* Fear not, you can continue the inexplicable and somewhat cheap practice of wearing buttons of your slain loved one when attending the trial of the accused perpetrator. [The Buck Stops Here]
* Think of the occasional theft as a write-off, which of course is moot since you’re not paying taxes anyway. And then rent Traffic, you clueless surburban kid. Disclaimer: I attended a suburban high school (but I never inhaled). [Sui Generis]
* Illinois wants to make it even easier for you to get out of jury duty. [Concurring Opinions]
* The choice of law school over medical school has its roots in our rather iffy math skills; but this is Yale Law, where the career center’s number-heavy cheat-sheet on the whole billable hours thing assumes (correctly) YLS students are the s**t all-around. [Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style]
* We think that this four-year-old’s parents may have tried explaining the birds and the bees using such technical terms as “special hug.” We’re hoping that he did not use sound effects during the alleged, er, breast nuzzling. [Waco Tribune]
* An additional bullet-point to add to my disturbingly endless “Why Video Games Creep the Hell Out of Me” list. [San Francisco Chronicle]
Violence
- 9th Circuit, Biglaw, Breasts, Crime, Drugs, Jury Duty, Kids, Non-Sequiturs, Religion, SCOTUS, Sexual Harassment, Supreme Court, Violence, Yale Law School
Non-Sequiturs: 12.12.06
By Stella Q- Arlen Specter, Bad Ideas, Canada, Deaths, Gay Marriage, Kids, Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Violence, Weddings, White-Collar Crime
Morning Docket: 12.08.06
By Billy Merck* Thou shalt not kidnap your child to keep her from getting married. [CNN]
* This really happened? [CNN]
* Supreme Court takes antitrust case involving investment banks. [New York Times]
* Specter introduces legislation designed to blunt the effects of the Thompson memo. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Same-sex marriage still legal, eh? [Reuters via Yahoo!]
* Let’s see…a corrupt Laguardia Community College instructor on the one hand, and students dumb enough to think that a slightly better grade in computer science will compensate for the fact that they attend Laguardia Community College…I won’t comment, lest you think I’m elitist or something. [Newsday]
* Sponsoring babies, but not the Sally Struthers way. [Madisonian]
* And another way in which babies can pay off. [Cookie; The Poop]
* We too are hoping the judge’s mishandling of this case comes back to bite shoot him in the ass. [Legal Reader]
* So Tom Brady is like one of 5 football players I actually recognize. (I’m exaggerating of course — I’m counting Tiki Barber as two.) Well, he’s suing Yahoo! for improperly using his image in its promotion of Fantasy Football. (Which is strange since he did not sue SNL for skits that made him look as interesting as a brick.) [The Smoking Gun]
* This, this, and this from How Appealing on the race in public schools cases argued before the Supreme Court yesterday.
* And for the second straight day, someone blames their crime on bingo. [CNN]
* A “temporary” solution for being burned out on biglaw. [WSJ Law Blog]
* I guess this is kinda like the flip-side of using someone as a human shield. [CNN]
* Always get it in writing, especially when it comes to constitutions. [Jurist]
* Jurors go wild… kind of. [AP via Yahoo! News]
* This could be your fate if you have sexual relations with any animal, dead or alive, regardless of law: you could be the posthumous star of a Sundance documentary. [Editor and Publisher]
* Do not think you can know go about suing the various characters in your dysfunctional family. [Seattle Times]
When You’ve Broken Over Five (5) Staplers By Throwing Them at Paralegals, It’s Time To Get Help
By David LatOur big brother brings to our attention an interesting article, from New York magazine, about urban professionals and burnout. And no article on the subject would be complete without a discussion of Biglaw attorneys:
An epidemic of malaise among bankers and lawyers is far more likely to inspire jokes—Wouldn’t it be nicer if it were terminal?—than concern and rafts of psychological studies. (And the few studies out there are funny, if inadvertently. In a special “burnout” issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology six years ago, the essay on lawyers was most notable for the “Select References and Recommended Reading” that followed—four of eight were about masochism.)
Not surprising in the least — although where are the sadism articles?
[C]onsider lawyers for a moment: According to the New York Bar Association, turnover rates among mid-level associates in this city’s law firms is 36 percent. The whole system is predicated on burnout. Why even bother treating associates well?
Sad but true. We’re reminded of one of our all-time favorite reader comments, in a thread discussing whether Paul Weiss is a gay-friendly firm. Here’s the comment:
Paul Weiss isn’t a magnet for gays, but it is a great place to get f*cked in the ass no matter what your sexual orientation is.
At least you get great sushi while grabbing your proverbial ankles.
Can’t Get No Satisfaction [New York Magazine via DealBreaker]
The most infamous case of the last century has turned into one of the biggest P.R. disasters of this one.
After nearly universal criticism, from both within and outside the company, the News Corp. has pulled its plans to publish a book by O.J. Simpson — and to air a television interview with him — in which the ex-football star describes how he “might” have killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
Hypothetically, mind you. ‘Cause he didn’t. And he is still searching America, or at least every golf course in America, for the person who murdered his ex-wife.
(News flash: Even Rupert Murdoch will only go so far — or sink so low.)
For those of you who are well-versed in the legal issues surrounding publishing contracts, some questions from the Washington Post:
Who owns the book now? Will Simpson still be paid? And what will happen now to Regan, whom many in the industry condemn for what they consider bottom-feeding instincts while grudgingly admiring her audacity?
Some info about these issues, from the New York Times:
Standard publishing contracts call for a percentage of an author’s advance, usually up to 50 percent, to be paid when a contract is signed, and for the remainder to be paid when the finished book is accepted by the publisher. The [anonymous] executive [involved in the deal] said Mr. Simpson’s book was covered by a standard publishing contract.
