On the Record

The Winston-Salem Journal has a cute leap day story today: they asked readers to share their tales of the woman’s being the one to “leap” into love. And for those who wrote in, writes Reporter Kim Underwood, “taking the lead paid big dividends.”

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

So says Lynn Hecht Schafran, director of the National Judicial Education Program, in a post at Ms. JD.

Maryland Judge W. Kennedy Boone was reprimanded last month for calling three African-American women lawyers “the Supremes” and advising the defendant to “get an experienced male attorney.”

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer

Legal scholar Ted Frank, a regular contributor to Overlawyered.com and Above the Law, says “BigLaw lawyers love Obama.”

They might not love him - or Frank - quite as much after reading Frank’s Tuesday post, where he lays out what Obama’s proposed tax policies (including ending the Bush tax cuts and the social security tax cap) will do to BigLaw wallets.

To illustrate his point, Frank calculates the effect of the tax changes on a mid-level BigLaw associate who is paid market value at a New York City firm. After he lists out his assumptions (she is single, maxes out her 401k, gives $10K/year to charity), he reveals the verdict:

The answer is that Obama’s tax increases have a bigger effect on your income than a law firm cutting New York salaries by $34,000.

Frank acknowledges, “Now, money isn’t everything. A BigLaw associate, who is already handsomely paid, might find it worthwhile to take the equivalent of a $34,000/year paycut to have Barack Obama as president instead of John McCain.”

But he also points out, “If you’re willing to reject a law firm over a few thousand dollars, how much money would sway your presidential vote and campaign contributions?”

Click here to download Frank’s excel spreadsheet, which you can edit with your own information. (Note: it will only work for taxable income above $78,850).

What do you think?

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

How much is a 13-inch, 8-pound, expressionless, naked guy covered in gold worth? If that guy’s name is “Oscar,” the answer is $1, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Since 1950, Oscar winners have been required to sign an agreement with the academy, stating they and their heirs will not attempt to sell the awards without first offering them to the academy for a dollar, Forbes.com reported. Those who do not sign the agreement cannot keep their Oscars. (Rumor has it that this year’s winners, including Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem, were also threatened with starring roles in “Norbit 2.”)

Legal experts are unsure if the “Oscar for a dollar” agreement would stand up in court, and sales do happen on the open market despite the academy’s efforts to prevent them; an estimated 150 Oscars have been sold since the awards were first handed out in 1929, Forbes reported. The most paid for an Oscar is $1.5 million, by Michael Jackson in 1999 for the 1939 Best Picture Oscar for Gone with the Wind, according to the article.

Some celebrities, such as Kevin Spacey, have bought Oscars only to return them to the academy.

But not magician David Copperfield. As if being able to walk through the Great Wall of China did not make him awesome enough, Copperfield keeps the 1943 Best Director Oscar for Casablanca, which he bought for $232,000 in 2003, in his bedroom, Forbes reported. His lava lamp is probably very jealous.

Assuming it was for sale and price was not an issue, which Oscar would you want on your mantel? (Personally, I would choose this one.)

DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer

The Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission has now begun advertising to fill the Court of Appeals spot Judge Irma Raker will vacate when she hits the mandatory retirement age of 70 in April.

Raker sits from the 7th appellate circuit, which only covers Montgomery County, so that’s where her replacement must come from. The application deadline’s March 24 for this one.

In other Court of Appeals vacancy news, there is none. That is, the commission was supposed to meet last Friday to see if it could come up with another name or two for the governor to consider for Judge Dale Cathell’s seat — after the commission’s decision to forward only one name did not go over so well — but the meeting was iced out and rescheduled for March.

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer

After seeing coworkers at the Harbor Court Hotel restaurant struggle to hold down a job, Baltimore’s Galen Sampson decided that when he opened his own restaurant, he wanted to create an apprenticeship program for recovering Baltimoreans. And he did just that.

