I vote clueless and drunk partner. If she was offended by this, she'll hate working at any law firm.

boo hoo.

What a whiny brat. Get over it -- partners don't give a shit about you, ok!!! And they certainly "ha[ve] absolutely no interest in getting to know [you]." This applies to all law students/associates, not just "minority" ones.

I've received the same reaction from law firm partners at holiday receptions while I was in law school...even though I'm a white male. I think, however, the partners' disinterest in me was that my name tag also included my second-rate law school's name. I wasn't even included in a photo op.

Well said, 9:48. What associate (minority or non-minority) has not had a weird experience with an asshole partner?

big whop

This is completely inane. The GT attorney was probably just a bit tight. He could have done the exact same thing to three white guys. And if he supposedly dislikes talking to minorities, then why did he start talking to this girl in the first place?? I seriously doubt that GT is so short of minorities in their own hallways that they are grasping for photo opps with minority law students. It just doesn't add up.

Man, if this person is getting this worked up over something like this, there is no WAY she is going to last more than a year or two at biglaw. No freaking way.

wow, this girl is retarded.

"As the evening was winding down..."

^^They could just as easily have been among the last few students there and the partner needed a picture. So, he latched on to whomever he could. Yeah, he was a jerk about it, but I wouldn't be so quick to paint GT with the bigot brush.

The only thing more stupid than this girl's cluelessness is the fact that many dumba** law students will actually not bid on Greenberg because of this.

Sure, there are drunk and clueless partners at every firm, but a firm proud of its diversity should make an effort to showcase the conscientious, welcoming folks working there. I hope that doesn't sound naive; it sounds like good business to me.

I thought the student's email was an appropriate and professional response--it's not like she's asking for damages, right? GT cocked up, not villainously in my opinion, but they cocked up, and she's pointing out the consequences of such cock-ups on their diversity rating. I don't know if I'd forward it, with it ending up posted on ATL, but then it didn't happen to me.

wait a minute... a lawyer was rude and didn't give his full attention to a 2L who happened to be a minority?!?!?! oh noes!!!! call the aclu, stat!!!! gimme a break with this crap

9:56 makes an excellent point. Although I am aware of at least two firms that suspiciously include every minority in the firm in marketing materials, would GT be so hard up for fake diversity photos that it would stage them at a recruiting reception? It doesn't make any sense to me.

This diversity crap is more trouble than its worth.

Firms never do enough to make minorities "welcome." Whiny, over educated, idealist law students slandering law firms. Stop the madness. Hire good students who you think will become good lawyers and quit trying fill in all the colors of the rainbow.

Furthermore, since when is one hyper-sentive minority's "impression" of a split second instance grounds to lable an office (or entire law firm) as "racially insensitive." Who gives a flying fuck if this moron was "offended." Get used to it.

Oh, and she went to Columbia. Can't say I'm surprised.

Sending the email was good-she was offended and they need to know who the minorities are that are going to blow everything up into a racial issue. But forwarding it to everyone like she's now got some klansman's head on her wall was stupid and immature.

This girl is obviously ignorant of how corporate diversity works. When using pictures, law firms, colleges, or corporations will always include a DIVERSE group in the picture. That means African-American, Hispanic, Caucasian, Asian people all together, not just the intended targets to INCREASE diversity. You will never just see a group of African-Americans on the cover of a pamphlet intended to project some notion of diversity. The idea of diversity only exists when all racial/ethnic groups are side-by-side.

Thus, I think her speculation, here: "A picture of a GT attorney with his arm around three law students-two African-Americans and one Latino- would look great on the cover of the firm's diversity recruitment pamphlet" is rather baseless. Face it, Katie, you're probably gonna end up somewhere around pg. 7.

"the student's email was an appropriate and professional response"

Oh really? Then how, pray tell, did it end up on Above the Law? Hmmm? Did Greenberg Traurig do a press release do you suppose?

ditto on Columbia, 10:04.

