Large Firm

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

African Adventurer: Jeffrey Krilla, SNR Denton

A prime-cut filet might be the centerpiece of a New York or Chicago meal between law firm partners and business executives, while in Los Angeles they might dine on halibut and baby artichokes while discussing multimillion-dollar deals. And in some parts of Africa, the meal might be made up of…

Sep 26, 2011 1:49 PM CDT

Client Sues Crowell & Moring, Claims Law Firm Can’t Account for $5.5M in Escrow Money

A real estate management company represented by Crowell & Moring sued the law firm today in New York state court. The Manhattan Supreme Court complaint (PDF) contends that Crowell & Moring can’t account for some $5.5 million being held in escrow on behalf of Regal Real Estate and other plaintiffs…

Sep 24, 2011 1:04 AM CDT

Law Firm Expenses Are Up 4.7 Percent, Outpacing Revenue Gains, Survey Finds

Law firm expenses are up 4.7 percent for the first half of 2011, outpacing revenue increases of 3.7 percent, a survey has found. Higher expenses are due partly to spring bonuses and partly to long-overdue infrastructure projects, according to Citi Private Bank, which surveyed law firms that are among the…

Sep 23, 2011 1:18 PM CDT

Ogletree Deakins Sues Client Entity, Maricopa County, for Defamation

A well-known labor and employment law firm has filed suit against Maricopa County, Ariz., seeking damages for claimed defamatory statements made in a letter from county officials terminating its services. It “contained false and defamatory statements including, among other things, accusing Ogletree of unethical and possibly criminal conduct and of…

Sep 23, 2011 12:24 AM CDT

BigLaw Attorney Is Accused by Client of Stealing $2.5M in Escrowed Funds

A counsel for Crowell & Moring no longer listed on the Washington, D.C., law firm’s website has been accused by a client of embezzling some $2.5 million of escrowed funds. Douglas R. Arntsen has been arrested and is being held in Hong Kong, where he is awaiting extradition to the…

Sep 22, 2011 7:22 PM CDT

Top Russian Law Firms Form Group to Lobby for Corporate Legal Reform

Ten leading law firms in Russia have banded together to lobby for legal reform that they and others hope will help the country become a financial center by modernizing its corporate standards. The Partnership for the Advancement of Corporate Law was formally created earlier this month, reports Legal Week. “The…

Sep 22, 2011 2:45 PM CDT

Making It Lean: Lisa Damon, Seyfarth Shaw

When you get paid by the minute, becoming more efficient might seem like a bad idea. Lisa J. Damon, a member of Seyfarth Shaw’s executive committee, has moved past that notion. Her firm has developed a plan that borrows heavily from the corporate management plan known as Six Sigma with…

Sep 21, 2011 1:50 PM CDT

Leaders of Orrick’s London Restructuring Practice Group are Leaping to Dewey & LeBoeuf

The two partners at the helm of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe’s restructuring practice group in London are exiting for Dewey & LeBoeuf. They are Mark Fennessy, who serves as co-chair of the law firm’s European restructuring and insolvency practice, and Hazel Miller, Legal Week reports. The article says Dewey is…

Sep 20, 2011 10:52 PM CDT

8-Lawyer Real Estate Team Leaps from Holland & Knight to Lerch Early

Five real estate and land use partners from the Bethesda, Md., office of Holland & Knight have led an eight-lawyer group to Lerch Early & Brewer, The group had gotten to know Lerch Early, which is based in Bethesda and has about 65 attorneys, including the new arrivals, by working…

Sep 19, 2011 7:36 PM CDT

2 High-Level SEC Veterans Move to BigLaw Jobs, Where They Will Help Clients Comply with Dodd-Frank

After decades with the Securities and Exchange Commission, two high-level veterans are leaving to take BigLaw posts in which they will help clients comply with the Dodd-Frank Act. After 25 years with the SEC, James Brigagliano is leaving his job as deputy director of the trading and markets division for…

Sep 19, 2011 5:14 PM CDT

The Deal Maker: Paul Sweeney, Foley Hoag

Paul Sweeney didn’t intend to make any money off a $250 startup incorporation package that Foley Hoag offered on the deal site LevelUp. But the marketing aspect of the email, sent to thousands in the Boston area, was priceless. “In terms of business development, the old rules of communication still…

Sep 19, 2011 1:51 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Wife Can Sue Nixon Peabody Attorney re Claimed Injuries Due to Her Own Husband’s Fraud

Once a prominent New Hampshire attorney, Thomas J. Tessier was disbarred in 2008. He is serving a four-year federal prison sentence after allegedly funneling some $2.3 million from an estate for his own personal use while working at Christy & Tessier in Manchester, according to an Associated Press article published…

Sep 15, 2011 8:27 PM CDT

Fulbright & Jaworski Is Pondering Possible Merger Discussions with Norton Rose, Legal Week Says

As part of an ongoing international strategy review, Fulbright & Jaworski is reportedly pondering whether it should consider discussing a possible merger with United Kingdom-based megafirm Norton Rose. Legal Week quotes an unidentified Fulbright partner as saying that entering into merger discussions with Norton Rose is one of several strategic…

Sep 15, 2011 6:11 PM CDT

Atlanta Thrashers Ownership Group Settles $195M Malpractice Suit Against King & Spalding

A group that recently sold the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team has settled a malpractice suit against King & Spalding. Terms of the settlement were confidential, according to the Associated Press, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Am Law Daily. The $195 million suit, filed in January by the Atlanta Spirit group,…

Sep 14, 2011 6:07 PM CDT