The Lawyer Thread Where We Stop Ruining Other Threads

[Don Quixote 4,716]

40 minutes ago, bigbottom said:

PALO ALTO >>> NEW HAVEN

I have a pretty low opinion of New Haven, and would have agreed wholeheartedly with that six months ago, but a lot of folks I know that live in the SF area are looking to permanently move out of there as getting tired of the fires.

[johnnycakes 1,175]

2 hours ago, bigbottom said:

PALO ALTO >>> NEW HAVEN

NEW HAVEN PIZZA >>> PALO ALTO PIZZA

[Instinctive 489]

19 hours ago, johnnycakes said:

NEW HAVEN PIZZA >>> PALO ALTO PIZZA

I mean, having now spent time in all these places...UChicago or Northwestern are clearly the best choices if pizza is the only consideration

[-fish- 13,791]

Second mediation in a case today.   It's being conducted over a combination of zoom, phone and text.   Nobody is in the same place.   It takes about 15 minutes every time there is an offer just to gather all of the necessary people to discuss a response.   It's very inefficient, but I think the defense counsel with the checkbook is getting so frustrated that she's throwing out offers that are larger than she otherwise would just to get this thing over with.

 

Ugh.  She doesn't understand brackets, but we got an extra move.   

Edited September 28, 2020 by -fish-

[-fish- 13,791]

Still going.   So dumb.  

 

[bigbottom 10,977]

3 hours ago, -fish- said:

Second mediation in a case today.   It's being conducted over a combination of zoom, phone and text.   Nobody is in the same place.   It takes about 15 minutes every time there is an offer just to gather all of the necessary people to discuss a response.   It's very inefficient, but I think the defense counsel with the checkbook is getting so frustrated that she's throwing out offers that are larger than she otherwise would just to get this thing over with.

 

Ugh.  She doesn't understand brackets, but we got an extra move.   

I’d be interested in seeing some data on remote mediations. I can’t imagine them being as successful as in person mediations, simply because you’re missing the exhaustion factor for the parties when you have to sit in a conference room all day and into the evening.

[the rover 5,459]

When my partner and I left our previous firm in 2015 to start our own practice, I had no startup capital to contribute so he took the financial risks and in exchange we agreed on a 60/40 split of the ownership of the firm in his favor, plus eat what you kill on hourly work.  In my view it's been very fair, and our firm has done quite well.  Today he gave me another 5% of the firm.  No discussion.  Just did it prior to the distribution of the settlement funds from the case I discussed above with the remote mediation, so I'll start seeing the benefits when we distribute funds next week.      

[Zow 8,519]

On 9/28/2020 at 7:08 PM, bigbottom said:

I’d be interested in seeing some data on remote mediations. I can’t imagine them being as successful as in person mediations, simply because you’re missing the exhaustion factor for the parties when you have to sit in a conference room all day and into the evening.

I’ve done probably a dozen now. Probably not a big enough sample size, but I haven’t noticed a significant reduction in rates of reaching settlement. Still don’t find them as impactful as in-person though and I think the zoom aspect really takes away from some of the impact an aggressive mediator may provide. 

[bigbottom 10,977]

Well, have been doing a ton of work supporting the sports team. Probably about 65% of my work these days. We’re now in fourth place which puts us in line for UCL which is really exciting. Never thought in a million years that I’d be doing legal work for a professional sports team. It’s been a blast, but completely exhausting working what amounts to two jobs. Thankfully, my role should diminish in 2021 as we are bringing on a GC for the team. 

[Zow 8,519]

9 hours ago, bigbottom said:

Well, have been doing a ton of work supporting the sports team. Probably about 65% of my work these days. We’re now in fourth place which puts us in line for UCL which is really exciting. Never thought in a million years that I’d be doing legal work for a professional sports team. It’s been a blast, but completely exhausting working what amounts to two jobs. Thankfully, my role should diminish in 2021 as we are bringing on a GC for the team. 

So awesome. You’re doing what I wanted to do when I decided to go to law school. Then as I explored it as a 1L I quickly learned my odds of doing that were about the same as making it as a player. 🤣

[Angry Beavers 1,918]

Zoom calls for court - so freaking efficient and no one wants to fight over small cases even less than usual. 

[Zow 8,519]

2 hours ago, Angry Beavers said:

Zoom calls for court - so freaking efficient and no one wants to fight over small cases even less than usual. 

This is true. Have really enjoyed the switch to telephonic/zoom appearances for non-substantive hearings.

