Education / Schools
-
Biglaw, Education / Schools, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Rankings
Buying In: Some Reflections on the Am Law 100 Rankings
How can you explain the Am Law 100 rankings to a normal person? Anonymous Partner has a great theory. -
Crime, Education / Schools, Money, Sex, Student Loans
Nazis! Sex Slaves! Debt!
To debt is human, to forgive is how we stopped the Nazis. - 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… -
Conferences / Symposia, Education / Schools, Health Care / Medicine, Law Schools, NALP, National Association for Law Placement (NALP), Suicide
Does Your Law School Need A Panic Button?
Suicide is a real problem at law schools, but schools don't seem to be interested in investing money in mental health.
-
Affirmative Action, Biglaw, Deaths, Education / Schools, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Sandra Day O'Connor, SCOTUS, Sports, Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court
Afternoon Docket: 04.29.13
Ed. note: Apologies for the technical difficulties that have prevented us from posting until now. Thanks for your patience!
* Attention prospective law school applicants: affirmative action, at least as we currently know it, may not be long for this world. A decision in the Fisher v. University of Texas case is expected as early as this week. Stay tuned. [Reuters]
* Justice Stephen Breyer had to get shoulder replacement surgery after having yet another bike accident (his third, actually). Please — somebody, anybody — get this man some training wheels. Justice is at stake! [New York Times]
* “We’re not going to take it, goodbye.” That’s what retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wishes the high court would have said when it came to the controversial Bush v. Gore case. [Chicago Tribune]
* Thanks to the sequester, the Boston bombings case may turn into a “David and Goliath” situation. Sorry, Dzhokhar, but your defense team may be subject to 15 days of furlough. [National Law Journal]
* George Gallantz, the “founding father” of Proskauer’s sports law practice, RIP. [New York Law Journal]
* Leo Branton Jr., the defense attorney at the helm of the Angela Davis trial, RIP. [New York Times]
-
Education / Schools, Law Professors, Law Schools, Lawsuit of the Day, Old People, Sex Scandals, UVA Law
Crazy D.C. Lawsuit Potpourri: A Discrimination Case Against Georgetown Law, and a Sidwell Friends Sex Scandal
Is Washington, D.C., the capital of... crazy lawsuits? -
3rd Circuit, Biglaw, Books, Fashion, Federal Judges, Judicial Nominations, Money, Movies, New Jersey, Non-Sequiturs, U.S. Attorneys Offices, Women's Issues
Non-Sequiturs: 04.09.13
* Congratulations to Judge Patty Shwartz on her confirmation to the Third Circuit. She will be sorely missed in the District Court — especially by Judge Hochberg. [People for the American Way] * And congrats to another alum of my former office, Michael Martinez, who just joined Mayer Brown as a litigation partner. [Mayer Brown] * “Sometimes the women partners make jokes about men. He forces himself to laugh at the jokes like he doesn’t care, and in the beginning he didn’t care….” [Ms. JD] * Speaking of objectification, you’ve waited years for this: “The Cast of 12 Angry Men in Order of Hotness.” [The Awl] * Uganda hates gays, and now they hate miniskirts. God only knows what they’d do to gays in miniskirts. [WSJ Law Blog] * Two things our readers love: compensation porn and rankings. Which universities pay the highest faculty salaries? [TaxProf Blog] * Another Yale Law School graduate turned writer: congrats to Steph Cha, whose new novel, Follow Her Home (affiliate link), just got a favorable review in the Los Angeles Times. [Los Angeles Times] -
Alston & Bird, Biglaw, Education / Schools, FDA, Gay, Gay Marriage, Politics, Women's Issues
Non-Sequiturs: 04.05.13
* The Kardashians are suing their father’s widow for allegedly trying to exploit his diary — because the Kardashians object to anything exploitative. [Courthouse News Service] * Judge Edward Korman ruled that the FDA must stop requiring those under 17 years old to present a prescription for the morning after pill. MTV’s programming executives plan to appeal. [CNN] * Do litigators really need instruction not to scream at witnesses? [Roll on Friday] * A school in Massachusetts privatized school lunches, and then that company told its workers to dump the food of students who were in default on their lunch tickets. America! F**k Yeah! [Lawyers, Guns and Money] * Illegalities sums up the malaise of being a Biglaw associate with this reblog. [Illegalities] * Target learns the value of editing after labeling plus-sized dresses with the word “Manatee.” [Forbes] * After the jump, watch Elie discuss his take on Democrats just coming around to supporting gay rights. Maybe McKayla Maroney rubbed off on Elie during their interview, because in this segment, he’s not impressed…. -
Drinking, Education / Schools, Insurance, Litigators
Beware Greek Organizations Bearing Insurance Coverage
