Ridiculousness
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Ridiculousness
The Five Best Motions of the Year
We’re not in the business of filing pleadings at Above the Law, but there were five motions in 2009 that were outrageous enough to justify posting here. We’re not sure how the judges felt about these, but we were moved: 5. Motion to Compel State’s Attorney to Drop His Accent: Being a New Yorker in […] -
Ridiculousness, Television, Videos
New ABC Show About Biglaw
As some of you know, I like television shows about lawyers. Granted, I liked them a lot better before I knew they were full of crap, but I still like them. But not like this. This, my friends, is going to suck. Some complaints after the jump. - Sponsored
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… -
Email Scandals, Law Schools, Ridiculousness
Northwestern SBA Stays Silent, Others Plan Coup
On Friday, we told you that the Northwestern Law School Student Bar Association wanted people to watch their language come exam time. In a letter to all students, the SBA told the student body about the kind of language that would not be tolerated: Therefore, to be clear, saying things like “that’s so gay”, “that […]
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In-House Counsel, Ridiculousness, Screw-Ups, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Legal Secretary of the Day: Pepsi's $1.26 Billion Mistake
Faithful Coca-Cola drinkers can laugh about this one. PepsiCo is having a rough month, reports the National Law Journal. PepsiCo’s purified water brand, Aquafina, has cost it a pretty penny. Charles Joyce and James Voigt of Wisconsin sued PepsiCo earlier this year for stealing their idea of bottling and selling purified water. They claim that […] -
Cheapness, Food, Law Schools, Perks / Fringe Benefits, Ridiculousness
Columbia Law School Now Charges For Plastic Forks
Tuition at Columbia Law School this year is $48,004 (which doesn’t include $1,638 for health insurance and a $95 “transcript fee”). The estimated living cost for an academic year is $21,263. Putting it all together, students are looking at more than $70,000 for a year of legal education, during the worst recession in the legal […] -
Bar Exams, Ridiculousness
Virginia Board of Bar Examiners Threatens Retaliatory Action Against Eager Test Takers
Is there something about living in Virginia that gives people an exaggerated sense of self-importance? First, the Lile Moot Court Board at UVA Law appointed itself the résumé police. Now we’re finding out that the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners is drunk with its own power in anticipation of Friday’s release of the July Bar […] -
Fashion, Plaintiffs Firms, Ridiculousness, Shoes, Trials
'Holier' Than Thou: Motion to Compel Defense Counsel to Wear Appropriate Shoes at Trial
Our colleagues over at sister site Fashionista aren’t alone. Lawyers also get worked up over shoes. Some, like former Enron prosecutor Kathryn Ruemmler, show up to court in four-inch pink stiletto spikes. Others hate on commuter shoes and Crocs. Attorneys have strong opinions about attire, and that extends to footwear. So we can’t say we’re […] -
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 […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Elizabeth Halverson, Fat People, Health Care / Medicine, Ridiculousness, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Trials
Breaking: Judge Halverson Passes Out; Hearing Postponed
This just in, from a West Coast tipster who has been following L’Affaire Halverson obsessively: Halverson passes out at hearing; adjourned due to medical reasons. Based on live observations… Update: More details from the AP: A disciplinary hearing for a suspended Nevada state judge has been postponed, after she reported she felt ill. The Nevada […] -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Ridiculousness
Unhappy About the Law School Rankings of U.S. News? Let 'Em Know!
Just a quick reminder about an interesting event, previously mentioned in these pages, which is taking place in a few hours. The ABA Journal, which just profiled U.S. News “rankings czar” Bob Morse, is hosting a live chat with him this afternoon. From Edward Adams of the ABA Journal: Morse will be taking questions from […] -
Law School Deans, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Ridiculousness
The U.S. News Rankings: Law Schools Lose Their S**t React
As we reported earlier this week, the latest U.S. News & World Report law school rankings are out. And some schools are flipping out over their falling rankings. A tipster at the University of Iowa College of Law writes: [B]elow is an email the Iowa law students received yesterday from Dean Jones about the new […] -
Boalt Hall, Daniel Solove, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Paul Caron, Ridiculousness, UVA Law
Please Do Not Wet Yourself With Excitement: The 2009 U.S. News Law School Rankings
Relax, folks. We are aware that the 2009 law school rankings of U.S. News & World Report have leaked, in advance of their official Friday publication date. They’re all over the blogosphere and the message boards (links collected below). We’ve been sitting on this item for a little while — coordinating with our other posts […] -
Jonathan Lee Riches, Pro Se Litigants, Ridiculousness
Pro Se Litigant of the Day: Jonathan Lee Riches
As many of you may recall, from our prior coverage of him, Jonathan Lee Riches is in a South Carolina prison until 2012 for wire fraud and conspiracy. He’s killing his time by filing a ridiculous number of ridiculous lawsuits in courts across the country, nicely summarized in this overview of his oeuvre, in the […]
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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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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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Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
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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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Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use.
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Affirmative Action, Minority Issues, Racism, Ridiculousness
Ex-Associate Sues Clifford Chance... for $75,000,000!!!
Poor Clifford Chance. It seems they just keep on getting sued. First this. Now this, from the New York Sun: A Haitian woman is suing one of the world’s largest law firms for $75 million, claiming that the firm used her only as window dressing because of her race, fired her for complaining about it, […] -
Crime, Ridiculousness, Sex, You Go Girl
Texas and Alabama Still Hot and Bothered Over Sex Toys; Guns OK
Marc J. Randazza fills us in on the Texas sex toy ban, just struck down by the Fifth Circuit. According to Marc, the arguments for outlawing the sale of toys for your pleasure-parts are thus: (1) If the Texas dildo law is invalidated as an improper encroachment upon personal liberty, this will open the floodgates, […] -
Biglaw, Blogging, Free Speech, Labor / Employment, Ridiculousness, Technology
O'Melveny & Myers Launches 'Witch Hunt' for ATL Tipsters?
We respectfully submit that the powers-that-be at O’Melveny & Myers need to “chill” (as Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) recently told former President Bill Clinton). The folks at OMM apparently have some totalitarian tendencies. We heard they no-offered a summer associate from last year based on this individual’s personal blogging about the summer associate experience (which […] -
Job Searches, Ridiculousness, Roy Pearson, Tort Reform
Nationwide Layoff Watch: Roy Pearson
Okay, it’s not a “layoff,” since it’s not due to economic pressures. Rather, it’s due to his being a total asshat judicial record and temperament — and maybe a certain infamous lawsuit he filed. From the Washington Post: Roy L. Pearson Jr., whose $54 million lawsuit against a Northeast Washington dry-cleaning shop was rejected in […] -
Bar Exams, Gay, Gay Marriage, Ridiculousness
(Dismissed) Lawsuit of the Day: Stephen Dunne Comes to His Senses?
First the case of the $54 million pants was dismissed. And now another ridiculous but amusing lawsuit, previously covered here and here, bites the dust. From a piece by Sheri Qualters for the National Law Journal: The federal court battle over a Massachusetts bar examination question about homosexual marriage has ended with the court accepting […] -
Email Scandals, Feminism, Gender, Law Schools, Reader Polls, Ridiculousness, Sexism, Vicious Infighting
And No, She Doesn't Do Windows
This email exchange, between two law students at Washington University Law, took place late last month. It’s reminiscent of that Greenberg Traurig email exchange from the other day — which, in our book, is high praise. Some background, from our tipster: I’m an avid reader of ATL. Although I don’t see much law school coverage […] -
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 […]