Law Firms

Big Firms Hurt Profits With Non-Equity Partners, Consultant Finds

Big law firms with the most non-equity partners may be hurting their partner profits. That conclusion seems counterintuitive, Legal Blog Watch points out. Many would assume that having fewer equity partners means higher profits per partner “because there are fewer partners taking a piece of the profit pie.” But law…

May 9, 2008 12:03 PM CDT

Rainmaking Lawyer is Named New Chairman at Paul Weiss

Litigator Brad Karp will take over as chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison next year. The 48-year-old Karp, co-chair of the firm’s litigation department, is considered the firm’s top rainmaker, according to the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and the newspaper’s Law Blog. He will take the place…

May 9, 2008 10:53 AM CDT

Ousted Paul Hastings Associate Explains Scathing Mass E-Mail

Updated: An associate fired from Paul Hastings six days after her miscarriage says she sent a mass e-mail criticizing the action to support other ousted lawyers who “left the firm with their tails under their legs.” The associate, Shinyung Oh, spoke to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog yesterday evening,…

May 9, 2008 10:28 AM CDT

Law Firms Seek, Unsuccessfully, to Keep Associate Disputes Private

Once upon a time, associates who were let go by their law firms tiptoed quietly out the door, perhaps after several months spent “working” at their desks to find another position. But today, when the power of the Internet can help them sweeten the terms of their severance deals, many…

May 8, 2008 9:13 PM CDT

Lawyers Drugged at Bingham Events, Ex-Associate Says

A former first-year associate at Bingham McCutchen complains that the law firm didn’t do enough to investigate alleged druggings of attorneys by a former employee and/or attendee of firm events and keep its female attorneys safe. In discrimination complaints filed with state and federal agencies, former associate Michelle Moor says…

May 8, 2008 5:08 PM CDT

Suspect in Insider Trading Probe Had ‘Connection’ to Lawyer

Canadian and U.S. securities regulators are investigating possible insider trading in a probe focused on 11 Canadian takeovers during the past two years and a Minneapolis-based law firm that advised companies involved in each deal, a Canadian newspaper says. According to Ontario Superior Court documents, the Ontario Securities Commission is…

May 8, 2008 4:08 PM CDT

How Rookie Lawyers Can Avoid Big Mistakes

Most new lawyers make some mistakes, but some are worse than others, such as throwing huge tantrums, hiding errors and sending flaming e-mails. Steven Bennett, a partner at Jones Day and the author of The Path to Partnership, offers advice to new lawyers on how to avoid these pitfalls in…

May 8, 2008 11:48 AM CDT

Colo. Lawyer Told to Pay Client $145K; a ‘Big Victory,’ He Says

A Colorado personal injury lawyer who was ordered by a jury to pay a former client $145,000 says the verdict represents a “big victory” for him, because the plaintiff was seeking much more. However, the former client, Shawna Jimenez, 40, says she is happy with the award against attorney Franklin…

May 7, 2008 10:36 PM CDT

McGuireWoods Names New N.Y. Managing Partner

Philip Goldstein will become the new managing partner of McGuireWoods’ New York office. Goldstein’s practice focuses on mass tort, products liability and complex commercial litigation. He replaces co-managing partners William Newman and John Pellegrini, according to a press release. The firm plans to expand its New York operation. “I am…

May 7, 2008 2:57 PM CDT

Firms Err When They Treat Pregnant Lawyers ‘as Bellies,’ Lawyer Says

A Boston associate who filed bias and retaliation claims against her law firm, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, is one of several Massachusetts lawyers who have filed discrimination complaints against their firms. Lawyer Kamee Verdrager filed the claim with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination following a complaint from…

May 7, 2008 11:55 AM CDT

Banks Scrutinize BigLaw Borrowing

Just when many BigLaw firms reportedly have more need to borrow, because of a slowing economy, banks are scrutinizing their lending to law firms more closely. Although interest rates haven’t gone up, lenders are looking to see that law firm financials support their borrowing, according to a National Law Journal…

May 6, 2008 7:18 PM CDT

The Webby People’s Voice Award Goes to ... ABA Journal

The ABA Journal won the 2008 People’s Voice Webby Award in the Law category, it was announced today. Described by the New York Times as the “the Internet’s highest honor,” the Webby Awards are administered by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, and received almost 10,000 entries this…

May 6, 2008 4:02 PM CDT

Skadden Helps Yahoo Buy Time With Legal Maneuver

Lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advising Yahoo used an unusual legal maneuver to give the company’s board more time to consider its response to Microsoft’s takeover bid. Yahoo board members contended the company’s stock was worth $37 a share, but Microsoft was willing to offer only $33,…

May 6, 2008 10:49 AM CDT

Accused of Padding Timesheets, N.Y. Lawyer Quits Part-Time Job & Law Firm

Updated: A New York law firm at which 12 attorneys reportedly have been under investigation in an ongoing statewide probe of school district pension payments to lawyers is now in the news for another reason. James McCarthy, who was counsel to the Albany, N.Y., law firm until Friday, has resigned…

May 5, 2008 7:35 PM CDT

A Few Small Law Firms Handle Most Minnesota Foreclosures

Call them foreclosure factories, if you will. But two Minnesota law firms handle nearly half of the mortgage foreclosure work in the state—earning, one partner says, as little as $50 per case. Wilford & Geske, a small law firm in Woodbury, handles about 5,300 mortgage cases annually, amounting to a…

May 5, 2008 5:08 PM CDT