Large Firm

Dykema plans to hire more lawyers in growing Minneapolis office

A year ago, when Dykema opened an office in Minneapolis, it had two attorneys there. Now there are 10, and the 400-lawyer Detroit-based firm is planning more hiring, reports the Star Tribune. The firm expects to have an attorney roster of 25 in Minneapolis by the end of this year…

Jan 13, 2014 9:45 PM CST

How many women are among BigLaw’s new partners? At five firms, there are none

Women make up about 45 percent of new associate classes, but only about 30 percent of the 493 new partners announced so far this year by America’s largest law firms. At five law firms, none of the new partners are women, the Am Law Daily reports. By last Thursday, 51…

Jan 13, 2014 12:18 PM CST

If law firms grow, will clients come? Report discounts the idea

Law firms are getting bigger but not necessarily better, according to a new report. In recent years, law firms have aggressively pursued growth through lateral hires and mergers, according to the report (PDF) by Georgetown Law’s Center for the Study of the Legal Profession and Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor. But…

Jan 8, 2014 12:35 PM CST

For the first time since 2010, a Skadden fellow is from an unranked law school

When Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom announced its 2014 fellows, there was one law student who stood out. She is Sarah Hess—the first Skadden Fellow from an unranked law school since 2010, the National Law Journal reports. Hess attends the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. She will work…

Jan 3, 2014 11:45 AM CST

Three law-firm mergers are now complete

Updated: Three law-firm mergers announced last year are now complete. Carlton Fields and Jorden Burt have merged and are now operating as Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, according to a press release. The merged firm has more than 370 lawyers and government consultants in 10 offices. Meanwhile, BakerHostetler has closed its…

Jan 2, 2014 3:33 PM CST

Apple feuds with court-appointed BigLaw monitor over his access, firm’s 2-week $138K bill

The relationship between Apple Inc. and a Goodwin Procter partner appointed by a federal court to monitor the company’s compliance with antitrust laws concerning its e-book marketing hasn’t been going well. In a Monday filing in the Manhattan case accompanied by hundreds of email copies, monitor Michael Bromwich says Apple…

Dec 31, 2013 6:09 PM CST

Rolling out law practice management software at Akin Gump (video)

Toby Brown, director of strategic pricing and analytics at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, talks with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia about the challenges of implementing a pricing strategy at a large law firm and the recent efforts to utilize legal process management software. “One of the challenges in the…

Dec 19, 2013 6:18 PM CST

Kramer Levin forms drone practice group; one client is accused of flying model plane too low

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel sees opportunity in the “uncharted legal territory” surrounding commercial drones. The issue was in the news earlier this month when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told 60 Minutes of plans for delivery drones. In a press release, Kramer Levin says it has created an Unmanned Aircraft…

Dec 19, 2013 5:35 PM CST

Polsinelli acquires Atlanta law firm

Polsinelli is expanding to Atlanta with the acquisition of an 11-lawyer firm. The Kansas-based Polsinelli will acquire Rafuse Hill & Hodges on Jan. 1, report the Kansas City Star, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the Kansas City Business Journal and a press release. Rafuse Hill’s five partners and six associates have…

Dec 18, 2013 4:10 PM CST

Bingham sanctioned for slow discovery response in ex-associate’s sleep disorder suit

A Los Angeles judge has ordered Bingham McCutchen to pay $2,430 as a sanction for slow discovery in a suit by a former associate who claims the firm failed to accommodate her sleep disorder. The sanction imposed by Judge Mel Red Recana last week is lower than the $6,255 requested…

Dec 18, 2013 2:29 PM CST

Is the law firm pyramid collapsing? BigLaw is aging with more partners than associates

1988 was a peak year for associates in BigLaw. The percentage of associates in the nation’s top 250 law firms was at its highest point that year, comprising more than 60 percent of the lawyers, Indiana University law professor William Henderson has found. Beginning in 2008, there have been fewer…

Dec 16, 2013 11:45 AM CST

Kaye Scholer ups ante, will pay bonuses of $10K to $80K in its two-tier plan

Kaye Scholer announced Thursday that it will not only be matching but, for some high-billing associates, exceeding the end-of-year bonus schedule announced by a bellwether BigLaw firm. Like Cravath, Swaine & Moore and other firms, Kaye Scholer will pay bonuses of $10,000 to $60,000 for associates in good standing, depending…

Dec 12, 2013 9:55 PM CST

Former practice group chief at major firm takes plea in perjury case over deposition statement

A former chief of the real estate investment and capitalization practice at Troutman Sanders has taken a plea in a misdemeanor perjury case, admitting that he gave false deposition testimony in 2011. Leonard Grunstein, 61, who earlier gave up his New York law license, will be recommended for a conditional…

Dec 12, 2013 5:25 PM CST

Akerman partner’s death is ruled a suicide

The death of Akerman Senterfitt partner Richard Sharpstein has been ruled a suicide. Sharpstein’s housekeeper found him dead in the bathtub, submerged in about a foot of water, at his Miami Beach condo on Tuesday. The medical examiner and investigators determined the 63-year-old criminal defense lawyer died as a result…

Dec 12, 2013 1:03 PM CST

Hogan Lovells appoints a new single CEO rather than its post-merger duo

For the first time in its history, Hogan Lovells will have one boss. The firm announced on Wednesday that Stephen Immelt, the firm’s global co-head of litigation and arbitration, will become the sole chief executive officer of the firm beginning on July 1, 2014, pending an official vote from the…

Dec 11, 2013 4:40 PM CST