In an interview last week, Judith Regan, the publisher, said ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins, had signed a contract with “a manager who represents a third party” who owned the rights to Mr. Simpson’s account.
Because the News Corporation and ReganBooks decided on their own to cancel the book and the television special, that money is likely to still have to be paid.
Your further thoughts are welcome, in the comments or via email.
Under Pressure, News Corp. Pulls Simpson Project [New York Times]
News Corp. Pulls Plug On O.J. Book, Fox Special [Washington Post]
Earlier: This Is Why the Founding Fathers Gave Us the Double Jeopardy Clause
- Crime, Football, HP, Judicial Nominations, Morning Docket, O.J. Simpson, Patricia Dunn, Politics, Senate Judiciary Committee, Videos, Violence
Morning Docket: 11.16.06
By B Clerker* O.J.’s “confession”? The trial of the century takes a twisted PR turn, years later. [CNN]
* President Bush intends to renominate, to the lame duck Senate, some of the judicial nominees who were not previously confirmed, before the Democrats swept the midterm elections. Interesting strategy. [New York Times]
* Don’t mess with Texas['s judicial independence]. [SCOTUSBlog]
* The HP debacle: you thought it was over, but really it’s just beginning. Patty Dunn enters a plea of not guilty. [Los Angeles Times]
* Brutal brawl breaks out in an Ohio courtroom. [CNN Video]
Fantasy football, after the jump.
They don’t know what they want. They show up unprepared. They’re lacking in enterprise and courage.
But is this true? Consider some evidence to the contrary:
Largo, Florida – Police are looking for a little girl who pulled a knife on a Wal-Mart clerk as she tried to steal two boxes of Lego toy blocks.
It happened [at] the Missouri Avenue [store] around 9:00 pm Tuesday night. Police say the 7 to 8-year-old girl hid the toys under her coat and tried to walk out the door.
A store employee was watching and approached the child, asking her to turn over the Lego blocks. Police say the little girl then opened her jacket and displayed a combo carving knife with a forked point and a 10″ blade, saying she was armed for protection.
The employee talked the girl into putting down the knife and the toys.
The article’s final sentence is priceless:
The girl rode away on her bicycle.
Was that with or without training wheels?
Little girl flashes knife as she tries to steal toys [Tampa Bay's 10 via Drudge Report]
- Book Deals, Books, Celebrities, Deaths, Media and Journalism, Murder, Nauseating Things, O.J. Simpson, Violence
This Is Why the Founding Fathers Gave Us the Double Jeopardy Clause
By David LatBecause if people could be tried for the same crime twice, then we’d probably never be gifted with O.J. Simpson’s forthcoming magnum opus, “If I Did It.”
Yes, that’s right: “If I Did It.” Here are the details:
Fox plans to broadcast an interview with O.J. Simpson in which the former football star discusses “how he would have committed” the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, for which he was acquitted, the network said. The two-part interview, titled “O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened,” will air Nov. 27 and Nov. 29, the TV network said….
“O.J. Simpson, in his own words, tells for the first time how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible for the crimes,” the network said in a statement. “In the two-part event, Simpson describes how he would have carried out the murders he has vehemently denied committing for over a decade.”
The interview will air days before Simpson’s new book, “If I Did It,” goes on sale Nov. 30. The book, published by Regan, “hypothetically describes how the murders would have been committed.”
The title of Simpson’s book reminds us of these lines from Macbeth:
If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
It were done quickly…
These lines refer, of course, to murder. But they could just as easily apply to O.J.’s return to the public spotlight.
So let’s get this over with, and send Simpson back to the golf course forthwith — since we can’t send him to where he really belongs.
O.J. to Say How He Could Have Done It [AP via New York Times]
O.J. Simpson to Discuss Killings [Associated Press]
-
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Hong Kong/China and Singapore US Associate Lateral Markets Improving With New Openings In Cap Markets, M&A, Fund Formation, Project Finance And FCPA / White Collar Litigation
Presented by Kinney Recruiting
Ed. note: The Asia Chronicles column is authored by Kinney Recruiting. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates, counsels and partners in Asia than any other recruiting firm in each of the past six years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com.
Deal flow has clearly picked recently up for most US associates, counsels and partners in Hong Kong/China and Singapore. We are on the phone with a lot of these folks on a daily basis, many of whom we have known for years. Further, the head of our Asia team, Evan Jowers, and Kinney’s founder and president, Robert Kinney, frequently meet in person with leading US partners in Asia to assess their needs and keep on top of the inside scoop at as many firms as possible. The need for legal recruiting help in Asia from experienced recruiters appears to be live and well. In March, Evan and Robert were in Beijing at such meetings, in April, Evan was in Hong Kong, and for half of June Evan will be in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Thus its pretty easy for us to tell when there has been an across-the-market pick up in capital markets and corporate work.
On an average day in Asia when Evan and Robert visit firms, they typically have 5 to 9 meetings a day, mostly with US partners in the market. The reason they have these meetings is not simply because Kinney makes a lot of US attorney placements in Asia and that a particular firm may have openings; instead these are just visits with friends. After years of working together as business partners, the folks at Kinney are actually these peoples’ friends. The firms Kinney work closely with in Asia (which is just about every law firm – call us if you want to know the one firm in the world we will never place anyone with again, ever, and why) look forward to the visits, or at least act like they do. After seven years in the market, many of the client partners are former associate candidates. Also, these US partners see Kinney as a very good source of market information as well, because they know how deep their contacts are in the market and how frequently they are speaking to counterparts at peer firms.
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