Blog Suspends Skadden ‘Hot Associates’ Contest, Says Memo Prompted Decision
Updated: The Skadden Insider blog says it has decided to suspend nominations for its hottest male associate contest after a critical memo from Henry Baer, who is of counsel at Skadden.
The blog posted part a memo that Baer sent to all the firm’s lawyers. “We’re guessing that he was talking about us,” the blog says. The memo read:
“The firm recognizes that blogs are prevalent in today’s culture and that blogs about Skadden are to be expected. Nonetheless, we believe that the ‘contests’ on one of these blogs [are] inappropriate and [do] not reflect our values and standards of behavior. Numerous attorneys at the firm have expressed their concern and, in some cases, embarrassment at such contests. We urge the authors of the blog to consider both the privacy and feelings of the affected attorneys and to discontinue the contests.”
In an e-mail to ABAJournal.com, Baer confirmed that the memo referred to the hot associates contest and that the portion quoted on the blog was accurate.
In response to the memo, the blog says that the contest, “although sophomoric, was done all in good fun. We’re sorry if anyone was embarrassed by it.”
But the change of heart came too late for the hottest female associate contest. The blog crowned a winner last Monday, based on an online vote. The blog says the photos it posted of the nominees were publicly available from Facebook and MySpace.
A hat tip to Legal Pad, which posted news of the dispute.
Updated at 10:48 AM to include confirmation from Baer.