I find myself in agreement with 10:00. If GT wanted to recruit minority letting clueless partners near the reception was a bad idea.

If there were no other partners other than the clueless partner, well then it sounds like GT needs to shift their culture.

This girl is way, way too hypersensitive. And clueless, if she thinks a lot of partners aren't flat out weird. Any law firm (regardless of size) is not the place for her.

Wow, she seems like a real tiger. I want her handling my company's negotiations on a billion dollar deal or defending our litigation.

ok, bitterboys, think you're overdoing it in your criticism of latina law student. this was a recruiting event, not work. the partner should have been on best behavior. It's one thing if you're gonna be regular joe-shmoe firm, but if you're gonna play the politically correct card, you deserved a bitch slap for this sort of behavior.

Jesus, is this an issue? I am a senior associate at a big firm and I get treated like this by people who work on the same floor as me.

10:00, I see your point, but many firms would have to hide a large percentage of their partners away in order to "showcase the conscientious, welcoming folks working there." You are right that it would be good business sense for a firm to make a good impression, but I haven't seen many firms that operate like a good business in terms of keeping egomaniacs in check. I would argue that it is not good business sense to write an email like this and encourage others to forward it on. I'm sure Katie Fernandez won't have any more trouble getting an offer than Aquagirl, et al, but even if she was understandably offended, emailing the firm's recruiting director AND broadcasting her email to others seems a bit over the top to me. Not very discreet.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you. There is no big law firm that is interested in diversity for diversity's sake, just as no law student is interested in working for a big law firm for its often dreadful work. Get real.

Why would anyone have a problem with this girl's email? She had a bad interaction, she contacted the appropriate people involved (she was at a recruiting event remember), and she told them what her issue was.

She isn't claiming any racial victory. She didn't say this person was a bigot and she wants damages. She wrote a very professional complaint.

Why doesn't GT deserve her comments when they invited her there to entice her (and other minority candidates) to come work for them?

10:16-

the problem isn't really her complaint (which i do think is whiny). the real problem is that she made it such a big deal publicly.

I see no proof that this was racially motivated. As has been noted, the partner could just as easily have needed a picture at the end of the evening, and those three were available. I see NOTHING to even indicate this was motivated based on race; while this student might have had her suspicions--and maybe rightly so--you do not go throwing mud on a law firm's reputation based on such speculation. I would say GT would have a decent case for libel based on what they're going to suffer due to this one person's unfounded accusation.

She forwarded it to her circle of friends. It obviously made the rounds of minority student groups (BLSA is mentioned and she's not black) which is understandable. Once it was out in enough hands, it was only a matter of time before the ATL muckrackers (I love you guys) got a hold of it. She didn't send it here.

GT is just suffering the market consequences of their decision to allow this partner to participate in a minority recruiting event. This wasn't a deposition, it was a minority recruiting event.

BTW, Katie will also have to suffer the market consequences of her decision to broadcast this publicly.

It merits observation that these three minority summers had congregated together and were apparently self-segregating themselves until the partner integrated their little clique. Whose to say the partner was uncomfortable trying to break up the self-segregation. Maybe he tried to throw a little humor on the situation to ease tensions.

In any event, if the best this girl can do out of Columbia law school is GT, she's got bigger problems.

The vast majority of you seem to have a problem because
1. there are many asshole partners
2. everyone has a bad experience with an asshole partner at some point
Fair enough, but try to think outside your box. Partners are assholes to associates when it relates to the work the associate is doing. Here, the partner was an asshole to the columbia student because of her race (please, how naive do you have to be to think he took this photo with these students because the evening was winding down and they were the few minority students left?) So she is justified in feeling more offended that the average joe associate *that is already working for the partner and gets treated like shit because of his work product*
She was a at a firm *recruiting* event, she was treated like shit, and all of it because of her race. She has every right to be furious over it.

She says in her e-mail "Please feel free to pass it along..."

