Partners

Law Firm Insurer Will Pay $6.2M to Settle Document Prep Suit

An insurance company for a Nevada law firm has agreed to pay $6.2 million to settle litigation claiming that by preparing financial documents, attorney David Garcia and his law firm helped an Oregon-based real estate company bilk investors of some $18 million. Although a lawyer for Hale Lane Peek Dennison…

Jan 20, 2009 6:36 PM CST

‘Bitterness and Anger’ Aimed at Thacher Managers Over Partner Losses

A former partner at the dissolved law firm Thacher Proffitt & Wood says there is “a lot of bitterness and anger” directed at former managers of the law firm. The former partner told The Lawyer that partners are facing losses in the millions of dollars as a result of the…

Jan 20, 2009 2:47 PM CST

Big-Firm Lawyers Donate Big Bucks to Obama Inauguration

Law firms and lawyers have donated $2.5 million to inaugural festivities for Barack Obama, the second-biggest source of donations behind the securities and investment industry. The National Law Journal reports on the total and lists donors who made $50,000 contributions. They include big-firm lawyers and lawyers who file suits on…

Jan 20, 2009 1:26 PM CST

Record $24.7M Qui Tam Settlement in Medicare Case

Two registered nurses who blew the whistle on an alleged Medicare fraud by a major hospice provider have sparked a record $24.7 million settlement with the U.S. government by their former employer, from which the RNs themselves will get $4.9 million. The settlement by Birmingham, Ala.-based SouthernCare, which admits no…

Jan 17, 2009 12:28 AM CST

NY Lawyer Fined $10K for Not Filing State Tax Returns

A New York real estate lawyer who reportedly didn’t file personal state income tax returns between 2001 and 2006 has been fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor tax charge. Roger Roisman also paid $189,000 in back taxes and interest, reports the North Country Gazette. The article says the…

Jan 16, 2009 7:59 PM CST

New Indictment Says Arent Fox Partner Conspired to Conceal Nature of Lawyer’s Death

A grand jury has returned a superseding indictment accusing Arent Fox partner Joseph Price and two other men of conspiring to conceal the “true circumstances” of the fatal stabbing of a lawyer at Price’s DuPont Circle home. The superseding indictment (PDF posted by Legal Times) charges Price, his domestic partner…

Jan 16, 2009 3:39 PM CST

Bucking the Trend, Cleary Expected to Post 12% Hike in Partner Profits

As several large law firms confront dreary financial numbers, another is chugging along, driven by global diversification. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is expected to post a 12 percent increase in profits per partner and an 8 percent increase in gross revenue, the American Lawyer reports. Profits per partner for…

Jan 16, 2009 12:51 PM CST

Early Return from NY Deposition Puts Attorney on Life-and-Death Plane Ride

After finishing up a business trip to New York for a deposition, a South Carolina attorney decided to take an earlier plane home today before predicted bad weather arrived. But the seemingly sensible decision put him on a life-and-death plane ride, as the US Airways flight crash-landed into the Hudson…

Jan 16, 2009 1:16 AM CST

Ex-Cadwalader MP Named to Rebuild Firm’s Troubled London Office

The former managing partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft will take over the firm’s London office after the loss of seven of its 11 partners. The law firm said in a statement sent to partners yesterday that former managing partner Robert Link will “move to London in February to lead…

Jan 15, 2009 7:04 PM CST

Mayer Brown Chairman Answers His Critics

Mayer Brown chairman Jim Holzhauer says he expects the drop in 2008 partner profits at his law firm won’t be as bad as the naysayers suggest. Holzhauer, who took over the job in 2007, told the National Law Journal he expects profits will slide by only 12 percent. That’s much…

Jan 15, 2009 3:26 PM CST

Greenberg Traurig Adds 19 Seasoned NY Lawyers, Loses 2 to Pillsbury in D.C.

In one of the latest moves in an active lateral hiring market for seasoned attorneys in certain practice areas, Greenberg Traurig has added to its attorney roster three corporate and securities partners from K&L Gates. They are Stephan Mallenbaum, Conrad Everhard and Sean Hayes, the firm reports in a press…

Jan 15, 2009 12:54 AM CST

Business Booms at Some Small Firms, Perhaps Thanks to Lower Fees

Despite the struggling economy and Wall Street layoffs, some small law firms in New York are seeing their business boom. Among the reasons why are the significantly lower hourly rates charged by these law boutiques and a growing number of small businesses being launched by laid-off workers that need legal…

Jan 14, 2009 9:47 PM CST

Madoff Debacle Makes Rain for Lucky Law Firms

As law firms, like other businesses, struggle to stay on track in a disastrous economy, a stunning financial storm for many wealthy investors has shown a platinum lining to legal practitioners. The $50 billion fraud allegedly perpetrated by Bernard Madoff under the guise of a hedge fund has provided unprecedented…

Jan 14, 2009 6:48 PM CST

Cadwalader Loses 7 of 11 Partners in UK Office

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has lost seven partners in its London office after disclosing that partner profits at the firm have dropped by 30 percent. Legal Week says “it is understood” that the partners are leaping to Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker. The publication calls the move “a massive setback”…

Jan 14, 2009 4:54 PM CST

Ex-Associate Sues Nixon Peabody Claiming Discrimination—and Contract Breach

A former associate of Nixon Peabody has filed an employment discrimination suit against the international law firm, saying that he was fired last year because of his gender, race and national origin. Henry Har contends in a Los Angeles Superior Court complaint (PDF) filed last month that he was subjected…

Jan 14, 2009 1:27 AM CST