Rank Stupidity
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9th Circuit, A. Wallace Tashima, Bad Ideas, Biglaw, Borat, Drinking, Movies, Pranks, Racism, Rank Stupidity, Reality TV, Sex, Television
Still More About Borat
On Friday night, we saw Borat at our local movie theater. We found it hilarious for the first fifteen minutes, before it turned repetitive. That said, there were some impressive set pieces in the second half of the film, such as the hotel room wrestling match. (We viewed Borat on the recommendation of one of […] -
Attorney Misconduct, Bad Ideas, Football, FTC, Lawyer of the Day, Rank Stupidity, Seth Zimmerman
Lawyer of the Day: Seth Zimmerman
We’ve all done it: Use of office resources for personal purposes. Maybe you take the occasional personal call on your office telephone. Maybe you used the work fax machine to receive a one-page tax document from your accountant. Maybe you took some paperwork home with you one night, along with an office-issued ballpoint pen, and […] - Sponsored
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Celebrities, Movies, Rank Stupidity, Tax Law, Wesley Snipes, White-Collar Crime
Wesley Snipes Cuts a Deal with the IRS
And aficionados of direct-to-video movies rejoice. UPI reports: Hollywood actor Wesley Snipes will avoid any time in jail on tax fraud charges as part of a recent settlement with the Internal Revenue Service. The 44-year-old star of the “Blade” film trilogy had been wanted in connection with his attempt to claim $12 million in tax […]
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Biglaw, Interview Stories, Rank Stupidity, Shameless Plugs, Silicon Valley
Interview Horror Stories: Don't Make Him Beg (Part 2)
This is the continuation of an interview horror story that we started earlier. You can read the prior installment here. When we last left our hero, an applicant for a lateral position at a top Silicon Valley law firm, he had just said a bunch of completely boneheaded things at an interview lunch with two […] -
Biglaw, Interview Stories, Rank Stupidity, Silicon Valley
Interview Horror Stories: Don't Make Him Beg (Part 1)
Another interview horror story from the West Coast (just like our last two). And this one is a real gem. Here you go: Back when I was a junior associate at a BigLaw in Silicon Valley, a colleague of mine grabbed me to take a candidate to an interview lunch. My colleague had heard through […] -
Breasts, Nude Dancing, Rank Stupidity
Stripper's Remorse: That Cat Is Way Out of the Bag
Look, if you’re going to be an exhibitionist, you need to OWN THAT S**T. No regrets; no looking back. And absolutely no lawsuits: Once again, second thoughts prove unavailing after modesty is cast to the winds: “A magazine that published a photograph of a woman baring her breasts at a pig roast for motorcycle enthusiasts […] -
Celebrities, Money, Rank Stupidity, Tax Law, Wesley Snipes
White Men Can't Jump -- But They Can Nab You for Tax Evasion
Wesley Snipes — remember him? Okay, so you don’t (and we can’t fault you). But even if you’ve forgotten all about Mr. Snipes, the IRS hasn’t. From CNN: Movie actor Wesley Snipes was indicted Tuesday on eight counts of tax fraud accusing him of trying to cheat the government of $12 million in false refund […] -
Ann Baskins, Attorney Misconduct, Bad Ideas, HP, Larry Sonsini, Oy, Rank Stupidity
The HP Debacle: Babies, Candy, Etc.
We are guilty of dereliction of duty. We’ve neglected to write about the Hewlett-Packard leak investigation scandal, now unfolding in all of its glory before Congress. (Yes, that Congress: a body that knows all about unethical behavior, illegal conduct, and mind-blowing stupidity.) We’ve been avoiding this scandal for two main reasons. First, it’s a story […] - Sponsored
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Gay, Lawsuit of the Day, Lunacy, Rank Stupidity
This Little Piggee Went to Market -- And Came Home With Anti-Gay Propaganda
In yesterday’s Lawsuit of the Day post, we wondered where on earth Martha Louise Piggee, former part-time instructor of cosmetology at Carl Sandburg College, dug up the anti-gay comics she foisted on her gay students. One of you enlightened us: These are the cartoon “tracts” of Jack Chick. He has them all online, in case […] -
Clerkships, Interview Stories, Rank Stupidity
Interview Horror Stories: The Clerkship-Seeking Clotheshorse
Tomorrow is the first day for clerkship interviews under the official Law Clerk Hiring Plan (which some judges follow, and some judges don’t). So it’s fitting and proper that our next interview anecdote relates to a clerkship interview with a federal judge: I clerked for a federal court of appeals judge. The judge’s chambers were […] -
7th Circuit, Diane Wood, Gay, Lawsuit of the Day, Rank Stupidity, Sexual Harassment
Lawsuit of the Day: What Kind of Noodles Were They?
