Simpson Thacher
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 01.30.15
* Did two little kids get slapped with a lifetime gag order barring them from talking about fracking. But how will they explain their third eye? [The Guardian]
* Private equity firm TPG is suing its former PR man — former Bush spokesperson Adam Levine — for allegedly stealing confidential documents and threatening to leak them to the press. They probably showed where the Iraq WMDs were. [O’Dwyer’s]
* So maybe the blizzard of 2015 fizzled for New Yorkers. But winter’s not over yet — how do you interview in a snowstorm? [Corporette]
* Simpson Thacher could have some malpractice issues with that $1.5 billion SNAFU. [Law360]
* “The Supreme Court’s Billion-Dollar Mistake”? Well, they’re still half a billion ahead of Simpson Thacher. [New York Review of Books]
* Suge Knight accused of murder. Not an archival story. [Los Angeles Times]
* As Juggalo Law likes to say, “‘Sup With Aaron?” A recap of day 2 of the Aaron Hernandez murder trial, the Patriots scandal that isn’t about deflated balls. [ESPN]
* Lagarrette Blount marijuana charges dropped like a Boise State linebacker. Huh. I guess this was yet another Patriots scandal. [ESPN]
* 30 bats flew into an Arkansas courtroom disrupting a trial. That’ll teach them to let Joe Chill go free. [MyFoxNY]
* An online CLE on the ethical issues of laterals and collapsing firms. Dewey know any firms who could have used this information? [Bloomberg BNA]
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Biglaw, Screw-Ups
Mayer Brown & Simpson Thacher Make Epic Screwup
Check out this tale of how an unwary paralegal ends up costing a bank millions. - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.19.15
* On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to evaluate the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, and this is perhaps the definitive article on how the justices have been preparing the nation for marriage equality. Get ready for some big gay weddings this summer. [BuzzFeed]
* Smile for the camera! Kent and Jill Easter, the infamous helicopter-parenting lawyers who went to jail for attempting to frame a volunteer at their son’s school on drug charges, found themselves at the center of a 20/20 story. [ABC News]
* With it being highly likely that the Supreme Court will declare bans on same-sex marriage by the states unconstitutional, people are wondering which justice will be the one the vote hinges upon. Could it be Chief Justice Roberts? [New Republic]
* Come on now, the swing vote in the same-sex marriage cases will obviously be Justice Kennedy. The legal tea leaves have been read, and with his majority opinions in Romer, Lawrence, and Windsor, the future has been foretold. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Steven Metro, the former managing clerk of Simpson Thacher’s New York office, was finally indicted after being charged with insider trading almost one year ago. If you’re interested, flip to the next page to see the juicy indictment. [Am Law Daily]
* In a new report, the Texas attorney general’s office concluded the forgivable faculty loan program at UT Law not only violated school rules, but also “set into motion a lack of transparency that ultimately led to a lack of accountability.” [Texas Tribune]
https://www.scribd.com/doc/252991700/Indictment-U-S-v-Steven-Metro
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Contests
Above the Law’s 2014 Lawyer of the Year Contest: The Finalists!
From distinguished to despicable, who should be Above the Law's Lawyer of the Year for 2014? Please vote in our poll! -
Biglaw, Bonuses
Associate Bonus Watch: Which Biglaw Firm Is Shortchanging Its Associates?
Which firm is acting the Scrooge this year? -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Simpson And Cravath Follow Davis
So what other leading law firms will follow the Davis Polk bonus scale? -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: One More Firm Matches The Simpson Scale
Firm decides to be a team player and match the Simpson scale. -
Biglaw, Bonuses
Associate Bonus Watch: Yet Another Firm Matches Simpson
Biglaw firms are falling all over themselves to hand out money today. - Sponsored
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Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Bonus Season Comes Early! (And It's Not Cravath -- It's Simpson)
We have our first Biglaw bonus announcement, courtesy of Simpson Thacher. Let the games begin! -
Biglaw, Lateral Moves, Musical Chairs, Partner Issues, Partner Profits
Musical Chairs: Kirkland Snags A Skadden Partner, But A Simpson Partner Stays Put
Kirkland continues to raid rivals, offering eye-popping pay packages. -
Biglaw, Magic Circle, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, United Kingdom / Great Britain
The Magic Circle vs. New York's Elite
A comparison of the recent financial performance of the top U.K. and New York law firms. -
Advertising, Blogging, Contests, Drinking, Education / Schools, Jury Duty, Non-Sequiturs, Television
Non-Sequiturs: 08.11.14
* Jury writes judge a note asking for a “big bottle of wine.” It’s gonna be a long night. [Southern District of Florida Blog] * As it turns out, some Redditors are morons who don’t understand law. Glad we cleared that up. [The Concourse] * There’s a Kickstarter for an Ally McBeal podcast. If you love talking about unisex bathrooms, here’s a golden opportunity. [Kickstarter] * Attention law students: there’s a $500 prize in it if you can craft a winning blog post. [The Expert Institute] * Terrible, terrible advertising. [Copyranter] * A Simpson Thacher associate is planning to row across the Atlantic to support cancer research. [Remacae] * These teacher tenure suits are so stupid and completely miss the real reason public schools have trouble. And the lead plaintiff inadvertently confessed just how off the mark he is. [Washington Post] * AMC released the teaser for Better Call Saul. After the jump… [via Time Magazine] -
