Partners

‘Fat Cats Keep Getting Fatter,’ Says Lawyer for Workers at Failed Heller Firm

Insufficient efforts are being made to pursue accounts receivable for the dissolving Heller Ehrman, former employees complain in a leaked letter (PDF) to the government lawyer in charge of selecting the unsecured creditors committee in law firm’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. They are seeking a nonpartner representative on the committee,…

Aug 4, 2009 5:00 PM CDT

Chairman of Thompson & Knight Dies

Peter Riley, the chairman of Thompson & Knight, has died of complications from cancer at the age of 53. A message posted to the law firm’s website called Riley “a visionary and great leader who helped transform Thompson & Knight from a regional law firm to an international law firm.”…

Aug 4, 2009 4:00 PM CDT

Suspect in Murder of Law Prof’s Daughter Could Have Been in Jail, Absent Error

A clerical error may have led to the early release of a repeat offender suspected of killing 17-year-old Lily Burk, the daughter of an adjunct professor at Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. Charles Samuel is accused of kidnapping Burk on Friday near the law school before killing…

Aug 4, 2009 12:32 PM CDT

Firms & Courts Must Streamline in ‘Buyer’s Market,’ Longtime Partner Says

A downturn in the corporate legal market that is unprecedented in the memory of those in practice today is going to force both major law firms and the courts to make significant changes in the way they do business, a longtime lawyer predicts. Law firms will have to be more…

Aug 3, 2009 5:10 PM CDT

Obama Seeks to Rehire Nevada US Attorney Fired by Bush

Fired by the Bush administration in 2006 along with eight other top federal prosecutors for what some consider to have been political reasons, Daniel Bogden, it appears, may soon have his old job back as the U.S. attorney for the district of Nevada. He is being nominated by President Barack…

Jul 31, 2009 11:45 PM CDT

DeGuerin Out, Patton Boggs In as Stanford’s Defense Counsel in $7B Case

The Texas lawyer who has been working with R. Allen Stanford since March is on his way out, and a former federal prosecutor at Washington, D.C.-based Patton Boggs will soon be at the helm of the accused Ponzi schemer’s defense, it was announced today. Although Dick DeGuerin never officially represented…

Jul 31, 2009 11:06 PM CDT

Flight of the Rainmakers: Big-Firm Lawyers Opt for Boutique Practices

Rainmaker Ronald Schiller’s decision to leave DLA Piper for a litigation boutique was at one time considered a risky move. Schiller, the head of DLA Piper’s Philadelphia litigation practice, is one of seven lawyers leaving the big firm for Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin. He told Bloomberg the new firm…

Jul 31, 2009 2:05 PM CDT

U.S. Attorney Finalist Chases and Tackles Theft Suspect

An Illinois lawyer who is under consideration for the job of U.S. attorney got an up-close taste of crime-fighting on Wednesday when he chased and tackled a suspected thief. Belleville lawyer Steve Wigginton is one of two people recommended for U.S. attorney in Illinois’ southern district, according to the Belleville…

Jul 31, 2009 12:25 PM CDT

Women Partners Say They’re Still Forced into Support Roles at Firms #ABAChicago

While some law firms are leading the charge to promote women and minority partners to management positions, others remain dominated by the “white man’s voice,” and gender bias that keep these lawyers out of compensation discussions and away from origination credit, Pfizer Inc. general counsel Amy Schulman said today at…

Jul 30, 2009 8:27 PM CDT

Partner Profit Plunged 17% at UK’s 50 Biggest Firms Over Past Fiscal Year

Although revenue is up nearly 3 percent at the United Kingdom’s top 50 law firms, equity partner profit has plunged an average of 17 percent over the past fiscal year as the legal industry struggles to cope with the dismal economy. “I don’t think the industry has ever seen a…

Jul 30, 2009 6:52 PM CDT

Extra Recession Pressure on Women Makes It Harder to Say No

Recent news that a prominent lawyer had committed suicide, apparently under extra pressure both because of having had a baby within the year and because of the dismal economy, has brought new attention to the difficulties of work/life balance. Although it’s harder than ever in such circumstances, it’s also more…

Jul 29, 2009 11:50 PM CDT

Prof’s Daughter, 17, Is Murdered After Alleged Kidnap in L.A. Law School Area

The murder of a California attorney’s 17-year-old daughter after she was allegedly kidnapped near Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles has stunned the local legal community. Lily Burk never returned home after running an errand for her mother at the law school Friday. Her body was found in…

Jul 29, 2009 10:52 PM CDT

Jury Hears Tape of Witness Talk By N.Y. Attorney on Trial in Obstruction Case

Although a federal judge decided this month that a number of tape-recorded conversations between criminal defense attorney Robert Simels and a high-profile client would not be heard at trial, jurors got an earful Tuesday of the lawyer’s taped conversation with a witness for his client, accused drug kingpin Shaheed “Roger”…

Jul 29, 2009 6:48 PM CDT

US Drops Regulatory Charges Against Ex-Greenberg Lawyer

A former Greenberg Traurig lawyer feels vindicated by the decision of the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency to drop civil regulatory charges against him for advising a bank that was eventually shut down for fraud. Carlos Loumiet had been accused of covering up crimes for the bank, causing $127 million…

Jul 29, 2009 3:20 PM CDT

Depressed After 3rd Child’s Birth, Successful Partner Committed Suicide

Seemingly very successful both at work and at home, Catherine Bailey returned to work as a finance litigator around Christmas after the birth of her youngest daughter a little over six months earlier. But the 41-year-old partner in the London office of SJ Berwin apparently may have been suffering from…

Jul 28, 2009 11:57 PM CDT