In-house Counsel

Retired In-House Counsel is Suspended for a Year Due to Second Domestic Violence Incident

A New Jersey lawyer has been suspended from practice for a year by the state supreme court an incident of domestic violence that also resulted in a 12-month jail term for him, according to the Legal Profession Blog. The incident, which resulted in Peter Jacoby’s guilty plea to the felony…

Jun 10, 2011 10:40 AM CDT

News Corp. GC Resigns Amid Controversy over UK Paper’s Celebrity Phone Hacking

News Corp.’s general counsel Lawrence “Lon” Jacobs has announced he is leaving the company to pursue new opportunities. A successor to the 56-year-old GC has not been named, Corporate Counsel reports. He leaves as News Corp. grapples with the aftermath of celebrity voicemail hacking at one of its London newspapers,…

Jun 9, 2011 11:18 AM CDT

Former Tax Lawyer at Gucci Claims Racism and Cites Rihanna Incident as an Example

A former tax lawyer at Gucci America Inc. claims she was fired after complaining about racist and sexual harassment at the company, and cites an alleged incident involving pop star Rihanna as an example of the problems. The plaintiff is Josephine Robinson, a West Indian woman who formerly worked at…

Jun 8, 2011 3:25 PM CDT

Meet Tina Chappell, Intel In-House Counsel for Whom Working on Patent Appeals Is ‘My Chocolate’

When Tina Chappell went to law school, she knew she wanted to be a patent attorney. Now, as senior litigation counsel at Intel, her job puts her with talented engineers and in-house and outside counsel on federal appeals court and even U.S. Supreme Court cases, work she describes as “really…

Jun 7, 2011 9:43 PM CDT

Former Hospital General Counsel Charged with Embezzling $1.7M

The former general counsel of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has been charged with embezzling $1.7 million by creating fake companies and submitting phony invoices for expert witnesses and consulting services. Roosevelt Hairston Jr. was charged on Thursday with mail fraud, money laundering and filing a false tax return, report the…

Jun 3, 2011 10:43 AM CDT

City of Chicago’s New Top Lawyer Says He Plans to Bring More Work In-House

Chicago’s new mayor Rahm Emanuel has been talking about significant budget cuts, but his assistant corporation counsels’ jobs may be safe—the administration’s top lawyer, Stephen Patton, told the Chicago Tribune yesterday that he intends to bring more legal work in-house. The law department, which includes about 230 attorneys, has an…

May 17, 2011 4:20 PM CDT

Lawyer Shredded Some Documents, But None of Them Were Originals, He Says in Court Filing

Theodore Tetzlaff, a Chicago rainmaker who as a law firm partner also served as the top attorney for Peoples Energy Corp., now faces a malpractice suit from the utility company alleging that the Ungaretti & Harris partner authorized the destruction of 16 boxes of evidence in a class action suit…

May 13, 2011 6:04 PM CDT

Companies Embrace Plaintiff Role, Making Legal Departments into Profit Centers

Big businesses may be pushing to deter consumer class actions and cap damages, but they do see some value in litigation … as long as they are the plaintiffs. Businesses such as Ford Motor Co., Tyco International and Michelin are pursuing lawsuits, dispute resolution and threats of lawsuits to bring…

May 13, 2011 2:13 PM CDT

Asked About Famous 1961 Speech, Ex-FCC Chair Says TV is No Longer a ‘Vast Wasteland’

A former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who became a household name after calling television a “vast wasteland” in a 1961 speech says he’s changed his opinion about the medium since then. Speaking at a National Press Club event on the 50th anniversary of his famous remarks, Sidley Austin…

May 12, 2011 6:06 PM CDT

Milbank Spends $5.8M a Year on Biz-School Classes, Finds ‘Retention Sweet Spot’

Is Milbank Tweed’s plan to send its midlevel associates to Harvard for eight weeks of intensive business training just another public relations maneuver? Indiana University law school professor William Henderson doesn’t think so. The law firm is spending about $5.8 million a year in expenses and lost billable hours to…

May 12, 2011 1:21 PM CDT

In Mid-Trial Ruling, Federal Judge Axes Obstruction Case Against Ex-Glaxo In-House Lawyer

Saying that the government couldn’t prove its case, a federal judge in Greenbelt, Md., has dismissed midway through trial an obstruction prosecution against a former in-house lawyer for GlaxoSmithKline. “I conclude on the basis of the record before me that only with a jaundiced eye and with an inference of…

May 10, 2011 4:58 PM CDT

Legal Entrepreneur Forms DC Law Firm that Shuns Office Face Time and Lawyer Rainmaking

A nonlawyer entrepreneur who formed and then sold a contract legal staffing firm has set out to revolutionize law practice with a law firm that allows lawyers to work at home and doesn’t emphasize attorney rainmaking. Clients at Clearspire get up-front cost estimates for legal work performed by experienced lawyers…

May 9, 2011 12:48 PM CDT

LPO Use Gains Traction at UK Firms, Survey Says

Primarily driven by cost-saving needs, nearly 15 percent of U.K. law firms are outsourcing work—a significant boost from prior survey reports of only 5 percent in 2009. While 6 percent of in-house legal teams employ legal process outsourcing providers, both groups expect the use of LPO services to grow over…

May 6, 2011 11:07 PM CDT

Draft Changes to Model Rules on Confidentiality, Technology & Globalization Now Online for Comment

The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 on Monday made public a series of draft recommendations—involving outsourcing, confidentiality and technology, plus inbound foreign lawyers—it will bring to the association’s House of Delegates next year. In a memo, commission co-chairs Jamie S. Gorelick and Michael Traynor signaled that draft versions of all…

May 3, 2011 3:07 PM CDT

Fiesta Bowl Seeks New GC After Second Internal Probe Questions Compliance

Updated: The Fiesta Bowl has named a new interim general counsel after an internal report found evidence of campaign finance violations, inappropriate expenditures and excessive pay to top executives at the organization. Bingham McCutchen partner Nathan Hochman has the interim job, replacing Snell & Wilmer partner Craig Williams, according to…

May 3, 2011 1:05 PM CDT