Female big firm lawyers must withstand many tests of emotional constitution in order to earn enough respect to be accepted as one of the guys. Many are clueless and think that dressing like a man is the answer. Others have the gift of callousness and are able to set effective boundaries. Me? I’m still perfecting my approach, but I may have just set myself back a couple hundred years. Well, at least as far back as nursery school.
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QI’m a third-year litigation associate who, for my first two years, did a lot of bankruptcy work. I’m not so sure I want to be a partner, but I also don’t want to have to leave the firm. I hear that Special Counsel is a decent gig, though for most associates gunning for partner, I understand it’s a pretty crappy consolation prize. For that reason, I’m a little loathe to ask current special counsel at my firm how they “got” their position.
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Think your only option is to practice law? Think again. Over the years, 26 ex-Bitters went on to serve as President of the United States. That’s more than from any other profession.
While all of these Presidents were lawyers, and most of them had some formal education, not all of them were law school graduates. Law schools, in fact, are a relatively recent addition to higher education. Accordingly, we’ve listed each President’s alma mater. Where applicable, we have noted their law school, but for many of the early Presidents, the school simply refers to the last formal education they received before beginning their careers.
Need a break from an Ex-Bitter as President? Sorry. No can do. With the likely 2012 ticket between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, it’s a fall choice of Harvard Law vs. Harvard Law.
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There are two things I’m certain of: (i) I am a fantastic associate; (ii) I am profoundly miserable. And I’m afraid there’s a direct link.
My rumination on this topic started valiantly enough. The recent layoffs of most of my friends had me in an introspective mood—and I had a little extra time on my hands since there was no one in my foreseeable future with whom I’d be “just lunching.” So I decided to apply my lawyerly reasoning to something other than arguments in opposition to summary judgment motions.
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If there’s a legal issue of national significance—relating to the U.S. Supreme Court, in particular—there’s a good chance Jeffrey Toobin is on the scene. Whether it be via feature article for The New Yorker or a bit of television analysis for CNN, Toobin is hardly just another talking head. Unlike many TV legal analysts, Toobin spent several years practicing law before becoming a full-time journalist and author.
In our 2009 interview with Toobin, he talks about Harvard Law School, writing and reporting about the Supremes, and his best and worst moments practicing law.
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The natural extension of feeling trapped and helpless in the office. What’s a guy supposed to do when he’s so stressed and horny that he’s about to implode? We don’t recommend doing what Nick did, but we know it’s happened.
Our Thursday archive post featuring Part 1 and Part 2 of Living the Dream’s Punching the Clown episodes.
Punching the Clown: Part 1 | Punching the Clown: Part 2
Once the desktop screen appeared, he immediately clicked and found the “xxx” directory. Before you know it, I saw breasts bouncing on the screen, and he instructed me and the associate to watch a stream of hard-core porn on the computer.
Like other lawyer-scribes Bitter Lawyer has interviewed, Brian Koppelman is an example of someone who’s taken a JD and spun it into Hollywood success. Koppelman, who’s screenwriting credits include Rounders, Walking Tall, Ocean’s Thirteen, Runaway Jury and the ESPN television series Tilt, most recently caught our eye with his latest project, The Girlfriend Experience. The Steven Soderbergh-directed film stars porn star Sasha Grey as a high-class escort in New York. Naturally, we couldn’t resist sitting down to find out more.
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The NCAA tournament is down to sixteen teams and, if you are like us, you’ve got some skin in the game. Little did you know, though, that two years ago our own Unethical and Amoral Matthew Richardson broke down the field into sixteen BigLaw icons for a “systematical competition between the best and worst people at BigLaw Firm USA.” He even follows up with the Elite 8 and Finals. But if Richardson offends you (and he probably does), then stick to the more somber advice peddler Ex-Bitter, who provides some wisdom to a young associate who gets busted at his firm for running a March Madness tournament bracket in the firm. It’s our Thursday archive series, March Madness style. Enjoy!
QI would like some advice from someone with real world advice (not someone from the fake world of academia).
Background: I am a 1L at a law school ranked in the 60s (the guy in “Living the Dream” went to my school). I have a wife and 2 babies and am going to school on student loans. I am in the top 10% of my class (maybe even top 5%) after my first semester grades, and I am going to do my best to keep that up. Should I transfer?
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