Careers

The Resume Gap: How Lawyers Who Left Law Can Get Back In

Women lawyers who take off more than a year of work to care for their children face big challenges when they decide it’s time to return to the law. But there are some strategies that can help, the New York Law Journal reports. Deborah Epstein Henry, founder and president of…

Mar 7, 2008 4:36 PM CST

‘Danny Boy’ and its Lyrics, Written by a Lawyer, Banned at One Pub

A New York pub owner has declared his bar a “Danny Boy”-free zone. Sorry about that, Frederick Edward Weatherly. He’s the lawyer who wrote the lyrics to the song in 1913, words so sad that bar owner Shaun Clancy says they are downright depressing, the Associated Press reports. Clancy, who…

Mar 7, 2008 3:33 PM CST

Scruggs’ Downslide: His Cases Had ‘Big Enemies and Bad Results’

Recently indicted plaintiffs lawyer Richard Scruggs bolstered his reputation as a legendary plaintiffs lawyer in the 1990s when he won settlements for shipyard workers exposed to asbestos and helped force tobacco companies to pay a $248 billion settlement. But in more recent years, Scruggs foundered as he pursued difficult cases…

Mar 7, 2008 1:17 PM CST

Bitter Boston Breakup Battle After Donovan Lawyers Create LeClair Office

Updated: A raid last summer by Virginia-based LeClairRyan on Boston’s Donovan Hatem has resulted in an extraordinarily bitter and well-publicized breakup battle. At least some of a welter of claims and counterclaims between current and former Donovan lawyers, contending that the firm didn’t pay departed partners their due, and that…

Mar 6, 2008 10:23 PM CST

AG Now Seeking Lawyer-Pay Info from 700-Plus N.Y. School Districts

An ongoing probe by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into the way school districts pay their lawyers has now expanded to request information from all of the more than 700 school districts in the state. It has also expanded to seek information not only about the way the districts…

Mar 6, 2008 9:35 PM CST

3 Lawyers’ New Gigs: Headmistress, Concrete Worker, Rap Artist

For lawyers unhappy in their current jobs, three recent reports of career changes by successful attorneys might offer some food for thought. Pinney Allen, 54, a top female partner at Alston & Bird, is leaving the firm July 1 to run the Atlanta Girls’ School, according to a Daily Report…

Mar 6, 2008 5:39 PM CST

Jenner & Block Demotes or Ousts at Least 10 More Equity Partners

The Chicago-based law firm of Jenner & Block is pushing at least 10 more partners out of the equity partnership ranks and asking some of the lawyers to leave, sources told the Chicago Tribune. The firm’s chairman, Anton Valukas, refused to confirm numbers but said some lawyers have been put…

Mar 6, 2008 4:44 PM CST

What Women Lawyers Want: Flex-Time and Part-Time Options

Flexible work arrangements are key to retaining women lawyers, but the culture of the legal profession doesn’t appear to value part-time work, according to a new study of Georgia law firms. The study by the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers found that only 30 percent of the surveyed law firms…

Mar 6, 2008 4:11 PM CST

Amidst Layoffs, Some Law Firms Prosper

Updated: Although some law firms are suffering as a result of the current turmoil in the U.S. economy, others are doing fine. One secret to their success: avoiding hot practice areas that now are not. Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney’s bankruptcy practice, for instance, wasn’t cut when the economy boomed and…

Mar 5, 2008 7:35 PM CST

Stories in Need of Revision: O’Connor’s First Job Offer, Women Triumphing Over Bias

Legal journalist Jan Crawford Greenburg of ABC News recalls a conversation with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in a blog column about how far women have come—and the biases they still face. Today many women have an abundance of choices. They can have children, and they can decide to work or…

Mar 5, 2008 7:18 PM CST

Bankruptcy Lawyers Become a Hot Commodity

When business is bad, business is good for bankruptcy lawyers. As more big businesses seek bankruptcy protection this year, more law firms are gearing up to handle the work. In the first two months of this year, 18 big U.S. companies with liabilities over $12.4 billion filed for bankruptcy, double…

Mar 5, 2008 12:48 PM CST

New Spin on Dechert Layoffs

Today is the deadline for 13 unlucky associates in Dechert’s finance and real estate group to decide whether to accept a severance package or shift to a busier practice area. But even if they opt to stay, the Philadelphia-based international firm is only guaranteeing another two months of employment, according…

Mar 4, 2008 7:09 PM CST

Law Firms Embrace Leadership Training, Even if Leadership Isn’t the Goal

Law firms nationwide are paying millions of dollars to send partners to leadership training programs, but experts say the goal may be to get lawyers to agree on firm strategy, the National Law Journal reports. Leadership programs may range from free bar association presentations to personalized coaching sessions, the legal…

Mar 4, 2008 4:29 PM CST

Are Associate Bonuses Counterproductive?

Law firm bonuses are the rule rather than the exception, but one law firm manager tells the Legal Intelligencer he thinks bonuses are counterproductive. Alexander Henderson III, managing partner of Hartman Underhill & Brubaker in Lancaster, Pa., said he doesn’t think its right to reward associates based on the health…

Mar 4, 2008 3:59 PM CST

More FTC Officials Jump to New Jobs

Two more staffers at the Federal Trade Commission are planning to leap to new jobs, according to The Deal. Deputy general counsel John Graubert has confirmed that he will become a partner at Covington & Burling, according to the publication. He will join the firm’s antitrust and consumer law practice…

Mar 4, 2008 3:15 PM CST