBC”) was acting up even before the after-party where he got punched by a girl woman. From this second source:
[The BBC] had upset one big-time partner before ever getting to the bar that night (and, if the golf outing story is true, he had notes from two partners sent to recruiting). The cruise ship played music during the 3rd of July fireworks, and at one point, the “Imperial March” from the Star Wars movies came on.
The summer (maybe a big fan of the movies?) decided to narrate the song by attempting to recreate Darth-Vader-esque breathing noises. His wanting everyone to hear, though, meant the noises were less breaths and more zombie moans, which weren’t appreciated by the young children on board.
A senior partner near the summer, whose children were frightened and upset by the noises, wrote to recruiting about the guy before the story of the bar fight ever came out.
That’s pretty great — but there’s more. Check it out after the jump.
Continue reading “The Bruised Booze Cruiser: An Alternate Account”
-
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