Solos/Small Firms

Let go after 74 years, law firm sues client to regain representation

For 74 years, a Portsmouth, Virginia, law firm represented the city’s housing authority. But in September the authority decided to award a legal services contract to another local law firm. Now, after protesting the award administratively to no avail, Cooper Spong & Davis is suing the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing…

Oct 30, 2015 11:45 AM CDT

Burns White acquires Pittsburgh litigation boutique

Burns White is acquiring a litigation boutique that will add 11 lawyers to its Pittsburgh office. The merger with Pittsburgh-based Dapper, Baldasare, Benson, Behling & Kane will take place Jan. 1, according to a press release and a story by the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.). Burns White executive committee member…

Oct 29, 2015 12:17 PM CDT

Kilpatrick Townsend to merge with 21-lawyer Dallas firm

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is entering the Texas legal market through a merger with Dallas-based Crouch & Ramey, a 21-lawyer firm. The merger will take place on Nov. 2, according to a press release. With the addition of the Crouch & Ramey lawyers, Kilpatrick Townsend now has more than 170…

Oct 29, 2015 11:42 AM CDT

Criminal defense lawyer goes viral with ‘Texas Law Hawk’ ads

Bryan Wilson is not lacking in qualifications to practice law. His law firm bio page says he graduated near the top of his law school class at Texas Tech University, earning multiple academic honors. Plus, he interned for criminal court judges and worked under experienced prosecutors and public defenders before…

Oct 26, 2015 5:00 AM CDT

Lawyer for fugitive Paul Ceglia says in personal lawsuit that Facebook and its counsel defamed him

One of the lawyers who represented fugitive Paul Ceglia in a high-profile unsuccessful lawsuit against Facebook Inc. and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has now filed suit against Facebook on his own behalf. Attorney Paul Argentieri alleges that Facebook, Zuckerberg and the company’s general counsel, Colin Stretch, defamed him in a statement…

Oct 21, 2015 10:40 AM CDT

Day Pitney to open in Florida by merging with small trusts and estates firm

Day Pitney has announce a planned merger with a small Florida trusts and estates firm. The merger with Chapin Ballerano & Cheslack, which is to take place on Jan. 1, will establish a Florida practice for Day Pitney, a Northeast regional law firm that lists close to 300 lawyers on…

Oct 19, 2015 9:05 AM CDT

Appeals court nixes 10-year plea deal in claimed contract hit attempt on family lawyer

An appeals court has nixed a plea deal by one of the men allegedly involved in performing a claimed contract hit attempt on a New Jersey divorce lawyer in 2002. However, that means that all the original charges will be reinstated against defendant Vancleve Ashley, who had gotten a 10-year…

Oct 15, 2015 12:10 PM CDT

Small firm sanctioned nearly $282K by federal judge for pursuing frivolous case

A long-running case over Native American land rights has resulted in a steep sanction for a small Minnesota law firm. Known for its civil rights litigation, three-partner Mohrman, Kaardal & Erickson was ordered Friday to pay $281,906.34 in legal bills for its opponents. A federal judge said the firm had…

Sep 28, 2015 10:00 AM CDT

Insurer not liable for $1M law firm judgment for turning over child’s passport, federal judge rules

A New Jersey law firm’s malpractice insurance carrier doesn’t have to pay a state-court judgment of nearly $1 million that is linked to a parental-kidnapping case, a federal judge has ruled. Granting a summary judgment motion in the declaratory judgment action, U.S. District Judge Esther Salas found that the law…

Sep 15, 2015 6:25 AM CDT

Founding partner in ‘state of shock’ over planned dissolution of 18-attorney law firm

After nearly 40 years in business, a well-regarded 18-attorney law firm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is poised to dissove. Managing partner Kim Smith announced Thursday that Hartman Underhill & Brubaker expects to close its doors within the next several months, citing the departures of some lawyers, resultant loss of business…

Sep 8, 2015 2:30 PM CDT

Civil RICO suit says lawyers took fees from immigration clients who couldn’t legally stay in US

A Kentucky lawyer and his associate have been named as defendants in a civil racketeering suit. It accuses them of exploiting an apparent loophole in federal immigration law and obtaining fees from clients living here illegally who didn’t qualify for the U.S. employment authorization they obtained. Brought last month in…

Sep 8, 2015 11:35 AM CDT

Law firms can spend a lot, or very little, and improve their cybersecurity, experts say

With hack attacks a fact of daily life, law firms need to be doing more to protect themselves against cyber breaches, experts say. Those with 500 or more attorneys should have four key employees on staff, data security consultant Larry Ponemon tells the Am Law Daily (sub. req.). They are:…

Sep 2, 2015 5:05 PM CDT

Salt Lake City firm Open Legal Services operates as a nonprofit, keeping hourly rates low

Making Hay the Nonprofit Way

Sep 1, 2015 8:45 AM CDT

Pro bono gives solos experience and satisfaction

When Chicago attorney Jill Metz started practicing as a solo attorney in the early 1980s, she decided she would always make time to do pro bono work. Though she needed to get her practice off the ground and earn a living, Metz volunteered five to 10 hours a week for…

Sep 1, 2015 6:35 AM CDT

Lawyers acquitted of coaching witnesses to lie; case a ‘scary attack’ on defense bar, counsel says

A little over a year after the feds raided the law office of two Chicago defense attorneys, then charged them with perjury for allegedly coaching witnesses to lie, both have been acquitted by a federal judge at a bench trial. Law partners Beau Brindley and Michael Thompson got the good…

Aug 31, 2015 11:55 AM CDT