Career & Practice

Rick Palmore: Demanding Diversity

Driving for diversity in outside law firms

Aug 24, 2009 9:19 PM CDT

Denise Annunciata: Paralegal Power

Offering paralegal work online

Aug 24, 2009 9:18 PM CDT

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

GC Violated Divorce Decree, Owes Ex, But Beats Contempt Rap

The former general counsel of LoJack Corp. violated a divorce decree when he failed to pay his ex-wife her share of the money he earned in 2006 from exercising stock options in the anti-auto theft company, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts has ruled. But although Thomas Wooters must now pay…

Aug 21, 2009 10:33 PM CDT

E-Discovery Fears May Explain Why Recession Didn’t Spur Litigation

Litigation usually increases during recessions, but this one appears to be different. Several surveys show that litigation is flat or declining, the National Law Journal reports. One of the major reasons, the story says, is that general counsel don’t want to spend money on litigation, partly because they fear the…

Aug 18, 2009 12:22 PM CDT

Two Fired In-House Lawyers Allowed to Pursue SOX Retaliation Claim

Two fired in-house lawyers who claim they were fired for raising questions about possible securities fraud at their employer may pursue their lawsuit as a result of a federal appeals court ruling. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that under the Sarbanes-Oxley law, the two lawyers do not…

Aug 14, 2009 12:51 PM CDT

Wis. Gov’s Unlicensed Chief Counsel Resigns After GOP Objects

An unlicensed attorney who served as a senior advisor to the Democratic governor of Wisconsin and was known as his chief legal counsel resigned in a terse letter dated Friday, after a Republican group objected to the situation, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. “Chandra Miller Fienen has voluntarily tendered her…

Aug 10, 2009 9:21 PM CDT

Where the Work Is

Lawyers recommend these practice areas in recessionary times

Aug 2, 2009 3:39 AM CDT

ABA Annual Meeting 2009 on Twitter #ABAChicago

If you’re writing about the ABA Annual Meeting—taking place July 30 through Aug. 4 in Chicago—on Twitter, we encourage you to include the hash tag #abachicago in your tweets to make them easier for others to find. What’s Twitter? Twitter is a free microblogging and social networking service that enables…

Jul 29, 2009 3:47 PM CDT

ABA Journal Launches ‘Legal Rebels’ Project

In these times of great economic chaos lies great opportunity. The legal profession is not just struggling through a recession, but also undergoing a structural break with the past. There is growing consensus that the profession that emerges from this recession will be different in fundamental ways from the one…

Jul 21, 2009 2:59 PM CDT

Pay Cut for Public Service

These associates see great gain in the trade-off

Jun 2, 2009 2:10 AM CDT

Big Sacramento Firm Lays Off 17

The second-biggest law firm in Sacramento, Calif., has let go four associates and 13 staff members due to declining revenue. Although McDonough Holland & Allen also has an office in Oakland, most of the layoffs were in Sacramento, reports the Sacramento Business Journal. Made on April 30, the layoffs affected…

May 8, 2009 5:21 PM CDT

Seyfarth Cuts Pay for Some Partners and Associates, Lays Off 50 People

Yet another law firm is cutting pay for some of its lawyers. Seyfarth Shaw is cutting pay for some segments of its partner and associate teams in amounts ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent, according to Above the Law and the Recorder. Those staffers left behind won’t get the…

May 4, 2009 12:31 PM CDT

Attorney With LA Firm Fined $102K—Plus 200 Pro Bono Hours

NOTE: The sanctions described here against Deborah Klar, Teri Pham and the law firm Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor were vacated, in effect, in April 2010 by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro. A federal magistrate judge in Nevada has not only fined an attorney formerly with…

Apr 6, 2009 9:09 PM CDT

Dreier’s High-Adrenaline Life on the Edge

Once a shining star at Rosenman & Colin, where he worked as a white-collar defense litigator, Marc Dreier today is under house arrest in his lavish New York home, accused of stealing a vast sum from investors and clients. The alleged thefts at the heart of the federal securities fraud,…

Apr 3, 2009 11:28 PM CDT