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Non-Sequiturs: 05.25.12

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* This is a crazy idea to contemplate: Do bosses’ wives sabotage the advancement of women in the workplace? [The Careerist]

* Mary mother of pearl. This is terrifying. I wouldn’t pull this on my worst enemy. Well, maybe the worst, like an Emperor Commodus-level nemesis. [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]

*The LSAT is bad enough as it is, but no one warns you about how it can lead to getting L-fat. [Life in the Law School Lane]

* Petty crime, penny crime. Same difference. [Legal Juice]

* It’s a wonderful plot of land. You have the hillside, a great view, and if you walk down this way, you’ll see the mine field and our chemical weapons collection. We are offering a discount for… wait, why are you running away? [Courthouse News]

* Wow. Google says it removes a million copyright infringing links… every month. Last month more than half of the requests came from Microsoft. [Threat Level / Wired]

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Mr. Bar Exam: Here’s The One Situation It’s Okay To Buy Something From New York Law School

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Did you know that New York-area law schools charge money for the use of their libraries during bar exam study time?

Did you know that people coming to New York to take the bar are willing to pay for the use of these libraries, thereby avoiding the homeless people masturbating at the New York Public Library?

Did you know that New York Law School, of all places, is probably offering the best library deal?

These are some of the things you’ll learn about in this week’s episode of Mr. Bar Exam….

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Job of the Week: Big Corporate Comeback in the ATL

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Atlanta has recently re-emerged as one of the top markets for corporate associates. Today’s Job of the Week is for Biglaw-trained corporate associates who are looking to relocate to the Capital of the South. Lateral Link has many great opportunities for corporate associates who have experience in M&A, private equity/venture capital, and general corporate transaction law and securities.

Position: Corporate Associate

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Description: Many of Atlanta’s top firms are looking to hire corporate associates with anywhere from 2-5 years of experience in corporate law, including M&A, private equity/venture capital, and securities. Ideal candidates will have experience at top firms and have an excellent academic record. The Georgia Bar is not required.

This opportunity is brought to you by Lateral Link’s Southeast Managing Director, Scott Hodes. Scott oversees attorney placements and client services in Atlanta, Florida, Charlotte, and other legal markets in the Southeast. To work with Scott and to apply to this opportunity or other opportunities in Atlanta or the Southeast, please register at Lateral Link and select him as your preferred recruiter. You can also reach out to him directly via email at shodes@laterallink.com. If you already are a Lateral Link member, see position #12141, or contact your recruiter for more details about this and other corporate opportunities.

Quote of the Day: All Bets Are Off On in New Jersey

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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

If someone wants to stop us, then let them try to stop us. We want to work with the casinos and horse racing industry to get it implemented.

Am I expecting there may be legal action taken against us to try to prevent it? Yes. But I have every confidence we’re going to be successful.

– Governor Chris Christie, commenting on his plans to defy a federal ban on sports betting in New Jersey.

Comment of the Week: The Art Of The Backhanded Compliment

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Sure, sometimes the comments are rough, but they’re often funny, even when we are the subjects of mean jokes. We here at Above the Law have thick skins.

But we do like compliments, and we’ll take them anywhere we can get them.

The winner of this week’s Comment of the Week contest is a two-parter. The first comment was the ultimate backhanded compliment, while the follow-up was more like a “closed fist upside your head” compliment….

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Moonlighting: What Is It Like To Do Social Media Work As A Lawyer?

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I had mentioned a while ago in my very first ATL post that some of my work involves marketing. Well, some of that marketing involves social media. As the main social media lawyer for my business unit, I work with our strategic teams to figure out how to make the best use of social media technologies (e.g., Facebook, Youtube, blogs, smartphone apps, etc.). All within 140 characters at a time.

What’s it like? As lawyerly work goes, it’s fast-paced and feels kind of risky and cutting-edge. Kind of like Mission Impossible. You know, like if the movie had a lawyer character whose job it was to make sure that the Tom Cruise character signed a waiver every time he got a pack of explosive chewing gum. Really, even non-lawyers think this social media lawyering work is cool. Granted, the non-lawyers I’m talking about are sixty-year-old gamers who live at home with their mothers. But still!

