Katz Hall Countdown?

26Dec08

Penn State Law will soon have a new building, Katz Hall.  Everybody’s excited for the big opening, but we’re pimpin’ all over the world until class starts up again 1-9-09, so who cares when the building actually opens?  Well, that’s what I don’t understand — there’s a big countdown clock dominating the website, but it’s set to “open” at 11:57:58 PM on New Year’s Eve.  Note that Eastern Standard Time is just  UTC -5.

But why two minutes before 2009?  My guess is that they wanted to brag that the building opened in 2008, but it could be possible that they just used a bad clock.  That isn’t saying much though, and I bet if they could build a law school in 14 months or so they could read the time off their Dell.

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Tags: katz hall, penn state law, psu dsl

Penn State Dickinson Unveils Badass New Website

29Sep08

Students Rejoice in

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Tags: i'm starting a petition to demolish the beam building, Lewis Katz Hall, Penn State Dickinson

Pirates!

27Sep08

Update: 9-29

NYT Article – Pirated Arms Freighter Cornered by U.S. Navy

NAIROBI, Kenya — The American military on Monday tightened the naval noose around an arms-laden freighter hijacked by pirates, sealing off any possible escape in a standoff near the craggy Somalia coastline

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a Navy spokesman, said that “several destroyers and missile cruisers” had joined the American destroyer that was already tailing the hijacked vessel and that the pirates were now surrounded. He would not specify the exact number of warships or what they would do if the pirates refused to surrender.

“Our intent is for the ship not to offload any of its cargo,” he said, referring to the 33 battle tanks and large supply of grenade launchers and ammunition now in the hands of a band of pirates.

______________________________________

NY Times has this Reuters article about Somali pirates.

Somali pirates demanded a $35 million ransom on Saturday for a Ukrainian ship they had seized which was carrying 33 tanks and other military supplies to Kenya, a maritime official said.
. . . .
Pirates have captured more than 30 vessels off Somalia this year, making its waters the most dangerous in the world and threatening a globally important shipping lane between Europe and Asia. The gangs seek, and often receive, large ransoms.

The International Chamber of Commerce has this Piracy Map – which details actual and attempted attacks, with historical data back to 2005.

This USA Today article (July 21) describes the substantial costs involved, and United States’ efforts protecting against piracy.

Armed attacks on cargo ships, oil tankers and cruise ships are estimated to cost more than $1 billion a year, says Peter Chalk, a senior security analyst at RAND Corp. “Piracy does affect U.S. commerce. It is to the economic interest of the United States that the sea lanes are as stable as possible,” Chalk says.

Piracy in Nigeria is leading to a drop in oil shipments because shipping companies are reluctant to risk ships, cargos and crew, he says. “That has implications for U.S. strategic energy supplies.”

. . . .

The Lourdes Tide, a supply ship working for a U.S. company, was attacked in Nigeria on May 13 by armed pirates who demanded a ransom. Pirates released the vessel and 11-person crew June 16.

. . . .

The bold pirate attacks along the African coast come as attacks decline in a key Asian shipping lane.

The U.S. military says it donated equipment, coordinated joint training exercises and nudged Indonesia to cooperate with its two maritime neighbors, Singapore and Malaysia. It wanted the three countries to get control of the Strait of Malacca, an important waterway for oil shipments, cargo and cruise ships.

“It’s as critical a chunk of water as exists anywhere in the world,” says Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.

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Don’t Panic

17Sep08

I would be interested to know how many times a certain R.E.M. song has been referenced within the last week.

As a rational consumer of goods (law firms) who is in the process of making an important choice (2L summer employment), I’ve been reading a lot about how the recent bailouts of Fannie/Freddie and AIG, and failures of Bear Sterns and Lehman Bros. (hereinafter “1929″ or “the crisis”) will change the legal landscape.  Recognizing that my future as a litigation associate will be significantly impacted by this crisis, even if I don’t specialize in financial services, is an important first step.

I believe that law students should be aware of the business world to be better able to serve their clients, and see two major consequences of the current financial crisis: (1) Firms will change their employment practices, and (2) Clients will demand more of their firms.