10:26--

You argument assumes the very point that is being debated here -- whether she was treated poorly because of her race.

I don't think she has a right to be furious 10:26, because nothing THAT BAD happened to her. I do think she has a right to be annoyed, and its perfectly understandable why she would want to tell others about that. This was an event by GT to recruit minorities.

10:21 and 10:25 - silly.

Ms. Fernandez:

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Don't take advtantage of minority-recruitment efforts (i.e., affirmative action) and the fact that clients think firms "SHOULD" want diversity, and then turn around and complain when a partner is interested in you, not as a person, but rather as a chance to promote the firm's image as "minority friendly."

Just be the best damn law student you can be, and complain when you are NOT offered a job because of your ethnicity.

But if your ethnicity is what gets you the job, then stop complaining when the partner wants a picture with you. That's the game you're playing. Just be honest about it.

Oh, the outrage!!!! A partner at a cocktail reception acted strange and then posed for a picture with 3 minority candidates!!!! I'm so offended!!!

All this diveristy shit is circular reasoning. We want diversity....but don't want it faked....we want people to WANT diversity.... so, we force diveristy down their throats.... hoping to change hearts & minds.... then we get mad when diveristy is forced and faked.....

Un-fucking believeable.

As John Roberts recently pointed out, to stop racism, we need to stop making decisions based on race. That includes "foced" diversity initiatives.

Oh, the outrage!!!! A partner at a cocktail reception acted strange and then posed for a picture with 3 minority candidates!!!! I'm so offended!!!

All this diveristy shit is circular reasoning. We want diversity....but don't want it faked....we want people to WANT diversity.... so, we force diveristy down their throats.... hoping to change hearts & minds.... then we get mad when diveristy is forced and faked.....

Un-fucking believeable.

As John Roberts recently pointed out, to stop racism, we need to stop making decisions based on race. That includes "forced" diversity initiatives.

10:32 - How did we get from voluntary/self-interested minority recruitment to affirmative action?

talk about shooting yourself in the foot...

10:33 - you're showing alot more outrage than she did. You should re-read her email. She was insulted, but not outraged.

this student is a total douchenozzle. what every partner wants and has time for is to get to know every 2l they meet on campus.
what a little self entitled coont. i hope she gets scabies.

10:35 -- honestly, is there a difference?

My law firms hires plenty of "under qualified" minorities in an effort to "diversify." And, from what I understand, most major law firms now do too.

I think that Katie's reaction was hypersensitive and over the top. However, some of the posters seem to assume that this was a minority recruiting reception and that Katie "got what she deserved" by showing up. Lat's description indicates that the reception was for Columbia students, not specifically a minority recruiting event. Although I think that Katie made a bad choice by encouraging her "circle of friends" to pass this story on, I think it is equally over the top for people to jump on this as an opportunity to bash diversity initiatives.

hopefully this whiny, worthless twatwaffle will be blackballed by biglaw. someone who makes such a huge deal out of such a nothing will undoubtedly exercise poor judgment for the clients and make life hell for the mids and seniors she works for with her prima donna attitude. no doubt she will also loathe the profession in general as well, so its a win win.

10:39 - yes. One is driven by policy/legislation and the other is driven by (presumably) clients and business decisions. Even if you're sympathetic to the former its much easier to defend the latter.

10:43 - good points, but the other students she was with were from Cornell. I think this was about diversity, and (for me) that heightens the likely consequences for GT when their partner behaves like he did.

How did Katie Fernandez get into Columbia Law (oh, wait, bad question...)? She can't write!

All tipsy rude white guys in their 40's must be racists. Ya that's it.

Waaaaahhhhhhhh. What a baby.

The "consequences for GT when their partner behaves like he did..." Doing what, acting odd and posing for a picture with some minority law students? Oh the humanity!!!

Since it was a diversity recruiting event it seems unlikely that the complaining student and her two friends were the only candidates for a "minority photo-op". She seems very much oversensitive.

