Monday, April 13, 2009

Robert "Half The Pay"

The infamous Bloomberg project. Let's hear it.

"Our client is looking for JD's for an upcoming research & writing project based in Manhattan. Awaiting admission and studying for the bar are acceptable. 40 hours per week. Please send resume to new.york.midtown@roberthalflegal.com with "Project JD" in the subject line.

RATE: $20 an hour.

LENGTH OF ASSIGNMENT: 6 months"

110 comments:

Anonymous said...

pathetic

Anonymous said...

What is "the infamous Bloomberg project" ?

Anonymous said...

bloomberg is creating a legal research tool comparable to lexis/westlaw. they job is horrible, they treat us like crap. sent out a big email announcement that they were providing us with a water cooler...but would provide cups for that day only.

they fire people left & right. it's the most depressing thing ever.

Anonymous said...

Way to market your product to future lawyers Bloomberg. I'll also be sure to keep Robert Half in mind anytime I plan on temping.

Anonymous said...

Isn't $20 an hour something like 40,000 a year with no benefits? That can't be. Must be a typo. Illegal immigrants that work in Chinatown slop houses make more than that. Joan King says the going rate in NYC is $120,000 a year for recent graduates.

Anonymous said...

I just got off the phone with a PayPal customer service guy (or girl?) who was obviously an Indian who had been voice-coached to remove most of the telltale Indian accent. The result sounded pathetic, like a gay robot.

I don't know why they bother to do this. Are they really so worried we'll blow up and call the Indians names or fly into an angry tirade against outsourcing? Why do they think we can be fooled so easily?

Anonymous said...

From http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97HQAJ00&show_article=1

WASHINGTON (AP) - In America, there are always people to sue or contracts to negotiate, right? Apparently there aren't enough.
The recession is taking a steep toll on the legal profession, an industry long seen as immune from the ups and downs of the economy. Trying to weather the financial crisis, the nation's largest law firms are laying off attorneys and delaying the hiring of others.

More than 3,000 lawyers have been laid off in the first three months of 2009.

A lot of people go into the law because it's one of those professions where you're always going to have work. There aren't typically big layoffs," said Samuel Smith of Charlotte, N.C. "Realistically, I don't think people saw this coming."

Last summer Smith was working at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft while flirting with job opportunities at a few other firms. But in August, Smith was laid off as the economy soured. The firms that earlier had been interested were now reluctant to hire.

"I'm still looking for jobs," said Smith, who launched http://www.rateapartner.com, a Web site that links to legal business news articles and allows lawyers and clients to anonymously rate law firm partners.

Just how bad is it out there?

The Labor Department said the number of unemployed lawyers jumped 66 percent last year to a 10-year high of 20,000.

The first time this year that three consecutive business days passed without one of the nation's top law firms announcing job cuts came in mid-March, according to the Web site Lawshucks.com. They have counted 3,149 lawyer layoffs—just in the big firms, just in the first three months of the year.

The New York City Bar Association, for the first time in its more than 135 years, is offering career counseling services to lawyers between jobs.

Law firms are delaying the hiring of final-year law students, who normally are brought on a year in advance of graduation. Law students graduating with jobs this spring are being paid to delay their start date. Some are being told there will be no work until later in the year, maybe in 2010.

So many would-be lawyers are facing this situation that Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, a group that trains volunteers to provide free legal assistance to low income clients, held a "Deferred Associates Job Fair" in Newark, N.J., for graduates looking for temporary work while waiting for permanent jobs to come through.

For some Americans, there's not much sympathy for lawyers who are suddenly jobless.

They make more money than the Average Joe, with the nation's million-or-so employed lawyers averaging $118,280 in 2007, or $56.87 an hour, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And the number of out-of-work lawyers is minuscule compared with the manufacturing sector, which had 945,000 unemployed workers last year, or the construction industry, which saw more than 1 million jobs disappear in 2008.

But those careers don't require four years of college plus a degree from a law school that costs about $70,000 to attend.

"My computer is about to die with the amount of resumes I've sent out," said Tim Brown, 32, of Alexandria, Va.

Brown was laid off from his job working on franchise law for the National Auto Dealers Association on March 26 and has sent out hundreds of resumes. The response?

"'We've received your resume. Thank you very much,'" said Brown, who made April's loan payment but is concerned about May.

Karla Cortes, 33, lost her job as a Nature Conservancy attorney in November, only two years after graduating from American University's law school.

Money is now getting tight, said Cortes, who attended a George Washington University workshop on getting a legal job in the tough economy. "I hope to find a job soon," she said. "Otherwise, I will have to return to Puerto Rico because my savings will be depleted."

Tommy Wells, president of the American Bar Association, said the increase in lawyer layoffs is partly the legal industry's fault.

In the past, large law firms diversified by having lawyers work in areas such as bankruptcy and litigation that could support the corporate and mergers-and-acquisition work when the economy soured and vice versa, he noted.

"Firms probably got a bit out of balance in terms of their practice areas and put a lot of resources into areas that unfortunately are not nearly as active as they were a few years ago," he said.

The economy is being blamed for entire law firms going under.

