Paralegals

DLA Piper Cuts Staffers, But Won’t Disclose the Numbers

DLA Piper is confirming new layoffs of support staffers, but isn’t supplying details on numbers. A statement supplied by the law firm confirms a “right-sizing” and says it is assisting those who lost jobs with outplacement services. Above the Law first reported on the layoffs on Friday, saying offices in…

Nov 16, 2010 2:23 PM CST

Erin Brockovich Goes Back to Work on Hinkley, Where Residents Claim New Chromium Problems

An environmental contamination case that made paralegal Erin Brockovich famous, after she was portrayed by actress Julia Roberts in a Oscar-winning movie about the litigation, may not be over yet. Some residents around Hinkley, Calif., say they’re experiencing new problems with hexavalent chromium-tainted groundwater, after a contaminated plume spread beyond…

Nov 15, 2010 10:16 PM CST

Howrey Lays Off 32 Staffers, Plans to Focus Resources in Three Areas

Howrey has laid off 32 support staffers in an effort to focus its resources in three practice areas. Howrey issued a statement confirming last week’s layoffs. The Am Law Daily, Above the Law and Law360 have the story. “This right-sizing of the firm will allow Howrey to concentrate its resources…

Nov 11, 2010 12:36 PM CST

Mayer Brown Seeks Ex-Paralegal’s Employment File at Other Jobs to Defend Hard-Fought Age Case

Seeking to defend itself aggressively in a hard-fought age discrimination suit brought by a former $88,000-a-year paralegal in its Washington, D.C., office, Mayer Brown is seeking to discover portions of Mary Ellen Hindin’s employment file for other jobs she has held. Among the well-known firms served with subpoenas seeking Hindin’s…

Nov 11, 2010 12:10 AM CST

Ex-Attorney Rothstein’s Right-Hand Woman Gets 10 Years in $1.4B Ponzi Scheme

Exceeding the prosecution’s recommendation of a seven-year sentence, a federal judge in South Florida today imposed a 10-year prison term on an aide to ex-attorney Scott Rothstein for her role in his approximately $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, in which he sold expected income from fake legal settlements. Debra Villegas, 43,…

Oct 8, 2010 5:24 PM CDT

Law Dean Points to Encouraging Labor Report, But Paralegal Deans Should Be Happier

The dean of a new law school slated to open in Nashville, Tenn., next year is optimistic about the legal job market, providing a stark contrast to the assessment by the chairman of an ABA committee studying the impact of the recession. Belmont University will open Nashville’s third law school,…

Oct 5, 2010 3:53 PM CDT

Lawyer Says His Longtime Secretary Is the Informant Who Secretly Recorded Him

A secretary who testified for a Georgia lawyer accused of federal drug and money-laundering charges, helping win his acquittal last year, apparently had a change of heart. The secretary, Brandy Rivera, became a secret informant, says her onetime boss, lawyer Mark Shelnutt. And Shelnutt was the target, according to the…

Oct 4, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Nepal Plane Crash Kills Brooklyn Law Grad, Two Utah Law Firm Workers

A Brooklyn Law School graduate and two workers at a Utah law firm were among 14 people killed Tuesday when a plane destined for the area of Mount Everest crashed in Nepal. The law grad was Irina Shekhets, the New York Daily News reports. She took the New Jersey bar…

Aug 25, 2010 11:27 AM CDT

Paralegal Rejects 40-Year Plea Deal in Alleged $1M Law Firm Theft

A paralegal and her husband have been indicted on charges of embezzling more than $1 million from the Texas law firm where she also served as office manager. Rosanne Stogner was accused of making out law firm checks to herself, her husband Michael, his fence company and even her daughter’s…

Aug 17, 2010 2:34 PM CDT

Jones Day Lays Off More Staffers, But Is ‘Poised for Additional Growth’

A week after confirming staff cuts in Los Angeles and Dallas, Jones Day has announced layoffs in its Cleveland office. The law firm did not specify how many people lost their jobs, but said none of them were lawyers, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. The newspaper cited a statement issued…

Jun 23, 2010 1:09 PM CDT

Law Firms Express ‘Growing Enthusiasm’ for Contract Lawyers

There isn’t much good news for associates in a new survey of leaders of law firms with more than 50 lawyers. Forty-four percent of the firms laid off associates last year, 53 percent reduced or discontinued hiring first-year associates, and 64 percent shrunk their summer associate programs, according to the…

Jun 22, 2010 2:37 PM CDT

Ex-Office Manager Gets House Arrest for Stealing $75K from Law Firm Trust Account

Depressed over her financial problems, a longtime paralegal at a Pennsylvania law firm turned to gambling in an attempt to make ends meet. That resulted in a gambling addiction that drove office manager Dolores Ann Seber to steal more than $75,000 from the trust account of Byrne Neyhart and Higgins,…

Jun 18, 2010 6:08 PM CDT

Jones Day Lays Off Staffers in Dallas and LA as ‘Last-Resort Alternative’

Jones Day has laid off an unspecified number of support staffers in its Los Angeles and Dallas offices. Washington, D.C., partner Joe Sims tells the ABA Journal that about two-thirds of those laid off are secretarial workers, and the rest are other legal support staffers. Sims wouldn’t give out specific…

Jun 16, 2010 5:08 PM CDT

Skadden Name Partner Helps Bring Pianos to the Streets of New York

The only living name partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom has donated $60,000 to help bring 60 pianos to the streets of New York as part of a “play me, I’m yours” worldwide public art project. The matching donation by Joseph Flom and his wife, Judi, a former…

Jun 14, 2010 12:01 PM CDT

Ex-COO for Rothstein Firm Takes Plea, Explains Why She Helped With $1.4B Scheme

The former chief operating officer for the now-shuttered Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm has pleaded guilty to a federal money-laundering conspiracy charge and said she helped her ex-boss, now-disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein, because she feared potential Mafia repercussions if she didn’t. Initially, Debra Villegas told U.S. District Judge William Zloch,…

Jun 12, 2010 12:23 AM CDT