Memes

Non-Sequiturs: 04.24.13

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* Happy Administrative Professionals’ Day! While we focus a lot on lawyers, judges, and law students, I’d like to take this opportunity to appreciate our legal staff audience — the secretaries, paralegals, clerks, recruiters, office managers, word processors, receptionists, and everyone else affiliated with the legal practice other than the J.D. crowd. Not only do you do great work, but you help keep this site running with your anonymous tips. Keep ‘em coming! [Above the Law]

* Why yes, I do want a Tumblr of GIFs about public defenders. [What the Public Defender]

* A mega-retailer with a reputation for ruthlessly destroying its competitors makes life difficult for anyone who has to subpoena them? No! [Associate's Mind]

* UVA College Republicans see a massive infringement of student rights in the administration’s decision that fraternities conclude pledging early as an anti-hazing measure. Republicans: Protecting your God-given right to create a naked pyramid since Abu Ghraib. [Cavalier Daily]

* “The Blogger as Public Intellectual.” See, we’re a lot more than dick jokes about law firms, people. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Of all the reasons to lock your cell phone, “To Avoid Arrest” is one of them. [Legal Juice]

* Biglaw explained: Clinical depression is contagious. [Law and More]

* SJL Attorney Search has acquired The Shannon Group, a Washington, D.C.-based career transition, coaching and talent development firm. [Wall Street Journal (press release)]

* Arrested Development is coming back soon! Check out this infographic that tells you which Arrested Development character you are. To the surprise of no one, I’m Lucille. Unfortunately, Barry Zuckercorn, Maggie Lizer, and Bob Loblaw aren’t options. [OK Gorgeous]

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Is It ‘Fair’ That Baauer Gets The Proceeds From Harlem Shake Videos?

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Ed. note: This post appears courtesy of our friends at Techdirt. We’ll be sharing law-related posts from Techdirt from time to time in these pages.

Last week, we wrote about some of the copyright issues around the whole “Harlem Shake” meme (and, yes, we know it’s not the “real” Harlem Shake, so don’t even bother commenting about that). However, a few days ago, I was talking to an old friend who also happens to be an IP lawyer, and he pointed out one of the nuttier things about our copyright system. Yes, he said, Baauer is making tons of money by monetizing all of those Harlem Shake videos with ads. But Baauer actually had almost nothing to do with the popularity of the song or the meme itself. This isn’t a Psy situation, where his video/dance created the meme. Instead, as we discussed, there was this video, which led to this video, and then this video and then this video… and then tens of thousands of copycats bloomed.

Yes, they all use 30 seconds from Baauer’s song (which itself included many samples from others, some of which do not appear to be licensed, based on Baauer’s own statements), but the popularity was because of the original video by “Filthy Frank,” and then TheSunnyCoastSkate (TSCS) building on that to create the basic framework, quickly followed by PHLOn NAN and the folks at Maker Studios. In many ways, this reminds me of Derek Sivers’ popular discussion of the importance of the “First Follower.”

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Morning Docket: 11.14.12

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* “[T]here is only so far you can go when representing clients.” David Tamman, the ex-Nixon Peabody partner who was “thrown under the bus” by the firm, was found guilty of helping a client cover up a $20M Ponzi scheme. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]

* You surely must remember former UT Law dean Larry Sager and his controversial $500K forgivable loan. Well, as it turns out, the school is now condemning the practice as inappropriate, and calling for its permanent suspension. [Texas Tribune]

* Someone finally sued a power company over its horrendous response to Hurricane Sandy. The Long Island Power Authority should’ve seen this lawsuit coming, but was woefully unprepared. Figures. [Bloomberg]

* I can haz copyright infringement? Internet memes are all the rage — we even had our own contest — but you may find yourself wading into dangerous intellectual property waters with improper use. [Corporate Counsel]

* Papa John’s is facing a $250M class-action lawsuit for spamming its customers with text messages advertising deals. With share prices dropping, it must suck to be Peyton Manning right now. [CNNMoney]

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A Biglaw Binder Full of Women?

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Mitt Romney’s unfortunate comment at the most recent presidential debate, in which he boasted about receiving “binders full of women” while trying to build a diverse cabinet as Governor or Massachusetts, has become a wildly popular internet meme. If you’re looking for some good laughs, check out this Tumblr or this slideshow.

Happily, there’s a Biglaw connection to all of this. At which leading law firm can you assemble your own “binder full of women”?

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Dewey Have A Meme Contest Winner? Oh Yes We Do!
(Plus some news updates.)

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As we roll into the Memorial Day weekend, things are fairly quiet on the Dewey front. There’s not much news to report.

As we previously mentioned, some former partners are hiring counsel to defend them against possible clawback claims. And the ranks of ex-partners continue to grow: some nine Dewey partners, led by New York-based transactional attorney Elizabeth Powers, have moved over to Duane Morris, along with three counsel and four associates (so 16 lawyers in all).

What else can we report about Dewey? Oh yes, the winner of our meme contest….

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(Plus some news updates.)”

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Dewey Have A Meme Contest For You: The Finalists

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Last week, we asked for your entries in our Dewey & LeBoeuf Meme Contest.

There were many excellent submissions. Let’s review and vote on the eight finalists….

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Dewey Have A Meme Contest For You!

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If you’re looking for the latest news on the imploding law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, check out Morning Docket. There are links about the ongoing criminal probe, an updated WARN Act notice, the firm’s claim that it is not “officially closed,” and a possible involuntary bankruptcy.

It might make sense for certain creditors to push the firm into bankruptcy, since under the status quo — i.e., the firm effectively liquidating itself outside of court — it’s not clear that similarly situated creditors are being treated equally. At the very least, there’s a lack of transparency, as bankruptcy lawyer Annette Jarvis of Dorsey & Whitney pointed out to Thomson Reuters. Jarvis represents one group of creditors that might be getting the short end of the stick: 51 retired partners from predecessor firm LeBoeuf Lamb, whose pensions could be in jeopardy.

As we’ve done in the past, let’s try to find some light amid the darkness. As one victim of the Dewey debacle told us, “Sometimes after you’re done crying about something, the best medicine is laughter.”

We agree. So, Dewey have a meme contest for you? Of course we do!

Keep reading for some sample Dewey memes, as well as the contest rules….

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As If You Really Needed a New Distraction, Please Say Hello to #WhenInLawSchool (Like You Haven’t Already)

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If you’re like most law students these days, your greatest accomplishment in law school has been the mastery of competing online distractions. Whether you’re checking Facebook, playing a game of Bloons, Gchatting with friends, buying a pair of shoes, or reading Above the Law, you can keep a straight face in class, and make believe like you were actually paying attention.

One law student out there saw this as an opening, and chose to use it to her advantage. She knew that everyone was going gaga over memes (we even had our own lawyer meme competition), so she combined the law school experience with animated gifs, and voilà, the Tumblr blog #wheninlawschool was born. With more than 400,000 page views in the last week alone, the site’s gone viral.

Countless readers have sent in tips along the lines of, “How has this not hit ATL yet?” Well, today’s your lucky today, because this week, we spoke to the anonymous internet diva behind the latest law school craze….

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ATL’s ‘Lawyer Meme’ Contest: The Winner

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Two weeks ago, we asked our readers to submit their entries for Above the Law’s “Lawyer Meme” contest.

This week, you voted on the finalists, and now it’s time to announce the winner….

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ATL’s ‘Lawyer Meme’ Contest: The Finalists

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Two weeks ago, we asked our readers to submit their entries for Above the Law’s “Lawyer Meme” contest.

Let’s take a look at the fantastic memes that they were able to come up with, and then vote on the finalists….

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