Vicious Infighting

Chief Judge Wilkins Makes Way for “Miss Karen”

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William Wilkins William W Wilkins Jr Billy Wilkins.JPGLast week was a busy one in legal news, so we apologize for our tardiness in bringing you this news. As first reported at the South Carolina Appellate Law Blog, and later picked up by The State, Chief Judge William Wilkins is retiring as chief judge of the Fourth Circuit.

William “Billy” Wilkins of Greenville is stepping down as chief judge of the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a position he has held since 2003….

Wilkins, 64, in a prepared statement Thursday afternoon said he had notified President Bush of his decision to step down effective July 1, 2007.

“It’s time to move on,” he said.

The obvious questions. First, who will replace him as Chief Judge?

Under federal seniority rules, his successor would be Karen Williams of Orangeburg, who would become the first woman to hold that position in the circuit. Williams, 55, is the next senior judge younger than 65.

Karen Williams Karen J Williams Above the Law.jpgJudge Williams, you may recall, is a judicial hottie, described by the New York Times as “a tall, slender woman with delicate features and a regal carriage.” Rumored to have both a private plane and a personal shopper, the stylish Judge Williams is known around her hometown of Orangeburg as “Miss Karen.”
(Yes, she’s married. But as a fellow South Carolina native explains, “the first thing one must learn about Orangeburg is that every woman is referred to as Miss,” regardless of her marital status.)
And who might be nominated to the Fourth Circuit to fill the new vacancy on the court? Some speculation appears after the jump.

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How Yummy Is Eumi?

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Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco Eumi Choi Eumi Choi Above the Law.jpgThis post is even more random than usual. But it’s Friday, and Mother Nature is going bonkers — a major snowstorm in the Midwest, an epic typhoon in the Philippines — so indulge us.
Some time ago, we characterized the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California (San Francisco) as “well-regarded.” But then John of The Legal Reader helpfully informed us that the office has slipped in recent years. He brought to our attention this fascinating feature, describing problems that have plagued the office under United States Attorney Kevin Ryan.
So we read the article, which was most enlightening. And after reading it, we were left with one conclusion:

EUMI CHOI IS FABULOUS.

Who is Eumi Choi? She’s First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District, the right-hand woman of U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan. But it seems that, despite her nominal status as Ryan’s second-in-command, Choi is actually running the show, cracking the whip over the assistant U.S. attorneys while Ryan hides out in his office.
If someone were to make a movie about the N.D. Cal. office, Eumi Choi would be the “scene stealing” character. The role of Eumi would turn into a surprise star vehicle for Lucy Liu, en route to an improbable Oscar nomination.
We explain why Eumi is so yummy, after the jump.

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ATL Week in Review: November 20-24

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Borat Borat Borat lawsuit law litigation legal Borat Borat Borat.JPG* Another week, another Borat lawsuit.
* Wow — it doesn’t take much to get lawyers all hot and bothered. But ATL readers were evidently untroubled.
* Merry Christmas. There will be no O.J. Simpson book.
* But no Britney sex tape, either.
* Wesley Snipes has some harsh words for the IRS. And Judge Posner does, too.
* We hung out a lot with the Federalist Society. We watched the social conservatives and the libertarians slug it out over cultural issues. And we learned that Judge Edith Jones isn’t the woman we thought she was.

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An ATL Public Service Announcement: ‘The Wages of Sin Is Death!’ (Romans 6:23)

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Fed Soc 26.JPG

Apperances can be deceiving. The smiling woman above looks like a sweet old lady (or perhaps she’s middle-aged).

But don’t be fooled. This pleasant-looking woman opened a can of whoop-ass at the final panel discussion of the Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention. She rained hellfire and brimstone upon the audience, and placed at least two of the panelists on an express train to Hell.

As we mentioned earlier, that last panel “discussion” was insane. It was a no-holds-barred fight between the Federalist Society’s two major constituencies: the social conservatives and the libertarians. It was a smart move to save this intra-societal slugfest until the end of the weekend.
The nominal title of the panel: “The Role of Government in Defining Our Culture.” A more appropriate title for the panel: “Watch Libertarians and Social Conservatives Rant at Each Other About Gay Marriage.”