Airplanes / Aviation, Biglaw, Books, Celebrities, Cocaine / Crack, Law Schools, Libraries / Librarians, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Weirdness
Morning Docket: 04.04.14
* “Those who support limits see the court right now as the T. rex from ‘Jurassic Park.’” Folks are pretty worried even more campaign finance laws will fall thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the McCutcheon v. FEC case. [New York Times]
* Skadden Arps and Simpson Thacher are at the top of their game when it comes to mergers and acquisitions. Both firms did very well in new deal rankings released by Bloomberg, Mergermarket, and Thomson Reuters. Nice. [Am Law Daily]
* Former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown has reportedly ditched Nixon Peabody to try his hand at a U.S. Senate run in New Hampshire. We hope he doesn’t lose his shirt again. Oh wait… [Boston Globe]
* As it turns out, the book in the Harvard Law library once believed to be bound in human skin is actually bound in sheepskin. Congrats, this is slightly less creepy. [Et Seq. / Harvard Law School Library Blog]
* Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson was turned away from a flight to the U.S. after her admission to coke usage in a trial. She should probably stop sticking her nose in other people’s business. [The Guardian]
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6th Circuit, Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, Federal Judges, Gay, Gay Marriage, Insider Trading, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 03.24.14
* Justice Antonin Scalia isn’t quite ready to publicly weigh in on whether computer data is considered a protected “effect” under the Fourth Amendment. “[T]hat may well come up [before the Supreme Court],” he says. Thanks NSA. [Business Insider]
* “[I]t doesn’t take many bad apples in a barrel to cause a stink.” No matter how hard Biglaw firms try to keep their confidential information locked down, someone’s going trade on it. It looks like STB is learning that the hard way. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]
* The day after Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage was struck down by Judge Bernard Friedman, couples who rushed to marry were met with some serious Sixth Circuit sadness. Way to stay and spoil all of the celebrations, judges. [New York Times]
* “We’re not the Cleveland Browns,” says one of Case Western Law’s interim co-deans. With that kind of a glowing endorsement, we don’t see how this law school could possibly fail. [Crain’s Cleveland Business]
* Rutgers Law-Newark has a new low-bono fellowship program “believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.” Some other law schools might have a bone to pick about that statement. [New Jersey Star-Ledger]
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Biglaw, Insider Trading, Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities Law, Wall Street, White-Collar Crime
Biglaw Employee Charged In $5.6 Million Insider Trading Scheme
At which elite law firm did the defendant work, and from which school did he receive his law degree? -
Biglaw, Fabulosity, Partner Issues, Partner Profits
New Partner Watch: Incoming Partner Classes at 10 Top Firms
What do the incoming partner classes at 10 leading law firms reveal about the state of Biglaw? -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Books, Partner Profits
2013 Biglaw Bonuses: An ATL Infographic
2013 Biglaw Bonuses: An ATL Infographic comparing first-year bonuses and law firm profits per partner. -
Biglaw, Career Center, Career Files, Job Searches, Job Survey, Law Students, Lawyers, Rankings
ATL’s 12 Top Rated Firms For 2013
Which Biglaw firms are the highest rated by their own employees? -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: The Sad Tale Of Simpson Thacher
Simpson Thacher follows the herd, but the firm didn't always used to be like this. -
Barack Obama, Election Law, Insider Trading, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Pepper Hamilton, Securities and Exchange Commission, Technology
Morning Docket 11.12.13
* Who are the real victims of insider trading? It’s the Duke brothers, duh. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Judge Ellen Huvelle has ordered the government to turn over to her an executive order that the feds claim is subject to executive privilege. Judge Huvelle rejected the administration’s argument that privilege exists because, “we don’t want to give it to you.” [Politico]
* Pepper Hamilton has joined the greener pastures of Silicon Valley, opening an office with three partners poached from Goodwin Proctor. [Reuters Legal (sub. req.)]
* Speaking of poaching, Martin Dunn, former deputy director of the SEC and O’Melveny partner is joining Morrison & Foerster. [The Blog of the Legal Times]
* And while we’re at it, M&A partner Sean Rodgers has left Simpson Thacher to merge with Kirkland & Ellis. [The AmLaw Daily]
* Publisher ALM (The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, The National Law Journal, The New York Law Journal) has a new technology partner and hopes to boost its readership. If they want to boost their readership, wouldn’t starting a new law school be a better investment? [Talking Biz News]
* Conservative groups are miffed about video of this Democratic party lawyer “attacking” a Republican at the polls and trying to “steal” an election. It seems like he put his hand over the lens of a camera phone, but sure, this is exactly like telling minorities the wrong day to vote. [Bearing Drift]
* The Amanda Knox case has a trade secret component as a battle rages over DNA testing technology. [Trade Secrets Watch / Orrick]