Akin Gump: Truly A 'Full-Service' Law Firm
On its official website, Akin Gump proudly bills itself as a "full-service" law firm. And it boasts: "Our growth has come by understanding client problems and solving them with a unique combination of... practical... skills."
Truer words were never spoken. From ABC News:
A legal secretary at one of Washington's most prominent and well-connected law firms, Akin Gump Strauss Houer & Feld LLP, has been suspended after telling her bosses she secretly worked at night for the escort service run by the so-called D.C. Madam, Jeane Palfrey.The woman both serviced clients and, at times, helped to run the business, Palfrey told ABC News in an interview to be broadcast on "20/20" Friday.
The firm said it would not make her name public.
But do YOU know the name of this enterprising employee, or anything else about her? If so, we'd love to hear from you, by email (subject line: "DC Madam").
A few more comments, after the jump.
We raise the possibility that the Akin Gump employee may be a paralegal rather than a legal secretary (or worked as a paralegal before becoming a legal secretary). The ABC News story refers to her as a secretary, but then quotes an email to Deborah Jeane Palfrey in which she (the Akin Gumpster) refers to herself as a paralegal:
"I think that handling the phones 4 to 5 nights a week is a very fair offer and would be something that I could easily do, even with my paralegal duties as they could pretty much be done simultaneously in front of a computer."
You always wondered what the paralegals did all day. Well, this is WAY more lucrative than playing FreeCell.
Finally, we can understand why Akin Gump was so upset about this news. This woman's "freelancing" for Deborah Jeane Palfrey violated the legal secretary's implied "covenant not to compete":
If you're going to sleep around with rich guys, do it with the PARTNERS, dammit.
D.C. Law Firm Suspends Woman Who Worked as Escort [ABC News]
Akin Grump Strauss Hauer & Feld [official website]
Comments
Nice one
Posted by: anon | May 3, 2007 03:06 PM
Lat, this is disgusting. Please leave this poor woman alone. It appears she has already lost her job. Isn't that enough for you? Magnifying the suffering of others for you own amusement and financial gain is disgusting.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 3, 2007 03:25 PM
Lat, this is disgusting. Please leave this poor woman alone. It appears she has already lost her job. Isn't that enough for you? Magnifying the suffering of others for you own amusement and financial gain is disgusting.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 3, 2007 03:28 PM
1. She hasn't lost her job. She has just been "suspended."
2. She's a public figure, at the center of a story that has generated national and international attention.
3. She is a government witness in the case. She may also be guilty of criminal conduct herself.
4. Nobody forced her to start working for an escort service.
5. She made her bed. Now she gets to lie in it.
Posted by: Unsympathetic | May 3, 2007 03:34 PM
Are you friggin' kiddin' me? This is HILARIOUS!!! This "poor woman" justified her escapades as mere “fun" which helped her earn "spa money" and escape the “weekly grind."
Save the sanctimonious bovine excrement for someone who didn't actually use their law firm email to correspond with a DC madame.
Posted by: 020033 | May 3, 2007 03:34 PM
amazing full service was only $250 for 90 minutes. I have a hard time believing there wasnt an extra $200 tip at the time of service, or I have been getting ripped off from the City Paper girls for years ...
Posted by: Anonymous | May 3, 2007 03:35 PM
I love her reference that she can do most of the work from Akin Gump.
For those in firms, do you really know what your paralegal or secretary is doing? Hahaha.
It'll be interesting to see if any partners at Akin Gump were clients.
Posted by: anon | May 3, 2007 03:38 PM
"5. She made her bed. Now she gets to [f*%k] in it."
Posted by: Anonymous | May 3, 2007 03:41 PM
I'll bet she did lots of pro boner work.
Posted by: anon | May 3, 2007 04:23 PM
Ha ha. EPIC FAIL comment, 3:28 This is actually pretty interesting and more than a little amusing.
Posted by: epic fail guy | May 3, 2007 04:28 PM
Have her send me a resume. I'm hiring.
Posted by: el gato | May 3, 2007 04:38 PM
I want to see her photo even more than Gera Grinberg's!
Posted by: Friend of the Ukuleleist | May 3, 2007 04:42 PM
In this case, we really should leave her ID secret. What's there to gain by humiliating her further? That's not what they taught us at Regis, Dave.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 3, 2007 04:45 PM
can't we get a photo of her with a red cup in hand or something?
Posted by: Anonymous | May 3, 2007 04:56 PM
She might work for John Dowd. Funny how things come full circle.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 3, 2007 05:16 PM
Akin Gump has a Beijing office?
Posted by: anon | May 3, 2007 08:14 PM
8:14 - why is that suprising? What a random thing to pick up on.
Posted by: Anon | May 3, 2007 08:42 PM
5:16 - is that just speculation or do you know anything?
Posted by: Anon | May 4, 2007 07:04 AM
I used to work there and I know just who this is! She's not a very nice girl at all!
Posted by: Anon | May 8, 2007 07:14 PM