Greedy Links: Torture Memos, and How Can I Become a Justice?

This week in Greedy Links: you are legally in the clear to provide legal opinions to your clients, just maybe a hint of a recovery for the legal profession, and a couple of novel places to look for a new job.

This Week's Ethics Lesson:

• The Washington Post reports that Jay Bybee and John Yoo will not face criminal sanctions for their "torture memos," and that, given state bars' lack of subpoena power, they aren't likely to face professional sanctions either.  In other words, it is in fact ethical to perform legal research and then supply your client with confidential memoranda summarizing that research.  Everyone can go back to work now.

The State of the Profession:

• Good news first: according to the Am Law Daily, big corporations may be looking to loosen the purse strings a little and spend a bit more money on outside counsel.
• But the WSJ Law Blog still sees recovery delayed until 2010.

And everywhere you look, there's a story about the slow capitulation to the need to reduce BigLaw salaries.

• The WSJ Law Blog reminds us that they urged the salary-cutting weeks ago.
• The ABA Journal believes that firms are thisclose to a critical mass on slashing salaries.
• The National Law Journal has a choice quote or two from associates who can see the writing on the wall.

The State of Your Career:

• Above the Law has a news of a couple of developments that sound way better than layoffs.  First, they report that Shearman & Sterling is now offering a Skadden-like sabbatical, although--and we really feel for the Shearmanites here--they're not paying quite as much.
• And second, there's an analysis of the newly-announced bonus structure at Nixon Peabody.  Bonuses have effectively been reduced.  But hey, it's a bonus.  In this economy, who can complain?  (Answer: ATL's sources at Nixon.)
• Legal Blog Watch points out that there may be a lawyer shortage in North Dakota.
  

Classifieds Section:

• Finally, you may have heard, from FindLaw's Courtside or bascially any media outlet that you might have paid attention to at any point this week, that the federal government is looking for a new judge.
• So you're thinking, I could do that job.  What's it going to take to get me nominated?  (Other than getting Vice President Biden to review your resume; we suggest something that will stand out in the pile, like fluorescent pink resume paper.)  For some hints, watch Skadden partner and former appointee-vetter Cliff Sloan try to get Stephen Colbert to accept that Colbert has no shot.