Yes, We Have Heard About Emily Pataki
Failing the New York State bar exam. And emailing her White & Case colleagues about it.
We've already covered this story; click here. But since it's what everyone is buzzing about today, we'll give in to your appetite for more discussion. Two requests for your assistance:
1. If you work at White & Case, went to Columbia Law School or Yale College with Emily Pataki, or are otherwise acquainted with her, we'd love to hear from you.What's Emily like in person? Any thoughts on why she didn't pass? How are people at the firm reacting to her email? If you have information to share, please email us.
2. We're curious about whether other people think it was wise or unwise for Emily to send out that mass email to her White & Case colleagues about her failing the New York bar exam.
So please share your views in the comments to this post. And cast your vote in this reader poll:
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Earlier: Political Kids and the Bar Exam: What Gives?
(8) Comments
Maybe she should have waited to gauge the reaction, before firing off her email. If nobody noticed, then there would have been no reason to send it.
Or maybe she should have sent it to a smaller group of people, instead of the whole New York office. E.g., just the people she works with.
It's a good move on her part. Sure, this week will be a tough one for Emily. But she has "drawn the sting" - and by next week, it will all have blown over. Without the email, it just would have festered, forever.
I knew her law school... very sweet girl, really bright and worked pretty hard. I imagine her failing was just a fluke... sometimes unfortunate things happen to the best of us. Though a mass e-mail to the whole firm may have been a bit much, I think she probably knew this would make the legal/political gossip rounds, so she might as well try to own it. Kudos to her for the attempt.
The fact that she failed found a place as a story (or 15 second tell) in WYNC radio's local news insert to NPR's "All Things Considered"
I personally can't imagine passing the bar knowing the assholes at the Post, etc. would be all over it when you fail. 90% of the anxiety is the "what will people say if you fail?" It must be 800 times worse when you are mildly famous.
Perhaps that played a role.
At any rate, the letter was classy and showed commitment to the firm. The news would come out tomorrow anyway.
What was not classy: leaking it to press.
Agree with anonymous, and would add,
What was not classy: leaking it to press and the press's publishing it.
Repeat after me: an office wide email is never, ever a good idea.
Knew her at high school and in college. She always worked hard, had a good sense of humor, and was there for the people around her.
I imagine this just hit her like a ton of bricks and she chose to face it, not hide from it. Her action was unique, but then again, so is she.