Look, I think this woman's reaction was completely rational. If you read the first few sentences of her email, it sounds like until this partner came around, she had had uneventful interactions with the rest of the GT lawyers at the event. Her opinion of the firm changed based on a specific occurrence at a recruiting event, offended enough that she will no longer be applying to that firm. She could have simply made her decision not to apply and then bad-mouthed the firm around her campus, without ever informing the recruitment person about what happened. By writing this letter, she clearly outlined what had happened and why this changed her opinion of the firm, and gave the recruiter an opportunity to respond, or at least to figure out who that partner is and to make sure that he doesn't go to these events in the future. Her email doesn't sound all outraged and indignant to me at all, and it's not like she's asking for anything from GT. She's just telling them what happened. Calm down with all the anti-diversity crap and the personal attacks. This sounds far less whiny to me than the posting here about how $160K is just not enough money.

I am a Latina attorney working and hav been working at big-law for several years now. I am sick and tired of "diverse" students using any excuse to bring up the race card. The way to get more minorities in the law firm environment is for each of us as individuals to prove to everyone that we are damn good at what we do. Having a chip on your shoulder about being Latina, or black, or whatever, will only lead to unhappiness. To Katie at Columbia - I suggest you stop looking for opportunities to cry fowl on diverse efforts and put your nose to the grindstone instead. I am not at GT but I do know from experience that they are very committed to diversity.

It wasn't a diversity event. It was an event for GT in DC. They held several all throughout the country on the same day. Law students from all different schools could attend.

This e-mail is also misleading:

"He called the photographer over and said, 'Hey, come take a picture of us!' A picture of a GT attorney with his arm around three law students- two African-Americans and one Latino- would look great on the cover of the firm's diversity recruitment pamphlet. 'Smile,' he said, and those words are still echoing in my ear."

OK, first off, the "echoing in the ear" bit's a tad melodramatic, dontcha think? And then, the way she has placed the quotation marks makes it seem like it's all the GT attorney speaking from "Hey" to "Smile." Aside from the quotation marks, how about the mention of the "words" still echoing, etc.? "Smile" is just one word, making the imputation complete that the prior statement (hence, words, plural) is also directly attributable to the GT attorney. Libel, I tell you!

To tell the truth all of Columbia's minority groups are hyper sensitive about this kind of thing, and yes sadly people at Columbia will not bid GT now. The good thing is that this weeds out the kind of crap law student that any good firm should be glad not to have apply. If ATL got wind of all of these types of e-mails that get floated around the school, there would be a post like this every week.

Boo fucking hooo. There are 500 other "minority" candidates who will gladly take whatever job offer this dumb bitch turns up her nose at.

this was a recruiting event, no excuse for a partner or senior associate not to be on his best behavior.

As a target of the recruiting event, it's not uncalled for for her to send a complaint to GT's recruiter, and if she so pleases, forward it around. She's not making overboard accusations of racial prejudice or insensitivity, she's simply documenting the facts.

All you smart accomplished people who dismiss her complaint because "you have been treated worse" at your jobs, miss the point that it's not cool to feel that a firm is using you to further its claims of diversity commitment. She's not even an employee of the firm!! What gives this partner the right to be such a punk to her, get her pic, and then have GT exploit her image using it for internal or external communications? The fact that she got free drinks and finger food?

Again, you just don't get it. And the arrogant smugness with which you dismiss this woman as a clueless whiny minority is repulsive.

But then again, I'm getting used to Lat's commenters being a bunch of pricks.

As a minority lawyer at a big firm, this woman is overly sensitive and making something out of what is probably nothing.

Wait till she goes to some other firm, and someone mistakes her for a secretary or the mail room person. Would love to see her reaction then.

10:55(2) - speaking of "crying fowl [sic]", i'm about to go eat me some right now.

