Large Firm

Nonlawyer staff members at Kirkland no longer will be required to arbitrate workplace disputes

Kirkland & Ellis has once again announced an end to a policy requiring mandatory arbitration of workplace disputes. In late November, Kirkland announced it would no longer require mandatory arbitration for associates and summer associates. Now, the firm has gone further and announced it is also dropping its mandatory arbitration…

Dec 10, 2018 4:16 PM CST

Kirkland drops mandatory arbitration of associate workplace disputes after call for boycott

Kirkland & Ellis will no longer require associates and summer associates to agree to mandatory arbitration of workplace disputes.

Nov 27, 2018 10:05 AM CST

BigLaw pro bono efforts challenge Trump administration on immigration

Several major law firms are aiding or bringing court cases that challenge Trump administration immigration policies.

Nov 27, 2018 9:47 AM CST

O’Melveny will use online games to evaluate potential summer associates

O’Melveny & Myers will be evaluating potential summer associates through online games that measure traits such as effort, attention, planning, memory and flexibility. O’Melveny is using the games developed by neuroscientists at a company called Pymetrics, according to a press release and an American Lawyer article. O’Melveny is building its…

Nov 21, 2018 7:30 AM CST

Cravath announces associate bonuses of up to $100K; Paul Weiss quickly announces a match

Cravath, Swaine & Moore has once again announced year-end bonuses for associates that range from $15,000 to $100,000.

Nov 20, 2018 10:45 AM CST

Overwhelmed with personal tasks? Kirkland & Ellis provides a solution

Kirkland & Ellis is providing concierge services to help lawyers and senior staff who are too busy to handle personal tasks and run errands. The service, called Kirkland Concierge, includes a full-time, on-site concierge staff along with off-site concierge services that can be reached with a phone call or email,…

Nov 15, 2018 7:30 AM CST

Michelle Obama got this advice after confiding to her mother that she hated being a lawyer

Careers

Nov 14, 2018 7:30 AM CST

Group asks fellow Harvard Law students to boycott Kirkland & Ellis

The Pipeline Parity Project has called for a student boycott of Kirkland & Ellis until the law firm removes arbitration agreements from employee contracts. The organization describes itself as a group of Harvard Law School students focused on ending harassment and discrimination in the legal profession. Kirkland is the largest…

Nov 13, 2018 1:00 PM CST

James Polsinelli to retire from the law firm that bears his name

James Polsinelli is retiring in January from the firm he founded with two other lawyers in 1972. Polsinelli was 28 years old when he founded the firm now known simply as Polsinelli, report the American Lawyer and a press release. They managed to launch the firm in Kansas City, Missouri,…

Nov 7, 2018 12:53 PM CST

BigLaw hosts election hotlines while students and lawyers monitor polls

Updated: Nearly a hundred of the nation’s top law firms and corporate law departments are volunteering for an “election protection” program run by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. One law firm reported Tuesday afternoon that its call center is receiving several calls about election irregularities.

Nov 6, 2018 9:41 AM CST

Cybersquatters have taken advantage of BigLaw mergers to beat those firms to the trademark registry

Chinese copycats have long bedeviled popular brands in fashion and consumer products, but cybersquatters in China now target major global law firms–registering names, especially well-known brand or company names, as internet domains, with the hope of reselling them for a profit.

Nov 1, 2018 12:30 AM CDT

Are law firms committed to disability diversity? A handful of firms have taken action

Statistics show that the legal profession either isn’t doing its fair share to recruit, retain and advance attorneys with disabilities, or it has failed to be inclusive enough for disabled lawyers to feel comfortable disclosing their impairments.

Oct 24, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

Jury rules for Buchalter in suit seeking more than $150M for estate lawyer’s alleged misconduct

Jurors have found no liability by Buchalter in a lawsuit that contended the law firm was responsible for the alleged misconduct of one of its estate planning partners. Jurors in Orange County, California, ruled for Buchalter last Thursday in a suit by the heirs of the Alta-Dena dairy empire, according…

Oct 2, 2018 2:24 PM CDT

BigLaw partner deletes Twitter account after profane insult toward Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Sullivan & Cromwell partner Francis Aquila’s overuse of emoticons is not the reason his Thursday tweet about Sarah Huckabee Sanders got so much attention. Aquila tweeted a sarcastic response to the White House press secretary after she praised Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had attacked Democrats motivations during a spirited…

Oct 1, 2018 12:10 PM CDT

Law firms embrace blind recruiting to promote diversity—but does it work?

Could the resume become an anachronism? At some law firms, particularly in Canada and the United Kingdom, hiring partners have embraced blind recruiting, removing identification details from candidates’ resumes and applications to eliminate potential bias and promote diversity.

Oct 1, 2018 1:05 AM CDT