Reader Polls

Law Revue Video Contest: Honorable Mentions

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You still have the weekend to pick the best entry in our Law Revue Video Contest. Every vote matters; there is a tight battle going on between the dirty-minded Columbia students and the clever emcees/crooners over at George Washington.

While the voting battle rages on, we wanted to feed your YouTube addiction just a little bit more. You’ve already seen the worst of the worst. These next few videos weren’t quite good enough to make it to the finals, but I haven’t started drinking yet today, and they still gave me some chuckles.

Without further ado, check out our “Honorable Mentions” for this year…

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Quote of the Day: iWhore

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Think of her as a Nokia 6070.

It’s the same, but it’s different. It’s like when you buy a fine rum or a BlackBerry or an iPhone. They have a different price.

– the high-end Colombian escort at the center of the Secret Service sex scandal, explaining to the New York Times why she charges so much more than a common streetwalker.

(Some interesting legal tidbits about prostitution in Colombia, and a reader poll on whether prostitution should be legalized in the United States, after the jump.)

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Law Revue Video Contest 2012: The Finalists!

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You’ve seen the worst of the worst; now cast your eyes on the best of the best. Or, perhaps more accurately, “the least musically and comically painful videos of the 2012 law revue season.”

Maybe we’ve just been doing this for too long, but this felt like a rough year in terms of overall quality. And overall eye candy. And overall “could somebody have an original idea”-ness. But there were still a couple of real gems.

As in years past, your reviewers will be David Lat, Elie Mystal, and special guest star Kashmir Hill (now over at Forbes). But they just issue advisory opinions; you hold all the power. Vote early, and vote often.

Who will follow the winners of years past — UVA, Northwestern, and Boston University — into Law Revue lore? The decision lies in your hands….

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Size Matters: Is There Such a Thing As a Part-Time Small-Firm Attorney?

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Last week I asked if small-firm associates are screwed. According to the two who wrote to me directly, the answer is no. They both enjoy their small firms and are learning a lot from their small-firm partners/mentors. Interestingly, neither of them mentioned their future at the small-firm (i.e. what their chances are of making partner?) but instead focused solely on the present.

Nevertheless, I did not hear from any small-firm associates who said they are screwed. In other words, last week’s column did not go far enough in crushing the hopes and dreams of small-firm attorneys. Thus, this week I ask a (hopefully) even more depressing question: are small firms a good place for women attorneys who want to have a family?

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Debating the Death Penalty — From Both Sides Now

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The lethal injection room at San Quentin State Prison.

Debating the death penalty never gets old in the United States. Sometimes it cools off for a while, but if you wait long enough it always bubbles up again. These days it’s getting hot out here on the West Coast, where a ballot initiative aims to roll back the state’s death penalty and replace it with life without parole. The initiative would replace Proposition 7, passed in 1978, which made California’s death penalty law “among the toughest and most far-reaching in the country.”

At the center of the debate are two men — one of them a former prosecutor from New York — who helped pass the death penalty bill in California 30 years ago. Now they have completely changed their tune. What prompted this change of heart?

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March Lawyer of the Month: A Biglaw Partner With Some Admirable ‘Gumption’

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It’s time to announce the winner of March’s Lawyer of the Month competition. Readers had five male candidates to choose from, ranging from celebrated conservative litigators, to loud-mouthed state officials, to troubled Biglaw partners. But in the end, only one man had the bravado necessary to beat out the rest — some “gumption,” if you will.

Let’s see who took home the title of Lawyer of the Month for March, an honor surely worth replying-all about….

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The Decision: Georgetown v. Texas v. UCLA — An ATL Debate

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Lat here. Not long ago, Elie and I debated the merits of Harvard Law versus Yale Law, in response to a request for advice from a prospective law student lucky enough to be choosing between HLS and YLS. Then we opened up a reader poll, in which about 60 percent of you urged the 0L in question to go to Yale.

As we move deeper into spring, more aspiring law students will have to make up their minds about matriculation destinations. Today we’ll look at the case of a student who’s choosing between a trio of very fine schools: Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Texas School of Law, and UCLA School of Law.

Let’s hear him out, weigh the competing factors, and vote….

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Lawyer of the Month: March Reader Poll

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They say that March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb. And in the case of last month’s legal happenings, that saying held true for the most part. Because even stuttering lambs are still gentle creatures, right?

All in all, March was filled with excitement (of the sexual variety) and disappointment (of the layoff variety) for lawyers. We even got a lesson in how to (and how not to) argue before the Supreme Court.

So who are our nominees for March’s Lawyer of the Month competition?

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Legacy Dewey Ballantine and Legacy LeBoeuf Lamb: Choose Your Weapon

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We’ve been chronicling the troubles of Dewey & LeBoeuf, a top firm facing tough times. Today brings more bad news for Dewey: eight additional partners have jumped off the ship.

Of course, this one firm used to be two. In 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf Lamb to create Dewey & LeBoeuf. At the time it was the rare merger of two top firms.

Now that the firm is struggling, legacy Dewey people and legacy LeBoeuf people have been blaming each other for the firm’s troubles. Who didn’t bring the prestige, who didn’t bring the rain, who is responsible for post-merger decisions that have led to turmoil?

Oh, recriminations. Fun times. We’ve been corresponding with some people who were at the respective firms before and after the merger, and listening to them blame the other side has been highly entertaining. Take a look, and vote for yourself about who is to blame…

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ATL March Madness (2012): Michigan Is The Most Honest Law School

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Above the Law readers are a surprising bunch. After three weeks of voting, the University of Michigan Law School has emerged as the most honest law school in all the land.

Michigan. Can you believe it? I guess all the “Wolverine Scholars” shadiness didn’t stick.

Let’s check out the bracket and the final vote total for Michigan’s victory…

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