Careers

Trial Lawyer’s Advice: Prepare, Connect ... and Don’t Despair

Preparation, eye contact and empathy with witnesses are all key to winning a trial in front of a jury, a seasoned criminal lawyer says. But if all your hard work fails to impress the jury, don’t despair. There’s always at least a faint hope of a Perry Mason moment, British…

Feb 4, 2008 6:43 PM CST

Some D.C. Associates to Reap Bonuses Above $100K

Some associates at Washington, D.C., law firms are getting 2007 bonuses that are higher than $100,000, but the picture isn’t as rosy for 2008. John Childers, a legal consultant at Hildebrandt International, told Legal Times he expects bonuses to be “fairly healthy” for 2007, but that may not be the…

Feb 4, 2008 5:41 PM CST

Janet Reno to Headline ‘Faith in Practice’ Program

Former Attorney General Janet Reno will be keynoting a program highlighting spiritual faith in law practice later this month. The seminar, “My Faith in Practice: Resurrecting Our Moral Conscience,” is set for Feb. 15 at the MorningStar Renewal Center in Miami, according to a notice in the Miami Herald. Organizers…

Feb 1, 2008 8:50 PM CST

Escape From Arnold & Porter

How one lawyer summoned the courage to leave BigLaw to pursue a career of conscience

Feb 1, 2008 4:51 PM CST

The G-Man

A week in the life of a $1,000-per-hour lawyer

Feb 1, 2008 4:14 PM CST

What Women Lawyers Really Think of Each Other

We asked who they’d rather work with—men or women. The answers were surprising

Feb 1, 2008 3:24 PM CST

Why Some Law Firms Excel at Retaining Laterals

An American Lawyer analysis of top lateral-hiring law firms found that 16 percent of lawyers that jumped to a new job left within three years. Firms with the worst retention records included Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, which lost 12 out of 39 lateral hires, and McDermott Will & Emery, which…

Feb 1, 2008 1:49 PM CST

Seeking to Shore Up Its Ranks, Akerman Pays Top Dollar to Recruiters

Akerman Senterfitt is telling headhunters it will pay them contingency fees of 30 percent to send corporate lawyers to the Miami law firm. Fees are typically no more than 25 percent of a lawyer’s starting salary, the Daily Business Review reports. The move comes after 10 lawyers left the firm’s…

Jan 31, 2008 1:49 PM CST

Silicon Valley Couple Leads Perkins Group to King & Spaulding

A husband-and-wife team is leading a team from Perkins Coie in Silicon Valley to a new office for Atlanta-based King & Spaulding. The couple—partners Paul Andre and Lisa Kobialka—are leaving with a group of associates, the California Recorder reports in a story posted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.). Andre…

Jan 30, 2008 7:01 PM CST

Miserable Law Firm Employee Writes Advice Columnist

An unhappy law firm employee has written to the Washington Post’s employment law columnist to complain about her work environment. The writer says she has been offered a government job, but first must pass a background check that could take a couple months. In the meantime she is stuck in…

Jan 30, 2008 4:04 PM CST

Lawyer Jokes No Laughing Matter for This Partner/Comedian

By night and on weekends, one might find Nuzzo & Roberts senior partner Rick Roberts doing stand-up comedy at a fundraiser or charity event. But you won’t hear Roberts cracking jokes about lawyers. That’s because he keeps his day job—doing insurance defense, product liability, employment litigation and commercial litigation at…

Jan 28, 2008 6:32 PM CST

PI Lawyer Quits Practice to Write Full Time

Just before turning 50, Gonzalo Barr left his lucrative personal injury practice in Miami to write full time. It’s a decision, at two months out, he doesn’t regret. ”It’s scary to quit your job, but at the risk of sounding pompous I think I did it at the perfect time,”…

Jan 28, 2008 4:44 PM CST

‘Woman Thing’: Some Attire is Career-Limiting

As Hillary Clinton’s presence in the presidential race is once again demonstrating, far more attention often is paid to the way women in positions of power dress, compared to their male counterparts. A woman who fails to dress to impress will pay a high price in politics, just as she…

Jan 24, 2008 9:21 PM CST

Big U.K. Firms Reassign Lawyers to Avoid Job Cuts

Major London law firms, including Allen & Overy, are redeploying their troops, affiliating those in slowing practice areas with busier groups. “It is understood the firm hopes the move will help it avoid job cuts,” writes Legal Week, referring to A&O’s efforts, beginning late last year, to encourage lawyers and…

Jan 24, 2008 6:08 PM CST

Flexibility, Even With Long Hours, Facilitates Happy Family Life

Unlike many of their trailblazing counterparts a generation up, today’s young women lawyers—and at least a number of their male colleagues—don’t want to give up a normal family life for their law firm’s benefit even at the outset of their careers. However, at least some have found it isn’t the…

Jan 23, 2008 11:58 PM CST