National Greek organizations love collecting money. Not so much protecting their membership. - Sponsored
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… -
Education / Schools, Elena Kagan, Law Schools, Romance and Dating, Weddings
Read This or Die Alone: Advice for the Young Women of Law School
Is law school your last chance at love? -
Education / Schools, Google / Search Engines, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Religion, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Technology, U.S. News, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Non-Sequiturs: 03.13.13
* We have a new pope. Pope Francis I has no involvement with the sexual abuse scandals surrounding the Church, but has had other legal troubles in his past. [Los Angeles Times] * UNLV Law Dean Nancy Rapoport schools other deans on drafting press releases about the U.S. News rankings. [Nancy Rapoport's Blogspot] * Lend your support to this new project to create Oyez-style audio/video archives of state Supreme Court proceedings. This will be really helpful, but I’m holding out for audio/video of Wade McCree’s courtroom. [Knight News Challenge] * If you’re mad that your name comes up when people Google “erectile dysfunction,” filing a public lawsuit over that fact isn’t the answer. [IT-Lex] * Charter schools are lame because the crazy people running them teach whatever they want, like this one that teaches students that hippies were dirty. Well, okay, that’s not actually untrue, but the system’s textbooks have other faults, like explaining how the KKK was just misunderstood, y’all. [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * Man loses his memory after car crash-induced head trauma, decides to become a lawyer. I’ve always said would-be lawyers should have their heads examined. [BBC News via Legal Cheek] -
Education / Schools, Law Schools
Federal Education Programs Should Be Called 'All Lawyers Left Behind'
Education programs that fixate upon standardized tests have hindered critical thinking skills for future lawyers. Hopefully we all agree that lawyers should be critical thinkers. Right? -
Education / Schools, Lawsuit of the Day
Girls, And Their Mothers, Sue Sorority For Human Rights Violations -- But They Still Want To Join The Sorority
Alleged human rights violation at Howard proves that acting like a spoiled legacy kid isn't limited by race... -
Education / Schools, Job Searches, Law Schools, Money, New York Times, Pets, Student Loans
In Defense of Law School: It's Not the Only Alleged Culprit in Higher Education
This 30-year-old woman has $312,000 in student loans and earns just $60,000 -- and no, she's not a lawyer. What does she do for a living?
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
-
Antitrust, Bankruptcy, Barack Obama, Biglaw, California, Department of Justice, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Education / Schools, Election Law, Football, Gay, Gay Marriage, Mergers and Acquisitions, Midsize Firms / Regional Firms, Morning Docket, Nude Dancing, Rape, Sports, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 02.21.13
* Even though Obama wants to “make sure that [he’s] not interjecting [himself] too much into this process,” the DOJ may still suggest that the Supreme Court overturn Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage. [Associated Press]
* Anheuser-Busch InBev and the Department of Justice are cracking open a couple of cold ones to settle their differences over antitrust concerns with regard to the company’s planned purchase of Grupo Modelo. [DealBook / New York Times]
* It looks like Steve DiCarmine is being forced to take a break from his rigorous class schedule at Parsons to testify at a Dewey bankruptcy hearing next week. He’ll be happy to hear orange is in this spring. [Am Law Daily]
* Represented by Steptoe & Johnson, Jesse Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty to misusing $750,000 of his campaign funds for personal use. Most interesting purchase: Michael Jackson memorabilia. [Blog of Legal Times]
* When it comes to recruiting new talent, the ability to maintain a “collegial culture” is apparently a selling point for midsize law firms. And here we thought douchebaggery was the way to go. Sigh. [National Law Journal]
* Protip: do not flash your prosecutor’s badge to bypass cover charges and lap dance surcharges at the local strip club. You’re going to get fired. We’ll probably have more on this later. [Riptide 2.0 / Miami New Times]
* Don’t worry ladies, if you’re about to be raped, just pee or puke all over your attacker — or better yet, tell him that you’re on your period. Yeah, that’ll work. These tips are almost as good as “don’t dress like a slut.” [CNN]
* “[T]his is a ridiculous sideshow that’s horribly unbecoming to the parties involved.” The NCAA is now suing over a new Pennsylvania law designed to keep PSU’s Sandusky fines in the state. [San Francisco Chronicle]
-
Education / Schools, Job Searches, New York Times
If College Is The New High School, Is Law School The New Liberal Arts College?