There isn’t really a standalone body of “social media law,” so a lawyer who covers this area ends up being a sort of jack of few trades. Instead, law in social media involves work which falls into the following basic categories….

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You Should Probably Get Out of Adam Reposa’s Way

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Adam “Bulletproof” Reposa is an attorney in Austin, Texas. Editor emeritus Kashmir Hill covered his, how shall we say, unorthodox activities quite a bit a few years ago.

Most notably, he was held in contempt for making a “simulated masturbatory gesture” at a judge with whom he disagreed.

There is a new video out featuring Reposa. It’s hilarious. The video is quite subtle. But I think the main message is if you stand in his way in court, he will run you over with his pickup truck….

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Morning Docket: 05.25.12

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* In a Supreme Court decision split across gender lines, prosecutors can now get a do-over on criminal charges without double jeopardy, even if an otherwise deadlocked jury unanimously rejected them. [New York Times]

* And yet another day ended without a verdict in the John Edwards campaign finance trial, but the jury asked to review every exhibit in the case. The former presidential candidate must feel like he’s being punk’d. [CNN]

* The DOJ found that two prosecutors in the Ted Stevens case committed reckless professional misconduct punishable by unpaid time off. Looks like they’ll be getting an extended Memorial Day break. [Blog of Legal Times]

* Hot on the heels of Obama’s announcement in support of gay marriage, yet another California judge has found that DOMA is unconstitutional (along with a provision of the tax code). [Poliglot / Metro Weekly]

* Occupy Wall Street is suing for $48K over the destruction of the group’s “People’s Library” after their eviction from Zuccotti Park. But let’s get real, who wants used books that reek like patchouli and pot? [Bloomberg]

* More than one million “de facto spouses” in Quebec may soon be automatically married by the state against their will. Imagine how much fun it’ll be to get a divorce from someone you never actually married. [Slate]

* Two waitresses who claim they were fired for complaining about their former employer’s “no fatties” policy will get to bring their $15M lawsuit before a jury. Hopefully Peter Griffin isn’t a juror. [Law & Daily Life / FindLaw]

Law School Success Stories: The Virtue of Thrift

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Last month, we solicited law school success stories from you, our readers. We’re often quite critical of law schools around these parts. So, to even out the scales a bit, we’re going to be running a series of happy stories, focused on graduates who are glad they went to law school.

We’ve tried to organize the success stories under a few broad themes, to lend some structure to the discussion. Some of the themes exist in tension with each other, and not all themes will apply to all readers. By the time the series is done, however, we hope that the stories will collectively shed some light on the question of whether one should go to law school.

Let’s launch into our first collection of law school success stories. They could be grouped under the theme of “go cheap, or go home”….

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Non-Sequiturs: 05.24.12

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* And then Reagan said, “Take this, all of you, and drink from it: for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be auctioned off for you, by PFC Auctions, right after I sign this legislation outlawing Russia forever.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* It’s time for another “If Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies, I’m Gonna Kill Her” article. Man, you never know. Ginsburg could end up out living Antonin Scalia with the right mix of ham sandwiches and cybernetic technology. [Daily Beast]

* Will being hot help this cop who was arrested for driving while drunk when she was on duty? Honestly, I’ve forgotten what she’s accused of already. [Explorer News]

* A new definition of piracy could cause any man who loves the freedom of the sea, the rolling of the surf, and the bounty of unprotected U.S. cargo ships to be branded a pirate. [CBS News]

* Every Harvard student tries to identify the Ted Kaczynski of their class. [Huffington Post]

* How to protect your iProducts at the beach this weekend. We wouldn’t want you to be without Above the Law. [Legal Blog Watch]

Dewey Have A Meme Contest Winner? Oh Yes We Do!
(Plus some news updates.)

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As we roll into the Memorial Day weekend, things are fairly quiet on the Dewey front. There’s not much news to report.

As we previously mentioned, some former partners are hiring counsel to defend them against possible clawback claims. And the ranks of ex-partners continue to grow: some nine Dewey partners, led by New York-based transactional attorney Elizabeth Powers, have moved over to Duane Morris, along with three counsel and four associates (so 16 lawyers in all).

What else can we report about Dewey? Oh yes, the winner of our meme contest….

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(Plus some news updates.)”