May 2013
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2nd Circuit, Commencement, Copyright, Harvard
While Oprah Is At Harvard, She Might Want To Retain Some Lawyers
You get a diploma, you get a diploma, you get a diploma... -
Law Schools, Music, Non-Sequiturs, Religion, Tax Law
Non-Sequiturs: 05.31.13
* The new meme sweeping the Intertubes is “Old Economy Steve.” While not strictly law-related, it is a fitting meme for trolling recent law school grads entering the market. [The Atlantic] * After talking about the Atlanta battle of the (legal) bands, we learned that San Francisco is also getting into the act. [Law Rocks] * Speculating on George Washington’s approach to drone strikes. [Washington Times] * A look at how regulatory and tax policy changes affect the value of energy companies. [Breaking Energy] * E. Gordon Gee, Columbia Law ’71 and President of THE Ohio State University got in a little trouble for saying, “You tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write, then they can figure out what we’re doing.” So another guy gets in trouble for being honest. Gee also said that you can’t trust Catholic priests, which segues nicely into the next item. [Yahoo! Sports] * The Catholic Church’s top exorcist claims to have performed 160,000 exorcisms. After the jump, Professor Mark Kightlinger from the University of Kentucky College of Law eviscerates this claim with “math.” “Assuming he was ordained at the age of 21, he would have had to perform 2388 exorcisms per year for the past 67 years. That is more than 6.5 exorcisms per day every day (not taking into account the occasional leap year with an extra day). Perhaps he is just a really fast exorcist. Or perhaps he does mass exorcisms. I don’t have a view about how many demons might be out there but I am skeptical about whether one guy could cast out so many. Perhaps he needs to go back to the books and read about pride.” – Mark Kightlinger - Sponsored
How To Build And Manage Your Law Firm Rate Sheet
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Career Center, Career Files, Law Schools, Lawyers
From the Career Files: Is It Easier to Quit Law School After a Sex Change?
Mansfield J. Park weighs in on whether law students should stay in the game or quit while they're ahead.
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Politics, Quote of the Day, Sandra Day O'Connor, SCOTUS, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Supreme Court
Underneath Their Robes: Political Grandstanding?
Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor doesn't think too highly of elected judges. -
Biglaw, Lateral Moves, Money, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Videos
The 'Biglaw Partner Compensation' Is Too Damn High
Biglaw's lateral hiring frenzy is destabilizing the profession. -
Ask the Experts, Biglaw, Books, Movies, Partner Issues
The ATL Interrogatories: 10 Questions with Gary Sasso of Carlton Fields
Gary Sasso, president and CEO of Carlton Fields, answers 10 questions as part of the ATL Interrogatories. -
Courthouses
Monsoon Inside Florida Courthouse
The government doesn't plan to fix this soggy courthouse until after hurricane season. -
Biglaw, BuckleySandler, Chadbourne & Parke, Choate Hall & Stewart, Cozen O'Connor, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, Fabulosity, Fenwick & West, Kasowitz Benson, Money, Munger Tolles & Olson, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Rankings
The 2013 Am Law 200: A 'Hiring Binge' Hangover
Which firms had the highest revenue last year, according to the latest Am Law 200 rankings? - Sponsored
Trust The Process: How To Build And Manage Workflows In Law Firms
If you’re feeling inefficient but don’t know why, this episode of the Non-Eventcast is for you. -
Football, Sports
Prank Resulting In 2 NFL GMs Talking To Each Other Results In Up To 5 Years Of Prison, $500k Fine
And no one knows what horror will erupt when the Bills GM gets on the phone. -
Blogging, English Grammar and Usage
Above the Law Spelling Bee
Take the Above the Law Spelling Bee. You can spell better than Elie, but can you spell better than Google? -
Animal Law, Contracts, Football, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Rankings, Sports, STDs, U.S. News
Morning Docket: 05.31.13
* The Am Law 200 rankings are out, and the difference between the First Hundred and Second Hundred Biglaw firms has been described as “stark.” Check out who made the grade here. [American Lawyer]
* Many Biglaw attorneys are sharks, but at Crowell & Moring, a firm with a duck as its mascot, at least they’ve got hearts. They’re awaiting the birth of little ducklings outside of their office. [Washington Post]
* Spyfall, Round Two: General David Petraeus, of CIA and sex scandal fame, is joining private equity company KKR & Co. with Williams & Connelly advising on his employment agreement. [Am Law Daily]
* Want to know at which law school you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck? Want to see which law school is best at financial efficiency? You may be surprised at some of the schools on this list. [Morse Code / U.S. News & World Report]
