The D.C. Madam's Akin Gump Apprentice: She's No Miss Popularity
In our recent post about an alleged D.C.-madam-in-training -- a legal secretary at the powerhouse firm of Akin Gump, who allegedly serviced clients and worked the phones for Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the alleged D.C. madam -- we asked you for more information about this hardworking and multitalented young woman.
We are still accepting your tips. We'll kick things off with this info, from a source who knows the alleged junior madam:
First, she's not a paralegal. She's just a legal secretary.
This answers the question we raised yesterday about whether she might be a paralegal rather than a secretary. In one of her emails to Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the Akin Gump employee said it would be easy to balance her work for Palfrey with her "paralegal duties."
Our tipster continues:
Second, she has the 'tude in the office that she's better than the rest. Most people don't like her.Third, in terms of her appearance, she has the typical Barbie look: blonde, shapely, busty.
Based on this description, we're guessing that this individual worked for a high-powered partner at Akin Gump. In our experience, legal secretaries fall into two categories: the total hotties, and the total notties, with precious few in between. They're straight out of either (1) the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue or (2) a bingo hall.
The top dogs -- name partners, major rainmakers, etc. -- got the hottie secretaries. Everyone else had to just cross their fingers. So if Palfrey's right-hand-woman is blonde and busty, she probably had a powerful boss at the firm.
More discussion, after the jump.
We're speaking here in generalities; we do not intend to offend. We realize that in this day and age, many high-powered Biglaw partners are women, who do not fit the stereotype of lusting after their secretaries. (Not that there would be anything wrong with that, of course; lesbians do not traumatize us.)
Also, a fair number of legal assistants are men. In fact, when we were in private practice, we had an assistant who was male -- and had a British accent. Best law firm perk ever: a secretary with a fabulous accent!
P.S. Today's Washington Post has a profile of Montgomery Blair Sibley, the lawyer representing Deborah Jeane Palfrey. He seems kinda insane.
P.P.S. In looking back at yesterday's WSJ Law Blog post about this news, we were dismayed to see that the moderators removed two readers comments that, while tasteless and juvenile, caused us to chuckle. They were, from memory:
"Does she take dicktation?""No, she prefers briefs."
The Colorful Case of A Well-Named Lawyer [Washington Post via WSJ Law Blog]
Akin Gump Suspends Sec’y Who Worked for “D.C. Madam” [WSJ Law Blog]
Comments
http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/2007/05/job_opening_spe.html#comments
Coincidence?
Posted by: Anonymous | May 4, 2007 01:02 PM
You *must* get her name and picture. This should be ATL's top priority.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 4, 2007 01:05 PM
Shouldn't you add a "You Go Girl" tag to this post?
Posted by: Anon | May 4, 2007 01:16 PM
1:02: nice. Is the "Special Assistant to Tom Goldstein" job opening a joke?
Posted by: Anon | May 4, 2007 01:59 PM
opening itself = not a joke
my reference to it = joke
Posted by: 1:02 | May 4, 2007 02:08 PM
Actually, I think that most legal secretaries do fall "in between."
It's a bell-shaped curve. You have a few hotties, a few who looked like they banged their faces into filing cabinets, and a lot of average- to above-average-looking ones.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 4, 2007 02:21 PM
In my experience, the high partners have the only useful/experienced/competent secretaries, hot or not and the rest of us get the crappy ones, again, hot or not.
Posted by: anony | May 4, 2007 02:39 PM
Dowd's secretary?
Posted by: Anonymous | May 4, 2007 02:42 PM
Dowd's secretary?
Posted by: Anonymous | May 4, 2007 02:43 PM
Lat,
I think we have our next hotties contest, huh? Above the Law Hotties: Big Law Legal Secretaries.
Personally I think Big Law Paralegals would be much hotter, but in light of recent events, the secretaries might be more timely.
Posted by: Big Law Paralegal | May 4, 2007 02:51 PM
I'm surprised there are any hot secretaries in DC. I've worked in and visited several firms and haven't come across one yet. Definitely time for an ATL Hotties: BigLaw Secretaries.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 4, 2007 02:56 PM
Hm. . . taking subordinates and putting their pictures up on the 'Net and saying how hot they are, etc.--and with this bunch I imagine the etc. will be liberally applied. I take it ya'll are cruising for sexual harassment charges, hm? Don't say I did not warn you. . .
Posted by: Anon | May 4, 2007 03:03 PM
Anon,
You're right. It might be difficult to ascertain sec'y pictures without bending some firm policies, but the number of Big Law 'Legal Assistants' on Facebook should be a large enough pool that's publically available.
Posted by: Big Law Paralegal | May 4, 2007 03:35 PM
Anon,
You're right. It might be difficult to ascertain sec'y pictures without bending some firm policies, but the number of Big Law 'Legal Assistants' on Facebook should be a large enough pool that's publically available.
Posted by: Big Law Paralegal | May 4, 2007 03:38 PM
Anon,
You're right. It might be difficult to ascertain sec'y pictures without bending some firm policies, but the number of Big Law 'Legal Assistants' on Facebook should be a large enough pool that's publicly available.
Posted by: Big Law Paralegal | May 4, 2007 03:39 PM
Lat, did you ask him out?
Posted by: Anon | May 4, 2007 04:23 PM
Did Lat ask who (whom?) out?
Posted by: Anonymous | May 5, 2007 09:08 AM
She's definitely hot.
Posted by: anon | May 11, 2007 01:59 PM
I know her, and she's definitely hot, and incredibly cunning and smart. Someone has to broker booty; she's an Ace for a madam-in-training.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 11, 2007 10:30 PM
Does anyone know if her first name is Abby? Or if she has horses?
Posted by: anonny | May 15, 2007 12:05 PM
12:05 - yes, and yes.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 18, 2007 09:34 PM
Her name is Abby Cather, and yes she is John Dowd's secretary
Posted by: Anonymous | July 8, 2007 08:43 PM
Her name is Abby Cather, and yes she is John Dowd's secretary
Posted by: Anonymous | July 8, 2007 08:43 PM
Yeah, I don't understand the fascination with exposing this woman. I'm more interested in the asshat hypocrites who used the services of this escort service being exposed.
Oh, and people who post as "anoymous" are losers.
Posted by: betsy | August 9, 2007 11:39 AM
She breeds ponies, not horses. And she's hot in a "been done by 4,000 old dudes" way. The phrase "rode hard and put up wet" comes to mind.
It's fun to expose this woman because she is a flaming bitch and has had no troble at all exposing others. Turnabout is not only fair play, it's great for shits and giggles.
Interesting that you should call others assholes, Pixie - wasn't it you that hid behind a screen name to poke fun at others?
Posted by: Anna | September 6, 2007 05:10 PM
Song of Deborah
...They chose new gods; then was war in the gates.. Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song.. the LORD made you have dominion over the mighty... Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of justice against the mighty... Have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two? So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD.. And the land rest forty years. Judges 5.
Deborah Palfrey deserves the Pemberton Award for Clean Governance.
Palfrey list is like the Black Book of 1918.
That Trial of the century is deleted from all books.
The list there had 47000 names.
The list here has 46000 phone bills.
The listed are not womenizers, machos or ordinary sinners.
They are power brokers, gay lutheran shock and awe blitzkrieg agitators of all wars and all panics.
These wretches are one dirty cover to the real pimps deep undercover.
A curse on the kingpins, Justice Charles Darling then and Judge Adolph Limbough Kessler now.
Noel Pemberton-Billing
Trial of the Century 1918
Posted by: billing | October 13, 2007 03:54 AM