Via How Appealing, we learn of the Seventh Circuit’s opinion in Piggee v. Carl Sandburg College (pdf). The opinion, authored by liberal judicial hottie Diane P. Wood, begins as follows: In September 2002, Martha Louise Piggee, who was then a part-time instructor of cosmetology at Carl Sandburg College, gave a gay student two religious pamphlets […] -
Rank Stupidity, Summer Associates
Summer Associate Stories: Will the Real Assigning Partner Please Stand Up?
In response to our repeated requests for summer associate stories, a few have started trickling in. But we need more. So please email them to us, at tips AT abovethelaw DOT com. We’ll kick things off with this tale of a summer associate at an intellectual property firm. It’s amusing, but not scandalous. (We’re saving […] -
Celebrities, Lawsuit of the Day, Rank Stupidity, US Weekly
Lawsuit of the Day: You Don't Bring Us Flowers Anymore
Okay, we went to law school.* And then we practiced for several years. But we must confess that this lawsuit left us puzzled: The owner of Kitson, the Robertson Boulevard clothing store favored by young celebs such as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Denise Richards, says [in a lawsuit] that Us Weekly magazine is intentionally […]
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Lawsuit of the Day, Rank Stupidity, The Eighties
Lawsuit of the Day: Turn Around, Bright Eyes
And you thought the American legal system was out of control: Passengers on a flight from France to Mauritius have filed suit against Air France after musician Bonnie Tyler performed a song at the request of the co-pilot. The passengers, believed to be Belgian, complained to the airline after the Welsh singer performed part of […] -
Attorney Misconduct, Bad Ideas, Biglaw, Pranks, Rank Stupidity, Summer Associates
Low-Hanging Fruit: Summer Associate Stories, Please
Okay, kids, it’s official. We’ve reached Labor Day weekend, and summer is pretty much over. Officially summer doesn’t end until next month (September 23, to be exact). But at law firms, the summer fun is done. Summer associates are heading back to law school (if they’re not back already). For permanent associates, who got to […] -
Attorney Misconduct, Bad Ideas, Drinking, Michelle Leavitt, Rank Stupidity, State Judges, Videos
Judge to Lawyer: "Just Go Ahead and Blow"
Earlier this month, we gave Nevada attorney William Caramagno a Lawyer of the Day award. What did he do to merit this honor? He showed up to court late — and, even better, drunk — to defend a client facing a kidnapping charge. A charge with a potential life sentence. How was the lawyer’s drunkenness […] -
Lawsuit of the Day, Rank Stupidity, State Judges
Stupid Lawsuit of the Day: Meow!
Thank God for the rule of law. It’s great that we have courts and judges to resolve disputes like this one: How many meows does it take to make a misdemeanor? Jeannette District Judge Joseph R. DeMarchis will make that determination in 90 days. He heard testimony Tuesday in the case of a city teenager […] -
Rank Stupidity
Native Americans Get Their Loincloths in a Wad Over Offensive Murals
Here at ATL, we love ourselves a good tempest in a teapot. And one’s brewing right now over at the EPA: [S]everal 1930s murals of the Old West [in the EPA headquarters] have become a flash point in a debate over negative stereotypes and artistic censorship. The mural that’s sparking the most debate depicts Indians […] -
Advice for the Lawlame, Ann Israel, Biglaw, NYLawyer.com, Rank Stupidity
Advice for the Lawlame: Said I Loved You But I Lied
One of our favorite features over at NYLawyer.com are the advice columns. There’s Advice for the Lawlorn, a column by Ann Israel, a legal recruiter based in New York. And there’s Crossroads, in which job consultant Linda Laufer offers insights on career direction and job transition. In a typical column, some clueless correspondent writes in […] -
Bad Ideas, Drinking, Lawyer of the Day, Michelle Leavitt, Rank Stupidity
Above the Law Lawyer of the Day: Joseph Caramagno
Lawyer of the day? Hell, let’s give Joseph Caramagno the whole week: After a lawyer due to defend a man against a kidnapping charge showed up to court late and smelling of booze last week, a Clark County District Court judge ordered the attorney to take a Breathalyzer test in open court, then declared a […]