Business Development

Former partner says firm’s suit alleging stolen client has ‘recklessly false’ allegations

A former Grant & Eisenhofer partner is seeking to toss a lawsuit that claims he stole a whistleblower client when he left the firm. Reuben Guttman filed a motion last week to dismiss or grant summary judgment in the suit, the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) reports. The Grant &…

Oct 20, 2017 10:49 AM CDT

Top Texas court considers whether to toss legal fee estimated at $48K an hour

A federal appellate nominee and a former Texas Supreme Court justice are representing opposing sides in a battle over an oral agreement to pay legal fees in a case involving family trusts of the late oilman H.L. Hunt. At issue is a $7.5 million contingency fee that amounts to an…

Oct 17, 2017 10:42 AM CDT

Law firm’s automatic deletion of spam emails is blamed for failure to file timely appeal

A Florida law firm’s failure to appeal an order assessing attorney fees doesn’t constitute excusable neglect when its email system apparently perceived the order to be spam and erased it, a Florida appeals court has ruled.

Sep 28, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

RNC has paid $427K in legal fees for Trump and Trump Jr.

The Republican National Committee has paid more than $427,000 to lawyers for President Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Spokeswoman Cassie Smedile said the fees are being paid from a pre-existing legal account “and do not reduce by a dime the resources we can put towards our political work,” the…

Sep 20, 2017 11:16 AM CDT

Trump reportedly is paying legal bills in special counsel probe with campaign and RNC funds

President Donald Trump is reportedly paying his legal bills in the special counsel probe of Russian influence with donations to his re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee.

Sep 19, 2017 4:27 PM CDT

Lawyers can accept payment in bitcoin, Nebraska ethics opinion says

Lawyers may accept payment in digital currencies such as bitcoin but must immediately convert the money into U.S. dollars, according to a Nebraska ethics advisory opinion. The opinion, issued Sept. 11, is the first by a state ethics body to address the ethics of bitcoin payments, the Norfolk Daily News…

Sep 18, 2017 3:58 PM CDT

Lawyer’s fee request felt ‘like an attempted bank robbery,’ federal judge says

For the second time in less than two weeks, a federal judge from the Middle District of Pennsylvania has excoriated a lawyer for a large fee request following a small recovery.

Sep 12, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Judge denies ‘exorbitant’ request for nearly $1M in attorney fees after $125K recovery

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has denied a request for nearly $1 million in attorney fees and promised to refer the lawyers who sought the money to ethics regulators. U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion of Scranton deemed the fee request “astounding,” “exorbitant” and “woefully deficient.” He criticized claims for various…

Sep 5, 2017 7:45 AM CDT

Subway foot-long settlement ‘utterly worthless’ to customers, 7th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has tossed an injunctive settlement in nine consolidated lawsuits that contended some Subway sandwiches fell short of the touted foot-long length.

Aug 30, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

New Texas law, taking effect in September, could affect some homeowners filing Harvey claims

A Texas law that takes effect on Sept. 1 could affect some homeowners filing claims with their insurance companies in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Aug 29, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Sisters whose vehicle was hit at Charlottesville rally file $3 million lawsuit

Two sisters who claim they were injured in their vehicle when a car plowed into a group of counterprotesters during Saturday’s violence at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia have filed a $3 million lawsuit. Defendants named in 27-year-old Tadrint Washington’s and 20-year-old Micah Washington’s state court suit include driver James…

Aug 17, 2017 5:00 PM CDT

General counsel will share data on their law firms; is it cause for BigLaw concern?

General counsel at more than 25 major companies plan to share data on their law firms in an effort to learn whether firm size and practices, such as value billing, have any effect on satisfaction and results.

Jul 14, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Malpractice suit alleges overbilling and ‘egregious misconduct’ by Trump’s law firm Kasowitz

A former client has filed a malpractice suit against Kasowitz Benson Torres that claims the law firm overbilled for its services, even recording 24 hours of service by one biller in a single day. Patriot National Inc., which offers back-office services for insurance companies, filed the June 30 suit (PDF)…

Jul 12, 2017 9:38 AM CDT

Oklahoma unintentionally adopts loser-pays system for attorney fees in civil cases

Oklahoma has adopted a loser-pays system for attorney fees and costs in civil cases, but not intentionally. Gov. Mary Fallin recently signed the bill into law, report the Tulsa World, NewsOK and KFOR-TV of Oklahoma City. The loser-pays requirement was an amendment to a bill giving victims of child sexual…

May 18, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Not competent in basic tech? You could be overbilling your clients—and be on shaky ethical ground

No part of legal work is unaffected by the duty of competency. And now that’s true for the duty of technology competence, too. It requires lawyers to be competent in every tech tool that we use to serve our clients, not just fancy data security tools, but regular tools like…

May 15, 2017 8:21 AM CDT