I have news for you, honey... if you don't like being a diversity prop at a student reception, you'll like it even less when you get hired for your name and skin color. You were probably a prop to Columbia Law School and whatever undergraduate institution you attended as well. That is the way quotas work in our messed up society. Just say "thank you" for your free biglaw check and smile for the camera while everybody else works their butt off to keep you getting paid.

"Again, you just don't get it. And the arrogant smugness ... "

hahahaha. oh mercy. do I even need to say it?

I don't have time to do a exhaustive analysis, but a quick look at NALP shows that almost all of GT's hispanic attorneys are in the Miami office. I have no idea if GT really is minority friendly/unfriendly, but I don't think they should get much credit for having a diverse workforce when the vast majority of their "minority" attorneys work in Miami, where they are the "majority".

God forbid there be ONE insensitive idiot at a firm event in a firm of over 1600 attorneys. This girl needs to get a clue.

10:55 - Latin Attorney

Learn how to spell "foul" before asking us Latino/as to "put our noses to the grindstone" so we can prove to whites that not all brown people are stupid.

So I went to a recruiting event at biglaw a few nights ago. As the evening was winding down, a partner came over to me and started asking me questions. He then called a photographer over and made me hold my club foot up for the camera while asking me to wear a t-shirt that said "biglaw believes hiring mentally challenged people is the way to success". Do you think he was being insensitive?

Only thing I want to know -- do they pay $160k in CA, Chicago, and DC yet?

Well, the good news is that her name is out so hopefully she is unemployable. Working with someone like that is just begging for the day you make some innocuous comment that rubs her the wrong way for some unknown reason.

God forbid the #1 diversity firm would want to take a picture with ... gasp ... minorities!

What will she be equally offended when she's the token black lawyer on her hall and sent to interview at Howard, NC Central, and every Black Law Student Job Fair in the U.S.?

There is an epidemic of closet racism. The comments that some of you have written just emphasize the problem that people have with race without even realizing it. The large number of responses insulting this woman, who acted professionally in this situation, clearly show that many of you have no idea about what it's like being a minority associate at a law firm. On a regular basis, minority associates at law firms get mistaken for secretaries by partners, clients, and other associates. Then, there are the idiots (like some of you on this board) who assume that associates who are minorities in law firms got there without being qualified to do so and only got in the door because of their race. All in all, those of you who are white have no idea what the challenges are like, but assume that you have the same associate experience as minority associates.

In response to "Get over it,": People like you, who are willing to take the crap that people dish out while ignoring the unfairness of certain situations, are the people who encourage the closet racists who behave poorly and keep the status quo the way that it is.

wait, a partner comes to talk to her and takes a picture of her, and she is complaining ? Talk about being sensitive.
Lots of students from Columbia do not get their pictures taken, or partners did not bother to interact to them.

There is an epidemic of closet racism. The comments that some of you have written just emphasize the problem that people have with race without even realizing it. The large number of responses insulting this woman, who acted professionally in this situation, clearly show that many of you have no idea about what it's like being a minority associate at a law firm. On a regular basis, minority associates at law firms get mistaken for secretaries by partners, clients, and other associates. Then, there are the idiots (like some of you on this board) who assume that associates who are minorities in law firms got there without being qualified to do so and only got in the door because of their race. All in all, those of you who are white have no idea what the challenges are like, but assume that you have the same associate experience as minority associates.

In response to "Get over it,": People like you, who are willing to take the crap that people dish out while ignoring the unfairness of certain situations, are the people who encourage the closet racists who behave poorly and keep the status quo the way that it is.

Who would hire this student after such an unprofessional, unwarranted, and poorly written missive?

By the way, does anyone have a Facebook photo of her? I see a Katie Fernandez (Columbia '09) wearing a Mets tee, but am not sure if that's her.

Apparently 1st year students at Columbia are very easily "shocked and disappointed". Most places, wanting to have a photo taken with you is some sort of compliment.

