Travel / Vacation

Open Thread: Bar Trips and Summer Vacations

By

Hello? Anyone home? Right now it feels like everyone is on vacation, even though Labor Day is still two weeks away. C’mon, folks, this isn’t freakin’ Europe.

Maybe some people are still on their “bar trips” — multi-week (or even multi-month) post-bar-exam vacations, to some exotic destination (or destinations; I have friends who have traveled around the country, or even around the world, on their post-bar jaunts).

But wait. Do people still do bar trips? That’s the question we raised last August, when the Great Recession and pushed-back law firm start dates threw customary ways into chaos. Many of you answered in the negative last year, claiming that you were replacing Carmen Sandiego-esque globetrotting with more staid “staycations” — or even using the time to get an early start on the job search, for the many readers without employment already lined up.

This year, things seem to be returning to normal in law firm land, at least in part. Not as many lawyers are deferred, and some of the deferrals are shorter (or being ended early). Does this mean bar trips are back on? Let’s discuss — not just bar trips, but summer vacation more generally, since August is a big month for getting away.

Are you traveling this summer, or have you traveled already? If so, where? Do you have any travel tips or great destinations that you’d like to recommend to others? Or perhaps you’re in need of some advice and vacation ideas yourself?

Here’s an open thread for discussion. Bon voyage!

Earlier: Open Thread: Is the ‘Bar Trip’ Barred By the Recession?

49 Comments

Lawyerly Lairs: A Skadden Partner’s ‘Hideous’ House Causes Cape Cod Controversy

By

Skadden partner Hilary Foulkes

Longtime Skadden partner Hilary Foulkes, recognized by Chambers and Partners for his expertise in cross-border M&A work, is quite distinctive-looking. And so is his Cape Cod vacation house, in Chatham — which is causing some trouble with the locals.

Hilary and Tina Foulkes — we thought they were lesbians, until we saw his photo — have given their house a very unusual paint job. The Cape Cod Times describes it as containing “[s]hades of neon green, lime green and citrus yellow.”

Village resident Norm Pacun calls the house “hideous” and “not what’s appropriate.” It certainly stands out in a neighborhood of New England white clapboards.

What do you think? Check out a photo and find out why the Foulkeses may have painted the house this way, below the fold….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Lawyerly Lairs: A Skadden Partner’s ‘Hideous’ House Causes Cape Cod Controversy”

70 Comments

Elie’s Semiannual Vacation Memo

By

From time to time, I find it necessary to give Above the Law readers an extended break from their tireless work as copy editors, issue spotters, and defenders of American values. That’s right — it’s time for me to go vacation.

What will I be doing? Well, to be honest, I’ve been inspired by the Bonobos ad campaign. It reminded me that there was a time when I was interested in a broad array of topics — like the behavioral proclivities of bonobo apes — that had nothing to do with the legal issues of the day. I used to care about things like ape sex, string theory, and Egyptian eunuchs. So I’m taking a bit of a cultural holiday. MoMa, Museum of Natural History, Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking, here I come….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Elie’s Semiannual Vacation Memo”

30 Comments

In-House Counseling: Vacation Memo

By

Ed. note: This post is written by Will Meyerhofer, a Biglaw attorney turned psychotherapist, whom we profiled. A former Sullivan & Cromwell attorney, he holds degrees from Harvard, NYU Law, and The Hunter College School of Social Work. He blogs at The People’s Therapist.

As some of you have noticed, his weekly Wednesday column has been on hiatus. He offers this memo to explain his summer vacation from Above the Law.

What is it about lawyers and vacations? Like the old saying about long-horn cattle and a Texas fence — they just don’t get along so good. It’s like a physical aversion.

I worked with a client recently who was planning, in utter frustration, to quit his medium-size firm in a medium-size American city. The partner was lecturing him about his billable hours, but business was dead slow so there was nothing to bill for. The lawyer found out later that all his peers were simply billing for work that hadn’t been done yet, on the theory that they’d be laid off by the time the proverbial cow-patty and the fan were joined in unison.

He couldn’t bring himself to fake his time records to that degree, so he was stomping mad, announcing in stentorian tones that this was it, he was quitting. I urged him to stick around and see if he couldn’t get laid off with everyone else, so he could at least receive unemployment. No, he insisted – he needed out now.

