Here in Washington, DC, there's a non-governmental organization on every street corner. So it should come as no surprise that our latest Career Alternatives post focuses on working for an NGO.

Several tipsters suggested the NGO career path as an appealing alternative to BIglaw life. Here's what one had to say:

Many staff, particularly executive directors, of international development/human rights NGOs are attorneys. In many instances, having a law degree now seems to be a prerequisite for success in this field.

While other degrees may lend themselves more obviously to certain types of NGO work -- e.g., master's degrees in international relations or public policy -- a law degree also confers a significant amount of credibility, according to a second source:

If you're looking for alternatives to practicing law, working with an NGO is a good alternative for lawyers (or bar failers who want to market themselves as having decided not to practice). It helps if you have previous experience in the field you want to work in, but a JD generally can be marketed as giving you experience in legal or policy analysis.

Interested in learning more? Additional detail, after the jump.

Last week we complained about an insufficient number of summer associate scandals so far this year. But maybe things are starting to pick up.

We begin by giving props to Proskauer Rose for their commitment to public service. They bring all their summers down to New Orleans to work on a Habitat for Humanity project. From the press release:

On Friday and Saturday, June 20 and 21, law firm Proskauer Rose LLP will work with Habitat for Humanity to build three houses in the Musicians Village' section of the 9th Ward of New Orleans. The firm aims to help families displaced by Hurricane Katrina, giving them a place to once again call home.

Proskauer Rose summer associates, lawyers and staff, including Howard Shapiro, head of the firm's New Orleans office, and local Habitat for Humanity representatives will be available for interviews and photographs during the house building. The houses will be located at 1817, 1821 and 1825 Bartholomew Street and work will take place from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. both days. A check presentation ceremony will take place Friday, June 20 at 8 a.m. at 4000 North Roman Street.

Proskauer Rose is bringing together 90 summer associates, lawyers and staff from its New Orleans and national offices to participate in the event. The firm will also donate $75,000 to Habitat for the cost of one of the homes. This is the third consecutive year the firm has participated in and sponsored such an event.

So that's the background. Read the story, after the jump.

Many lawyers are charitable creatures. Because lawyers are good people. For those working in Biglaw, all that disposable income -- and the corresponding need for tax deductions -- can make giving to good causes a little easier.

We receive many requests from benefit organizers for promotion on Above The Law. We consider ourselves good charitable creatures here at ATL, but we have a responsibility to our readers to stick to important news items, like raunchy internet chats, embarrassing summer associate stories, top ten music lists, and irreverent commentary on plus-size judges.

But we've created a part of the site, the ATL Community, where the bleeding hearts among you can post information about charitable events. There are a few events there now, including Just Art 08!, to be held in NYC on June 25. If you have a charitable event you'd like to promote, please feel free to plug it in the Community section.

If you have any charity left in you after making donations to your favorite law school, check out the ATL Community site for legally-related giving opportunities. Okay, that's all the goodness we have in us for today. Time to get back to the news.

P.S. Speaking of charitable benefits, congratulations to Hope for Vision, previously mentioned here and here, on its recent successful event. Props to Jones Day, which presented the organization with a $100,000 check to kick off its 20/20 Vision Campaign.

Sigh. We hate it when news breaks late on a Friday before a holiday weekend.

But we won't let the timing stop us from giving this the attention it deserves. We'll do an update post next week, after everyone is back from the Memorial Day holiday weekend. We've also contacted Phil Telfeyan -- we've known he was the Note author for quite some time, thanks to our Harvard Law School sources -- and requested an interview.

We have to head out now. If you're still stuck in front of your computer, instead of enjoying the long weekend, check out the links below.

Comment: Mea Culpa by Phil Telfeyan [comment]
HLS Wins National Appellate Advocacy Competition [Harvard Law Record]
HLS students win national ABA moot court competition [Harvard Law School]
A Man of Many Hats [Harvard Crimson]

In January, after the Harvard Law Review published a rather embarrassing, bleeding-heart Case Comment, we wrote:

Last year, we ran a popular series of posts on the Harvard Law Review. The gist of the coverage was that the Review's new, left-leaning leadership "is running the journal into the ground with a cabal of radical ideologues, making the outgoing editors nervous about the future reputation of the journal."

We got some flak for our HLR coverage. But in view of what the Review is publishing these days, as discussed extensively in the blogosphere -- see, e.g., the Volokh Conspiracy and PrawfsBlawg -- we can't help gloating. Just a little.

Or a lot. A tipster draws our attention to a Note that was just published in the latest issue of the HLR:

I think you should break this story. It is a guaranteed comment clusterf**k.

