Screw-Ups
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Crime, Jury Duty, Loyola Law School, Prostitution, Robert Gettleman, Screw-Ups, Sex, Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners, Trials
Mistrial in Massage Parlor Prosecution After Masseuse Recognizes Defense Lawyer -- as a Client....
We have the makings of a trend: inappropriate contacts between participants in jury trials. These contacts can be problematic because a jury trial constitutes a delicate ecosystem, in which contacts and communications between actors are regulated strictly to ensure the fairness of the proceedings. Now we bring you news of, er, more intimate contact between a witness and a lawyer -- which culminated in a mistrial.... -
Biglaw, Email Scandals, Partner Issues, Screw-Ups
MoFo Partner Offers Cautionary Tale in Use of 'Reply All'
A partner at Morrison & Foerster accidentally "replied all" to an email on which "List/Attorney/All" was cc'd. Emails sent to "List/Attorney/All" go out to all 1,000-plus MoFo lawyers around the world. What the partner wrote in the email was probably not something that should have been shared with the rest of the firm.... - Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Zach Warren from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the potential and the pitfalls. -
Job Searches, Loyola Law School, Screw-Ups
Lawyers Are Out of Jobs Thanks to an Epic City Government Fail
You'd think that even a city government would realize that offering attorneys jobs 780 miles away from home and then revoking those offers a week and a half later would be life-ruining. But apparently, that's not how things work in upstate New York....
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Bar Exams, New Jersey, Screw-Ups, Technology
More Bar Disasters As The Exams Wrap Up
Bar exam mishaps continue. Here's some news from New Jersey, where some test takers found themselves "powerless." -
Bar Exams, California, Cellphones, Disasters / Emergencies, Rudeness, Screw-Ups
Bar Exam Open Thread: Have At It
Here’s an open thread for discussing the July 2011 bar exam. We hope you attack it with all the gusto of Los Angeles lawyers at a deposition. If you’ve just finished the bar exam, congratulations. We hope you’re taking a well-deserved vacation, perhaps involving some exotic travel (e.g., the traditional bar trip). If you’re still […] -
Benchslaps, Federal Judges, Politics, Quote of the Day, Rank Stupidity, Screw-Ups
Benchslap of the Day: Judge Rebukes Birther Queen for Abortive Attempt at Redaction
Lawyer and dentist Orly Taitz, popularly known as "Queen of the Birthers," needs to work on her redaction skills, according to a federal judge. -
Bar Exams, Disasters / Emergencies, Screw-Ups
Bar Exam Disasters, And It's Only Been One Day
Why is it so hard to administer the bar exam? Here are tales of woe from around the country. -
9/11, Crime, Drinking, Screw-Ups, Sentencing Law
Could a Harvard Law Grad Go to Jail for Failing to Pay What He Owes?
Brian Schroeder, the Harvard Law School graduate who set fire to a memorial housing the remains of 9/11 victims, could be looking at jail time if he can't make restitution. He needs to come up with $50,000 -- ASAP. - Sponsored
How Transactional Lawyers Can Better Serve (And Maintain) Their Clients
Sign up and join us for our CLE webinar. From importing your checklist to delivering the closing book, you can bolster client service throughout the… -
Bar Exams, BARBRI, Screw-Ups, Vanderbilt
Everybody Whose State Did NOT Make A Last Minute Change In Bar Exam Grading, Step Forward. Not So Fast, Tennessee.
Bar exams are underway all across this great nation. It’s an exciting time for the next crop of young lawyers (at least “exciting” in the sense that being trapped in a mall while zombies swarm around trying to eat your brains is certainly not dull). In Tennessee, where the bar exam starts tomorrow, the state […] -
Associate Advice, Screw-Ups, Small Law Firms
Size Matters: To err is human, but you are a lawyer.
Okay, you've made a mistake. Everyone does. What's the best way of handling the situation? -
Crime, Drinking, Guns / Firearms, Lawyer of the Day, Screw-Ups, Violence
Lawyer of the Day: Georgetown Law Grad Pulls Trigger, May Have Shot Career In The Foot
A prosecutor in Miami recently resigned from his job, amid controversy. What did he do to get himself in hot water? -
Biglaw, Choate Hall & Stewart, Fabulosity, Lawyerly Lairs, Money, Partner Issues, Real Estate, Screw-Ups
Think A Lawyer Can Afford a $13 Million Condo? Think Again.
