Have we reached the end of the partnership model?

Aug 1, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Merchants say lawyer should lose $32M fee award over alleged email contact with opposing counsel

So far, the fallout from an alleged $5 million scheme by an attorney and her husband to defraud two law firms and a client includes a lost BigLaw partnership and wire fraud conspiracy charges against both spouses. Now it appears that email between Keila Ravelo and another lawyer who is…

Jul 28, 2015 4:02 PM CDT

Ex-partner awarded $550K in law firm dispute loses appeal; firm says he now owes $200K

Last year, Kirk Willis was awarded $550,000 by a Georgia jury, minus a $105,000 counterclaim, in litigation against his former law firm. But earlier this month, the onetime chief of the Dallas office of Atlanta-based Helms & Greene had a reversal of fortune. Willis, who was also awarded attorney’s fees…

Jul 21, 2015 12:00 PM CDT

Partner who overheard lawyer discuss client merger is indicted for alleged insider trading

A real estate partner in the Philadelphia headquarters of a national law firm overheard a colleague talking with their shared legal assistant about an imminent client merger. Then he illegally used the insider information in purchasing stock in the client’s company for himself and his wife, federal regulators say. Herbert…

Jul 17, 2015 10:40 AM CDT

Once-mighty real estate boutique files for bankruptcy, a year after claimed $30M embezzlement

A real estate boutique whose attorney roster has shrunk to a small fraction of the 150 lawyers it once listed has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Atlanta-based Morris Schneider Wittstadt made the filing early this week in Richmond, Virginia. It says the firm has approximately $10 million in assets and…

Jul 7, 2015 10:10 AM CDT

Law firm sues Vegas casino for refund of $3.4M they say partner transferred for gambling

A Georgia real estate boutique has filed a federal lawsuit against a high-end Las Vegas casino hotel, seeking a refund of some $3.4 million they say a former managing partner transferred there for gambling. Former name partner Nathan Hardwick IV was invited by the Cosmopolitan in 2012 to open an…

Jul 2, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

Bickel and Brewer part ways; their firm will now be known as Brewer

Bill Brewer and John Bickel have parted ways, resulting in the end of a 30-year era Monday at Bickel & Brewer. Now known as Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, the firm is moving to new offices in Dallas, the Texas Lawbook reports in an article reprinted in the Dallas Morning News.…

Jun 22, 2015 1:45 PM CDT

Nelson Mullins opens NYC office, expands capital markets practice

A Southern regional powerhouse has planted its flag in New York City. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough announced Monday that it has opened a Manhattan office with two partners who focus on real estate and corporate financial matters, reports The State. With the help of the new office in the…

Jun 9, 2015 11:00 AM CDT

Barnes & Thornburg opens Dallas office with 2 partners from Gardere Wynne

A well-known Midwestern law firm has planted its flag in Texas, opening a Dallas office with two litigation partners from Gardere Wynne Sewell. Managing partner Bob Grand says Barnes & Thornburg expects the new office to have 15 to 20 lawyers within a year or so, Texas Lawyer (sub. req.)…

Jun 8, 2015 4:25 PM CDT

Two upstate NY firms tie the knot; 275-attorney shop is largest in Northeast outside of big cities

Only a few months ago, two major regional firms in upstate New York said they were dating but nowhere near ready to get engaged, let alone tie the knot. On Monday, Hiscock & Barclay and Damen Morey announced their merger. Effective immediately, the 275-attorney melded firm will be known as…

Jun 2, 2015 11:15 AM CDT

Honigman opens in Chicago by acquiring 14-attorney litigation firm there

One of Michigan’s biggest law firms has opened its first out-of-state office by acquiring a 14-attorney litigation boutique in Chicago. Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, in addition to acquiring Schopf & Weiss, also is bringing in two former BigLaw counsel as partners in the new Chicago office, reports Crain’s Detroit…

Jun 1, 2015 10:55 AM CDT

After flooding sends a river through its historic law offices, Houston PI firm cleans up

For 65 years, a Texas personal injury firm that bills itself as the oldest such practice in the state has been housed in a historic building in downtown Houston. But the mahogany doors and impressive furnishings that distinguished Abraham Watkins Nichols Sorrels Agosto & Friend could soon be on the…

May 28, 2015 3:20 PM CDT

Failed foreclosure firm that ‘grew way too fast’ leaves some 700 unpaid employees scrambling

A sudden announcement at the end of the day Thursday that a Florida real estate law firm would be closing its doors—and didn’t have enough money to issue final paychecks—has left some 700 employees scrambling. “I know we shouldn’t be living from paycheck to paycheck, but that’s the reality today,”…

May 20, 2015 10:00 AM CDT

Foreclosure law firm closes doors; 700 workers lose jobs, are told there’s no money to pay them

Updated: A real estate law firm handling 60,000 mortgage foreclosure cases nationwide abruptly closed its doors last week. On May 14, as the day neared its end, 700 employees of Butler & Hosch heard that the 200-attorney firm is closing—and that it lacked the money to cover the payroll and…

May 18, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

It’s a mobile world—embrace digital marketing and learn Google’s secrets, Lawyernomics speakers say

Here in Las Vegas, Elvis Presley may still be the king. But for the legal industry, it’s mobile devices that are wearing the crown (or the gold lamé suit). That factoid probably comes as no surprise to most people. Many lawyers, however, are stuck in the PC era—assuming they have…

May 15, 2015 12:50 PM CDT