Practice Management

The Washington Web of Lawyers

Washington lawyers who represent corporate targets of government investigations are connected by financial and social ties. The personal connections often determine which lawyers get referrals in high-stakes, high-paying cases, the Washington Post reports. Among the elite is Robert Bennett, who has passed along business he couldn’t handle from big clients…

Jun 18, 2007 5:50 PM CDT

‘Mockingbird’ Legacy: Remembrance of Racist Times Past

Although it is a novel, rather than non-fiction, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” has, perhaps more than any other book, impressed into the minds of many a consciousness of the racist justice system that characterized the segregated American south for much of the last century. An instant best-seller after…

Jun 13, 2007 9:53 PM CDT

British Law Firms May Go Public, Too

Seeking to follow in the footsteps of at least one Australian competitor, some British law firms reportedly are interested in potentially going public–and legislation being considered by Parliament would allow them to do just that. The Legal Services Bill expected to pass later this year likely will give United Kingdom…

Jun 13, 2007 2:05 AM CDT

DC Firm Racks Up Big Bill in RI Case

A well-known Washington, D.C., law firm is sending the state of Rhode Island six-figure monthly bills for ongoing representation in a huge environmental clean-up case. When the state asked Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan to represent R.I. in the case concerning a Southern Union Co. site in Tiverton, it anticipated monthly…

Jun 12, 2007 1:00 AM CDT

Celebrity Gossip: Contested Legal Fees

It isn’t every day that Us magazine reports about an attorney’s claim against a client for legal fees. But it did so in detail today, after celebrity lawyer Debra Opri contended in a court filing that Anna Nicole Smith’s former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, had become “obsessed” with her. As a…

Jun 9, 2007 5:08 AM CDT

White House Counsel Hires 10 Attorneys

Ongoing investigations of the Bush administration by the Democrat-controlled Congress are good news for attorneys seeking work in the White House. White House Counsel Fred Fielding announced today that his office has hired nine lawyers, five of them for newly created positions, reports the Washington Post. A source says a…

Jun 9, 2007 4:35 AM CDT

15-Year-Old Innocence Project Thriving

When Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld began the Innocence Project 15 years ago, their goals were relatively modest. Today their New York-based program has 38 employees, has exonerated 201 convicts and freed them from prison and is a model for similar efforts in 39 other states. The two one-time public…

Jun 8, 2007 7:50 PM CDT

D.C. Legal Clinic Helps Homeless

With 23 cents in her bank account, Erica Bermudo couldn’t even afford to file for bankruptcy. So she showed up at a one-hour legal clinic held at a local church in Washington, D.C., last month, to see if she could get free legal help with her case. Such private efforts…

Jun 7, 2007 11:43 PM CDT

Blogging Juror Booted in Murder Case

Here’s another category to add to the list of courtroom players who need to be told not to blog about an ongoing trial. Jurors. As the Miami Herald puts it, “If you are a juror told by a federal judge not to read newspaper stories about a case you are…

Jun 7, 2007 11:04 PM CDT

‘Defending the Damned’ Isn’t Pretty

A new book on the work being done by public defenders in and around Chicago doesn’t sugarcoat the aggressively adversarial nature of their practice. But “Defending the Damned” does provide a fascinating in-your-face, fly-on-the-wall view of what actually happens in the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, as lawyers go about…

Jun 7, 2007 7:19 PM CDT

Law Firms Urge Gay Attys to Come Out

Not so long ago, it would have been a big problem for an attorney in many law firms to show up at a firm event with a same-sex life partner. But the pendulum is now swinging in the other direction. Rather than casting a cold eye on attorneys involved in…

Jun 7, 2007 6:41 PM CDT

Lawyer for Smith Lover Seeks Fees

A lawyer for the man determined to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby is asking a Los Angeles court to enforce an agreement to arbitrate their fee dispute. Debra Opri says she spent 600 hours working on legal matters for Larry Birkhead, and associates and support staff worked…

Jun 7, 2007 5:32 PM CDT

Motion Claims 35,000 Documents Withheld

A pending motion for sanctions claims chip maker Qualcomm failed to turn over more than 35,000 discovery documents in a patent infringement case. Qualcomm had sued rival semiconductor maker Broadcom for infringing two Qualcomm patents for video compression, but lost at trial four months ago. In court papers filed late…

Jun 7, 2007 12:35 PM CDT

Boston Lawyer Assault Case Dropped

Charges reportedly have been dropped against a Boston lawyer who had been accused of groping a museum curator at an art gallery opening, after the alleged victim declined to go forward with the case. Contention continues, however, as lawyers for both sides offered sharply different perspectives of the case, reports…

Jun 7, 2007 2:50 AM CDT

Prof’s Law Blog Led to 11th Circuit Case

Blogging can be a legal minefield for lawyers and parties to litigation, as a Boston doctor defending a malpractice case found out recently when he outed himself as “Flea” and abruptly settled. But this minefield can also produce gold, as an Ohio State University law professor has seen. After former…

Jun 7, 2007 1:42 AM CDT