Land-use partner exiting Johnson Pope after 30 years to open new office for Hill Ward

After 30 years at a well-known Florida law firm with roots in Pinellas County, a leading land-use lawyer is exiting with another attorney to open a new Clearwater area office for Hill Ward Henderson, a 90-attorney Tampa-based law firm, on May 1. Partner Ed Armstrong, 55, declined to explain why…

Mar 5, 2013 5:22 PM CST

Despite ‘disappointing’ 2012 numbers, Dorsey & Whitney says 2013, 2014 are headed up

Revenue last year at Dorsey & Whitney was the lowest in six years. Yet the new managing partner of the Minneapolis-based law firm says he expects better things in 2013 and 2014, as the firm focuses on a financial turnaround, the Star Tribune reports. “2012 was a disappointing year,” said…

Mar 4, 2013 11:59 PM CST

Patton Boggs axes 30 attorneys and 35 staff, no partners get pink slips

Unlike a number of other major law firms, Patton Boggs didn’t lay off workers during the recession. But it axed 65 attorneys and other employees Thursday, after 2012 revenue and profits slipped, the firm’s managing partner said Friday. Let go were 30 lawyers and 35 staff members, managing partner Edward…

Mar 1, 2013 9:13 PM CST

2013 raises to peak for midlevel associates at midsize firms

Mar 1, 2013 8:00 AM CST

Cahill reports record figures for 2012, including $3.555M profit per partner

Cahill Gordon & Reindel has reported all-time record profits for 2012, including gross revenue of $348.5 million, up 6.9 percent from 2011, and average profit per partner of $3.555 million, up 10.7 percent. “It was a record year, and we were quite pleased,” Jonathan Schaffzin, a member of the 300-attorney…

Feb 27, 2013 7:44 PM CST

Midsize firms see culture as a recruiting tool

Midsize law firms believe culture helps them in the hiring process. Seventy percent of midsize law firms said a strong culture is among the top two factors in recruiting new lawyers, according to a survey by the law firm referral network TAGLaw and the Center for the Study of the…

Feb 21, 2013 3:18 PM CST

As ‘super firm’ profits soar, others boost revenue by shrinking partner ranks

Some California law firms are seeing profits soar simply by being at the top of their game. But others, trying to compete with “super firms” such as Latham & Watkins and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Silicon Valley powerhouses such as Cooley, are boosting reported profits by reducing the…

Feb 19, 2013 9:21 PM CST

Shaken by death of lawyer slain by mediation opponent, colleagues ponder safety concerns

Shaken by the death last month of a highly regarded partner of an Arizona law firm, slain along with his client by a litigation opponent in a relatively minor business matter, colleagues and friends of Mark Hummels, 43, as well as those who never knew him, are pondering what can…

Feb 13, 2013 2:53 PM CST

4 lawyers exit McCarter & English for Holland & Knight

Three partners and a special counsel have exited McCarter & English for the Boston office of Holland & Knight. Brian Leary, Diane McDermott and Jeffrey Stoler will all be partners at Holland & Knight; Richard Holtz, who had been at the 400-attorney northeast regional firm only about one year, will…

Feb 6, 2013 5:45 PM CST

Bar probes 3 lawyers accused of setting up opposing counsel for mid-trial DUI arrest

The Florida Bar is investigating three lawyers accused of playing a role in the mid-trial drunken-driving arrest of their opposing counsel in a hard-fought radio shock jock defamation case. C. Philip Campbell faces a driving-under-the-influence charge after he was arrested Jan. 23 at the wheel of a paralegal’s car as…

Feb 5, 2013 9:08 PM CST

Dead suspect in shooting of mediation opponents was litigious, had anger issues, lawyer says

Updated: A man who authorities say committed suicide after shooting a corporate attorney and his client after a law firm mediation session Wednesday in Phoenix was reportedly litigious and had anger-management issues. Before shooting attorney Mark P. Hummels, 43, and client Steven Singer, 48, who both died, Arthur Douglas Harmon,…

Jan 31, 2013 8:06 PM CST

Ex-associate admits scheme to divert $453K in law firm funds, takes federal wire fraud plea

An ex-associate of a Louisiana law firm pleaded guilty to a wire fraud count Wednesday in federal court in Baton Rouge and admitted a scheme to get $453,123 of Crawford Lewis funds for his own use. James M. “Tres” Bernhard III, 36, settled last summer a civil lawsuit brought against…

Jan 31, 2013 4:49 PM CST

Fatal shooting after mediation leaves lawyer and client dead

Updated: A prominent Arizona attorney and his client were killed in a shooting after a Wednesday morning mediation session at another law firm in Phoenix. The suspected shooter, their pro se opponent in litigation over a $20,000 office furniture dispute, was also present at the mediation session at DeConcini McDonald…

Jan 31, 2013 2:29 PM CST

Was mid-trial DUI a set-up by lawyer’s opposing counsel in DJ defamation case?

Updated: A paralegal repeatedly took the Fifth on Friday during a Florida court hearing on claims by an attorney that he had been set up by his opposing counsel for a driving-under-the-influence arrest in the midst of a high-profile Tampa trial. Attorney Charles Philip Campbell Jr., was arrested for drunken…

Jan 28, 2013 6:04 PM CST

Attorneys who quit law firm jobs during 2009 downturn find success as small corporate boutique

During the fall of 2009, as the legal economy was headed into a tailspin, two attorneys at the Wilmington, Del., office of Pennsylvania-based Riley Riper Hollin & Colagreco did something counterintuitive. Jack Harris and Buddy Berger left the security of their Riley Riper jobs and formed their own small law…

Jan 15, 2013 3:40 PM CST