Rank Stupidity
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Email Scandals, Harvard, Racism, Rank Stupidity
Harvard Law School BLSA and the Banality of Evil
Elie here: just wanted to make sure you all know what’s coming. Few things embarrass me like the Harvard Black Law Students Association. It could be the most credible foil to systemic racism against black law students. It has instead become a convenient tool to be used by those who wish to ignore the racial […] -
Contests, Law Revue, Law Revue Video Contest, Rank Stupidity, Videos
Law Revue Video Contest: Dishonorable Mentions
We launched our second annual Law Revue contest earlier this month. Over 20 law schools entered the competition, including a couple from the Great White North — a special “eh” to our Canuck readers! — with each school submitting up to two videos. Last night, your ATL editors had a special after-hours viewing. It wasn’t […] - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Lawsuit of the Day, Rank Stupidity, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Lawsuit of the Day: Man Cuts Himself Out of a Tree
I am by no means an expert on cutting down trees. If you hand me a chainsaw, I am far more likely to injure myself than any wood in my immediate area. But if the people from Ax Men kidnapped me and forced me to chop my way out of their trailer park hideout, there […]
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Department of Justice, Federal Government, Job Searches, Lawyer Advertising, Rank Stupidity
Mentally Retarded? The Justice Department Wants YOU.
Many job seekers would love to work as lawyers for the federal government but haven’t had luck landing a position. Openings for attorneys on USAJOBS attract hundreds of applicants. In light of massive law-firm layoffs and the relative stability of government employment, high demand for federal jobs is unsurprising. You have to be a positively […] -
Education / Schools, Law Schools, Rank Stupidity, Southern New England School of Law/Umass, Student Loans
UMass Law School: All Systems Go.
Ed. Note: We apologize for our technical difficulties. The commenting function should now be working again. It’s official. Southern New England School of Law will be converted into the first Massachusetts public law school by the University of Massachusetts. The Boston Globe reports: The Board of Higher Education today approved the creation of Massachusetts’ first […] -
Bad Ideas, Bankruptcy, Bar Exams, Law Schools, Old People, Rank Stupidity, Student Loans
Discharging Law School Debt in Bankruptcy Doesn't Get Any Easier When You Are Old
I spent all day yesterday trying to summon the rage, trying to figure out a way to trumpet the cause of a sixty-something, recent law school graduate who is still having trouble discharging her student loans in a bankruptcy proceeding. The National Law Journal has the tear-jerking story: When she graduated four years ago with […] -
Going Concern, Rank Stupidity, Tax Law
Taxing Stupid People
If the power to tax is the power to destroy, then shouldn’t we at least try taxing stupidity? They’re thinking about doing it in France. From Going Concern: Our frog eating friends have decided that they will start taxing people for their stupidity: “The French Foreign Ministry is proposing a very narrow law requiring citizens […] -
Associate Advice, Racism, Rank Stupidity, Rudeness, Sexism, Summer Associates
How To Get Fired (or Asked To Resign) from Sullivan & Cromwell (Part 2)
Yesterday we introduced you to DB (not his real name — please keep it that way), formerly an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell. At S&C, and in law school before that, DB became notorious for bragging about his wealth and making politically incorrect remarks. We collected some of his impolitic quips in our prior post, […] - Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Associate Advice, Racism, Rank Stupidity, Rudeness, Sexism, Summer Associates
How To Get Fired from Sullivan & Cromwell (Part 1)
Ah, Sullivan & Cromwell. It’s a top law firm — not just in prestige and profits, but also blog fodder. See, e.g., Carlos Spinelli-Noseda (partner who defrauded firm and clients of half a million dollars through expense fraud); Aaron Charney (associate who sued the firm for antigay discrimination, while still employed there). When people leave […] -
Job Searches, Rank Stupidity, Reader Polls, Rudeness
OCI Bloopers By Students: Selected Stories (and a Poll)
Yesterday we solicited stories from you about on-campus interview bloopers — this time by the student interviewees, rather than their law firm interrogators. We received an embarrassment of riches — or riches of embarrassment — in response. In terms of favorite stories, it seems the people’s choice was comment 177. Do a ctrl-F on the […] -
Rank Stupidity, Ridiculousness
Somebody's Hiring
One of the best things about getting a law degree is that you can really help people. People in need who are being railroaded by the system. People in power who are creating jobs for the economy. And occasionally, people suffering from perma-drunk on craigslist. WANTED FRESH BARRED VA ATTORNEY just graduated college and I […] -
Rank Stupidity, Screw-Ups, Summer Associates
Summer Associate of the Day: The Shearman & Sterling Slacker
Last week we covered some goings-on — or non-goings-on, to those of you who found them boring — at Shearman & Sterling. Here’s a quick update. We reported that, according to the firm, there have been no staff layoffs. One source writes: I’d like to know how they define administrative staff, as they laid off […] -
Lawyer of the Day, Rank Stupidity, Violence
Lawyers of the Day: David Lawrence and Aaron Matusick(Fight, fight, fight!)