The combatants participants:

Moderator cum lion tamer: Hon. Edwin Meese III, former Attorney General
For the libertarians: Dr. Charles Murray, AEI; Mr. Anthony Romero, ACLU
For the social conservatives: Mrs. Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum; Professor Hadley Arkes, Amherst College
Kinda in between: Professor William Eskridge, Yale Law School
Kinda irrelevant: Hon. Walter Dellinger, currently of O’Melveny & Myers and Duke Law School (and former acting Solicitor General)
A blow-by-blow account of this intellectual battle royal, after the jump.

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Wherein We Break Down and Write About Sara Evans

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sara evans sarah evans country music star divorce.JPGSome things are too trashy even for us. Neither publication is The Economist; but there IS a difference between what US Weekly will cover and what Hello! will stoop to.
This reader email has been sitting in our inbox for, like, a week:

I know it’s not highbrow legal world information like who the most recent Supreme Court clerks are or who the hottest law school deans are, but how can you NOT be covering the story about country music star SARA EVANS and her divorce from an extremely kinky hubby?

Copious nude photos on the family computer, extra marital liaisons… Run of the mill for D.C. or New York, but in Tennessee? Belt buckle of the Bible Belt? Come on!

Yes, we’ve been avoiding it. But saturation coverage in the MSM has beaten us down.
Apparently there’s this country music star named Sara Evans. Recently she was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars (until she dropped out due to scandal). Anyway, right now she’s in the middle of a messy an absolutely hideous divorce from her husband, Craig Schelske. One of the most striking allegations is that Schelske had an affair with Evans’s former nanny and close friend, Alison Clinton.*
Here’s the latest news:

After hurling wild allegations and slinging mud every which way, Sara Evans and her estranged husband Craig Schelske have agreed to play nice — but there is still a chill in the air.

Both parties showed up in a Nashville court to hash out some of the terms of their nasty split. When asked if he still loved Evans, Schelske replied, “Yes, I do.” When Evans was asked if she shared the same feeling, the country diva said nothing.

Ouch. Cold, Sara. But this news was positively heartwarming:

[Before the court, Sara and Craig] agreed not to physically or verbally abuse each other. And, in a blow to Johnnie Walker, they agreed not to use “excessive” alcohol. Schelske also agreed to find a new place to live.

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to go take a shower.
* No relation to Bill Clinton, as far as we know. But we did get Monica flashbacks — oh, happy memories! — when we heard, on one of the entertainment news shows, repeated references to “an affair with Clinton.”
Sara Evans and Hubby Call Truce [TMZ.com]
Sara Evans Quits ‘Dancing with the Stars’ [MSNBC]
Affair accusation names Evans’ former nanny, friend [Tennessean]

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McDermott Will & Emery: A Culture of Cheapness?

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McDermott logo.JPGGossip aficionados love it when disgruntled ex-employees talk trash about their former workplaces. Today’s victim: McDermott Will & Emery, a firm that has experienced significant revenue and profit growth over the past few years. According to a lengthy expose in The American Lawyer, however, some of that success has been driven by good old-fashioned tightwaditude:

[McDermott has a] miserly attitude, say a dozen former partners, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. Sources say that McDermott’s financial success masks a culture marked by antagonism, where existing partners and clients are pushed out to make room for new ones, and where a lack of cohesion stymies efforts to build practices. They also note the departures, since 2005, of firm leaders in M&A, private equity, intellectual property, and restructuring.

Now for the good stuff — examples of MWE’s cheapness:

[F]ormer partners swap stories about the firm’s stinginess the way kids swap baseball cards: Instead of getting a decorating allowance for their office, they had to buy their own desks. Instead of the firm budgeting enough for a holiday party, partners in many offices got a bill each December for the upcoming festivities. They also had to pay their own expenses when they visited clients.

We’ve excerpted the juiciest bits, so you don’t have to read the whole long article. Continued cattiness, after the jump.

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