Contract Attorneys
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.14.16
* If you were a Biglaw partner at a troubled firm who managed to escape before the sh*t really hit the fan, and you now feel bad for those you left behind, don’t worry. We know you might not be familiar with emotions, but “[i]t’s a legitimate human feeling.” [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* Just when you thought Ted Cruz was eligible to run for president, some renowned legal scholars have crawled out of the woodwork to state the complete opposite — and some have even published law review articles about it. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Those contract attorneys who sued for overtime pay at their doc review jobs made an impact, but it might not have been the kind they were hoping for. Many law firms and staffing agencies have stopped offering overtime work at all. [New York Law Journal]
* Florida’s death row inmates are stuck in legal limbo now that SCOTUS invalidated the state’s capital punishment sentencing regime as unconstitutional. Maybe the state where people go to die should consider repealing its death penalty altogether. [Reuters]
* Oh my God (but not his): An atheist lawyer is suing to remove the phrase “In God We Trust” from all U.S. currency because he says it violates the separation between church and state. He’s filed God-related lawsuits in the past, and lost them all. [Cleveland.com]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.31.15
* In the wake of fired CEO Martin Shkreli’s arrest for securities fraud, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company will be repped by Hogan Lovells (and likely won’t be charged 4,000 percent more than it should be). [Reuters]
* “Not all of it is law at its grandest but all of it is the practice of law.” Yet another contract attorney’s suit for overtime pay has bitten the dust with a recent dismissal. This time, Quinn Emanuel was the Biglaw firm victorious in keeping doc reviewers downtrodden. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Since Dechert decided to up the ante on first-year associate salaries, other Philadelphia Biglaw firms have responded in kind. Drinker Biddle has matched, while Pepper Hamilton and Cozen O’Connor are following close behind. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
* Facebook needs a “dislike” button: The social media titan’s suit against DLA Piper and Milberg for their defense of alleged con man Paul Ceglia in a fraudulent breach of contract case versus Zuckerberg’s first baby was dismissed. [Buffalo Business First]
* From “weird to wildly costly,” check out some of the craziest malpractice cases that were filed against Biglaw firms during the course of 2015. The McDermott Will & Emery elder abuse case here is particularly creative. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.18.15
* Both Kaye Scholer partner Evan Greebel (formerly of Katten Muchin) and Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli pleaded not guilty to securities fraud charges. Now, the world is left to weep because Skhreli’s Wu-Tang album wasn’t seized. [Reuters]
* “You are not an American because you got sworn in on a Koran.” The Hate Crimes Unit of the New York Police Department is investigating a series of threatening calls made to Judge Carolyn Walker-Diallo, Brooklyn’s first Muslim judge. [WSJ Law Blog]
* David Lola, the contract attorney who sued Skadden and Tower Legal for overtime pay with claims he wasn’t practicing law, settled his claims for $75,000. But now we don’t know if doc reviewers are entitled to overtime pay. 🙁 [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]
* Slater & Gordon, the world’s first publicly traded law firm, continues to watch as its stock price tumbles. The firm’s shares are now worth A$0.89 after it decided to pull its earnings guidance, and they’ve lost 90 percent of their value since April. [The Guardian]
* That’s not how you’re supposed to examine briefs: A Maryland court commissioner was charged with visual surveillance with prurient intent and misconduct in office after allegedly using his cellphone to take an upskirt photo of a courthouse employee. [AP]
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Biglaw, Contract Attorneys
Which Biglaw Firm Is Entering The Contract Attorney Market?
What does this mean for current associates at the firm? -
Technology
Why Collaboration Tools Are Going To Play A Large Role In Law Offices
The way we work in the office is rapidly evolving -- so the way our office is run should evolve also, according to legal technology columnist Jeff Bennion. -
Job Searches, Sponsored Content
The New Frontier for Law Firm Profitability: Ad Hoc Counsel
Are ad hoc attorneys right for you? -
Legal Ethics, Technology
Legal Technology Landscape Rocked By Contract Attorney Overtime Decision
At what point does software become so complex that it really is dispensing legal advice? -
Biglaw, Document Review
Federal Appeals Court Says Doc Review Is NOT Real Legal Work
Today's decision may have implications for the legal landscape for document reviewers. - Sponsored
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 06.17.15
* With student loan forgiveness earning public approval, the other shoe had to drop. Critics campaigning that any escape is “welfare.” If you were grasping for the proper pejorative it’s “Homecoming Queen.” [Concurring Opinions]
* Hot mic alert! Lawyer broadcasts during recess that prosecutor is “in my pocket.” Only to the extent the prosecutor is now up your ass. [ABA Journal]
* Maybe there’s hope for sentencing reform: 130 former judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials sign a letter advocating for the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015. The key is “former.” I’ll bet while they were running for office harsh sentencing was a-OK. [Sentencing Law and Policy]
* Using the show Serial to teach good brief writing. [Legal Writing Pro]
* Had you considered the marriage equality dimensions of Kerry v. Din? Me neither. But Professor Dorf did. [Verdict]
* Law schools are increasingly hiring deans from within. Just another way of keeping Elie out of that dean’s job he wants so badly. [The Faculty Lounge]
* What to do when hiring a contract attorney? Hm. Look for fear and desperation? Oh… oh, you’re being serious about ethics and stuff. [Daily Report]
* The best description of the conservative argument in King: “the card says ‘Moops.'” [Lawyers, Guns & Money]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia02fGpUQfU
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2nd Circuit, Contract Attorneys
Second Circuit Sympathetic To Contract Attorneys?