Some readers have issues with the often irreverent commenters here at Above the Law. While ATL commenters sometimes say hurtful or offensive things, like anonymous commenters all over the internet, they also provide significant value. They serve as copy editors, highlighting our typographical mistakes; they work as tipsters, pointing us in the direction of news […] -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Old People, Practice Pointers, Screw-Ups
Inside Straight: The Ghosts Of Incompetents Past
There’s a reason why people get crotchety when they get old. People forget about things that went right in their professional lives; that’s like water off a duck. But people remember things that got screwed up; that’s what sticks in their craws. You personally are not necessarily incompetent. But you’re tarred by the ghosts of […]
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Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get…
Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Zach Warren from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the potential and the pitfalls.
Sponsored
How Transactional Lawyers Can Better Serve (And Maintain) Their Clients
Sign up and join us for our CLE webinar. From importing your checklist to delivering the closing book, you can bolster client service throughout the…
Sponsored
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms.
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AI’s Impact On Law Firms Of Every Size
How solo lawyers, midsize firms, and global large law firms have an opportunity to adjust the way they work.
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Google / Search Engines, Lexis-Nexis, LexisNexis / Lexis-Nexis, Old People, Rank Stupidity, Screw-Ups, Summer Associates, Technology, Westlaw
All This Techno-Ignorance Will Make Your Head Explode
Over the last few weeks, I’ve written about some über expensive and embarrassing examples of lawyers making technological mistakes. Those stories involved sexily scandalous blunders, but they were relatively extreme scenarios. (If turning over thousands of privileged documents happens regularly at your firm, may God help you.) More frequently, firm employees deal with little technological […] -
Document Review, Malpractice, Screw-Ups, Technology
McDermott Will & Emery Wins E-discovery Blunder of the Week
A wise man once said: “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” I think of this whenever there are claims of attorneys royally screwing up e-discovery. It’s easy to indulge in some schadenfreude and say, “What suckers!” But truthfully, many firms — even the big, prestigious ones — are more vulnerable than they’d […] -
4th Circuit, Benchslaps, Screw-Ups, Technology
How to Lose a Case With Simple Computer Cluelessness
For attorneys, missing deadlines is a big no-no. BIG no-no. A Goodyear blimp-sized no-no. People have literally died because of blown deadlines. Cases worth millions of dollars get tossed out because of missed deadlines, even if someone has a decent excuse. That being so, I do not envy the lawyer who had to tell his […] -
Blog Wars, Drugs, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Money, Screw-Ups, Student Loans
Kids, Get High Off Drugs, Not Debt. It's More Fun And People Are Nicer To You When It's Time To Recover.
Let’s say that instead of taking on huge debts while I was in law school, I had taken up a wicked cocaine habit. Let’s say I had done loads and loads of blow from 2000 to 2007 and then went into a 12-step program. If I had been lucky enough to avoid an overdose or […] -
Associate Advice, Screw-Ups, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Sorry About This Post
Have you ever messed something up for a client? Ever make a mistake that was yours and yours alone, that caused your client a problem and you and your firm some embarrassment? If you haven’t, then you haven’t been practicing very long. Because you can’t practice for a long time without making some mistakes. It’s […] -
China, Cyberlaw, Email Scandals, Google / Search Engines, Privacy, Screw-Ups, Technology
Chinese Hackers Hijack Hundreds of Gmail Accounts
This news is more than a little scary. Google announced yesterday that hackers in China had gotten access to hundreds of Gmail accounts. And it wasn’t just anyone’s email. The attack targeted senior government officials in the United States, Chinese political activists, officials in several Asian countries, military personnel, and journalists. I have a feeling […] -
Commencement, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Screw-Ups
Commencement Speechmaking 101
Is it really that hard to make a commencement speech? I wrote one in high school. It was basically about seizing the day. My friend made one in college. Same theme, only in Latin. You can also make commencement speeches about giving back to your community, the importance of education, or how your generation is […]