Partners

Reed Smith Will Ask Nonequity Partners to Pony Up Possibly 15% of Pay

Reed Smith will give its nonequity partners a choice: Pony up a percentage of your salary or lose your partnership status. The firm will likely ask for a contribution of 15 percent of base pay, the American Lawyer reports. The firm has about 300 nonequity partners who can opt to…

Nov 16, 2009 1:50 PM CST

Law Firms Review Compliance Measures After Attorney Arrests in Insider Cases

Recent charges by federal authorities that three current or former BigLaw attorneys illegally made securities trades—two of them allegedly using inside information gleaned from the law firms that employed them—have sparked renewed vigilance at many legal partnerships. Law firms are reviewing the security measures and training they use to keep…

Nov 13, 2009 10:36 PM CST

Lawyer Called ‘Financial Serial Killer’ By Partner is Now Option 3 on FBI Hotline

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking those with information about a South Florida attorney described by a partner of his law firm as a “financial serial killer” to select option three on a hotline set up for tips about major crimes. Option one concerns a photograph of an unknown…

Nov 13, 2009 8:03 PM CST

5 Jones Day Partners in London Have Been Demoted to Counsel

Jones Day demoted five partners to counsel in its London office during 2009. The law firm has not commented about why the demotions were made, according to Legal Week. Jones Day presently has 48 partners in its London office. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the law firm has more than 2,300…

Nov 13, 2009 6:55 PM CST

O’Melveny Lawyer Sounds Wistful After Settlement Scuttles Big Case Against Intel

The lead lawyer in what was supposed to have been a huge antitrust case against Intel has mixed feelings about the $1.25 billion settlement that will end the suit. O’Melveny & Myers partner Chuck Diamond sounded a little wistful in an interview, according to Wall Street Journal Digits blog. “The…

Nov 13, 2009 6:17 PM CST

Law Firm Loyalty Is Sometimes Overrated, Consultant Says

Loyalty to a law firm is laudable—to a point, a consultant says. Lawyers also need to consider loyalty to clients, their families and themselves, according to Frank D’Amore, founder of the legal recruiting firm Attorney Career Catalysts. These allegiances are more important than loyalties to a law firm that is…

Nov 13, 2009 4:46 PM CST

Law Firm Informant Points Finger at Lawyer for Other Lawyers in Pension Cases

A lawyer representing other lawyers in an ongoing probe of New York pensions being paid to attorneys who alleged did government legal work as private practitioners while being reported as state employees may himself have a dubious claim to his more than $120,000-a-year pension. Citing claims by an unidentified confidential…

Nov 13, 2009 12:56 AM CST

FBI: Rothstein Scheme Could Top $1B; Filing: Firm Spent $1.4M in Escrow Funds

In an apparent death blow for Rothstein Rosenfeld Adler’s reported plan to reconfigure its law practice without co-founding partner and accused Ponzi scheme operator Scott Rothstein, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition filed by several investors claims that the law firm improperly transferred $1.4 million of client funds from an escrow…

Nov 12, 2009 10:49 PM CST

Latest Baker Hostetler Growth Spurt Starts With New Office in Chicago

In the latest move in an ongoing growth strategy, Baker Hostetler has announced today the opening of a new office in Chicago. The more than 600-attorney Ohio-based firm now lists on its website a four-lawyer office in the Windy City on the 31st floor of 191 N. Wacker Drive. A…

Nov 12, 2009 6:11 PM CST

Bias Complaint Against Williams Mullen Alleges Cucumber Prank

A former case manager for the Richmond, Va.-based Williams Mullen law firm has filed a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint that claims she was subjected to derogatory remarks and a prank involving a cucumber. The 18-year employee, Hanh Nguyen Allgood, seeks $950,000 in the federal suit filed in Norfolk, Va.,…

Nov 12, 2009 3:30 PM CST

LeClairRyan’s West Coast Growth Is Slowed By Little-Known Name

Well-known closer to home as a rapidly growing Virginia-based law firm with more than 300 attorneys on its roster, LeClairRyan is now looking to expand in California. But a lack of name recognition on the West Coast is slowing down its efforts to increase its 20-attorney contingent in Los Angeles…

Nov 12, 2009 12:15 AM CST

Despite Downturn, Top UK Lawyers Make Mega-Money

Although the economic downturn has lightened the wallets of even the highest-paid lawyers, many are still bringing home seven-figure paychecks. Among the top London-based BigLaw firms, partners made about 20 percent less in 2008-2009 than the previous fiscal year, reports the London Times. But they still earned an average profit…

Nov 11, 2009 11:53 PM CST

Investors Sue to Force Rothstein Law Firm Into Involuntary Bankruptcy

Three investors who say they lost a total of more than $850,000 in a claimed Ponzi scheme allegedly operated by attorney Scott Rothstein filed a petition today to force his South Florida law firm into involuntary bankruptcy. Their federal court filing, which was made by attorney Jeffrey Sonn, seeks to…

Nov 10, 2009 11:32 PM CST

Law Firm & Ex-Associate Litigate Badmouth Blog Battle in State & Federal Court

A war of words between Levinson Axelrod and ex-associate Edward Harrington Heyburn is now in litigation. The New Jersey-based personal injury law firm filed an order to show cause in state court in Middlesex County Superior Court last week, seeking a shutdown order concerning the website in which Heyburn criticizes…

Nov 10, 2009 8:54 PM CST

Watson Farley Raids Lovells to Launch New Office in Madrid

Watson Farley & Williams has lured six lawyers from Lovells to launch a new office in Madrid. The departure of the six-attorney team, which is headed by partners Joaquin Sales, who specializes in banking and finance matters, and Maria Pilar Garcia, a corporate practitioner who focuses on energy, does not…

Nov 10, 2009 7:15 PM CST