Partners

9 Patent Lawyers Leap to Bracewell from IP Shop’s Soon-to-Close Texas Office

Nine Texas patent lawyers from a Boston-based intellectual property boutique have found a new home in Austin, little more than a month after their own firm announced that it would soon be closing its Austin office. Headed by partner Alan Albright, the four partners and five associates from Fish &…

Oct 6, 2009 9:43 PM CDT

Trustee Sues Madoff Kin for $199M, Says ‘Family Piggy Bank’ Broke Fiduciary Duty

Four relatives of Bernard Madoff employed at an investment firm they treated as a “family piggy bank” should have to return nearly $199 million handed to them during the years they worked in high-level positions there, a New York bankruptcy court filing today by Irving Picard contends. Athough no one…

Oct 3, 2009 12:24 AM CDT

Lawyer Pleads in Appraisal Bribe Scheme; Prosecutors Seek $3.2M Restitution

A lawyer involved in an alleged scheme to obtain $21 million in appraisal contracts by paying Cuyahoga County officials $1.3 million in bribes has accepted a plea bargain. Attorney Bruce Zaccagnini, 48, pleaded guilty to a public corruption charge yesterday and agreed to cooperate with the feds, reports the Cleveland…

Oct 2, 2009 8:37 PM CDT

Firm Calls Meeting to Remove Partner, But Doesn’t Get Enough Votes

Oops. Senior executive partners at LG called a meeting last month in order to vote to remove an equity partner who allegedly was under-performing. But when the ballots were tallied there weren’t enough, so the unidentified partner remains with the law firm, reports Legal Week. Because a number of partners…

Oct 1, 2009 7:01 PM CDT

McKool Smith Raids Andrews Kurth to Open New Office, Add Bankruptcy Practice

Following news last month that McKool Smith is planning rapid expansion in New York, the Texas-based trial firm is now adding a new Houston office. It raided Andrews Kurth to do so, bringing in the firm’s former national bankruptcy practice leader, Hugh Ray, and two other bankruptcy veterans from the…

Oct 1, 2009 6:19 PM CDT

Revenue Per Lawyer Drops 3 Percent at Global 100 Law Firms

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is the law firm with the highest profits per partner, while Linklaters is the law firm with the highest gross revenues. The firms topped two American Lawyer charts examining the finances of Global 100 law firms. Profits per partner were about $4 million at Wachtell,…

Sep 30, 2009 1:53 PM CDT

Attorney Marc Dreier Says Midlife Crisis, Sense of Failure Drove Massive Fraud

Marc Dreier admits he had a lengthy track record of “cutting corners.” But it wasn’t until an apparent midlife crisis, precipitated by his divorce and a sense of failure, when he compared his own life to the noteworthy success some of his well-educated, well-to-do peers had achieved, that the 50-something…

Sep 29, 2009 9:28 PM CDT

Partners are Now Yellow, Associates Green on Ballard Spahr Website

Can this really be a law firm website? In an apparent recent makeover that is catching the attention of the legal community, the online persona of Ballard Spahr now features a bright, visually oriented home page with minimal text. And, in another noteworthy departure from the law firm norm, the…

Sep 29, 2009 12:14 AM CDT

Appellate Practice Head at Baker Botts is Leaving to Form Boutique

The head of the U.S. Supreme Court and appellate practice group in the Washington, D.C., office of Baker Botts has announced that he is leaving the firm to form a new boutique with another litigator. Joining Jeffrey Lamken in the venture will be Steven Molo, a white collar and appellate…

Sep 28, 2009 10:50 PM CDT

Citigroup GC Has No Sympathy for Law Firms Seeking Premium Fees

The general counsel for Citigroup says his in-house legal department has been battered by the economic downturn, leaving him with little sympathy for law firm arguments for premium fees. General counsel Michael Helfer, a panelist at an event sponsored by Bisnow, said Citigroup’s in-house legal department has shrunk by about…

Sep 28, 2009 1:52 PM CDT

K&L Gates Chairman Advises Would-Be Law Students to Reconsider

The chairman of K&L Gates says would-be lawyers should think twice before going to law school. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), chairman Peter Kalis made clear that he doesn’t like debt. Law graduates have too much of it, he said, while his own firm doesn’t…

Sep 25, 2009 1:12 PM CDT

Vorys Sater Documents Subpoenaed in Expanding Ohio Probe

The FBI has subpoenaed documents from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease as it expands its probe into corruption in the Cleveland area. The subpoenas relate to work done by one of the firm’s former lawyers for public officials under investigation, according to the Am Law Daily, citing stories from the…

Sep 24, 2009 2:31 PM CDT

Greenberg Traurig Sued for $100M in Malpractice Suit by Ex-Patent Client

Greenberg Traurig and three of its former intellectual property partners are facing a $100 million malpractice suit that clams the firm failed to properly prosecute patents and committed discovery misconduct. The lawyers named in the suit are Paul Sutton, Barry Magidoff and Claude Narcisse, the New York Law Journal reports.…

Sep 24, 2009 1:22 PM CDT

Study Offers Tips About How Lawyers Can Succeed as Part-Time Partners

Conventional wisdom says that lawyers who cut back on their hours at work, often to make time for their families, also reduce their opportunities to succeed as partners, says Cynthia Calvert. But that isn’t necessarily true, according to a report (PDF) this month by the Project for Attorney Retention, where…

Sep 23, 2009 7:35 PM CDT

Jury Gets Case: Did Astor’s Son & Lawyer Try to Defraud Estate of $60M?

Following a five-month trial, a New York jury is finally deliberating the criminal case against a son of socialite Brooke Astor and one of her attorneys. They are accused by prosecutors of defrauding her estate of some $60 million by tricking the senile heiress into making changes to her will.…

Sep 22, 2009 11:13 PM CDT