SC Lawyer Rapped for Overselling His Small Firm in Brochure, Phone Book and Online Ads

A South Carolina attorney has been publicly reprimanded by the state supreme court for overselling his small firm’s experience and expertise by exaggerating and making statements that could not be factually verified. For example, Michael Hensley Wells said on his firm’s website and in a brochure that he’d “worked in…

May 9, 2011 7:20 PM CDT

Kershaw Firm Lays Off One-Third of Staff, Says Business Is Up, But New Focus Requires Less Support

A California personal injury firm says it has increased its business by refocusing on complex litigation. But Kershaw Cutter Ratnoff, which is based in Sacramento, doesn’t need as much support now, partners tell the Sacramento Business Journal. So it has laid off eight staffers and one lawyer. “People are working…

May 9, 2011 7:00 PM CDT

A Primer on Starting Your Own Law Firm in the New Normal

I read three articles today about lawyers leaving their firms with a few colleagues from the same firm to start new law firms. Having started a new law firm some three-and-a-half years ago (wow, time flies!), I understand some of the things that motivate this move, and I wouldn’t trade…

May 9, 2011 1:30 PM CDT

Conflicted Out of a Number of Matters, 4 Miller & Chevalier ITC Lawyers Form a New Law Firm

Four Miller & Chevalier lawyers who often worked on International Trade Commission intellectual property disputes couldn’t take as many as they were offered because of conflicts of interest. So they have formed a new law firm in Washington, D.C., the Blog of Legal Times reports. One associate from their former…

May 5, 2011 9:29 PM CDT

Reports: Fake Law Firm Site Targeting Lawyers in Real Estate Scam Uses Actual Law Firm Info, Photos

A photo of the founding partner of “Wagner Elliot” and written material about him and the attorneys in his purported Toronto law partnership appears polished and professional on the firm’s website. That’s because the fake Wagner Elliot firm—which the Law Society of British Columbia has warned lawyers to beware of—plagiarized…

May 5, 2011 5:06 PM CDT

Howrey Seeks New Work Despite Its Dissolution

Howrey officially dissolved in March, but it is seeking $10.5 million in new legal work from a recently created utility board in New York State. Board members of the North Country Power Authority are being asked to sign a contract with the law firm to help the authority acquire assets,…

May 4, 2011 11:55 AM CDT

Fla. Lawyer Sued by Colo. AG Is Now Suspended in Fla. Over Alleged Personal Use of Trust Funds

A Florida lawyer recently sued by the Colorado attorney general over his “debt management” work on behalf of clients there is now suspended in his home state, based on apparently unrelated alleged misconduct. After an investigation, Clint Johnson has been charged with using his law firm trust account funds for…

May 3, 2011 10:18 PM CDT

Search Warrant: Law Firm Lost Almost $10K Due to Credit-Card Payment Made by Unauthorized Person

Corrected: A small New Hampshire law firm lost nearly $10,000 when it was scammed in a credit-card identity-theft scheme, according to a U.S. Secret Service agent’s affidavit seeking a search warrant for a suspect’s condominium. Attorney Justin Nadeau lost $9,693.13 when someone’s credit card was fraudulently used to pay a…

May 3, 2011 9:39 PM CDT

Top Mass. Court Puts Law Firm Back on Med-Mal Client’s Case, But Says Firm Can Select Attorney

When an individual lawyer at Thomas M. Kiley & Associates cited both a plan to withdraw temporarily from the practice of law and irreconcilable differences with a medical-malpractice client, the state court judge overseeing the case allowed her to withdraw. But he ordered the law firm to continue with the…

May 3, 2011 5:13 PM CDT

Attorney Hopes to Publicize Her Law Firm by Dancing with ‘Incredibly Talented’ Ballet Star

It could be embarrassing, a Missouri criminal defense attorney admits. But Jennifer Bukowsky is hoping to gain a higher profile for her law firm by participating in Dancing with Missouri Stars later this week. “In my business, I am the product. I have to seize opportunities to get the word…

May 2, 2011 7:47 PM CDT

Solos Make a Splash with Mobile Ads

May 1, 2011 7:20 AM CDT

Appeals Court OKs $20M Legal Malpractice Case; ‘How Could They Have Gotten It So Wrong?’ Says Atty

A class action plaintiff who filed a legal malpractice suit contending that a California law firm improperly took some $20 million from a $134 million settlement is back in the ball game. The trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Girardi Keese, held the California Court of Appeal, Second…

Apr 30, 2011 12:11 AM CDT

Killer Tornadoes Devastate Multiple Areas in South, Take Roof Off Courthouse and Law Firm

A swath of tornadoes described as the worst such storms in nearly 40 years wreaked havoc in the South yesterday, taking the roof off of at least one Alabama courthouse and requiring cancellation of final exams at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Among those affected by the direct hit…

Apr 29, 2011 12:38 AM CDT

Colo. AG Sues Fla. Law Firm, Alleges Unauthorized Practice In Violation of Business Registration Law

The Colorado attorney general’s office has filed a lawsuit in state court over alleged unauthorized practice of law by a Florida attorney and his firm. It seeks a court order to prevent further “debt management” work on behalf of residents unless and until the firm complies with registration requirements. The…

Apr 28, 2011 9:26 PM CDT

Jail Recorded Almost 300 Law Firm-Client Phone Calls, Then Passed Them on to Others in Discovery

A federal judge in Tennessee has ordered attorneys involved in a sex-trafficking case not to listen to recordings of almost 300 phone calls between Bell Tennent & Frogge and the law firm’s jailed clients while he figures out how to handle the fact that they were provided to others in…

Apr 28, 2011 6:01 PM CDT