Well, I reasoned, then why not take some vacation, so you can cool off and kill time simultaneously?

That was unthinkable….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “In-House Counseling: Vacation Memo”

65 Comments

Career Center: Vacation and Face Time

By

Welcome to the next in our series on the results of the 2010 ATL/Career Center Associate Satisfaction survey.  We’ve used the survey results to revamp the Career Center, powered by Lateral Link, with completely updated profiles and each week, we are highlighting insider information that Members shared about their firms in the eight key areas of associate satisfaction covered by the Career Center.

Today, getting away from it all (or not): face time and vacation policy.

  • Face time at this firm, “one of the best names to have on your resume, bar none," varies by partner and practice group, but in general, Members report that the firm puts no particular emphasis on face time.
  • This firm, a Beltway insider, offers a Reduced Workload Policy, which allows attorneys to work  reduced schedules to fulfill family care responsibilities as well as activities designed to enhance professional development or stature in the legal community.
  • This firm’s extensive overseas office network may contribute to its "generally good" attitude about respecting vacations and the fact that most associates are generally "able to use all of [their] vacation time."
  • This Chicago-based "powerhouse" recently made the switch to an unlimited vacation policy, allowing attorneys to take vacation days at their discretion; Members say most attorneys use the policy judiciously and average between two and three weeks of vacation.

Who else is getting more vacation than you are? Additional highlights, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Career Center: Vacation and Face Time”

Alternatives for Laid-Off Lawyers: Road Trip in a Porsche

By

So you’ve been laid off. What do you do? There are so many options: sulk; cry; send out résumés; try to sell your degree; spend time in the Above the Law comments section, complaining about your deadbeat firm…

Or you could take your 2009 Porsche Cayman S on a road trip across America. That’s what a laid-off sixth-year associate did when she got canned by her prestigious AmLaw 20 firm. The associate from an East Coast office is keeping her identity under wraps, so we’ll call her Porschia.

The “double ivy league educated corporate lawyer” started a blog about her adventures, called Driving with Gusto, which has beautiful photos of spacious skies, amber waves of grain, and purple mountain majesties.

While the Porsche is a manual, we wouldn’t say she drives stick. Porschia is a lesbian, and so there are many fun tales of hot girl-on-girl action from across the fruited plains…

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Alternatives for Laid-Off Lawyers: Road Trip in a Porsche”

59 Comments

Out of Office Memo

By

Philippines Filipino beach.jpg
We’re running late to the airport, so we’re keeping it short and sweet. If you’re looking for an entertaining vacation memo, try this one or this one instead.

Your above-signed scribe — who has been writing more for these pages lately, as some of you have noticed — will be out of the office, from now until Tuesday, May 12. We’re heading off to the ancestral homeland, for the weddings of two cousins (not to each other; but those of you who have taken the New York bar know that this is acceptable in the Empire State).

Although internet access is plentiful in the Philippines, we’ve decided to go “off the grid” for this vacation. We won’t be checking email or voicemail. We won’t be on AIM or Gchat. We won’t be on Facebook or Twitter (but feel free to friend us or follow us, and we’ll accept the request or return the follow when we get back to NYC).

Please send all tips, questions, complaints, requests for comment moderation, and suggestions for Non-Sequiturs to tips@abovethelaw.com. The tips feed goes to both Elie and Kash, who will keep you enlightened and entertained over the next two weeks. You can also reach Elie by telephone: 212-334-1871, ext. 3. For advertising information, see here.

Maraming salamat! See you in May.

Earlier: Elie’s Vacation Memo
How Does A Turkey Write A Vacation Memo?

47 Comments

Non-Sequiturs: 03.06.08

By

* Feddie really, really likes Dahlia Lithwick. [Southern Appeal]

* Pretty smells may reduce stress in the workplace. We doubt it would work in law schools. [Neuromarketing]

* What would Obama ice cream taste like? Slate.com readers go crazy naming a Ben and Jerry’s flavor after the political hero. [Slate]

* The legality of laptop and electronic searches when you’re traveling. [WaPo]

* New York Magazine compiles a directory of the best lawyers in NYC. Are you on the list? [New York Magazine]

14 Comments
Page 6 of 61...23456