[CletiusMaximus 8,891]

4 hours ago, Angry Beavers said:

Zoom calls for court - so freaking efficient and no one wants to fight over small cases even less than usual. 

My office is a 10 minute drive to the courthouse.  That burns an hour of my day or more just to show up for a status or scheduling conference.  By zoom it takes 5-10 minutes and I don't need pants or shoes.

 

[The_Man 4,420]

Quick Law School update: my son got his first acceptance today, from Duke. Duke invites high stats applicants to apply Priority Track and get a decision within 10 days. It's not high on his list but still a relief to get in. He pressed to get all his apps in by the end of October, which was good, but now he's getting antsy from waiting and yet probably isn't going to hear much more for a month or 2. Sometimes NYU or UVA notifies earlier but everyone else pretty much isn't until January.

Overall, law school applications are up by about one-third, year over year, from 2019-20 (Apps historically go up when the job market is bad). Interestingly, there's been a really big jump in the top end of LSAT scores - for whatever reason, it looks like the online LSAT Flex is resulting in higher scores. Scores of 175+ are up 115% from this time last year; there have already been more 180s this year than during the entire cycle last year (70 and 52, respectively).

Watching the stuff with JonesDay and other firms on the Trump election stuff has further cemented his aversion to BigLaw. He just can't see putting himself in a situation where he might be professionally obligated to do work that he's morally opposed to. So, looking more and more like public interest and/or policy, which further points in the direction of avoiding significant debt if at all possible. He really really wants the Rubenstein Scholarship from UChicago (full ride + stipend) but that's a crap shoot. He ended up applying to:

Yale, Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, NYU, Penn, UVA, Duke
Will still apply to Northwestern if the first wave of results doesn't turn out the way he hopes

[bigbottom 10,977]

35 minutes ago, The_Man said:

Quick Law School update: my son got his first acceptance today, from Duke. Duke invites high stats applicants to apply Priority Track and get a decision within 10 days. It's not high on his list but still a relief to get in. He pressed to get all his apps in by the end of October, which was good, but now he's getting antsy from waiting and yet probably isn't going to hear much more for a month or 2. Sometimes NYU or UVA notifies earlier but everyone else pretty much isn't until January.

Overall, law school applications are up by about one-third, year over year, from 2019-20 (Apps historically go up when the job market is bad). Interestingly, there's been a really big jump in the top end of LSAT scores - for whatever reason, it looks like the online LSAT Flex is resulting in higher scores. Scores of 175+ are up 115% from this time last year; there have already been more 180s this year than during the entire cycle last year (70 and 52, respectively).

Watching the stuff with JonesDay and other firms on the Trump election stuff has further cemented his aversion to BigLaw. He just can't see putting himself in a situation where he might be professionally obligated to do work that he's morally opposed to. So, looking more and more like public interest and/or policy, which further points in the direction of avoiding significant debt if at all possible. He really really wants the Rubenstein Scholarship from UChicago (full ride + stipend) but that's a crap shoot. He ended up applying to:

Yale, Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, NYU, Penn, UVA, Duke
Will still apply to Northwestern if the first wave of results doesn't turn out the way he hopes

Very interesting. Please keep us updated as things develop. Wishing your son all the best!

Edited November 13, 2020 by bigbottom

[Instinctive 489]

1 hour ago, The_Man said:

Quick Law School update: my son got his first acceptance today, from Duke. Duke invites high stats applicants to apply Priority Track and get a decision within 10 days. It's not high on his list but still a relief to get in. He pressed to get all his apps in by the end of October, which was good, but now he's getting antsy from waiting and yet probably isn't going to hear much more for a month or 2. Sometimes NYU or UVA notifies earlier but everyone else pretty much isn't until January.

Overall, law school applications are up by about one-third, year over year, from 2019-20 (Apps historically go up when the job market is bad). Interestingly, there's been a really big jump in the top end of LSAT scores - for whatever reason, it looks like the online LSAT Flex is resulting in higher scores. Scores of 175+ are up 115% from this time last year; there have already been more 180s this year than during the entire cycle last year (70 and 52, respectively).

Watching the stuff with JonesDay and other firms on the Trump election stuff has further cemented his aversion to BigLaw. He just can't see putting himself in a situation where he might be professionally obligated to do work that he's morally opposed to. So, looking more and more like public interest and/or policy, which further points in the direction of avoiding significant debt if at all possible. He really really wants the Rubenstein Scholarship from UChicago (full ride + stipend) but that's a crap shoot. He ended up applying to:

Yale, Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, NYU, Penn, UVA, Duke
Will still apply to Northwestern if the first wave of results doesn't turn out the way he hopes

Congrats! (Does Duke still do the Mordecai scholarship? He should ask if he hasn't - it was a full ride 7 years ago). 

