In-house Counsel

School Board Mulls $490K Settlement with Ex-Counsel Who Reported Chief Attorney’s ‘Postal’ Comment

A cash-strapped Florida school district is expected to consider tomorrow whether to pay $490,000 to a former senior associate general counsel who reported that his supervisor had allegedly made threatening comments about “going postal” and threatened to kill district employees, reports the Palm Beach Post. During the soap opera that…

Mar 8, 2011 5:32 PM CST

Ex-General Counsel, 4 Other Former WellCare Execs Indicted in Claimed $400M Medicaid Fraud

A former general counsel of WellCare is among five ex-executives of the Florida-based company who were indicted by a federal grand jury in an alleged Medicaid fraud that is claimed to have raked in as much as $400 million to $600 million. Like the other defendants, ex-GC Thaddeus Bereday, 45,…

Mar 4, 2011 1:15 AM CST

GC Loses Onetime $720K-a-Year Job Over ‘Evidence of Financial Irregularities’

After working for a little less than a year as the top lawyer for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, general counsel Roosevelt Hairston Jr. was terminated last month. In a written statement, the hospital cited “an internal investigation that found evidence of financial irregularities,” reports the Legal Intelligencer in an article…

Mar 1, 2011 8:13 PM CST

Executive Director of Minority Corporate Counsel Group Jumps to ACC Presidency

Veta Richardson is taking on a new job as president and CEO of the Association of Corporate Counsel. Richardson comes from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, where she served as executive director since 2001, according to a press release. She replaces Frederick Krebs, who was president of ACC for 20…

Feb 28, 2011 5:09 PM CST

Top 10 Ways to Better Manage Legal Spending

As it becomes increasingly apparent that 2011 and beyond won’t bring a “return to normal” for annual double-digit growth in legal budgets, I thought it would be useful to recap the top ways I’ve found to better manage legal spending. None of these are new, but all are rooted in…

Feb 17, 2011 6:39 PM CST

NAACP Hires ‘Trailblazing’ Solo as General Counsel

Solo practitioner and ‘10 Legal Rebel Kim M. Keenan has been tapped as general counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Keenan—the youngest attorney and second woman to hold the position—was selected, in part, for her dedication to “redressing the inequities still impacting women and people…

Feb 11, 2011 7:05 PM CST

Pay Outside Lawyers Now, Or Pay Later by the Hour? Later Will Cost You

My partner, Nicole Auerbach, and our client, Karen Klein, the general counsel of Kayak.com, have been blogging for the Association of Corporate Counsel on issues of value from the perspectives of outside and inside counsel. In her initial post, Karen spoke about her hesitancy in utilizing nonhourly fee arrangements because…

Feb 10, 2011 8:36 PM CST

Can This Marriage Be Saved? Two Spouses, Both Lawyers, Each Hate Practicing. What to Do?

Two married lawyers who both hate practicing are at the brink of divorce. The issue they are battling over is which one should work at a legal job to pay both of their student loans, thus putting the other spouse on a path toward the career of his or her…

Feb 2, 2011 4:48 PM CST

NFL’s Top Lawyer Will Give Up Multimillion-Dollar Paycheck in Event of Lockout

The NFL’s chief lawyer made about $4.9 million in 2009, but he will kiss his multimillion-dollar paycheck goodbye if there is a lockout. Jeff Pash, the league’s general counsel and chief labor negotiator, has joined Commissioner Roger Goodell in pledging to take a $1 annual salary if there is a…

Jan 27, 2011 12:35 PM CST

US Rep Sues Capitol Cafeteria for $150K Over Vegan Sandwich, Alleges Injuries from Olive Pit

Known to be litigious in other contexts, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives has sued the Capitol cafeteria over a vegan sandwich. Congressman Dennis Kuchinich (D-Ohio) alleges that an olive pit was lurking in the seemingly safe food item, causing dental damage that required surgery, reports the Cleveland…

Jan 26, 2011 8:32 PM CST

Unemployed Editor-in-Chief of Chicago-Kent Law Review Blames Book Author, Gets Job-Hunt Help

Updated: In the latest sign of the dismal legal market for new law graduates, the editor-in-chief of the Chicago-Kent Law Review for 2009-2010 is still looking for work. Interviewing, volunteering, applying for clerkships and surfing the Internet for job listings has so far failed to put him in an entry-level…

Jan 24, 2011 11:11 PM CST

Fake Law Firm Memo Offers Tax Tip to Troops: The Less You Bill, the Less We Owe

Apparently inspired by year-end revenue collection efforts and the upcoming tax season, a fake law firm memo offers, at considerable length, the suggestion that attorneys shouldn’t stress too much about bringing in the bucks. Tax planning is a critical aspect of law firm success, writes a fictitious tax chairman in…

Jan 14, 2011 1:02 AM CST

New Counsel to Nevada Gov Hasn’t Passed State Bar, But Gets Limited License to Practice

Nevada’s new governor, former federal judge Brian Sandoval, has hired a former law clerk to serve as his general counsel. But Lucas Foletta is licensed only in California and hasn’t yet taken the Nevada bar exam, reports Corporate Counsel. He has, however, been licensed to practice on a limited basis…

Jan 11, 2011 12:55 AM CST

Law Firm Leverages Oops E-Mail Sent to Opponent to Win ‘Eye-Popping’ Protective Order

A law firm retained by a group of California engineers to help protect them against potential interference after they established their own shop accidentally sent confidential e-mail to the group’s ex-employer, Arcadis, when an autocomplete function filled in an old e-mail address. At Arcadis, the computer system automatically forwarded the…

Jan 6, 2011 8:42 PM CST

GC’s Inactive Status Doesn’t Nix Attorney-Client Privilege, Judge Says

Gucci America may assert attorney-client privilege for communications with a top in-house lawyer who had taken inactive status, a federal judge had ruled. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin of Manhattan said Gucci was entitled to assert the privilege based on its reasonable belief that Jonathan Moss was in fact a…

Jan 6, 2011 5:22 PM CST