Partners

Former Fla. Lawyer and Her Paralegal Charged with Stealing Client Funds

Last year, Jessica Miller blamed her paralegal, office manager and best friend, Kristen Collins, for the disarray in her law firm’s financial records that led Miller to give up her license to practice law in Florida. Collins, on her side, said she paid firm and personal bills with client trust…

Feb 7, 2009 2:04 AM CST

Prosecutors Seized All Files in My Law Office, NY Attorney Says

A former member of the Suffolk County Legislature says the county’s district attorney seized virtually every file in his Long Island law office this week. “They took 30 years of my files,” attorney George Guldi, 57, tells Newsday. “They’re trying to drive me out of business.” In addition to real…

Feb 7, 2009 1:05 AM CST

NY Madam Says Cravath Partner on Her Client List

A former New York madam says her client list included Wall Street lawyers and other high-profile people, but the Manhattan District Attorney’s office wasn’t interested in prosecuting her customers. Kristin Davis pleaded guilty last year to charges of promoting prostitution, ABC News reports. She was sentenced to three months of…

Feb 6, 2009 3:37 PM CST

Seattle Law Firm Wins $6.8M Wash. Lottery Jackpot

In an extraordinary stroke of luck, a Washington lottery ticket purchased by an office pool at a small Seattle law firm has won the $6.8 million jackpot. Members of Josal Partners were stunned to read in the Seattle Times one recent morning that they had purchased a top prize-winning ticket,…

Feb 6, 2009 2:20 AM CST

Bankruptcy Boom Boost: US Asks Cadwalder to Advise On Automaker Restructuring

An already-hot practice area apparently is being expanded with the help of a deep-pockets noncorporate client: The feds reportedly are paying top partners at a New York law firm for bankruptcy advice, as the government ponders how best to deal with struggling automakers. “The U.S. Treasury Department hired Cadwalader Wickersham…

Feb 5, 2009 10:54 PM CST

Attorney Marc Dreier Gets Unsecured $10M Bail, Under Strict House Arrest

Like another alleged white-collar criminal who has been much in the news lately, attorney Marc Dreier will soon be out of jail and under house arrest. He is to be released on an unsecured $10 million bond, a federal judge in New York City decided yesterday, over the objections of…

Feb 5, 2009 9:30 PM CST

Diversified Denver Law Firm Grows as Others Slow Down

A diversified practice and a fortuitous geographic location in a city that hasn’t suffered as much economically as many are among the reasons why a 42-lawyer Denver firm has been hiring litigation partners as BigLaw shops throughout the country make headlines for firing attorneys and staff. Although corporate work has…

Feb 4, 2009 10:38 PM CST

Paul Weiss Partner Calls $6.6M Divorce Settlement Unfair, Blames Madoff

A partner at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison is seeking to reopen his $6.6 million divorce settlement with his wife of more than 30 years, saying that he paid her far more than he would otherwise have agreed to because of fraudulent investment account statements from a Bernard Madoff…

Feb 4, 2009 9:23 PM CST

Did Lowenstein Role in 14-Lawyer Leap Unfairly Ruin Former Firm? Trial Nears

More than nine years after 14 lawyers leaped from a well-known New Jersey partnership to Lowenstein Sandler, a trial is nearing over claims that the 260-attorney firm went too far in soliciting the swift departure that soon destroyed the defectors’ former firm Although Lowenstein denies that it did anything wrong,…

Feb 3, 2009 9:59 PM CST

Alleged $50B Madoff Fraud is Keeping a Lot of Law Firms Busy

More than 30 law firms around the world are representing an estimated 3 million alleged victims of the claimed $50 billion Ponzi scheme that Bernard Madoff is accused of running as a purported hedge fund. “Our calculations are that at least 3 million people were affected by the Madoff affair,…

Feb 3, 2009 8:39 PM CST

Why Akin Gump Lost 59 Partners and Made More Money in 2008

Updated: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld began a streamlining initiative in 2007 and got what it asked for—a slimmed-down firm. But not all 59 partners who left the firm last year were part of the plan, the American Lawyer reports. The firm lost 17 percent of its partners and…

Feb 3, 2009 2:00 PM CST

Weil Gotshal in Houston is Flooded with Resumés

The partner in charge of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in Houston says he can’t remember the last time he saw so many resumés from high-quality job seekers. John Strasburger told Texas Lawyer’s Tex Parte Blog that he used to see a couple resumés a week from lawyers. But in the…

Feb 3, 2009 12:22 PM CST

1 Lawyer, 2 Jobs: Full-Time Baby-sitter Is Key in Family Life

As both a corporate partner in the Chicago office of Drinker Biddle & Reath and chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education, Jesse Ruiz is a busy guy. His workday starts at 5 a.m. and ends at 9 p.m. And his wife, Michele Ruiz, is a partner at Sidley…

Feb 2, 2009 6:46 PM CST

Ex-Dreier Partners Could Be Liable Despite Nonequity Status

Indicted lawyer Marc Dreier may have been the only equity partner at his law firm, but that doesn’t necessarily mean departing nonequity partners are free of liability. Dreier was indicted last month on charges that he cheated investors and hedge funds out of $400 million by misappropriating trust money and…

Feb 2, 2009 5:35 PM CST

It’s Official: K&L Gates and Bell Boyd OK Merger; Firm to Have Nearly 2K Lawyers

An “overwhelming” yes vote today by partners of both firms has made it official: Pittsburgh-based K&L Gates and Chicago’s Bell Boyd & Lloyd will merge March 1. With the addition of Bell Boyd’s approximately 250 attorneys, K&L Gates will have about 1,900 lawyers in 31 offices, according to the Pittsburgh…

Jan 31, 2009 1:16 AM CST