Business Development

How GCs are Cutting Costs—and Possibly Law Firm Profits

The general counsel of several large companies are requiring more of their law firms to use flat fees instead of charging by the hour. The result: Companies are saving money and law firms are likely feeling the earnings squeeze, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. The article says these…

Aug 24, 2009 1:03 PM CDT

Weil Seeks $100M in Lehman Case, Identifies Hardest Working Associate

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is seeking more than $100 million in legal fees and expenses for its work in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case. The law firm’s second fee application would put it over the $100 million mark in total billings, when hold back payments are included, the Am Law…

Aug 20, 2009 12:44 PM CDT

Judge Slashes $45M from Coughlin Stoia Fees Because of Disgraced Partner

A federal judge in Minneapolis has slashed $45 million from attorney fees due to Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins because of its disgraced former partner William Lerach. Ruling in a backdating settlement against UnitedHealth, U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum said Lerach failed to inform the court he was under…

Aug 12, 2009 2:59 PM CDT

Hand Over Client Info, 9th Circuit Tells Ex-Hagens Berman Counsel

Upholding a preliminary injunction issued by a federal court in western Washington state, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has told two onetime counsel for Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro to hand over information about prospective clients they lined up for their now-former law firm. Eran Rubinstein and…

Aug 5, 2009 8:45 PM CDT

Firms & Courts Must Streamline in ‘Buyer’s Market,’ Longtime Partner Says

A downturn in the corporate legal market that is unprecedented in the memory of those in practice today is going to force both major law firms and the courts to make significant changes in the way they do business, a longtime lawyer predicts. Law firms will have to be more…

Aug 3, 2009 5:10 PM CDT

Trade Secrets

Some solo and small-firm practitioners find clients who can’t pay cash can still pay in trade

Aug 2, 2009 12:30 AM CDT

Schulte Roth Files $2.8M Fee Suit Against Troubled Investment Firm

Schulte Roth & Zabel has sued Highland Capital Management, claiming the troubled investment firm owes $2.83 million in legal fees. The summons filed Monday in New York state court says Schulte Roth has unpaid invoices dating to June 2008, the American Lawyer reports. Highland Capital counters that Schulte Roth overbilled…

Jul 30, 2009 11:42 AM CDT

Closed Firm Jenkens & Gilchrist Awarded $3M in Suit Against Ex-Client

The dissolved Dallas law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist has been awarded $3.14 million in a fee suit against a former client. The firm was also awarded $1.15 million in attorney fees and $300,000 in prejudgment interest, bringing the value of the verdict to more than $4 million, according to Texas…

Jul 30, 2009 11:24 AM CDT

Troubled Corporate Client Creates Headaches for Four Unpaid Law Firms

Four law firms are claiming that one financially troubled company has failed to pay millions of dollars in legal fees. One of the firms, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, claims in a lawsuit that it is owed $2.5 million in fees, the New York Law Journal reports. The defendant, Home Solutions…

Jul 29, 2009 2:27 PM CDT

Jailed Attorney Sues Billionaire Ex-Client, Seeking to Retain $36M Quellos Fee

Seeking to retain $36 million in claimed advisory fees paid in connection with a Quellos Group tax shelter that put a billionaire media mogul in hot water, a jailed California lawyer has sued his former client in the latest chapter of a convoluted investment saga that has created trouble for…

Jul 22, 2009 5:30 PM CDT

Gaming Lawyers Get Share of Casino Venture for Legal Work

Two Atlantic City gaming lawyers are getting paid for their legal work on a proposed Pennsylvania slots parlor with a share of the project if it wins a license. Lawyers John Donnelly and Michael Sklar are doing legal work for the majority owner of the casino project, CMS Fund Advisers…

Jul 16, 2009 2:01 PM CDT

Prominent Fla. Lawyer Faces Bar Case in Settlement ‘Scheme to Defraud’

A proposed class action settlement characterized by a state appeals court as “a scheme to defraud” has put a prominent Miami lawyer in hot water with the Florida Bar, along with his opposing counsel in the case. In a disciplinary filing, the lawyer regulatory agency contends that founding partner Hank…

Jul 13, 2009 7:18 PM CDT

Lehman Pays $108M in Legal Fees

Lehman Brothers Holdings has paid $108 million in legal fees since it filed for bankruptcy in September, with nearly 60 percent of the total going to its main bankruptcy counsel, Weil, Gotshal & Manges. The Am Law Daily notes a Bloomberg story on Lehman’s fees for the main part of…

Jul 10, 2009 4:36 PM CDT

Smaller Law Firms Get More Big-Company Work, Survey Finds

The nation’s largest companies are increasingly turning to smaller and midsized law firms to perform legal work for less money. The survey of 550 large companies found that 38 percent hired law firms last year outside of the nation’s top 200 law firms, the Wall Street Journal reports. In 2007,…

Jul 6, 2009 12:07 PM CDT

Legal Costs Spurred Palin’s Resignation, Official Says

Alaska’s lieutenant governor says Sarah Palin is resigning from her post as governor because of the mounting legal costs of defending herself in ethics investigations. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell of Alaska told FOX News Sunday that Palin told him of her resignation on Wednesday, the New York Times reports. “I…

Jul 6, 2009 11:48 AM CDT