Lawyer’s Bias Suit Against Employer Hits Snag Over Confidential Info Claim

A former in-house lawyer who sued his onetime employer for religious bias must respond to allegations that he revealed confidential information in his complaint, a New York appeals court has ruled. Even though tax lawyer Elan Keller was an at-will employee, he still had a fiduciary obligation to his employer…

Jan 14, 2010 5:32 PM CST

Top GCs Earn a Median of $1.4M in Compensation

Compensation for top general counsel is increasing along with responsibility, a new survey has found. General counsel who report directly to a CEO and were named as executive officers in their company’s most recent proxy statements earned the most, Corporate Counsel reports. According to the survey by the executive compensation…

Jan 13, 2010 1:43 PM CST

Ex-White House Attorney Charged in Attempted Murder of His Wife, a Skadden Lawyer

A 57-year-old former deputy White House counsel has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly beating his wife with a flashlight and choking her in their Connecticut home. John Michael Farren is being held in lieu of $2 million bail in the claimed attack on Mary Margaret Farren, 43, who…

Jan 7, 2010 11:14 PM CST

Fannie Mae GC Could Earn Nearly $3M Annually, Despite Bailout

Former Bank of America general counsel Timothy Mayopolous landed on his feet after his abrupt ouster from the company more than a year ago. His pay in his new job as general counsel of Fannie Mae could work out to an annual paycheck of up to $2.95 million, an amount…

Jan 7, 2010 7:06 PM CST

AIG GC Resigns Over Salary Cap, Will Receive Millions in Severance

AIG general counsel Anastasia Kelly will receive millions of dollars in severance pay after resigning over salary caps imposed because the insurer received government bailout funds. Kelly resigned along with her deputy general counsel, Suzanne Folsom, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Kelly will receive “several million dollars in…

Jan 5, 2010 3:26 PM CST

Will Client Demand For Greater Value Lead to Meaningful Change Inside Law Firms?

As law firms strive to provide more “value” to clients, legal industry insiders warn that without a permanent overhaul of business practices, firms will face decreased profitability in 2010. Cynics say the mass amounts of law firm layoffs last year – 12,196 people were laid off at 138 large law…

Jan 4, 2010 6:28 PM CST

Meet Art Block, General Counsel of Comcast

When Art Block gave up a partnership at Wolf Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen in 1988 to become the No. 2 attorney in a three-person corporate legal department, his friends told him he was crazy. But today the 54-year-old University of Michigan law graduate is general counsel in charge of a…

Jan 4, 2010 5:44 PM CST

What, GC Worry?

Jan 2, 2010 3:30 AM CST

Bank of America’s 44-Day GC Gets Chief Executive Job

The former general counsel of Bank of America has been chosen as its new chief executive. Brian Moynihan, 50, was chosen late Wednesday, according to stories in the New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). He joined Bank of America in 2004 when it acquired…

Dec 17, 2009 1:09 PM CST

New Career Path for U.S. Lawyers: Outsourcing Firms

Outsourcing firms could offer an alternative career path for job-hunting lawyers. That’s the suggestion of international management consulting firm Fronterion, which advises law firms and corporations on outsourced legal services. The firm has released a list of the top 10 trends for outsourcing in 2010 that predicts law firms and…

Dec 10, 2009 3:43 PM CST

Partner Decries Depersonalization of BigLaw, Urges Investment in Associates

A law firm partner who saw the demise of her former firm, Heller Ehrman, says the quest for immediate returns and status contributed to its downfall. Patricia Gillette, now a labor and employment partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, says too many of the nation’s largest law firms are marching…

Dec 9, 2009 6:04 PM CST

As Law Firms Respond to Crisis, 21% of Law Students Regret Choice

It’s not surprising that law students are a discontented lot. A new survey by LexisNexis found that, based on the changing legal marketplace, 21 percent of law students regret attending law school. Thirty-five percent said they don’t feel adequately prepared to succeed in the new marketplace, and 65 percent said…

Dec 9, 2009 1:54 PM CST

AIG GC Reportedly Threatens to Resign if Pay Czar Cuts Her Compensation

The general counsel of American International Group is reportedly one of five corporate employees who told the company last week that they would resign if the government’s pay czar cuts their compensation. AIG general counsel Anastasia Kelly reportedly asked other employees to join her in indicating their intention to resign…

Dec 8, 2009 7:23 PM CST

Objections to a Prosecutor’s Phone Call Benefit Ex-Broadcom GC

Broadcom’s former general counsel won’t face criminal backdating charges because of a phone call by a federal prosecutor. The government plans to give former general counsel David Dull a nonprosecution agreement after a federal judge criticized the phone call by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Stolper, the Orange County Register reports.…

Dec 4, 2009 1:04 PM CST

Pfizer GC Pushes for Flat Fees and Gets Them

Pfizer Inc.’s general counsel Amy Schulman has a theory about the way to force changes in law firm billing, and she’s putting it into practice. “I really believe that if you are going to try to do something that is fundamentally not based on the billable hour, you can’t do…

Dec 3, 2009 7:11 PM CST