How lawyers can turn fear into an ally

When attorney Marshall Yoder was facing his first jury trial in 1992, he felt a deep, underlying sense of fear. "I remember being very anxious and very nervous," he says. "The stakes were high. I was thinking, 'This is my first one, and I really want to do it right.'…

Nov 1, 2015 12:20 AM CDT

These lawyers battle in the boxing ring as well as the courtroom

Lawyers know the rough and tumble of the courtroom, so they understand the beauty of the uppercut and the cross punch

Oct 1, 2015 8:55 AM CDT

John Roberts marks 10 years as chief justice by taking the long view

As the U.S. Supreme Court neared the end of its term in June, liberals and conservatives waited with great anticipation to see how Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. would vote in the two most contentious cases on the docket: the future of the Affordable Care Act and same-sex marriage.…

Oct 1, 2015 8:48 AM CDT

What the jobs are: New tech and client needs create a new field of legal operations

It's mid-March and I'm at the DocuSign conference at the Grand Hyatt in downtown San Francisco. It's a bustling gathering with a Fortune 500 vibe—room after room of people discussing various aspects of digital transaction management.

Oct 1, 2015 6:00 AM CDT

Roundtable on change and challenge in the business of law

At a rather small table in a large hotel conference room, five pioneers in new legal services met with the ABA Journal in May. Someone suggested the Las Vegas gathering looked like a poker game, but the intention was a discussion of a very different kind of gambling—the risks they've…

Sep 1, 2015 6:10 AM CDT

The Rise of the Megafirm

International law firm Dentons announced in January it was combining with the largest law firm in China, a union that would create the world's largest firm to date. Dessert came not three months later, when Dentons said it would also swallow the 400-lawyer Atlanta firm McKenna Long & Aldridge.

Sep 1, 2015 6:05 AM CDT

Meet our 2015 Legal Rebels

Seventh year. Eleven new honorees. And 111 Legal Rebel profiles. That's a whole lot of change going on in what's too often called a staid profession.

Sep 1, 2015 4:40 AM CDT

How the ‘Golden Decade’ of legal films still influences us today

The ABA Journal was first published in January 1915. And during the 100 years since, some of the best movies in each decade have depicted the law and its lawyers—whether ideal or evil—as refractions of contemporary society, and as imperfect agents of justice and its aims. The People vs. John…

Aug 1, 2015 6:40 AM CDT

An admitted murderer seeks justice in the death of his daughter

Edward Montour Jr. is a murderer, serving a prison sentence of life without parole. In fact, he's serving two terms of life without parole, one for the premeditated murder in October 2002 of a 23-year-old prison guard. Montour has confessed eight times and twice pleaded guilty to bludgeoning Eric Autobee…

Aug 1, 2015 6:30 AM CDT

Have we reached the end of the partnership model?

Aug 1, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Why Hollywood loves lawyers

Academy Award-winning actress and Harvard heartthrob Natalie Portman announces that she has signed on to do a biopic on the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and law lovers everywhere come to a halt—Bluebooks drop in mid cite-check, throats go dry at oral arguments, billable hours stop for…

Aug 1, 2015 5:44 AM CDT

100 years of law at the movies

Aug 1, 2015 5:40 AM CDT

Clemency Project 2014 is out to help prisoners doing excessive time due to inflexible sentencing

James Ledford never fought his life sentence. As he describes it, Ledford was "a mixed-up, messed-up dude" addicted to methamphetamine. Ledford's addiction had already sent him to state prison twice, left his children to be raised by grandparents, and cost him his job as a mechanic in his family auto…

Jul 1, 2015 6:25 AM CDT

How lawyers can avoid burnout and debilitating anxiety

Soon after graduating from New York University School of Law and joining the corporate practice of a white-shoe Manhattan law firm, Will Meyerhofer gained 45 pounds, was sleep-deprived and was frequently sick. "I was a nervous wreck. I was shattered," says Meyerhofer, who'd also graduated from Harvard. "Even though I…

Jul 1, 2015 6:00 AM CDT

Meet 6 lawyers who are also racecar drivers

A client showed up one day in 1990 at attorney Arthur W. Porter's house in Colorado Springs with a 1965 Triumph Spitfire. "I can't pay your bill," Porter's client told him, "but here is your car." "So I received an $895 race car," Porter says. "Thus began my hobby—obsession, really.…

Jul 1, 2015 5:30 AM CDT