Recent Headlines from Above the Law

  • Morning Docket: 08.18.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 08.18.16

    * A Brazilian judge ordered that Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen surrender their passports and remain in Rio until investigators can determine whether they filed a false police report of being robbed at gunpoint. There’s one problem: Lochte is back in America. Jeah! [USA Today]

    * As we mentioned yesterday, according to NALP, law school graduates in the class of 2015 landed fewer jobs in private practice than any other class in the past 20 years. There is a bright side, though: Biglaw firms are hiring in droves and the median starting salary for new lawyers has risen to $100,000, which is 5 percent higher than it was for the class of 2014. [DealBook / New York Times]

    * Graduates who sued Widener Law in 2012 over the school’s allegedly deceptive employment statistics lost a federal appeal to overturn a denial of class certification. A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit — one which included Donald Trump’s sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry — rejected a class-wide theory of damages. [Law.com]

    * Legal ethics professor Ronald Rotunda of Chapman Law wrote an op-ed striking out against the ABA’s adoption of a new professional misconduct rule which seeks to combat discrimination and bias in the law. He refers to the new rule as a misguided “foray into political correctness,” and thinks the ABA overstepped its bounds. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * “At best he was doing something profundity stupid with the hopes of meeting someone he will never get to meet in his lifetime.” A lawyer for Stephen Rogata, the teen who scaled Trump Tower, says her client should receive psychiatric treatment instead of jail time. He’s being held on $10,000 bail bond or $5,000 cash. [New York Daily News]

  • Morning Docket: 06.16.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 06.16.16

    * In keeping with our new morning ritual, we recap the firms that announced salary raises yesterday. We had Schulte Roth & Zabel, Robbins Russell, Arnold & Porter, Kramer Levin, Hughes Hubbard, McDermott, and Cadwalader. [Above the Law / 2016 Salary Increase]

    * Womble Carlyle is forming a “strategic alliance” with U.K. firm Bond Dickinson. If mergers are law firm marriages, then think of this as the law firm f**k buddy arrangement. [Legal Week / Daily Report]

    * This law school thinks the future of law is taking money to educate non-lawyers. [Newsworks]

    * Here, read Law360 describe how Law360 settled with the NYAG’s office. It’s very meta. [Law360]

    * Harvard Law grad suing NY State Board of Law Examiners for failing to accommodate her disability and causing her to twice fail the exam. [ABA Journal]

    * Amid criticism, Shannon Liss-Riordan agrees to cut her fee in half for negotiating a class action settlement with Uber on behalf of the drivers. Apparently she was 2x surge priced the day she secured the deal.

    * X marks the sanction: Attorney disciplined for hiding sunken treasure records. [Courthouse News Service]

  • Morning Docket: 04.22.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 04.22.16

    * Prince will forever be remembered as a pioneering musician who mastered multiple genres, including rock, soul, pop, and funk, but members of the legal profession will always remember him as a ferocious defender of his music’s copyright protections. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Per a recent study that’s being referred to as the Glass Ceiling report, Wall Street Biglaw firms rarely promote women to partner. In fact, out of the 8,549 attorneys practicing at the 300 large law firms surveyed, only 3.9 percent are female partners. [Law360 (sub. req.) via ABA Journal]

    * Hunton & Williams recently launched a new practice group dedicated to dealing with legal issues related to 3D printing. The innovative team will work on legal questions involving everything from intellectual property and product liability to insurance and tax. The firm now joins Reed Smith in this unique practice area. [3DPrint.com]

    * Anna Alaburda’s case against Thomas Jefferson Law over its allegedly deceptive employment statistics may have ended in defeat, but there’s still one more law school lawsuit fighting its way through the courts. A case that was filed against Widener Law was appealed to the Third Circuit, and a decision is expected soon. [News Journal]

    * Thanks to a ruling issued by Judge John A. Ross of the Eastern District of Missouri, the 42 lead plaintiffs in the Ashley Madison privacy hack case will not be allowed to proceed anonymously. It may be embarrassing, but as class representatives, they’ve got special roles. They must identify themselves, or proceed as mere class members. [Reuters]


    Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 07.07.15

    * Vikram Amar, the incoming dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, says that he demanded a pay cut before taking the job to help make legal education more affordable for students. The piddling amount of money he’ll be sacrificing will absolutely infuriate you. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * When law firms break up and partners attack, it can sometimes be pretty entertaining (and a little sad, all at the same time). In this case, former partners have accused each other of being mentally unstable and going online shopping for hours instead of practicing law. [Daily Business Review]

