Careers

Friend’s compassion—even in death—inspired my own ‘David’s Will’

Sometimes in life we are fortunate to meet someone who dedicates everything to a higher calling. For me, this person was David Breaux. While he had few financial resources, David was, by every measure that counts, a rich man.

Oct 2, 2024 2:11 PM CDT

Hazed and abused, some lawyers see bullying as part of job while others leave, new study says

Bullying experienced by lawyers is causing increased turnover and “a talent drain from the profession,” according to a new Illinois survey and study thought “to be one of the first wide-scale research projects” of its kind in the United States.

Oct 2, 2024 12:03 PM CDT

Longtime Boston-based law firm will disband after lawyer defections

Boston-based Burns & Levinson is winding down after losing nearly half of its attorneys to other law firms this year.

Oct 1, 2024 9:15 AM CDT

Formidable Foe

Lawyers who know Roberta Kaplan say they weren’t surprised when she agreed to represent writer E. Jean Carroll in her litigation against former President Donald Trump, even though it meant being the subject of intense media scrutiny. Kaplan, her friends say, isn’t the type of person to be intimidated.

Oct 1, 2024 3:30 AM CDT

Corporate lawyer leaves BigLaw to grow diaper vending machine business

Diaper duty is a task that favors the prepared, especially when out in public. But there can be no diaper change without a clean, correctly sized diaper. And that was precisely what Erin England, a Dallas corporate finance lawyer, was missing back in 2016 when she faced her infant daughter’s “code brown” in a restaurant bathroom.

Oct 1, 2024 1:40 AM CDT

Lucy Lang, NY inspector general, has always wanted rules evenly applied

New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang thinks her decision to pursue a legal career has something to do with being interested in rules and how they were applied. “As the bossy older sister, I had this desire for an even application of the rules among all the kids,” says Lang.

Oct 1, 2024 1:30 AM CDT

Tread Carefully: Survivors of sexual assault should not have to disclose that abuse for bar admission, House says

Applying to be admitted to the bar often involves listing any encounters you may have had with the justice system. But for some hopeful lawyers, this means having to disclose they have been the victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment or stalking.

Oct 1, 2024 12:40 AM CDT

Judge reassigned after he orders defendant to wear condom and jokes ‘probation’s gonna check’

Updated: A Florida judge has been reassigned to civil court after he told a defendant to always wear a condom and repeated gay double entendres from a 1990s comedy show in a different case.

Sep 30, 2024 3:51 PM CDT

Judge resigns amid Jan. 6 rally probe; ‘I would do it over again’

A New York village and town court judge has agreed to resign amid an investigation into his attendance at a Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington, D.C.

Sep 30, 2024 11:49 AM CDT

Which law firms scored highest in summer associate surveys? And which had memorable events?

The law firm with a No. 1 ranking by summer associates is either Dentons or Paul Hastings, according to surveys by Law.com and Law360 Pulse.

Sep 27, 2024 9:19 AM CDT

Lawyer awarded $3.3M after crashing snowmobile into negligently parked Army helicopter

A federal judge in Massachusetts has awarded $3.3 million in damages to a lawyer for injuries suffered when he crashed his snowmobile into a camouflaged U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter parked on a snowmobile trail at dusk.

Sep 26, 2024 2:28 PM CDT

Some top partners in BigLaw will bill nearly $3,000 per hour next year, data says

Billing rates for some of the nation’s highest-grossing law firms are expected to continue an upward climb next year.

Sep 26, 2024 12:07 PM CDT

Suspended federal appeals judge, 97, has ‘extraordinarily high level of cognitive ability,’ evaluation says

A suspended 97-year-old federal appeals judge appears to be a “super-ager” because she shows no effects of age on cognition and demeanor, according to a neurosurgeon who is also a lawyer and an inventor.

Sep 25, 2024 11:44 AM CDT

The Supreme Court is a liberal body—when it comes to legal writing

Legal writing professor Jill Barton spent five years analyzing more than 10,000 pages of SCOTUS opinions to produce The Supreme Guide to Writing. Her biggest takeaway? The justices are not a conservative bunch when it comes to writing style.

Sep 25, 2024 8:48 AM CDT

Multitalented lawyer turns passion for Hawaiian history into new film

By day, Lance Collins is a lawyer. By night, (and sometimes day) he’s also a filmmaker, book editor and music producer. Now, he can add another title to his eclectic resumé: screenwriter for a feature-length film now playing on a streaming service near you. “When it comes to my time,” Collins says, “every minute is accounted for.”

Sep 24, 2024 8:48 AM CDT