Partners

Will Dispute May Have Sparked Slayings of Lawyer and 11 Others; Another 25 Wounded

A dispute with his twin brother over a family will may have sparked a taxi driver’s shooting spree yesterday in a quiet corner of England. The twin, David Bird, and family solicitor Kevin Commons, 60, of Kevin J. Commons & Co. were reportedly among the first people shot to death…

Jun 3, 2010 4:36 PM CDT

Chinese Law Firm Opens Silicon Valley Office With 2 Perkins Coie Partners

A leading Chinese law firm has opened a Silicon Valley office staffed by the former managing partners of the Perkins Coie law offices in Beijing and Shanghai. In addition to James Zhu and Zhaohui “Zoe” Wang, the Beijing-based Jun He Law Offices has also hired former Jones Day counsel Steven…

Jun 3, 2010 1:55 PM CDT

High Firm Rates Lead 5 Neal Gerber Partners to Launch Boutique Practice

The chance to cut hefty overhead costs, and pass those savings onto clients, were some of the driving factors that prompted five Neal Gerber & Eisenberg partners to launch their own law firm counseling trade associations, charitable groups and other non-profits. The group, led by Jed R. Mandel, announced the…

Jun 3, 2010 11:26 AM CDT

Blind Law Grads Sue Over Denied Use of Screen-Access Software on Multistate Bar Exam

All through law school, three new graduates seeking to become members of the Maryland bar used specialized software to help them read text on their computer screens. But now they are being told that they can’t use the software when they take the Multistate Bar Examination in Maryland next month,…

Jun 3, 2010 1:06 AM CDT

Perkins Coie Opens New San Diego Office With 4 IP Lawyers, Plans 50 Lawyers There in 3 Years

Perkins Coie has opened a new office in San Diego with four lawyers, in the first step of a planned expansion of both its California presence and its intellectual property practice. The firm hopes to have 20 lawyers in San Diego by the end of the year and 50 attorneys…

Jun 2, 2010 7:35 PM CDT

Four Partners Leave McDermott for Fish & Richardson

McDermott Will & Emery’s telecommunications practice chair is leaving with three other partners for Fish & Richardson’s regulatory and government affairs group in Washington, D.C. The former telecom chair, Shirley Fujimoto, and Jeffrey Sheldon will become partners at Fish & Richardson; David Rines and Kevin Cookler will be of counsel,…

Jun 1, 2010 8:56 PM CDT

Ex-Kirkland Partner Buys 4,500 Patents, Forms New Firm to Sue Infringers

A former patent litigation partner of Kirkland & Ellis has purchased 4,500 patents and is establishing a new law firm that will sue to enforce both his own patents and those of other clients. John Desmarais, 46, is opening his new firm, Desmarais, today in New York City, Bloomberg reports.…

Jun 1, 2010 1:20 PM CDT

Longtime Obermayer Partner Is Fired Over Phila. Family Court Development Deal

Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel has fired a longtime real estate partner after questions were raised about his dual role, as an attorney and as a developer, concerning a planned new Philadelphia family court building. Jeffrey Rotwitt’s partnership was terminated Thursday by the firm’s management committee, effective immediately, reports the…

Jun 1, 2010 10:24 AM CDT

Box Mitzvah

What happens when a high-powered New York City lawyer who represents the New York Yankees, a bar mitzvah boy who loves the Bronx Bombers and a boxing promoter all want to use Yankee Stadium on the same day? If you’re thinking this could have the makings of a “brawl in…

Jun 1, 2010 8:50 AM CDT

Three More Nixon Peabody Partners Decamp to DLA Piper

DLA Piper has snagged three more partners from Nixon Peabody, including two practice chairmen and one practice co-chairman. Litigation chairman Frank Ryan, China and Asia chairman Henry Liu, and privacy and data protection practice co-chairman Nicholas Papastavros are making the move to DLA Piper, the National Law Journal reported in…

May 28, 2010 8:53 PM CDT

Younger Partners Ascendant at Cravath, ‘Not Your Grandfather’s’ Law Firm

The culture is changing at Cravath, Swaine & Moore as partners in their 30s and 40s are handling high-profile work that once would have gone to older lawyers. The older generation of lawyers was on board with the “sea change,” the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports, partly because their…

May 28, 2010 11:42 AM CDT

Sutherland Asbill to Represent Transocean in Oil Spill Litigation

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan has been tapped to handle litigation over the Gulf oil spill for Transocean Ltd., the owner of the BP oil rig that exploded. The litigation team will be headed by Rachel Clingman, who leaped to Sutherland Asbill from Fulbright & Jaworski in 2007, according to The…

May 27, 2010 2:18 PM CDT

Body of Missing Irell & Manella Partner Is Found

People on a sports fishing boat four miles off of Long Beach in California found the body of an Irell & Manella partner on Wednesday who had gone missing after a sailboat race. The lawyer, Tom Kirschbaum, had been wearing a life vest and weather resistant clothes, according to the…

May 27, 2010 12:17 PM CDT

Ex-Partner Charged in Alleged $2M Theft from Law Firm & Clients

Fired, disbarred and divorced earlier this year, an ex-partner of Lindquist & Vennum in Minneapolis has now been charged with wire fraud, Michael Margulies, 56, allegedly embezzled some $2 million from the firm and its clients between 1994 and 2010, reports the Star-Tribune. He is accused of forging checks and…

May 26, 2010 9:16 PM CDT

Exec’s ‘Passion’ for NeuTec Pharma Led 2 Lawyers to Buy Stock, Jury Is Told

An executive of NeuTec Pharma had such a “passion” for his company that he told friends and family members “I work for the most amazing company that will save many lives and make me very wealthy one day.” But, although his enthusiasm for the biotech company “rubbed off” on about…

May 26, 2010 6:06 PM CDT