Starting pay: over or under $200K?

Ignorance ≠ innocence. Not in criminal law, and not when it comes to fake citations. “I didn't write that brief,” is not a defense when the court thinks you should have read and checked its contents.

This week, we’ve also got a rundown on the right way to use sports tickets for business development (because handing a client a ticket and calling it relationship-building is its own kind of hallucination), and a reality check on starting salaries. And you won’t want to miss this week’s podcast, which comes from “Hawkeye” himself. 

Coming soon, we sat down with an environmental lawyer who thinks you need to touch grass. 

But first, everyone is talking about this New York Times article detailing attorney Kathy Ruemmler’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Does this situation really reflect “business as usual” in the legal industry? Let us know what you think by answering this week’s poll question.

Fireworks? Check. Train? Check. Scales? Oh no.
A true horror story, according to @altheaincourt. 

Road Trip: Walking through history.
Commemorate Juneteenth by taking a stroll along Galveston’s Freedom Walk. Its five stops teach visitors about slavery, emancipation, and the journey to absolute equality.

Love Being a judge means never having to say you’re sorry.
Recent episodes of judicial misconduct show just how much disciplinary discretion chief judges have.

Slop justice.
This AI start-up, backed by Peter Thiel, is determined to put journalists on trial. 

What we’re watching.
If “Toy Story 5” mania has whetted your appetite for an emotionally draining film starring Tom Hanks, “Philadelphia” (1993) is always worth revisiting.  

Every time a BigLaw firm bumps first-year pay, the press covers it like the entire industry will follow in lockstep. Last year, NALP reported that large firms were starting associates out at $200k, but data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows the mean wage for lawyers is $182,760, with the lowest 10% of lawyers earning less than $72,780 annually, and the highest 10% earning more than $239,200.

Why this matters: If you're hiring, this data will let you know where you need to be to attract quality candidates. If you're a mid-career attorney benchmarking your own compensation, the BigLaw number is the wrong baseline unless you are at a mega firm on the coast. (Law Fuel)

Courts are cracking down on AI hallucinations in legal filings by ramping up sanctions on the lawyers who submit them AND lawyers the court believes should have noticed and flagged fake cases. 

The starkest example of this comes from a federal case out of Mississippi. Senior U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock removed all four attorneys from a dispute after briefs on both sides contained AI-generated citations. Two out-of-state lawyers admitted they used unverified AI, while local counsel fessed up to signing briefs they never actually read. Sanctions ranged from $1,000 to $3,500, and the two pro hac vice attorneys are banned from the Northern District of Mississippi for two years.

But that’s not the only case where lawyers who didn’t cite AI-generated cases are getting dinged. Courts from California to Minnesota to the 7th Circuit are holding opposing counsel responsible for not flagging fake citations they encounter in the other side's briefs.

Florida’s new rule requiring lawyers who are filing documents to certify “the legal authorities identified exist and are accurately cited” took effect this week.

Why this matters: Basic cite-checking is now an ethical obligation, not just good practice. As one judge put it, courts shouldn't be “the last line of defense” against fictional cases. (ABA Journal / ABA Journal)

Alan Alda has spent the decades since M*A*S*H wrapped up helping scientists learn to communicate with the public. He realized expertise is worthless if nobody can absorb it, so he’s invested a lot of time and money into teaching people how to take something complicated and make another person actually get it, quickly, and without losing them.

It’s a skill set that is as valuable in the legal world as it is in the laboratory, which is what makes his podcast worth listening to. The guests vary widely, but in each one, people talk about connection as a craft, reframing it as something you can study and improve on.

Why this matters: Every client call, deposition, mediation and opening statement is a communication problem disguised as a legal one. Figure out how to connect with your audience, and your message is going to be more well-received. (Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda)

Firms are shelling out big bucks to get their clients seats at this summer’s premier sporting events. While the eye-popping amount paid for those tickets gets the headlines, the info everyone should actually be paying attention to is how sports tickets are used as a business development tool. 

Why this matters: A seat next to a referral source or existing or potential client at a game gives you two to three uninterrupted hours that no lunch meeting can replicate. Just keep in mind that your firm is in the business of generating business, not distributing tickets. (Bloomberg)

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Raise the Bar is written and curated by Emily Kelchen, edited by Bianca Prieto.