Associates

Men-only golf retreats and unequal work assignments alleged in bias suit against McElroy Deutsch

A fired associate at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter claims in a gender bias and sex harassment suit against the law firm that male associates got to hobnob with firm leaders at male-only golf retreats and got better work assignments than females. Fired bankruptcy associate Elina Chechelnitsky filed the suit…

Apr 6, 2015 8:48 AM CDT

April 1 joke banning late-night and vacation emails backfires on Weil Gotshal

An April Fools’ Day email to Weil Gotshal & Manges employees saying that electronic messages would not be transmitted late at night or to vacationing workers, was intended as a joke. But this year the firm’s traditional April 1 effort backfired. Hard-working associate attorneys didn’t find the message about the…

Apr 1, 2015 3:55 PM CDT

Goodwin Procter lays off lawyers and staffers, notes drop in demand for litigation services

Goodwin Procter has laid off 21 lawyers and 17 staffers in its litigation department, but it will consider hiring laid off lawyers for open transactional positions. The law firm blamed the layoffs on an overall decline in market demand for litigation services. Above the Law, the first to report the…

Mar 19, 2015 7:07 AM CDT

This law school charges more than $60K; tuition is up 13% in 3 years at top BigLaw feeder schools

Ten elite law schools charge more than $55,000 in tuition, but one stands out for breaking the $60,000 mark. That law school is Columbia, which charged $60,274 in tuition last year, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. The school is also No. 1 on the National Law Journal’s list…

Mar 2, 2015 8:12 AM CST

Why lead guitarist of Blind Melon left music for labor and employment law

As the guitarist for alternative rock band Blind Melon, Rogers Stevens spent years headlining venues and festivals around the world, recording albums and living his childhood dream.

Mar 1, 2015 6:19 AM CST

Police found credit cards strewn throughout hotel room of slain DLA Piper associate, affidavit says

Police who entered a Washington, D.C., hotel room in search of a missing lawyer on Feb. 10 found his apparently lifeless body face down on the floor, with several stab wounds in his back, according to a search warrant affidavit. Police had gone to the Donovan Hotel in search of…

Feb 19, 2015 7:48 AM CST

Wife of slain DLA Piper lawyer told police ‘everything seemed fine’ when they last spoke

The wife of a DLA Piper associate found fatally stabbed on Tuesday told Washington, D.C., police in a missing persons report that “everything seemed fine” when they last spoke on the phone. Kim Vuong called police at about 1:50 a.m. on Tuesday to report that her husband, David Messerschmitt, had…

Feb 13, 2015 8:26 AM CST

Some associates will earn less as gap widens between rich and super-rich law firms, columnist says

As rich law firms lose ground to the super-rich law firms, their associates will feel the monetary pain, according to a columnist who is a former BigLaw partner. Writing at Above the Law, lawyer Mark Herrmann says it’s tough for law firms earning $1 million in profits per partner to…

Feb 10, 2015 7:01 AM CST

Both sides proclaim victory in jury’s $140K award to ex law firm associate, but say they may appeal

Both sides proclaimed victory following a a federal jury’s award Thursday of $140,000 to a former associate of Faruqi & Faruqi, but say they may appeal aspects of the verdict won by Alexandra Marchuk in her sexual harassment case against the law firm and one of its partners. Attorney Scott…

Feb 6, 2015 11:30 AM CST

Ex-associate who sued law firm seeking $2M wins $90K plus undetermined punitives

An ex-associate at a New York law firm who alleged she was sexually harassed by her former employer, in a lawsuit that provided graphic details, has won a jury verdict, but it may not be the award that Alexandra Marchuk had hoped for. Her federal employment discrimination suit had sought…

Feb 5, 2015 4:15 PM CST

9 ways to change the carnivorous partnership model and save BigLaw firms

At the beginning of a career as a lawyer, you often set upon a course of being a good soldier, doing what the system asks of you in the profession’s self-described “tournament-style” search for excellence. You must perform better than others so that you may advance within the organization. A…

Feb 4, 2015 2:40 PM CST

$1.37B case is abruptly dropped after lawyers’ Google search spots alleged fakery

A Texas oil company abruptly dropped a $1.37 billion suit against a Russian competitor on Monday after the defense pointed out an incongruity in a key document. The trial exhibit, supposedly created in 2004, had an image created in 2012, the Litigation Daily (sub. req.) reports. Lawyers at Baker Botts…

Feb 3, 2015 8:57 AM CST

‘Competition cohort’ makes it a great time to go to law school, says Dinsmore managing partner

It’s a great time to go to law school, according to Dinsmore & Shohl managing partner George Vincent. In an interview with CincyBizBlog, Vincent explained why. “I tell folks there’s never a better time to go to law school than now,” Vincent said. “I think the demand for legal services…

Jan 23, 2015 1:38 PM CST

Court: BigLaw firms missed $1.5B error, erasing JPMorgan’s security interest in GM loan

An error by a paralegal at Mayer Brown went undiscovered by higher-ups at the law firm as well as by lawyers at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, erasing JPMorgan Chase Bank’s security interest in a loan to General Motors, a federal appeals court says. Mayer Brown represented GM, so its client…

Jan 22, 2015 9:16 AM CST

Law firm ripped up bloody carpet to hide sex assault by partner, ex-associate alleges at bias trial

A Manhattan law firm ripped up carpet stained by blood when a partner “painfully and forcefully” had sex with an associate following a 2011 holiday party, the former associate’s lawyer alleged as her bias trial got under way on Monday. The now-former associate, Alexandra Marchuk, is seeking $9 million in…

Jan 13, 2015 7:28 AM CST