Judge left ‘threatening’ voice mail for defendant, says lawyer now seeking jurist’s recusal

A Michigan judge who allegedly called a defendant at home when he missed a scheduled court hearing last week is now under fire from the man’s lawyer. Attorney Joshua Blanchard says Hudsonville District Court Judge Kenneth Post called his client, Philip Andrew Mallery, 23, and left a voice mail about…

Jun 18, 2015 10:20 AM CDT

Federal judge sees late-night deadline issue as ‘sad commentary’ on lives of associates

A federal judge in Ohio granted a 20-minute extension to lawyers who claimed “technical issues” interfered with their ability to make a midnight filing deadline, but not without comment on the tribulations of associate life. In a June 10 order, U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary of Toledo gave lawyers from…

Jun 15, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Few lawyers added at nation’s top law firms in 2014; which firms gained and lost the most?

Corrected: The nation’s top 350 law firms increased lawyer head count by only .6 percent last year, though there was modest growth in the ranks of nonequity partners, of counsel and staff lawyers. The top 350 law firms had a collective head count of 147,518 lawyers in 2014, an increase…

Jun 8, 2015 8:31 AM CDT

3Ls and old pros differ on whether new grads are prepared for practice

Jun 1, 2015 2:10 AM CDT

Woman pleads guilty in hotel stabbing death of DLA Piper lawyer

A woman accused of killing DLA Piper associate David Messerschmitt at a Washington, D.C., hotel has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed. Jamyra Gallmon, 21, pleaded guilty to the reduced charge on Thursday, report the Blog of Legal Times, the Washington Post, NBC Washington and WJLA. Prosecutors say Gallmon…

May 28, 2015 10:56 AM CDT

Two global law firms will use software to find standout UK hires from underprivileged backgrounds

Two international law firms will be using social mobility software to identify standout job candidates in London who have overcome underprivileged backgrounds. The law firms Baker & McKenzie and Hogan Lovells are using the so-called Rare Contextual Recruitment System, which measures “social mobility characteristics” of job candidates, according to this…

May 21, 2015 9:52 AM CDT

A good night’s sleep on a $4K mattress pointed a former BigLaw attorney to a new job in sales

Life as a mergers and acquistions attorney for Foley & Larder wasn’t for him, Greg Yatooma realized while still a young man. But, despite the car-selling experience that put him through law school, he didn’t initially focus on going back into sales when he left the law firm’s Detroit office…

May 18, 2015 11:35 AM CDT

7th Circuit: Law firm doesn’t owe fired PI attorney bonuses, due to terms of compensation pact

After more than five years of litigation, a personal injury lawyer has lost his fight to collect on bonuses he claimed his former law firm employer owed him on breast-implant cases for which payment was received after he was fired. The motive for his 2007 termination was to avoid paying…

May 5, 2015 2:15 PM CDT

Legal innovation summit attendees are long on ideas but short in data

Sunday’s marathon session at the National Summit on Innovation in Legal Services at Stanford University really hammered home a lot of points for me. For instance, the number of litigants forced to go pro se is shockingly high when it comes to family, immigration and housing court. I also learned…

May 5, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

In your experience, do new lawyers have the necessary skills to be ready to practice?

In its first annual survey of law students, professors and practitioners, the BARBRI Group reports that one of the key findings was this: “Law students, and particularly 3L law students, assess their own readiness to practice law more positively than do attorneys who work with recent law school graduates.” The…

Apr 30, 2015 2:40 PM CDT

Standing desks and pricey cognac: Are they happiness boosters for associates?

A co-managing partner at Susman Godfrey is offering his take on morale boosters at his law firm. Responding to a Texas Lawyer inquiry on the subject, co-managing partner Neal Manne offered four reasons for happy associates (leaving partners out of the mix because they “exist in a state of perpetual…

Apr 23, 2015 7:06 AM CDT

New BigLaw associates make the most money in NYC, says survey

While $160,000 is widely recognized as the benchmark starting salary paid to first-year associates by the top BigLaw firms, a number outside New York City pay less. Before the recession hit the legal industry hard, 80 percent of the law firms employing 700 attorneys or more said they were paying…

Apr 20, 2015 2:45 PM CDT

Dentons acquires 30 professionals in Budapest

Dentons is expanding in Budapest with the acquisition of 30 lawyers and professionals from White & Case in Budapest. The move takes place on May 3, the Am Law Daily reports. The acquisition of the White & Case professionals leaves the law firm without an office in Budapest. White &…

Apr 16, 2015 10:04 AM CDT

NALP sees ‘upward movement’ in starting pay for associates; median increases $10K

Updated and corrected: The year 2009 remains the high-water mark for starting associate salaries in BigLaw, but there is a bright spot for new lawyers in salary statistics released on Thursday by the National Association for Law Placement. The national median first-year associate salary at law firms of all sizes…

Apr 16, 2015 7:51 AM CDT

‘Frat house’ mood alleged in suit against Nelson Brown; lawyer says she was fired for not fitting in

A fired associate claims in a lawsuit that she was excluded from department meetings and worked in a “frat house” atmosphere at the Pennsylvania law firm now known as Nelson Brown Hamilton & Krekstein. The suit by Elizabeth Bailey claims she was fired in November 2013 because one of her…

Apr 9, 2015 8:38 AM CDT