Large Firm

UK Consumers Could Buy Legal Services With Bread, Milk and Eggs as Soon as January, Under New Law

A much-anticipated new law that will revolutionize the provision of legal services to consumers in the United Kingdom and allow non-attorneys to invest in and help run “alternative business structures” expected to operate much like law firms takes effect this month. But it will still be a while before the…

Oct 6, 2011 11:52 PM CDT

Jailed Ex-CFO Stole Nearly $2.7M from Top Law Firm Over 10 Years, Prosecutor Says

The former chief financial officer at the Adelaide office of a top Australian firm made off with nearly 2.7 million dollars of his colleagues’ money over a 10-year period before he was terminated in June, a prosecutor told the Adelaide Magistrates Court today. A routine government tax inquiry drew Minter…

Oct 6, 2011 9:10 PM CDT

Greenberg Traurig Opens Mexico City Office, Expects to Have 20 Lawyers There in Early 2012

Greenberg Traurig has opened an office in Mexico City, its first in either Central America or South America, signaling an intention to expand the Latin American practice of the nearly 2,000-attorney firm, which was founded in Miami. Luis Rubio Barnetche, who previously was the managing partner of the Mexico City…

Oct 6, 2011 4:45 PM CDT

Ex-CFO of Top Australian Law Firm is Arrested, Accused of Stealing Six-Figure Sum

The former chief financial officer of a top Australian law firm was held without bail as a flight risk on charges that he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from Minter Ellison and/or its partners. Federal police arrested Craig Raneberg, 38, at the Sydney airport after he made a quick…

Oct 5, 2011 10:32 PM CDT

Justices Sympathetic to Inmate Whose BigLaw Counsel Didn’t Open Mail, Missed Capital Appeal Deadline

It appears that a convicted murderer who missed a critical death penalty appeal because of his BigLaw counsel’s failure to open the firm’s mail and see that the clock was ticking on a 42-day deadline may be about to catch a break from the U.S. Supreme Court. Almost all of…

Oct 4, 2011 10:40 PM CDT

Norton Rose to Merge with Macleod Dixon, Increasing Megafirm’s Attorney Roster to 2,900

In the latest move in its aggressive expansion campaign over the past two years, London-based Norton Rose is to merge with a several-hundred-lawyer Canadian firm that focuses its practice on energy and natural resources. As of Jan 1, 2012, when Norton Rose and Macleod Dixon plan to tie the knot,…

Oct 4, 2011 9:57 PM CDT

BigLaw Firms Say Anna Nicole Smith Ruling Nixes Bankruptcy Jurisdiction in Heller Clawback Case

Unlikely though it might seem, a deceased celebrity and former stripper known for her marriage to a very elderly, and very wealthy, Texas oil tycoon is at the center of an ongoing dispute concerning the dissolution of Heller Ehrman. Lawyers for the major law firms at which Heller Ehrman’s former…

Oct 3, 2011 11:55 PM CDT

IG Says Feds Paid Major Law Fims Millions Based on Bills That Didn’t Describe TARP Work Done

In a blistering report (PDF) this week, a special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program says major law firms were paid millions by the U.S. Treasury Department based on bills that provided little or no explanation of the work that was done. Although it stopped short of saying…

Sep 30, 2011 3:47 PM CDT

Wachtell PPP Again Tops Global 100, at $4.35M, Followed by Quinn Emanuel, at $3.62M

Law firms headquartered in the United States continue to dominate the Global 100 list compiled by American Lawyer of the world’s top-earning law firms over the most recent fiscal year. Baker & McKenzie remains in the number-one spot on the 2011 list, with gross revenue of $2.265 billion, followed by…

Sep 29, 2011 10:26 AM CDT

The Point Man: Steven Berrent, WilmerHale

Forecasting where technology can take litigation and understanding the steps needed to get there are great strengths of Steven Berrent’s, say those who know the managing director of WilmerHale’s Discovery Solutions. The in-house document review program uses technology that searches and organizes information. “The old way of doing document review…

Sep 28, 2011 1:54 PM CDT

Refugees from Failed Major Law Firms Do Better If Hired in Groups, Study Finds

An Emory University business professor who studied what happened to more than 1,400 attorney refugees from major law firms that failed in 2008 and 2009 says most have found new jobs, often with the help of alumni networks. But those that did the best, in terms of upward mobility, were…

Sep 28, 2011 1:01 AM CDT

Locke Lord Is Latest Law Firm to Shorten Multi-Partner Name

Clients already were referring to Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell as simply Locke Lord. So the 650-attorney Texas-based law firm decided to do the same. Having a shorter law firm name is also a branding and marketing plus, Locke Lord says in a press release today announcing the new moniker.…

Sep 27, 2011 5:14 PM CDT

Being a Top Pianist or a Traveling Do-Gooder Gives Job Hunters an Edge at Paul Weiss

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison sees lots of would-be associates with law review and good grades. While the firm looks for people with academic achievement, it also seeks something more, according to hiring partner Valerie Radwaner. “We also look for nonlegal achievement—what their greater interests are, leadership roles they’ve…

Sep 27, 2011 1:05 PM CDT

After Paying Orrick Nearly $1M to Defend Claims by 2 Fired Workers, Oakland Opts to Settle a Case

Firing two at-will employees has cost the city of Oakland nearly $1 million in legal fees, so far, as the two filed sex discrimination suits and made whistle-blower arguments. One also contended that she’d been promised a severance package as a condition of employment. So a divided city council decided…

Sep 26, 2011 8:53 PM CDT

UK’s Ashurst and Australia’s Blake Dawson Plan Major Global Firm with Focus on Asia

In a move intended to create a global law firm with a strong presence in one of the world’s rapidly growing legal markets, major law firms in the United Kingdom and Australia have announced their plans to merge their Asian practices. Ashurst and Blake Dawson conditionally agreed on Friday to…

Sep 26, 2011 5:47 PM CDT