This Note (PDF) basically says that anyone who doesn't go in to public interest work is immoral and is killing babies in third world countries (most of this analysis is in section 4 of the article). I think it just came out in electronic form today, so you should get a jump on anyone.

Our correspondent's summary is shockingly accurate. Check out the article for yourself by clicking here (PDF).

As it turns out, we're not the first to take note of the Note. We believe that would be Professor Paul Horwitz, over at PrawfsBlawg. After alluding to the notorious Case Comment from several months ago, Professor Horwitz writes:

I am reading the latest issue of the Harvard Law Review [which contains] a Note titled, after an inscription on a statue in Cambridge Common, "Never Again Should a People Starve in a World of Plenty." It's unusually thinly sourced for a Harvard Law Review Note -- not that I'm encouraging people to use more footnotes! And it has a certain voice ("There is injustice everywhere. The last place there should be injustice is in the justice system.") and theme that . . . . well, I find myself wondering whether we have found our anonymous author once again.

I don't mean to be unduly gossipy about this sort of thing; it's worth a two-paragraph blog post and not more. And I am not knocking the observation that injustice is bad; heaven forfend. Just the same, I'm curious whether this is the same author.

We don't share Professor Horwitz's shyness. We're happy to write more than two paragraphs about the Note (ha -- we already have). And there's no such thing as being "unduly gossipy" in our book.

So gossip away, in the comments. Do you think this Note was written by the same author as the prior Case Comment? Do you feel that the Harvard Law Review -- once headed by Senator Barack Obama, its first black president -- is tilting too far to the left?

Or, if you prefer, don't gossip; engage substantively with the arguments in the Note. Clearly the author wants associates and partners in large law firms to sit up and take notice, to think about whether what they're doing professionally is worthwhile -- or even morally defensible.

We're sure the anonymous author will be grateful to us for bringing his or her work to the attention of ATL's many readers in Biglaw. Whoever you are: you're welcome!

* "Are we headed for another Great Depression?" [McClatchy]

* Quelle surprise: Bear Stearns shareholder lawsuit (filed in S.D.N.Y. by Coughlin Stoia). [Bloomberg; WSJ Law Blog (PDF of complaint)]

* Speaking of Bear Stearns, here are some law firms losing out on BSC business. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Tenth Circuit reverses convictions of former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio. [AP]

* Harvard Law School will pay the 3L tuition of future students who agree to work for nonprofit organizations or government for five years following graduation. [New York Times via Tax Prof Blog; Harvard Law School (news release)]

* Settlement in Paul McCartney-Heather Mills divorce (more on this later). [Legal Week]

* SCOTUS to hear Second Amendment / D.C. gun control case today (more on this later too). [New York Times; Reuters]

Today we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the pioneering civil rights leader. Dr. King's birthday was actually on January 15th, but the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year.

Many of you are not in the office today, in honor of the holiday. If you're not at work, we hope that you are enjoying the day off. (We are around, but will be posting less than usual.)

If you are looking for something to do, we suggest that you treat today as an opportunity for public service. You can look up a service project in your area at MLKDay.gov.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Blawg Review #143 [Public Defender Stuff via Blawg Review]
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service [MLKDay.gov]

Now that we're into December, first-year law students can start their engines, and pursue for summer employment. Prior to December 1, the NALP folks don't want first-years thinking about summer job stuff, since they need to be focused on drinking and getting laid their rigorous 1L studies. But now that they're all settled in, it's okay, per the NALP rules:

Summer Employment Provisions for First Year Students

1. Law schools should not offer career services to first-semester first year law students prior to November 1 except in the case of part-time students who may be given assistance in seeking positions during the school term.

2. Prospective employers and first year law students should not initiate contact with one another and employers should not interview or make offers to first year students before December 1.

We were reminded of this by a first-year student who sent out a wave of applications on Saturday, December 1, and had his first ding letter by Tuesday, December 4. That was fast!

He shouldn't take it personally. Law firm jobs are relatively tough to get for the summer after your first year. But they're not as tough to score as they used to be, since firms are increasingly hiring 1Ls in the hope that they can "get 'em early," and also use them as goodwill ambassadors to their classmates during the 2L fall recruiting process. (Also, you may have better luck as an underrepresented minority, due to firms' attempts to address their relative lack of diversity.)

We agree with the conventional wisdom that the summer after your first year is a pretty good time to explore opportunities in government, such as working for a prosecutor's office or judge, or public interest law. You'll be able to do the Biglaw thing next summer. (Of course, if you're lucky enough to snag a law firm job for this summer, more power to you -- it's tough to turn down three grand a week.)

