Large Firm

Defunct Heller firm not entitled to claw back fees from exiting partners, California high court says

The dissolved Heller Ehrman law firm isn’t entitled to claw back hourly fees charged in pending cases after departing partners jumped to new law firms, according to the California Supreme Court. The high court ruled on Monday at the request of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.…

Mar 5, 2018 3:45 PM CST

Former partner blames BigLaw stress for plot to sell sealed lawsuits to targeted companies

Updated: A former BigLaw partner says he was suffering from anxiety and depression when he was arrested in a plot to sell sealed whistleblower lawsuits he obtained while working at the U.S. Justice Department.

Mar 5, 2018 8:00 AM CST

Bryan Cave and BLP approve fully integrated merger

Bryan Cave and U.K. law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner have agreed to a merger that will create a law firm with 32 offices in 11 countries. The new firm will be called Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, according to a press release and a story by the American Lawyer. The firm…

Feb 26, 2018 11:30 AM CST

Former Skadden associate’s guilty plea shines light on firm’s work for ‘unsavory’ foreign figures

A guilty plea by a former London associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is shining a light on the law firm’s work for foreign figures and their U.S. lobbyists.

Skadden “mostly keeps quiet” about the profitable work for “unsavory foreign figures,” according to the New York Times. Now, lawyers at the firm are reportedly feeling uneasy amid special counsel Robert Mueller's scrutiny of its work on behalf of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who was allied with Russia.

Feb 26, 2018 8:50 AM CST

Former BigLaw partner gets prison time in insider trading scheme

A former partner at Foley & Lardner has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison for making stock trades based on confidential information from his law firm’s computers. Walter “Chet” Little, 44, of Florida, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, Reuters reports. He will also…

Feb 23, 2018 1:57 PM CST

Latham exceeds $3B mark to set a revenue record

Latham & Watkins is the first law firm to report annual revenues of more than $3 billion. The law firm reported $3.064 billion in revenue in 2017, “setting a new benchmark for the industry and erecting a new challenge for other firms looking to take Latham’s place at the top,”…

Feb 22, 2018 11:52 AM CST

Winner-take-all electoral college system is unconstitutional, say suits led by Boies

A coalition of prominent law firms and professors has filed four federal lawsuits claiming the winner-take-all system of electoral college voting distorts presidential campaigns and violates the U.S. Constitution.

Feb 22, 2018 10:38 AM CST

Juror tells judge he didn’t want to convict Martin Shkreli’s BigLaw lawyer

Jury deliberations in the trial of former BigLaw lawyer Evan Greebel were “a complete mess,” according to a juror affidavit. The jury was unanimous when it convicted Greebel on Dec. 27 of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, but one juror now says he felt threatened by other jurors…

Feb 22, 2018 7:00 AM CST

Hunton & Williams, Andrews Kurth agree to merger

Partners at Hunton & Williams and Andrews Kurth Kenyon have approved a merger of the two law firms.

The new firm will be known as Hunton Andrews Kurth, report Texas Lawyer and the Richmond [Virginia] Times-Dispatch.

Feb 21, 2018 8:42 AM CST

Former BigLaw associate pleads guilty in Mueller probe to lying about contacts and deleted emails

Updated: A former London associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has pleaded guilty to making false statements about deleted emails and the timing of his contacts with an indicted individual in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Feb 20, 2018 9:11 AM CST

Former BigLaw partner is disbarred for child porn conviction

A former partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has been disbarred as a result of his guilty plea to possession of child pornography. Edmund C. Duffy was disbarred last Thursday, according to Law.com and the Legal Profession Blog. He had once led the China practice at Skadden. The…

Feb 12, 2018 2:59 PM CST

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer undergoes a name change, offers buyouts to 140 legal secretaries

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer has shortened its name and is seeking to reduce the number of legal secretaries working for the law firm. “Kaye Scholer” was dropped from the brand name, email address and web domain, though the firm is keeping the longer name as its full legal name,…

Feb 7, 2018 9:47 AM CST

Judge says ex-Sutherland partner is competent for trial, cites ‘snowball effect’ in prior diagnoses

A federal judge in Atlanta has ruled a that a former partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan is competent to stand trial on charges that he stole $2 million from three trusts he administered. U.S. District Judge William Duffey Jr. discounted defense evidence that accused lawyer Bennett Kight experienced cognitive…

Feb 7, 2018 7:00 AM CST

Former BigLaw partner, an alleged ‘prolific money launderer,’ sentenced to 7 years in prison

A former BigLaw partner has been sentenced to seven years in prison for laundering $2.1 million through multiple accounts, including his attorney trust accounts. Raymond Juiwen Ho, a 48-year-old Washington, D.C., patent lawyer, was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty in October to money laundering and conspiracy to commit money…

Feb 6, 2018 10:00 AM CST

Law firm increases clerkship bonus to $105K

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has increased its clerkship signing bonus to $105,000. Clerks who complete two qualifying clerkships would get an additional $20,000 bonus. Above the Law and Law360 had the story. On Tuesday, Above the Law published a form letter from Quinn Emanuel sent to a number of…

Feb 1, 2018 2:15 PM CST