Paralegals

Seven people pass test to become nation’s first legal technicians

Seven people have cleared a major hurdle to become the nation’s first limited license legal technicians. Nine people took Washington state’s first exam for limited license legal technicians, and seven of them passed, according to LawSites by Robert Ambrogi, who wrote about Washington state’s new program for the ABA Journal.…

Jun 2, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Paralegal’s ex testifies, says she admitted DUI setup of opposing trial lawyer

So far, the Florida Bar hasn’t introduced a controversial cellphone video into evidence against three lawyers accused of helping to set up opposing trial counsel for a drunken-driving arrest in 2013. But bar counsel did call as a legal ethics trial witness this week the man who took the video:…

May 15, 2015 1:20 PM CDT

Patent team exits Womble Carlyle to open new Silicon Valley office for Downey Brand

A five-lawyer patent team headed by Michael Ferrazano has exited Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice to open a new Silicon Valley office for Sacramento-based Downey Brand. The group also includes five patent agents, a paralegal and 11 staff members, and is expected to bring a substantial book of business to…

Mar 31, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

Judge sees ‘self-congratulatory blather’ in BigLaw brief; paralegals blamed for error

A Florida bankruptcy judge overseeing a fight between investors in a shuttered fashion mall made no secret of his dissatisfaction with a Duane Morris pleading during a sanctions hearing on Friday. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Olson said the law firm appeared to be throwing a paralegal “under the bus” when…

Mar 23, 2015 8:15 AM CDT

Lawyer pays bonus to employees who carry guns

A lawyer in Davenport, Iowa, is encouraging employees to exercise their Second Amendment rights by paying a $50 monthly bonus to those who carry a gun. Lawyer Eric Puryear of Puryear Law, who is a certified National Rifle Association instructor, says he began offering the bonus about four years ago,…

Mar 20, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Paralegal takes plea in $600K law firm client theft; feds say he spent $550K on coin collection

A trusted paralegal accused of embezzling nearly $600,000 from 41 clients of a Georgia law firm over a period of about five years pleaded guilty Tuesday after representing himself at trial for two days in federal court. Criminally charged with 253 counts, including bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity…

Mar 11, 2015 2:15 PM CDT

Lawyer suspended for hiring disbarred lawyer who used assumed name in client meetings

A solo practitioner in New York state has been suspended for two years because he hired a disbarred lawyer, an old law school friend, as a paralegal and then gave the friend great autonomy. Dean Gary Weber of Westbury, New York, was suspended for two years for assisting a nonlawyer…

Feb 10, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Court: BigLaw firms missed $1.5B error, erasing JPMorgan’s security interest in GM loan

An error by a paralegal at Mayer Brown went undiscovered by higher-ups at the law firm as well as by lawyers at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, erasing JPMorgan Chase Bank’s security interest in a loan to General Motors, a federal appeals court says. Mayer Brown represented GM, so its client…

Jan 22, 2015 9:16 AM CST

Prominent lawyer accused of assaulting employee after a night of drinking takes misdemeanor plea

Initially accused of driving a law firm employee home after a work-related event and raping her, a prominent Pennsylvania attorney has taken a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor. Because of a lab report misread by Montgomery County prosecutors, the case against Robert Kerns is now being pursued by the state…

Nov 24, 2014 4:30 PM CST

More than 750 Bingham partners, lawyers and staffers are going to Morgan Lewis

Morgan Lewis is acquiring 525 lawyers and staffers from Bingham McCutchen in addition to 226 partners from the law firm. Terms of the acquisition were finalized on Friday, the Am Law Daily reports. The acquisition gives Morgan Lewis about 2,000 lawyers in 28 offices. Morgan Lewis chair Jami McKeon said…

Nov 24, 2014 9:23 AM CST

Paralegal held hostage at law firm helped police negotiate with gunman

An ordinary day at work at an Oklahoma immigration law firm ended at lunchtime Monday for paralegal Jennifer McMinn-Shokat. Someone came into the Farzaneh Law Firm and warned that a gunman was nearby. She and a coworker locked the glass front doors, then refused to open them and ran when…

Nov 12, 2014 3:51 PM CST

In a rural county that lacks lawyers, no one seemingly wants to buy a successful law practice

The most highly populated county in Iowa has over 2,500 attorneys. Ringgold County has only two, and one of them would like to retire. However, as James Pedersen and his wife pondered a possible move to Colorado, “I put my practice up for sale,” he told the Des Moines Register.…

Nov 3, 2014 10:00 AM CST

Techno-Change-o: Paralegal, legal assistant duties expand

Is time running backward for today's law firm paralegals? These nonlawyer staffers were among the first to be hit with layoffs as the legal practice economy took a dive. According to the 2012 Survey of Law Firm Economics (PDF), law offices averaged 30 paralegals per 100 lawyers in the early…

Nov 1, 2014 5:10 AM CDT

Baker Botts joins open office trend, moves junior associates to interior area

Like a number of other well-known law firms, Baker Botts has been rethinking the concept of office space. A growing open office trend focuses on grouping employees and arranging work space in a way that encourages productivity and collaboration. It also often results in fewer offices, smaller individual work spaces…

Sep 18, 2014 5:15 PM CDT

Baker & McKenzie to open back-office operations center in Belfast

Baker & McKenzie has chosen Belfast as the location for a second back-office operations center. The law firm expects the new office to employ about 120 professionals by the end of its first year of operation, rising to between 200 and 250 employees at the end of three years, according…

Aug 28, 2014 12:22 PM CDT