Featured Articles

Barack Obama and the Harvard Law Review

David Lat
June 23, 2008 18:35

Given our twin obsessions with the Harvard Law Review and Barack Obama, we are compelled to draw your attention to this interesting article, from the Politico (via a commenter). Summarizing Obama's tenure as HLR president, Jeffrey Ressner and Ben Smith write: The eight dense volumes produced...

Lawyers You'll Swear At, Not Work For

David Lat
October 09, 2008 16:11

Many people have interviewing horror stories. But few people actually bother to send a letter to the offending firm. One Georgetown University Law Center student did just that. After her interview with Harris Beach the student sent a letter to James Spitz, CEO of Harris Beach: I was looking...

Nationwide Layoff Watch: Powell Goldstein

David Lat
June 20, 2008 21:58

Rumors of layoffs at Powell Goldstein have been swirling about for some time. But until now they've just been rumors. This afternoon, James J. McAlpin, Jr., chairman of Powell Goldstein, confirmed the cuts for us. We emailed him and mentioned some of the numbers we've been hearing. He...

Disbarment for Jack Thompson?

David Lat
June 05, 2008 17:58

Colorful Florida lawyer Jack Thompson is a two-time winner of our Lawyer of the Day award (here and here). He has appeared in these pages so often that he even has his own category tag. So this news, from the Daily Business Review, did not come as a total shock: Coral Gables attorney and...

Singapore Blogger Says 'Catch Me if You Can,' and They Do

David Lat
June 03, 2008 15:54

Gopalan Nair is a Singapore lawyer turned U.S. citizen and blogger. He runs the blog Singapore Dissident. The lesson we've learned from his story: when we launch AboveTheLaw - Singapore, we'll need to drop the Judge of the Day feature. Nair has been arrested in Singapore for "insulting a public...

Global 100 Rankings: Some Firms Are Doing Just Fine

David Lat
October 02, 2008 20:47

With all the doom and gloom about the economy, it's easy to forget that some law firms are doing really, really well. American Lawyer has come out with their Global 100 rankings (subscription) report. Am Law reports that most stable global firms are based across the pond: After madly shedding...

Recent Articles

Nationwide Layoff Watch: Stealth Layoffs at Fried Frank

David Lat
November 21, 2008 15:50

We've gotten credible information that Fried Frank has laid off at least 15 associates from their corporate department, including 6 in the real estate practice group. A tipster collects the information in a clear way: They are veiled as performance-based reviews, but virtually everyone is getting...

Nationwide Layoff Watch: Public Defenders

David Lat
November 21, 2008 14:35

ATL has been providing in-depth coverage of firm layoffs, but we haven't written much about public defenders suffering the same fate. With state budgets experiencing big squeezes, public defenders' offices across the country are getting downsized, while their caseloads are getting upsized. We...

Morning Docket 11.21.08

David Lat
November 21, 2008 14:05

* Mukasey is going to be okay. He's telling jokes and talking to the President. A GW doctor said ""The attorney general is conscious, conversant and alert." [CNN] * Do you feel sorry for sex offenders? The California 4th district court does. They ruled that Jessica's law, a law that prohibits sex...

Breaking: Attorney General Mukasey Collapses at Federalist Society Dinner

David Lat
November 21, 2008 03:30

ATL correspondent Laurie Lin, on the scene at the annual dinner of the Federalist Society, reports that Attorney General Michael Mukasey "literally collapsed mid-sentence at the podium," while delivering a speech at the Society's National Lawyers Convention. It is not clear what AG Mukasey...