* No, silly, he wasn’t being an antisocial gunner, he just wasn’t old enough to go to the bar with you. Harvard Law recently graduated one of its youngest African-American students ever. [Boston Globe]
* A legal Hail Mary? Joe Paterno’s family, former Penn State football players, and select members of the school’s board of trustees are suing the NCAA over its Sandusky sanctions. [Legal Intelligencer]
* A woman is suing MAC after she allegedly picked up the gift that keeps on giving from Rihanna’s lipstick: herpes! Chris Brown, don’t hurt me for implying it was from Rihanna. [New York Daily News]
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California, Eugene Volokh, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Money
How Much Does Your Law Professor Make? UCLA Law Edition
The top professors at UCLA Law do very, very well for themselves. -
Animal Law, Barack Obama, Blank Rome, Craigslist, Fast Food, Intellectual Property, Job Searches, Labor / Employment, Law Firm Mergers, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Politics
Non-Sequiturs: 05.30.13
* Burger King sells burgers by celebrating that they are built with fictional union labor while actively interfering with workers forming real unions. This would be too much hypocrisy for some, but Burger King gets to have it its way. [Buzzfeed] * I cannot top the subject line from the tipster: “Obama calls the nation to arms on trade secret theft, but the nation is at the mall.” [Orrick] * A review of Logan Beirne’s new book Blood of Tyrants: George Washington & the Forging of the Presidency (affiliate link). I wonder what George Washington would say if the Senate blocked his judicial nominees? [Washington Times] * Step One: Collect cash from government for doing business in downtown Manhattan. Step Two: “Close” the firm and move all the partners and cases to Blank Rome. Step Three: Refuse to pay back the money. [Thompson Reuters News & Insight] * Why does everyone want to go to law school? I figured it was just to compete in the ATL Law Revue competition. [The League of Ordinary Gentlemen] * Be nicer to the sea cows! [Lowering the Bar] * This Craigslist job posting under “Legal/Paralegal Jobs” in San Diego: Accidental listing or sadly prophetic commentary on the legal job market? Just in case someone removes the listing, I’ll post a screenshot after the jump…
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Trust The Process: How To Build And Manage Workflows In Law Firms
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American Bar Association / ABA, Job Searches, Labor / Employment, Money, Pro Bono, Quote of the Day
By All Means, Allow Law Students and Grads to Work for Free
Should private law firms be able to use unpaid interns to staff their pro bono cases? The ABA thinks so. -
Barack Obama, D.C. Circuit, John Roberts, Judicial Conference, Judicial Nominations, Politics
Senators Call For Shrinking Small, Overworked D.C. Circuit
Republicans accuse President Obama of wantonly fulfilling his legal obligations. -
Job Searches, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Student Loans, Unemployment
About Two-Thirds of Parents Want Their Kids to Be Lawyers
These people have very high hopes for their special little snowflakes. -
Barack Obama, Department of Justice, Eric Holder, Federal Government, Minority Issues, Politics
Will Obama Abandon Eric Holder Like All His Other Black Friends?
Have African-Americans in leadership positions not named "Barack Obama" benefited from this whole "black president" thing? -
Intellectual Property, Trademarks
New York Hearts IP Trolling
New York State is using IP law to stick it to the everyman, both literally and figuratively. -
Constitutional Law, Crime, Death Penalty, Politics, Sentencing Law
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: The Death Penalty Dilemma
A conservative's argument against the death penalty. -
Drugs, General Counsel, In-House Counsel, James Comey, Morning Docket, Securities and Exchange Commission
Morning Docket: 05.30.13
* Obama nominates a Bush Republican to head the FBI. James Comey was on all sorts of Bush short lists. Kumbaya. [New York Times]
* A nice summer reminder: this woman didn’t recover damages from Great Adventure water ride injury. Here’s another reminder: Six Flags destroys Disney. [New Jersey Law Journal]
* NASDAQ gets BTCHSLAPD. [National Law Journal]
* Meanwhile, Total Oil is also getting slapped by the SEC. Looks like somebody over there ate their Total. [Breaking Energy]
* The “elitist white boy” approach to law enforcement gets called out. Bobby Rush is now my hero. [Talking Points Memo]
* Darius Kingsley, a former Treasury official, is the new co-general counsel of JPMorgan’s commercial bank. [Corporate Counsel]
* Florida Governor Rick Scott can’t randomly drug test all state workers. I’d be in favor of random drug testing for Rick Scott voters. [Reuters]