Gillian Lester

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.27.18

* Barbara Jones, a former federal judge who now serves as a partner at Bracewell (a firm where Rudy Giuliani was once a name partner), has been appointed as a special master in Michael Cohen’s case to decide which materials that were seized from his office are protected by attorney-client privilege and which materials can be reviewed by prosecutors. [New York Post] * This just got really interesting: The anonymous Proskauer partner who is suing the firm in a $50 million gender bias case has come forward and revealed her name. Jane Doe is better known as Connie Bertram, head of the firm’s labor and employment practice in D.C. and co-head of the firm’s whistleblowing and retaliation group. [American Lawyer] * Veteran Supreme Court advocate Lisa Blatt of Arnold & Porter received a rare honor at the high court earlier this week during oral arguments in Trump v. Hawaii when Justice Stephen Breyer mentioned her as the author of an amicus brief. This almost never happens. Congratulations on a job well done! [National Law Journal] * The Stanford Law Class of 1998 has the special sauce for producing female deans at top law schools. Kimberly Yuracko of Northwestern, Kerry Abrams of Duke, and Gillian Lester of Columbia all graduated in the same year. [The Recorder] * Cooley Law School is back in compliance with ABA accreditation standards. Apparently the school is now admitting candidates who appear capable of finishing law school and gaining admission to a state bar (even though recent bar exam pass-rate statistics seem to strongly disagree with that assessment). [ABA Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky
Associate Salaries

Morning Docket: 04.24.14

* The $160K-Plus Club welcomes its newest member: Duval & Stachenfeld, a real estate firm in NY, is more than doubling its starting salary for associates to $175K. Look for them recruiting at your “tier one” school soon. [New York Law Journal] * In this economy, bankruptcy firms are being hit hard: Stutman Treister & Glatt, a top L.A. firm that once assisted businesses like Lehman Brothers and Enron Corp. in their Chapter 11 proceedings, is closing up shop. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)] * It ain’t easy being dean at the law school with the best Biglaw prospects — oh wait, yes it is. Congrats to Gillian Lester, who will serve as Columbia Law’s fifteenth dean come January 2015. [Columbia News] * “Do I think he thought he was gonna beat it? Yeah.” The district attorney who brought charges against Stephen McDaniel thinks the law school killer was too big for his chainmail britches. [Macon Telegraph] * From catcalling to “jiggle tests,” NFL cheerleaders have to put up with a lot of really ridiculous stuff. Not being paid the minimum wage is one thing, but having to put up with being groped is quite another. [TIME]

By Staci Zaretsky
Affirmative Action

Non-Sequiturs: 01.31.14

* This is the place where we pretend to be shocked that Chris Christie abused his power. [New York Times] * Remember the Super Bowl Shuffle? Now there’s a lawsuit over it. Proving even terrible art can give rise to litigation. [Business Wire] * Miami criminal defense attorney Michael Grieco thought he was representing Justin Bieber and let all the media outlets know it. Well, he’s not. [South Florida Lawyers] * Listen up, law review editors! This is how you avoid making authors angry. [Nancy Rapoport's Blog] * John Yoo for Dean of Boalt Hall? OK, maybe not, but here are the finalists for the position. [Nuts & Boalts] * California is eyeing a referendum to allow affirmative action considerations to be employed in college admissions for the first time in almost 20 years. Surely the same people who passed Prop 8 will be enlightened enough to do something proactive about systemic discrimination. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * The art of negotiation and terrible cigars. [Katz Justice] * And I joined Mike Sacks and Jessica Mederson on Legalese It! today. So check out our rousing discussion of the State of the Union v. Supreme Court, Foxy Knoxy’s extradition fears, and California’s decision to keep disgraced journalist Stephen Glass out of the legal profession. Video below… [Huffington Post Live]

By Joe Patrice