I'd like to voice support for Ms. Fernandez. Her email is entirely appropriate. Progress is not made by letting these incidents "slide." Good work.

11:08,

Resentful much? You poor oppressed white folks. Didn't you see the SCOTUS decision last week? Cheer up, massa, you won't have to see any of us coloreds for long!

Why was Ms Fernandez upset? The reason why she was upset seems to be lost on most of you. Ms Fernandez was upset because this partner guy basically ignore her and the other minority summers and then snapped a picture of them together. She was upset because GT and this partner were going to use this picture of her to portray a welcoming environment that she felt was nonexistent. This picture could be used to get clients and recruits. It is very reasonable that Ms. Fernandez would be offended by this.

There are dicks at law firms. Associates of all races are treated poorly. The insult is that after treating her poorly a picture was snapped with the intent to deceive others.

It isn't that hard of a concept to get.

I think many of these posting just go to show how racist -- or at the very least, greatly insensitive -- many BigLaw attorneys are.

People are really mean to each other.

Hilarious that in making the rounds of minority student associations this incident has changed from a brief encounter with a rude senior attorney into proof of institutional racism in law firms and Corporate America. If this is racism, who cares about racism?

Can I give a shout out to Ms. Fernandez, ATL and all the commentators - reading this post is sooooooooo much better than studying for the Bar Exam!

To "Closet Racists":

Get off your soap box, bitch. Care to wonder why people think some minorities are in positions regardless of their qualifications? You can blame racism if you want, or you can call it the realities of hiring people for reasons other than their qualifications. I choose the latter.

As a female lawyer who has had her share of what could be deemed by some overly sensitive people "inappropriate behavior" at these law firm recruitment events (as one lawyer explained it, alcohol, lawyers, and law students are always a dangerous mix), I have to agree with the critical comments.

Ms. Fernandez is learning a good lesson of how life is---now she needs to suck it up and deal with it, and not take things so personally. She'll probably do some cruddy things too, intentionally or not, as she enters the world outside of The Land of Entitlement (aka law school). And, because we're all adults, we'll all move on. She should be concerned if there are things like unequal pay for equal work or actual harrassment---which does not seem to be even near to the case here. I really don't see anything wrong or out of the ordinary with the scenario she describes. That said, she was also well within her rights to air her discontent to the "offending" office but entirely unprofessional to mass-email it.

She'll learn, folks. Back off the poor girl.

Although I don't think that "shut up and don't complain" should be the message sent to minorities or women on how to make it in a law firm, I do think that some people fail to realize that this kind of reaction only brings negative attention to women and minorities, at least in the minds of many of the people who make up the majority. In an ideal world, these problems wouldn't exist in the first place, but being hypersensitive and "reporting" every potential incident hardly seems to be the best way to distinguish yourself from the secretaries and to advance in biglaw. Rather, most people who have a choice will avoid the complainers, for fear that they will be the next target of a discrimination claim. On the other hand, these posts also show that some people will be opposed to diversity initiatives no matter what happens, so maybe it doesn't make a difference.

this girl is a moron. good luck in the real world. I clerked at GT in Ft. Lauderdale years ago, and you couldn't have a more latin /hispanic environment.
The partner was clearly just a typical poor social skills attorney ....

Even if her account is true, since when did a minor social faux-pas (at best) turn into an unforgiveable act of racial/ethnic callousness and insensitivity?

Do me a favor. Seriously, this girl needs to get off her fucking high horse and stop thinking that being Latina ipso facto entitles her to things that other people have to work damn hard to get. All of a sudden this became a racial issue because one social retard partner was not as super-polite as he could have been, and wanted to take a picture with some minority students that showed up to a minority* recruiting event. Like many others have said, this could have happened to any other student at that event.

