Category: News Feeds

The National Conference of Bar Examiners recently wrote a report exhorting jurisdictions to reject any manifestation of diploma privilege admission and recognize that only an NCBE-produced bar exam could guarantee attorney competency. Which state’s bar examination did NCBE President and CEO Judith Gundersen take to become a licensed attorney?

Hint: It’s the same bar exam her predecessor Erica Moeser took!

See the answer on the next page.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day.

I need to take a break from “all Covid-19 coverage all the time,” and so I’m returning to one of my favorite topics “What were they thinking?” Judges, lawyers, and even a law student this go-around.

Let’s start with the Superior Court judge in Ventura County, just north of Los Angeles on the coast. The California Commission on Judicial Performance has publicly censured Judge Jeffrey Bennet for making stupid, bone-headed, racist and sexist remarks. The conduct had been going on for more than a decade until the whistle was finally blown.

Examples of remarks included, but not limited to (as we lawyers like to say), the following:

When an African-American defendant appeared in a criminal matter, the judge thought that he was being evasive and told the defendant to stop “shucking and jiving.”

More than one time in the presence of a female deputy district attorney, the judge said that he was “the only one in the courthouse with the balls to make that ruling” or words to that effect.

“Balls” was a popular word in the judge’s vocabulary. After he admitted that he had ruled incorrectly on a motion to suppress, he said that he had probably had the “biggest balls in the courthouse” to admit that error. He made a gesture in his genital area. How did he know that he had the “biggest balls in the courthouse?” Did he do a size comparison? Did he “drop trou” and compare?

The judge commented on the number of peremptory challenges that the District Attorney’s Office was filing, asking, “Why are you guys papering me?”  I could go on and on, but you get the flavor of the conduct. Exhibit 1 for a case of robe-itis.

The Commission found that the conduct (and there were 26 examples) violated the Canons of Judicial Ethics and constituted prejudicial misconduct. The judge’s comments were “…offensive, undignified, dishonest, discourteous, sexist, profane, and create the appearance of bias and retaliation.” Pretty complete catalogue of adjectives.

Often in these cases, the judge under scrutiny denies the charges, claims victimhood, or in some other way tries to offload his own responsibility for ending up in this pickle. Kudos to this judge who didn’t try to squirm his way out. He stipulated to the truth of the charges and that was a significant mitigating factor that prompted the Commission to impose public censure, one step below removal.

What this shows is that the Commission appreciates “coming clean.” An example of throwing oneself on the mercy of the court, so to speak. This judge did and has saved his job. Whether he’ll keep it in the future is to be determined.

Meanwhile, two judges in New York have resigned after pleading guilty to felonies.

One was for garden-variety tax evasion. The other judge resigned after pleading guilty to — wait for it — attempted burglary based on the theft of an intern’s panties.

No, I am not making this up and yes, I am going to resist the temptation to let loose with a string of underwear puns, although the temptation is almost overwhelming.

Then there’s the matter of the attorney who was sanctioned $1,000 along with attorneys fees and costs for interrupting a deposition 145 times and making 106 objections. The deposition transcript was only 255 pages long. So, if you divide 255 by 145….

Do you think that attorneys will ever learn to conduct depositions without sniping? Do attorneys know how this kind of conduct looks to a court that will have to rule on what usually are trivial disputes of ego? Will we ever grow up? Or has the profession become the playground for kids who don’t — or won’t — learn how to play together?

Then there’s a New Jersey judge who told the wife and the girlfriend, in a hearing on what to do with certain provocative photos, that they had been played by the husband/boyfriend. The judge called him a “knucklehead.” (I haven’t heard that term used in years.) That was not the first time that this judge had made intemperate remarks. This time he was censured.

The judge had previously been ordered to take sensitivity training some years back after receiving private reprimands for discourtesy. What is the “stickiness” of sensitivity training? How long does it last? Should judges be required to take sensitivity training every certain number of years? Of course, even if they complete the courses, there’s no guarantee that anything learned in the training will last longer than the length of the class.

A lawyer in Kansas was suspended for two years for having forged the signatures of a judge and a clerk on a court document. What was she thinking? There were other instances of misconduct that the Kansas Supreme Court also considered. Why would anyone ever risk a forgery of any document, let alone a court document? Mental health issues played a part in the misconduct, which is why it’s so important to pay attention to those concerns and not ignore them.

Have you ever run from police after stiffing the tab for a $200 lap dance? This attorney has.