We don’t get nearly enough news from the west coast, so we are happy to anoint two Oregonian attorneys our Lawyers of the Day. At first, the idea of landlord-tenant lawyers duking it out struck us as awesome. But apparently their fight involved slapping, running away, and a “talking-to” from a judge. Not so awesome. […]
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so…
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Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get…
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Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use.
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms.
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Bad Ideas, Drinking, DUI / DWI, Lawyer of the Day, Rank Stupidity, Reader Polls, Rudeness, Sex Scandals
Lawyer of the Day: People's Choice
Last week was a busy one in terms of bonus news. In addition, we were prevented from publishing as much as we wanted by technical difficulties (which lie outside the jurisdiction of your undersigned blogger, a mere writer and not a tech person). Our recent neglect of the “misbehaving lawyers” beat has given rise to […] -
Crime, Eavesdropping / Wiretapping, Morning Docket, Politics, Rank Stupidity, Sports, War on Terror, Weirdness
Morning Docket: 10.25.07
* Dems to propose new surveillance bill? [Newsweek] * Only a Garrison Keillor stalker would call it “transcendental love.” [CNN] * Pearl drops lawsuit against terrorists. [MSNBC] * Law firm World Series. [WSJ Law Blog] * Today’s stupid crimes from Court TV. [CourtTV]
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Gender, Jeffrey Epstein, Money, Perverts, Rank Stupidity, Sex, Sex Scandals, Wall Street, Weirdness
Suing Millionaires for Fun and Profit: Practice Makes Perfect?
Maximilian Cordero believes the second time is a charm — with respect to (1) a gender and (2) suing rich guys. From DealBreaker: In the grand tradition of trying to turn the (real or imaginary) sexual assault you suffered at the hands of a creepy old guy into stocks and bonds, everyone knows you don’t […] -
Advertising, Boalt Hall, John Yoo, Larry Sonsini, Law Schools, Marsha Berzon, Rank Stupidity, Reader Polls, Ted Olson
Renaming Boalt Hall: Please Cast Your Vote
As we mentioned last week, U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law hired a brand consulting firm to come up with a new name for the school. The effort ended somewhat anticlimactically. Boalt paid $25,000 to Marshall Strategy Inc., which came up with this brilliant new moniker: “UC Berkeley School of Law.” Oh well. But […] -
Attorney Misconduct, Bad Ideas, Bankruptcy, Lawyer of the Day, Legal Ethics, Rank Stupidity
Lawyer of the Day: Peter Cannon
Just like Justice Anthony Kennedy, Bankruptcy Judge Paul J. Kilburg (S.D. Iowa) does his own internet research. This is a lesson that Peter Cannon, Esq., learned the hard way. From TaxProf Blog: Mr. Peter Cannon, a West Des Moines, Iowa attorney, represented Defendant John Petit in an adversary proceeding initiated by Trustee to uncover assets […] -
Bad Ideas, Blogging, Copyright, Intellectual Property, Music, Rank Stupidity, Ridiculousness, YouTube
Nixon Peabody ThemeSongGate: A Linkwrap
Sadly, the humorless crew over at Nixon Peabody has had their fabulous law firm song — which, mind you, is NOT a theme song — pulled from YouTube. See here. Even if it’s gone from YouTube, you can still access “Everyone’s A Winner” as a plain-vanilla MP3 file. Just click here. We incorporate by reference […] -
Bad Ideas, Music, Rank Stupidity, YouTube
Nixon Peabody ThemeSongGate: An Update
Our most recent post about Nixon Peabody — which has a song, but NOT a theme song — is about to scroll off the ATL front page. And we couldn’t allow that, now could we? So here’s an update. A few brief points: 1. Some of you have described a fabulous video that accompanied “Everyone’s […]