Screw-Ups
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Real Estate, Screw-Ups, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
A Very Expensive Typo? Stroock Isn't Sweating It
Earlier this week, we wrote about a serious drafting mistake by Stroock & Stroock & Lavan — maybe a typo, maybe not — that could cost Stroock’s client millions. Could Stroock look to its malpractice insurer for help? Maybe not, according to the New York Post: The gaffe exposes Stroock to the real possibility of […] -
Real Estate, Screw-Ups, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
A Very Expensive Typo?
We realize that we make our fair share of typographical errors here at ATL. But this is just a blog, not a document being sent to a client or filed with a court, and we’re more focused on substance than style, due to the speed of the news cycle and our desire to be… FIRST! […] - Sponsored
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Email Scandals, Screw-Ups, Summer Associates
Too Much Free Time at Winston & Strawn?
Last summer, Winston & Strawn only had a 90% offer rate for summer associates. Last year, that was worrisome. This year, summers would likely injure baby seals for a 90% offer rate. Summers are getting nervous, and it appears that a video conference from Winston’s managing partner, Tom Fitzgerald, didn’t help matters. Here is one […]
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Department of Justice, Email Scandals, Screw-Ups
Someone at the Justice Department Has a Sense of Humor
Here’s a blast email that went out last night to journalists who regularly receive updates from the U.S. Department of Justice. This particular press release was issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana. Pay special attention to the subject line. Fifteen minutes later, a corrected version went out. It was […] -
Email Scandals, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Screw-Ups
The Perils of 'Reply All'Villanova Law Dean: 'The internet really is a type of hell!'
Last week, we wrote about Villanova University School of Law running out of work-study funds. Over the weekend, we received several copies of an interesting follow-up email — one that went to every 1L and 2L at Villanova, as well as every dean. Some background, from a tipster: This email is sent as-is, with typos […] -
Husch Blackwell, Layoffs, Screw-Ups
Husch Blackwell Follow-Up
For a Midwestern firm, Husch Blackwell drew a lot of comments (and a huge amount of email) yesterday. Perhaps that had something to do with the fact that firm chairman Dave Fenley declined to use the term “layoffs” in connection with the firm’s actions, saying the term wrongly implied the attorneys were let go because […] -
Celebrities, Lawsuit of the Day, Malpractice, Screw-Ups, Sports
Court Karate Chops Seyfarth Shaw Over Billy Blanks Malpractice Suit
The 90’s were good to Billy Blanks of Tae Bo fame. His taekwando-boxing hybrid workout routine was all the rage across the land, with Paula Abdul a notable follower. After his career peaked, the legal troubles started. In 1999, he filed a $10 million suit against his agent, because his agent wasn’t licensed to be […] -
Money, Screw-Ups
K&L Gates to Associates: 'That was not your bonus'
K&L Gates associates have not heard about their 2008 bonus or their 2009 raises yet. Bonus news is historically late at the firm, and raise news should come in March. In the meantime, associates got an unexpected bonus along with their second paycheck of the year. This is an excerpt from the e-mail associates received […] - Sponsored
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Barack Obama, Constitutional Law, John Roberts, Screw-Ups
Obama's Oath of Office, Take Two
The second time was a charm. Constitutional crisis averted. Okay, it was hardly a “constitutional crisis.” But it was probably wise to take a mulligan on the oath, to avoid crackpot claims of illegitimacy. In the words of law professor Jonathan Turley, who recommended retaking the oath: He should probably go ahead and take the […] -
Barack Obama, Constitutional Law, John Roberts, Reader Polls, Screw-Ups
Whoops. How does that Constitution go?
As we type this, our fingers are still thawing from standing in the cold on the National Mall during today’s inauguration. The number of people willing to brave the cold was impressive. Every time President Barack Obama appeared on a jumbotron screen, the crowd went crazy with shouts of “O-bam-a” and “Yes, we did.” The […] -
Job Searches, Reader Polls, Rudeness, Screw-Ups
OCI Bloopers By Students: And We Have A Winner
Earlier this week, we created an open thread for the sharing of on-campus interview screw-ups. We then picked out a few favorite tales from the thread, and asked you to vote for the best (or worst?) of the bunch. Here are the results: You can read the winning story by clicking here. Many of you […] -
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 […] -
Bear Stearns, Mergers and Acquisitions, Screw-Ups, Wall Street
Wachtell Lipton: Fallible After All?
As we can see from the comments, you’re already all over this NYT story. We linked to it in Morning Docket, but here’s a little more. Andrew Ross Sorkin writes: JPMorgan and Bear were prompted to renegotiate after shareholders began threatening to block the deal and it emerged that several “mistakes” were included in the […]
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Barack Obama, Cass Sunstein, Hillary Clinton, Politics, Rudeness, Samantha Power, Screw-Ups
'Hillary Clinton's a monster.'
That statement was made by Samantha Power, a top foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama and new-ish love interest of Professor Cass Sunstein. Sunstein recently accepted a position at Harvard Law, leaving behind in Chicago his ex, philosopher Martha Nussbaum. Bossman David Lat posted all the gossip about the academic love triangle here. Power, pictured, […] -
Email Scandals, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, Musical Chairs, Screw-Ups
Yet Another Biglaw Email Screw-up
Some minor email amusement, in the spirit of Skadden Arps and Pepper Hamilton, courtesy of the Chicago office of DLA Piper: This is a pretty cool goof by Bill Rudnick, the new head of DLA Piper’s Chicago office. A group of partners just came over from Locke Lord Bissell, and apparently one of them went […] -
Layoffs, Robert Link, Screw-Ups
Cadwalader to Its Chairman: You Are the Weakest Link. Goodbye.
Cynics might say the firm is rearranging the proverbial deck chairs, but these leadership changes strike us as prudent. From a report by Anthony Lin in the New York Law Journal: As it wrestles with an ongoing slump in its core capital markets practice, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has shaken up its top management team. […] -
Biglaw, Email Scandals, Screw-Ups, Sheila Birnbaum
An Email Oopsie, By A Legendary Litigatrix
It’s not just Pepper Hamilton. Email screw-ups are committed by even the most renowned lawyers — like longtime Skadden Arps partner Sheila Birnbaum, a living legend of the product liability defense bar. As we previously wrote, “Birnbaum, who heads Skadden’s Complex Mass Tort and Insurance Group, has a nickname reflecting her expertise: ‘The Queen of […] -
Screw-Ups
Wondering What Took Your Playstation So Long?
Here’s a possible answer. From the Daily Business Review: In unauthorized court order generated by a law clerk in a case before Chief U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno resulted in the suspension of shipments of older generation PlayStation consoles through Miami for three months. The errant preliminary injunction dated last Oct. 24 granted more than […] -
Biglaw, Fashion, Feminism, Gender, Rudeness, Screw-Ups, Sexism
Time for Winston Women To Go Burqa Shopping?
Although many tipsters emailed us about it, we never wrote about this buzz-generating Wall Street Journal article, reporting on how many older lawyers are displeased by the overly informal, even sloppy attire of their younger colleagues. We didn’t write about it earlier because we felt preempted: the piece received lots of online attention, from such […] -
Drugs, Email Scandals, Pepper Hamilton, Screw-Ups
Clarification: Pepper Hamilton Did Commit an Email Screw-Up...
But it didn’t result in a front-page New York Times story on the Zyprexa settlement talks. Apparently reporter Alex Berenson had independent knowledge of the settlement negotiations, and this knowledge was the basis for his story. Details over at Drug and Device Law. In our brief and breezy post, we never claimed that the email […]