Lawyer Pay

The One Percenters Include More Doctors than Lawyers

Lawyers are well-represented in the top 1 percent of earners, but they still are outranked by business people, doctors and finance professionals. That’s the conclusion of a study of 2005 tax data by economists Jon Bakija, Adam Cole and Bradley Heim. The New York Times Economix blog reported on the…

Nov 2, 2011 12:38 PM CDT

Disbarment Forces Lawyer from Gov’t Jobs Paying $200K, But He Still Has His Pension

A well-known New Jersey lawyer has been disbarred by consent, after having been accused for the second time of misusing client trust money. As a result, Robert G. Rosenberg, 63, resigned from his dual roles as general counsel for both the Passaic County Technical Institute and the Paterson Parking Authority,…

Oct 28, 2011 7:51 PM CDT

Why New York Isn’t No. 1: Associates in Dallas Get the Most Bang for Their Buck

Median starting pay of $160,000 for first-year associates in large New York law firms may sound impressive, but new lawyers in more than 40 other cities get more bang for their buck. The National Association for Law Placement developed a “buying power index” to reach that conclusion, according to a…

Oct 27, 2011 11:48 AM CDT

Top Okla. Court Says Ex-Judge Forfeited Most of $7,800 Monthly Pension by Misconduct on Bench

A former Oklahoma judge who served felony time for indecent exposure after being convicted of using a sexual device while on the bench has forfeited most of his $7,800-a-month pension, including all of that amount attributable to his 22 years as a judge, the state’s top court ruled yesterday. Former…

Oct 26, 2011 10:43 AM CDT

Ex-BigLaw Partner with Tax LLM Loses Law License for a Year for Failing to File State Returns

A New York real estate transactional lawyer who didn’t file state tax returns from 2001 to 2007 had sought a public censure. But a state appeals court suspended Roger Roisman’s law license for one year, saying that the reduced income and multiple serious health problems he experienced during that period…

Oct 25, 2011 5:11 PM CDT

Nearly Half of Surveyed Lawyers Gripe It’s Difficult to Find Skilled Professionals

Legal hiring is on the increase in both law firms and corporations, but lawyers who are benefiting are those with experience in hot practice areas, according to a new report by Robert Half Legal. The search for attorneys with the right experience has led to a tight job market and…

Oct 19, 2011 1:56 PM CDT

Ex-President of Ohio State Bar Is Cooperating with Feds in Tax Fraud Case

A senior partner of Thompson Hine who formerly served as president of the Ohio State Bar Association is cooperating with federal prosecutors after being charged with tax fraud (PDF). Leslie W. “Les” Jacobs, 66, acknowledged in an interview that he had made fraudulent tax filings prior to 2008 and called…

Oct 17, 2011 11:15 PM CDT

Fla. County May Eliminate Top In-House Lawyer to Save Money

It isn’t just corporations that are looking for ways to trim legal bills. And at least some of the commissioners who run one Florida county think they may have found a way to do so: Terminate the top lawyer in the county’s in-house legal department and rely on his two…

Oct 7, 2011 11:34 PM CDT

SCOTUSblog Founder on How to Start Your Own Appellate Practice

Have you ever dreamed of opening your own appellate practice? The 2011 U.S. Supreme Court term opens Oct. 3, and along with the government lawyers and big firm attorneys, many solo and small firm practitioners will be entering the doors at 1 First St. ABA Journal Podcast moderator Stephanie Francis Ward talks with two lawyers about how and why they built their own appellate practices.

Oct 3, 2011 9:01 PM CDT

Wachtell PPP Again Tops Global 100, at $4.35M, Followed by Quinn Emanuel, at $3.62M

Law firms headquartered in the United States continue to dominate the Global 100 list compiled by American Lawyer of the world’s top-earning law firms over the most recent fiscal year. Baker & McKenzie remains in the number-one spot on the 2011 list, with gross revenue of $2.265 billion, followed by…

Sep 29, 2011 10:26 AM CDT

Making It Lean: Lisa Damon, Seyfarth Shaw

When you get paid by the minute, becoming more efficient might seem like a bad idea. Lisa J. Damon, a member of Seyfarth Shaw’s executive committee, has moved past that notion. Her firm has developed a plan that borrows heavily from the corporate management plan known as Six Sigma with…

Sep 21, 2011 1:50 PM CDT

Law Firm Associate Salaries ‘in Stasis’; First-Year Median Is Still $115K, NALP Says

The median salary for first-year associates working at law firms is $115,000, the same figure as last year, according to a law firm survey by the National Association for Law Placement. NALP executive director James Leipold says in a press release that law firm salaries are showing little movement. “Following…

Sep 12, 2011 10:29 AM CDT

Some Major Firms Based in Pa. are Raising 1st-Year Associate Salaries

In another sign of a strengthening legal market, associates at some well-known Pennsylvania-based law firms are getting pay raises. Starting salaries for Pennsylvania first-years at Reed Smith; Blank Rome; Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young; and Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis have all gone up, the Legal Intelligencer reports in an…

Sep 9, 2011 8:37 PM CDT

Why Foley Hoag Midlevel Associates Are Happier: Money and Better Communications

Midlevel associates are finding Foley Hoag more likable since the Boston law firm improved communications and raised pay. Foley Hoag jumped 92 spots in the American Lawyer’s survey of midlevel associate satisfaction, the highest one-year jump of any firm in the 2011 survey. An American Lawyer story examines the reasons…

Sep 8, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Are Spring Bonuses a Waste of Money? There’s Little Impact on Loyalty, Survey Suggests

More than 40 law firms gave out spring bonuses to associates this year after Sullivan & Cromwell set the standard with a decision in January to pay between $2,500 and $20,000. Did they make a cost-effective decision? Probably not, an American Lawyer analysis suggests. Law firms jumped on the bandwagon,…

Sep 1, 2011 2:37 PM CDT