“It gives our people in transition paid jobs,” he told CNN in the first of three videos on the news Web site. “It also allows us to give them hands-on, real-time instruction.”

Galen and his wife, Bridget, now co-own Dogwood Sustainable Foods, which operates the Dogwood Deli in Hampden.

“She has been very active in the community with people in transition from problems in their past, and I became actively involved with her, helping her teach and doing some cooking,” Galen explains in the second video, A Really Good Team. “When I started working with Bridget in the programs that she had in the city, I started to really see it firsthand.”

The program, Chefs in the Making, will provide training and jobs to 30 people in transition this year.

Sampson was a Baltimore Community Fellow through the Open Society Institute in 2006.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

If you’ve ever seen the “Dancin’ Homer” Simpsons episode where Homer gets a job as the local minor league team’s mascot, you know how entertaining an overweight guy dancing around in a cheesy outfit can be.

Now the Florida Marlins have brought that idea to the majors and are forming an all-male, plus-size cheerleading squad called the “Manatees,” according to ESPN.com.

“The team hopes to recruit seven to 10 tubby men to dance, cheer and jiggle during Friday and Saturday home games this season,” the article stated, noting that the men who were scheduled to try out this past weekend were judged on how well they danced a choreographed routine.

The squad won’t be paid, however they will receive free tickets to the games they perform at.

Here’s my thought: why let the Marlins have all the fun? Should the Orioles take advantage of its longtime fan base and start up its own squad? (the name “Harbor Seals” immediately jumps to mind – bonus points to anyone who can do “the worm”).

Does else anyone think the Orioles’ games could be livened up this season by adding some local entertainment to the mix?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

My ears always perk up when I hear about a study that’s revealed career paths with surefire six-figure salaries. This morning, my ears were rewarded with (sorry, not six figures) the next-best thing: blog post material.

Yahoo! Education says that there are (at least) ten jobs sure to provide you with that coveted salary, without the need for a law or medical degree. And at No. 7, a familiar title: Court Reporter.

Now, you might be skeptical. After all, the Department of Labor found that court reporters had median annual earnings of $45,610 (May 2006).

But Yahoo! points out that they have “the chance to make much, much more money than that.” How?

“Document backlogs in certain cities have pushed overtime pay for court reporters to record levels. The court reporter who adds freelance transcribing for private depositions and business meetings to a base income can crack $100,000 per year.”

If you’re still on the fence, maybe this will push you over: employment of court reporters is projected to grow 25 percent between 2006 and 2016.

Do you know any court reporters who supplement their income this way? Is it realistic for future court reporters to expect to cobble together a six-figure salary?

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

Did you foresee the murder of stick-up man Omar Little in last night’s episode?

The antihero, who has been on the show since the first season - and is hard not to like, aside from his violent behavior - was shot in the back of the head while buying cigarettes at a convenience store.

From his Wikipedia page (already updated with his demise):

Omar was a renowned stick-up man who lived by a strict code and never deviated from his rules, foremost of which is that he never robbed or menaced people who are not involved in the drug trade. Omar, who was gay, has had three partners on the show. Omar is the only major character on the series who claims to make a point of not using profanity.

In 2004, writers at USA Today named Omar’s portrayer, Michael K. Williams, one of the ten reasons they still love television, and our own Baltimore City Paper said Omar was “arguably the show’s single greatest achievement” in 2005.

Was it Omar’s time to go?

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

• Who’s opposed to a General Assembly bill that would give child sex abuse victims more time to file civil suits against their abusers and the institutions that harbored them? Find out here. (Thanks to Baltimore Crime for the link.)

• Justice Thomas talks about not talking. Hat tip: How Appealing.

• 2008 may be a tough one for big firms, says The Wall Street Journal.

• The New Jersey Supreme Court is reviewing a ban on lawyers advertising themselves as “Super-Lawyers” or “Best Lawyers.” We covered this issue as it relates to Maryland here. (subscriber-only link)

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer