Latest Stories

NYU Law Hotties: When the Polls Will Close

By

New York University Law School NYU Law School Above the Law.JPGThe polls remain open in our latest hotties contest: NYU Law School third-year students. You can vote on the men by clicking here, and the women by clicking here.
A quick administrative announcement: voting will end on Monday, December 11, at 3 PM (Eastern time). If you’d like to do some campaigning, for yourself or for a friend, make good use of the weekend.
What are the current standings? The men’s race is very close: Michael Okoye leads with 20.9 percent of the vote, but Marcos Arellano is right behind him, with 20.0 percent. Okoye may be benefitting from an internet campaign, as well as a testimonial from his college roommate.
The women’s race, in contrast, isn’t looking terribly exciting. Apparently gentlemen prefer blondes: Noa Clark currently leads, with a third of all ballots. Rachael McCracken is running second, but with only half as many votes (17.4 percent to 33.3 percent).
Over three full days of voting, however, a lot can change. Consider the words of Justice Stephen Breyer, from his recent debate with Justice Antonin Scalia:

We don’t need activist judges; we need activist citizens. The Constitution sets up a democratic system, and it expects you to participate. And if you don’t participate, it doesn’t work.

So please, perform your civic duty. Vote for your favorite NYU 3L hottie by clicking here and here. Justice Breyer is counting on you!
Earlier: Above the Law Hotties: NYU Law School Third-Years (Female)
Above the Law Hotties: NYU Law School Third-Years (Male)

0 Comments

Morning Docket: 12.08.06

By

* Thou shalt not kidnap your child to keep her from getting married. [CNN]
* This really happened? [CNN]
* Supreme Court takes antitrust case involving investment banks. [New York Times]
* Specter introduces legislation designed to blunt the effects of the Thompson memo. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Same-sex marriage still legal, eh? [Reuters via Yahoo!]

0 Comments

When Camille Paglia Calls You A Slut, You Know You’ve Gone Too Far

By

britney spears britney_spears naked nude breasts above the law atl britney spears topless.JPGOne of our favorite cultural critics, the super-opinionated and hilarious Camille Paglia, recently weighed in on the trend of female celebrities “flashing their goodies for the camera,” in the words of US Weekly. Despite her general “pro-sex” bent, Paglia disapproves of the practice:

These girls are lowering themselves to the level of backstreet floozies. It angers me because I fought a bitter fight to get feminism back on track and be pro-sex at the same time. This is degrading the entire pro-sex wing of feminism.

I am completely appalled by what these young women are doing because I think that they are cheapening their own image and obliterating all sexual mystery and glamour, which are the heart of the star system.

This led us to wonder: What would Camille Paglia have to say about Judge Pamela Ann Rymer taking the bench back in October with a partly open robe?
Does it still preserve “[judicial] mystery and glamour”? Or does it go too far, a la Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan?
CrotchGate Part II: Camille Paglia says Madonna Gave Britney the “Kiss of Death” [US Weekly Online]
Earlier: The Eyes of the Law: A Visit to the Ninth Circuit

0 Comments

Non-Sequiturs: 12.07.06

By

Nike baby.JPG* Let’s see…a corrupt Laguardia Community College instructor on the one hand, and students dumb enough to think that a slightly better grade in computer science will compensate for the fact that they attend Laguardia Community College…I won’t comment, lest you think I’m elitist or something. [Newsday]
* Sponsoring babies, but not the Sally Struthers way. [Madisonian]
* And another way in which babies can pay off. [Cookie; The Poop]
* We too are hoping the judge’s mishandling of this case comes back to bite shoot him in the ass. [Legal Reader]
* So Tom Brady is like one of 5 football players I actually recognize. (I’m exaggerating of course — I’m counting Tiki Barber as two.) Well, he’s suing Yahoo! for improperly using his image in its promotion of Fantasy Football. (Which is strange since he did not sue SNL for skits that made him look as interesting as a brick.) [The Smoking Gun]

0 Comments

The Nino-Breyer Smackdown (Part 4)

By

Antonin Scalia Stephen Breyer Above the Law SCOTUS Supreme Court Justices.JPG

We agree with Andrew Sullivan: Dahlia Lithwick did a superb job in her write-up of the Scalia-Breyer debate, which took place Tuesday night at the Capital Hilton. We attended as guests of the ACS, whom we thank for their hospitality.
For our fourth and final post about the evening — prior posts here, here, and here — we’ll quote liberally from Lithwick’s great Slate piece, with commentary of our own appended and interspersed.
It all appears after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “The Nino-Breyer Smackdown (Part 4)”

