Partners

Death Spiral of Renowned Toronto Firm

Six months after the demise of a prestigious Toronto law firm, many still wonder what destroyed Goodman and Carr. “It shouldn’t have happened, nor did it need to happen,” Donald Carr, the 78-year-old co-founder of the firm, tells the Financial Post. Yet it did. The firm had emerged from an…

Oct 17, 2007 10:19 PM CDT

Firm Can Arbitrate After Partner Litigation

A New York law firm can still enforce an arbitration clause in its partnership agreement, even after it litigates other issues on an emergency basis, a state appellate court has decided. Overruling a lower court ruling that said contract partner Linda Stark could have her day in court concerning breach…

Oct 17, 2007 4:46 PM CDT

Court Fines Law Firm Over Partner’s Tax Levy

When the IRS levied a New York personal injury firm to collect $1.2 million that partner A. Sheldon Edelman allegedly owed in unpaid taxes, Edelman—who was responsible for handling firm accounts—reportedly ignored the levies and continued paying himself and a junior partner their usual weekly draws. Because a draw is…

Oct 12, 2007 7:44 PM CDT

Female Partner: Learn How to Beat the Boys

Updated: Forget part-time hours, flexible schedules and work-life balance. Mercedes Meyer wants women lawyers to aim for the top and learn how to beat the boys at their own game. And a big part of that, she says, is learning the behavior patterns that male colleagues recognize as authoritative. Meyer,…

Oct 12, 2007 6:59 PM CDT

Survey: Lawyers Split on Required Retirement

Although half of the law firms discussed in a recent survey have mandatory retirement policies, only a little more than one-third of the responding lawyers agree with such policies. That suggests it may be time for law firms to rethink mandatory retirement, says James Cotterman, a principal of the Altman…

Oct 11, 2007 5:57 PM CDT

Moving from BigLaw to MegaLaw

When William Cook was in India earlier this year, a local manager wanted to know where in the world his 750-lawyer Atlanta-based law firm housed its foreign offices. The answer: It doesn’t have any. That conversation was one reason why Cook moved from BigLaw to MegaLaw, reports Legal Times. As…

Oct 9, 2007 5:58 PM CDT

Sidley ‘Partner’ Payout: Up to $1.8 M

The 32 former partners of Sidley Austin who were demoted in 1999 will receive a payment of between $122,000 and $1.8 million under an age discrimination settlement approved yesterday by a federal judge. “The amount to be paid to each of the 32 former Sidley [partners] was placed under seal,”…

Oct 6, 2007 12:39 AM CDT

Sidley to Pay $27.5 M in EEOC Partner Case

Updated: In a settlement that should send shock waves throughout many of the nation’s major law firms, Sidley Austin has agreed to pay $27.5 million to resolve a landmark federal case alleging that the law firm discriminated against 32 of its own partners. The 1,700-lawyer Chicago-based firm also agreed in…

Oct 5, 2007 5:17 PM CDT

Ousted US Atty Lands at Nev. Firm

One of at least eight U.S. attorneys purged from the Justice Department became a partner at Nevada’s McDonald Carano Wilson. Daniel Bogden served as U.S. attorney in Nevada for more than five years before being pushed out of his post, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports. The removal of the U.S. attorneys…

Oct 5, 2007 10:18 AM CDT

Pay Cuts for Top Partners at London Firm?

Although at least three quarters of the partners at Ashurst voted recently to approve a change in the London-based law firm’s lockstep compensation structure, many are now reportedly nervous about how the new pay scale will be implemented. “Around 75 of Ashurst’s most senior partners will see their position at…

Oct 4, 2007 5:36 PM CDT

Recruiting Rampage Part II: Alston Aces to Join DLA Piper

The managing partner of Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C. office and the head of the firm’s legislative and public policy practice group are reportedly joining megafirm DLA Piper along with three corporate partners. Plus, other Alston attorneys are likely to follow them there, too. Alston & Bird says that Frank…

Oct 3, 2007 12:05 AM CDT

Mayer Brown Loses Another Partner

In the latest partner defection from Mayer Brown’s office in Los Angeles, corporate and securities practitioner Kenneth Kohler has joined the Los Angeles office of Morrison & Foerster. A number of other partners also have left Mayer Brown’s Los Angeles office in recent months, including Louis Eatman, the former national…

Oct 2, 2007 9:41 PM CDT

Survey Says: Career Satisfaction a Struggle

Lawyers are ruder. Litigation costs more. And many attorneys struggle for career satisfaction. But nonetheless, most lawyers are still proud of their profession. That’s the gist of an American Bar Association survey of 800 attorneys that is discussed in next month’s ABA Journal cover story. One troubling statistic is the…

Sep 28, 2007 3:02 PM CDT

Small Firm, Big Litigation

In more than 30 years of mass torts practice, Mark Robinson has helped his small Calfornia law firm make a big mark. Founded in 1978 after Robinson won a $128 verdict for a 13-year-old plaintiff with burn injuries in a Ford Pinto gas-tank case, Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson had evolved…

Sep 27, 2007 7:48 PM CDT

Nice Job: World’s Richest Representation

Ten years ago, Steven Selsberg left the Houston office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges because he didn’t make partner. Today, his professional future is looking a lot brighter. Although has racked up a number of professional accomplishments in the meantime, including partnerships at two major law firms, one in particular…

Sep 25, 2007 8:51 PM CDT