In Philadelphia, WolfBlock, which has been in business since 1903 and has more than 300 lawyers in several states, is "unwinding" in preparation for closing. Partners blame the banking crisis, the recession—especially in the firm's core real estate practice—and lawyers and clients bailing as the writing on the wall became clearer.

In New York City, Thacher Proffitt & Wood, in business since 1848, survived the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; it had offices in the World Trade Center and lost none of its more than 300 lawyers and support staff. But it couldn't survive the bad economy and closed in September.

Fanni Koszeg, 34, of New York City, lost her job at Thacher in April 2008. Koszeg thought she would take the summer off and maybe go back to work as a public interest lawyer.

"That was very naive of me," Koszeg said. "Now, all of the other law firms have been laying off hundreds of lawyers."

It has been more than a decade since the market was this bad for lawyers, said David P. Landau of Klein, Landau and Romm, one of the nation's oldest continually operating legal search firms in the United States.

"We'll come out of this, we always do," said Landau, who has been recruiting lawyers for more than two decades. This recession, he said, "is a little deeper. It may take longer."

___

On the Net:

Lawshucks.com's list of major law firm layoffs: http://lawshucks.com/layoff-tracker/#ytd-chart

Law.com's list of major law firm layoffs: http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id1202425647706

Help for lawyers in the bad economy: http://new.abanet.org/economicrecovery/default.aspx

Anonymous said...

Get used to it. Real lawyers are having their pay cut. It only stands to reason that temps will have theirs cut too.

Anonymous said...

A legal staffing handler called me yesterday after I reviewed with his agency in January. He said that they are staffing for a project and would like me to submit an updated resume. I've heard this happening before.... the resume request to add to the resume mill. Now when projects were plentiful I would not have thought twice about it, but now this is just a waist of time for me.

Anonymous said...

"Fanni Koszeg, 34, of New York City, lost her job at Thacher in April 2008. Koszeg thought she would take the summer off and maybe go back to work as a public interest lawyer."

Soooo typical. The money-grubbers thought only of themselves - until they lost their jobs. Now they want to serve others, huh? Well, some of us went to law school to do something meaningful and we took those public interest jobs from the start, even though it meant paying back our loans more slowly. We're keeping those jobs and there's no room for all you greedy-come-lately.

Suck it, money-grubbers!

Anonymous said...

"Fanni Koszeg, 34, of New York City, lost her job at Thacher in April 2008. Koszeg thought she would take the summer off and maybe go back to work as a public interest lawyer."

Soooo typical. The money-grubbers thought only of themselves - until they lost their jobs. Now they want to serve others, huh? Well, some of us went to law school to do something meaningful and we took those public interest jobs from the start, even though it meant paying back our loans more slowly. We're keeping those jobs and there's no room for all you greedy-come-lately.

Suck it, money-grubbers!

Anonymous said...

Robert Half Legal is a horrible agency. Don't even bother applying.

Anonymous said...

NEW YORK TIMES, NY REGION, APRIL 12

Heather Eisenlord, 36, works in Skadden’s banking group. She would like to use her year off to teach English to monks in Sri Lanka and possibly help bring solar power to parts of the Himalayas.

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LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMy SpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkBy SUSAN DOMINUS
Published: April 12, 2009
This year may be a disastrous one for the global economy, but it’s shaping up to be one of the best that Heather Eisenlord has enjoyed in a good long while. Granted, that might not be saying much: For the past five years, Ms. Eisenlord has been an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, a notably grueling place for a lawyer to work.

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But even by more stringent standards of fun, the coming year looks pretty good. Ms. Eisenlord, 36, who works in Skadden’s banking group, will be buying a plane ticket that will take her around the world for a year, and she’s been stocking her apartment in Brooklyn with Lonely Planet travel guides.

Although she’s not yet sure exactly what she’ll be doing on her trip, she has some ideas. She would like to teach English to monks in Sri Lanka and possibly help bring solar power to remote parts of the Himalayas. She’ll probably hit 10 to 15 destinations around the world, most likely practicing not-for-profit law wherever she can be helpful.

The best part of all: Skadden is paying her about $80,000 to do it.

For a sixth-year associate at a New York law firm, $80,000 isn’t exactly competitive pay. But for someone cruising around the world, doing good wherever she sees fit and, let’s face it, probably hitting a beach or two, the pay is excellent.

Only in a financial world turned upside down would an arrangement like this one make sense. Looking to cut costs like everyone else, but not prepared to lay off associates, Skadden has chosen instead to offer all of its associates — about 1,300 worldwide — the option of accepting a third of their base pay to not show up for work for a year. (So far, the partners have no equivalent arrangement.)

The company is helping associates find pro bono work, and is encouraging them to do so. But the lawyers could also spend the year catching up on every episode of “Top Chef” that they missed during the boom years, or traveling around the world, “all of which is O.K. by us,” said Matthew Mallow, a partner at the firm. Other firms have adopted similar strategies, but Skadden’s program is unusual in that it has no pro bono requirements.

As of Friday, about 125 associates had expressed interest. “I think it’s fair to say that the numbers are in excess of our expectations,” Mr. Mallow said.