Feel free to discuss the 1L job search in the comments. Thanks.

P.S. For sending out applications to law firms en masse, one reader recommended LawFirmLetters.com. We've not used this site ourselves, so we can't personally vouch for it, but feel free to check it out.

Gracing the front page of today's Washington Post is an article that will appeal to many ATL readers. It's by Post reporter Ian Shapira, who previously wrote this interesting piece about summer associates. Here's the headline:

Okay, not a terribly novel development. As one of several ATL readers who wrote us about this story observed, "it's not exactly Man Bites Dog."

But even if the article may not be earth-shattering, it's a well-crafted, thought-provoking piece. We think it will get an interesting discussion going. Also, anything that gets a general audience to care about the niche topic of law firms, like a front page WaPo article, is a good thing in our book.

Excerpts and observations, after the jump.

In the discussion about Peter Barta, the Legal Aid lawyer who allegedly made secret videotapes of his female colleagues getting dressed in the office, one question keeps coming up, again and again.

This comment is representative:

"[C]an someone explain why people are getting dressed/undressed at the Legal Aid office in the first place?"

We were curious ourselves. So we undertook an ATL investigation, contacting a few sources with firsthand knowledge.

If you're curious, the results of our investigation appear after the jump.

Supreme Court clerkships, Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships... Who cares?

We've unearthed a credential that is far more bad-ass. From a tipster:

I was forwarded this notice about a fellowship opportunity. Who wouldn't want to have Recipient of Lethal Injection Fellowship on their résumé?

If your curiosity is piqued, read more after the jump.

Are you here in Washington, DC? And are you by any chance free this evening?

If so, then please consider attending Banding Together 2007. It's a battle of ten D.C. law firm bands -- good stuff. And even if you have doubts about the music, remember: it's for a good cause!

Kirkland & Ellis partner Walter Lohmann, chair of the firm's diversity committee, contacted ATL with this information:

Kirkland is a major sponsor; 32 Firms are sponsoring and bands from Sidley, Constantine Cannon, McDermott, Alston, Finnegan, Crowell, Paul Hastings, Sutherland, Miller Chevalier, Greenberg, Gibson, Hogan and Patton Boggs are playing.

100% of proceeds go to purchase clothing, blankets, other essential items to be distributed through DC shelter system. Zero overhead organization, totally lawyer run. More details at www.gfth.org.

(Tony Snow's band is playing but Tony's been called away to Maine with POTUS.)

We have a prior commitment, but we may try to stop by on the later side. Perhaps we'll see you there!

Update: Alas, we weren't able to make it. But we hear the event was a huge success. Walt Lohmann reports:

"We had an amazing night. Ran like clockwork, the 10 bands were GREAT and so passionate and we had a great crowd. I'd expect that, when all is said and done, we could exceed $70,000, a 70 percent increase from last year, to purchase clothing, winter items and other essentials for DC's homeless community."

Congratulations to everyone involved in this most worthwhile endeavor!

Banding Together 2007 [Gifts for the Homeless]

We can't publish all (or even most) of the announcements like this that we receive. But since we give those Harvard Law School kids such a hard time, airing lots of their dirty laundry, we figure we might as well do something nice for them for a change.

We pass along this announcement, on behalf of an HLS organization aimed at encouraging charitable giving:

I am writing on behalf of a Harvard Law School organization called One Day’s Work. The organization started this spring and the concept is simple: encourage law students around the country to pledge one day’s summer salary at either a law firm or public interest legal job to a charitable cause. We thought that with your extensive coverage of law firm salaries, you might be interested in giving us some attention and helping to promote this worthy effort.

Students can pledge and get more information at our website, http://www.OneDaysWork.org. To date, over 65 law students have pledged nearly $40,000 to the effort. These students represent over 40 firms and public interest/government organizations. Additionally, while the group started at Harvard, students from law schools across the country have joined in the effort. About half of the participants are from Harvard, but participants thus far have come from over a dozen other schools.

While the group’s name gives a suggested donation amount - and your readers, of all people, should know what a summer associate in a major American city makes in a given day - the goal is really to promote a culture of giving. As such, we just ask students to give what they feel comfortable with. One Day’s Work does not advocate any specific charitable cause or organization, but the website does feature seven charities that we’ve chosen to highlight.

The efforts of One Day’s Work will culminate on June 27—the “Day” from which students are pledging their earnings.

June 27 is fast approaching. So please visit their site and sign up, while you still can!

1 Day's Work [official website]

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.

Poor James Sandman. He's a partner at Arnold & Porter, one of Washington's most prestigious law firms, and he's president of the DC Bar. But ever since he wrote that mean article complaining about associate pay raises, nobody will sit next to him at parties....

