District of Columbia

Malpractice Suit Claims Buchanan Ingersoll Cost Plaintiffs $2M in Taxes

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is facing a suit by two former clients who claim the law firm’s advice cost them more than $2 million in back taxes and penalties. The National Law Journal (reg. req.) has details of the complaint filed in Washington, D.C., federal court by lobbyists Hector Alcalde…

Jul 27, 2009 4:16 PM CDT

Good News & Bad for Hogan Summers: You Have an Offer for 2011

There’s good news and bad news for some summer associates at Hogan & Hartson. After word earlier this month that the firm is letting go 30 senior associates, Hogan & Hartson plans to make more offers than it might have otherwise to summer associates in the firm’s Washington, D.C., and…

Jul 14, 2009 7:17 PM CDT

Karl Rove Testifies in US Attorney Probe

Former White House political adviser Karl Rove was questioned yesterday by lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee seeking information on the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. Committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., told Politico that the deposition began around 10 a.m. and ended at about 6:30 p.m. The transcript may eventually…

Jul 8, 2009 12:10 PM CDT

Law Firm Apprenticeships Could Cause Recruiting Problems, Critics Say

Clients may like the new apprenticeship programs being tried by a few law firms, but associates taking a pay cut to participate may not be as enthusiastic. Carter Phillips, managing partner of Sidley Austin’s Washington, D.C., office, tells the National Law Journal that law students interviewing for jobs may be…

Jun 30, 2009 1:11 PM CDT

Expect Fewer Offers & Later Offers, Says Georgetown in Glum Career Forecast

In a stark contrast with what was considered normal in former years, elite law students working at well-known law firms this summer can’t expect that offers of permanent employment will be routinely extended to the entire summer associate class. Offers to summer associates could be down significantly and are expected…

Jun 22, 2009 6:08 PM CDT

D.C. Law Firms Express Interest in Sending Lawyers to Trapeze School

Lawyers used to performing high-wire acts could get some real life lessons in the art at a Washington, D.C., trapeze school. The Trapeze School of New York is moving operations to Washington, D.C., and promoting itself with an outdoor display at H and Ninth streets, the Washington Post reports. “The…

Jun 4, 2009 1:55 PM CDT

Despite Salary Freeze, D.C. Lawyer Pockets More Money—Selling Mary Kay

A frustrated Washington, D.C., lawyer may not be driving a pink Cadillac, but she is pocketing an extra $400 to $500 a month selling Mary Kay cosmetics. The unidentified lawyer owes $150,000 in law student loans, but isn’t getting a pay raise to help out from her law firm, which…

Jun 1, 2009 2:18 PM CDT

Eckert Seamans’ ‘Growth Spurt’ Now Includes 5 Lawyers from Ballard Spahr

Pittsburgh-based Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott has hired 38 lateral lawyers this year, bringing on five labor lawyers from Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll in its latest acquisition. “Despite an economy in which many large firms are shedding attorneys, Eckert Seamans has been on a bit of a growth spurt,”…

May 29, 2009 11:32 AM CDT

Planned Side Door to Justice at Nation’s Top Court is ‘Under Review’

As part of a $122 million renovation and security-enhancement project launched in 2003 at the U.S. Supreme Court, members of the public will someday no longer be allowed to enter as they do now: Straight up the flight of marble steps, between the massive Corinthian columns, directly below the “Equal…

May 13, 2009 8:04 PM CDT

Publicist Sues Michael Jackson for $44M

A former publicist and business manager for Michael Jackson is now suing him for $44 million. It appears that the bulk of the damages that Raymone Bain is claiming in her breach-of-contract case against the singer concern an upcoming London concert tour. According to filings in the Washington, D.C., case,…

May 7, 2009 10:20 PM CDT

Business-Building Struggles for Lawyer Who Died in Apparent Suicide

A Washington, D.C., lawyer who apparently killed himself after reportedly being laid off is being described as a brilliant practitioner who may have struggled with the business aspects of private law practice. Mark Levy, a 59-year-old Yale Law School graduate who headed Kilpatrick Stockton’s Supreme Court and appellate advocacy practice,…

May 4, 2009 11:17 AM CDT

Reportedly Laid-Off Lawyer Is an Apparent Suicide at Kilpatrick Stockton

A lawyer who reportedly was laid off earlier this week at Kilpatrick Stockton apparently committed suicide this morning at the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Mark Levy, a 59-year-old Yale Law School graduate who headed the firm’s Supreme Court and appellate advocacy practice group, died this morning at the firm’s office,…

Apr 30, 2009 3:49 PM CDT

Morgan Lewis Health Regulatory Practice Lures More Sonnenschein Lawyers

Morgan Lewis & Bockius is adding two health care partners and five associates from the Washington, D.C., office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal to its attorney roster. They include Scott Memmott, who was formerly a vice-chair of Sonnenschein’s national health care practice group. That brings the total tally of Sonnenschein…

Apr 29, 2009 10:07 PM CDT

D.C. Lawyer Dies Saving Drowning Boys

A Washington, D.C., personal injury lawyer died last weekend after he jumped into the ocean at Pompano Beach, Fla., to save two drowning boys. Charles Schulze, 73, was a name partner with Schulze & Pederson, the firm he co-founded in 1972, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.…

Apr 29, 2009 11:18 AM CDT

DC Lawyer’s Remark About Wanting a Girl Spurs Parental Fitness Probe

A Washington, D.C., lawyer remarked to her doctor soon after the birth of her son that she had been hoping for a girl. Karen Piper, a lawyer with the U.S. Department of the Interior, would soon regret the words, columnist Marc Fisher writes for the Washington Post. Piper was not…

Apr 23, 2009 12:58 PM CDT