Partners

Law Firm to Pay $1.5M to Settle Claims That Ex-Associate Dropped Cases

A Connecticut plaintiffs firm has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle claims by two former clients that an ex-associate dropped the ball on their cases. Ex-associate James Sullivan, who left the law firm of Kevin Maher and Scott Williams in 2007 to operate a ski resort in Vermont, allegedly…

Oct 19, 2009 10:22 PM CDT

Check E-Mail Hourly, Quinn Partner Says, Unless in Court, in Tunnel or Asleep

After doing a great job on a rush project, a relatively new associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges made a mistake. He didn’t check his e-mail. As a result, he missed a senior partner’s instruction that he should send out a draft document for client review before calling…

Oct 19, 2009 4:24 PM CDT

Cravath Lawyer Credits Talking Texan for M&A Successes

Jim Woolery, a 40-year-old partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York, has represented four Texas companies over the last five years in buyouts valued at more than $60 billion. He thinks more deals are in the offing because the seller’s market is heating up—and he hopes to be…

Oct 19, 2009 12:39 PM CDT

Lehman’s 1-Year Bankruptcy Bill: $403M

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. paid $402.9 million to lawyers and advisers following the storied investment bank’s collapse in September 2008, according to a Manhattan bankruptcy court filing. Weil Gotshal & Manges, which is overseeing the Chapter 11 case, earned about $98.6 million, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). Its…

Oct 15, 2009 8:30 PM CDT

Lawyer Seeks Right to Advertise in R.I., a State in Which He Has No Office

Critics say that attorney James Sokolove is more about advertising than law practice. And at least one or two justices on the Rhode Island Supreme Court seemingly may agree. As Sokolove’s lawyer argued late last month that his client should be allowed to promote his Delaware-based national personal injury firm…

Oct 15, 2009 6:08 PM CDT

Heller Creditors May Sue Accountant Over Its ‘07 Audit of Law Firm

Creditors of Heller Ehrman may sue its accountant for allegedly failing to note red flags in its audit report on the law firm’s 2007 financials, according to a bankruptcy liquidation plan filed in federal court last week. Creditors contend that Ernst & Young was persuaded to list without qualification $11…

Oct 14, 2009 9:11 PM CDT

Top Partner Billing Rate in South Florida Is $765 an Hour

Even the top partners at South Florida law firms don’t bill the $1,000 an hour charged by some lawyers in New York. South Florida partners typically charge $400 to $500 an hour, while hourly rates for associates in the region generally range from $140 to $460, according to the Daily…

Oct 14, 2009 5:33 PM CDT

Stanford Investors Sue 2nd Law Firm, Ex-GC; Proskauer Partner Withdraws

A second law firm has been named as a defendant in an investor lawsuit contending that a now-former partner of Proskauer Rose, Thomas Sjoblom, participated in a claimed $7 billion Ponzi scheme allegedly operated by the Stanford Financial Group. The new defendant in the federal class action case is another…

Oct 13, 2009 8:26 PM CDT

Anxious Clients Seek Lawyer Therapy as IRS Deadline Looms re Foreign Accounts

Faced with a tough choice between confessing their sins to the Internal Revenue Service or waiting for the federal enforcement agency potentially to pounce, a number of individuals are looking to lawyers for more than traditional legal advice concerning offshore bank accounts. As the Oct. 15 deadline looms for American…

Oct 13, 2009 5:17 PM CDT

FBI Raids Offices of Well-Known Lawyer

The FBI reportedly has raided the offices of a well-known attorney and accountant who often as served as a court-appointed trustee or receiver in cases in South Florida. Relying on unidentified “legal community sources,” the Daily Business Review reports that the Miami and Plantation offices of Lewis B. Freeman &…

Oct 9, 2009 6:44 PM CDT

Cadwalader Drops Billing Rate to $525 an Hour for Partners’ TARP Advice

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft worked for bargain billing rates advising the Treasury Department on its Troubled Assets Relief Program. The “steeply discounted” rates ranged from $287 an hour for associates to $525 an hour for partners, the National Law Journal reports. The publication obtained the information through a Freedom of…

Oct 9, 2009 2:44 PM CDT

Plaintiffs Cite ‘Soul Mate’ E-mail in Suit Against Mintz Levin and Ex-Partner

A suit against the former co-managing partner of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo is citing a “soul mate” e-mail in an effort to prove the lawyer helped enrich himself and a friend managing clients’ real estate trusts. The suit by family members and their real estate trusts was…

Oct 8, 2009 11:45 AM CDT

Podcast Offers Advice to Practitioners on Handling Workplace Sex Issues

If the BlackBerry buzzes with a question about an employer-employee relationship–as it well may, now that David Letterman has given the issue a higher profile–lawyers need to be prepared to offer advice. Top bosses shouldn’t have sexual relationships with employees, period, says employment attorney Mike Maslanka in a Texas Lawyer…

Oct 7, 2009 8:25 PM CDT

Recruiter Got Zip in 12-Lawyer Leap, Now Seeks $100M in Federal Suit

A legal recruiter has sued Los Angeles-based Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith for $100 million in actual and punitive damages, contending that the 700-attorney law firm squeezed C.B. Legal Search LLC out of a 12-attorney placement deal it helped orchestrate. In March, C.B. Legal Search introduced partner Edward Ruberry of…

Oct 7, 2009 6:16 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Suits Stemming from Partner’s Well-Publicized Ouster

A Manhattan judge has dismissed two lawsuits stemming from an attempt to set the record straight by the law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman. The lawsuits were the result of a press release and “a messy public parting” between Kasowitz Benson and Jeremy Pitcock, the former chair of the…

Oct 7, 2009 1:36 PM CDT