Third Big Firm Overbilling Scandal
Forget stock option backdating; the real emerging scandal is big law firm billing practices. In the past month, we’ve had public scrutiny of the billing practices at old-line white-shoe NY firm Wilkie Farr, DC/Boston powerhouse WilmerHale and now the latest–1200…
What if He Had [Barked] [Crowed] [Moo’ed] Instead?
The AP ran a crazy, crazy story of prosecutorial discretion gone amok. Neighbor 1’s cat uses neighbor 2’s garden as a littlerbox. Neighbor 2 complains to police. Neighbor 1 gets rid of the cat, which upsets the 14 year old…
Administrative Duties as Academic Director
When I was considering the opportunity to become Academic Director of the law school’s High Tech Law institute, a lot of people warned me that the administrative duties would cut into my time for scholarship. I knew this would be…
Froogle Demoted
When I was at Epinions, we knew Froogle was coming. Needless to say, this was the source of some consternation. Google had traffic (and lots of it), money (and lots of it) and, well, mojo (and lots of it). So…
Another NY BigLaw Partner Caught Lying to His Firm
In the Matter of William P. DiSalvatore, 2006 NY Slip Op 06210 (NY App Div Aug. 10, 2006). The NY Lawyer story. William P. DiSalvatore was a partner at WilmerHale, a major national firm. He was also a rising star…
What Law Students Want From Law Professors
James B. Levy, As a Last Resort, Ask the Students: What They Say Makes Someone an Effective Law Teacher, 58 Me. L. Rev. 50 (2006): “[T]he profile of the ideal law school professor from the students’ perspective is someone who…
Sexy Professors are Better Professors (?)
I couldn’t read this report without hearing the 1970s Rod Stewart song in my head: “If you want my body and you think I’m sexy, come on sugar let me know.” I’ve previously blogged on Ratemyprofessor.com, the role of sexiness…
Teaching the Context of Contract Drafting
At the ABA Annual Meeting, I was on a “train the trainer” panel with Sue Irion, Tina Stark and Charles Fox regarding the teaching of contract drafting. I talked about how to teach the substantive law that underlies contracts. Because…
Biglaw Partner Suspended 1 Year for Billing Clients for Personal Telephone Calls
In re Matter of Carmody, 2006 NY Slip Op 06058 (NY App Div July 27, 2006). The NY Lawyer writeup. Patrick Carmody was a former partner at NY’s Willkie Farr, where he made about $1,000,000/year. During 2001 and 2002, he…
Comment Spam Avalanche
Back to the comment spam issue. I recalibrated the settings in Movable Type and opened up comments in April. Unbeknowst to me (and contrary to my configurations), MT put all of the comments in a moderation queue that wasn’t obvious…