North Carolina

Epic Departure Memo Follow-Up: A Five-Page Fax Says The Boss Is A Great Guy

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Maybe a young Brando can play DeMayo in the movie.

Earlier this week, we shared an epic departure memo from the former marketing director at the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo LLP. In the memo, the woman (whom we nicknamed “Peggy Olson”) blasted her boss: “Of all the THOUSANDS of people I have met over the past 38 years, you are by far the most egotistical, self-absorbed, delusional, disrespectful and narcissistic person I have ever met.”

Well, it turns out that Michael A. DeMayo has some defenders in the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo. Or, at least one defender. Or maybe he’s defending himself?

Who knows. All we can tell you is that we received a fax (yes, not only do some people still use fax machines, but apparently Above the Law actually has one that we keep right next to our beepers and mercury-infused health drinks). It’s a full-throated defense of Michael DeMayo, replete with allegations that Peggy is going through a difficult situation that precipitated her departure memo meltdown.

Fun times….

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Lawyer Who Lusted After Madonna Tickets Gets Slammed In Employee’s Epic Departure Memo

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Here at Above the Law, we love a good departure memo. Usually, the best ones are written by disgruntled lawyers (whether partners or associates).

But today we’ve got an amazing departure memo, currently making the rounds by email in certain legal circles. This farewell message was reportedly written by the (former) marketing director for the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo LLP, located in Charlotte, North Carolina.

It’s great. The former marketer knows where all the bodies are buried (bodies = hilarious email threads). And she’s in marketing, so she’s good with words.

Really, anytime you can make your boss look like the Material Lawyer when he’s trying to get tickets to a Madonna concert, you’ve found a way to express yourself on your way out the door…

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Morning Docket: 04.23.12

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Ekaterina Rybolovleva: 'But daddy, I want an $88M apartment now!'

* No dowry, no problem: Dewey we have a suitor for this imploding Biglaw firm? Rumor has it that Greenberg Traurig was seen whispering sweet nothings into D&L’s ear about its possible interest. [Am Law Daily]

* BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has hired Milbank Tweed to work out a restructuring plan. Just think, maybe if your product didn’t suck so hard, you wouldn’t be in this position in the first place. [Reuters]

* Sex, money, and betrayal… it sounds like another failed TV series about lawyers on ABC, but in actuality, it’s just a preview of the John Edwards campaign finance trial set to begin this week. [Los Angeles Times]

* Technophobes beware, because this copyright battle over code is getting serious. Oracle v. Google turned into Larry v. Larry in court last week as the CEOs for both companies gave testimony. [Bits / New York Times]

* George Zimmerman thought he’d have to stay in jail longer because he was having trouble coming up with his bail money, but he was released in the dead of night. Bet he looked pretty suspicious. [CNN]

* “There are [fewer students] coming in and crying. I haven’t had a crier yet, which I have had in the past.” Given the legal hiring market, that’s a real accomplishment for a career services official. [Charlotte Observer]

* Who gives a sh*t? Not this Russian fertilizer tycoon. When you’re a billionaire, buying an $88M apartment for your kid is just a run-of-the-mill transaction. Come on, he’s not hiding his assets for his divorce. [Telegraph]

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New Interviews Might Help the Charlotte Law 2L Charged with Murder

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Prosecutors have lessened the charges against Kenan Gay, the Charlotte Law 2L charged with pushing a man out into the middle of traffic and killing him.

The prosecution has done the charging, but the defense has done the talking. A few weeks ago we told you Gay’s attorney argued that the victim, Robert Kingston, had been hitting on Gay’s girlfriend. Now, the defense has apparently conducted an investigation and found some witnesses who paint a very different picture of what went down before Kingston’s death.

And, not surprisingly, the defense’s investigation is not favorable to the victim…

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Law Student Charged With Murder Claims It Was All About A Girl

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Kenan Gay

Man, some people got really worked up about about some of the opinions I shared in yesterday’s post about Kenan Gay, the second-year student at Charlotte Law School who has been charged with murdering a man by pushing him out in traffic. (Note to readers: if you don’t like strong opinions, you might want to steer clear of my posts; there are many other writers to read on this fine website.)

People especially took offense to my raising the possibility that the victim, Robert Kingston, might have been a “townie.” When I used the term “townie,” I was referring to the discord you see on some campuses between the student population and the population of people who live in the town on a full-time basis.

