Child actor parlays his connections into an entertainment law practice

Feb 1, 2014 10:10 AM CST

Volokh Conspiracy blog now subject to Washington Post’s paywall | Can lawyers use dynamic pricing?

This week, the Volokh Conspiracy (in the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 Hall of Fame) migrated to the Washington Post. The blog was approached by the newspaper, and they accepted the offer in hopes that their blog will now reach a larger audience, blog founder and University of California-Los Angeles law…

Jan 24, 2014 2:45 PM CST

Divorce lawyer testifies at murder trial of former client’s ex-husband

At first, although there was snow on the ground, John Ciccolella thought a lightning bolt had knocked him to the floor of his Colorado Springs law office on Jan. 23, 2002. But that wasn’t what happened. After a shot had been fired into his home about six months earlier, the…

Jan 22, 2014 5:00 PM CST

Courtney Love testifies at first US ‘Twibel’ trial, sued by her ex-lawyer over critical tweet

Three years ago, Courtney Love paid $430,000 to settle a fashion designer’s lawsuit over a series of insulting tweets made by the singer and actress in the heat of a dispute over a $4,000 bill. Now the rock singer and actress is at trial in a California defamation suit brought…

Jan 16, 2014 8:25 PM CST

Was Christmas fire that destroyed small law office a case-related arson?

It isn’t yet known whether a Christmas fire that destroyed an Illinois attorney’s law office was an arson. But matrimonial lawyer Paula Rieghns says she is convinced someone unhappy about a divorce case firebombed her small Marengo office, northwest of Chicago, according to CBS Chicago and the Northwest Herald (reg.…

Jan 2, 2014 5:45 PM CST

Founder leaves 120-lawyer firm due to disagreement about its future direction

A co-founder is leaving a 120-attorney Texas law firm after 28 years, due to a disagreement about its future direction. In a Tuesday internal memorandum, partner Donald Looper, who headed the firm’s corporate practice group, announced his resignation from Looper Reed & McGraw. He plans to share an office on…

Jan 2, 2014 4:55 PM CST

Solos need a backup plan to prepare for the unexpected

Jan 1, 2014 8:10 AM CST

Bootlegger tried to peel off $30K in cash to pay lawyer after 1931 trial victory

When a bootlegger went on trial in Troy, N.Y., in the Christmas season of 1931, on charges of kidnapping and assaulting a driver who wasn’t part of his organization, then-Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt had was hoping to put Jack “Legs” Diamond away for good. But the popular gangster, known for…

Dec 11, 2013 5:15 PM CST

Facing loss of health coverage, 2 lawyers turn to ‘Problem Solver’ for help proving their marriage

Philip and Nancy Hablutzel have been married for more than three decades. When required to prove that they are still husband and wife by an administrator for a state health insurance system, however, the two Illinois lawyers found themselves stymied. Nancy Hablutzel, a state retiree, operates her own law firm…

Dec 6, 2013 9:55 PM CST

Doctor’s wife is charged in his shooting outside law office after mediation session

A mediation session at a Tennessee lawyer’s office Wednesday “apparently didn’t go well,” a Manchester police investigator says. As Dr. Henry Bartee and his estranged wife, Brenda Bartee, both 47, were being walked by an attorney to the door of Rogers, Duncan and North at about 1 p.m., Brenda Bartee…

Dec 5, 2013 4:29 PM CST

Law firm reconfigures after name partner is charged with rape

A prominent Pennyslvania attorney has left the law firm at which he had practiced for 39 years after being criminally charged in a rape case concerning a former firm employee. Kerns, Pearlstine, Onorato, and Hladnik has now dissolved, and was reconfigured on Dec. 1 as Hladik, Onorato & Pearlstine, reports…

Dec 4, 2013 3:44 PM CST

Law firm sues, says rival legal shop lured associate and encouraged him to solicit clients

A Wilkes-Barre, Pa., law firm has filed suit against a competitor, contending that the rival legal shop not only lured its associate to new employment but encouraged him to solicit its clients while still on the original firm’s payroll. Even though associate Paul Batyko was still working out his two-week…

Dec 2, 2013 11:20 PM CST

Teaching clients to make referrals is key to building business, solos say

Dec 1, 2013 8:20 AM CST

Client killed girlfriend and himself at Wis. law firm, authorities say

A 68-year-old client shot his 63-year-old girlfriend to death and then killed himself at a small Wisconsin law firm Thursday afternoon, authorities said. The nature of any legal work being done for the man by Briggs Law Offices hasn’t yet been released, and the identities of the two people who…

Nov 22, 2013 6:55 PM CST

Should small firms be the ones to close the access-to-justice gap? | How to be a great local counsel

Corrected: Last week, the New York City Bar Association announced some new pilot programs: a New Lawyer Institute, which would offer a yearlong comprehensive CLE curriculum for 2014 law grads, and a law firm incubator that would “enable new lawyers to address the unmet civil legal needs of the middle…

Nov 22, 2013 2:30 PM CST