Katie apparently thinks that even the slightest hint of a social gaffe, that may or may not (since, after all, it was a minority recruiting event) have been motivated by targeting her for a photo op only because she is a minority candidate, is justification to paint *every* attorney working at GT with the same colors as that clueless, and possibly drunk, partner. It seems to me that broad stereotypes like that were part of the original underpinnings of racism in the first place. Of all people, she should know that one person's actions (which are not clearly offensive in the first place) should not be used as the basis to portray an entire Firm not only as bad as that one person, but far worse. This, notwithstanding ample evidence to the contrary such as the Firm's awards for diversity and other efforts pursuing that cause, such as holding recruiting events.

But she went ahead and forwarded the email, without removing attribution, to her friends, and encouraged them to share it with others. So, she's indifferent if she takes down a Firm's reputation simply because someone from that Firm may or may not have slighted her. She had to know that by doing that, her e-mail could turn into a nationwide e-mail campaign within hours, which it did. How thoughtless and immature. And I think she deserves everything she gets for it.

I don't even know if I'd go so far as to e-mail the Recruiting person at GT; perhaps she should have just chalked it up to somone being clueless and impolite, which we encounter every day. Not to mention that I would never even put any weight to my interactions with a few select people from a law firm at a recruiting event, who are usually bending over backwards to be fake, nice, or generally not acting as they probably do at the Firm. Use rankings, message boards like these, and word-of-mouth from people who have either actually worked or summered at a place you're interested in. What you hear from someone at a recruiting event is like dating -- you never know if they're accurately portraying themselves for a long time, probably after you've accepted anyway.

Talk about making something out of nothing. You would think a GT lawyer called this chick the "n" word.... If this isn't hyper-sensitive, I don't know what is.

One idiot law student was offend. Big fucking deal. Now the "closet racist" card is being thrown around. Utterly ridiculous...

Someone get Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton on the phone. Its time to protest GT for -- gasp -- offending a minority law student by asking her "what are you doing in DC" and taking pictures.

This is amazing.

The GT attorney was clearly a prick, yet most people are willing to side with him or excuse his behavior by chalking it up to poor social skills.

I ask, what poor social skills? The guy went up to them, asked their names and what they did, ignored their response while eyeing the room looking for a photographer, once he spotted one, asked for the picture, and then walked away.

This strikes me as Ari Goldesque (Entourage), not "poor social skills"!!!

And if you think that minorities in BigLaw are not qualified enough to be there, you are a racist. that is the very definition of racism: to think that someone is not qualified based on skincolor not knowing the strength of that persons skill set. Yes, it's called racism, now live with it.

This girl is a moron. Talk about a classic 2+2 = 5 situation. Who the hell knows what was going through that attorney's head. Ms. Fernandez needs to pull her head out of her ass. Unbelievable.

And you wonder why people dont agree with affirmative action and forced diversity. Case in point.

Call the ACLU and the Rainbow Colition... this unjustice cannot stand.

A chuva de Geórgia, na argila do condado do Jasper, não poderia lavar afastado a maneira que eu o amei a este dia. A estrada velha da sujeira é pavimentada sobre agora. Nada aqui é o mesmo, à exceção da chuva de Geórgia.

11:56 -- LOL

it wasn't a minority recruiting event. it wasn't a minority recruiting event.

I am going to bill the time I've spent reading your responses to the client. Thank you.

haha, wait until she's a first year who won't even get a hello from partners as she arrives for work at 8 a.m. If you want personal attention and to be noticed, go to theatre school. The mentioned attorney will probably still be fired over this.

I agree with some of your points, but take issue with the fact that your analysis is based on Ms. Fernandez having acted professionally. Let's say that the summer associate from yesterday's post about Wilmer summer associate salaries had emailed his law school friends about the disparities in pay and encouraged them to forward the email to others. I think that most people would agree that his behavior was unprofessional (as well as incredibly stupid) in that situation. In fact, a majority of ATL posters ripped the SA a new one, even though he sent his comments to ATL anonymously.