Only at a corporate law firm would the managers underestimate employees’ interest in taking a year off from the grind for what most of America would consider a small fortune.

Not everyone could cover monthly living expenses on a third of one’s pay, and naturally some skeptical lawyers grilled the partners about job security. If there are layoffs in a year, they wondered, is it really possible that the lawyers who’d been defending trees in British Columbia wouldn’t be disadvantaged, compared with the lawyers who’d been slaving away on contracts in Midtown?

Not only were the lawyers assured that their time away wouldn’t hurt them; in some ways it would be protective: If there are layoffs while they are away, they will be immune.

So far, the majority of the lawyers are looking for worthwhile legal work, Skadden says, to keep them as competitive as possible; but yes, some will take the year off to spend time with their children or look after a sick relative. Someone’s planning to wrap up his Ph.D., someone else is looking into legal work for a news organization, and another associate will be joining Ms. Eisenlord on her round-the-world adventure.

Ms. Eisenlord says she fully intends to go back to Skadden after her trip, and will be eager to return to the work she loves and the co-workers she admires. It’s possible that after a year teaching monks English, installing solar panels in the Himalayas and working on human rights in developing nations, she will come to the conclusion that there is no more fulfilling life than the one she has spent in corporate law.

But maybe she will have some kind of revelation. If there is any silver lining to this financial catastrophe, it’s that business as usual has come to a grinding halt. Sometimes it takes getting thrown out of the office to notice there is a life outside.

Already, Ms. Eisenlord seems to be making some sort of transition. Has she been getting any work done lately as she anticipates this thrilling new trip?

“No comment,” she said.

Spoken like a lawyer — but a lawyer on the verge.

E-mail: susan.dominus@nytimes.com

Anonymous said...

Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent to the author of the above Times article:

Dear Susan:

Your irresponsible article on the Skadden lawyer makes it clear why the Times is deservedly going under. With so many lawyers in pain because of unemplyment and underemployment you choose to write a fluff piece on one overpaid elite lawyer that is getting paid 80k to sit on her ass for a year? No wonder people are turning to alternative media in droves to get their news.

There is a real story here, but you have completely missed it.

The unemployment and underemployment rate for lawyers is not accurately reported by law schools or the ABA. The consequences of this lack of information are that college grads are enticed into going to law school and then graduate with 100k in loans and actually rather poor job prospects. For many, the options are a kind of debt slavery of toiling away in low paying motion mills and doc reviews under grueling conditions. Should you wish to learn more please check out http://temporaryattorney.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Furthermore, the ABA, which does not represent the legal profession, is actively working against the legal profession with a neo-liberal agenda. The ABA accredits law schools and issues ethics advisory opinions, among other things. The ABA has been accrediting new law at the pace of 1 or 2 a year for about the last 20 years. This has resulted in a glut of law school grads without job prospects. While this policy is good for banks and law schools, it is terrible for the legal profession and the taxpayer. Law school loans are backed by the taxpayer and the government backs the loan in case of default. The glut of law schools has caused a hobbsian environment within the legal profession, a war of all against all for jobs. Because of the intense competition and large law school debt, the legal profession can no longer serve a gate keeper function in society because lawyers are afraid to say no to clients whom engage in questionable practices because of the fear of being fired. The ABA has also recently issues an opinion advocating fo rthe outsourcing of legal work to foreign countries, such as India. So an American law license means very little now because the work can be done by an unlicensed lawyer working from a foreign jurisdiction. The law has become the new telemarketing. So now the professional standards are back to what they were a 150 years ago. I hope the lawyer in your story picks up some knowledge of Indian so she can move there because that is were the legal jobs will be.

The ABA leadership is dominated by corporate lawyers seemingly trying to break the back of the legal profession.

It was hard for many law school grads to find a job before the economy collapsed because of the law school ponzi scheme destroying the legal profession. Now, many people will be left with huge law school debt and no chance of ever working in the profession they trained for. This is the fraudulent scheme that should be reported on.

Your article was so superficial I feel like vomiting.

Best Regards,

Anonymous said...

Hi BLS grads, Joan King here, that $20 per hour must be a "fluke", keep networking and you will land a $160,000 per year job. Those people on the Bloomberg project failed to network. Its all about networking with other BLS grads.

Anonymous said...

what an overprivileged Twat!

She can't even do herbpublic service locally! Sounds like one of people that cares more about a stray kitty than a human being.

If I has five years of making bank as a result of law school maybe I'd go to the Himalayan monks too! Instead law school
has provided me with debt, chronic unemployment, underemployment. I am lucky to get any work. Any lawyer skills I have I learned on my own. Law school did not provide me with anything that I could earn a living from. It just allowed me to be able to sit for the bar. Notice I did not say pass the bar or prepare me to take the bar! Oh no you need to pay for an expensive bar review course to get that information.

Anonymous said...

I heard a few years ago at the chicago office a man of asian descent, who was a manager, was removed or something for some sort of shennanigans. LE might have been involved but it didn't make the papes

Anonymous said...

10:38 - You are unemployed for a reason. You lack even an ounce of professionalism.

