Ex-associate files sexual harassment suit against Faruqi & Faruqi firm and prominent partner

Updated: A former associate has filed a federal lawsuit against a prominent plaintiffs class action lawyer and his New York-based law firm, contending that the partner sexually harassed her and the firm did nothing to stop his inappropriate behavior when she complained. Plaintiff Alexandra Marchuk says in the suit that…

Mar 14, 2013 5:30 PM CDT

Archer & Greiner lays off 14 lawyers, 27 staffers

After mergers during the past several years that brought its attorney roster from 150 to nearly 210 lawyers, a well-known law firm with longtime roots in New Jersey is retrenching. Archer & Greiner gave layoff notices last week to 14 attorneys and 27 staff members, the New Jersey Law Journal…

Mar 12, 2013 9:04 PM CDT

What office skills lawyers should know in an emergency; America’s next hot sauce lawyer?

Be your own admin Minnesota litigator Sybil Dunlop admits that when she first started practicing, she probably didn’t delegate enough administrative tasks to support staff. “I had a misplaced desire to own 100 percent of my projects,” she writes at Lawyerist. That said, support staffers might not be around when…

Mar 8, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Patton Boggs axes 30 attorneys and 35 staff, no partners get pink slips

Unlike a number of other major law firms, Patton Boggs didn’t lay off workers during the recession. But it axed 65 attorneys and other employees Thursday, after 2012 revenue and profits slipped, the firm’s managing partner said Friday. Let go were 30 lawyers and 35 staff members, managing partner Edward…

Mar 1, 2013 9:13 PM CST

2013 raises to peak for midlevel associates at midsize firms

Mar 1, 2013 8:00 AM CST

Which school topped list of go-to law schools for BigLaw hiring?

The University of Pennsylvania sent 60 percent of its graduates to the nation’s top 250 law firms last year, putting it in the No. 1 spot on a list of BigLaw feeder law schools. The National Law Journal ranked the top 50 go-to law schools. The top 10 are: •…

Feb 27, 2013 11:30 AM CST

Dechert settles ex-associate’s ‘macho culture’ family leave case

Dechert has settled, on undisclosed terms, a former Boston financial services associate’s retaliation claim concerning the law firm’s alleged “macho culture.” Originally, Ariel Ayanna also filed a Massachusetts state-law sex-discrimination claim. In it, he contended that the firm used his alleged low billings as a pretext for terminating him in…

Feb 12, 2013 2:04 PM CST

‘A kind of Apple Store for legal stuff’ opens; Richard III’s legal legacy

Concierge legal services Right across from the Apple store in Palo Alto, Calif., is the retail location LegalForce, which DirectLaw founder Richard Granat describes as “a kind of Apple Store for legal stuff and other stuff (self-help law books, non-Apple tablets, tablet accessories, etc)” at eLawyering Blog. Granat (who discloses…

Feb 8, 2013 2:29 PM CST

Best friend’s Ponzi scheme puts Shook Hardy lawyer—and his firm—under fire in trustee suit

Updated: A childhood friendship between a lawyer-to-be and another boy who, decades later, is serving a 20-year federal securities fraud prison term for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme led to a legal representation that has put a prominent South Florida attorney and his law firm on the defensive. Marc…

Feb 1, 2013 5:20 PM CST

Around the Blawgosphere: Pool of trained associates will eventually dry up, blogger warns

The pool is drying up To an extent, in-house law departments and “New Normal” law firms are benefiting from the investment that “old normal” law firms make in training new associates. “My recollection of the stat is that after five years only two out of ten new associates will still…

Feb 1, 2013 2:45 PM CST

Ex-associate admits scheme to divert $453K in law firm funds, takes federal wire fraud plea

An ex-associate of a Louisiana law firm pleaded guilty to a wire fraud count Wednesday in federal court in Baton Rouge and admitted a scheme to get $453,123 of Crawford Lewis funds for his own use. James M. “Tres” Bernhard III, 36, settled last summer a civil lawsuit brought against…

Jan 31, 2013 4:49 PM CST

Akin treated bias plaintiff more favorably, at least once, because of her race, 2nd Circuit says

An associate who attributed her 2009 layoff to racial bias won’t be able to pursue her lawsuit against Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. The New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld dismissal of the suit by Tameka Simmons, who had claimed the economic reasons cited…

Jan 28, 2013 12:15 PM CST

How to create opportunity for newbie lawyers? Cut their BigLaw salaries, law prof says

Brooklyn law professor Lawrence Solan outlines one reason for the so-called crisis in legal education: Large law firms are hiring fewer new associates, creating fewer training opportunities for law grads and declining interest in law school. Law schools are responding with clinics and externships designed to train students in the…

Jan 24, 2013 12:00 PM CST

Associate who told partners of his ‘superior legal mind’ loses appeal

An associate who was fired after seeking more responsibility in an email proclaiming his “superior legal mind” has lost an appeal of his $77 million suit against Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman. In a two-sentence opinion, New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, upheld dismissal of the wrongful-termination suit filed by…

Jan 23, 2013 12:27 PM CST

Which City’s New Associates Get the Most Buying Power for Their Pay?

Newly minted associates who want to maximize the buying power of their salaries should not practice in New York City. More than 60 percent of the cities evaluated by NALP, the Association for Legal Career Professionals, provided better buying power than New York. The city is ranked 47th on the…

Jan 10, 2013 12:53 PM CST