Layoffs at the Volokh Conspiracy:
In light of all the layoff news everywhere else in the legal world, I wanted to reassure our readers that there are no layoffs presently planned here at the Volokh Conspiracy. Yes, we did lose our big client in Pajamas Media. Yes, in the current economic situation, our PPB — that is, Profits-Per-Blogger — are way down. Yes, there are some VC bloggers who use our luxurious office space and outstanding staff support and haven't written a post in months or years. (I assure you, Erik Jaffe exists!) But we're committed to giving you the same quality product in this down economy that we have given you in the boom times. And it will be all at the same low low price you have come to expect. — The Mgmt.
UPDATE: It with regret that I announce that we are having to make reductions in our support staff. In the current economic situation, no blog can maintain the same staffing levels as before. I am therefore announcing a 50% reduction in our staff, effective immediately. Although there is no severance package, staff members who have been terminated will be sent a free Volokh Conspiracy t-shirt in the mail. Please expect 60-90 days for delivery. — The Mgmt.
ANOTHER UPDATE: The difficult economic climate for law-blogging has led the management team to make yet another difficult decision: We are closing the Volokh Conspiracy's Washington DC blogging office. All bloggers and staff will now have to work out of their homes or coffee shops. We regret to have to make this decision, but we are confident that this move will allow us to remain among the premier law blog sites on the Internet well into the future. — The Mgmt.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Effective immediately, the summer intern law blog program is suspended. — The Mgmt.
UPDATE: It with regret that I announce that we are having to make reductions in our support staff. In the current economic situation, no blog can maintain the same staffing levels as before. I am therefore announcing a 50% reduction in our staff, effective immediately. Although there is no severance package, staff members who have been terminated will be sent a free Volokh Conspiracy t-shirt in the mail. Please expect 60-90 days for delivery. — The Mgmt.
ANOTHER UPDATE: The difficult economic climate for law-blogging has led the management team to make yet another difficult decision: We are closing the Volokh Conspiracy's Washington DC blogging office. All bloggers and staff will now have to work out of their homes or coffee shops. We regret to have to make this decision, but we are confident that this move will allow us to remain among the premier law blog sites on the Internet well into the future. — The Mgmt.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Effective immediately, the summer intern law blog program is suspended. — The Mgmt.
Duck and cover.
You don't have to say anyhting. I'll pack up my things. (Sniff.)
Will employees still get a bobblehead of their favorite Supreme Court Justice for their 5 year anniversary?
Is Con Op going to do the same thing?
But they will be forbidden to wear pajamas while doing so.
Ben
Or declare that VC is too big to fail so you can get in on the bailout action.
If nothing else, I can get you a great deal on cheap offshore labour.
That's it. I'm selling all my VC stock. Fortunately, even in this market, I can still get what I paid for it.
1) Friday afternoon faculty meeting: President and Provost assure faculty that the college is doing fine and will not falter in its core task of providing an excellent udergraduate education.
2) Monday: clerical staff in President's and Provost's offices report that neither is on campus.
3) Tuesday: several Chairs who have been conducting months-long searches urge clerical staff to get in touvh with Provost as they need details for offers to their top choices.
4) Wednesday: those Chairs who spoke with clerical staff receive emails from Provost that their searches are closed.
5) Friday: rest of Chairs receive emails to the effect that 6 of 10 searches have been closed.
No provision in any Volokh Conspiracy lay-off, downsize or other reduction notice, or Terms of Service, between Conspiracy bloggers and this reader in effect as of the date of my choosing that requires any change in what I prefer shall be enforceable, as such provision shall be contrary to public policy.
If I am typical, then you guys should be doing great. I also suspect that business has never been better for ATL, even surpassing the great NYC to 190k! fiasco.
You guys really shouldn't have leveraged yourselves to the hilt to expand into Asia and Latin America. Shameful.
Don't joke about such sensitive subjects; yesterday my office went from offering free flavia coffee and tea to charging 50 cents a cup. :-P
For the long run:
Medical Office Waiting Room furniture
We of the Zippy Outsourcing and Customour Seervice Companie have solotion for Volokh Conxpiracy to ekonomic haardsheep times. We shall be glad to make bid to manage the content of the Honorabull Volokh Conxpiracy to the high stendards expectid by Volokh costomers at one-fyfth the currant costs.
At no xtra sharge, to give cumfort to Volokh costomerS, all posts shaaal be from standurd familaur American nameS like "IlyA" "sasha" and "Orin."
To enjoi the bennyfits of Zippy Outsourcing and Customour Seervice, please send Professor Kerr's bank accont numburs and sociaL SEcjrity Numburs, an we take care ov rest.
I can assure you that they are less humorous from the perspective of a lawyer in a for-profit business.
However, if you`re interested, maybe we can come to terms on introductions to friends who I can cut you in on some of the vital blogging action in support of the stimulus and re-regulatory effort ....
Therefore, the VC should receive no bailout monies.
If you have a comment about spelling, typos, or format errors, please e-mail the poster directly rather than posting a comment.
Comment Policy: We reserve the right to edit or delete comments, and in extreme cases to ban commenters, at our discretion. Comments must be relevant and civil (and, especially, free of name-calling). We think of comment threads like dinner parties at our homes. If you make the party unpleasant for us or for others, we'd rather you went elsewhere. We're happy to see a wide range of viewpoints, but we want all of them to be expressed as politely as possible.
We realize that such a comment policy can never be evenly enforced, because we can't possibly monitor every comment equally well. Hundreds of comments are posted every day here, and we don't read them all. Those we read, we read with different degrees of attention, and in different moods. We try to be fair, but we make no promises.
And remember, it's a big Internet. If you think we were mistaken in removing your post (or, in extreme cases, in removing you) -- or if you prefer a more free-for-all approach -- there are surely plenty of ways you can still get your views out.