Anonymous said...

10:38 There is much I like about your e-mail but I have a correction - the Indians at the LPO's are not considered lawyers in the U.S. at all as they have not graduated from any U.S. accredited law school.

You also might have pointed out that the ABA's advocacy of outsourcing is contrary to due diligence requirements and should be recognized by the ABA as malpractice rather than advocated by it. Of course the ABA does not have the power to legitimatize outsourcing. The ABA opinion gives no cover when it is so clearly contrary to federal case law, including the recent fed district ct opinion cited in another thread in this blog. And outsourcing (which is used a lot less than some posters think) is not what has caused our jobs to go away. It is the crashing legal market that could not withstand the credit crunch that is the problem. We used to be hired as extra help to assist the servants (a/k/a the biglaw associates). Now the servants are getting fired and the mansions are up for sale. As long as things are that way, we will have the same problem.

Anonymous said...

1:28 AM It depends on the agency. Did you send the resume?

Anonymous said...

11:37

You should write to the article's author. The more feedback she receives concerning the current working environment for the bulk of practicing attorneys, the better.

Anonymous said...

here is an ABA journal article about how some TTTTer got disbarred because he could not make his student loan payments:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/houston_lawyer_loses_license_because_of_failure_to_pay_debts/#comments

I commented at that url because I think that the ABA and the state bars are betraying by not using their bully pulpit to tell the public how overcrowded the profession is. If the ABA and the state bars did their jobs, this guy could have paid his student loans.


If you feel the same, please comment at the above url.

If you disagree, eat **** and die...

Anonymous said...

oops--the url did not make it. Let's try that again:


here is an ABA journal article about how some TTTTer got disbarred because he could not make his student loan payments:

aba journal articleI commented at that url because I think that the ABA and the state bars are betraying by not using their bully pulpit to tell the public how overcrowded the profession is. If the ABA and the state bars did their jobs, this guy could have paid his student loans.


If you feel the same, please comment at the above url.

If you disagree, eat **** and die...

Anonymous said...

I would be stunned if you got a straight answer from the Times. Its tongue is firmly up the Ivy League butt.

Anonymous said...

fuk this girl at skadden!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hope she gets pussy stink in himlyasa.

what shit fuk u?

fuk the ny times.

Anonymous said...

this kind of thing is EXACTLY why our economy is in trouble, they are gonna pay someone 80k to not do anything relevant to their business for a year, and apparently they are going to pay 124 other people to do it as well.
Talk about Alice living in wonderland....

Anonymous said...

the really bad thing about the Robert Half gig is that its for six months, if you leave before that you'll get blacklisted.
It would be one thing if it was just for a month, but to work for such a low wage in NYC for six months, with no overtime, is stupid.
It also tells me that whatever firm is offering this probably treats people very very badly, because only a firm that treats people badly would make such a terrible take-it-and-be-screwed or leave it and be slightly-more- screwed offer.

Anonymous said...

Law school raped me, the bar associations gang raped me and the law firms treated me like a leper felon with the plague. Now I beg the agencies to pimp me out to no avail while I wait online to donate plasma and to get food stamps.
The above is a
True story.

And of course someone is getting 80k a year to take the year off. I have an education, jd, bar , etc.. And have worked hard whenever I have been able and I have never seen 80k in one year in my life.

My parents never made 80k in a year, but at least they didn't have student loans and were able to support a family.

Today's society has fallen from any decency and grace. This is not America. We live on a country of ignorance and self-centeredness. Those factors combined by the female gluttony that is only fed by the pornography of advertisements for material goods that we do not need is shameful. We live on a nation of pussys and pansies so it is no wonder that we are so fucked.

Anonymous said...

hi,
I am an asian monk that looks fowsrsbto engrish lesson so I can work doc review in cambodia.

Dumb americans! Ha ha ha

Anonymous said...

Joan King again people, listen up, all you need to do is network and you will land a great job at Biglaw making 6 figures.

Did I ever tell you people how many BLS grads work at Clifford Chance?

Anonymous said...

hey everybody, can I have your attention real quick............
just a couple of announcements. First thanks for all your hard work and remeber to keep your work areas clean. Secondly no using the desk drawers! Again that is a no no. Just want to tell everbody that some hot docs are in the pipe. So won't be long now. If you have any questions see your team lead and remeber that reach arounds are always relevant.

Anonymous said...

ah memories of Newark! How nice, I just tugged my unemployed pud off to memories of prathima. So nice cum in a hurry thinking about that hot curry.

Anonymous said...

what is going on with that recent hudson tease for a project in midtown?????????????????????

Anonymous said...

2:42

Blacklisted, huh?

As in blacklisted from a firm that never has any temp projects anyway?

Anonymous said...

whatever happened to Prothima, Queen of the Gutter.

"Listen up everyone, please turn your cell phones OFF."

"Oh wait, I have a call. Okay, just a minute."

Anonymous said...

Did anybody else bother to email Ms. Eisenbitch from Skadden and tell her what a waste of life she is in ADDITION to emailing that waste of life from the New York Slimes? I'm emailing both twice a day until I get a job. Scratch that, until I get an $80k/yr job.

