KFC = Plea Deal

We've all been there. The bar shuts down, you're drunk and all you want is some greasy food. We've gone through great lengths to get this food, but this is outrageous. And I'm assuming he wasn't even drunk!

From Yahoo:

Durham agreed to plead guilty to murder — but only if he could get a break
from jail food. The judge agreed and granted Durham a feast of KFC chicken,
Popeye's chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, carrot cake and ice cream.
After
Wednesday's sentencing, Durham was to get the rest of the deal — calzones,
lasagna, pizza and ice cream, his defense attorney confirmed. They will pay the
tab.

Class Action Lawsuit...Unconstitutional?

From WSJ:

But while the attorneys collect fees based on the amount of the settlement,
few allegedly injured people in the class actually claim their share of the
award . . . The court then has to decide what to do with the uncollected
funds.
. . . .
What courts often do in these cases is distribute the money, in an ad hoc
manner, to people who are not even in the class, who would not have had standing
to sue, and who were never even alleged to have been wronged. This alternative
remedy is known as cy pres, which translates to "as near as possible,"
and in theory is supposed to benefit class members.

Judges, in their unlimited discretion, have occasionally been known to order a distribution to some place like their own alma mater or a public interest organization that they happen to favor.

Admittedly, I am very uninformed about the class action system in this country. As the economy worsens, we are all searching for the issue. Often, corporations are made the scapegoat. Obama talks about taxing big oil's windfall profits (what exactly is a windfall? huge profits? huge profit margin? I don't know.) The corporate tax rate is constantly debated. Even Obama is considering lowering it from 35% (McCain has already pledged to slash it to 25%)

Is the class action lawsuit another issue that is driving companies overseas? Is this something to even be concerned about? If so, what should be done? Hell if I know...I'm just trying to prep for OCI!

More Law Schools: Is This A Problem?

Buffalo News:

Anybody notice a shortage of lawyers around here? Didn’t think so.
Yet the New York Legislature has quietly allocated $50 million in seed money to
create three new law schools in a state that already has 15 of them.

The Legislature's argument is that there are only two public schools and they're really far apart! I'll leave the discussion on the Legislature to someone else. I want to look at the big picture: more law schools. Is it a problem that law schools are popping up everywhere and the ABA keeps accrediting them?

My biggest concern is the quality of these law schools. What type of students are these three new public law schools going to attract in NY? What kind of career options are these students going to have?

I am not saying that all new law schools are a bad idea. UC Irvine seems to be on the right track. Dean Chemerinsky (yes, same guy that got you through Con Law) has assembled a "Dream Team" according to NewUniversity.org

Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UC Irvine’s new law school, announced his chosen
founding faculty and senior administrators on July 10. At top-20-caliber, the
school is expected to redefine legal education for the 21st century.

At least UC Irvine is striving to be the best. As opposed to Phoenix, which is just trying to figure out why its students can't get accepted to other schools.

Disability And The Law

Above the Law posted this story about a disabled student failing the WV bar. He sued and demanded accommodations. This reminded me of the law student that "fought his way into law school."

Bernstein fought his way into law school, arguing that the LSAT test at
Northwestern University violated his rights as a blind person because the test
wasn't offered in Braille. He won and was admitted to the school based on his
academic achievement, as an honors graduate from the University of Michigan.

Where should the line be drawn? One commenter on ATL questioned how billing would work for the disabled student who "has severe deficits in processing speed, cognitive fluency and rapid naming."

As a client, would you want this attorney working on your case? I don't know. This is a tough issue. There is definitely grumbling when a few students get an extra hour on a difficult timed exam in law school. Should these 'disabled' students get extra time or should all the students in the class face the same time limit?


*Bernstein seems to be doing well. He teaches a political science class at U. of Michigan and works for his family's law firm. He also sued U. of Michigan on behalf the Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Whoa! Bomb Drops...

Cadwalader axed 96 lawyers today.  Above the Law has two posts (1, 2) detailing the layoffs.  Obviously, if you're planning an interview with Cadwalader, rethink that.  There was much discussion about how a firm could just lay off so many attorneys like this.  

Is it smart to do?  Maybe, depending on how dire the situation is.  It will kill recruiting and really hurt their reputation.  On the other hand, it clears  out some dead weight. 

As a business, do they have a responsibility to avoid this sort of layoff?  Here is what I wrote on ATL: 

As someone heading into OCI, I really hope this isn't me in a few years, but why do people expect a firm to take a financial hit by holding onto attorneys it doesn't need? Or, why shouldn't a firm expand quickly to meet needs even if it is just a bubble?

This is pretty similar to the auto industry and the Big 3. They expanded and were happy to pay line workers $30/hr when work was great, but now they're hurting and need to shed some weight. Of course, the difference is one group is unionized.

There are a lot of opinions out there and I'd like to hear yours.  Best of luck to those affected by this news.  

2007 Was A Very Good Year

Cheney was president for a couple hours while GWB had a colonoscopy.  Iraq won the Asian Cup.  Elections were held in Sierra Leone.  And, graduating law students had a pretty good job market.  From Law.com:     

Nearly 92 percent of 2007 law school graduates have jobs now, the highest reported figure in 20 years. And those who work at law firms are earning a median salary of $108,500 -- about $13,000 more than 2006 graduates were making when they started out.

Thanks a lot Mom and Dad!  You couldn't have humped a little more in the early 80s?  Now I'm stuck actually being concerned about on-campus interviews.  

Of course, what is important is that the salaries were highly polarized.  For everyone making 160k, there were many students making around 50k.  It is very possible to make a nice living on 50k / year, but it is difficult to pay back huge loans and live the life of a lawyer like you had always imagined.  Ya know, the luxury cars, the babes, poppin' bottles...or something.  

So, like always, don't go to law school unless you get into a T14 school.  

The T14 Sucks: Michigan

T14 Sucks: A place to detail why each school that makes up the Top 14 is a horrible place to attend law school.  

I planned on going in order obviously starting with GULC, which is actually more of a TTT than T14.  But plans change!  After today's post at Above the Law (read it) about the girl that really let someone have it over email, I decided to make Michigan the first post in this series.  But don't worry GULC student; you're coming soon.  I will also feature Michigan again when it comes time.  This is just a short one.  I'm sure there is enough material about Michigan to post twice (Detroit shootings...YES!).  

The girl sent some wild emails.  It made me think that my favorite Michigan Law School lady must have sent some hilarious emails to the entire law school.  That lady is Ann Coulter.  When one of your most prominent alumni (also: Bob Woodruff, Sam Zell) is a crazy political personality, your school is in the news for the wrong reasons.  It also makes weird kids create youtube videos.  

Michigan Students: tell us why your school does or doesn't suck.  You may want to mention how you consistently lose to that community college in Columbus.  Yea, I take sides in that rivalry.  Come on! Make the T14 proud... 

**I emailed the Michigan girl for an interview.  

Giuliani's Kid Sucks

I don't know what I wish would have happened more - Edwards getting the nomination so we could laugh at him banging that tttramp or Giuliani getting the nod so we could make even more fun of his family situation.  Granted, his son probably would not have sued Duke* if his dad even mattered anymore.  

From the Post: 

Andrew Giuliani, a senior, claims in a lawsuit that he was wrongfully kicked off the team in February.

The lawsuit says that Giuliani, the former New York mayor's son with Donna Hanover, was kicked off the team without any warning, and it interfered with the student's chances of being a professional golfer

There is nothing to even say about this.  The kid wasn't good at golf.  He has boobs, and he's Giuliani's son.  The only thing good thing that came out of him being born was a good skit on SNL.  (young idiot)  

*Duke is a shit hole.