Above the Law - Thinking Like a Lawyer

As the year winds down, folks seem a little extra agitated. A judge called her colleagues names and got booted from the bench. A partner bailed on his firm rather than get the scientifically proven vaccine. Meanwhile the legal press jumped on news of another round of salary raises as an extra dose of year-end drama that didn't actually happen. 2021 is bad enough, folks... don't try to make it any extra.Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.

Last week, a handful of Biglaw firms contacted Above the Law trying to rewrite their whole firm image. International firms still headquartered overseas trying to rebrand as American and firms historically embraced as for growing up outside the NYC white-shoe culture wanted to be portrayed as Knickerbocker blue bloods. Who thinks this will work? Also, we discuss Latham's holiday party COVID debacle and have an extended discussion of the canons of statutory interpretation and the Formula 1 season finale that could end up in an international court.Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.

After more than a week of wondering when firms would start playing follow the leader with Biglaw bonuses, Davis Polk finally set a standard that the rest of the industry felt comfortable following. In unrelated large firm news, Cravath announces a change to its partnership model... could this be the final nail in the lockstep compensation coffin? Joe, Kathryn, Chris also talk about a salty exchange between Ninth Circuit judges and holiday gifts for lawyers.Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.

We thought we entered Biglaw bonus season last week, but after Cravath rolled out a higher bonus schedule, the majority of firms responded with silence. What's going on, and is someone finally going to break that logjam? We also talk about the verdict in the Arbery murder and continue last week's discussion about the troubling balancing act when it comes to prosecutorial discretion. And an Ivy League school settles with students over COVID tuition. Should schools really have charged less during the pandemic? Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.

Joe and Chris discuss the Rittenhouse verdict and the limits of self-defense standards. Specifically, at what point can stripping a case of all its context rob it of value. Meanwhile, Sheriffs are refusing to enforce laws -- usually vaccine and mask requirements. What are the limits of prosecutorial discretion and, how in the world is it okay for an activist group to offer scholarships to law enforcement for neglecting their duties? Finally, we check in on NYU's FedSoc chapter where board members resigned after learning that the group is doing... exactly what the Federalist Society is created to do.Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.

Is there a significant crossover between this podcast's audience and Taylor Swift? I guess we'll find out this week as we discuss her latest re-release and the intellectual property issues driving her new recording strategy. Because everything comes back around to the law... even pop music. We also talk about Above the Law's role in the latest inquiry from the House Judiciary Committee and the tech issues on display in the Rittenhouse killings case.Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.

Sidley is offering associates firm branded AirPods and jackets as a token of appreciation after bringing lawyers back to the office. Putting aside whether or not that's a fair deal for associates, what exactly makes for a good branded gift? Not all swag is created equal. We also chat about a town in California that has declared itself an independent Constitutional Republic (that's not a thing), the moral authority of Big Bird, and Lin Wood's emails.Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.

The Supreme Court heard from the braintrust behind SB8 in Texas and unleashed some withering contempt for the novel effort to craft a statute that avoids over 100 years of precedent. Meanwhile, Trump's new social media endeavor runs afoul of copyright law and Biglaw is going big when it comes to paying for key talent... but will it translate to the rest of the associates?Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.

Yale just can't keep out of the legal news. Over the last several months we've had high-profile fights with professors, a student club behaving badly, and now this. This time it's the school's commitment to outside counsel Day Pitney, a firm making quite a name for itself pulling discovery shenanigans in the Sandy Hook mass shooting trial. Meanwhile, we have new rankings out featuring the best law school deals and the coolest Biglaw firms. Finally, conservatives have a plan to fix the Supreme Court and it's... renaming the building.Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.

A lot of folks would plead the First Amendment last week, and it was all nonsense. Yale Law School's Federalist Society advertised an event by throwing a whole mess of racist stereotyping at the wall just to see what would stick and when other students asked how this fit within the private school's standards for student organizations... First Amendment! Conspiracy theorists are convinced that Merrick Garland is using the Justice Department to enrich himself by silencing parents just because they threatened school officials... First Amendment! And Virginia public school teachers want the right to refuse to use a student's personal pronouns... First Amendment! Nope. Nope to all of it.Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon and Nota.