    * In case you don’t remember the law school lawsuits about deceptive employment stats, some of them are still alive and kicking. One of the last surviving suits against Widener Law was recently denied class certification. [New Jersey Law Journal via ABA Journal]

    * Per Altman Weil MergerLine, 2015 is on pace to be a record year for law firm mergers. Statements like this have been made since the recession, but this time, it’s the highest number of mergers recorded in the company’s history. [Crain’s Cleveland Business]

    * According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector lost 800 jobs in June. That’s not exactly a comforting thought for those of you who are studying for the bar exam and don’t have a job lined up yet. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.30.15

    * Talk about a Friday news dump! In case you missed these high-profile rulings, Amanda Knox was acquitted of murder charges in Italy (for the second time), and Ellen Pao lost her discrimination case against Kleiner Perkins. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Use this slideshow to compare how North Carolina law schools are doing in terms of job placement. Duke was on top, and NCCU was dead last. Bonus: There were very few school-funded jobs to strip out of the data — the numbers were just that bad on their own. [Triad Business Journal]

    * LSAC doesn’t want to to adopt new disability accommodations for the LSAT because they “show a complete disregard for the importance of standardized testing conditions.” It’d rather show a complete disregard for applicants’ disabilities. [National Law Journal]

    * Widener? I hardly know her! Thanks to the ABA, this saying has new meaning in legal circles. With the law school regulator’s blessing, Widener Law’s Delaware and Harrisburg campuses will officially become two separate schools effective July 1. [News Journal]

    * Following blowback over the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Indiana Governor Mike Pence says he’ll push for legislation clarifying that the controversial law isn’t intended to support discrimination against the LGBT community. Suuure. [Indy Star]

  • Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, Job Searches, John Roberts, Kids, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, SCOTUS, Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners, Supreme Court

    Morning Docket: 07.07.14

    * If you’ve been dying to know what the partner compensation spread looks like at your firm, then we’ve got your fix. Check out the insane 23 to 1 spread over at Perkins Coie. [Am Law Daily]

    * “It’s a complete structural change, and it’s not going away. The end result is fewer graduates, and fewer law schools.” With enrollment still dropping, the end seems near. [Boston Globe]

    * “I predicted the collapse of legal education, but I didn’t quite predict how bad it would be.” Dean Frank Wu of UC Hastings Law is fighting his way out of a rankings slump. Good luck. [The Recorder]

    * Widener is the latest law school to roll out a solo / small firm incubator. Only grads from the class of 2014 may apply. Earlier grads are ineligible because they presumably have jobs… maybe. [PennLive.com]

    * A judge has denied bail for the Georgia man accused of sending sext messages during his seven-hour work day while his 22-month-old son was left to die in his hot car. Ugh, this is terribly sad news. 🙁 [CNN]

  • Biglaw, Deaths, Gender, Intellectual Property, Job Searches, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Patents, Technology, Women's Issues

    Morning Docket: 05.05.14

    * When it comes to billing rates, starting at the junior level, female law firm partners are still lagging behind their male counterparts by an average of 10 percent less. Boo. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]

    * Just in time for the graduation of one of the largest law school classes in history, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the legal sector is shedding jobs. That sucks. Sorry Class of 2014. [Am Law Daily]

    * Law school deans are dropping like flies. Since last week, at least three have announced their intention to leave their positions. We know of one more that we may discuss later. [National Law Journal]

    * If you want to work as an attorney, your odds are better if you go to a Top 50 law school. Seventy-five percent of Top 50 grads are working as lawyers, compared to 50% of all others. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]

    * The verdict is in on the latest Apple v. Samsung patent case, and Apple is probably pretty miffed it was awarded only $120M this time, since lawyers for the company requested billions in damages. [Reuters]

    * Laura LaPlante, a 3L who was set to graduate from U. Chicago Law on June 16, RIP. [Chicago Tribune]

  • Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Eric Holder, iPhone, Law Professors, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Patents, Prostitution

    Morning Docket: 06.03.13

    * “Hindsight is always 20/20.” Perhaps AG Eric Holder should’ve quit when he was ahead after President Obama’s first term, because now White House insiders are wishing he’d step down. [New York Times]

    * Dewey think Steven Davis will ever live down claims that he brought about the death of a once legendary law firm? No, but at least his $19.5 million mismanagement settlement was approved. [Am Law Daily]

    * “What’s disgusting? Union busting? Who’s disgusting? Joe Genova.” Damn. This partner had some issues with Legal Services NYC lawyers on strike outside his office last week. [New York Law Journal]

    * With all of the talk about patent trolls, this Morgan Lewis attorney allegedly thought it would be a good idea to get a piece of the action. Oopsie, it sounds like you got some splainin’ to do. [Ars Technica]

