Associates

Goodwin Procter plans to close San Diego office, lay off 10 lawyers and 12 staff

Goodwin Procter has confirmed that the firm plans to close its San Diego office by the end of September, laying off 10 lawyers and 12 staff members. Two of the six partners at the office, as well as six associates and four staff members apparently will be offered a chance…

Jun 28, 2013 3:02 PM CDT

Weil Gotshal layoffs are start of a wave, consultant says (video)

Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ announcement this week that it is firing 60 associates and 110 support staffers and cutting the pay of about 30 partners is the start of a wave of such downsizings, according to law firm consultant Bruce MacEwen, publisher of the blog Adam Smith, Esq. The cuts…

Jun 27, 2013 4:29 PM CDT

Patton Boggs says 17 partners are exiting; some may open a Dallas office for Holland & Knight

Patton Boggs confirms that 17 partners of the firm announced last week they will be leaving. Most worked out of the firm’s Dallas office, but others were in Denver and Washington, D.C., the Washington Post (reg. req.) reports on its Capital Business page. At least some of the Dallas lawyers…

Jun 25, 2013 11:30 AM CDT

Partner pay holdback of 20 percent at Becker & Poliakoff is not popular

A new policy at Becker & Poliakoff of holding back 20 percent of partners’ pay is not popular, managing shareholder Gary Rosen admits. However, he said such measures are a standard business procedure at law firms today in order to maintain a cash reserve and insisted that the holdback is…

Jun 18, 2013 7:20 PM CDT

Sending female intern’s horror-film clip to local law firms gets ex-partner suspended for 3 years

Updated: A former partner of a well-known Indiana law firm has been suspended from practice for three years for persuading his paralegal to impersonate that firm’s managing partner and send an email attaching a horror-film clip in which a new hire seemingly was onscreen in a state of undress. Arthur…

May 20, 2013 4:49 PM CDT

6 more lawyers to exit Ogletree for Littler, join ex-partner who sent ‘scathing’ email to Ogletree

After an unusual high-profile dispute between a former partner of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart and the firm, another six lawyers are expected to leave the international labor and employment boutique Monday to join competitor Littler Mendelson, their new firm has announced. Within the last two weeks, another seven…

May 6, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Building business as a new attorney (podcast with transcript)

Business development starts from the ground up, guests tell ABA Podcast moderator Stephanie Francis Ward, and associates have opportunities to make good first impressions today with the decision makers of tomorrow.

May 6, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Katten Muchin opens new Houston office with Pillsbury enviro leader, hires 7 more lawyers in Texas

The leader of the environmental practice group at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is leaving the firm to open a new Houston office for Katten Muchin Rosenman. Mark Farley will be in charge of a five-lawyer Houston office, serve as a co-chair of his new firm’s environmental practice and lead its…

Apr 29, 2013 9:19 PM CDT

Law firm, 2 attorneys sued by FDIC, accused of helping bank make $82M in illegal loans

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has sued a Florida law firm and two of its attorneys, contending that they failed to take note of “glaring red flags” when representing Orion Bank in making $82 million in illegal loans in 2009. Nason, Yeager, Gerson, White & Lioce, as well as a…

Apr 18, 2013 7:42 PM CDT

Firm denies bias claims by lawyer who said he was treated as ‘token black associate’

Ropes & Gray is responding to bias and retaliation allegations made in an August 2011 lawsuit filed by one of its former lawyers who claimed the law firm treated him as a “token black associate.” In partially redacted court filings, Ropes says the plaintiff, John Ray III, filed a May…

Apr 16, 2013 12:31 PM CDT

More lawyers charge $1,150 an hour, but ‘sticker price’ discounts hit collection rates

Attorney billing rates are higher this year, but the amount collected by law firms, when compared to standard rates, is at a historic low. Chalk it up to clients unwilling to pay full price, says legal consultant Ward Bower of Altman Weil. Think of hourly fees “as the equivalent of…

Apr 10, 2013 1:46 PM CDT

Sued by ex-associate, partner and law firm file $15M counterclaim, call her ‘obsessed’

Sued last month for alleged sexual harassment by a former associate, a prominent plaintiffs class action lawyer and his firm have fired back. In addition to answering the complaint brought by Alexandra Marchuk in federal court in Manhattan, Juan E. Monteverde and Faruqi & Faruqi have filed counterclaims alleging defamation,…

Apr 2, 2013 8:55 PM CDT

Firm’s job contract doesn’t require arbitration of ex-associate’s suit, appeals court says

A former associate has won a round in a disability discrimination case she filed two years ago against Bingham McCutchen. The law firm had sought to arbitrate a California complaint by Hartwell Harris that the firm didn’t do enough to accommodate her unusual sleep disorder, But a trial-level judge ruled…

Apr 1, 2013 9:24 PM CDT

‘Churn that bill, baby!’ email surfaces in fee dispute with DLA Piper

It all began with a corporate bankruptcy case. Retained by energy entrepreneur Adam H. Victor in April 2010 to prepare the Chapter 11 filing for one of his companies, DLA Piper ran up a hefty bill. And when Victor refused to pay it, the law firm sued him for $675,000.…

Mar 25, 2013 8:54 PM CDT

Ex-associate sues 2 law firms, says negative info they shared put him in a lower-paying job

Jeffrey Downs says he was all set to follow partner Mark LeWinter last year when he exited Philadelphia personal injury law firm Anapol Schwartz to take a job with competitor Raynes McCarty. But then his Raynes job offer was rescinded, Downs contends in a lawsuit filed this week in the…

Mar 25, 2013 5:06 PM CDT