Latest Stories

So How Was Your Halloween?

By

jack o lantern pumpkin halloween.jpgSometimes the partners don’t like it if you gorge yourself on “their” candy. But yesterday was different. We hope you had a Happy Halloween!!! (And that you’re not too hungover from last night’s partying.)
How did your firm celebrate this spooky occasion? Seyfarth Shaw went all out:

Halloween treats were served in a mock coffin. The menu included blood-red cupcakes decorated with bleeding fangs and bats to be washed down with Jones soda in limited edition ghoulish flavors (Lemon Drop Dead, Strawberry Slime, and Gruesome Grape).

And you thought paying $145K was scary enough!
Please share amusing Halloween anecdotes — partners in crazy costumes, conference rooms converted into haunted houses, etc. — in the comments. Thanks.
P.S. For your reading pleasure, here’s a Halloween-themed link, from yesterday’s WSJ Law Blog: The Legal Implications of Throwing Eggs. Executive summary: think twice before TP’ing that partner’s mailbox.
Update: The Department of Justice got into the Halloween spirit:

Despite the travails of the Department, our emergency response and preparedness staff are on the job. No, I’m not referring to providing assistance to wildfire-torn California. I’m talking about dressing your children in flame-retardant Halloween costumes and ensuring your home is well lit to ” to prevent injuries to little ghosts and goblins.” Our tax dollars at work! (See email sent out to DOJ employees below.)

The email appears after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “So How Was Your Halloween?”

50 Comments

Morning Docket: 11.01.07

By

* Jury thinks that idiots from Kansas church doth protest too much at funeral; $10.9 million for father of killed Marine. [Baltimore Sun via How Appealing]
* Justice department fails in prosecution of its (former) own. [New York Times]
* Senate Judiciary to vote on Mukasey next Tuesday. [ Jurist]
* Execution back to Cali – I don’t think so. [Jurist]
* Some lateral benchslappery in Georgia. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

30 Comments

Associate Bonus Watch: Simpson Thacher!!!

By

associate bonus watch 2007 law firm Above the Law blog.jpgWe have to hit the road; we’re going out of town. So this is the last you’ll hear from us in a little while. If you have new bonus announcements to pass along, please email us, or note them in the comments to this post. We will follow up when we return.
But there’s no need to tell us about the Simpson Thacher & Bartlett bonus announcement. We already have it, and we’ve reprinted it after the jump. Thanks!

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Associate Bonus Watch: Simpson Thacher!!!”

130 Comments

Associate Bonus Watch: Debevoise & Plimpton!!!

By

associate bonus watch 2007 law firm Above the Law blog.jpgWe’ve been having technical difficulties, perhaps due to heavy site traffic. We are going to lunch.
But before we leave, here’s the bonus announcement of Debevoise & Plimpton. Its authenticity has been confirmed by multiple sources.
In a nutshell, the firm has adopted Cravath’s bifurcated bonus model, with year-end and “special” bonuses. The numbers are the same as Cravath’s, except for the most senior associates, who get $5K more at Debevoise.
You can check out the D&P memo after the jump.
Update: The WSJ Law Blog had the news first. See here.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Associate Bonus Watch: Debevoise & Plimpton!!!”

410 Comments

Judge Kozinski Goes to Washington

By

Alex Kozinski small Alex S Kozinski Judge Above the Law hot hottie superhottie federal judiciary.JPGWe almost forgot. Happy Halloween!!!
If you’re here in Washington, DC. and looking for a way to celebrate, here’s an event at Georgetown University Law Center that might interest you:

Halloween with Judge Kozinski!

Join us for a special debate:

“Property Rights After Kelo”

Alex Kozinski, Judge, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

vs.

Chip Mellor, Founder and President, Institute for Justice

Wednesday, October 31, 4:30

Room 201, Georgetown University Law Center

(We’d love to attend, to see the colorful Judge Kozinski in the (superhot) flesh. Alas, we have a scheduling conflict.)
Speaking of Georgetown Law, we’d like to issue a friendly ATL shout-out to all the great folks we met at last week’s Equal Justice Foundation live auction (and party). We had a great time.
A few photos, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Judge Kozinski Goes to Washington”

17 Comments

A Sexist Screed Against Female Attorneys?

By

We are not easily offended, nor are we very politically correct. Sometimes we write things that upset or antagonize people (sometimes intentionally, and sometimes not).
But this discussion of women lawyers, while certainly provocative, is a bit too inflammatory for our taste. We won’t post excerpts here (because finding a portion that isn’t offensive is difficult).
It’s generating discussion and making the rounds by email, however, and people have brought it to our attention. We’re passing it along for your consideration, so you can see what all the fuss is about. But please keep in mind that we agree with Jeff Jarvis’s linking philosophy: “A link is not necessarily an endorsement, but a way to say ‘you go judge for yourself.’”
What A Girl’s Job Tells You [Roissy in DC]

136 Comments

It’s Official: Pants Suit Plaintiff Loses Post

By

Roy Pearson Judge Roy L Pearson Abovethelaw Above the Law legal blog.jpgWhat was looking likely has come to pass. From today’s Washington Post:

Roy L. Pearson Jr., the administrative law judge who lost his $54 million lawsuit against a Northeast Washington dry cleaner, lost his job yesterday and was ordered to vacate his office, sources said.