    * LEAVE THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL OF LAW ALONE! TJSL alumni appreciate their alma mater so much they’re willing to sign love letters written by the school’s PR flack. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]

    * Widener Law is thinking of splitting its campuses into separately accredited schools, but this isn’t a cost-saving measure — neither were the buyout packages offered to professors. [Delaware Law Weekly]

    * Alexis Wright, the Zumba instructor who ran a prostitution ring out of her dance studio, will ditch the workout and join the party in jail, because this hot mama was just sentenced to 10 months. [CNN]

  • Abortion, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, California, Constitutional Law, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, SCOTUS, Supreme Court

    Morning Docket: 03.25.13

    * Many have compared the possible outcome of the gay marriage cases to the Roe v. Wade decision, saying that constitutionalizing the right to gay marriage will create a similar culture war. Relax, bro, your bigotry is showing. You won’t be any less married if everyone has equal rights, promise. [New York Times]

    * Everyone thought Justice Kennedy was going to be the deciding voice in the Obamacare case, and that didn’t happen, but when it comes to the future of gay marriage, in the words of RuPaul, Kennedy’s got the right amount of “charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent” to save the day (at least as far as California’s Proposition 8 is concerned). [Sacramento Bee]

    * Meanwhile, people waiting in line outside of the Supreme Court in the hopes of grabbing one of the 50 seats reserved for the public like it’s a Black Friday sale outside of Walmart. Unemployed law grads, just think, you could be getting paid to sleep outside in a tent right now! [The Caucus / New York Times]

    * Modern-day legal education is a “failure” in the eyes of this Supreme Court justice. Now don’t get it twisted, Scalia wasn’t referring to the post-graduate employment crisis that we’ve all come know and loathe — he just thinks we need fewer “law and [insert bullsh*t here]“ classes. [Portsmouth Herald]

    * Dewey know when we’ll be able to retire this punny phrasing? Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight because more than a dozen former partners (including John Altorelli of spy-shagging fame) are still clinging to their claims that the failed firm’s estate owes them money. [Am Law Daily]

    * Seeing as Widener’s motion to dismiss as to its allegedly deceptive job statistics was denied, it looks like there’s still time to rally behind the law school litigation cause. Someone on Team Strauss/Anziska needs to go all William Wallace and inspire more would-be plaintiffs to sue. [Law 360 (sub. req.)]

  • Cocaine / Crack, Crime, Drugs, LSAT, Non-Sequiturs, Racism, Rudeness, Trials, Violence

    Non-Sequiturs: 05.11.12

    * Stab your lawyer with a pencil once, shame on you. Stab him a second time, shame on me. Stab him a third time, they will strap you to your chair with a “stun cuff” so it doesn’t happen a fourth time. [Legal Blog Watch] * (Crack) cocaine is a hell of a drug. [Legal Juice] * A first-person account of why you don’t ever, ever want to end up in central booking. [The Crown] * Telling opposing counsel you hope she “sleep[s] with the fishes” is mean and inappropriate. But on top of that, what the heck do you even stand to gain from saying that sort of thing? [Minneapolis StarTribune] * If you want to complain about racial profiling at airports, there’s an app for that! [Prawfsblawg] * To catch (an alleged) law school predator. Icky. [Delaware Online] * Seriously? This “Is it Kanye or the LSAT?” quiz is surprisingly tricky. [LSAT Blog]
  • Bar Exams, Law Schools, LSAT, Rankings

    Best Law Schools For Helping Poor LSAT Performers Pass The Bar

    National Jurist came out with a very interesting ranking of law schools. The publication looked at schools that helped people pass the bar despite their low LSAT scores. While poor performance on the LSAT doesn't necessarily mean the student is dumb, it almost certainly means the students is bad at taking standardized tests. If schools have students who go from being bad at taking a relatively easy standardized test (the LSAT) to passing one of the hardest and most stressful standardized tests out there (the bar exam), it sounds a lot like they are educating people. But, should the law school get the credit for the success?
  • American Bar Association / ABA, John Marshall Law School, Law Schools

    Twelve More Law Schools Slapped with Class Action Lawsuits Over Employment Data

    Back in October, we informed our readers that law school litigators Jesse Strauss and David Anziska intended to file class action lawsuits against 15 additional schools, on top of the two they'd already filed against Cooley Law and New York Law School. In mid-December, we brought you an update on the status of those potential filings after Anziska told us that at least three named plaintiffs had been secured for 11 out of the 15 law schools on October's target list. And now, about a month and a half later, have we got some news for you....
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