BigLaw firm earns top spot for number of female attorneys; what other firms made the cut?

A new firm is No. 1 on the National Law Journal’s 2019 Women in Law Scorecard, which ranks the largest law firms in the country by their representation of female attorneys. Berry Appleman & Leiden, an immigration firm based in San Francisco, reported to the National Law Journal that 59.2%…

Jul 1, 2019 2:43 PM CDT

How to make a website accessible

Jul 1, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

A natural migration: Descendant of immigrants works to protect civil rights

Many migrant men, women and children are fleeing their homelands to seek safety from violence. My maternal and paternal family members migrated to the United States from Mexico in search of opportunity and with hopes of realizing a dream.

Jul 1, 2019 2:20 AM CDT

ADA questions remain over web accessibility cases and the lack of DOJ regulations

Disability rights advocates say web accessibility, the practice of designing and coding websites so that people with disabilities can use them, can be accomplished through simple changes, such as changing color contrast and adding video captions. However, the legal landscape surrounding web accessibility has become more complex.

Jul 1, 2019 2:15 AM CDT

San Diego lawyer launches all-female, all-partner virtual firm

The fledgling virtual firm Vanst Law in San Diego has no office, no break room and no conference room of its own—so the partners get creative about finding ways to stay collegial. “Our firm culture is extremely important to us. We can’t meet at the watercooler, but isolation isn’t a problem,” says founder and CEO Cynthia Morgan-Reed.

Jul 1, 2019 1:25 AM CDT

Sowing seeds: Artika Tyner uses education to nurture social change

A trio of early influences led Artika Tyner to what she calls her life mission—promoting literacy, training the next generation of leaders and advancing diversity and inclusion as the founder of the Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute.

Jul 1, 2019 1:20 AM CDT

Facebook recognizes diversity efforts of outside counsel with award to Kilpatrick Townsend

Facebook has tapped Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton for its first Law Firm Diversity Champion Award.

Jun 25, 2019 3:12 PM CDT

University of Idaho law professor sues school for racial and gender discrimination

A black female law professor alleging race and gender discrimination in employment and education has filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Idaho College of Law. In her complaint filed June 19 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, Shaakirrah Sanders, the first black person to…

Jun 24, 2019 2:40 PM CDT

Former Jones Day partner drops suit claiming ‘enforced code of silence’ led to pay bias

A former Jones Day partner in California has dropped her pay bias suit against the law firm in exchange for return of capital that she contributed to the firm. Lawyer Wendy Moore has dismissed all her claims, according to a statement by the law firm emailed to the ABA Journal.…

Jun 18, 2019 3:28 PM CDT

Ginsburg says Kennedy’s retirement was ‘event of greatest consequence’ for current term

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared to suggest Friday that the number of sharply divided cases will increase as the term ends, beating the current percentage of about 25%. And she also appeared to suggest that the retirement of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is affecting the outcomes. Ginsburg…

Jun 10, 2019 10:15 AM CDT

Another University of Denver law professor sues school alleging gender and wage discrimination

A tenured associate professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law has filed an Equal Pay Act complaint, claiming that she earns significantly less than others in her academic category.

Jun 10, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Would-be clients with white-sounding names got 50% more lawyer responses in California, report says

Lawyers in markets with less competition might be more likely to racially discriminate against clients seeking legal representation, a Yale researcher has concluded. Yale University lecturer and postdoctoral associate Brian Libgober drew that conclusion from a series of studies in which he sent emails requesting representation to lawyers in private…

Jun 6, 2019 3:26 PM CDT

ABA group offers $5K scholarships to support LGBT public interest work

Law students or recent law school graduates who plan to work in the LGBTQ public interest field still have a few days to apply for a new scholarship being offered by the ABA's Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

Jun 6, 2019 10:12 AM CDT

Lawyer count in US increases 14.5% from decade ago; these 5 states have highest number of active attorneys

The number of active lawyers in the United States increased 14.5% over the last decade, according to statistics released Friday by the ABA. The total number of active lawyers at the beginning of 2019 was 1,352,027, up from 1,180,386 in 2009, according to the ABA’s National Lawyer Population Survey. The…

Jun 3, 2019 11:46 AM CDT

Law firm 2019 diversity scorecard is released; which firms top the list?

The immigration law firm Fragomen has ousted White & Case from its position atop the American Lawyer’s diversity scorecard rankings. Fifty-five of the nation’s largest law firms had at least 20% minority lawyers in the latest scorecard, up from 43 the prior year, the American Lawyer reports. Three firms had…

May 30, 2019 7:30 AM CDT