Does degree inflation lead people to get too much education? -
Airplanes / Aviation, Basketball, Biglaw, Blogging, Contracts, Douglas Berman, Education / Schools, Environment / Environmental Law, Federal Government, Intellectual Property, Law Professors, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Politics, Sentencing Law, State Judges, Trademarks, Wall Street
Morning Docket: 02.15.13
* What to do when your federal agency’s website has been hacked by Anonymous and you’re unable to post a major report online for public dissemination? Well, just ask a law professor to do it for you on his blog; that’s not embarrassing, not at all. [WSJ Law Blog]
* The many victims of the Deepwater Horizon disaster can now rejoice, because yesterday, Transocean pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act, and will pay the second-largest environmental fine in United States history to the tune of $400 million. [CNN]
* Money takes flight: eleventy billion Biglaw firms are behind the beast that is this awful airline merger, but taking the lead are lawyers from Weil Gotshal for AMR and Latham & Watkins for US Airways. [Am Law Daily]
* After questioning the validity of one of the NBA players union’s contracts, Paul Weiss is withholding details about it thanks to the government’s intrusion. Way to block nepotism’s alleged slam dunk. [New York Times]
* “When is the last time you took the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street to trial?” Elizabeth Warren took the Socratic method to the Senate Banking Committee and she was applauded for it. [National Law Journal]
* If you liked it, then perhaps you should’ve put a ring on it, but not a Tiffany’s diamond engagement ring that you’ve purchased from Costco, because according to this trademark lawsuit, it may be a knockoff. [Bloomberg]
* “We feel very badly for Megan Thode.” A Pennsylvania judge ruled against the Lehigh student who sued over her grade of C+ because let’s be serious, did ANYONE AT ALL really think he wouldn’t do that?! [Morning Call]
-
2nd Circuit, 9th Circuit, Akin Gump, American Bar Association / ABA, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, David Boies, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Drinking, DUI / DWI, Education / Schools, Edwards Wildman, Fast Food, Food, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Minority Issues, Morning Docket, Nauseating Things, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Ted Olson
Morning Docket: 02.13.13
* Six Supreme Court justices attended last night’s State of the Union address, and although it was all hugs and kisses and handshakes to start off with, some looked as if they were due for naptime by its end (coughRBGcough). [Blog of Legal Times]
* It’s a clash of the Biglaw titans! In a face off between legal heavyweights, the Second Circuit has set aside time to hear arguments from Ted Olson and David Boies in the Argentine bondholder case. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Dewey know if this document specialist’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act lawsuit has got any legs to it? It certainly must, because Judge Martin Glenn very recently denied the failed firm’s motion to dismiss it. [Am Law Daily]
* Congratulations to Paulette Brown of Edwards Wildman Palmer. This Jersey girl is the uncontested nominee for ABA president in 2015, making her the first minority woman to hold the title. [New Jersey Law Journal]
* Send in the clowns (or loads of O’Melveny and Akin lawyers): Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, has a low opinion of David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital lawsuit, referring to it as nothing more than a “silly sideshow.” [Reuters]
* “It is up to us in the academy to prepare our students for the future no matter what it holds.” Dean Frank Wu of UC Hastings seems to be on the right track when it comes to necessary law firm reforms. [Huffington Post]
* Poor, poor Teresa Wagner. She was allegedly denied a job because of her conservative views, and her case ended in a mistrial. That kind of a thing could drive a woman to drink… and drive. [Iowa City Press Citizen]
* Not only does Lehigh University ruin every college basketball bracket in the nation, but it also provides great “I’m suing you because of my crappy grades” fodder. Oh my God, I really miss you, Lehigh! [Morning Call]
* Thanks to the wisdom of the Ninth Circuit, we now know that, at least in Washington, a spit-laden hamburger from Burger King is grounds for emotional distress damages. Ugh, that’s nasty! [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
-
Biglaw, Defamation, Education / Schools, Gender, Job Searches, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Murder, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Ridiculousness, SCOTUS, Sexism, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, Texas, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 02.04.13
