Personal Lives

Oldest Patent Lawyer Dies at the Age of 107

A retiree dubbed “the oldest patent attorney in the United States” by National Public Radio has died at the age of 107. Yardley Chittick, a graduate of George Washington University Law School, practiced law until he was 85, the Boston Globe reports. He had estimated that he worked with about…

Jul 23, 2008 2:24 PM CDT

Big Firm Lawyer Among Those Bidding to Own Cubs

A lawyer at Hinshaw & Culbertson in Chicago would like to become one of the new owners of the Chicago Cubs. Labor and employment partner Thomas Mandler is among a group of investors submitting a bid to buy the team, the AmLaw Daily reports. He is also reportedly lead counsel…

Jul 22, 2008 3:29 PM CDT

Famed Trial Lawyer Gerry Spence: My New Blog Frightens Me

Ever wondered what famed Wyoming trial lawyer Gerry Spence might think about a big case or an unusual legal strategy? Reading his brand-new blog may offer an opportunity to find out. At present, it contains exactly one post, but Spence says more are forthcoming. Given his prolific writing as an…

Jul 18, 2008 7:49 PM CDT

Multitasking Winstead Lawyer Exercises While He Works

Winstead partner Ross Robinson doesn’t go to the gym, but he still manages to work out for almost as many hours as he devotes to work each day. He does it by walking on a treadmill as he works. Robinson told the Tex Parte Blog that he walks at a…

Jul 17, 2008 5:37 PM CDT

Lawyer and Economist Ben Stein Writes on Economics of Love

Law and economics is a burgeoning field, but lawyer and economist Ben Stein is addressing another field: love and economics. Stein writes in the New York Times that, in general, “the returns in love situations are roughly proportional to the amount of time and devotion invested. If you invest caring,…

Jul 14, 2008 2:35 PM CDT

Disbarred Georgia Attorney Now Breaking Into Cars, Cops Say

Disbarred several years ago, a Georgia attorney has allegedly turned to a new line of work—automobile break-ins. Police in Alpharetta, Ga., say Phillip Strickland, 38, is responsible for a five-county car break-in spree, and plan to charge him with “a slew” of felony theft counts, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They…

Jul 11, 2008 5:01 PM CDT

Lawyer Band Practices in Judge’s Chambers

A federal judge who plays the saxophone allows a group of 35 Chicago lawyers who play in a jazz group called the Barristers Big Band to practice in her chambers. U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning of Chicago, an accomplished musician who also performs and records with the KCR Ensemble, is…

Jul 10, 2008 4:52 PM CDT

Justice Breyer and Several Lawyers Were Victims of Data Breach

Personal identifying information about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer and several lawyers was inadvertently exposed when an employee of an investment firm used file-sharing software on a company computer. The breach occurred when an employee of the Wagner Resource Group used the file-sharing network LimeWire to trade music…

Jul 9, 2008 2:32 PM CDT

Slain Attorney Didn’t Back Down from Opposing Party’s Alleged Threats

Updated: When Xia Zhao graduated from the University’s of California’s Hastings College of the Law in the midst of the dot-crash, she was disappointed that she didn’t get a big-firm job offer. But that didn’t stop the Chinese immigrant, who had already surmounted many other obstacles, from founding her own…

Jul 7, 2008 9:55 PM CDT

Lawyer Is ‘Subway King’

A lawyer who formerly was assistant minority counsel to the House Banking Committee now has an empire of more than 1,000 Subway sandwich shops. The Washington Post describes the lawyer, Larry Feldman, as “the Subway King of the mid-Atlantic.” Subway president Fred DeLuca was a college buddy of Feldman’s, and…

Jul 7, 2008 5:27 PM CDT

Reprising ‘Green Acres’: Lawyer Gives Up Big-City Life for Goat Farm

A California lawyer who moved from the San Francisco area to run a goat cheese farm in the Adirondacks no longer takes heat and water for granted. Sheila Flanagan still works 40 to 60 hours a week for her Oakland law firm from her new home, but she also farms…

Jul 3, 2008 12:49 PM CDT

Man Suspected of Killing Attorney in Wrongful Death Case Against Him

A California attorney who agreed to represent a family in a wrongful death case may now have been shot to death by the man accused in the civil action. Jason Cai, 50, who is the defendant in the wrongful death claim, is suspected of killing attorney Xia Zhao outside her…

Jul 2, 2008 6:14 PM CDT

Happy Hour Popular With Law Firm and Accounting Workers

Updated: A new survey finds that people who work in law, accounting and financial services are the most likely to head to the bars after work. The survey for CareerBuilder.com found that workers in legal and financial occupations were most likely to go to happy hour with co-workers, with about…

Jul 1, 2008 5:21 PM CDT

The Forgotten

Iraqis who helped American soldiers are being slaughtered. A small band of U.S. lawyers is fighting to save their lives.

Jul 1, 2008 1:15 PM CDT

Life After BigLaw: ‘No Job, No Baby and 10 Pounds of Leftover Fat’

Shinyung Oh, the ousted Paul Hastings associate who sent a scathing mass e-mail denouncing the firm’s layoff tactics, is airing her feelings once again, this time on her own blog, Because You Never Know … . The blog contains posts on Oh’s sadness over her miscarriage and her post-law firm…

Jun 24, 2008 2:21 PM CDT