The Shrinking Legal Employment Market

My advice for 1Ls – study harder, for 2Ls – job search smarter (diversify), for 3Ls – pray.  There’s no doubt that the top large law firms will be directly affected by these business failures. Above the Law conducted a survey of associates in major markets to gauge their reactions.  It’s a great post which includes lolcat photos, and highlights that many firms have already laid off employees (Cadwalader being the prime example).  A generally shrinking legal market results in fewer summer associate positions, and more competitive summer classes resulting in “no offers” being handed out because of accounting reasons, not just because you spilled wine on a partner.  Face it, there are a ton of good lawyers out there.

The Am Law Daily has an article profiling the opinion of Alan Pomerantz, a reputable financial services lawyer. His view is a little bleak -

What’s going on at large law firms right now?
Everyone is nervous. And it’s not a good thing to be a lawyer and to be nervous. There are certain practice groups that are doing extremely well, but anything that needs debt to function is shut. It’s a tough world out there right now. And there are no jobs. The people who got laid off [earlier this year] probably have jobs already. But for the next crowds, there are no jobs. It’s an incredibly shrinking market.

How are firms planning to absorb the new law school graduates they’ve just taken on?
It’s going to accelerate a firm’s decision-making [process] on people. It used to be, “Well, he or she is doing good work, so let’s keep them around a bit longer,” but now it’s, “Let’s get rid of them.” If you can get it done cheaper, and you’ve already committed to [first-years] and you don’t want to pull commitments, get rid of [upper-level associates]. And what is truly horrible, is that some firms–I’m not mentioning any and I know it’s not here–are telling [associates] that they’re being let go because their work isn’t good, instead of saying to them, “We don’t have work.”

So the solution to this problem from a job search perspective is to make yourself the most hireable candidate.  For 1Ls, recognize that your grades are what define you, and put in the work.  2Ls need to recognize that personal connections also get you jobs, especially in a bad market – so network.

Clients Will Demand More of Their Firms

An insightful comment from the Above the Law survey -

Others expect that weaker budgets will mean lower billables:

As the economy continues to tank, our clients grow increasingly less lenient with the number of hours and rates charged for various services. While in a strong market clients prize quality over expense, in these less fruitful times, clients are placing greater value on lower costs.

So recognize this as a junior associate, and make client reassurance one of your goals for the year.  Find ways to prove that your firm is delivering on both quality and price points (or that the quality is worth the price) and you’ll retain more business.

But Don’t Panic

I think law students should be concerned, but also recognize that the vast majority of American companies aren’t going anywhere, and will still need legal representation.  Granted, there will be less financial services transactional work, but that means more complex litigation (shareholder suits, bankruptcy litigation ect.).  Another tip would be to research employers, and if concerned with job security down the line, recognize that a firm like Morgan Lewis might be a safe bet.  Morgan was just ranked #1 by the ABA “in a Corporate Counsel survey of law firms most often used in Fortune 100 litigation last year.” Any firm with similar breadth makes them secure when a particular section of the legal market tanks.

And while the comments on most blogs are worthless (ATL especially), I found this one thought provoking – “As a 2L at GULC, I’ve made the decision to scrap the firm gig and go along with most of my classmates to become a Westlaw rep.”

Filed under: 1L, Everyday Life, General Law, Government, Humor, Law, Law School, Miscellaneous, News, Random Thoughts   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: big law, financial crisis, finding a job as a 2L, job market, legal employment, legal market, Lehman Brothers

Top 6 Most Ridiculous Depositions

10Sep08

I can’t take credit for the idea behind this post. My awesome civ pro / con law professor / research adviser devoted the end of a civ pro class to watching some of these crazy depositions while we were studying discovery rules. Without further adieu, I give you the Top 6 Most Amusing Depositions.

6. “Background Noise on the Phone”

Okay, so it’s debatable whether this one belongs in this collection as the hilarity comes from a source other than the deposed. But it’s still amusing, right? This is why I always hate being on conference calls. Is there a polite way to tell some random guy to shut his kid up? I don’t even want to consider whether there is a polite way to tell someone to stop pleasuring themselves and/or others.

5. Thank God for Rape Shield Laws

In this long clip, a junior associate is set up by his firm with a fake, ridiculous deposition. I don’t know whether I love or hate this firm for setting up this elaborate situation. The only thing that remains certain is that this guy has some awesome frames.

4. “Would You Object if I Wear a Mask Over My Face?”

I’m actually really excited about this video because it’s the extended version of the one that I found last year.

The following thoughts occur to me:

1. Why does this guy already have a mask?
2. Was the standard “beep” soundbyte unavailable to the person that leaked this video? Car effects? Really?
3. Are these people HIS clients?
4. Did the masked man commit a tort? Is this negligence? Battery? I think not, which makes me a bit sad.