Nothing is guaranteed, and I wouldn't say it to him, but I think he should kind of expect the Rubenstein almost based on profile. His profile is at least as strong (stronger I think) than mine and I got it.

I would recommend some patience with Yale. I don't think I heard until the beginning of April and I had all my applications in within a week of them opening. Harvard released their first big wave like one week before Christmas (I remember because I was skiing, at the top of the lift, when a Cambridge area code called).

 

Good luck!!

[whoknew 8,754]

2 hours ago, The_Man said:

Quick Law School update: my son got his first acceptance today, from Duke. Duke invites high stats applicants to apply Priority Track and get a decision within 10 days. It's not high on his list but still a relief to get in. He pressed to get all his apps in by the end of October, which was good, but now he's getting antsy from waiting and yet probably isn't going to hear much more for a month or 2. Sometimes NYU or UVA notifies earlier but everyone else pretty much isn't until January.

Overall, law school applications are up by about one-third, year over year, from 2019-20 (Apps historically go up when the job market is bad). Interestingly, there's been a really big jump in the top end of LSAT scores - for whatever reason, it looks like the online LSAT Flex is resulting in higher scores. Scores of 175+ are up 115% from this time last year; there have already been more 180s this year than during the entire cycle last year (70 and 52, respectively).

Watching the stuff with JonesDay and other firms on the Trump election stuff has further cemented his aversion to BigLaw. He just can't see putting himself in a situation where he might be professionally obligated to do work that he's morally opposed to. So, looking more and more like public interest and/or policy, which further points in the direction of avoiding significant debt if at all possible. He really really wants the Rubenstein Scholarship from UChicago (full ride + stipend) but that's a crap shoot. He ended up applying to:

Yale, Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, NYU, Penn, UVA, Duke
Will still apply to Northwestern if the first wave of results doesn't turn out the way he hopes

That’s awesome. Congratulations. Sounds like your son has an extremely bright future. Look forward to updates. 
 

No Michigan? He should apply to Michigan. Michigan rules. 

[CletiusMaximus 8,891]

Five days ago, a judge in E. DIst Texas halted a jury trial due to several positive COVID tests among jurors and others. The count is now up to 13 positives among jurors, plaintiff and defendant teams and court staff. Now it’s a mistrial. 

Twitter thread

If you represent defendants in civil lawsuits, doesn’t this severely depress your settlement offers?  If you represent plaintiffs, is this a significant factor in setting your demand? I guess the answers are obvious, but I’m still interested to hear what others are experiencing. 
 

[bigbottom 10,977]

Posting in both the guitar guys and lawyer threads. If you don’t have anything better to do . . .

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, December 10. I will be joining several friends of mine in the legal profession to perform in “LAWROCKS-APALOOZA” an online virtual concert event featuring “LawRocks” bands from all over the world. Our band of lawyers is PRO HAC VICE and we will be playing to raise money for Chance for Hope Foundation!

Tickets are on sale now at the link below. 50% of ticket sales and charitable donations designating our band will benefit Chance for Hope. We hope you will buy a ticket and join us for this fun evening! When buying your ticket, please be sure to select “Pro Hac Vice for Chance for Hope Foundation” from the drop down menu to ensure that proceeds are directed to Chance for Hope. Thanks in advance and ROCK ON!

Ticket Link: https://lawrocks.org/lza

Note that this is not my regular gigging band. This is a band of local lawyers from Houston that got together to perform at the 2019 Houston LawRocks battle of the bands. For this online concert (not a competition), select lawyer bands from various cities around the world were invited by the organization to perform (so they should mostly be decent). The LawRocks band from Phoenix will actually have Alice Cooper playing with them, which is super cool. Each band only plays one song so it should only be a couple hour event. Anyway, check it out if you’re interested. 

Edit:  Easily the coolest thing about our band’s performance is our shoot location.

Edited November 24, 2020 by bigbottom

[Zow 8,519]

2 hours ago, bigbottom said:

Posting in both the guitar guys and lawyer threads. If you don’t have anything better to do . . .

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, December 10. I will be joining several friends of mine in the legal profession to perform in “LAWROCKS-APALOOZA” an online virtual concert event featuring “LawRocks” bands from all over the world. Our band of lawyers is PRO HAC VICE and we will be playing to raise money for Chance for Hope Foundation!

