Large Firm

Milbank Spends $5.8M a Year on Biz-School Classes, Finds ‘Retention Sweet Spot’

Is Milbank Tweed’s plan to send its midlevel associates to Harvard for eight weeks of intensive business training just another public relations maneuver? Indiana University law school professor William Henderson doesn’t think so. The law firm is spending about $5.8 million a year in expenses and lost billable hours to…

May 12, 2011 1:21 PM CDT

Aggressive Tax Lawyer or Criminal? Jury to Decide re 2 Ex-Jenkens & Gilchrist Partners

Were Paul Daugerdas and Donna Guerin simply aggressive tax lawyers doing their job by doing their best for their clients? Or, as the government contends, did the two former Jenkens & Gilchrist partners cross the line by advising extremely wealthy individuals, in opinion letters, to participate in fraudulent tax shelter…

May 11, 2011 12:11 AM CDT

King & Spalding Raids Hogan Lovells, Is Opening New Moscow Office

King & Spalding is planning to open a new office in Moscow staffed by a five-lawyer team that formerly worked together at Hogan & Hartson. The group, which now comes to the firm from Hogan Lovells and White & Case, includes Jennifer Josefson, who is in charge of the White…

May 10, 2011 6:46 PM CDT

More Legal Jobs. But Will They Last? What Is Your Plan Beyond Holding on to Your Job?

Monday’s ABAJournal.com contains this upbeat headline: “A Promising Spring: Legal Industry Adds 1,500 Jobs, Demand for Legal Services Increases.” The reason for this growth appears to “increased demand” which has caused firms to “selectively [add] more attorneys.” This is good news, clearly better than the months of stories on layoffs,…

May 10, 2011 1:30 PM CDT

BigLaw Feels the Heat as Failed Companies and Their Trustees Blame Law Firms for Their Demise

Updated: Several law firms are facing malpractice suits accusing them of contributing to the demise of bankrupt companies, leading to harm to shareholders or investors. Some of the suits seek hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Among the firms targeted are Bryan Cave, Sedgwick, Holland & Knight, and Baker…

May 6, 2011 3:53 PM CDT

Sedgwick Faces $200M Malpractice Suit by Receiver for Failed Financial Services Company

A receiver for a failed financial services company alleges in a $200 million malpractice suit that Sedgwick had a conflict of interest when it represented two competing divisions of the business. The suit claims Sedgwick aided the company, Medical Capital Holdings Inc., in a breach of fiduciary duty, Reuters reports.…

May 6, 2011 1:07 PM CDT

Ex-Reed Smith Partner Apparently Settles Suit Alleging Assignments Linked to Liaisons

A nonequity partner at Reed Smith in Pittsburgh has dropped her sex bias suit claiming women lawyers at the firm are paid less than men and given work based on actual or hoped-for sexual liaisons. JoEllen Lyons Dillon voluntarily dismissed her suit on Thursday, the Legal Intelligencer reports. Her lawyer,…

May 6, 2011 11:21 AM CDT

Following Clients and ‘Flow of Capital,’ Clifford Chance Focuses on Asia

Like other renowned London-based international law firms, Clifford Chance is rethinking its focus and expects Asia to be a bigger part of its future. Of 23 new partners elected recently, more than half are Asia-based, reports the Financial Times. “We as a law firm like to follow clients but also…

May 5, 2011 8:46 PM CDT

Which Law Firms Will Prosper After the ‘Hundred-Year Flood’?

Indiana University law professor William Henderson calls the economic downturn that hit the legal profession a “hundred-year flood.” Not every law firm will survive, and not all will prosper, he says. Law firms such as the dissolved Howrey, once one of the world’s 100 largest law firms by revenue, have…

May 5, 2011 4:36 PM CDT

Legal Rebels Nominations Open: Who in BigLaw Is Re-inventing, Re-imagining the Practice of Law?

Nominations are now open for the 2011 Legal Rebels project. This year, the ABA Journal is looking for lawyers and senior staffers who are remaking their corner of the profession at trend-setting Top 250 law firms. In the past two years the Legal Rebels project has featured 60 of the…

May 4, 2011 7:48 PM CDT

Howrey Seeks New Work Despite Its Dissolution

Howrey officially dissolved in March, but it is seeking $10.5 million in new legal work from a recently created utility board in New York State. Board members of the North Country Power Authority are being asked to sign a contract with the law firm to help the authority acquire assets,…

May 4, 2011 11:55 AM CDT

Texas Law Firms Jump on the Spring Bonus Bandwagon

At least two law firms with offices in Texas are following the lead of several large New York law firms and paying spring bonuses. Vinson & Elkins and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld will dole out bonuses this month, report Texas Lawyer and Above the Law. V&E and Akin…

May 3, 2011 11:48 AM CDT

Merger with 700-Lawyer Affiliate Gives DLA Piper World’s Biggest Attorney Roster, About 4,200 Strong

It’s now official, at least as far as the Am Law Daily is concerned: After a merger with a 700-lawyer affiliate in Australia, DLA Piper is now the world’s largest law firm, based on headcount. The firm now has about 4,200 attorneys on its roster, the legal publication reports. Its…

May 2, 2011 8:24 PM CDT

Ex-Winston Partner Pleads in $19M Scheme; Gov’t Says He Sought Law Firm Status, Not Personal Gain

A former partner at Winston & Strawn pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy concerning a scheme to launder nearly $19 million through attorney escrow accounts under his control. Jonathan Bristol, 55, said he knew celebrity money manager Kenneth Starr had stolen the money from wealthy clients, the New…

May 2, 2011 7:06 PM CDT

King & Spalding Loses a Second Client—NRA—over Dropped DOMA Defense

King & Spalding’s decision to drop its defense of the federal law banning recognition of gay marriages has cost it a second client. The National Rifle Association has dropped the law firm as outside counsel, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. NRA general counsel David Lehman informed…

May 2, 2011 1:57 PM CDT