But I guess a lot of you college-educated types also like to impose your own class and educational prejudices on townies. So many of you emailed me to tell me about Kingston’s education and socioeconomic status, it’s as if you think that holding a college degree and a good job absolves you of the “townie” distinction. To that I can only hope that you keep your uppity, educated asses out of my local bar. Nobody wants to hear about what you just learned in your comparative trust-fund psychology class when we’re out for an after-work drink.

Anyway, I’d like to move beyond Towniegate to discuss some actual allegations about Kingston. But first I’d like to share the quasi-death threat I received from a so-called friend of Kingston, just so everybody has a suspect in case I’m found on FDR miles away from a Taco Bell…

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2L Charged With Murder: A Case of Student v. Townie Rage?

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They say campus security starts in the admissions office, but no admissions committee can truly screen out all of the bad apples.

The community at Charlotte School of Law (not to be confused with UNC-Charlotte) is in a state of shock. A current student there was charged with murder following a bar fight.

We’re not even talking about one of those tragic “eggshell victim” situations, where the alleged attacker lands a punch that would cause a normal person to have a hurt jaw but causes the alleged victim to have a life-threatening embolism. Unless you consider not being able to survive being hit by a BMW to be “eggshell.”

Let’s take a look at the allegations….

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UNC Law Prof Sends a ‘Rather Embarrassing’ Request, Asks Former Students to Help His Online Rating

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With the proliferation of online rating sites, an aggrieved consumer of pretty much anything has a surprising range of avenues to express his or her discontent.

Whether you have a complaint about your neighborhood coffee shop or an allegedly unfaithful ex-boyfriend, the average Joe has a surprising amount of power through these sites.

Rating sites apparently even have the power to bring a well-known UNC Law professor to his electronic knees.

It’s not every day that a torts professor sends his former students a “rather embarrassing request” to repair his online reputation. It’s also certainly not every day that the students respond en masse….

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What’s Going On With Mayer Brown’s Title VII Suit?

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Back in 2009, we wrote about a Title VII suit that a former associate filed against Mayer Brown. To make a long story short (read our prior posts for the full background), Venus Yvette Springs, an African American woman, alleges that the firm discriminated against her because of her race, and eventually fired her in 2008 during the height of layoff season.

Springs filed her complaint against the Biglaw firm more than two and a half years ago, and in the time since, both parties have filed lengthy motions for summary judgment. Springs, who apparently had some time on her hands, also filed a lawsuit against Ally Financial, claiming that she was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for her suit against Mayer Brown.

On Friday, a federal judge ruled on the motions, and we’ve finally got an update. Will this discrimination suit be allowed to proceed?

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Morning Docket: 11.14.11

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* Pennsylvania may have new child abuse reporting requirements by the year’s end. Apparently the key to efficiency in state government is to sully the reputation of the state’s pride and joy. [CNN]

* “There is always room for a good law school, regardless of the climate.” Say hello to Peter C. Alexander, the founding dean at the Indiana Tech law school that nobody wants. [Journal Gazette]

* The hunt for the remains of Mercer Law grad Lauren Giddings is playing out like an episode of Scooby Doo. Will the gang be able to investigate at Old Man Jenkins’s Browning’s farm? [Macon Telegraph]

* A paralegal-cum-prisoner is suing over his soy-based diet, saying it’s cruel and unusual punishment. He’s doing life for child sexual battery, so I say bring on the soy! [New York Times]

* Lat once said that lawyers are like cockroaches: you can’t kill them. Probably why this lawyer bugged out when he saw his creepy-crawly brethren on an AirTran flight. [New York Daily News]

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Size Matters: Get Attention for the Right Reasons

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When doing research for my columns, I spend a lot of time thinking about how small-firm attorneys can get the right kind of attention. I can easily find examples of getting the wrong kind of attention: Kim Kardashian, Conrad Murray, and that child-bride who married the guy from Lost. Then, I received an email from a young small-firm lawyer practicing in Winston-Salem who provided me with a positive counter-example.

Michael Wells, Jr. practices personal injury law, litigation, and estate planning at Wells Jenkins Lucas & Jenkins PLLC. Wells is the youngest lawyer at this ten attorney firm. One of the other ten is his father, Michael Wells, Sr. Early on in his career, Wells set out to distinguish himself from his highly successful father and he has succeeded. The lessons he learned along the way can provide a useful road map for young attorneys….

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