Pearson, 57, who had served as a judge for two years, was up for a 10-year term at the Office of Administrative Hearings, but a judicial committee last week voted against reappointing him.

The panel had a seven-page letter hand-delivered to Pearson about 3:30 p.m., directing him to leave his office by 5 p.m. Pearson’s term ended in May, at the height of his battle with the dry cleaners. Since then, he has remained on the payroll, making $100,000 a year as an attorney adviser.

So what’s next for ex-judge Roy Pearson? A book deal for a memoir, tentatively entitled Diary of a Mad Black ALJ? A reality television show, in which Judge Pearson files dubious lawsuits and sees if any of them go anywhere?
Judge Who Lost Pant Suit Loses Job [Washington Post]
Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Roy Pearson

20 Comments

Associate Bonus Watch: The Natives Are Getting Restless

By

associate bonus watch 2007 law firm Above the Law blog.jpgWe’re bored (and so are you). We’re just passing time until another major law firm announces year-end bonuses, in the wake of Monday’s Cravath announcement.
In today’s New York Times, Ellen Rosen has this interesting article on law firm bonuses:

Cravath, Swaine & Moore has raised the salary bar for law firm associates in Manhattan.

The firm has announced that it will award a special one-time bonus for associates in addition to the traditional year-end bonus that the firm, like most others, already pays. All but the newest associates will receive $10,000 to $50,000, depending on seniority, which was first reported by Abovethelaw.com.

Thanks for the shout-out, Ellen!
What about other law firms? Read more, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Associate Bonus Watch: The Natives Are Getting Restless”

40 Comments

Biglaw Perk Watch: Billable Hour Credit During Emergencies or Disasters?

By

California wildfire San Diego Los Angeles Above the Law blog.jpgEmergency kits, like the ones doled out by Davis Polk, are nice. But billable-hour credit during an emergency is even nicer.
From a curious correspondent:

Here’s a question you may want to pose to your readers: How has your law firm dealt billable hour requirements when the office if officially closed due to an emergency / disaster?

I ask this question in connection with the recent southern California wildfires. I’ve heard that many law firms in So Cal had to close shop for the entire week last week due to the wild-fires. I’ve also heard that many of these shops are giving associates billable hours credit for the days the office was closed.

I’m curious how often firms do this sort of thing. What did law firms do after 9/11? Or Katrina? Or any of the major CA earthquakes? It wouldn’t seem right for a firm to tell attorneys not to come in for a week and then hold them accountable for that week at the end of the year.

But what about telecommuting? Is the ability to work from home a double-edged sword? Now that everyone has a laptop and a Blackberry, can attorneys be expected to fiddle (with merger agreements), while California burns?
More after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Biglaw Perk Watch: Billable Hour Credit During Emergencies or Disasters?”

28 Comments

What the Heck Is Going on with Doe v. Ciolli?

By

Anthony Ciolli Anthony Cioli AutoAdmit xoxohth Above the Law blog.jpgRemember the lawsuit filed by two female Yale Law School students over various allegedly defamatory and threatening comments posted about them on AutoAdmit.com? The plaintiffs are in the process of amending their complaint, and they’ve sought extra time in which to do so. From a tipster:

[T]he third motion for an extension of time was requested October 4, and it asked for 30 days. I can’t imagine them going to a fourth motion, so the deadline should be fast approaching around this weekend.

That said… it appears from the first couple of motions they didn’t have any real leads and were still investigating, and now they may have a real lead.

Interesting. We’ll keep you posted.
Doe 1 et al v. Ciolli et al [Justia]
Earlier: Has AutoAdmit Been Pwn3d?

59 Comments

Lawsuit of the Day: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

By

Shipman Goodwin LLP Above the Law blog.jpgAh, the perils of office romance. This was passed along to us by a tipster, who wrote: “This new lawsuit involving one of Connecticut’s largest and oldest firms caught my eye this morning.”

Stephanie Ancillai; Thomas Diascro v. Michael Lamoureux

10/29/2007 HHD-CV07-5014300-S

Intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff Ancillai broke off relationship with defendant, who in turn sent emails to plaintiff and co-plaintiff’s superiors at Shipman and Goodwin exposing their romantic relationship. As a result of the emails, both plaintiff and co-plaintiff lost their jobs in the marketing department of the law firm.

Sounds interesting. If you get your hands on the Complaint, please feel free to send it our way.

10 Comments

Morning Docket: 10.31.07

By

staph infection staphylococcus Above the Law blog.jpg* Family to sue NYC over staph death. [CNN]
* Nader sues DNC for trying to win 2004 Presidential election conspiring against him in 2004. [AP via Breitbart]
* Should law school be more like business school? [WSJ Law Blog]
* Georgia to $336,000 in child support! [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
* Yep, de facto moratorium. [New York Times]

8 Comments
Page 1366 of 16371...136213631364136513661367136813691370...1637