Associate Salaries

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.24.19

* Donald Trump seems particularly irritated that former special counsel Robert Mueller will be testifying today before the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees on the "witch hunt" that's plagued his presidency. Get ready for a tweetstravaganza! [CNN] * Professor Amy Wax of Penn Law has been professionally scolded by the dean of the school after condemning her recent comments as racist and "repugnant," and now comes news that she'll soon be taking a previously scheduled -- but awfully conveniently timed -- sabbatical. [Law.com] * But before you get too excited, Professor Wax says that she has "no plans" to leave Penn Law on a permanent basis. In fact, here's what she said about the speculation that she'd be leaving for good: "The students need me. When I’m gone, the place goes full North Korea. (It’s 95% there)." [Big Law Business] * Professor Bruce Hay of Harvard Law gets taken for the ride of his life after an alleged paternity trap left him homeless, out of work thanks to sexual harassment claims, and up to his eyeballs in litigation. [The Cut / New York Magazine] * This personal finance website wants to know: What is Biglaw, and what kind of salary should you expect? Very cute! If you want to know the real deal, you happen to be looking at the website that most closely tracks Biglaw salaries. [Nerdwallet] * Xi Chen, the bus driver who struck and killed Kimberly Greer, a law clerk at the Southern District of New York, took a no-jail plea deal earlier this week. He'll lose his license for six months and must pay $1K in fines. [New York Post]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 10.06.17

* Salary hikes (in London). [Legal Cheek] * Travel bans and compelling interests. [Dorf on Law] * Speaking of SCOTUS, Adam Feldman reads the oral-argument tea leaves from the first week of the new Term. [Empirical SCOTUS] * And devotees of Justice Antonin Scalia might want to check out Scalia Speaks (affiliate link), a collection of the late jurist's speeches edited by son Christopher Scalia and former law clerk Ed Whelan. [Bloomberg BNA] * Did this court just gut her whole job description? [New York Law Journal] * It can be challenging for creators to protect their IP; could a small-claims court for copyright be the answer? [Copyright Alliance]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.02.17

* Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends, and colleagues of the victims of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, which took place last night in Las Vegas, Nevada. [New York Times] * "There’s only one prediction that’s entirely safe about the upcoming term. It will be momentous." The Supreme Court's October Term 2017 begins today, and it will be Justice Neil Gorsuch's first full term. The docket features issues like voting rights, religion and discrimination, workers' rights, and digital privacy, and Trump's DOJ has radically flipped its position from that of prior administrations in many of the cases, which hasn't happened in decades. [New York Times] * Jeffrey Toobin wonders, "How badly is Neil Gorsuch annoying the other Supreme Court justices?" Based on the junior justice's behavior thus far -- from his seemingly politicized appearances to his domination of oral arguments to his dissenting jab at Justice Kennedy -- the answer could very well be PRETTY BADLY. [New Yorker] * You may have grown up, but you're still a Toys “R” Us kid at heart, so you'll want to know how much these Biglaw firms are charging Geoffrey the Giraffe for their representation in the toy store's bankruptcy. Partners and of counsel are billing up to $1,745 per hour, and associates are billing up to $1,015 per hour. [Am Law Daily] * Biglaw salary wars are heating up across the pond, with Clifford Chance having recently decided to boost pay for newly qualified associates to £87,300 (~$116,933.99) a year in total compensation. Other firms like Freshfields and Linklaters have also instituted salary hikes, while Slaughter & May has frozen associate pay. [Law.com] * "This, all of this, allows me to prove my story is useful." Reginald Dwayne Betts, the Yale Law School graduate whose dreams of being able to practice law after passing the bar exam were deferred thanks to a decades-old felony carjacking conviction, was finally admitted to the Connecticut bar. Congratulations! [Hartford Courant]

By Staci Zaretsky