Is it possible the 2d Circuit will be on the side of doc reviewers? -
Biglaw, Contract Attorneys, Disability Law
Biglaw Firm Gets Hit With ADA Lawsuit
Biglaw firm sued under Americans with Disabilities Act -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 04.30.15
* David Simon, the creator of The Wire, weighs in on Baltimore. He points blame at a police force rooted in “a culture that taught them not the hard job of policing, but simply how to roam the city, jack everyone up, and call for the wagon.” F**k. [Talking Points Memo]
* In Colorado, marriage is defined as one man and… well, that’s all you need actually. [Business Insider Law & Order]
* No sooner did I tweet Chief Justice Roberts for his cynical inconsistencies than Brianne Gorod offers a more charitable theory about the jurist. [New Republic]
* Hull takes a stab at explaining his problem with the parlance of email. [What About Clients?]
* A fly on the wall at the post-Obergefell chambers conference. [Law Prof Blawg]
* Professor Hasen examines Williams-Yulee. [Election Law Blog]
* Another reality TV legal run-in: the restaurant from “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” settles a discrimination suit over an employee claiming she was fired for refusing to join a prayer session. I think the important question here is: there’s really a show called “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s”? [Missouri Lawyers Weekly]
* Did you follow that child custody hearing over letting an 11-year-old attend a P!nk (is this how we write that now?) concert? Because it was crazypants. [Bronzino Law]
* Could the Uber class action suit spell relief for contract attorneys? [Law and More]
* Ballard Spahr’s Chair Mark Stewart talks about the competition between law firms and the distribution of… oh, face it, you just want to hear him talk about hiring Rogers Stevens of Blind Melon as an associate. [Bloomberg BNA / Big Law Business]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzXBlzvxuMs
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 04.22.15
* Oh no you didn’t. Benchslap comes down on firm who tried to squeeze words together and tighten spaces to stay within page limits. [How Appealing]
* “Five Charts That Show You Should Apply to Law School This Year.” Slightly less educational than the 30 Cats That Are More Badass Than You. [Bloomberg Business]
* In fact, law schools are really almost indistinguishable from the show Community. Funny but not quite as funny as 4 years ago? Well, maybe that too. [The Legal Watchdog]
* I’ll just leave this as a prompt for your own short fiction: “Lexington woman being strangled with bra fights off attacker with ceramic chicken”… [WKYT]
* Following on Alex Rich’s post about the “blame game” in eDiscovery, the problem goes well beyond that industry — even if it’s the most recent manifestation. [Law and More]
* Do you know your Earth Day history? Like which lawyer turned Senator founded the occasion? [What About Clients?]
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Contract Attorneys
The Document Review Blame Game
"Who" makes a mistake may not be as important as "why." -
Contract Attorneys, Technology
Working With, Not Against, Ediscovery
Maybe we could care about the client for a change... -
Contract Attorneys
Full-Time Work As A Document Reviewer?
There's a way out of the contract attorney life... but is it worth it? -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 03.25.15
* Dildos and cock rings. Just another day for the Eleventh Circuit down in America’s wang. [Southern District of Florida Blog]
* Everything you need to know about today’s Alabama redistricting decisions from Professor Rick Hasen. It’s a longer and more nuanced way to say “Pyrrhic victory.” [Election Law Blog]
* The Supreme Court is way eloquent. [Lowering the Bar]
* Looks like we already have a real-life example of what happens when white-collar industries adopt new technology. Enjoy unemployment! [Law and More]
* Another scintillating legal debate coming up next week: do the President’s war powers exceed constitutional authority? [Intelligence Squared]
* If you’re in Nashville, you can see Lat in person. It’s on April Fool’s Day, so start thinking of how you want to punk him. [Vanderbilt Law]
* Harvard Law’s Lambda chapter kills its diversity amendment. Guess it was too much to hope a bunch of law students had solved de Tocqueville’s “tyranny of the majority” puzzle. [Harvard Law Record]
* Another installment in David’s chat with Bloomberg. Lat compares some firms to Ferraris… I’m guessing he doesn’t watch much racing unless he meant to say, “some firms spend massive amounts of money to remain woefully second-rate to Mercedes and Renault.” [Bloomberg BNA / Big Law Business]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoS0wdteBS0
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Contract Attorneys
Judge Peck And The Machines
Is there any hope for a poor contract attorney in the high-tech world of Judge Peck? -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 03.20.15
* People are dogging this, but I wholeheartedly approve. Kids need to learn that Republicans will kill any idea no matter how benign while somehow making it about abortion. It’s an important life lesson. [NH1]
* Sometimes the help of a friend actually makes the situation worse. That’s why I make it my policy not to help. [Science of Relationships]
* A second suspect picked up in the triple murder involving America’s Next Top Model Mirjana Puhar. Investigators plan to give him a hot mic and wait for him to take a bathroom break. [Gawker]
* LSAC’s having a big day. After law school applications hit a 15-year low, we get the news that LSAC has changed their licensing agreement to kill LSAT PrepTest PDFs. That’ll help. [LSAT Blog]
* When you think about it, contract lawyers are living out the white-collar version of the Industrial Revolution. And doing about as well as the first Proletariat did. [Law and More]
* Someone thinks the country doesn’t have to be run by lawyers. This is a dangerous idea that could take down the empire we’ve all built. Thankfully it’s coming from the Transhumanist Party presidential candidate. So I think we’re safe. [Motherboard / Vice]
* That’s not how you use Swiss cheese… [Legal Juice]
* A new podcast discusses religious liberty bills with Professor Marci Hamilton, Verkuli Chair in Public Law at Cardozo. [RJ Court Watch]
* Another call to do something nice and simple so you aren’t the kind of lawyer people joke about. [What About Clients?]
* On that note, here’s a cavalcade of lawyer jokes explained. Until things get too real. [LFC360]
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Contract Attorneys
Document Review Attorney Takes On Deloitte
Another document review David challenging an industry Goliath.