Law Firms

Blog Suspends Skadden ‘Hot Associates’ Contest, Says Memo Prompted Decision

Updated: The Skadden Insider blog says it has decided to suspend nominations for its hottest male associate contest after a critical memo from Henry Baer, who is of counsel at Skadden. The blog posted part a memo that Baer sent to all the firm’s lawyers. “We’re guessing that he was…

Feb 11, 2008 3:36 PM CST

Latham Grabs a U.S. Law Firm Record: $2B in Gross Revenue

Latham & Watkins has become the first U.S. law firm to top $2 billion in gross revenue. The question is whether it will remain on top after Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom announces its 2007 revenues. The year before, Skadden was No. 1, with $1.85 billion in gross revenue,…

Feb 11, 2008 11:44 AM CST

New BigLaw Perk for Struggling Associates: Career Counselor

Faced with the likelihood of associate flight, given high attrition rates, a growing number of BigLaw firms are trying a new tactic: hiring an in-house career counselor to help junior attorneys develop professionally. The career counselor’s role is to offer associates “a neutral and confidential third party to go to…

Feb 8, 2008 9:04 PM CST

Disbarment Sought for Former Holland & Knight Partner

The District of Columbia Bar Counsel is seeking the disbarment of a former partner at Holland & Knight for allegedly forging signatures on an agreement for an easement. Theodore Silva Jr. is accused of lying to the law firm and a client about the status of the agreement, then forging…

Feb 8, 2008 2:48 PM CST

Firms Boost U.K. Pay to Account for Slumping Dollar

An increasing number of law firms are hiking pay for their lawyers in London because of the slumping American dollar. Many new lawyers at U.S. firms in London make base salaries of about $188,000, more money than their New York big-firm counterparts, according to Legal Week. Several law firms have…

Feb 8, 2008 2:12 PM CST

Fashion Week Find: Power Office Attire for Women

Although many of the new styles now debuting in New York City’s Fashion Week are too fussy, ruffled or feathery for professional women, there is also good news for female attorneys. A long-standing complaint of many professional women that they can’t find appropriate designer clothing that is suitable for work…

Feb 7, 2008 10:48 PM CST

An Expert Explains How to Delegate

Effective lawyers know how to make themselves look good by helping their junior colleagues to work efficiently. A key skill required to do so, a consultant notes, is knowing how to delegate. Lawyers want to feel that they are working on an important matter. So, helping associates to understand the…

Feb 7, 2008 9:27 PM CST

Number of Law Offices in ABA-EPA Climate Challenge Climbs to 88

At least 88 law offices have agreed to participate in a joint initiative by the ABA and the Environmental Protection Agency to encourage policies that help the environment, GreenBiz.com reports. The number is more than triple the number of law firms and related groups that had agreed to participate in…

Feb 7, 2008 3:35 PM CST

Cadwalader’s ‘Spectacular Raid’ Snags Private Equity Chief

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has been in the news lately for laying off 35 associates, but the downturn hasn’t stopped the firm from hiring the global head of the private equity practice at Latham & Watkins. The Lawyer calls Cadwalader’s hiring of R. Ronald Hopkinson “a spectacular raid” on its…

Feb 7, 2008 2:32 PM CST

PI Lawyers Argue Admin Payments Were Bonuses, Not Referral Fees

Two partners in a now-defunct personal-injury law firm argue in a petition filed with the New Jersey Supreme Court that their payments to an office administrator were bonuses rather than illegal referral fees. The state’s Disciplinary Review Board had ruled the Cherry Hill law firm—Tomar, Simonoff, Adourian, O’Brien, Kaplan, Jacoby…

Feb 7, 2008 2:11 PM CST

Clifford Chance’s U.S. Offices on the Upswing

Partners at U.K.-based law firm Clifford Chance tell the American Lawyer its U.S. offices are thriving after a 2000 merger with Rogers & Wells that led to a spate of lawyer defections. The firm has some impressive evidence of a rebound, the story says: The firm has hired 14 lateral…

Feb 7, 2008 1:38 PM CST

Ex-Detroit Mayor, Now Chair of Dickinson Wright, Weighs Gubernatorial Bid

Lawyer Dennis Archer has a long list of accomplishments. He’s been a supreme court justice (on the Michigan Supreme Court), a mayor (of Detroit) and a president (of the ABA). But Archer, now the chairman of Dickinson Wright, may have a new goal: the Michigan governor’s office. Archer told the…

Feb 6, 2008 5:11 PM CST

Why Clinton Is Like Paul Weiss, and Obama Is Like Quinn Emanuel

Here’s an unusual question: If the presidential candidates were like New York law firms, which ones would they be? Blogger and writer David Lat posed that question to a smattering of lawyers for a column in the New York Observer and came to this conclusion: Hillary Clinton is like Paul,…

Feb 6, 2008 3:47 PM CST

Duane Morris Defends $1.6M Malpractice Claim

Duane Morris maintained in opening statements this week that it didn’t commit malpractice by failing to include a security guarantee in a settlement agreement it drafted for a client, the Legal Intelligencer reports. The law firm has been sued for $1.6 million by an ex-client who says he received only…

Feb 6, 2008 1:56 PM CST

Did Lawyer’s E-Mail Goof Land $1B Settlement on NYT’s Front Page?

Updated: An outside lawyer for Eli Lilly & Co. apparently has two people named “Berenson” in her e-mail address book. One is a reporter for the New York Times and the other is her co-counsel assisting in confidential negotiations on a possible $1 billion settlement between the pharmaceutical company and…

Feb 6, 2008 11:55 AM CST