ABA Journal

Supreme Court Rules Guantanamo Detainees Have Habeas Rights

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a stunning defeat to the Bush administration in a ruling that gives detainees at Guantanamo Bay a right to challenge their detention in federal courts. The court in a 5-4 decision said Congress may suspend habeas corpus only when the country faces rebellion…

Jun 12, 2008 2:49 PM CDT

Son of 9th Circuit Chief Judge Says He Maintained Racy Website

Updated: The son of Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, says he maintained the website with sexually explicit pictures that was shared by his father. News reports of the website prompted Kozinski to issue a statement late Thursday inviting a potential…

Jun 12, 2008 10:40 AM CDT

More than 30 Thacher Lawyers Quit in Last 6 Months

Ten U.S. partners and about 24 associates of Thacher Proffitt & Wood have voluntarily left the New York-based firm during the past six months, in advance of an expected drop in 2008 profits. Meanwhile, 60 associates have been laid off by the 220-attorney financial services boutique, whose structured finance practice…

Jun 11, 2008 8:25 PM CDT

Stanford Law School Drops Letter Grades

Stanford University has become the third elite law school to drop letter grades. Under the new system Stanford students will receive grades of honors, pass, restricted credit and no credit, reports Inside Higher Ed. The system will change for students graduating in 2011, according to the Daily Journal (sub. req.).…

Jun 11, 2008 5:56 PM CDT

The Winning Speech!

We let ABA Journal readers vote on three finalists for the five-word speech that assistant managing editor Molly McDonough would deliver at the Webby Awards ceremony, which was held Tuesday at the Skirball Center for Performing Arts in New York City. It was a close vote, but this was the…

Jun 11, 2008 5:10 PM CDT

Jury Can Learn Bratz Doll’s Creator Used ‘Evidence Eliminator’

A California federal judge has ruled that the jury hearing a dispute between the makers of Barbie and Bratz dolls can hear testimony that Bratz’s creator used computer software called “Evidence Eliminator” to scramble information. The software promises to eliminate “unwanted sensitive data.” Bratz creator Carter Bryant, who sold his…

Jun 11, 2008 11:10 AM CDT

Online Social Networking Lessons for Lawyers

Updated: If you don’t know what online social networking is, let alone LinkedIn and Plaxo, you’re surely not unique among the legal profession. But you need to know, says Robert Ambrogi in Law Technology News. And Facebook, he contends, isn’t just for the nonlawyer teenagers and 20-somethings amongst us. “For…

Jun 10, 2008 7:16 PM CDT

Associate Advice: Start Early on Client Development, Stay Late at the Office

It’s never too early for new associates to start working on client development, according to an article written by a law firm partner. Thomas Coyne of Thompson Hine in Cleveland suggests in an article for the National Law Journal that associates join bar associations, publish articles and polish their public…

Jun 10, 2008 1:59 PM CDT

Lawyer Bans Opponent from Hotel in Hard-Fought IP Case

Concerned that sensitive documents might be delivered to the wrong legal counsel, a corporate client in a hard-fought federal case reportedly contracted with the hotel at which its own attorney was staying not to allow lawyers or staff from the opposing side to stay there, too. Then, when heavy-hitting Los…

Jun 9, 2008 8:46 PM CDT

Lawyers Defend Long-Distance Supervision of Overwhelmed Associate

Two lemon-law lawyers accused of failing to adequately supervise an overwhelmed associate faced skeptical judges on Maryland’s highest court on Friday. Lawyers Craig Kimmel and Robert Silverman of Pennsylvania, founders of the 1-800-Lemon-Law firm, said they supervised the Maryland associate through phone calls and e-mail, the Daily Record reports. Thirty-four…

Jun 9, 2008 5:15 PM CDT

South Florida Law Firm’s Website Worries Ethics Experts

A full-time adviser to the Miami-Dade County mayor in South Florida also happens to be a lawyer. And, on the website for Gazitua Letelier, the law firm of which Luis Andre Gazitua, 32, is a founding partner—at least until recently—was a photograph of Gazitua looking into downtown Miami from an…

Jun 9, 2008 4:35 PM CDT

Name Your Favorite Over-the-Top Summer Associate Activity

It’s summer associate season, time to hear about extravagant parties and wooing of top law school talent by star-hungry firms. Blogger Deb Weiss alerted us that some lucky associates will rake in $3,000 a week. And the firms are pulling out the stops to make the summer recruiting experience memorable.…

Jun 5, 2008 3:28 PM CDT

Layoff Watch: Ballard Spahr, Blank Rome, Reed Smith Shed Lawyers, Staff

Three more law firms have fired or laid off employees, but only one attributed the reason to the economic downturn. According to the Legal Intelligencer, the law firms are: • Blank Rome, which cut nine associates after their annual reviews. Six were from Philadelphia, two were from New York and…

Jun 5, 2008 11:15 AM CDT

The Dress Code Debate: Pantyhose and Flip-Flops

Worried about discussing dress codes with the employees who work for you? The Association of Corporate Counsel has an option in the form of a free phone message entitled: Flip-Flops at Work? Not for Everyone. The message will help educate employees about dress code guidelines, according to the Fulton County…

Jun 5, 2008 10:46 AM CDT

Judge Blasts Proposed Code Change as Promoting ‘Homosexual Agenda’

An Oklahoma judge has taken aim at what he calls the “liberal, pro-homosexual American Bar Association” in a letter opposing a change in the state’s judicial conduct code. Judge Bill Graves of Oklahoma County used that phrase to describe the ABA in a letter opposing a proposed anti-bias amendment to…

Jun 4, 2008 2:51 PM CDT