Anonymous said...

How is it possible this evolutionary loser is being held up by the Times as an object of admiration? We are doomed as a society. Skadden pays 80k to a bag of excrement with a bandana tied around it while people are out of work and living in their cars and where is the author’s outrage. Where are the Ida Tarbells?

Anonymous said...

I would have a threesome with Joan King and a dyslexic midget for 80 grand right about now.

Anonymous said...

hey everybody, just wanted to let you know....., hold on yeah oh hey, yes this is prathima, no I can talk now, not busy, sure......... And three hours later...., yeah I had an announcement to make...., ring ring, okay I'll be back about that.

Four hours later..., okay everybody don't take to many breaks and remeber no cell phone use.!

Anonymous said...

what is esenbloch's email skadenn? I am assuming 80kayeardumbslut is not it? I'd like to talk to her.


What a fukin waste. Does anybody know if she likes cock?

Anonymous said...

I'd have a threesome with protheema and a goat for 80k

Anonymous said...

I'd have a threesome with protheema and a goat for 80k

Anonymous said...

Ms. Nosenbleed is going to teach American law to monks at a Nepalese LPO.

Seriously, that article is just one symptom of the nauseating preciousness of the NY Times. That "Big City" column has got to go. They are always looking for some overprivileged urban career beeyatch to celebrate, so their feminazi columnists can shriek about how there are professional women out there "having it all". Really pukey stuff. This chick should be happy she has any job, and teaching English to monks in a 3rd world country isn't gonna cut it as far as relevancy goes, when there are 22 year-old Peace Corps kids doing that.

Why don't they just fire her cardigan-wearing a$$ and be done with it.

Anonymous said...

Yeah,

We'll pay yo 80K to get lost means we may or may not have a job for you in a year, but we defenataly don't have one for you now. Here's 80k and you might want to find another job.

Kind of like, we have plenty of docs in the pipeline and we'll call you later this week.

Teach english to monks in Nepal, whatver. The first thing she'll do is take a month vacation and then start a job search.

Anonymous said...

80K is kind of like UE for high powered associates. They have to cover their mortgage and shit.

Anonymous said...

These people will NOT have jobs waiting for them when they come back. Essentially, biglaw is looking to wipe out an entire class year. 80K is a shitty consolation prize.

Anonymous said...

fuck you 10:09. No sympathy, she got paid well and gets 80k.


So if they want to wipe out an entire class so be it. Shits tough all over. I don't see anyone at biglaw worried about me and my problems.

Fuck her, she was overprivileged and now she is just privileged. Boo fukin hoo.

Anonymous said...

and fuck you 10:09.

Anonymous said...

Actually, the Skadden scheme makes a lot of sense from an economic AND a political correctness point of view, and for a certain class of attorneys.

They get to cut a whole swath of associates' salaries by 2/3, but still keep these experienced people affiliated with the firm for if/when the economy turns back up.

If the economy stays in the shitter, they can still always lay them off permanently, or offer hire them back as "part-timers" or "contract attorneys" at the new, lower salary.

Their asses are covered in the PC department, too, because having associates go to the Third World to do "socially relevant" work with poor people is just good PR. Maybe they're also hoping these people will make business contacts in these places that can be turned into some rainmaking for the firm to work on some international financing projects or whatever.

(Just try to imagine Skadden giving one of these associates an offer to stay on the French Riviera for a year to do "networking" among the rich... wouldn't pass the PC test.)

It makes sense for the overprivileged associate like this woman, who has no kids to support, no strong family ties and probably no mortgage to pay.

Anonymous said...

So lets see after paying taxes that will leave her with about
£48k,this has to last her a year? This equates to 4k a month. Its not so great if she will have to pay upkeep on a mortgage and basic bills household running bills whilst traveling abroad.

And re the nonsense that Skadden has said about those people electing to take the sabatical being protected from any future layoffs, this is nonsense and unlawful.

Anonymous said...

well, May is the last month I'll be able to make rent...

selling my jd said...

click...click.... the players are meeting about this case... click.. click.. meeting being held in document review room... click..click..click.. listening to Wall of Voodoo on my ipod... click..click.. click... this company is burning their client's money like a forest fire .....click.. click.. click.. even forest fires eventually get put out... click.. click.. click.. millions of documents here.. click.. click.. click... click.. click.. document reviewers get less respect than trash.... click.. click.. click... so many power plays being played here it is enough to get sick... click.. click.. click.. just trying to bring the cash in.. click.. click.. click... why does the clock seem to slow down sometimes.. ?? can't the earth hurry up and spin a bit faster... click.. click.. click.. this document is a no issue.. click.. click...

Anonymous said...

Is Creme Brule still running the show over there?

Anonymous said...

$30 an hour review starting at Hudson, its an IP review with a science background requirement.

THAT IS INSANE. (should be $40-45p/h)

Lets not focus on the BigLaw layoffs and their clueless, self-important, cardigan wearing, nerdy associates and start worrying about HOW MUCH WE'RE GETTING FUCKED IN THE ASS BY RATES LIKE THESE.

