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Hiring Lawyer Rejects Federalist Society Members
ABA Journal ^ | Dec 7, 2009 8:43 AM CST | By Debra Cassens Weiss

Posted on 12/10/2009 7:09:03 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines

A hiring lawyer from Greenwich, Conn., wrote to The Ethicist of the New York Times with this question: Is it ethical to recommend rejection of members of the Federalist Society simply because you disagree with their conservative politics?

The Ethicist, Randy Cohen, said politics should not be a factor....

The lawyer, who made recommendations on summer and full-time associates, had noted the review was intended to take account of judgment and personality. The Ethicist countered that reasonable people differ over politics. “I am tempted to believe that those whose politics differ from mine lack ‘judgment and personality’ and taste in clothes and finesse on the dance floor,” Cohen said. “But this proposition is unsupportable.”

The lawyer ignored the advice, Cohen wrote in an update. He or she...rejected every Federalist Society member.

(Excerpt) Read more at abajournal.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; US: Connecticut
KEYWORDS: attorney; discrimination; federalist; federalistsociety; lawyer; liberalbias; liberalbigot; liberalbigotry; liberalprejudice; reject
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1 posted on 12/10/2009 7:09:04 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

“Houston..We have an arrogant moron..”

I hope he gets sued by the EEOC


2 posted on 12/10/2009 7:11:54 AM PST by xcamel (The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it. - H. L. Mencken)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Shysters opposed to the Constitution.

I presume the author of the question was Eric Holder.


3 posted on 12/10/2009 7:14:24 AM PST by FormerACLUmember (The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule. - H. L. Menken.)
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To: FormerACLUmember
"Shysters opposed to the Constitution."

Nothing new there. Why do you think so many of our lawmakers are, in fact, lawyers? They are intimately familiar with the "system" and ways to circumvent it. Law school is not about practicing law anymore; it is about circumventing to "system" to get what one wants.

4 posted on 12/10/2009 7:24:31 AM PST by ronnyquest (That's what governments are for: to get in a man's way.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

I am an attorney, and a member of the Federalist Society. I have been known to leave my membership off of a resume when I thought my politics might have been an issue to the interviewer. I’m not changing who I am, and if they asked me, I’d be honest. But, I don’t see the point in highlighting it if I suspect it may raise an objection.

SnakeDoc


5 posted on 12/10/2009 7:27:51 AM PST by SnakeDoctor ("Talk low, talk slow, and don't say too much." -- John Wayne)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Universities reject potential faculty members who appear to have conservative leanings all the time. This is not even an important consideration today...Republicans are persona non grata as teachers.

I have a friend with a PhD and many years experience on Wall Street. When he applied for a teaching job at a major university in the midwest, he was interviewed and not hired. When he checked for pointers with the interview committee...he was told privately, that some feared he was a Republican...and they didn’t want one of those on campus.

True story. Probably typical.


6 posted on 12/10/2009 7:36:30 AM PST by kjo
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To: SnakeDoctor

I have a friend from law school with an impeccable résumé who nonetheless did not get any offers when he applied for law school professorships right after his U.S. Circuit Court clerkship. He reapplied the following year, with the only differences in his résumé being that he had one year of private-practice experience and that this time he decided to leave out that he had been a member of the Federalist Society while at law school. He got plenty of offers, and he tells me that the only explanation for his newfound success was that the second time around the law schools weren’t biased against him because of his conservative ideology.


7 posted on 12/10/2009 7:39:03 AM PST by AuH2ORepublican (If a politician won't protect innocent babies, what makes you think that he'll protect your rights?)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Can non-lawyers join? This sounds like a great recruiting tool for the Federalist Society - “we’re the ones liberals think are dangerous.” :)


8 posted on 12/10/2009 7:42:18 AM PST by cvq3842 (A fool and his liberty are soon parted.)
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To: The Pack Knight

Ping!


9 posted on 12/10/2009 7:50:58 AM PST by Albion Wilde (Obama makes Bush his blame czar. --Mark Steyn)
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To: xcamel

For what? I refuse to hire Democrats.


10 posted on 12/10/2009 7:58:22 AM PST by TheThirdRuffian (Nothing to see here. Move along.)
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To: TheThirdRuffian

As do I.


11 posted on 12/10/2009 8:40:31 AM PST by TStro
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Well, as general counsel for a prominent company that engages outside lawyers, I often make the opposite analysis: I seriously doubt the judgment and honesty of anyone who is a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying, vociferous liberal.


12 posted on 12/10/2009 8:49:40 AM PST by mikeus_maximus ("I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people.")
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To: ronnyquest

“Law school is not about practicing law anymore; it is about circumventing to “system” to get what one wants.”

Agree, I was a government lawyer for 30 years and the new graduates who came before me in the last 15 years seemed to be heartless nitpickers who only cared about winning, not the law or humane justice. It’s about the money, not justice. When I retired, I also quit the bar.


13 posted on 12/10/2009 8:59:13 AM PST by RicocheT
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

In my first job out of law school, I worked at a small plaintiff’s firm doing bottom of the barrel injury claims and such. We interviewed another new attorney a few months after I started, and I thought he did well. However, my boss later told me he didn’t want to hire him because he seemed too conservative, and thought people should have to work for their money, and that wasn’t what got us paid.


14 posted on 12/10/2009 9:02:21 AM PST by LanPB01
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

The solution is to simply NOT HIRE THIS LAW FIRM.


15 posted on 12/10/2009 9:29:28 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: longtermmemmory

Did you read the article? The law firm and the attorney aren’t named. The letter to the Times was written anonymously.


16 posted on 12/10/2009 9:34:55 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: RicocheT; ronnyquest

This is especially true since there are more law school seats than there are students.

ANYBODY with a pulse and a four year degree can go to an accredited law school.

There is no more selectivity.

There are no more law school standards except in the fantasy delusions of law professors.


17 posted on 12/10/2009 9:43:12 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

It should not be that hard to find out which firms discriminate against “federalist society” members.


18 posted on 12/10/2009 9:50:49 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: LanPB01
....he seemed too conservative, and thought people should have to work for their money, and that wasn’t what got us paid....

Adumbrate, please.

19 posted on 12/10/2009 10:27:31 AM PST by Kenny Bunk (Eligibility: I ain't lookin' for answers. Just 1 elected Republican to ask the question.)
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To: Kenny Bunk

Since about 80% of our clients were lowlifes trying to game the system by claiming fake injuries, we tended not to have many clients with a strong work ethic. We ended up hiring the “too conservative” attorney, but he only stayed with us for a year. Actually, we both ended up quitting at roughly the same time (he became a prosecutor).


20 posted on 12/10/2009 10:51:06 AM PST by LanPB01
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