3. “You Have a Case of Insipient Verbal Diarrhea”

Professor Holland told us a long story about this deposition, most of which I forget. Maybe if we’re lucky he’ll post a comment about the history. I think it has something to do with the guy off-camera being some powerful figure in the area. Either way, old guys fighting is inherently funny. Unless you make it into a movie and continue to milk an already dying franchise. I also like how the lawyer eggs the deposed on and then talks about how outrageous the situation was.

2. “Was That a Yes Or a No?”

If you ever had any doubt that this nice old man would put it back where it was, you probably won’t after watching this clip. Unfortunately, it didn’t have much to do with the question. Arguably, neither did the trailing expletive.

1. “Not Without My Formula Sheets”

Yes, I certainly saved the best for last. The science/engineering people out there will almost certainly facepalm after seeing this, but everyone can appreciate it. This clip brings up two memories.

1. Professor Holland decided to make the last day of class into a fun competition for Twix and Starbucks cards. The very last question was presented on a powerpoint slide, and was a relatively intimidating looking (though ultimately fairly easy) derivative question. I’m was sitting there attempting to remember the chain rule, when Mr. Weist buzzed in with the correct answer, which was of course, “Not without my formula sheet.”

2. After the original class, I decided to track down this guy. I came across a motorcycle group’s webpage, where his obituary was posted. Now, I’m not saying this is funny at all, but he died recently in a motorcycle crash. Sometimes I wonder whether it was due to a conversion miscalculation.

Well that’s it for the ridiculous deposition list. Do you have a favorite that I didn’t cover? Post it!

Filed under: 2L, Geekery, General Law, Humor, Law, Random Thoughts   |  1 Comment
Tags: amusing, depositions, expert witness, funny depositions, grumpy old men, Humor, humour, not without my formula sheet, ridiculous depositions, scary people

New FRE 502 – Inadvertent Disclosure of Documents Does Not Waive Privilege

10Sep08

Document reviewers celebrated on Monday when the House passed S. 2450, a bill designed to add Federal Rule of Evidence 502 – “Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product; Limitations on Waiver.”  The main point, as described in this point of law article, is that since the production of privileged documents during discovery acts as a waiver to that privilege, firms are spending a significant amount of time on privilege review to ensure that documents don’t slip through and destroy their case.  FRE 502 would remove this barrier, serving both judicial economy and junior associates’ sanity.

(b) Inadvertent Disclosure- When made in a Federal proceeding or to a Federal office or agency, the disclosure does not operate as a waiver in a Federal or State proceeding if:

(1) the disclosure is inadvertent;

(2) the holder of the privilege or protection took reasonable steps to prevent disclosure; and

(3) the holder promptly took reasonable steps to rectify the error, including (if applicable) following Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B).

And Josh – Happy Large Hadron Collider Day – I know you’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

Filed under: 1L, 2L, General Law, Government, Law, Law School, News, Uncategorized   |  1 Comment
Tags: attorney-client privilege, document review, documents, evidence rules, FRE 502, house, inadvertent disclosure, S. 2450, waiver

Coolest Firm Website?

09Sep08

Legal Geekery contributor Kim told me about the entertaining website of Marque Lawyers, who seek to revolutionize the legal industry.

MARQUE exists!  We are Australia’s newest law firm, and we have the single ambition of completely changing the way that law is practised.

We do not charge by the hour. We do not charge you when we pick up the phone or send you an email. We do not charge you for photocopying or travel time or any of that kind of stuff. We invest in long term relationships with our clients, and we measure the value of our services in the same way that you do. We have a lot to offer, and we provide it in a way that doesn’t hurt.

There’s a lot more, but that’ll do for starters.

So I laughed for a bit, but then recognized that the firm has a pretty sweet address for a non-traditional fee structure.  Granted they’re up-and-coming, but that section of Sydney is somewhere I’d like to practice.

And because of the the ongoing job search, I’ve been visiting a ton of firm sites recently, and have stumbled across some pretty great designs.