Anonymous said...

Atty/JD/Paralegal or Translator Fluent in Icelandic Wanted (Midtown)
Reply to: job-ncbdt-1123750326@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-04-15, 1:59PM EDT


Lexolution's client has an immediate need for an attorney, unadmitted JD, paralegal or translator who is fluent in Icelandic for a short document review project. Top hourly rate. Send your resume asap!

* Compensation: TBD
* This is a contract job.
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

Anonymous said...

Here's my response to an email sent to the reporter from the Times:

The Times has in fact reported on massive layoffs in the legal profession. But by all means, contact my editor: rudoren@nytimes.com. I don't know whether they've extensively covered the difficulty young lawyer are having in finding work, but if not, it seems like it would be worth coverage (which doesn't mean that any other kind of reporting on trends in the profession has no merit).
Regards,
Susan Dominus

Anonymous said...

So we're on the top of their list.

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable that NY Times article. And to think that a small 1% minority of the profession is claiming all the golden privileges by cutting the rest of the lawyers and staffers, causing many of them to lose their livelihoods, so they can send an overprivileged cunt like Eisenbitch around the world and pay her to do nothing. If something like this happened in France, we would riot, revolt, strike, protest, whatever it takes. At least the working and middle class in Europe still have balls to stand up for the rights unlike you impotent Americans. I highly recommend to you to gain more courage and take actions against it.

Anonymous said...

The effect of the Biglaw lay offs is that mid law jobs and public interest jobs that Biglaw types wouldn't even spit on before the crash are now being inundated with resumes from ex-Biglaw associates with their prestige laden credentials.

....and yes, mid-law will bite on these resumes, because they would rather have someome from a T5 on their website and pay them $70,000 than someone from Suffolk or Cardozo.

Welcoe to the new reality. Biglaw still rules the roost.

Anonymous said...

Heather Eisenlord, 36...I checked her bio on the Skadden website. I was expecting the usual T5, magna, law review over achiever.

However she has none of the usual "prestige"credentials required for Skadden. A J.D. from GW, no hons, no law review etc....she must have had a connection.

I see from the Times article that she has a travel guide to Rwanda on her table. I wish she had travelled there in 1994....

Anonymous said...

as a document reviewer.. i literally got sick when i saw the $80,000 to stay away scenario...

Anonymous said...

ÉG hugsun þessi síðan ÉG tala Íslenska minn starf vildi vera öruggur. Hvernig sem the verkefni er nú í Indland. Líf sjúga.

Anonymous said...

7:29 you'll have to better than that to get that 5 - 6 hours of Icelandic doc review. And the work is not in India, the associates are doing it.

Anonymous said...

Dear 10:45 am,
FUCK YOU you dumb fuck.
$4,000.00 a month after taxes is plenty to get by and save for me. And yes I live in Manhattan.

Additionally you fail to realize she was making $240,000.00 a year before any bonus the year before. Plus full benefits, bar expenses, cle, expense account for meals I am sure if she worked late, etc..

So even if she had scaled up to $240k in the preceding year from let's say $200k and before that $180k, $170K, $160k and so forth. So without bonus we are looking at someone that made about $950,000.00 in 5 years. Even with law schools loans I am sure that she has some money saved. If she received any bonus it certainly puts her 5 year earnings above the $1,000,000.00 mark!

S0 you again fuck you 10:45am for saying 4k a month net to go do whatever else you want is not enough. I mean seriously, really? There are lottery prizes that are not that bountiful.

I have been in the working world longer than 5 years, but in the past 5 years I made total $200k tops.

Anonymous said...

7:29 you'll have to do better than that to get that 5 - 6 hours of Icelandic doc review. And the work is not in India, the associates are doing it.

Anonymous said...

TO THE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBLE FOR POSTING THE LAW FIRM LAYOFF NEWS AND some urls's to go to if I find you I will drag you behind a subway car. Nobody is interested in visiting these sites and it is pain in the ass to have to scroll through that shit. A pox on you and your house.

Anyone seeing that crap don't go the url.

Anonymous said...

Dear Heather Eisenlorhor,

I hear the coast of somalia is lovely this time of year. Why don't you take your headbang wearing dork ass there and go sailing with your fellow associate.

And sure mommy and daddy are proud you made the NY times, gee just think how excited they'll be when you get on cnn.

Anonymous said...

$240,000 a year but almost half of that is wiped out by Federal income tax

Anonymous said...

......and put into the pensions of cops and teachers.

Anonymous said...

8.26 am very true - but one will usually find that very high earners have very high outgoings. I doubt she lives in a cheap 500 sq feet studio.

Anonymous said...

This job was listed in the Philadelphia Craigslist... Weirdly, the job is actually located in DC, and wasn't listed on DC Craigslist. And the pay... $30-35/hour for someone with a science degree or pharma work background???

---

We are currently accepting resumes for a large, long term, defensive Pharmaceutical document review. Qualified candidates must be licensed (any state) and will have at least one of the following.

