ABA Journal

Firms Regroup to Aid Clients During Financial Crisis

Hays Ellisen is doing something in his practice he’s never been asked to do before: lead a multidisciplinary task force advising clients on the biggest federal intervention into private finance in his lifetime. The co-chair of Katten Muchin Rosenman’s structured finance and securitization practice, Ellisen heads the client advisory group…

Oct 14, 2008 6:00 PM CDT

More In-House Counsel Predict Jump in Litigation, Spurring Lawyer Hiring

About a third of in-house counsel responding to a survey are projecting an increase in legal disputes involving their companies for the coming year—and nearly 20 percent predict the need to hire more in-house lawyers to manage the expected increase. The survey (PDF) of about 360 in-house counsel by the…

Oct 14, 2008 1:52 PM CDT

At Least 100 Heller Employees Laid Off on Friday

Updated: Two e-mails were dispatched to Heller Ehrman employees last Friday. One informed the recipients they were being asked to continue working at the law firm, for now. The other had bad news for at least 100 staffers: It was their last day at the firm. Both the Recorder and…

Oct 13, 2008 10:56 AM CDT

Some Firms Still Seek Laterals—Including Orrick, Set to Hire 27 Heller Partners

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft may have laid off 131 lawyers earlier this year, but it is still hiring some lawyers away from other law firms in practice areas such as financial restructuring. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) says Cadwalader is one of several firms still making lateral hires. Another…

Oct 9, 2008 11:15 AM CDT

Don’t Worry, Some Firms Tell Attorneys, But Many Are Cutting Costs

As some law firms react to worldwide financial turmoil by calling meetings to tell partners and associates, essentially, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” many—including a number of those holding the meetings—are also focusing on cost-cutting. Expenses that are being scrutinized include rising office rent ($40 per square foot is now common),…

Oct 8, 2008 8:49 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Blonde’s Suit Claiming Wrong Hair Dye Ruined her Social Life

A Connecticut judge has refused to get tangled up in a woman’s suit claiming a switched tube of hair dye turned her blonde hair brown, wreaking havoc on her social life. Judge Richard Gilardi of Bridgeport said the root of the problem with the lawsuit was a lack of evidence…

Oct 8, 2008 5:24 PM CDT

Irate Judge Blasts Typos and Errors in Filing, Slashes Fees by $154K

A federal judge in Philadelphia blasted a lawyer for his “slip-shod submissions” to the court before slashing his requested attorney fees by about $154,000. Senior U.S. District Judge J. William Ditter Jr. said a fee petition in a civil rights suit by Brian Puricelli was riddled with typographical and other…

Oct 8, 2008 12:14 PM CDT

Baker, Winston Withdraw Proposals to Take on Heller Lawyers and Leases

Two large law firms that were once merger candidates for Heller Ehrman have withdrawn proposals to take on large groups of the dissolving firm’s lawyers and leases on offices that housed them. The two firms withdrawing the proposals are Baker & McKenzie and Winston & Strawn, the Recorder reports. Peter…

Oct 8, 2008 10:59 AM CDT

LSATs and Letter Grades: Telling, or Useless?

Last week Harvard Law School joined Yale and Stanford’s law schools in adopting a no-letter-grades policy. Georgetown University Law Center has not jumped on the bandwagon at this point, although FOX News commentator Greta Van Susteren admitted that during her time there as an adjunct law professor, she gave mostly…

Oct 8, 2008 7:51 AM CDT

Judge Asked Too Many Questions, Requiring New Trial

In a rare rebuke to the chief judge in Baltimore, a Maryland appellate court has found that he asked too many questions during a jury trial of an armed robbery case last year, requiring a reversal of the defendant’s conviction and a new trial. The 125 questions that Baltimore City…

Oct 7, 2008 11:50 PM CDT

Lawyers Want More Time, Less Stress, Not More Money

Asked what one aspect of their law practice they would change, if they could, 31 percent of the 300 large law firm and corporate attorneys recently surveyed by Robert Half Legal said they wanted a less stressful work life. And another 30 percent wanted to work fewer hours or increase…

Oct 7, 2008 5:03 PM CDT

Court Suspends Lawyer Who Ignored Discovery, Cited Billable Pressures

The Georgia Supreme Court has reprimanded and imposed a one-month suspension on a lawyer who said he ignored discovery requests in a 2006 case in part because he was dealing with stress caused by billable hour pressures. The court gave the limited suspension to Stephen Lee Stincer, citing mitigating factors…

Oct 7, 2008 3:43 PM CDT

What Michelle Obama Didn’t Like About Working at Sidley Austin

A new biography about Michelle Obama discusses in detail what she didn’t like about her job, early in her career, as an associate attorney at Sidley Austin. Ambitious and eager for responsibility, she found a number of assignments unexciting, reports the Chicago Sun-Times, summarizing a lengthy Sunday magazine article in…

Oct 6, 2008 4:45 PM CDT

Judge Holds Weekend Court at Home Over Wachovia Buyout Tussle

Updated: Citigroup lawyers made a weekend trip to a judge’s home in Connecticut in an attempt to block a Wachovia buyout by Wells Fargo, but the judge had no authority to delay the deal in part because he issued his order from another state, a state appeals court judge later…

Oct 6, 2008 12:26 PM CDT

Judge Considers Dismissing Stevens Indictment over Withheld FBI Records

Updated: A federal judge heard arguments Thursday on whether to dismiss the indictment or declare a mistrial in the prosecution of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan suspended Stevens’ trial because of revelations the government did not disclose FBI records that could have helped Stevens’ defense, report…

Oct 2, 2008 4:11 PM CDT