Partners

Growing Perkins Coie Is Latest Firm to Open a New Office in Texas

A growing Seattle-based international law firm has expanded its footprint to Texas with the announcement today that it is opening a new office in Dallas. Perkins Coie is bringing in former Greenberg Traurig partner Steven Smith, who specializes in real estate workouts and lending matters, to be the partner in…

Apr 19, 2010 5:29 PM CDT

Paul Weiss Is Bringing In DOJ Ace to Build Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Group

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison essentially planted its flag in a new practice area with the announcement Friday that it is bringing in as a partner a prominent federal prosecutor described by the Washington Post as the top catch for law firms seeking to attract Foreign Corrupt Practices Act…

Apr 19, 2010 4:46 PM CDT

Partners Leap to New Firms to Avoid Mandatory Retirement

Law firms enforcing mandatory retirement policies are losing some of their older partners to other firms that will allow them to continue working. The Washington Post and the New York Law Journal highlight three of them. At the age of 69, Michael Sohn left the law firm he once chaired,…

Apr 19, 2010 1:50 PM CDT

Preliminary Plaintiffs Lawyer Team Is Tapped in Consolidated Toyota Case

After news late last week that the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation had decided to consolidate nearly 200 lawsuits against Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. before a single federal judge in California, that judge has now tapped a preliminary team of plaintiffs lawyers to lead the complex case. U.S.…

Apr 16, 2010 9:24 PM CDT

Blank Rome Adds a Texas Lawyer, Looks for Office Space in Houston

Looking to a client’s seasoned in-house counsel for an opportunity to expand its law practice, Blank Rome has brought in a Texas lawyer as a partner and is now apparently making plans to open a new office in Houston. New partner Joseph Speelman has some 35 years of chemical industry…

Apr 16, 2010 6:11 PM CDT

In-House Lawyer at eBay Heads Back to Bingham, Warns of Long Hours

Lawyers who think working in-house is easier than law firm practice should consider the experience of Mary Huser, who is headed back to Bingham McCutchen after two years at eBay. Huser oversaw intellectual property and litigation matters at the online auction company, and the job required more hours than working…

Apr 16, 2010 5:53 PM CDT

Lawyer Sues Ex-Law Firm Partner—His 84-Year-Old Father—in $300K Fee Dispute

When V. Michael Simko Jr. formed a law firm with his father in 1994, they didn’t bother signing an operating agreement. But in recent years, the father-son team disagreed over control, money and technology, leading to a split and a lawsuit. Now Simko Jr. wants an accounting and $300,000 in…

Apr 16, 2010 2:30 PM CDT

Lanny Davis Is Latest BigLaw Lawyer to Form His Own Firm

Add another lawyer to the growing tally of seasoned BigLaw attorneys who are moving to smaller firms. Lanny Davis, a well-known lawyer in the nation’s capital who formerly worked as special counsel to President Bill Clinton, is leaving McDermott Will & Emery to form his own partnership, reports the DealBook…

Apr 15, 2010 11:02 PM CDT

Feds Say Lawyer Promoted Tax Fraud Using Roth IRAs and Claimed Charity

The Internal Revenue Service is seeking a court order permanently barring a Missouri lawyer from promoting what it describes as fraudulent tax schemes. Many of the claimed schemes allegedly promoted by Philip Kaiser of The Kaiser Law Firm in St. Louis involve abusive use of deductions for charitable contributions or…

Apr 15, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

Ousted Linquist Partner Could Face Criminal Charges in Alleged Client Theft of Up to $2M

A Minneapolis lawyer fired from Linquist & Vennum last month already faces ethics charges accusing him of stealing more than $1 million from clients and a lawsuit alleging he used stolen funds to renovate his mansion. But Michael Margulies is also likely to face federal criminal charges accusing him of…

Apr 15, 2010 11:53 AM CDT

Inspired by Richard Susskind, Lawyers Form ‘No-Staff, Paperless’ Firm

Renowned for big bills, the legal profession is changing in response to technology and pressure from clients to cut costs. One of the latest examples is Temple Bright, a United Kingdom law firm established by three attorneys described by the Law Society Gazette as a trio who have “trained and…

Apr 14, 2010 11:53 PM CDT

Meet Jaret Davis, 35, No. 3 Lawyer at Greenberg’s Miami Office

Twelve years ago, Jaret Davis was working as a summer associate at Greenberg Traurig. Now the 35-year-old corporate and securities lawyer is the No. 3 attorney in his law firm’s second-largest office, filling a newly created position as administrative shareholder, reports the Daily Business Review in an article reprinted in…

Apr 14, 2010 7:55 PM CDT

While Winning $1.25B in Bet-the-Farm Case, Lead Trial Lawyers Also Were Divorcing Each Other

As one of the top trial lawyers in California, partner Linda Smith of O’Melveny & Myers was an obvious choice to work on a major antitrust case against Intel Corp. on behalf of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. And so was her husband, O’Melveny partner and litigation star Chuck Diamond. The…

Apr 13, 2010 8:54 PM CDT

Ousted Lindquist Partner Accused of Stealing $1M from Firm & Clients

Ousted last month from Linquist & Vennum, a prominent real estate partner has been accused of stealing at least $1 million from the 200-attorney Minneapolis-based law firm and its clients between 2003 and 2010. The accusations against 56-year-old Michael Margulies are made in a disciplinary petition filed on Thursday with…

Apr 13, 2010 8:08 PM CDT

Reed Smith Adds 10 Lawyers in Paris and Munich

In a move that exponentially expanded its Paris employment practice, Reed Smith has added seven attorneys there from Courtois Lebel, a French firm. The group is headed by partners Nicolas Sauvage and Caroline Masson, who joined the firm on April 1 along with four associates and a counsel, reports Legal…

Apr 13, 2010 7:06 PM CDT