(Okay, we jest. The seats next to Jim Sandman were subsequently filled. In fact, he was at our table -- and we found him to be a most agreeable dinner companion. There were some associates sitting near him, and Mr. Sandman made no attempt to steal food from their mouths.)

Earlier this week, we attended -- and served as the emcee for -- the annual benefit dinner of the Asian Pacific American Bar Assocation Educational Fund (AEF).

It was a wonderful event (and not just 'cause we won two Supreme Court bobbleheads in the silent auction). It featured inspiring speeches from Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, executive director of Boat People SOS, and Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii. It was tons of fun. And it raised money for AEF's charitable and educational activities, including its public service fellowships for law students.

Of course we took lots of pictures. Check out the first batch -- more will follow later -- after the jump.

What are you doing tomorrow night? If you are here in Washington, DC, and don't already have plans, please consider attending the annual benefit dinner of the Asian Pacific American Bar Assocation Educational Fund (AEF). Here are some reasons you should go:

1. It's for a good cause. Proceeds will benefit the organization's charitable and educational activities.
2. We're emceeing for the evening. We're breaking out the tux -- and shaving (which is a big deal for us as bloggers).
3. There will be silent and live auctions. One of the items up for bids: Supreme Court bobbleheads! (Did you hear that, Mr. Bashman?)
4. The dinner invitation is both elegant and coherent, which is no small feat.

If you don't believe us, see for yourself -- the invite appears below. Tickets, which will be available at the door, are $90 for lawyers in private practice, $75 for government and public interest lawyers, and $60 for students.

We hope to see you there!

We wrote a fair amount over the weekend about Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell. Scroll down the page to see our coverage, or click here and here.

One of our posts concerned an interesting letter that a gay NYU Law graduate wrote to John Scheich, first vice-president of the Lesbian and Gay Law Association of New York (LeGal). Last week, Scheich made statements to the media supporting S&C in the case. This NYU grad's letter questioned Scheich about the basis for LeGal's public support of S&C.

Scheich's response to the letter, also reprinted in our post, struck us as a bit snippy. Based on your comments, many of you agree with us.

Now Aaron Charney (at right) has decided to give Jack Scheich a piece of his mind. We reprint Charney's letter after the jump.

Back in this post, we quoted this passage from an ABC News piece:

"Sullivan Cromwell is far from prejudiced in any way," says John Scheich, the first vice president of the Lesbian and Gay Law Association of New York [LeGal], adding that the firm often buys a table at his group's annual fundraising dinner dance. "I don't know Aaron Charney or the details of his case, but if I had to line up on one side or the other, I would have to line up with David H. Braff [an openly gay partner at the firm] and Sullivan Cromwell."

A gay NYU Law grad sent a letter to LeGal, inquiring into the organization's stance on Charney v. Sullian & Cromwell. He received a response from Jack Scheich that struck us as, well, kinda bitchy.

See if you agree with us. The letter and the LeGal response appear after the jump.

(Because, you know, they have better things to do with their ten-foot poles.)

The New York Observer's Anna Schneider-Mayerson has penned an interesting article on Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell. Here's the link.

Random aside: When ATL holds its "Legal Journalist Hotties Contest," expect Anna Schneider-Mayerson -- a Harvard-educated blonde beauty -- to give Jan Crawford Greenburg a run for her money.

Much of Schneider-Mayerson's article will be familiar to regular readers of Above the Law (since we've been "covering the crap" out of this case, as promised). But the piece does contain some new information. Like this:

Mr. Charney said he called Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a legal advocacy organization that represents gay clients on civil-rights-related issues, to aid in his case.

“I called the hotline, spoke to the representative who answered, and was told I would hear back from them,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Days later they returned my call and informed me that they were not interested in pursuing my matter against S&C.”

(A representative at Lambda contacted by The Observer said it does not comment on these matters.)

The Lambda diss is the juiciest tidbit. But the NYO piece contains a few other highlights, which we reprint after the jump.

As one of you points out, today is the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the pioneering civil rights leader.

Many of you are not in the office today, in honor of the holiday. If you're not at work, we hope that you are enjoying the day off. (We are in the "office," but will be posting less than usual.)

If you are looking for something to do, we suggest that you follow the recommendation of the Washington Post, and treat today as an opportunity for public service. You can look up a service project in your area at MLKDay.gov.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Update: Over at Public Defender Stuff, there's a special MLK Day Edition of the Blawg Review (#91, for those of you keeping score at home).

Martin Luther King Jr. Day [Washington Post]
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service [MLKDay.gov]