Top LSU Lawyer Resigns From $275K General Counsel Job, Will Now Work as Law School Prof

After more than a decade on the job, the general counsel of Louisiana State University system resigned Thursday from his $275,000-a-year position, effective Friday, in what is apparently the latest move in a continuing shake-up that began after new members appointed by Gov. Bobby Jindal took control of the system’s…

Sep 7, 2012 3:58 PM CDT

Bad News Gets Worse: 2011 Grads Face Tightening Job Market

Sep 1, 2012 6:50 AM CDT

NY Judge Quits for ADR Job, Cites Pay as Reason

A New York judge in the appellate division is leaving his $168,600-per-year job to pursue a position with a private alternative dispute resolution company. Justice Ariel Belen tells the New York Law Journal that a recent 17 percent salary boost for judges was “too little, too late.” He plans to…

Aug 16, 2012 1:16 PM CDT

Judge Judy Rules as TV’s Highest-Paid On-Camera Personality, TV Guide Survey Says

Some celebrities may make more per hour of actual work, or bring in bigger bucks when all of their income from various sources is added together. But the top annual total for on-camera television work is the $45 million or so brought in by Judge Judy Scheindlin, according to a…

Aug 8, 2012 10:45 PM CDT

Husch Blackwell Ups Ante for Some First-Years; Press Release Chart Lists Salaries Up to $160K

Husch Blackwell is increasing starting salaries for first-year associates in eight of the 14 offices listed on its website. And, rather than wait for legal news media to report on internal email to associates about the promised pay increase, the law firm has issued a press release announcing the new…

Aug 3, 2012 12:17 PM CDT

Are Lawyers by Definition Members of the Upper Middle Class?

Newly minted lawyers saddled with huge student loans may feel like they are among the working poor. But some sociologists use occupation to define class, and they put white-collar specialists such as engineers, professors, economists, architects and lawyers into the “upper middle class,” report the Washington Post and the Associated…

Jul 23, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

General Counsel Compensation Falls in 2011; Average Base Pay and Bonus Is $1.7M

Fortune 500 general counsel saw an average loss of 1.8 percent in base pay last year and much bigger drops in equity compensation. The average base pay was $611,411, Corporate Counsel reports. The average base pay combined with nonequity bonus was $1.7 million, down 5.7 percent. The losses in equity…

Jul 18, 2012 12:13 PM CDT

What Can the Real Rate Report Tell Us About the Value of Entry-Level Lawyers?

ABA Journal reporter Rachel M. Zahorsky talks with Craig Raeburn, managing director of TyMetrix Legal Analytic, co-producer of the Real Rate Report, and Stuart Dodds, director of global pricing at Baker & McKenzie, as they discuss the impact of the study’s findings on law firm-client relationships, best practices for efficient case management, and how firms can ensure the proper investment in entry-level lawyers to serve clients now and in the future.

Jul 17, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Sticky Wages Depress Associate Hiring; BigLaw on Track to Become ‘Older and Dumber’

Salary figures released last week are bad news for large law firms that pay high starting salaries as well as for new lawyers seeking high paying jobs, according to two new reports analyzing the statistics. Law grads from the class of 2011 are earning median pay of $60,000, a 5…

Jul 17, 2012 12:09 PM CDT

Median Starting Pay for Associates Is No Longer in the Six Figures; Figure Drops 35% in Two Years

Updated: New law grads in private practice are no longer taking home median paychecks in the six figures. The erosion in BigLaw jobs is depressing the salaries for all class of 2011 law graduates, according to new statistics from NALP–The Association for Legal Career Professionals. Law grads from the class…

Jul 12, 2012 11:56 AM CDT

Paralegal Peeks at Part-Time Lawyer’s Check, Takes Pay Peeve to Advice Columnist

A paralegal handed the wrong paycheck by mistake wrote to the “Ask Amy” advice column to complain about pay inequity. The paralegal, who works for a small law firm, writes: “I’ve made a lot of money for the firm. Because of all my hard work, the firm has hired two…

Jul 10, 2012 12:12 PM CDT

Lawyers Ranked No. 5 for Best Pay; Doctors Top List

Being a lawyer is good-paying work, if you can get it. Lawyers make an average of about $130,000 a year, making their profession one of the most highly paid in the country, according to recent 2011 data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. CNBC.com used the statistics to create…

Jul 3, 2012 4:28 PM CDT

Jailed Ex-BigLaw Partner Once Made $183K Monthly, Now Has Court-Appointed Lawyer for Tax Case Appeal

Until May 2009, John J. O’Brien was making $183,000 per month as a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell. Now serving a 28-month federal prison sentence, after pleading guilty to four misdemeanors in a tax-evasion case, he is pursuing an appeal of his sentence with the help of a court-appointed lawyer.…

Jun 19, 2012 8:55 PM CDT

Defendant Dewey Leader Calls Ex-Partner’s ‘Ponzi Scheme’ Suit ‘Sad,’ Says Plaintiff Got Bigger Bucks

Responding to a lawsuit filed by a former Dewey & LeBoeuf partner that accuses leaders of the now-bankrupt law firm of “running a Ponzi scheme” in recent years, one of the five named defendants described the litigation by Henry Bunsow as “sad” and said Bunsow received more of his promised…

Jun 14, 2012 6:31 PM CDT

Former Dewey Partner’s Suit Compares Firm Leaders’ Lateral Partner Recruitment to ‘Ponzi Scheme’

Updated: A former partner of Dewey & LeBoeuf has filed suit against leaders of the now-bankrupt law firm, contending that they engaged in a multiple acts of deceit after the 2007 merger that created the firm and misrepresented its revenue in an effort to persuade incoming lateral partners to contribute…

Jun 13, 2012 9:02 PM CDT