Is it really more appropriate to circulate a story because race is involved? If Ms. Fernandez felt it was appropriate to contact the firm's recruiting director or her law school's career department to bring rude behavior to light, I don't have a problem with that, but the mass broadcast to others -- even encouraging them to pass the message on -- was definitely unprofessional. Had Ms. Fernandez not taken that step, it's likely that no one here would be able to debate about it, as I can't imagine GT's recruiting director forwarding the email to ATL.

With that having been said, I feel for Ms. Fernandez, who is surely aware by now that her email has become a widely debated topic on ATL. I'm thankful that I went to law school pre-blog, so that my potentially bad decisions were not posted on the internet for others to critique.

Greenberg Traurig to 190!

Good lawyers have good judgment. Regardless of whether she's "right" or "wrong," I question Fernandez's judgment to mass-mail her one-sided view of an exchange at a cocktail party.

There are about 1700 lawyers at GT. This law student is both incredibly naive and unfair to the firm to judge its committment to diversity issues based on the barely rude behavior over a 30 second time span of a single GT lawyer. There are far more important criteria to use that should be more important to "minority" applicants considering working there.

No, I am not associated with GT. I am however a "minority". This story stinks of overreaction and trivialization by an immature brat of what is otherwise an important issue in our society.

This partner probably walked in about three minutes before he talked to the hyper-sensitive Columbia chick and asked for a picture so people would know he attended. He was probably out banging some chick and needed an alibi.

Getting partners to attend recruiting events is nearly impossible. If firms only allowed the touchy-feely ones to do it, they would never have any partners show up to these things at all.

Laurie - Even though I suspect you're David Lat in female disguise, I would still expect you to be aggressive in your reporting. Why have you not emailed GT for a response? Why did you kowtow to KF and remove her full name simply because she doesn't want her name "anywhere on law-related websites so close to interview season."?

"This law student is both incredibly naive and unfair to the firm to judge its committment to diversity issues based on the barely rude behavior over a 30 second time span of a single GT lawyer. "

Aren't you being completely native and unfair to her to judge her intelligence and personal worth based solely on her reaction to the rude behavior of a GT lawyer?

I feel for the mentioned attorney. Imagine what he is thinking right now about an innocuous incident that took all of 23 seconds. You'd think he'd pinched them on the ass and made a comment about how he likes big butts.

Those Columbia 2Ls. So "uppity."

Whatever, her name is still all over the place in the comments and Lat never changes them.

12:14 - Right on
12:16 - Best shit ever... I pissed myself laughing.

KF is out of luck anyway, since her name appears numerous times in the comments.

I've had the same partner ask me whether I'm a summer associate at our "welcome" event for the past four years. To which I identify my group. And that I'm on the same floor as him. Typically he eyes me, throws another appetizer in his mouth and wanders off, bored, I presume.

I'm looking forward to meeting him again next year.

I am really shocked by the hate filled responses to this incident. Ms. Fernandez didn't do anything wrong.
She had a bad experience at GT. She informed the recruiter and she sent an e-mail to her friends informing them of the experience. For those who think that that what happened to her was no big deal, they can easily interview with GT. For those that think that it is a big deal, then they can boycott GT.

At point should the summer associate have said something and sent out a mass e-mail. What if the partner had introduced himself well we need more black and brown faces around here. Is that offensive enough? What if he said yo girl whats up? Is that offensive enough? What if he said I am going to have the camera man take our picture just don't do a video ho pose?

I think that most of the readers here think that every response by a minority or a woman is an overreaction and for some reason we are just supposed to chalk things up to the way things are. Things are the way they are beceause of a long terrible history of racism in this country. The code of professionalism as it currently stands were written by white men in a time when women and minorities were not welcome and had no way of gaining access to professional work opportunities. Now, the work force is diverse and there has to be another answer beside women and minorities are hypersensitive and need to toughen up.

If you are going to remove the name of the girl who sent the email, then you should also remove the name of the law firm.

If she thought her concern was so valid, why is she not proud of sending the email?