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New York, 2:54 AM
Sun Dec 20
11 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #barexam more →

    Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?

    Elizabeth Wurtzel Not Too Upset About That Whole 'Not Passing The Bar Exam' Thing

    Elizabeth Wurtzel's Name Missing on Bar Exam Pass List
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of 18thCFox 18thCFox
    07/25/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    Has anyone here read Prozac Nation? Thoughts? I haven't yet but this woman sounds reeeeeeeally dumb and I'm wondering if that's how she writes too.
     Reply
    18thCFox was starred 18thCFox was unstarred
    Image of Tart of Darkness Tart of Darkness
    07/24/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    Look. All she ever wanted was to be good. And things turned out bad. Certainly she's known to be overdramatic, but I think it's you guys that are being hysterical on this one.

    And a lot of people flunk the bar the first time. Ask some of the Kennedys.
     Reply
    Tart of Darkness was starred Tart of Darkness was unstarred
    Image of evilbeet evilbeet
    07/24/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    Oh come on, I don't think what she did in any way violates the spirit of that law. This is just cruel nit-picking. Give her a break.
     Reply
    evilbeet was starred evilbeet was unstarred
    Image of Jacques-SweatyTechnique-Paysan Jacques-SweatyTechnique-Paysan
    07/24/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    Elizabeth Wurtzel: "Barely Legal."
     Reply
    Jacques-SweatyTechnique-Paysan was starred Jacques-SweatyTechnique-Paysan was unstarred
    Image of onenotesam onenotesam
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    Ever heard of a simile? She's calling herself a lawyer like you might call yourself a journalist.
     Reply
    onenotesam was starred onenotesam was unstarred
    Image of Nic Fit Nic Fit
    07/24/09

    @onenotesam: Yeah, but anyone can (and does) call himself a journalist. Look, I just commented here. I'm a journalist!
     Reply
    Nic Fit was starred Nic Fit was unstarred
    Image of dissentingopinion dissentingopinion
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    "saying like a lot of XXXX" is not the same thing as claiming to be XXXX. This seems like a rather minor argument over diction, would you be happier if she said like many young law graduates? Who cares.
     Reply
    b4nt4 promoted this comment dissentingopinion was starred dissentingopinion was unstarred
    Image of MaelstromInTheMiddle MaelstromInTheMiddle
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    The point of the statute is to protect potential clients from being misled. The intent of the statute is relevant to when and how it is applied. It's a stretch to say any reasonable person would be misled by her answer being an advertisement of the title of lawyer or holding herself out as licensed. Also, there are lots of lawyers in NY who practice at large firms for years without being licensed after law school. I know several who took the bar and passed but didn't complete all the necessary paperwork until two or three years later to actually become licensed. So, they weren't technically lawyers, but they practiced all that time and billed. But, no one cares because they weren't being held out by their firms as licensed to potential clients or advertising.

    This is really splitting hairs here. You'd be hard pressed to get a report investigated under these facts, much less pursued. What exactly is it she did which provokes this ire? I never read her book or read any reviews on it, but she obviously isn't liked.
     Reply
    Edited by MaelstromInTheMiddle at 07/23/09 7:58 PM MaelstromInTheMiddle was starred MaelstromInTheMiddle was unstarred
    Image of Poodle_Heart Poodle_Heart
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    maybe a para legal?
     Reply
    Poodle_Heart was starred Poodle_Heart was unstarred
    Image of Jacques-SweatyTechnique-Paysan Jacques-SweatyTechnique-Paysan
    07/24/09

    @if_i_only_had_a_heart: lawyers with parachutes! Bring it!
     Reply
    Jacques-SweatyTechnique-Paysan was starred Jacques-SweatyTechnique-Paysan was unstarred
    Image of 1.1.1. 1.1.1.
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    It's been a while, but I think that if she sent any correspondence in her role as a lawyer, she'd have to put, under name: "(Not Admitted)". But she probably sends things out under a partner's name like all good little associates.

    Would it kill you to call a legal ethics expert once in a while before posting? NYU and Columbia are pretty good law schools and you probably have free long distance service.

