Practice Management

BigLaw firms set earnings expectations for partners, create ‘super tiers’ to reward top performers

As BigLaw firms focus more on metrics, many are setting earnings expectations for partners, according to legal recruiters who spoke with Law.com.

Oct 31, 2024 11:56 AM CDT

Dozen major law firms had new partnership classes with 50% or more women for at least 4 years

Female lawyers made up at least half of new partner promotions in 82 major law firms this year, according to the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.

Oct 31, 2024 11:27 AM CDT

Jones Day gets involved in election litigation for RNC after declining to advise Trump campaign

Jones Day is no longer advising the Trump campaign, but the law firm is staying involved in election litigation.

Oct 31, 2024 9:15 AM CDT

Kirkland partner can’t present argument or evidence because he ‘crossed the lines’ of court orders, judge says

A Missouri judge has sanctioned a Kirkland & Ellis partner after finding the lawyer “acted in bad faith on several occasions” and tried to inflame the jury during a civil trial targeting the makers of baby formula.

Oct 31, 2024 8:45 AM CDT

Things worth knowing about our lawyers and leaders

It is the final question I pose, when interviewing lawyers to write their bios, as a small part of my legal marketing, PR and communications practice. I will already have digested their standard fare: what they do, what they want to do more of, why what they do really matters and to whom.

Oct 30, 2024 2:40 PM CDT

4th Circuit upholds $1M sanction for law firm that tried to ‘sabotage’ federal court’s authority

Updated: A federal judge had inherent power to impose a $1.05 million sanction against a national law firm for asking state courts to order an end to U.S. district court litigation, a federal appeals court ruled last week.

Oct 29, 2024 3:50 PM CDT

Inspired by a movie, this attorney then made herself indispensable

An ’80s movie was the unlikely inspiration for one partner who took its message to heart. Erika Gasaway heard the message and adapted it when she became a lawyer: “If you think like a partner, you’ll be a partner.” But it was many years later when that missive would become her reality.

Oct 29, 2024 1:06 PM CDT

Average BigLaw partner compensation increased 26% in 2 years, reaching this high-water mark

Average compensation for partners in larger law firms is $1.4 million, a record high that represents a 26% increase since 2022, according to a new survey by legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa.

Oct 29, 2024 10:35 AM CDT

Only 36% of young legal professionals say work has positive impact on mental health, new survey finds

Half of surveyed male lawyers in larger law firms report that work has a positive effect on their mental health, but only 35% of female lawyers feel the same.

Oct 28, 2024 11:09 AM CDT

Generative AI brings new insights to litigation analytics tools

Updated: With the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, many traditional software categories have been reinvented. Legal software has not been immune from this impactful change. Over the past few years, AI has been increasingly embedded into tools that support legal workflows, and the result has been improved functionality that increases the overall intuitiveness and value of legal software.

Oct 28, 2024 9:03 AM CDT

Columbia law prof facing probe over campus-protest comments says firm ‘abruptly’ dropped her as client

A Columbia Law School professor has said in an ethics complaint a law firm “abandoned” her as a client during a probe of her comments about campus protests “with no notice and no explanation."

Oct 22, 2024 3:50 PM CDT

Judge accuses high-profile law firms of possible effort to ‘gum up the works’

A federal judge in Boston complained during a status conference Friday that lawyers from three high-profile law firms had filed so many motions and documents that they were failing to keep litigation just, speedy and inexpensive, as required by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Oct 22, 2024 12:49 PM CDT

This lawyer focused on publishing her technology law research

When her parents divorced, Star Kashman understood the impact that a good lawyer could have on a family. She initially wanted to be a psychologist, but Kashman, who eventually co-founded a law firm, realized that she could help clients even more if she went into law. It was at the Brooklyn Law School in New York that Kashman paved a path that would eventually propel her career.

Oct 21, 2024 10:36 AM CDT

Ex-BigLaw partner hit with prison time, $4.2M restitution order in tax case

A former partner at Husch Blackwell and Dykema Gossett has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to two misdemeanors for failing to pay $2.46 million in taxes.

Oct 18, 2024 9:35 AM CDT

Artificial intelligence in the legal field ‘will lead to an exciting evolution in the ecosystem,’ Airia CEO says

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with John Marshall, the CEO, and Dan Quintas, the head of legal solutions at Airia, a generative artificial intelligence platform for law firms and other organizations.

Oct 18, 2024 9:05 AM CDT