Starting Up: If You’re Hanging a Shingle in 2011, Financial Strategy Begins Now

Jan 1, 2011 10:49 AM CST

Labor Department, ABA Join on Lawyer Referral

Jan 1, 2011 6:40 AM CST

Fla. Appeals Court OKs Class Action Against Stern Law Firm Over Foreclosure Fees

A Florida appeals court has given the green light to a class action against an embattled foreclosure king and his Plantation law firm alleging that it charged at least 2,000 homeowners excessive reinstatement fees. The 4th District Court of Appeal agreed with a state circuit court judge that the homeowners’…

Dec 30, 2010 12:11 PM CST

Dispute Over $5 Municipal Meeting CD Costs Township $17K, All But $4.04 for Attorney’s Fees

Charged a $5 fee for a compact disc recording of a 2008 municipal meeting in Bridgewater, N.J., resident Tom Coulter thought the fee, which is set by a municipal ordinance, was excessive. So he complained to the New Jersey Government Records Council, which agreed. The township now offers a CD…

Dec 23, 2010 5:16 PM CST

Feds Must Pay Islamic Charity Lawyers and Their Counsel $2.5M in Warrantless Wiretap Case

The chief federal district court judge in San Francisco has ordered the federal government to pay more than $2.5 million, primarily in attorney’s fees, concerning its warrantless wiretap, under an executive surveillance program authorized by President George W. Bush, of two Washington, D.C., lawyers for a now-shuttered Islamic charity in…

Dec 22, 2010 8:11 PM CST

5th Circuit Nixes $21M Katrina Pact, Worried That Legal Fees and Other Costs Could ‘Cannibalize’ It

A federal district court judge erred by approving a $21 million settlement of Hurricane Katrina damage claims, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday, because attorney’s fees and administrative costs could “cannibalize” most or all of the money. Absent a showing that the more than 500,000 residents and businesses concerned will…

Dec 17, 2010 4:27 PM CST

CIA Agreed to Pay Legal Fees of Waterboarding Psychologists

The CIA agreed to pay at least $5 million in legal fees for two psychologists who created the CIA’s waterboarding and interrogation program, according to a published report. The psychologists, Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, personally conducted waterboarding sessions, the Associated Press reports. The promise to pay legal fees was…

Dec 17, 2010 1:01 PM CST

Robert Shapiro Loses Initial Round in Suit by Jailed Phil Spector Seeking Refund of $1M Retainer

Celebrity attorney Robert Shapiro will have to defend a lawsuit by a jailed former client seeking a refund of a $1 million retainer fee. Rejecting a motion to dismiss by Shapiro and his law firm, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey ruled today that a jury must decide certain…

Dec 14, 2010 9:05 PM CST

Former Baker & Hostetler Partner Now Makes House Calls, Dislikes Billable Hours

Former Baker & Hostetler partner John McNamara calls himself a “free-range lawyer.” Outside of court, McNamara is a “Western-hat wearing, cowboy-boot strolling, cigar-butt chomping, shearling-coat and jean-clad lawyer,” the Denver Post reports. He has his own law firm now, and he prefers flat fees to billable hours. He also makes…

Dec 13, 2010 1:24 PM CST

Facing ‘Unrelenting’ Price Pressures, Law Firms Turn to Outsourcing, Innovation

Law firms faced with “unrelenting” pricing pressures from clients are beginning to outsource basic legal work, create new categories of lawyers, and take a “loss leader approach” to pricing. In an article for the Am Law Daily, Dan DiPietro and Gretta Rusanow of Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group base…

Dec 13, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Arbitrator Finds Goodwin Procter Overcharged Client, Orders 55% Cut in Legal Tab

An arbitrator has concluded Goodwin Procter overstaffed and overbilled legal work for a real-estate client. The arbitrator, Jeffrey Martin, found the law firm submitted vague bills, used too many employees to draft legal documents, and failed to deliver on a promised discount, the Boston Globe reports. Martin ordered the firm’s…

Dec 10, 2010 1:09 PM CST

Texas Lawmaker Asks Court to Disclose Legal Fees, Settlements in Hurricane Ike Suits

A Texas lawmaker who chairs the House’s Republican Caucus is seeking information on Hurricane Ike settlements and legal fees paid to a Houston plaintiffs lawyer with a history of supporting Democrats. State Rep. Larry Taylor filed suit in Travis County Court in an effort to enforce an opinion by the…

Dec 8, 2010 1:55 PM CST

Law Firm Accused of UPL, After Admittedly Filing Foreclosures Without Attorney Review

A Pennsylvania law firm has joined Florida colleagues on the hot seat over questioned practices in high-volume mortgage foreclosure cases. Goldbeck McCafferty & McKeever has been accused of unauthorized practice of law because—as two of its name partners admitted in deposition—nonlawyers, at least in the past, routinely prepared and filed…

Dec 4, 2010 12:00 AM CST

GCs Disclose Sticking Points to Alternative Fees

A new survey has found alternative fee arrangements are being discussed more often, but comments by some general counsel indicated there are several sticking points to such arrangements. The survey by the Association of Corporate Counsel and the American Lawyer found a disconnect between the percentage of law firms that…

Dec 3, 2010 4:05 PM CST

‘Bogged Down in Procedural Issues,’ Rangel’s Lawyers Earned $1.4M

The law firm that defended U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel before withdrawing from the New York Democrat’s case had fought with the House ethics committee over procedural issues, earning about $1.4 million in fees. The Associated Press has a story on the representation by Zuckerman Spaeder. Rangel was found guilty of…

Dec 1, 2010 2:04 PM CST