Partners

2 Lawyers Charged in $400M Tax Shelter Prosecution of Former Quellos CEO

A federal indictment unsealed today that charges the former chief executive of a major Seattle-based investment fund with conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion also names two attorneys as defendants. All are accused concerning an alleged scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service out of $400 million in capital gains tax…

Jun 5, 2009 2:44 AM CDT

Sonnenschein Partner Sued for Accident Caused by His Runaway Car

A Sonnenschein partner is facing a lawsuit by a 7-year-old girl and her mother alleging his Lexus ran into them after he tried to park in front of a California grocery store to buy Girl Scout cookies. The suit claims lawyer Paul Glad, a litigator who chairs the insurance group…

Jun 4, 2009 2:45 PM CDT

Dickinson Wright Sued for $33M in Alleged Patent Error for Lacrosse Stick

A $33 million suit filed against Dickinson Wright claims two of its lawyers let a patent lapse for a lacrosse stick by failing to pay an administrative fee. The suit by Warrior Sports Inc. claims the mistake forced the company into an unfavorable settlement in its infringement suit against a…

Jun 4, 2009 12:34 PM CDT

Day Pitney Sued for Alleged Malpractice in Vanilla Beans Case

A vanilla importer has sued Day Pitney, alleging legal malpractice in a dispute with the company’s insurer over coverage for a tainted shipment of vanilla beans. The suit by International Flavors & Fragrances claims Day Pitney and partner Robert Rose failed to assert IFF’s claims in a timely manner in…

Jun 4, 2009 12:07 PM CDT

Attorney Robert Wone’s Murder in Law Partner’s Upscale Home Is Still a Mystery

Somehow, attorney Robert Wone was murdered in the upscale Washington, D.C., townhome where he was visiting friends one sweltering summer night in 2006. But exactly how that happened remains a head-scratcher, reports the Washington Post in a two-part series Sunday and yesterday that details at length the prosecution’s theory of…

Jun 2, 2009 11:24 PM CDT

Goldstein of SCOTUSblog Is ‘Attorney, Blogger, Walking Sound-Bite Machine’

The lawyer who founded SCOTUSblog was in big demand after the announcement that Sonia Sotomayor had been tapped as the next nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Tom Goldstein—“attorney, blogger, walking sound-bite machine”—spoke to three television networks and numerous print and wire reporters, the Washington Post reports. “What makes the…

Jun 2, 2009 5:03 PM CDT

Ex-S&C Lawyer Testifies He Was ‘Enraged’ at Astor’s Will Changes

The former Sullivan & Cromwell lawyer who represented both Brooke Astor and her son testified yesterday that he was “enraged” to learn he had been fired and the son designated sole executor of her estate. Henry Christensen III, now a lawyer at McDermott, Will & Emery, said he believed Astor’s…

Jun 2, 2009 2:29 PM CDT

Seven Buchanan Ingersoll Lawyers in Delaware Jump to Saul Ewing

Saul Ewing has snagged seven lawyers from the Wilmington, Del., office of Buchanan Ingersoll. The lateral acquisition gives Saul Ewing a total of 19 lawyers in Wilmington and leaves Buchanan Ingersoll with only four lawyers there, the Pittsburgh Business Times reports. The lateral group includes three partners: office head William…

Jun 2, 2009 12:36 PM CDT

Pensions Howling at The Door

WolfBlock dissolution underlines the danger

Jun 2, 2009 2:00 AM CDT

Once Set for Life, Ark. Plaintiffs Lawyer Takes Plea in $9.3M Client Theft Case

In an extraordinary April 20 hearing transcript documenting the beginning of the end of Gene Cauley’s enviable story of professional success, a federal judge calls for an investigation of the high-flying Arkansas plaintiffs security lawyer and chastises co-counsel for not keeping closer track of his activities. Now the 41-year-old Cauley…

Jun 1, 2009 9:45 PM CDT

Sotomayor’s Nomination: Today’s News

Dallas Morning News: “Does Pete Sessions agree that Judge Sotomayor is a racist?” Washington Post (op-ed): “A Smile to Set the GOP on Edge” Associated Press: “Debate Over Who Sotomayor Is a Sensitive One” Washington Post: “In Supreme Court Fight, Code Words Abound” ABAJournal.com: “Nomination Buzzwords: Empathy Is Out, Judicial…

May 29, 2009 9:24 PM CDT

Clifford Chance Loses Global Litigation Chief, Mulls More NY Lawyer Layoffs

The global chief of litigation for Clifford Chance has announced his resignation after the law firm’s decision to restructure its litigation and dispute resolution practice in the United States. Mark Kirsch handed in his resignation yesterday, according to reports in Above the Law, the Lawyer and Legal Week. He has…

May 29, 2009 3:11 PM CDT

Ex-S&C Lawyer Denies Conflict in Brooke Astor Representation

The former chair of Sullivan & Cromwell’s trusts and estates practice rejected suggestions by a prosecutor yesterday that he had divided loyalties when he represented both Brooke Astor and her son, Anthony Marshall. Testifying in the trial of Marshall, longtime Astor lawyer Henry Christensen III acknowledged he represented both mother…

May 29, 2009 1:09 PM CDT

Midsize Law Firms Beat Bigger Counterparts by Keeping Revenue Flat

Bigger isn’t always better. The top 100 law firms saw an average revenue decline of 1.2 percent last year, compared to flat numbers for law firms in the second hundred, the American Lawyer reports. The publication sees the percentages as something of a vindication for the somewhat smaller firms that…

May 29, 2009 11:58 AM CDT

Eckert Seamans’ ‘Growth Spurt’ Now Includes 5 Lawyers from Ballard Spahr

Pittsburgh-based Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott has hired 38 lateral lawyers this year, bringing on five labor lawyers from Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll in its latest acquisition. “Despite an economy in which many large firms are shedding attorneys, Eckert Seamans has been on a bit of a growth spurt,”…

May 29, 2009 11:32 AM CDT