And last, but not least, there is the Harvard Law student who brought a weapon to his Zoom class. I didn’t know that there was a show-and-tell portion in any law school class. Is it now “bring a gun, go to law school?”  There are no words.

Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.

Throughout the Biglaw COVID-19 cost-cutting measures it’s been clear that the most severe move — one most firms try to avoid — is layoffs. Unfortunately, not every firm is able to avoid letting folks go during the global pandemic.

As reported by Daily Business Review, Am Law 200 firm Greenspoon Marder has confirmed that, in anticipation of revenue shortfalls, they’ve instituted firmwide pay cuts and laid off employees. According to reports, 40 staff members and 5 attorneys have been let go.

Firm co-founders Gerry Greenspoon and Michael Marder had this to say about the cuts:

“There is no question that our firm, like every other firm in the country, will experience a loss of previously projected revenue as a result of this unmatched global business slowdown,” said Marder and Greenspoon. “As a result, our firm has decided to implement various cost-cutting measures in order to preemptively parallel this unexpected impact upon revenue with currently anticipated costs and expenses. It is our sincere and honest hope that many of these reductions will be temporary.”

If your firm or organization is slashing salaries, closing its doors, or reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).

If you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff, salary cut, or furlough announcement that we publish.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

The COVID-19 austerity measures that are tearing their way through Biglaw have claimed another firm. This time it is Crowell & Moring, who made $401,074,000 in gross revenue in 2018, making the firm 95th on the Am Law 100 ranking.

So here’s the scoop: there will be salary cuts at the firm, with the top echelons of the firm taking the biggest hit. Equity partners will take a 25 percent compensation cut, income partners will see their paycheck cut by 20 percent, associates and counsel are seeing a 15 percent cut, and staff who make $100,000+, which the firm estimates is about a third of staff members, will see cuts in the range of 5 to 20 percent.

Philip T. Inglima, chair of Crowell & Moring, had the following statement on the austerity measures:

Crowell & Moring is in very good financial health, with a balanced array of practices and revenue streams. Over the past month, we swiftly transitioned our people to an almost entirely remote work environment, as we continued meeting our clients’ needs, including those that have arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are taking prudent and responsible steps to keep our firm strong as we, and our clients, navigate the economic uncertainty and challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to aggressively managing all expenses that we can forgo or defer, we will postpone distributions and adjust partner draw levels for the months ahead in 2020. We also will institute tiered compensation reductions for all non-partner attorneys, as well as a segment of our professional and administrative team, for the balance of the year. These adjustments avoid any lay-offs and mean that two-thirds of our staff are spared any reduction in compensation.

We are positioning our firm to meet our current and anticipated financial and operational needs and to keep our team intact. We look forward to returning to our prior compensation practices as soon as possible.

These proactive steps are consistent with what every business must do during this unprecedented time: contain costs and expand cash resources to weather the storm. By taking these actions now, we are confident that we will be able to continue providing outstanding service to our clients and to support our people. We will get through this challenging time together.

Points to Inglima for coming right out and saying the cuts should be enough to avoid layoffs. It’s awful when firms realize their first round of austerity measures weren’t enough to save jobs. Here’s hoping Crowell can avoid layoffs.

If your firm or organization is slashing salaries, closing its doors, or reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).

If you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff, salary cut, or furlough announcement that we publish.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

If you thought working at a Biglaw firm during a pandemic was difficult because it’s forced the majority of the office into a work-from-home environment, imagine working at a Biglaw megafirm that merged just weeks before the crisis began. It’s an uncertain time for everyone, but there’s even more uncertainty when a newly combined firm is just starting to get its footing when disaster strikes.

This is what’s happening at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, the firm that was formed after Faegre Baker Daniels finalized its merger with Drinker Biddle & Reath on February 1. If you recall, the prospective Am Law 50 firm with more than 1,300 lawyers was one of the very first to close its doors over coronavirus concerns.

How is Faegre Drinker proceeding amid all of the salary cuts, furloughs, and layoffs that have come about at peer firms due to the global health crisis? The firm’s partners are reportedly taking a rather “sizable” hit for the team:

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath has deferred its equity partner distributions by one-third for the second quarter in an effort to be “prudent and conservative” during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the firm said.

It is also monitoring the expenses generated by its workforce of more than 1,300 lawyers, consultants and professionals located across 22 offices, said co-chairs Andrew Kassner and Tom Froehle.

