Large Firm

Two more BigLaw employees diagnosed with COVID-19, including a partner in critical condition

Large law firms continue to grapple with the new coronavirus as employees are diagnosed with the illness. A partner with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz in Louisiana was hospitalized in critical condition with COVID-19, Law.com reports. The partner, 45-year-old Mark Frilot, was put in critical care after he was…

Mar 16, 2020 6:15 PM CDT

More BigLaw firms close or require remote work because of coronavirus threat

More large law firms are closing offices and requiring work at home amid mounting concerns about the new coronavirus. Law firms are emphasizing that they can continue to serve clients despite office closings and remote work.

Mar 16, 2020 12:10 PM CDT

Amazon’s IP Accelerator helps bring in business for large and small firms

As an Amazon Prime member, Miami-based intellectual property lawyer Michael Chesal gets groceries and other goods from the world’s largest online marketplace. And thanks to Amazon’s new IP Accelerator program, Chesal also gets clients.

Mar 16, 2020 10:19 AM CDT

BigLaw firm asks all employees to work remotely following death of legal assistant with flu-like symptoms

Updated: A Davis Wright Tremaine staff member, who worked out of the firm’s office in Bellevue, Washington, was found dead Thursday after she’d left work Tuesday morning, experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Mar 13, 2020 1:37 PM CDT

How BigLaw and the courts are responding to coronavirus; potential illness closes one firm’s office

Several large law firms are taking steps to reduce the threat of coronavirus to their workers, including one law firm that shut down an overseas office after a worker became ill.

Feb 28, 2020 11:20 AM CST

Dentons says $32.3M malpractice verdict was ‘simply wrong,’ and it will appeal

Dentons says it will appeal a $32.3 million malpractice verdict based on its disqualification in a patent case because of work done by its Canadian branch.

Feb 26, 2020 10:39 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Trump agrees he makes AG Barr’s job difficult; fired BigLaw lawyer denies harassment

Trump agrees he makes Barr’s job difficult but keeps tweeting President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday that his tweets make U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s job more difficult, even as he continued to share opinions on how the Department of Justice should do its job. On Twitter on Wednesday, Trump shared…

Feb 19, 2020 4:28 PM CST

Dissolved law firm has no right to profits in hourly fee matters taken to new firm, appeals court says

The bankruptcy trustee for the dissolved Howrey law firm has lost another round in his bid to claw back profits from partners who took hourly matters with them to new law firms.

Feb 18, 2020 11:01 AM CST

Sanctions motion says BakerHostetler partner was ‘shaking his behind’ in front of opposing lawyer

A sanctions motion seeks the disqualification of a BakerHostetler partner defending Chevron in a discrimination suit because of alleged “abusive language and gestures” during a mediation in August 2019.

Feb 13, 2020 1:45 PM CST

Why the increase in malpractice risk? Lawyers for plaintiffs point to trial lawyering, bill padding

Two lawyers who handle malpractice cases are pointing to two possible reasons why BigLaw is facing increasing malpractice risks.

Feb 12, 2020 11:46 AM CST

Hacking group publishes ‘full dump’ of law firm’s data; another responds to cybersecurity incident

Two law firms are grappling with the effects of recent cyber intrusions.

Feb 12, 2020 10:09 AM CST

Former BigLaw partner is suspended after writing himself checks from firm, claiming gambling addiction

A former partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker has been suspended after an ethics panel concluded that he wrote himself checks from the law firm’s operating account and then lied about a gambling addiction.

Feb 4, 2020 1:45 PM CST

BigLaw firm hopes its ‘Project Golden Spike’ is first step toward dominance in US market

The legal giant Dentons is aiming to entice American firms to come aboard by offering an innovative dual-partnership model in which regional firms maintain local decision-making power while benefiting from Dentons’ technology and global network of attorneys.

Feb 4, 2020 9:41 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Former BigLaw lawyer drops suit; judge resigns amid hostile-environment probe

Former Ogletree Deakins shareholder drops bias claim A former nonequity partner at Ogletree Deakins, Dawn Knepper, has dropped her bias lawsuit against the firm. The notice of the dropped claims did not provide any details of the apparent settlement, reached after arbitration. Knepper had claimed the law firm discriminates against…

Feb 3, 2020 4:46 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: California bar seeks proposals on nonlawyer practitioners; online ‘sneak-in’ contracts abound

California bar working group to consider licensing nonlawyer practitioners The State Bar of California is forming a working group to make recommendations on the licensing of nonlawyers to perform some legal services. The move follows the bar’s request for comment last year on proposals allowing legal technicians to offer legal…

Jan 28, 2020 4:01 PM CST