Law Firm Partner Pay Transparency
New York Lawyer has a good article on the different ways that law firms handle the transparency of the amount paid to partners. At most firms, partners can learn what their peer partners earn (although, in some cases, this information…
Ethical Issues in Contract Drafting and Negotiation
I gave an updated presentation on Ethical Issues in Contract Drafting and Negotiation. I got some pushback from the audience on the “Negotiations–Telling the Truth” and backdating slides; and the anti-contact rule slides produced a near-meltdown! The latter is hardly…
Lawyer Professionalism and Potted Plants
As part of our orientation, the school arranged a lunch for incoming 1st years and judges/lawyers/professors. The agenda was to discuss professionalism with the incoming students, and we were prompted with a cheat sheet of questions. One question asked us…
Defense Lawyers at Guantánamo Bay
Powerful GQ article on military lawyers defending detainees at Guantánamo Bay. An excerpt: Which is why the commissions were designed to appear to be fair. The rules required each defendant to be provided a JAG officer who would be bound…
“British Lawyers Are Unhappy, Too”
Many American lawyers are unhappy with their jobs–so much so that we sometimes think we have a monopoly on unhappy lawyers. But it turns out British lawyers are unhappy too, according to this Times of London article. The article lays…
Private Equity Funds Buying Into Patent Portfolios/Lawsuits
IP litigation–especially patent litigation–is hot, but I’ve been trying to figure out what’s causing the growth and whether it’s persistent. Jessie Seyfer at the Recorder provides one explanation for the discontinuous bump-up in patent litigation: private equity funds, tired of…
Blogs Help Law Students Get Jobs
The National Law Journal runs a glowing article on how law students have gotten jobs/offers from blogging. This is great to hear, and done properly a blog can turn a law student into a superstar while still in school. But…
Dilbert on Working with Lawyers
What would you rather do–check with a lawyer, or hit yourself with a hammer? Funny.
NYC Summer Associates Recap
New York Observer: “My Very Special Summer.” All the dirt on life as a summer associate in NYC. HT: WSJ Law Blog.
Dillon on Litigating
Mike Dillon, GC at Sun Microsystems, has a terrific post explaining a GC’s view of the litigation process. He offers 4 lessons: * Litigate only “when you have an important interest to protect” * Non-judicial resolutions are better than having…