    The opinion of people who closely study these issues for a living is really a whole lot more valuable than ours.
     Reply
    Cynical Media Bitch promoted this comment Edited by 1.1.1. at 07/23/09 7:28 PM 1.1.1. was starred 1.1.1. was unstarred
    Image of peperony and chease peperony and chease
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    She ain't passed the bar, but she knows a little bit. Whatevs. If she's a newish associate, she can still call herself a lawyer. She's not proclaiming herself an Esquire, bitch just doesn't want to call attention to her repeated failure of the bar exam. Fair enough.
     Reply
    peperony and chease was starred peperony and chease was unstarred
    Image of CheapCynicism CheapCynicism
    07/23/09

    @peperony and chease: Now aren't you sharp as a tack?
     Reply
    peperony and chease promoted this comment CheapCynicism was starred CheapCynicism was unstarred
    Image of Iwillnotauditionforastar Iwillnotauditionforastar
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    I'm still traumatized by her referring to a Doctorate of Jurisprudence as a mini-PhD.
     Reply
    Iwillnotauditionforastar was starred Iwillnotauditionforastar was unstarred
    Image of Iwillnotauditionforastar Iwillnotauditionforastar
    07/23/09

    @Iwillnotauditionforastar: But I should point out she said "like a lot of young lawyers" so she's good on the legalize
     Reply
    Tremonius promoted this comment Iwillnotauditionforastar was starred Iwillnotauditionforastar was unstarred
    Image of Tremonius Tremonius
    07/23/09

    @Iwillnotauditionforastar: Yeah, I always say, "Like a lot of young studs, I watch football."
     Reply
    Tremonius was starred Tremonius was unstarred
    Image of Iwillnotauditionforastar Iwillnotauditionforastar
    07/23/09

    @Tremonius: As I am wont to do on occasion. But the modifier does give us both an out. "I was walking like a cat - that's how stealthy I was."
     Reply
    Edited by Iwillnotauditionforastar at 07/23/09 7:57 PM Iwillnotauditionforastar was starred Iwillnotauditionforastar was unstarred
    Image of PICKLES_IN_MY_TUNA PICKLES_IN_MY_TUNA
    07/23/09

    @Tremonius: You can't spell "STUD" without an STD.
     Reply
    PICKLES_IN_MY_TUNA was starred PICKLES_IN_MY_TUNA was unstarred
    Image of Tremonius Tremonius
    07/24/09

    @PICKLES_IN_MY_TUNA: Tom Brady?
     Reply
    Tremonius was starred Tremonius was unstarred
    Image of formerlydictator4life1 formerlydictator4life1
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    I remember the Gawker article about her not being on the list of people who passed the NY bar last summer, and I wanted to post this, but got there too late for anyone to read it: My boyfriend took that bar, but wasn't on the list of people who passed it either. That wasn't because he failed, but because they had some computer issue with about 40 people who took the test. He found out in February that he passed it (I have a theory that they never did recover his exam, they just decided that it was better to let him pass than to fail him). So there's a slight possibility this chick could be one of those 40 or so people whose exams were lost, and who did pass the bar, but didn't make that list.
     Reply
    Trulymadlyme promoted this comment formerlydictator4life1 was starred formerlydictator4life1 was unstarred
    Image of j.blo j.blo
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    Come on. You're a lawyer if you graduate law school and work at a firm. You're not a paralegal, you're not a clerk. You're a lawyer who hasn't been admitted yet.

    Was JFK Jr. not a lawyer when he was working in the DA's office?

    What you CAN'T do is hold yourself out as being an admitted NY lawyer if you haven't passed the bar.

    Most new lawyers who haven't yet learned their bar results include something like "Admission in New York pending" in their signature line.

    Signed,

    Someone who passed the bar the first time so this is not me being defensive
     Reply
    Cynical Media Bitch promoted this comment j.blo was starred j.blo was unstarred
    Image of Lulupasternak Lulupasternak
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    Well, she could move to a state with an easier bar exam. I think she's probably slouching around the office, and whenever someone needs to act out a sexual harassment case, she's the one.
     Reply
    irishflyesq promoted this comment Lulupasternak was starred Lulupasternak was unstarred
    Image of irishflyesq irishflyesq
    07/23/09

    @Lulupasternak: I took the NY Bar exam. It was not that hard. If I passed it while working full time and going to a local law school, she with her top flight education and presumably more time than me should not have broken a sweat to pass.
     Reply
    irishflyesq was starred irishflyesq was unstarred
    Image of SargentCoronus SargentCoronus
    07/23/09

    In reply to Is Elizabeth Wurtzel Breaking the Law By Calling Herself a Lawyer?
    You analysis of her statement is a stretch. In New York, it varies whether a law firm will allow a JD who hasn't yet passed the bar to work, and if not, how long / how many times it will allow someone to take the bar before they kick you out the door. My firm allows (allegedly) two tries at the bar exam, and you must be admitted to practice (i.e. pass the character and fitness portion) within one year.

    The law is intended to prevent non-lawyers from soliciting clients or signing off on legal documents or correspondence as an Esquire (basically, taking on cases), so her statement seems pretty innocuous.

    Maybe she's worried about the character and fitness portion, though in New York, they allow prior felons to become attorneys.
     Reply
    Kira Smith approved this comment SargentCoronus was starred SargentCoronus was unstarred
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