Law Firms

Cadwalader Shrinks Summer Associate Program

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft is hiring only 58 summer associates this year, down from 101 law students who participated in the program last year. With fewer summer associates, the firm can assign more “real work” and cultivate a better experience, says hiring committee chair Paul Mourning. Cadwalader recently laid off…

May 5, 2008 12:25 PM CDT

Associates in the UK Foresee a Less Lucrative Future

A likely slowdown in associate pay increases in the U.K. may offer some signposts to help their U.S. law firm counterparts steer a course in challenging economic times. Although a few firms in the United Kingdom recently decided to increase salaries substantially for associate lawyers, most expect pay raises to…

May 2, 2008 11:30 PM CDT

Hearst Heir’s Malpractice Suit: Lawyer Helped Wife Steal $20M

A New York appeals court has reinstated a $20 million malpractice and fraud suit brought by a grandson of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst against the grandson’s wife and the couple’s lawyer. After he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1989 at age 55, John Randolph Hearst Jr. contends, his wife,…

May 2, 2008 10:49 PM CDT

Much-Ticketed Teen Now a N.Y. Traffic Court Defense King

Being a bad driver as a teenager helped Matthew Weiss make a good living as a lawyer. Now the head of a Manhattan law practice familiar to residents of the metropolitan area from radio ads, the 46-year-old Weiss spent the first four years of his legal career doing what he…

May 2, 2008 10:26 PM CDT

Limit Rainmaker Credit to Keep Other Lawyers Happy

Paying partners extra for bringing in new matters is something that virtually every U.S. law firm does. But paying them too much can be bad business. So-called “permanent” business-generation fees, in particular, can create the wrong incentives for those who actually do the bulk of the work on the matter,…

May 2, 2008 10:06 PM CDT

House Leader Seeks Probe of Plaintiffs Firms’ Class Action Kickbacks

Updated: The Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives is asking the House Judiciary Committee to launch an investigation into whether it is common practice, as a convicted attorney has claimed, for plaintiffs firms to pay kickbacks to lead plaintiffs in class actions. Rep. John Boehner expects to send…

May 2, 2008 6:15 PM CDT

Six Lawyers Boomerang to Holland & Knight

Six trusts and estates lawyers are rejoining Holland & Knight after leaving the firm several years ago for Luce Forward. Leading the group are partners Bruce Ross and Sean Higgins, who will be joining Holland & Knight’s Los Angeles office, the National Law Journal’s Legal Pad blog reports. Ross has…

May 2, 2008 5:03 PM CDT

200-Year-Old R.I. Firm Dwindles & Dies

A venerable Rhode Island law firm that long ago earned a respected name in the state’s history books has dwindled to the point where it is no longer a viable practice, and hence plans to close its doors. Tillinghast Licht, whose roots date back at least to 1818 and whose…

May 2, 2008 4:47 PM CDT

K&L Gates in Merger Talks With N.C. Law Firm

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, a law firm that is the product of two recent mergers, is in merger talks with yet another law firm, this one from North Carolina. The possible merger partner is Charlotte-based Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, a 175-lawyer firm with five offices in North…

May 2, 2008 12:52 PM CDT

Backdating Derivative Suit Names Wilson Sonsini

A derivative suit that targets Brocade Communications for backdating includes the company’s law firm as a defendant. The suit claims Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati committed legal malpractice by giving its approval to backdated stock options, the Recorder reports. The suit also claims the law firm gave bad advice on…

May 2, 2008 12:35 PM CDT

Living a Law Firm Trend: Law Firm Pro Bono Counsel

Davis Polk & Wardwell has hired a new pro bono counsel with “star legal wattage,” the New York Times reports. She’s Ronnie Abrams, who worked the last 10 years as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan seeking to put violent gang members behind bars. Abrams’ appointment is part of a growing…

May 2, 2008 11:31 AM CDT

Skadden, Wachtell Top AmLaw 100

After earlier news reports of record-breaking revenue and massive profits per partner, two New York-based major-name law firms have now been crowned by American Lawyer as the nation’s most lucrative in 2007. One of three U.S. law firms that reportedly broke the $2 billion barrier for the first time last…

May 1, 2008 6:07 PM CDT

Internet Scammers Steal Major Law Firm Partners’ Names

For those who may have thought the lengthy disclaimers on most law firm e-mails and websites covered virtually every contingency, there’s at least one more frontier that may offer an opportunity for further verbiage. A major London-based law firm says Internet scammers have been plying their trade under the names…

May 1, 2008 5:37 PM CDT

2 Midwest Firms Form 320-Lawyer Midsize Law Partnership

Effective today, two Midwest law firms have merged into a 320-lawyer partnership. It will be known by the name of the larger firm, which is based in Cincinnati—220-lawyer Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, reports the National Law Journal, in an article reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.). Robert Hicks, managing…

May 1, 2008 5:24 PM CDT

Law Firms Will Have to Work Harder for Hefty Profits, Competitor Predicts

Despite rich profits recently reported by some of the nation’s biggest and best-known law firms, the legal work landscape is changing for the vast majority of corporate practitioners. Faced with budget caps and ever-increasing scrutiny of what they spend, general counsels of client companies are flexing their considerable muscle to…

May 1, 2008 4:01 PM CDT