Practice Management

Outsourcing Alternative: Law Firm Sets Up Own Shop in India

Apparently weary of seeing clients defect to to low-cost companies in India and elsewhere when it came time to perform so-called legal process work, at least one major U.S. law firm reportedly is fighting back. Howrey is opening its own office in India, although outsourcing is not what it is…

Feb 11, 2008 6:06 PM CST

New Merit-Based Associate Pay at U.K.‘s Norton Rose

A well-known British firm is eliminating its traditional experience-based associate pay system and moving to a system that rewards with higher salaries those who demonstrate legal skills. Norton Rose will divide associates into three groups: those who are newly admitted, those who are essentially midlevel associates, based on their demonstrated…

Feb 11, 2008 5:25 PM CST

New BigLaw Perk for Struggling Associates: Career Counselor

Faced with the likelihood of associate flight, given high attrition rates, a growing number of BigLaw firms are trying a new tactic: hiring an in-house career counselor to help junior attorneys develop professionally. The career counselor’s role is to offer associates “a neutral and confidential third party to go to…

Feb 8, 2008 9:04 PM CST

An Expert Explains How to Delegate

Effective lawyers know how to make themselves look good by helping their junior colleagues to work efficiently. A key skill required to do so, a consultant notes, is knowing how to delegate. Lawyers want to feel that they are working on an important matter. So, helping associates to understand the…

Feb 7, 2008 9:27 PM CST

Legal Ad Police Say Yes to Lions, No to Pit Bulls and Background Noise

Advertising lawyers are running up against unusual state restrictions and tough bar regulators who have challenged ads that contain pit bulls, space aliens, giant-size lawyers and background noise. Tighter restrictions on lawyer ads are the trend, according to the Wall Street Journal. The story reports on some of the more…

Feb 7, 2008 12:28 PM CST

As In-House Lawyers Struggle With E-Discovery, Vendors Ready to Help

Many in-house counsel are ill-prepared to deal with e-discovery, but it’s not for lack of companies willing to help. E-discovery vendors crowded the exhibition floor at LegalTech New York this week, while educational sessions focused on how to prepare for electronic database searches. A survey by Kroll Ontrack released to…

Feb 6, 2008 2:38 PM CST

Death of King of Torts Threatens Ohio Law Firm’s Lush Life

The untimely death of one of Cleveland’s best-known plaintiffs lawyers has sparked an ugly court spat that could require dissolution of his super-profitable firm and the sale of its private jets and arena football team. The widow of Michael Kelley, known locally as the King of Torts, has filed suit…

Feb 5, 2008 9:51 PM CST

Have a BlackBerry? An Outsourced Personal Assistant Awaits

Do you need the neighborhood dry cleaner to pick up or deliver a few business suits? A quick text message to India can get results fast. In yet another outsourcing trend, harried professionals—as well as blue-collar workers—are hiring low-paid workers half a world away to handle everyday tasks that can…

Feb 5, 2008 6:53 PM CST

Cadwalader Equity Partner Profit Dips, But Microsoft Deal Will Refill Coffers

The average profit per equity partner dropped 6 percent in 2007 at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, the law firm reported today. However, overall revenue increased 5 percent at the New York-based firm, according to Legal Week. As discussed in a previous ABAJournal.com post, Cadwalader announced 35 lawyer layoffs last month…

Feb 5, 2008 6:05 PM CST

Some States Seek to Limit Judicial Power to Regulate Lawyers

Legislators in a handful of states are trying to limit the traditional power of their states’ supreme courts to regulate the legal profession. In South Carolina, for instance, a Republican legislator and physician, Dr. Kristopher “Kris” Crawford, is proposing legislation that would eliminate the state supreme court’s power to regulate…

Feb 5, 2008 5:02 PM CST

Three Firms Try Taming the Billable Beast

By David Gialanella The billable hour is the dandelion of law practice: pervasive and not so popular. So, when seeking to avoid the negative effects of a system that provides the profits for many a firm, there can be as many approaches as there are landscapers in the phone book.…

Feb 5, 2008 4:28 PM CST

John McCain Telling Old Lawyer Joke

Presidential contender John McCain has a lawyer joke that he routinely tells when he is on the stump, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports. The well-known—and rather old—joke goes like this: What is the difference between a catfish and a lawyer? One is a scum-sucking bottom dweller. The other…

Feb 5, 2008 3:59 PM CST

What Do Women Lawyers Really Think of Each Other? Answers May Surprise

Would women lawyers prefer to work with men or other women? The answer may depend on the age of the female lawyer you’re asking, an ABA Journal survey has found. Of more than 1,400 respondents who answered the question, 58 percent said the gender of their colleagues made no difference,…

Feb 5, 2008 3:29 PM CST

Fewer Law Firm Options for New Grads?

Some say they couldn’t find law firm jobs. Others say they didn’t want to. But the bottom line for a small fraction of the nation’s newly minted law school graduates is a nontraditional business job that has only a peripheral connection, at best, to practicing law, reports the Recorder (sub.…

Feb 4, 2008 8:25 PM CST

Roy Tolles, Old-School Founder of Leading Law Firm, Dies at 85

Edwin Leroy Tolles, a renowned California attorney who founded a leading Los Angeles law firm, has died. He was 85. A gentleman of the old school who founded and ran the law firm now known as Munger, Tolles & Olson while simultaneously devoting himself to family life, Roy Tolles is…

Feb 4, 2008 7:40 PM CST