Gibson Dunn – traditional styling, motivational text & artistic lawyer photos

Cravath – great use of black and white flash animation

Morrison & Foerster – best domain name

Arent Fox – offers industry podcasts

Mintz Levin – coolest firm map (click to expand photo)

Filed under: Computing, Cyberlaw, Everyday Life, Geekery, General Law, Law School, Miscellaneous, Random Thoughts   |  1 Comment
Tags: arent fox, best sites, coolest law firm websites, firm websites, gibson dunn, marque lawyers, mintz levin, mofo

Stambovsky v. Ackley II

02Sep08

I think my hotel room is haunted . . .

Filed under: General Law   |  2 Comments

The Slippery Slope of Music Piracy

24Aug08

Wired Blog has this great story about the cartoon above that was distributed to 50,000 students to teach them that file sharing was illegal.  It seems to me that cartoons would be the best way to get substantive legal information across.

[The cartoons were] produced by the National Center for State Courts, a nonprofit describing itself as an “organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to court systems in the United States.”

But the story line here is a miscarriage of justice at best — even erroneously describing file sharing as a city crime punishable by up to two years in prison.

. . . .

“The Case of Internet Piracy,” however, reads like the Recording Industry Association of America’s public relations playbook: Download some songs, go to jail and lose your scholarship. Along the way, musicians will file onto the bread lines.

“The purpose is basically to educate kids — middle school and high school-aged about how the justice system operates and about what really goes on in the courtroom as opposed to what you see on television,” said Lorri Montgomery, the center’s communications director.

During my freshman year (2001) at Cornell, around fifty students were busted for downloading music via Kazaa. Given the unrepresentative sample size of two people whom I knew, the punishments ranged from no punishment to twenty-five hours of community service. 

My how times have changed.

Filed under: Comics, Computing, Cyberlaw, Everyday Life, Gadgetry, Geekery, General Law, Law, News   |  2 Comments
Tags: file sharing, illegal downloads, kazaa, music piracy, national center for state courts, student information, wired

Schroer v. Library of Congress – Transgender Sexual Harassment

22Aug08

I was lucky enough to write a brief during the spring semester in Professor Basas’s Legal Writing class about whether a Title VII prohibits harassment against a biological male who is transitioning to living as a woman.  The legal arguments supporting coverage are interesting, ranging from interpretation of the legislative history of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the definition of the phrase “because of sex” in Title VII’s prohibition on discrimination because of sex, and clarifying the line between sex discrimination and gender discrimination.

The ACLU, who is representing plaintiff Diane Schroer in a lawsuit against the Library of Congress, has published an excellent blog post that tells the story.  Although the Sixth Circuit in Smith v. City of Salem is responsible for the most progressive and comprehensive coverage of transgender rights, Schroer’s seems like a great test case for extending coverage.

Starting a new life and searching for a new career isn’t easy, but Diane Schroer, a highly-decorated veteran, is no stranger to a challenge.

Schroer was an Airborne Ranger qualified Special Forces officer who completed over 450 parachute jumps, received numerous decorations including the Defense Superior Service Medal, and was hand-picked to head up a classified national security operation. She began taking steps to transition from male to female shortly after retiring as a Colonel after 25 years of distinguished service in the Army.

When she interviewed for a job as a terrorism research analyst at the Library of Congress, she thought she’d found the perfect fit, given her background and 16,000-volume home library collection on military history, the art of war, international relations and political philosophy. Schroer accepted the position, but when she told her future supervisor that she was in the process of gender transition, they rescinded the job offer. The ACLU is now representing her in a Title VII sex discrimination lawsuit against the Library of Congress.

As a critic of originalist arguments, I enjoyed this characterization of using a narrow legislative history/purpose to deny coverage (from the blog).

Science doesn’t matter, the Library insists, it’s what Congress was thinking of when it passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. “Everett Dirksen,” a reporter said to me in the hall outside Court, “wasn’t thinking of Diane Schroer when he helped pass the Civil Rights Act.” “Probably true,” I said as she headed off to meet her cameraman, “but James Madison wasn’t thinking of TV when he penned the First Amendment either.”

The issue isn’t the way someone who wrote or voted for a law was thinking it would apply; the issue is the concept embodied in the law. What was the idea? The flip answer is that on this point, Congress didn’t have an idea; many of those who voted to put sex into the 1964 Civil Rights Act were hoping it would kill the bill.

I am excited to see how this suit turns out; it has the potential to dramatically impact Title VII cases, employer liability, and shift public opinion toward recognizing transgender equality.

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Tags: ACLU, employment discrimination, Schroer v. Library of Congress, sexual harassment, title vii, transgender rights