Sex

Drinking

Letter from London: Shearman Lawyer in ‘Spit-Roast’ Email Shame

It was just another day at Shearman & Sterling. Daniel England, a British trainee lawyer based at the firm's Singapore office, took a break from whatever thrilling piece of work he was doing to email his friends about their forthcoming vacation in Dubai. Being a rules-obsessed lawyer, he included a list of "do’s and don’ts" for the group -- two of whom work in London's financial district, the City -- to follow on the trip. A few days later, the poor fellow found the email plastered across the British press....

By Alex Aldridge
Adoption

Non-Sequiturs: 02.09.12

* How would you describe the mainstream media’s recent reporting on Citizens United? Not true, not true — and Dan Abrams explains why. [Mediaite via The Corner / Ramesh Ponnuru] * Whether the U.S. Constitution requires marriage equality can be debated as a matter of constitutional law. But as a policy matter, is this still […]

By David Lat
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 02.08.12

* Extra frothy: Santorum’s trifecta of wins in Minnesota, Colorado, and Missouri has made Mitt Romney angry. Because even a guy who wins nonbinding primaries can be dangerous to a man’s campaign. [New York Times] * Richard Holwell, the judge who presided over Rajabba the Hut’s case, will be resigning and starting a boutique firm […]

By Staci Zaretsky
Defamation

Lawyer Suing Hot Exes Over Scathing Relationship Reviews Speaks Out

What happens when you're a lawyer and a scorned ex-girlfriend lets loose on the internet about your infidelities? That is apparently what happened in the case of Matthew Couloute Jr., a former prosecutor and Court TV analyst, after he allegedly cheated on two of his exes. He's suing both of them, and now he's speaking out about the situation on television. Check out Couloute's on-air coverage, and see pictures of the women in question, after the jump....

By Staci Zaretsky
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 01.26.12

* Illinois is suing Standard & Poor’s, accusing the financial services company of misleading investors and putting the country in the poorhouse thanks to its high ratings for mortgage-backed investments. [Washington Post] * CHECK YOU LATERALS: William Burck, who served in the White House counsel’s office under President Bush, is leaving Weil to co-manage the […]

By Staci Zaretsky
Antitrust

Morning Docket: 01.25.12

* Time for a Biglaw battle: William Baer of Arnold & Porter is the front runner to take over the DOJ’s antitrust division, but could he lose the spot to one of O’Melveny’s finest, Richard Parker? [Blog of Legal Times] * It’s about time people remembered there’s no such thing as privacy anymore, but in […]

By Staci Zaretsky
Books

Fun Fact of the Day: Talk Dirty to Me

Prosecutable hate speech in 17th-century Massachusetts included calling people “dogs,” “rogues” and even “queens” (though the last referred to prostitution); magistrates took serious umbrage at being labeled “poopes” (“dolts”). — John McWhorter, the noted linguist, in his New York Times review this past weekend of Speaking American: A History of English in the United States. […]

By David Lat
Biglaw

Wild Alleged Love Triangle at Edwards Wildman

In chapter 19 of The Prince, Machaivelli suggests restrictions on the Prince's absolute power. Machiavelli essentially argues that the Prince must not take the people's sheep ("sheep" being a metaphor for the ability of peasants to have enough food) or their women ("women" being a metaphor for women). This advice applies just as easily to a totalitarian ruler of a country as it does to a managing partner of a law firm. Managing partners, ignore Machiavelli at your peril. You could end up with a full-scale revolt on your hands -- or, at the very least, an embarrassing lawsuit from a former, allegedly cuckolded partner....

By Elie Mystal
Food

It’s All Fun and Games Until a Fake Penis Gets You Fired

Here at Above the Law, it seems like we've got a running repository on all of the strange things that employees can do to be fired from their jobs. And whether it's legal or illegal for an employer to do so, we love to report on these firings, because some of them are pretty hysterical. Now, we have a story of a woman who was allegedly fired for wearing a fake penis to work....

By Staci Zaretsky
Education / Schools

Sexy Teen Fights for First Amendment Freedoms Over Slutty Yearbook Photo

School administrators are trying to ban a teenager's picture from the yearbook. They say that her attire in her photo of choice violates the school's dress code, but why? Probably because the photo in question features the teenager posing a bit too provocatively for a girl who just turned 18. She's considering taking legal action against the school for trampling on her right to free expression. So who is this mystery girl? What does her scandalous yearbook photo look like? Keep reading for pictures and video of this too-sexy-for-high-school, First Amendment freedom fighter....

By Staci Zaretsky
American Bar Association / ABA

Morning Docket: 01.05.12

* Rick Santorum and the Sweater Vests can join Rick Perry’s ballot access lawsuit in Virginia. It’s funny, because at this rate, Perry will have dropped out before the first hearing. [Washington Post] * If you’re an unemployed law grad drowning in debt, you should’ve known that you’d be screwed. Warning! Danger, Will Robinson! Opinion […]

By Staci Zaretsky
Anal Sex / Butt Sex

Like a Virgin, Deposed for the Very First Time

Well, we've got somebody who should be a late entrant into our Lawyer of the Year contest. He is Houston attorney Paul Waldner. He's a partner at Vikery, Waldner & Mallia, which is an arm of Justice Seekers in Texas. He is a man who brings the funny with him to the deposition room. Paul Waldner is a man who asks questions like: "So, your jurisprudential hymen is being ruptured?" Oh, you think I'm joking? No sir, I have video! And really, the witness's answer might have been better than the question....

By Elie Mystal
Crime

Don’t Call Her ‘Reema’: Say Hello to ‘Nicki Bajaj’

Is Reema Bajaj, the attractive solo practitioner accused of practicing more than law, trying to capitalize on the fame of Nicki Minaj, the rapper-singer-songwriter behind such hits as Super Bass? It seems that Bajaj, the comely young Illinois lawyer who's going to trial in March 2012 on prostitution charges, has rebranded herself as "Nicki Bajaj." Let's hear from a tipster, and check out the exciting new website of Reema -- er, Nicki -- Bajaj....

By David Lat
Football

Quote of the Day: That’s Against the Bro Code

I don’t know. I don’t look and stare down there. — Mike McQueary, an assistant football coach at Penn State, responding to a question about Jerry Sandusky’s erection (or lack thereof) during his alleged sexual assault of a child in 2002. (McQueary testified today in a preliminary hearing on charges against Penn State’s former athletic […]

By Staci Zaretsky