Solos/Small Firms

Patton Boggs withdraws from hard-fought Chevron environmental case, will pay company $15M

In the latest development in a massive Ecuador environmental case that has put lawyers who won a $9.5 billion verdict for the plaintiffs under unusual pressure, Patton Boggs has agreed to withdraw from the case and pay $15 million to Chevron Corp. Although Patton Boggs was not lead counsel in…

May 7, 2014 4:35 PM CDT

‘Daily Show’ takes aim at gun-rights legal defense firms

The Daily Show took aim at several law firms that purport to protect gun owners and carriers for a monthly retainer, including a Virginia firm that was co-founded by former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. During a segment that aired Tuesday, Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper took a humorous look…

Apr 30, 2014 9:00 PM CDT

Lawyernomics attendees learn about SEO, effective Web marketing

Small firm and solo practice lawyers don’t need to break the bank to maximize their Internet presence: The good news is that there are already plenty of online tools at their disposal if they wish to promote themselves and their brands. On the final day of Avvo’s Lawyernomics conference in…

Apr 28, 2014 11:00 AM CDT

Prominent attorney now faces AG prosecution of rape case, after charges were dropped in March by DA

A prominent Pennsylvania attorney won a six-week reprieve when a criminal case alleging he had raped a law firm employee was dropped in March by the Montgomery County district attorney’s office. But now the state attorney general has announced that her office has filed a new case against Robert Kerns,…

Apr 25, 2014 4:15 PM CDT

Branding and storytelling help lawyers find and keep clients

Peter Shankman. Photo by Jacob Kepler. Lawyers can use personal branding, storytelling and even romance (in a metaphorical sense) to create a base of loyal clients that will help bring in additional clients and work. On Thursday, the second day of Avvo’s Lawyernomics conference in Las Vegas focused on how…

Apr 25, 2014 1:16 PM CDT

The marketing benefits of being nice will be touted at Lawyernomics conference

There’s an oft-quoted maxim that “it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” For many lawyers those two concepts can go hand in hand when it comes to generating business and burnishing credentials. Lawyers attending Avvo’s fifth annual Lawyernomics conference will learn all about why they…

Apr 22, 2014 6:09 PM CDT

North Carolina attorney general finally apologizes to his opponent from 2000

Better late than never. After 14 years, North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper has finally put an end to a feud that stemmed from his initial election to the job he continues to hold. The Charlotte Observer and the Associated Press reported that Cooper apologized to his 2000 opponent, Dan…

Apr 21, 2014 6:26 PM CDT

Former name partner sues, seeks comp and says firm hasn’t removed his name from firm materials

Months after he left the Texas law firm at which he was a name partner to form his own boutique, an intellectual property practitioner says it still hasn’t given him all of the money to which he is entitled. Plus, contends J. Mike Amerson in the lawsuit he filed last…

Apr 18, 2014 6:15 PM CDT

Real estate firm chief and ex-associate charged in $1M ‘short sale’ mortgage-fraud scheme

Two New York lawyers have been charged with bilking owners and lenders of $1 million in a short-sale scheme they allegedly operated while working at the a Long Island real estate firm. However, an attorney representing one of the defendants, Kenneth Schwartz, says his 64-year-old client wasn’t aware of the…

Apr 14, 2014 4:10 PM CDT

Thirty-eight 3Ls who took the Arizona bar in February await the test results

Thirty-eight law students from Arizona’s three law schools took the bar exam before graduation this year in a pilot program approved in 2012. The students who sat for the bar exam in February of their 3L year have not yet received the test results, the National Law Journal (sub. req.)…

Apr 14, 2014 2:09 PM CDT

2nd Circuit asks top NY court to explain minimum needed to satisfy in-state law office requirement

In the latest development in a New Jersey attorney’s challenge to a New York law requiring the state’s practitioners to maintain law offices there, a federal appeals court has asked New York state’s top court for input. Specifically, the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is asking the…

Apr 10, 2014 9:30 PM CDT

Civil rights suit by outside counsel over city’s unpaid legal bill is OK’d by federal judge

A Connecticut lawyer known for her litigation against the city of Bridgeport and its school district is pursuing a new claim on her own behalf. Josephine Miller says in a federal lawsuit that the city attorney violated her civil rights by paying a white attorney who served as outside counsel…

Apr 9, 2014 5:20 PM CDT

Appeals court says law firm owes $792K to dad in child-kidnap case, but nixes $424K award to girl

An appeals court has upheld a jury award of $700,000, plus $292,332 in interest and attorney’s fees, won against a New Jersey law firm in 2011 by the father of a girl abducted during a bitter custody battle with the child’s mother. However, the Appellate Division reversed an additional $424,000…

Apr 9, 2014 4:45 PM CDT

Job outlook for newly minted lawyers still bleak, data shows

The job outlook for newly minted lawyers remains bleak, new figures show. Fifty-seven percent of all 2013 law school graduates were employed in full-time, long-term legal jobs requiring bar passage as of Feb. 15, according to data released Wednesday by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the…

Apr 9, 2014 2:45 PM CDT

Lawyer who pointed client in accident case to high-interest loan did nothing wrong, judge rules

Unable to work after a 2001 accident in which the Chicago commuter train she was riding hit a car at a railroad crossing, Debbie Crim eventually asked her lawyer for a loan to help with her medical bills and living expenses. Peter Vrdolyak instead referred her to Client Funding Solutions,…

Apr 1, 2014 9:50 PM CDT