(1) Attorneys with a substantive pharmaceutical background (someone who may have worked at a pharmaceutical company or practice)
(2) Attorneys with a scientific background (an advance degree or majored in chemistry and/or biology)
(3) Attorneys who have worked on a pharmaceutical related doc review (5+ years of experience)

Candidates must be able to work in Washington DC and must be able to commit to at least 3 months of work.



* Location: Washington DC
* Compensation: $30-$35/hour - commensurate on experience.

Anonymous said...

OTOH, a good sign is that I'm seeing more doc review projects for licensed attorneys where they don't require a particular state bar, but open it to attorneys licensed in any state...

Anyone have a read on this?

Anonymous said...

oh yeah, duck my dick bitch. Get that cock in your mouth. Yeah that's it suck my cock.

selling my jd said...

the being barred in a particular state for document reviews is a big joke..... document review is barely the practice of law.... as long it is under some sort of attorney supervision then what ethical rule is violating...

the barred requirements has more do with the ethical requirements as related to the billing side than anything else.. and even that is barely regulated... being barred requirements for a document review are a joke...

Anonymous said...

You should sell your JD to pay for a course in English and grammer.

Anonymous said...

There is not and never has been any valid question about whether doc review is the practice of law. As recently pointed out in a fed district ct opinion that is cited elsewhere in this blog it is not only the practice of law but the highest standards of due diligence apply to it. That is why it should always and only be performed by U.S. admitted attorneys. Having it done by anyone else, under "supervision" or not, raises all sorts of red flags when a problem happens that leads a court to examine the process and determine whether sanctions should be imposed. It is very hard to show there was due diligence when actual attorneys were not even used.

Anonymous said...

It's spelled grammAr...

selling my jd said...

could someone please cite anything that says document review is the practice of law. would love to read that opinion.

regardless of the opinion. document review as related to contract legal work is somewhat mindless. surely under any large umbrella it will fall into the practice of law. but in reality, it is a task that does not take much analytical skill for the most part.

Anonymous said...

4:06 there is a fed case cited on another thread. Go find it yourself if you're interested. Much of the practice of law is rather mindless even though is still the practice of law. Copying petitions, notices, leases, contracts, complaints, will and all sorts of papers and just changing names and dates and a few facts is mindless. Being in an area where you wind up writing the same brief over and over again is mindless. It doesn't have to interesting to be the practice of law.

Anonymous said...

4:06 there is a fed case cited on another thread. Go find it yourself if you're interested. Much of the practice of law is rather mindless even though is still the practice of law. Copying petitions, notices, leases, contracts, complaints, will and all sorts of papers and just changing names and dates and a few facts is mindless. Being in an area where you wind up writing the same brief over and over again is mindless. It doesn't have to beinteresting to be the practice of law.

Anonymous said...

The practice of law fundamentally involves the application of law to facts.

When you're doing doc review you're applying law (e.g. evidentially principles like relevance/priv concepts) to facts (written evidence like emails and spreadsheets).

You're not tossing a coin.

What's the issue here???????????

Anonymous said...

Exactly, there is no issue.

Anonymous said...

NY Won’t Admit Would-Be Lawyer Due to $430K in Unpaid Student Loans

Posted 04 17 209 6:34pm
AmJurDaily/Martha Neil

A written opinion doesn't give his name. But an anonymous would-be New York lawyer with some $430,000 in delinquent student loans dating back to 1985 presumably knows who the New York appeals court is talking about.

In a decision (PDF) today, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court refuses to admit the individual it refers to as "applicant" on character and fitness grounds, even though he passed the state bar in February 2008.

The applicant said he intends in good faith to repay the loans, and attributed his delinquent status to the difficult economy and what the court describes as bad-faith negotiations by some loan servicers. However, he hasn't made "any substantial payments" during the time he has owed the money, and hasn't been "flexible" in negotating with lenders, the opinion states.

"Under all the circumstances herein, we conclude that applicant has not presently established the character and general fitness requisite for an attorney and counselor-at-law," the court writes.

Anonymous said...

I used to find this blog informative and entertaining, but the racism and sexism of bitter failed lawyers is driving me away. I'm sorry that you didn't go to a good enough school/ didn't have good enough grades to get a job as an associate, but JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE WHITE AND/OR MALE DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE MORE DESERVING OF A GOOD JOB THAN ANYONE ELSE. If you spent a little more time trying to improve your own situation (instead of calling a woman you don't even know a whore/slut/bitch just because she has a job that you wish you had), then maybe you'd have more success in the terrible job market that we're all dealing with.

Anonymous said...

I am a conservative white male and I think the silly racist comments here are ridiculous. Everyone should be judged on their merits.

The whole job market is shot right now for lawyers. Why does that make so many of you hateful? We all share the same problem.

Anonymous said...

6:57-

THANK you!

Anonymous said...

The job market is shot, but it certainly isn't dead. You can rest assured that the people who take their work seriously are working. The days of coming onto a project, shmoozing with your friends, chatting all day on the phone and playing on the internet while waiting for your dinner and black livery cab ride home are over.

Anonymous said...

1:37 said...

"You should sell your JD to pay for a course in English and grammer."

I'm not the person you were talking about, but you don't see the irony in what you just wrote there, nephew?