Tickets are on sale now at the link below. 50% of ticket sales and charitable donations designating our band will benefit Chance for Hope. We hope you will buy a ticket and join us for this fun evening! When buying your ticket, please be sure to select “Pro Hac Vice for Chance for Hope Foundation” from the drop down menu to ensure that proceeds are directed to Chance for Hope. Thanks in advance and ROCK ON!

Ticket Link: https://lawrocks.org/lza

Note that this is not my regular gigging band. This is a band of local lawyers from Houston that got together to perform at the 2019 Houston LawRocks battle of the bands. For this online concert (not a competition), select lawyer bands from various cities around the world were invited by the organization to perform (so they should mostly be decent). The LawRocks band from Phoenix will actually have Alice Cooper playing with them, which is super cool. Each band only plays one song so it should only be a couple hour event. Anyway, check it out if you’re interested. 

Edit:  Easily the coolest thing about our band’s performance is our shoot location.

You all right if I pass this around my firm? I can see a number of the lawyers in the office enjoying it and donating. 

“Hey, Woz how do you know this guy from Texas?”

”Um, well, he wrote a song about me for a fantasy football message board...”

”Huh?” 

 

[bigbottom 10,977]

6 hours ago, Zow said:

You all right if I pass this around my firm? I can see a number of the lawyers in the office enjoying it and donating. 

“Hey, Woz how do you know this guy from Texas?”

”Um, well, he wrote a song about me for a fantasy football message board...”

”Huh?” 

 

Absolutely!  Share away, and thanks. Also, with Alice Cooper performing, the Arizona band will be getting the headline slot for sure. Their band features lawyers from General Dynamics Mission Systems, Fennemore Craig, and Potomac Law Group.

[Zow 8,519]

2 hours ago, bigbottom said:

Absolutely!  Share away, and thanks. Also, with Alice Cooper performing, the Arizona band will be getting the headline slot for sure. Their band features lawyers from General Dynamics Mission Systems, Fennemore Craig, and Potomac Law Group.

Shared it with the office. I think we know some of the AZ lawyers performing. 

[bigbottom 10,977]

57 minutes ago, Zow said:

Shared it with the office. I think we know some of the AZ lawyers performing. 

That’s pretty cool! They should be good. 

[ChiefD 18,491]

12 hours ago, bigbottom said:

Posting in both the guitar guys and lawyer threads. If you don’t have anything better to do . . .

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, December 10. I will be joining several friends of mine in the legal profession to perform in “LAWROCKS-APALOOZA” an online virtual concert event featuring “LawRocks” bands from all over the world. Our band of lawyers is PRO HAC VICE and we will be playing to raise money for Chance for Hope Foundation!

Tickets are on sale now at the link below. 50% of ticket sales and charitable donations designating our band will benefit Chance for Hope. We hope you will buy a ticket and join us for this fun evening! When buying your ticket, please be sure to select “Pro Hac Vice for Chance for Hope Foundation” from the drop down menu to ensure that proceeds are directed to Chance for Hope. Thanks in advance and ROCK ON!

Ticket Link: https://lawrocks.org/lza

Note that this is not my regular gigging band. This is a band of local lawyers from Houston that got together to perform at the 2019 Houston LawRocks battle of the bands. For this online concert (not a competition), select lawyer bands from various cities around the world were invited by the organization to perform (so they should mostly be decent). The LawRocks band from Phoenix will actually have Alice Cooper playing with them, which is super cool. Each band only plays one song so it should only be a couple hour event. Anyway, check it out if you’re interested. 

Edit:  Easily the coolest thing about our band’s performance is our shoot location.

How in the world did you get Pauly Shore and what is he going to do?

Weasel around the stage? 

[bigbottom 10,977]

1 minute ago, ChiefD said:

How in the world did you get Pauly Shore and what is he going to do?

Weasel around the stage? 

Alas, it’s just a very short video intro. And we did it through Cameo. We only have five minutes and had to feature intros from a celebrity and our firm sponsor. Pauly seemed like a good fit!

[Zow 8,519]

24 minutes ago, bigbottom said:

That’s pretty cool! They should be good. 

Alice Cooper's restaurant, Cooperstown, is located by the Superior Courthouse downtown. It's a frequent lunch spot for a bunch of attorneys who office in the area (including formerly yours truly like 8-9 years ago). He would occasionally be seen there during lunch. I wonder if that's how they connected.