“It’s inevitable if it impacts our clients, it’ll impact the law firms. Everything has to be on the table as we plan going forward over the second quarter and third quarter and beyond,” Kassner said. He initially described it as being a cut in partner distributions, but then emphasized the firm was deferring those distributions: “It’s just a deferral. It’s all a matter of timing.”

Best of luck to Faegre Drinker in the months ahead. It sounds like the firm is doing right by its employees, which will hopefully lead to its success in the future.

If your firm or organization is slashing salaries, closing its doors, or reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).

If you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff, salary cut, or furlough announcement that we publish.

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

On April 8, I celebrated my abstinence-based, 13 years in long-term recovery from alcohol, cocaine, and bulimia (Yes, males develop eating disorders).

I reflect with mixed feelings as it also falls on what would be the 94th birthday of my father whose passing 18 months ago is still fairly raw and painful.

Of course, my recovery anniversary will always fall on his birthday, and there will always be tears for that, but his passing seems to hit especially hard as I sit at home with millions of others in the heart of the trauma, uncertainly, and anxiety wrapped around the COVID-19 pandemic.

I think that some of my angst also correlates to suddenly being hyperaware of my mortality, churning toward 60 and on the cusp of the COVID-19 “high-risk” age demographic. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was 18? Where the hell did the years ago? The irony is that I can’t remember many of them in the haze of drugs and alcohol.

I do remember my father’s role in my recovery. The memory of walking over to his place fresh off my second trip to a local psychiatric hospital after a drug- and alcohol-induced blackout is one that remains vivid and sometimes rebroadcasts in high definition in my dreams.

That morning, early April 2007, I stood at his door, ashamed, guilty, and broken. He had no idea that I struggled with drugs and alcohol. I justified my silence so as not to be a burden him in his golden years.

I lurked outside his apartment door for five minutes, crying and almost going home. I finally knocked. He answered the door, and as usual, was ecstatic to see his middle son. As usual, he offered me something to eat. As usual, he asked if I needed any money. It didn’t matter what my financial status was. He asked.

That morning, I only wanted his love, which I received every moment of every day from the time I was born.

We sat on his couch. He knew something was wrong. I began crying again. Over the course of an hour, I unloaded decades of pain. Things I kept from him because I loved him. Because I did not want to burden him. Because I did not want to see his disappointment in me. I did not want to see his pain over my failures in life. That’s what I told myself.

He held me. He cried with me. Then he said the one thing that defined everything he had taught his sons growing up.

“Brian, I love you. Move in with me, and we will get through this together.”

I lived with him for a week while I attended my 12-step meetings and shuttled between his place and mine to take care of my pets.

My father, Norton, of the greatest generation. My father gave me the greatest gift. The gift of a father talking to his son and letting him know he is loved. My father, without knowing it, allowed me to take another step in recovery, beginning the process of self-love and allowing myself to accept it.

I hope he is smiling down at my milestone and as soon as the stay-at -home order is lifted, I will head on over to his resting place, his new home, and tell him about it. Ironically, it is also, walking distance.

Brian Cuban (@bcuban) is The Addicted Lawyer. Brian is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, The Addicted Lawyer: Tales Of The Bar, Booze, Blow & Redemption (affiliate link). A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, he somehow made it through as an alcoholic then added cocaine to his résumé as a practicing attorney. He went into recovery April 8, 2007. He left the practice of law and now writes and speaks on recovery topics, not only for the legal profession, but on recovery in general. He can be reached at brian@addictedlawyer.com.

As more and more Biglaw firms announce their COVID-19 austerity measures, it’s tempting to lump all cost-cutting together but there are important distinctions to be had. There is a big difference in asking a secretary to take a 10 percent pay cut as your first move, versus furloughing wide swaths of staff, versus slashing partner compensation. The latest firm to announce cuts is making sure the top of the firm is being cut from first.

Husch Blackwell, a firm knocking on the Am Law 100’s door (they come in at the 101st spot), is also making cost-cutting measures to keep cash a-flowin’ during these rough economic times. But unlike other firms that have taken an across the board approach to the cuts, at least for now, those at the top of the law firm food chain are the ones impacted. Equity partner draws were cut by 15 percent and all managing directors and c-level executives had their salaries cut by 10 percent.

A firm spokesperson confirmed the cuts and said, “Like all companies, we continue to monitor the pandemic’s impact on our business and that of our clients.”

At least the firm seems to be making the cuts from the top first. You can read the full firmwide email announcing the cuts on the next page.

If your firm or organization is slashing salaries, closing its doors, or reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).

If you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff, salary cut, or furlough announcement that we publish.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).