Partners

At Virtual Law Firm, Ex-DLA Partner Expects to Work Less, Earn More

While many of the nation’s traditional large law firms are shedding lawyers, one startup is adding three partners a month. The Virtual Law Firm had only eight partners when it was formed last year, but it now has 33, the Washington Post reports. Lawyers at the law firm work at…

Mar 9, 2009 11:10 AM CDT

As Laid-Off Lawyers Look for Work, How to Find It Isn’t Clear

Only a year or two ago, when the economy was relatively strong, Aviva Tiegerman had no interest in hearing from the multiple legal recruiters who called her daily at the Manhattan office of Kaye Scholer. But now the 29-year-old Tiegerman, who was laid off in May from her job there…

Mar 7, 2009 2:30 AM CST

Orrick’s New Talent Model: 3 Stages to Partner; More Contract Lawyers

Effective July 1, international law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe will have a new talent model, including a three-stage partner track for associates and an increased presence of contract attorneys. The talent model revelation came about today at Hildebrandt’s annual Law Firm Leaders Forum in San Francisco during a discussion…

Mar 6, 2009 9:53 PM CST

Mayer Brown Chair to Step Down

Citing a need to address health issues, the chairman of Mayer Brown announced today that he is stepping down. James D. Holzhauer, who has been chair for two years, plans to remain at the helm no later than Jan. 1, but will leave sooner if a replacement can be found.…

Mar 6, 2009 9:14 PM CST

Winston Partner Takes Firm Client to Trial, Claiming Fen-Phen Damaged Her Health

Corrected: Winston & Strawn has represented Wyeth in at least one case claiming the company’s diet drug fen-phen caused health problems. Now a junior partner at the law firm has taken the offensive, claiming in a Los Angeles trial that the diet drug has likely shortened her own life. Jessie…

Mar 6, 2009 1:58 PM CST

Clifford Chance to Cut Up to 115 Staff

Megafirm Clifford Chance has announced that it will eliminate between 105 and 115 support staff positions at its London headquarters. The latest layoffs follow an announcement last month that the firm would reduce its partner ranks; about 80 junior London lawyers have been cut under the earlier restructuring program, and…

Mar 4, 2009 8:40 PM CST

Lawsuit Should Have Alerted Others of Dreier Issues, Former Colleague Says

Those who practiced at attorney Marc Dreier’s law firm before it imploded late last year apparently had little or no warning of the financial issues he faced. But they would have been forewarned had they read a 2002 lawsuit filed by a former colleague at a small plaintiff securities practice…

Mar 4, 2009 1:24 AM CST

Marc Dreier Led Sham Law Life for 4 Years, Magazine Says

It looked like Marc Dreier had a super-successful law practice. But for at least four years before he was accused late last year of defrauding sophisticated investors and clients of some $400 million, the New York lawyer’s seemingly opulent professional life was allegedly a sham. Dumped in 2006 by his…

Mar 4, 2009 12:54 AM CST

Co. Had Right to Call ‘Business’ Loan Used By Poker-Playing Va. Lawyer

Nothing in the promissory note he signed for a $250,000 business loan said he couldn’t use the money to play poker, argued attorney Michael Melkersen. But a federal district court in the Western District of New York court agreed with Counsel Financial Services that the loan company didn’t have to…

Mar 3, 2009 10:45 PM CST

Hunton Prowls for Litigators; Akin Denies Trouble

Although California appears to be ground zero for U.S. attorney layoffs, Richmond, Va.-based law firm Hunton & Williams is targeting the Golden State and Texas in its quest to hire large groups of laterals, particularly litigators, as part of an aggressive five-year national expansion campaign The nearly 1,000-lawyer firm has…

Mar 3, 2009 10:20 PM CST

Thacher Got ‘Hooked’ on Structured Finance Before its Collapse

Before its dissolution, Thacher Proffitt & Wood had grown from a law firm with a staid reputation that did mostly corporate work to a firm that dominated the market for structured finance. By 2007, about 70 percent of the firm’s revenue came from structured finance matters—work that would dry up…

Mar 3, 2009 3:41 PM CST

Laid-Off Cadwalader Associate Creates Partner Rating Website

An associate laid off last year by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has started a website that allows users to anonymously critique partners at large law firms. The new site is Rate a Partner and its creator is Sam Smith, the American Lawyer reports. Launched last week, it offers a five-star…

Mar 3, 2009 2:57 PM CST

Latest Nominee with Tax Troubles Is V&E Partner Ron Kirk

The Vinson & Elkins partner nominated to be U.S. Trade Representative has agreed to pay nearly $10,000 in back taxes. Most of the shortfall stems from Ronald Kirk’s failure to pay income taxes on $37,752 in speaking fees he donated to his alma mater, Austin College, over a four-year period,…

Mar 3, 2009 2:03 PM CST

Wilmer Asks for $1.3M Legal Fee, Gets $730K + Lecture from Judge

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr hasn’t had a lot of luck lately when requesting legal fee reimbursements in a long-running whistle-blower case. Last summer, when WilmerHale and co-counsel Wiley Rein sought $20 million in fees in Miller v. Bill Harbert International Construction Inc., Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of U.S.…

Mar 3, 2009 2:10 AM CST

Blank Rome Opens LA Office With 5 Lateral Partners

Philadelphia-based Blank Rome has opened a new office in Los Angeles today that is the first step towards a bigger footprint both on the West Coast and in Asia. Five lateral partners from four different firms are launching the LA office, which has space for 20 attorneys, reports the Philadelphia…

Mar 3, 2009 1:09 AM CST