Adoption

Law firms: please send us updates to your family leave and related policies

How aren't there laws preventing this?

The legal regime surrounding adoption is relatively lax, sometimes with tragic results.

* The latest update on the law school litigation front represents good news for New York Law School. [National Law Journal]

* Should summarizing a one-day deposition transcript really cost $90,000? Even DLA Piper might blush at such a bill. [Point of Law]

* Ropes & Gray isn’t backing down in the discrimination lawsuit brought by former partner Patricia Martone. (We’ll have more on this later.) [Am Law Daily]

* No, silly polo mogul, you can’t adopt your 42-year-old girlfriend to shield your fortune from litigation. [ABA Journal]

* Replacing “barbers” with “beauty culturists”? This is Indiana and not California, right? [WSJ Law Blog]

* Court rules that overlapping elements between romance novels do not amount to infringement. I mean, there’s only so many ways to phrase “throbbing member.” [Courthouse News Service] * Pinellas County, Florida (Tampa Bay area) returns to using fluoridated water after a governmental sea change brought on by the issue. Don’t they understand the Communist plot to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids? [Tampa Bay Times] * In fairness, I think pro se litigants generally have a pretty good ineffective assistance claim. [Lowering the Bar] * The D.C. Circuit managed to irritate both environmentalists and industry by affirming Fish and Wildlife’s designation of polar bears as “threatened.” It’s a nice middle ground. You know who else would appreciate some middle ground? A polar bear clinging to a shrinking ice floe. [Volokh Conspiracy] * Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor thinks kids need a healthier respect for the American democratic process. It would be unfortunate if the will of a democratic majority could get hijacked by five partisan hacks. [Courthouse News Service] * Following up on yesterday’s profile of Lindsay Lohan’s attorney Mark Heller, the judge declared him “incompetent.” Fair enough. [TMZ] * Oh, but trust him, he’s a doctor (of law). [The Economist] * To quote the inimitable Spencer Hall, “Fine, here, cry.” [New York Times]

Which major law firms offer benefits that cover adoption and/or surrogacy costs? Plus an update on the gay gross-up (aka "tax equalization for same-sex health benefits").

Additional tidbits about both the plaintiff, from former colleagues at WilmerHale, and about the firm, from women who have worked there.

Which firm is being sued, and what are the plaintiff's allegations?

One Biglaw firm is actually lowering its hours requirement. And instituting a new adoption / surrogacy benefit too. Could these trends spread?

* How would you describe the mainstream media’s recent reporting on Citizens United? Not true, not true — and Dan Abrams explains why. [Mediaite via The Corner / Ramesh Ponnuru] * Whether the U.S. Constitution requires marriage equality can be debated as a matter of constitutional law. But as a policy matter, is this still […]

* How many friend requests did these firms just get? Fenwick & West and Simpson Thacher are the Biglaw stars of Facebook’s S-1 filing for its $5B initial public offering. Like. [Am Law Daily] * The prosecution is expected to make its arguments today in Julian Assange’s appeal of his extradition from the U.K. to […]

Sometimes kids can be really annoying and behave really badly. Luckily for my parents, I was a little bit of both when I was younger. After throwing a spare rib at someone’s head in a Chinese restaurant, my parents didn’t take me out to dinner with them for months. After throwing a puzzle at the […]

Thus far, 2010 has been a great year for LGBT rights. As noted previously, federal judges have struck down Prop 8’s gay marriage ban, section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. Today the gay rights movement scored another win — this time in Florida, and this […]

* It’s that time of the year, when you yet again resolve to no longer be an attorney. You have one more chance to make this same futile resolution when Chinese New Year rolls around. [The Complete Lawyer] * Any food substance that sustains armies and people still living in Y2K bunkers deserves nothing less […]

From the Daily Mail of the U.K. (where newspapers are more fun to read): Angelina Jolie has attacked Madonna for adopting a child ‘illegally’. She said the singer should never have visited an impoverished African country with the sole intention of choosing an infant. Her comments follow accusations that Madonna used her fame and money […]

* Only those of you who are heartless very, very jaded will think this is some dated National Geographic-esque gimmick. Some of you may be able to help with the remaining countries… And yes, we’ve already made a call to Madonna’s people about crossing Malawi off the list. [New York Children] * Not the ideal […]

Drudge already took our original idea for a post title: “I’m Keeping My Baby.” But we will soldier on, chiming in on a subject that has captured international attention and has a legal angle: Pop star Madonna’s adoption of a one-year-old baby boy from Malawi, David Banda. Allegations have been made that Madonna and her […]

* So it’s official. I’m not going to get into my spiel about western paternalism, but celebrities, please note: there are countless children in THIS country who need a family. [Associated Press] * Can you say “Oh no he didn’t!”, when he doesn’t even know that he did? Note to anonymous Australian professional — colonial […]

We kinda love this lady: A woman is taking the unusual step of trying to unadopt her 15-year-old son, saying she learned of his troubled past only after he molested two younger children. “You don’t want to throw somebody away,” said Helen Briggs, a longtime foster mother. “But sometimes you have to.” Look, we don’t […]