It’s not stalking until you’ve posted 10,000 words about a person, and I’ve only written 9,925 about Greenwald.

This would be from a Greenwald’s apparent reply to a Douchist. Apparently this is FROM GREENWALD regarding his early legal days:

— “Thanks for sending that. {note: a cut-and-paste of my assertion that the timelines for Greenwald’s Prestigious Law Firm bio don’t parse very well.}

I worked at Wachtell, Lipton as a Summer Associate after my second year at NYU, as a pre-Bar Associate during my entire third year at NYU and once I graduated, and then as a practicing Litigation Associate once I was admitted to the New York Bar.

Anyone who says that I did not practice law there after I passed the bar is lying — and deliberately so, I would think, since nobody who says such a thing could possibly have any basis for knowing that.

In any event, I can’t imagine what point anyone thinks they’re making. Wachtell is known to be the most selective law firm in the country. What point do they think they’re making, exactly?” ————–

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2006/07/the_new_mccarth.html – the poster claims that as Glenn’s response to a question. I have no way of verifying the accuracy, but – what the hell? – it’s a blog comment section and the response has a waft of vinegar to it.

That’s all well and good, going to claim to have worked at a law firm ‘for years’ including the year and a half you spent as an intern is a stretch.

Also this is Glenn’s CV available from teh intertrons without using the SusanG level of detectitude.

::: Firm Size: 3

Glenn Greenwald, (Member) born New York, N.Y., March 6, 1967; admitted to bar, 1995, New York, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York; 1996, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York; 1998, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; 2002, U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. Education: George Washington University (B.A., 1990); New York University School of Law (J.D., 1994). Member, New York University Law Review, 1992-1993. Recipient, American Jurisprudence Awards, Civil Procedure, Contracts and Property. Associate, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, 1994-1995. Languages: German. Practice Areas: General Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Intellectual Property; Civil Rights.::::

So, Glenn worked at the Prestigious Law Firm as a pre-bar associate as a 2nd year law student, as a 3rd year law student, after graduating and he passed the bar in 1995, probably in the Summer cycle. At which point he became a practicing Litigation Associate.

And he left the Prestigious Law Firm within, at most, 6 months. Which is fine.

But any fan of Greenwald’s who cites Glenn’s ‘Years at a Prestigious Law Firm’ ought to be reminded that a year and a half of those two years were spent there while a law student.

Also, Glenn has remarked on many an occassion (links not provided, if you read Glenn you’ll know that’s accurate) about the selectiveness of the firm. In his response from two days ago Glenn mentions that Wachtell is well known regarding their selectivity.

Well, the obvious question is ‘Why’d Glenn leave within Wachtell a couple of months after passing the Bar?’ It’s a fair question, given the level of import Glenn’s placing on this.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, let’s say he worked there through 1995. That’s six months.

Were I a betting man, I’d say that Glenn didn’t make it the firm’s probationary period. A prestigious law firm that’s very selective will very likely ruthlessly cut a new hire if they think they made a bad hiring decision. Swords, double edged, all that.

A yes/no question for Glenn would be “Did Wachtell have an employee probationary period? If so, once you passed the bar and were an Associate, were you employed by Wachtell beyond the date of that probationary period?”

Note – there could be any number of reasons for Glenn to leave – He might not have liked the hours, the law area he was slated for, a relative or friend might have made him another offer to join or start a firm (Mister Holland, Esq. would be the person to ask about that I think) and that’s all good.

But it’s not like Glenn Greenwald *did* anything while at Wachtell other than *being* at Wachtell. Which was an accomplishment, but one along the lines of earning a spot on the US Olympic team, but then choosing to not go to the Olympics. Sure, you made it and very few did, but – ultimately – it doesn’t mean much.

Also, note that Glenn doesn’t cite ConLaw as an area of practice. That part area of expertise seems to be a result of OJT involving the Hale case. Which Glenn lost, btw.

Why does any of this matter? Well, mostly it doesn’t, but Glenn’s built up quite a lot of admirers and they tend to just take him at his word.

As Glenn’s bio to his NYT Best Selling Book starts with the sentence: Glenn Greenwald is a Constitutional law attorney, and author of the political blog, “Unclaimed Territory.”

This leads to fawning
::::Glenn Greenwald answers the title of his own book with his book. … Because Greenwald is a specialist in Constitutional law, he knows of what he speaks:::
ummm, sadly no! … to coin a phrase. Events have conspired to show that Glenn starts slow and tapers off with regard to the ConLaw issues of the day.

:::: Glenn Greenwald was not a political man. Not liberal, not conservative :::

Ummm, Glenn Greenwald while a law student at NYU spent ten weeks organizing a drive to prevent Colorado law firms from recruiting in NYU Law because of Proposition 2

Google Groups, search “glenn greenwald” – it’s the first mention if you sort by date –

Quote: ” I think an institution like a law school has a role to play in standing up to dangerous developments in the law. The boycott seems to be the most appropriate way to do so,” said NYU law student Glenn Greenwald, who worked for 10 weeks to force the vote. ”

Y’ep … that’s some quality non-conservative/non-liberal apolitical work right there.

He then sort of passed through Wachtell. Went into practice and picked up the Hale Case. Which doesn’t strike me as being ‘apolitical’ or not an issue involving liberal / conservative ideals.

What’s lacking from Greenwald’s bona fides from what I can see as a ConLaw scholar of merit are publications other than in Mother Jones and American Conservative.

If the Left is going to base their hopes and aspirations on the Legal Eagle that is Greenwald, perhaps the Left had better start asking themselves some basic questions liek: “Who the fuck is Glenn Greenwald?”
and

“why do we care what he says?”

I understand the Left is entertained by him, Glenn tells them what they want to hear. The problem is when you start confusing entertainment with political strategy.

Glenn Greenwald’s a great Lefty entertainer – lots of words so the reader gets to feel smart, a good ‘hefty’ post to chew on for a spell. Available in book form. More power to him.

Glenn Greenwald, great ConLaw scholar/lawyer/strategist, notsomuch.

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