Large Firm

Patton Boggs tells idle partners to shape up or ship out, WSJ reports

As many U.S. law firms struggle to find their footing in the post-recession era marked by seismic change, Washington, D.C.-based Patton Boggs has drawn up a new game plan. It’s one that includes trimming less productive partners, reworking compensation plans, and refocusing the firm’s growth on practices that support its…

Aug 9, 2013 8:38 PM CDT

BigLaw growth was ‘anemic’ for first half of 2013, reports Wells Fargo (video)

Jeff Grossman, a Senior Director at Wells Fargo Private Bank, talks with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia about his firm’s new report on the state of BigLaw. The survey of 120 law firms saw revenue growth of 1.5% for the first half of 2013, compared to the same period of time…

Aug 8, 2013 4:00 PM CDT

All is well for BigLaw? Not if you talk to clients and really crunch the numbers

I spent the last 10 days on vacation. I returned to these stories: • “Don’t bury Big Law just yet” (The American Lawyer) • “GCs unhappy with high firm rates, seeking AFAs” (Hildebrandt Institute) • “The last days of Big Law—You can’t imagine the terror when the money dries up”…

Aug 1, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Cozen partner’s surviving same-sex spouse gets her law firm profit-sharing fund, federal judge rules

The surviving same-sex spouse of a deceased Cozen O’Connor partner is entitled to receive the attorney’s $49,000 law firm profit-sharing balance, a federal judge has ruled. Last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking the federal Defense of Marriage Act paved the way for Monday’s decision in favor of Jennifer Tobits,…

Jul 30, 2013 4:45 PM CDT

Revenue per lawyer jumped more than 8 percent at larger law firms in 2012

Revenue per lawyer is up at large law firms and down at small firms. Revenue per lawyer increased 8.5 percent last year at law firms with more than 150 lawyers, according to the Survey of Law Firm Economics by the National Law Journal and ALM Legal Intelligence. At firms of…

Jul 29, 2013 1:00 PM CDT

Some law firm trendsetters, like corporate clients, are testing attorneys for job compatibility

You don’t learn to dance by reading a book. Yet those in charge of major legal partnerships, unlike the corporations for which they work, typically don’t have formal testing and training programs to supplement the knowledge attorneys bring to the job from law school and select the right individuals to…

Jul 25, 2013 10:20 PM CDT

New Republic reporter defends BigLaw-is-dying article (video)

Noam Scheiber, senior editor at The New Republic, talks with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia about his controversial article entitled “The Last Days of Big Law” in which he chronicles the challenges facing large American law firms by examining the recent history of Mayer Brown. In response to criticism that he…

Jul 25, 2013 4:05 PM CDT

Goldman Sachs lawyer will lead Fried Frank

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson is tapping a lawyer at Goldman Sachs Group to take over leadership of the firm. David Greenwald, a former Fried Frank partner, is currently deputy general counsel and international general counsel at Goldman. At first, he will co-chair the firm with current chairperson Valerie…

Jul 25, 2013 12:37 PM CDT

Is the death of BigLaw overhyped?

Is BigLaw really in its last days, as proclaimed this week in an article by the New Republic? Or is it “alive, well and rich”? Some commentators are taking issue with the New Republic, which airs this “common hypothesis”: Most BigLaw firms will eventually collapse or reinvent themselves, leaving only…

Jul 25, 2013 12:07 PM CDT

Ex-SEC enforcement chief joins Kirkland, will reportedly be paid over $5M a year

A former top Wall Street watchdog will be focusing on corporate compliance from a different perspective after joining Kirkland & Ellis as a partner. Appointed in 2009 as the SEC’s director of enforcement, Robert Khuzami will now split his time between the New York and Washington, D.C., offices of Kirkland…

Jul 23, 2013 9:55 PM CDT

A farewell to cushy BigLaw: Mayer Brown a case study in coping and hard-charged competition

Most BigLaw firms will eventually collapse or reinvent themselves, leaving only 20 to 25 law firms catering to clients who are willing to spend without regard to budgetary concerns, according to one “common hypothesis.” The New Republic airs the hypothesis in a lengthy story about “the escalating plight” of large…

Jul 23, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

‘Certifiable saint’ but for indirect role in $2.4B fraud, ex-BigLaw partner gets 1 year in club fed

A former partner of Mayer Brown was sentenced Monday to a year and a day in federal prison for his role in a $2.4 billion fraud on investors in Refco Inc. Joseph P. Collins, 62, was allowed to remain free pending his appeal in the Manhattan federal court case, reports…

Jul 16, 2013 3:45 PM CDT

Pro bono work by BigLaw firms continues to slide, even as revenues climb

Pro bono work among Am Law 200 lawyers slid for the second consecutive year—even as law firm revenue climbed. Both total pro bono hours and average hours per lawyer both dropped, the American Lawyer reports. In a series of graphs and feature stories, the magazine offers a glimpse of the…

Jul 15, 2013 8:34 PM CDT

Former Fried Frank worker who stole $376K in copy machine toner not likely to repay firm

A former longtime employee in the copy department of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson is likely to serve at least a year of the one- to three-year term to which he was sentenced last month by a New York judge for stealing more than $376,000 worth of copy machine…

Jul 12, 2013 11:25 AM CDT

Record 12-year term OK’d for ex-associate who revealed BigLaw deal info in $37M insider-trade scheme

A federal appeals court was not persuaded by a former BigLaw associate’s argument that a record 12-year prison term for insider trading should be reduced. Matthew Kluger “was an attorney who took an oath to uphold the law,” said the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its Tuesday opinion…

Jul 10, 2013 4:34 PM CDT