By Michael J.W. StickingsI generally have quite a bit of time for Dennis Kucinich, even when I disagree with him. But his self-defeating opposition to Obama’s health-care reform package, and to the Democratic plan in Congress (Senate bill + minor patch…

Mario Lopez is going to be a daddy. Mario announced his news yesterday and said he was thrilled his girlfriend Courtney Mazza is pregnant. Courtney was a dancer, but I guess a pregnancy kinda puts you on the sidelines!
 
More pictures of Mario after the oops…
Mario sounded pleased, but really. This short term girlfriend didn’t know [...]

If any of you have been following the news, this guy, Robert Halderman was finally taken in on charges.
David Letterman’s extortionist, a former producer for the CBS news program “48 Hours Mystery, pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempting to extort $2 million dollars from Letterman by threatening to reveal affairs with women who worked on his [...]

This just in, from CBS News:

After first claiming that he was originally offering “Late Show” host David Letterman a screenplay for $2 million, Robert “Joe” Halderman, an ex-producer for “48 Hours Mystery” on CBS, pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted grand larceny in the second degree.

“I apologize to Mr. Letterman, his family, to Stephanie Birkitt, her family, and certainly to my friend and family. I will not be doing interviews. Thank you for your patience,” Halderman said after entering the plea.

As you may recall, Stephanie Birkitt (pictured) was the Cardozo Law grad who became romantically entangled with both Letterman and Halderman.

So, what kind of sentence did Halderman get?

From Popsquire:

As part of the plea bargain, Halderman was sentenced to six months in jail, five years probation and 1,000 hours of community service.

It seems that Halderman’s lawyer, renowned criminal defense attorney Gerald Shargel, secured a good result for his client. A six-month sentence doesn’t seem particularly onerous, given the circumstances:

As a reminder, Halderman’s alleged conduct includes: (1) personally delivering a package of embarrassing e-mails and photos to Dave; (2) stating in writing that Letterman’s “world is about to collapse around him” and would lead to a “ruined reputation;” and (3) negotiating with Letterman’s lawyer to receive a $2 million paycheck in exchange for not disclosing information about Letterman’s affairs.

Let’s hope part of the plea bargain terms also include a prohibition on profiting from his conduct. Without such a restriction, Halderman very well could make more than the original $2 million he demanded.

CBS producer pleads guilty in Letterman extortion case [New York Daily News]
Producer Pleads Guilty In Letterman Plot [CBS News via Drudge]
Letterman Blackmail Suspect Pleads Guilty, Gets 6 Months [ABA Journal]
David Letterman’s Sextortionist Pleads Guilty [Popsquire]

Earlier: Lawyer of the Day Stephanie Birkitt: An Update on the Ex-Letterman Lover
Lawyer of the Day: Stephanie Birkitt, Cardozo Law Grad and Ex-Letterman Lover

David Letterman – Television – Talk show – Arts – Late Show with David Letterman

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
I’m sure glad my Prius is a 2001…
Via Creditwritedowns

Oh my.

Recent news of mammoth icebergs the size of small U.S. states breaking off Antarctica may sound dire. But those events mostly represent business as usual at the world’s southernmost continent, scientists say.

More on Climate Chan…

CNN weekend anchor Betty Nguyen anchored her final show on CNN Sunday. Nguyen is headed to CBS News, where she will anchor the CBS Morning News, report for CBS’ “Early Show,” and contribute to various CBS News shows and platforms.

Nguyen’s C…

Federal court.

Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks, which has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker.

First-time jobless claims dropped last week, and the overall unemployment rate (U-3) held steady at 9.7% in February.

But you won’t call that "good news" if you know what’s good for you.

Ross Todd at the American Lawyer spared us some typing:

The news for the legal services sector is one of the more hopeful signs of late. Only 100 jobs were lost in the legal sector in February, the second month in a row that has seen a substantial drop-off in job losses. According to seasonally adjusted BLS data, the legal sector lost 1,100 jobs in January compared to 2,100 in December, 2,900 in November, and 5,800 in October. Since February of last year, the sector has shed 37,100 positions.

Coincidentally, that lines up very closely with the 110 jobs we reported lost from major law firms in "The Month in Layoffs" for February. (BLS reports net numbers, we’re just tallying layoffs at major firms).

But layoffs aren’t firms’ only costcutting measure, and in fact they seem to be falling out of favor quickly. After the jump, what the firms have been up to this week.

First off, we’re happy to note that no layoffs have been reported for the second week in a row. That hasn’t happened since the December holidays.

This is no time to start feeling all secure and go crazy, though. As Hiring Partner just wrote, it’s still important to cover your ass.

One reason for fewer layoffs going forward is simply that hiring is falling off a cliff. People who summered in 2008 got offers at almost a 90% clip. Last summer, the rate dropped below 70%. Of course, those ‘08 summers were the ‘09 grads who had their offers rescinded or their start dates deferred, so it’s kind of a pick-your-poison situation. Get screwed early or get screwed late, either way, both classes got screwed.

Not that it’s likely to matter to the recent graduates and junior associates, but corporate law departments are supposedly getting ready to hire. Even that is bad news for firms, though, because it’s part of an effort to reduce spend by reducing reliance on outside counsel.

For firms that have already laid off staff and associates, lowered salaries, reduced bonuses, and curtailed hiring, what’s left when clients won’t accept rate hikes? Cutting partners, at least according to Hildebrandt and Citi.

Even among the gainfully employed, "morale is very low" at Reed Smith, where they’ve just announced salaries for 2010 and the effects of leaving lockstep are finally hitting wallets and purses. Is it finally settling in? Not all of you are in the top 10%? For that matter, not all of you are not even in the top half.

OK, maybe it’s a little early for that, but we are curious to see how the averages in non-lockstep firm compare to their lockstep counterparts. We’re firmly in the camp of not using abandoning lockstep as cover for salary cuts.

That’s nothing compared to the dissension being sown by two members of the most recent summer class at Mayer Brown. Ahh spring is just around the corner and we have green shoots of thoughts turning to collective action. Part of the problem with the misery of 2009 was that we missed out on the perennial cries for unionization of BigLaw associates. Perhaps the summers and law students can lead the way?

Frankly, this is just an opportunity to use a quote from a previous round of Marxist agitating:

I can just see it now as an associate in an Armani suit holds up a sign reading Union in the middle of the law firm cafeteria . . . and is carried away screaming by security thugs.

Well said, Prof. Secunda.

Amazingly, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern seem to have gotten what they wanted – word came from the firm that Mayer Brown has been prodded into realizing that they’re six months overdue in making a decision and has just now begun to contemplate the situation.

Is there something about Chicago that is retarding the decisionmaking process? Katten Muchin hasn’t set salaries yet, despite indicating back in January that it would be done by March 1. Maybe KMZ lawyers are better off waiting. Just a few weeks ago we wrote about rampant jealousy in the Second City.

They haven’t changed, but the running tallies for the week, month, and year are available in the conclusion of the article on Law Shucks.

Law – Employment – Services – Law Shucks – Law Practice Support

Really.

Uh oh.

We all know how hot Rihanna is.  Not only is she gorgeous but her body is to die for.  She wasn’t born with a sick body, like most of us, she has to work for it.
According to E! News, Rihanna owes Cindy Percival more than $26,000 in unpaid fees. The fitness guru recently filed suit [...]

Via TPM, an approach to the news that can only be called fair and balanced …