General counsel is heckled by own staff during keynote speech at legal conference

The general counsel for the California Public Utilities Commission found he was talking to an unfriendly forum—his own staff—when he gave the keynote speech Monday at a legal conference his agency is hosting. Attendees from around the country watched as top in-house lawyer Frank Lindh was heckled during his speech…

Jun 19, 2013 8:40 PM CDT

Value edges out cost-cutting in survey of in-house counsel priorities

Every year, BTI Consulting surveys corporate counsel to determine their top priorities. For the past six years (2006-2012), the top goal was to control legal costs. In the lawyer lexicon, “control” is a synonym for “decrease.” That finding is certainly understandable, because much of that period covers the years of…

Jun 12, 2013 4:35 PM CDT

State lawyers may have stepped aside after disagreement over $2B fine sought in fatal gas fire

After news earlier this week of the reassignment of four leading lawyers who had worked for nearly three years on a California administrative case over a fatal 2010 gas explosion and fire in San Bruno, follow-up reports say they may have sought to be taken off the case over disagreement…

Jun 6, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

State legal team seeking $2B fine in fatal gas fire is reassigned; city calls for AG probe

The city of San Bruno is calling for the California attorney general to investigate a decision to reassign four lawyers leading a California Public Utilities Commission legal team. For the past three years, it has been pursuing an investigation of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s culpability in a 2010 natural…

Jun 5, 2013 11:00 PM CDT

General counsel takes plea over golf outing credit-card charges

The general counsel of a Colorado transportation agency wound up in the rough over golf outings he was accused of charging on a company credit card around the time when he was scheduled for continuing legal education and professional meetings. Walter Mathews IV was fired by Roaring Fork Transportation Authority…

May 29, 2013 5:33 PM CDT

Asked to demonstrate computer skills, 0 of 9 law firms passed in-house hiring test

Update: Frustrated by big bills for routine matters, D. Casey Flaherty, who serves corporate counsel at Kia Motors America, struck back with a computer skills test for potential law firm hires. Invited to submit an associate of their choice for testing, the first nine firms flunked, Flaherty, a keynote speaker,…

May 23, 2013 12:40 PM CDT

Fake-legal-matter thefts net 90-day sentence for Fujitec’s former US legal chief

A former chief legal and administrative officer for the U.S. arm of an international Japan-based elevator manufacturing company has been sentenced to 90 days for stealing $150,000 from his then-employer for faking legal matters. Darren Courtney reached a plea deal with prosecutors in March, but he has since been threatened…

May 15, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

How protected should communications between lawyers and a firm’s in-house counsel be?

May 1, 2013 8:10 AM CDT

How companies use social media to hire law firms (video)

A new survey from public relations firm Greentarget finds that in-house counsel are frequently using LinkedIn and lawyer blogs to determine who they will hire, John Corey, founding partner at Greentarget, tells Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia. But you won’t find those in-house lawyers in the comment sections of blogs or…

Apr 18, 2013 1:53 PM CDT

Free football tickets sweetened exit deal for general counsel pressured to resign in Rutgers scandal

Rutgers University’s interim senior vice president and general counsel has negotiated an exit deal that includes cash and free football tickets. John Wolf will be paid nearly $420,000, representing 18 months of his salary, and will get tickets for next season’s Scarlet Knights football games, the New Jersey Star Ledger…

Apr 15, 2013 1:59 PM CDT

More lawyers charge $1,150 an hour, but ‘sticker price’ discounts hit collection rates

Attorney billing rates are higher this year, but the amount collected by law firms, when compared to standard rates, is at a historic low. Chalk it up to clients unwilling to pay full price, says legal consultant Ward Bower of Altman Weil. Think of hourly fees “as the equivalent of…

Apr 10, 2013 1:46 PM CDT

Lawyer loses ADA appeal in suit claiming she was fired because of insomnia

An in-house lawyer who claimed she was fired because of an inability to sleep more than four hours a night has lost her federal appeal. The Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against lawyer Victoria Anderson, who had claimed she was fired in 2007 from cable TV…

Apr 9, 2013 3:10 PM CDT

‘Big-firm mediocre’ style of legal writing is oddly consistent, ‘curmudgeon’ writes

The former big-firm lawyer Mark Herrmann turned his critical eye—along with a scalpel in one hand and an axe in the other—on lawyering and legal writing some years ago, laying out much of it in his 2007 book, The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law, which was addressed to law firm…

Apr 8, 2013 8:51 PM CDT

How law firms end up on IBM GC’s do-not-hire list

Lawyers who lead corporate law departments often have a do-not-hire list of banned law firms, even if it’s not committed to writing. IBM general counsel Robert Weber is no different. There are about 10 law firms and 10 individual lawyers he refuses to hire, the American Lawyer reports. He explained…

Apr 4, 2013 11:25 AM CDT

What clients are saying about the future—and what it means

Twice a year, I serve as a faculty member for a two-day program designed to help inside and outside lawyers use Value Fees. Each of these programs begins with a “present state/future state” exercise. The inside counsel and outside counsel adjourn to separate rooms, and each group identifies what is…

Apr 3, 2013 1:30 PM CDT