* Aside from writing powerful opinions that will last the ages, being a mentor “is the most valuable thing” this Supreme Court justice can do. Sonia Sotomayor: motivational speaker? [New York Times]
* Aww, poor Biglaw partners. You want bigger cuts of your firm’s profits, but according to the latest Peer Monitor report, expectations like that are incredibly “unrealistic.” [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* This actually isn’t something women like to shop for: the $200 million class action suit over the Greenberg Traurig “boys club” is currently being held up in two federal courts by arbitration and forum shopping issues. [Am Law Daily]
* With news that the legal industry is shedding jobs faster than the ABA can accredit more unnecessary law schools, career services officers must be hanging their heads in shame. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Dear law schools, your crappy business model is making us take a look at all crappy higher education business models, and we don’t like what we’re seeing here. Pls hndle thx. XOXO, Moody’s. [Washington Post]
* This is justice, Texas style: District Attorney Mike McLelland says the reward fund for tips in the brutal slaying of ADA Mark Hasse will grow to an “astronomical amount” until the killers are found. [Dallas Morning News]
* This lawyer allegedly had a fling with his sister-in-law out of the goodness of his heart, and in return, she accused him of sexual assault. Now he’s suing her for $7 million. You can’t make this sh*t up. [New York Post]
* In trying to get $700 in tickets dismissed, this lawyer says the U.S. Postal Service is immune from state and local traffic regulations. Other USPS immunities include not losing my mail on a regular basis. [USA Today]
-
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Education / Schools, Guns / Firearms, Kasowitz Benson, Non-Sequiturs, Pornography, Pro Se Litigants, Women's Issues
Non-Sequiturs: 01.22.13
* Two guys, one gun, three wounded. Definitely what the Founders intended. [KENS 5] * Here’s the affirmance of the dismissal of Greg Berry’s $77 million lawsuit against Kasowitz Benson. Fun times. [Appellate Division, First Department] * Ex-girlfriends are uniting to go after a revenge porn site. If this stupid site ruins Section 230 for everybody, I’m going to be pissed. [Jezebel] * Not that anybody should need the help, but here is another reason to hate lawyers. [She Negotiates / Forbes] * Honestly, I kind of forgot Gitmo was still open. What with all the talk of having a progressive president, I kind of assumed that this would have been a promise he kept and stuff. [How Appealing] * Speaking of things I’ve forgotten about, say hello to the 27th Amendment. [The Volokh Conspiracy] * It looks like the world has forgotten about Atari. [Bloomberg Law] -
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Deaths, Defamation, Education / Schools, Football, Howrey LLP, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Musical Chairs, New York Times, Partner Issues, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Technology
Morning Docket: 01.18.13
* “The bottom line is … I’m the 800-pound-gorilla that you want to settle with.” By the way, if you weren’t sure, Howrey’s trustee Allan Diamond wasn’t kidding about suing the firm’s former partners. “Either we’re going to cut deals, or I’m suing you.” [Am Law Daily]
* It takes two to do the partnership tango: in the expansion of its Financial Institutions Group, Goodwin Procter picked up Brynn Peltz, an attorney with more than 20 years’ experience, and an ex-partner at Latham and Clifford Chance. [Fort Mill Times]
* Hello, predictive coding! Goodbye, jobs! Not only can computers do the work of lawyers on the cheap, but they can do it more intelligently, too. Get ready to welcome our new digital overlords. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* Another day, another op-ed article about the law school crisis in the pages of the New York Times. But at least this one is about something most can support: changing the third year of law school. [New York Times]
* As it turns out, with 82 applications for the program’s first five spots, there’s actually a demand for Yale Law’s Ph.D. in Law. So much for this being “[t]he worst idea in the history of legal education.” [National Law Journal]
* Linebacker Jonathan Vilma’s defamation suit against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in connection with Bountygate was dismissed. Wonder when Goodell will suspend Vilma for thinking he could win. [Bloomberg]
* Francis Lorson, former chief deputy clerk of the Supreme Court, RIP. [Blog of Legal Times]