Anonymous said...

10:00 Oh please. Give everyone a break with that crap about people getting projects because they take their work seriously. You can't be taken seriously. That is not how people are selected. It is who the recruiters and supervisors like for superficial reasons and nothing else. People who are hardly ever at their computers, people who just waste time text messaging and talking, they all have work when recruiters and supervisors like them for reasons that have nothing to do with work - reasons that include physical attraction, age and skin color among other non work-related factors. It is all about being in with the in-crowd whatever that may mean.

Anonymous said...

What we need is for Obama to propose a FEDRA bill -- Full Employment for Document Review Attorneys!!!

Anonymous said...

Another article about a Skadden layoff- only this is of a staff attorney. I worked under him for the Skadden project and remember when he returned to work the day after the Hudson River plane crash. He was a very nice man.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30220173//

Anonymous said...

I have had doc review jobs where the work was more professionally challenging and rigorous than in associate positions where I just drafted very similar motions and briefs all day.

The comments would be no less severe were the pampered associate a male.

Anonymous said...

I am a 7th year Skadden associate making $320K. This year Skads offered me a 2-year "bailout" for $140K/yr.

I'm torn between Barbados and Tahiti... The Tahiti gig is good, I get to teach tourists to snorkel and body-surf. Which would you take?

Anonymous said...

You should go to either to Gansbaai, South Africa or Brisbane, Australia to teach snorkeling. Not only are the beaches and waters beautiful, but you would find lots of great mating opportunities right offshore.

Anonymous said...

That's a no brainer, Australia. The women there are notoriously "easy" and beautiful. Think Nicole Kidman.

Who cares if it began as a penal colony, you can overlook that.

selling my jd said...

click... click.. friday.. click.. click.. nice main street for a connecticut town.... click. click.. click.. all the regular employees are leaving early on a Friday.. click..click.. others are taking vacation days.. click.. click.. click... big deadline coming... click.. click.. people need their documents.. click.. click.. click.. print. print.. print..


forced to leave as I hit my 40 hours.. no pay off in the promised land..

Anonymous said...

Inspired by the recent tea bag protest, send a rusty trombone mouthpiece to Thomas Wells, Jr., the ABA president.

Anonymous said...

bloomberg sucks. now they've blocked our access to jdunderground. guess they don't like the bad press they're getting.

Anonymous said...

I agree, when it comes to people being hired for any job -not just doc review- it is often the intangibles that get people accepted, or rejected for employment. I think people have a right to be angry when they have been lied to about there employment options in law, or in any other field! A person can only make an informed decision if they have all the relevant information. If they are lied to they cannot make the best decision for themselves. The USA has lied for a long time, and I am glad that people on this blog are telling the truth about the 'Education Lie'.

Anonymous said...

I guess it's useless to ask if people are hearing about projects cropping up. Ah well- thought I'd ask anyway.

Eleanor Roosevelt said...

Is this a joke?!

Anonymous said...

Fanni Koszeig also overstayed her maternity leave and expected the job to be there when she got back. Even more naive.

Anonymous said...

Joan King's BLS and also Touro "Juris Doctorates",broke with $150K of loans,crawl on their hands and knees to Robert Half-pay beg for a $20 job at Bloomberg. Then they fire you for anything. And your reputation is destroyed. "You'll never work a day again in this town". But Joan is there to justify everything and say she never heard about this. Go to Brooklyn and the road in front of you is paved with gold.....

Anonymous said...

I have my gilt framed degree from BLS with me to show to Bloomberg. I'm told by everyone how worth it Brooklyn law is and am looking for the big $20 per hour pay off on my $200k investment, not to mention three such well spent years.

Anonymous said...

Robert Half is a multi billion dollar, publicly traded company.
But this is just slave labor.

Anonymous said...

I, too, work for the infamous Bloomberg project and have more student debt than I could ever pay off. I think the animosity toward the Skadden lawyer, marked by the repeated use of the descriptor 'over-privileged,' is thinly veiled jealousy. Everyone is responsible for his or her own destiny at some point. It's not easy, but pursue your legal interests on lunch hour, during break, and before and after work. Either someone will notice or you will create your own niche. The state of the economy is out of our control, but our reaction to it is not.

Anonymous said...

I worked on the infamous Bloomberg project. Made it through the full six months without getting fired, and now I'm collecting unemployment. What a scam this whole law school thing was. Biggest and most expensive mistake of my life.

Anonymous said...

#The state of the economy is out of our control, but our reaction to it is not."

what the fuck is he talking about? do these people think they are george washington or what? get a grip of yourself. if you are looking at this blog we are all in the same boat

the best advice i read above was to visit the cost of Somalia....i hear is beautiful this time of the year, and who knows hopefully we will see your face in CNN....believe it will make us smile

Anonymous said...

I was on that project when it first started. Worst job I EVER had. No one had any idea what they wanted. I had to correct them.

Anonymous said...

They have a guy working there with a criminal record! Plus, the "account executives" lie thru there teeth constantly about availability of jobs. Despite proclaiming to be ethical on their website, they will do anything to manipulate a situation so they look good.