Entitlement
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Law Schools
Entitled Law School Hopeful With 150 LSAT Blames Imaginary Black Person For His Rejection Letters. Deletes Twitter Account In Shame.
Not failing upward? Blame affirmative action. -
Law Schools
Lesser Qualified Bellyacher For Meritocracy Throws A Hissy Fit Because Job Isn't Handed To Him On A Silver Platter
This guy wants to be the new Abigail Fisher so bad. - 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… -
Bad Ideas, Cars, Law Schools, Money, Rank Stupidity, Student Loans
3L With Law School Debt and Underwater Mortgage Wants A New Car. Stupid Is As Stupid Does.
Wife of a 3L tries to stop her husband from being a total idiot...
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Grade Reform, Law Schools, Texas
Law Students Sue School Over Being Graded on a Curve
Two students at Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law received crappy grades. Other people get bad grades and re-dedicate themselves to study, or (gasp) figure out something to do that they are actually good at. These kids, well, you can't say that millennials are ashamed of being whiny bitches.... -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools, Student Loans
Law School Professionals Want Bill Robinson to Put a Sock in It
When the story about the head of the ABA's tactless remarks broke, Elie had the good fortune of being in Washington, D.C., at the annual conference of the Association of American Law Schools. Law school professionals -- the people who have to deal with the perception of general ABA incompetence on a day-to-day basis -- were not at all happy with William Robinson's comments.... -
Cardozo Law School, Law Schools
Homeless By Choice: Because Law School Wasn't Tough Enough
If you were close to a computer on Wednesday, you probably noticed the article on Gawker about the Yeshiva University student who was "homeless by choice" while going to school. If you read the article quickly, you might have missed the part where we found out this student is a 2L at Cardozo Law School. You might have missed the part where this 2L at Cardozo decided to go through a semester of law school while living on the streets.... -
Associate Salaries, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Partner Issues, Partner Profits
New York to $190K? Actually, It's About Time.
There's an interesting post up on Constitutional Daily by The Philadelphia Lawyer. It's a repack from a 2007 article arguing that salaries for first-year associates should go up to $190,000 a year. And he's right. Yet the associate salary scale hasn't seen a raise for almost five years. And bonuses are down compared to 2007. Is it time for firms to start sharing the wealth? -
Email Scandals, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Rudeness
Law Professor Basically Tells Student to Stop Being Such a Whiny Little Person
Last week, we received an email titled "the problem with tenure." Elie Mystal actually thinks that this tip illustrates the problem with law students and the classic awesomeness of tenure, but he'll let you be the judge of that. Let this just be a reminder to everybody that they need to respect the chain of command.... - Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Learn how emerging tools will likely change and enhance the work of lawyers for years to come in this new report. -
Biglaw, Rankings
The Watchword Is 'Labor' in This Year's Am Law Midlevel Survey
The Am Law Midlevel associate survey came out last week. Satisfaction among 3rd, 4th, and 5th year Biglaw associates is down for the second year in a row. That's a trend people should get used to. These midlevels who are whining right now are slightly missing the big picture. They might have to work long hours, but they are going to make serious bank for the rest of their legal lives.... -
Biglaw, Labor / Employment, Money
Silly Lawyer, Overtime Is For Kids
A San Francisco appeals court decided that law clerks still waiting to pass the bar are ineligible for overtime pay. We know struggling law grads out there are eager to wring every last penny they can out of their employers. But if you step back and think about it, paying law clerks overtime is just stupid. Sorry, law clerks. Even though many of you don't use it, you guys have way too much independent discretion to get overtime.... -
Commencement, Job Searches, Law Schools
Emory Law Follow-Up: In Defense of Professor Stadler
Yesterday I wrote about the Emory Law School commencement address delivered by Professor Sara Stadler. In it, she told graduating law student that their own “sense of entitlement” was standing in the way of their happiness. I’ve got nothing against Professor Stadler or Emory Law, but I personally thought this was the wrong note to […] -
Commencement, Job Searches, Law Schools
Possibly The Most Hypocritical Commencement Speech Ever
Honestly, I think it’s time to feel sorry for the Emory Law class of 2011. Things are tough for a lot of graduating law students, but the way the Emory administration and faculty have treated the class of ’11 is simply shocking. If you ranked ABA-accredited law schools based on how the administration reacts to […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2010, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Open Thread: Class of 2010 Associate Bonus Bitch-Fest
Personally, I think it’s time for Biglaw associates in the class of 2010 to drink a tall glass of shut the hell up. They got jobs at a time when many of their classmates did not. They received $160K salaries just after there was a significant effort by some firms to push starting salaries down […]
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Bar Exams, Education / Schools, Law Schools, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Woman Sues Oxford Institute of Legal Practice For Ruining Her Career
I guess in some ways the legal economy across the pond is just as challenging as it is in America. And it seems that some British students are just as averse to personal responsibility as American students. A graduate of Oxford Law the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice is suing the school for £100,000, claiming […] -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, pls hndle thx
Pls Hndle Thx: Should You Ask for Lateral Signing Bonuses?
Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com. Dear ATL, I’m an associate at a mid-sized law firm, and I recently received an offer from a much larger and more prestigious firm. I’ve decided to accept. My question is: should I ask for a signing bonus, and if so, how […] -
Biglaw, Blog Wars, Federal Government, Job Searches, Public Interest, Summer Associates
The World Hates Lawyers: Mainstream Media Manages to Criticize Biglaw Summers AND Public Sector Lawyers in the Same Breath
Earlier this week, Conor Friedersdorf, writing for The Atlantic, poured a big bottle of haterade all over the legal profession. More specifically, he criticized the way “Ivy League” lawyers are recruited, and the “palpable sense of entitlement” they exhibit even when they don’t take Biglaw bucks and instead work for the government. Here’s the set […] -
Lawyer of the Day, Litigatrix, Public Interest
Update: Is Brooklyn ADA Ama Dwimoh Getting a Bum Rap?
Last Friday, we named Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Ama Dwimoh our Lawyer of the Day. As a prosecutor, Dwimoh goes after child abusers. And yet, according to the New York Daily News — irony alert! — she herself abuses the kiddies, i.e., legal interns in her office. One reader with firsthand knowledge protested this portrayal […] -
Job Searches, Trusts and Estates
Skadden Needs Interviewees to be More Prepared Than Its Hiring Partner
Over on Am Law, The Careerist has been doing a series of interviews with hiring partners at Biglaw firms. They are fun reads, at least if you like to see the extreme hubris exhibited by hiring partners during this buyers’ market for fresh associate talent. A month ago, Jones Day’s hiring partner gave a really […] -
Biglaw, Howrey LLP, Killing Lockstep
Legal Press More Fascinated By Apprenticeship Programs than Law Firms
A year ago, Howrey announced that it was slashing first-year starting salaries and radically changing its first-year program. Drinker Biddle had adopted a similar “apprenticeship” approach a few weeks before Howrey. Aside from Howrey, Drinker Biddle, and some firm in Kentucky, no other law firm has tried to sell below market salaries and intensive “training” […] -
Job Searches
New Recruits at Jones Day Better Make Great Pets
So far, it looks like Jones Day has weathered the recession quite well. At the very least, we know Jones Day is proud of itself and feels like it will have a recruiting advantage. It managed to avoid the crazy layoffs and deferrals that have plagued Biglaw, and to top it all off, the firm […]