Large Firm

Onetime foreclosure king David Stern accepts likely disbarment

At its height, a South Florida law firm and an an affiliated mortgage foreclosure-processing company operated by attorney David J. Stern had some 1,200 employees and was grossing $260 million annually on a reported 70,000 or so yearly filings. But it collapsed in 2011, not long after mortgage finance giants…

Nov 19, 2013 11:15 PM CST

Is Dentons megamerger with McKenna Long still moving forward?

A partner vote had been expected by Nov. 14 to give a final OK to discussions between the Dentons megafirm and 575-attorney McKenna Long & Aldridge about a potential merger. But to date, no vote has occurred, leading some observers to speculate that the plan to meld the two law…

Nov 18, 2013 11:45 PM CST

Latest data reveals growing problems for OldLaw

Just days apart, Wells Fargo and Citibank released their commentary on the financial performance of the Am Law 200 law firms. The news was not pretty. Characterizations like “underproductivity” and “anemic” and “margins squeezed” littered the two reports. What do we learn from these two reports? We learn that demand…

Nov 14, 2013 5:27 PM CST

BigLaw partners can’t really be entrepreneurial, consultant says (video)

This year has been a “long slog” for most major law firms, with revenues and profits rising modestly, if at all, law firm consultant Bruce MacEwen tells Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia. Two aspects of BigLaw make it difficult for law firms to change that, he says. First, despite claims they…

Nov 14, 2013 4:38 PM CST

Pepper Hamilton opens Silicon Valley office with 3 Goodwin Procter partners

One of Philadelphia’s best-known law firms has planted its flag in Silicon Valley. Pepper Hamilton announced Tuesday that three intellectual property partners from Goodwin Procter have opened the firm’s new Redwood City, Calif., office, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports. The 500-attorney law firm currently has two other offices in the…

Nov 12, 2013 9:05 PM CST

Police don’t pay judgments against them, article says | A bulletproof business suit? Is that legal?

Corrected: When University of Denver law professor Nancy Leong teaches criminal procedure, she always arranges for a police officer to come to class. “I remember one time in particular when a student asked an officer whether the officer would be more unhappy if evidence he found was excluded from trial…

Nov 8, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Why Milbank sends its 4th-year associates back to school (video)

David Wolfson, partner at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and chair of the firm’s professional development committee, talks with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia about the Milbank@Harvard program. The week-long course at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School takes mid-level Milbank associates through a wide range of professional development courses.…

Nov 7, 2013 6:31 PM CST

Lawyer Ted Wells to investigate Miami Dolphins workplace misconduct allegations

The National Football League has tapped high-profile lawyer Ted Wells to investigate allegations of workplace misconduct at the Miami Dolphins. Wells, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, will prepare a report that will be released to the public, report the New York Times, the Miami Herald and…

Nov 7, 2013 12:52 PM CST

Average profit per partner of $1.6M at top UK law firms is less than in US, survey says

Elite law firms are doing well in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom. But the seven-figure average profit per partner at top-10 law firms here is substantially higher than what their British counterparts bring in, a recent survey finds. A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey found that PPP at top-10 law firms…

Nov 4, 2013 10:30 PM CST

Former law partner is convicted in tax-shelter scheme

A onetime partner at Jenkens & Gilchrist who oversaw its Chicago office has been convicted in a retrial stemming from his involvement in a tax-shelter scheme. Illinois lawyer Paul Daugerdas was convicted on seven out of 16 counts, including conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud, Reuters reports. Former BDO Seidman…

Nov 1, 2013 5:12 PM CDT

Is bigger better for the bottom line? Why these BigLaw firms might merge (video)

Recent reports have indicated that Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe is discussing a tie up with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, while Patton Boggs is considering a deal with Locke Lord. Kent Zimmermann, consultant at the Zeughauser Group, talks with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia about the two potential BigLaw mergers, and how…

Oct 31, 2013 5:25 PM CDT

IRS workers get taxpayer-funded private counsel in nonprofit scandal

The claims that Internal Revenue Service workers displayed bias against conservative political groups’ applications for tax-exempt status have brought good news for two law firms. The IRS has retained Squire Sanders and Taft Stettinius & Hollister to represent the employees in ongoing federal litigation, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. “No one…

Oct 29, 2013 9:30 PM CDT

The smart money was never on Goliath: Does BigLaw have the same disadvantages?

I attended a program that was part of Chicago Ideas Week last week called “Lessons: The Choice Is Yours.” Among the amazing speakers (for example, the founders of both change.org and Defy Ventures), the program concluded with an appearance from Malcolm Gladwell, the noted New Yorker writer and author of…

Oct 29, 2013 5:13 PM CDT

BigLaw firm hopes to retain more female lawyers with expanded maternity leave policy

Holland & Knight is giving parents more generous leave time in hopes of attracting and retaining more female lawyers. The firm has expanded paid maternity leave from 12 to 16 weeks and paid leave for adoptive parents from six to 10 weeks, the Daily Business Review reports. The firm is…

Oct 29, 2013 4:17 PM CDT

BigLaw lawyer’s public-speaking tips for women (lose the quirky mannerisms, don’t giggle) cause stir

A memo filled with public-speaking tips for women was recently distributed to female associates at the U.S. offices of Clifford Chance, but some of the outraged recipients have given the advice more widespread distribution. Above the Law got a copy of the tips, which the blog dubs possibly “one of…

Oct 28, 2013 10:45 AM CDT