0 Comments

Musical Chairs: 12.07.06

By

musical chairs 2 Above the Law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFAt the White House:
* On the heels of Christopher Oprison and Cheryl Stanton, former Wilmer Hale partner Paul Eckert joins the White House Counsel’s Office.
Lateral Moves:
* Nicholas H. Politan, to Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (NY), from Bingham McCutchen, where he served as co-head of the project and structured finance group.
(Wild guess: He’s the son of former federal judge Nicholas H. Politan (D.N.J.).)
* IP litigator Duane David-Hough, to Fish & Richardson, from Ropes & Gray (NY).
A few more moves, plus links, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Musical Chairs: 12.07.06″

0 Comments

Attention, Concerned Alumni of Yale: Justice Alito Gets (Green)housed

By

samuel alito harold koh linda greenhouse.JPGChristmas is less than three weeks away. Are you stumped about what to get for your liberal lawyer friends?
Assuming they’re okay with Christmas gifts — maybe they object to even personal celebration of the holiday — have we got an idea for you: Harold Hongju Koh Bobblehead Dolls!!!
Harold Koh is the dean of Yale Law School. And he’s an unapologetic liberal, regarded by some YLS students and alumni as allowing his personal political beliefs to affect his work as dean (not for the better). It’s only natural for the Yale chapter of the ACS, a leading liberal organization, to honor him with a bobblehead doll.
Above the Law has just learned of another manifestation of Dean Koh’s alleged political hackery. One of his deanly duties is to preside over the committee that selects a recipient for the Yale Law School Award of Merit. This prestigious and prominent honor is presented each year to an outstanding graduate or longtime faculty member of YLS.
We’ve heard that Dean Koh, short-circuiting any real discussion, essentially ordered that the 2007 Award of Merit would go to Linda Greenhouse — the left-leaning Supreme Court correspondent of the New York Times. Other committee members proposed Justice Samuel Alito ’75, confirmed earlier this year to the U.S. Supreme Court, as the most natural and appropriate choice. But Dean Koh squelched their support for the conservative jurist. He cut short the deliberations, declaring by fiat that Greenhouse — who did a one-year master’s program at Yale — would receive the award.
Does this strike you as outrageous? It gets worse. The reasoning employed by Dean Koh — to the extent that he employed reasoning, as opposed to simply forcing his pick upon the committee — was pretty dubious.
Based on what we’ve heard, we’ve created a fictionalized transcript of the committee meeting. Check it out, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Attention, Concerned Alumni of Yale: Justice Alito Gets (Green)housed”

17 Comments

Viet Dinh Is One Hungry Guy

By

viet dinh.jpgRemember Professor Viet Dinh? If not, here’s what we previously wrote about him:

Dinh represents venture capitalist god Thomas Perkins, in Perkins’s (rather tense) dealings with HP’s board and lawyers [concerning the HP spying controversy].

Dinh, for those of you visiting from other planets, is one of the highest-flying legal eagles in the country. He’s a former high-ranking official at the Justice Department, current professor at Georgetown Law, and former Supreme Court clerk (to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor).

The American Lawyer recently published an interesting article about the HP controversy and the troubles it has caused for Larry Sonsini, one of Silicon Valley’s top lawyers. We haven’t had the chance to read it closely; but one of you highlighted this little tidbit:

Over a Washington, D.C., lunch in which Dinh quickly downed three glasses of wine, three orders of oysters and a seafood gumbo, the former government lawyer recalled he was startled when [Thomas] Perkins first told him about the leaks investigation.

Well! It seems that the super-cuddly professor has quite an appetite.
Perhaps Professor Dinh is still haunted by his childhood as a refugee from war-torn Vietnam? Relax, Viet — everything is all right. You are a millionaire, and you don’t need to worry about where your next meal is coming from. (And if you run out of food late one night, you can always eat the prestige of that SCOTUS clerkship.)
Our question to Professor Dinh: Given your voracious appetite, how do you stay so slim?
Where Will the Troubles End for Sonsini and HP? [The American Lawyer]
Hewlett-Packard Lawyer Dinh Gives Washington the ‘Viet-Spin’ [New York Observer]
Earlier: Viet Dinh: Still As Cuddly As Ever

0 Comments

Associate Bonus Watch: An Explanatory Note

By

stack of bills cash money.jpgStill no news. The message boards are quiet (aside from complaints about the “trolls,” and admonitions not to “feed” them).
At this point in time, we’re guessing that no major bonus news will break this week. But we’re happy to be proven wrong. As soon as you hear something, please email us.
Last night, a fake Willkie Farr bonus memo was making the rounds (just like the fake Milbank Tweed bonus memo). We posted the memo quickly, in the interest of timeliness, but papered it up and down with disclaimers: unconfirmed, not verified, do not rely, etc. An hour or two later, after conferring with our Willkie sources, we came back and declared it to be fake.
Some folks were annoyed that we posted the fake memo to begin with. So we’d like to explain how we operate around here, by quoting from two reader comments. Comment 1:

ATL posts them immediately because these things are time-sensitive. No one should rely on this info before it gets confirmed, but the easiest way to confirm it is to get it out to a wide audience quickly and let it be debunked. I for one don’t care whether it’s initially accurate or not, I just appreciate the effort to shed light on one of the many mysterious aspects of big firm life — compensation.

