August 2008

Along with his colorful co-defendant, private investigator Anthony Pellicano, prominent entertainment attorney Terry Christensen is now a convicted felon. Earlier today, a federal jury convicted the pair on conspiracy charges relating to illegal wiretapping. Not a great way to kick off a holiday weekend. And not good news for the 110-lawyer firm that Christensen founded […]

When it comes to seating juries, desperate times call for desperate measures. Like arresting — and shackling — jury duty deadbeats, which is what’s done in D.C. Out in Oregon, they conscript jurors from off the street: A juror shortage forced a judge to look through a phone book before sending sheriff’s deputies out into […]

[Ed note: Though Non-Sequiturs is our traditional sign-off, posted at or near the end of the day, we’re not quite done — more posts will follow. We just wanted to give a quick round-up for those leaving the office early.] * If you happen to be stuck at work over the long weekend, Paul Caron […]

Facebook just got a lot less cool, and a lot more LinkedIn. Watch out, for your firm may be coming to F-book soon. The ABA Journal reports that Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle has launched a Facebook page to aid in its recruiting efforts: Looking for a way to better promote itself to the next […]

According to the New York Times, John McCain has tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Appeal to disaffected Clinton voters? Trying to lock up the Mike Gravel fan base? Update: Although Governor Palin is not a lawyer, there have already been several legal issues mentioned with regard to her candidacy. Just last […]

For about a year now, ever since he took a mysterious leave of absence in August 2007, we’ve been following the troubles of Judge Samuel B. Kent (S.D. Tex.). A suspension from the Fifth Circuit, allegations of breastfeeding and BJ requests — it hasn’t been pretty. Yesterday things got even worse for Judge Kent. From […]

The tips keep rolling in about firms no offering summer associates. Today’s confirmed casualty report comes from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. Unlike Wiley Rein, Winston & Strawn, and other reports we’ve heard that suggest firms are coalescing around a 90% offer rate, Stroock made offers to only 80% of their ’08 summer class. Stroock […]

This marks the end of our review of the firms in the Vault 100. This is the final bunch up for discussion (with prestige scores in parentheses): 91. Lovells (4.494) 92. Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP (4.489) 93. Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP (4.478) 94. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (4.459) 95. […]

* The Democratic love fest peaked last night. Senator Barack Obama addressed more than 80,000 people in a Denver football stadium. Our favorite line was his take on “it’s not me, it’s you.” [New York Times] * A reporter for ABC News wasn’t feeling the love at the Democratic convention this week. Denver police arrested […]

* Rick Reilly continues his transition from inane blather on Sports Illustrated to inane blather on ESPN. [ESPN.com] * Taxpayers in Texas had to pay money for a judge to deal with Hilary Duff’s birthday party. [Houston Chronicle] * Target will pay $6 million in damages and make their website accessible to the blind, having […]

To paraphrase Austin Powers, Heller Ehrman is getting to “town bicycle” status. The latest firm to take a ride through Heller’s financials: Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. According to Am Law Daily, citing sources close to both Heller and Mayer Brown, Heller is “aggressively” pursuing other merger options, with Mayer Brown looking like the most […]

Stealing Swiss Miss from your law firm’s kitchen is not a good idea. If you’re a summer associate, it’s a recipe for getting no-offered. And stealing food from the law firm refrigerator is also unwise. See here (and note the “FYI” postscript). Does anyone care to guess — or actually know — the law firm […]

Am Law Daily highlights the work of James Clark, a fifth-year at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, who took a two-month unpaid leave to volunteer for the Obama campaign in Pennsylvania. Clark was a community organizer for three different townships in Bucks County, a county Hillary Clinton carried with over 60 percent of the vote. […]

As we mentioned earlier today, we’re doing a series of posts on law firms no-offering their summer associates. Recently we heard this, from an operative in a law school career services office: The first blow of what we expect to be a horrible recruiting season has landed. Winston & Strawn in Chicago was “oversubscribed” and […]

The end of this tale is tragic and grim, but we’ll focus on the salacious over the sad. From the Telegraph: James Muir-Little, 45, a deputy district judge, resigned his post before the outcome of disciplinary proceedings against him. He had cheated on his own wife with Joanne Hall, 31, a cardiac nurse, after meeting […]

Thanks for all of the tips in response to our Friday post on no-offers. We are investigating various leads and will bring you a series of posts based on what we learn. We’ll start with Wiley Rein. The firm’s 2008 summer class was oversubscribed, but only four summer associates paid the price. We’d been hearing […]

If you have a small penis the only thing you can do about it is buy a gun. I can finally say that with the authority of judicial precedent behind me. As the WSJ Law Blog reported yesterday, Steve Warshak, founder of Enzyte, was sentenced to 25 for defrauding sad, pathetic men. I have often […]

Over at f/k/a, David Giacalone wonders why few people have taken a stand on Harvey Silverglate’s outrageous contention that the “Harvard Factor” has somehow killed satire in the legal profession. Stand at my wall and start screaming “Hektor,” why don’t you? Professor Silverglate reminds me of the guy, Dr. Pritchard I believe, who wrote the […]

Our Vault 100 series is winding down. We hope that the insiders have enjoyed the opportunity to brag (or to vent) about their firms. And that the curious have appreciated insights into life at various firms in the top 100. Here is the next bunch up for discussion (with their prestige scores in parentheses): 81. […]