Lawyer Wellness

Firm Unveils Comical ‘Lawyer Job Interview Translator’

A Minneapolis law firm is poking fun at the job interview process with a new website called “the lawyer job interview translator.” The online recruitment tool is the brainchild of Halleland Lewis Nilan & Johnson. It features a glib-talking interviewer who delivers pat answers to job candidates. The site then…

Jul 22, 2008 6:02 PM CDT

Orrick Partner Says Law Firms Must Change Promotion and Billing Structures

A partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe endorses part-time work options at law firms, but she says it isn’t nearly enough to satisfy the new generation of lawyers. Patricia Gillette, a San Francisco partner in employment law, said law firms need to completely change promotion structures, create multiple paths to…

Jul 18, 2008 3:32 PM CDT

Multitasking Winstead Lawyer Exercises While He Works

Winstead partner Ross Robinson doesn’t go to the gym, but he still manages to work out for almost as many hours as he devotes to work each day. He does it by walking on a treadmill as he works. Robinson told the Tex Parte Blog that he walks at a…

Jul 17, 2008 5:37 PM CDT

Holland & Knight Tries Success Fees, Considers Ousting Unproductive Partners

The new managing partner of Holland & Knight is making some changes. Some clients may be pleased but unproductive partners may not. The firm’s new managing partner, Steven Sonberg, says his primary goal is keeping the law firm on sound financial footing, the National Law Journal reports. Toward that end,…

Jul 16, 2008 3:44 PM CDT

At Virtual Law Firm, Lawyers Will Work at Home, Earn 85% of Billings

A lawyer-entrepreneur is joining with 14 other lawyers to start a new legal venture called Virtual Law Partners. The firm will employ lawyers who work at home, saving on overhead and costing clients less in legal fees, the Recorder reports. Craig Johnson, the lawyer who formed the Venture Law Group…

Jul 16, 2008 1:19 PM CDT

Lawyer and Economist Ben Stein Writes on Economics of Love

Law and economics is a burgeoning field, but lawyer and economist Ben Stein is addressing another field: love and economics. Stein writes in the New York Times that, in general, “the returns in love situations are roughly proportional to the amount of time and devotion invested. If you invest caring,…

Jul 14, 2008 2:35 PM CDT

Lawyer Band Practices in Judge’s Chambers

A federal judge who plays the saxophone allows a group of 35 Chicago lawyers who play in a jazz group called the Barristers Big Band to practice in her chambers. U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning of Chicago, an accomplished musician who also performs and records with the KCR Ensemble, is…

Jul 10, 2008 4:52 PM CDT

More Male Lawyers at Big Firms Taking Paternity Leave

As more big law firms offer paid paternity leave, male lawyers aren’t hesitating to use the new benefit. And their numbers are increasing. At Kirkland & Ellis, 78 men took paternity leave in 2007—and about 50 of them took four-and-a-half weeks, the American Lawyer reports. Partner Jay Lefkowitz says the…

Jul 10, 2008 12:39 PM CDT

Most-Dissatisfied Professionals in the UK Are Male Lawyers

Almost a third of male lawyers surveyed in the United Kingdom said they wouldn’t want their children to follow in their footsteps. The survey of 1,000 professionals in several fields by recruitment agency Hudson found that male lawyers were the least satisfied group, the Telegraph reports. The reasons for professionals’…

Jul 10, 2008 12:16 PM CDT

Firm Pays Associates Less and Partners Equally, Requires Fewer Hours

California intellectual property firm Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear is looking to expand without changing its unusual business model. All of the firm’s partners share equally in profits, the National Law Journal reports in an article reprinted in the New York Lawyer. Associates make below-market pay of $150,000, but the…

Jul 9, 2008 11:52 AM CDT

Skadden’s Car Service: Abused Perk or Pretext?

At the heart of an age and sex discrimination case against Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is a onetime litigation counsel’s liberal use of a common law firm perk: the car service. In 2005, Rita W. Gordon was fired allegedly for inappropriately charging clients for personal car service use,…

Jul 8, 2008 12:41 PM CDT

Shook Hardy Lawyers Get Extra $$ If They Walk, Cycle to Work

With no end in sight to high gas prices and the ever-increasing costs of commuting, Shook, Hardy & Bacon has dangled a carrot in front of its employees to encourage them to find alternative ways to get to work. Effective July 1, the “SHB Commuters Program” offers employees at the…

Jul 8, 2008 10:30 AM CDT

Law Firm Refugees ‘Chill Out,’ Make Big Bucks at Upstart Firms

Some upstart legal groups are hiring lawyers from big law firms who want to work reduced hours and take a break from the daily legal grind. The lawyers often work from home or in the offices of the clients who hire them, the Wall Street Journal reports. At one of…

Jul 2, 2008 10:40 AM CDT

Happy Hour Popular With Law Firm and Accounting Workers

Updated: A new survey finds that people who work in law, accounting and financial services are the most likely to head to the bars after work. The survey for CareerBuilder.com found that workers in legal and financial occupations were most likely to go to happy hour with co-workers, with about…

Jul 1, 2008 5:21 PM CDT

Of Passions and Practice

These attorneys have discovered that running a side business doesn’t have to mean leaving the law

Jul 1, 2008 1:10 PM CDT