And comment 2:

The blogosphere way of doing things is to publish stuff ASAP, then to correct or modify as the story develops. The mainstream media way of doing things is to hold a story – sometimes for a long time – until it’s all confirmed. It is not surprising that ATL takes the blogosphere approach.

Also, when ATL originally posted the memo, there were boldface, all-caps disclaimers all over the post. You’d have to be a moron to rely upon anything posted with all those caveats.

So this is how we’re going to operate around here. We’ll put up purported “bonus memos” ASAP, but with disclaimers, while we work on confirming and fact-checking them. But please don’t treat such memos as authentic until we append a confirmation (or remove the disclaimers).
Striking a balance between speed and accuracy is a constant struggle, in both the blogosphere and the mainstream media. This is our explanation of how we strike the balance; we hope you find it helpful. Thanks for reading.
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of bonuses (scroll down)

0 Comments

The Nino-Breyer Smackdown (Part 3)

By

Antonin Scalia Stephen Breyer Above the Law SCOTUS Supreme Court Justices.JPG

Question: Now that the Supreme Court is hearing hardly any cases these days, how are the justices spending all their free time?
Answer: On constitutional law road shows, in which they debate the proper way to go about interpreting that foundational document. What fun!
On Tuesday, Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Stephen G. Breyer held forth on the subject before a packed ballroom at the Capital Hilton. The event was co-sponsored by the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society. It ran for about an hour and a half; Jan Crawford Greenburg, of ABC News, served as moderator.
Our prior coverage of the event appears here and here (photos). Our third installment appears after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “The Nino-Breyer Smackdown (Part 3)”

0 Comments

What Does the Colon of a Tax Law Professor Look Like?

By

If you woke up this morning with this thought burning a hole in your head, guess what?
Today’s your lucky day.
Tax Prof Colon [TaxProf Blog]
P.S. Congratulations to Professor Caron on his clean bill of colonic health.

3 Comments

Musical Chairs: Professor Noah Feldman Is Leaving NYU for Harvard!

By

Noah Feldman Noah R Feldman Jeannie Suk Jeannie C Suk Above the Law.JPGProfessor Noah Feldman — the brilliant, gorgeous, legal academic superstar / public intellectual — is abandoning NYU Law School (its student body hotness notwithstanding). He’s heading up to Harvard Law School, where his similarly beautiful and brainy wife, Jeannie Suk, is already on the faculty.
(Most readers of ATL are probably familiar with this celebrity couple. But if you’re not — if you don’t know about their Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships, their D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court clerkships, their multiple published books, and their storybook-perfect life — we refer you to The Latest Triumphs of the Elect: It’s Good to Be Noah and Jeannie!)
From what we’ve heard, Noah Feldman’s move was a long time in coming. HLS apparently made an offer to him quite some time ago. The rumor that he might be decamping for Cambridge was circulating in legal academia for a while.
Noah Feldman Professor Noah Feldman Above the law.jpgAlthough the move makes sense, Professor Feldman had good reason to think carefully before leaving Gotham. NYU tried very, very hard to keep him. And here are three considerations that probably crossed his mind:
First, he has strong ties to the NYU law school community. It has been his academic home for the past few years, which have been very good to him, and he is worshiped around campus by students (who surround him like groupies to a rock star).
Second, being based in New York, the media capital of the country, was great for his career as a public intellectual. It facilitated his frequent contributions to the New York Times (both the magazine and the op-ed page), his regular appearances on major talk shows, and his efforts on the book publishing front (three books and counting).
Third, and perhaps most importantly, he and Jeannie have a FABULOUS apartment in the heart of Greenwich Village. And as every New Yorker knows, a good piece of real estate is very hard to find.
At the end of the day, though, Harvard Law School is still Harvard Law School. And when your wife is already on the faculty up there, it’s kinda hard to say no when HLS’s hot dean comes calling.
Congratulations, Professor Feldman, on your new post and the big move!
Noah Feldman to join Harvard Law faculty [Harvard Law School]
The Latest Triumphs of the Elect: It’s Good to Be Noah and Jeannie! [UTR]
Most Beautiful Brainiac: Noah Feldman [New York magazine]
Noah Feldman bio [New York University Law School]
Jeannie Suk bio [Harvard Law School]

4 Comments
Page 1387 of 14511...138313841385138613871388138913901391...1451