ABA Journal

Just Say No? Associates Dish on When They Did ... and Didn’t

Plumbers get paid at a significantly higher rate for after-hours jobs. But law firm associates are often asked—no, expected—to accept last-minute after-hours work assignments, not only for no additional pay but even when the work interferes with significant family and social obligations. When should an associate just say no to…

Mar 25, 2008 4:45 PM CDT

Kvetch About Law School, Win $10K

Law students can compete to win a $10,000 scholarship by making a video about their law school worries. The One Less Worry contest, sponsored by the nonprofit student loan company Access Group, is open to anyone enrolled as a law student as of Aug. 1, Legal Blog Watch reports. Students…

Mar 25, 2008 10:48 AM CDT

Bullied at School for Years, Billy Wolfe Brings Suit, With His Parents’ Help

How is it that a student can be bullied at school, for years, without officials taking effective action to end the situation? A lengthy article in today’s New York Times attempts to answer that question, by telling the story of Billy Wolfe, from his own and his parents’ viewpoint. Now…

Mar 24, 2008 11:58 PM CDT

Wachtell Partners Make By Far the Most: $4.48M, on Average

Updated: Despite all the hoopla over megafirms’ megaprofits in 2007, the three law firms that for the first time topped $2 billion in gross revenue weren’t where the real money was being made. Once again, profits per equity partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz were breathtaking—$4.48 million. The just-over-200-lawyer…

Mar 24, 2008 5:43 PM CDT

Law Firm Leverage Could Determine Which Associates Get the Ax

Small or medium-size law firms that focus on structured finance and mergers and acquisitions are hardest hit by the credit crisis. And associates could also take a hit if these kinds of firms don’t have enough of a capital cushion to weather the crisis, a legal recruiter told the New…

Mar 24, 2008 11:28 AM CDT

The Baby Effect: More Billables for Men, Fewer for Women

A Canadian study suggests that having children leads to fewer billable hours for female lawyers and more for their male counterparts. The study of 670 lawyers at an Alberta law firm found that mothers with school-aged children billed fewer hours than childless women, while fathers with preschool-aged children billed more…

Mar 24, 2008 11:06 AM CDT

‘Feeding Frenzy’ Over Expected Lawyer Layoffs at Bear Stearns

Updated: Although it’s not yet confirmed, observers expect that a significant number of the 100 or so lawyers in the compliance department of Bear Stearns Cos. will be laid off once the investment bank’s buyout at a fire-sale price by JPMorgan Chase is completed. So legal recruiters are hovering, hoping…

Mar 20, 2008 3:30 PM CDT

Besides ‘Animal House,’ What Pop Culture References Inspire You?

We learned this week that criminal defense attorney Mickey Sherman, author of the new book How Can You Defend Those People?, finds inspiration from the cult-classic Animal House. Sherman, it seems, learned from those ‘78 Delta House frat boys how to deflect guilt by blaming the system. This made us…

Mar 20, 2008 3:01 PM CDT

Thelen Cuts 26 Associates, 85 Staffers

Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner has confirmed it will lay off 26 associates and 85 members of its support staff. Co-chairman Stephen O’Neal told the Recorder and Above the Law that the associate layoffs are in response to the economic downturn, which has cut into its capital markets practice.…

Mar 20, 2008 11:15 AM CDT

Melvyn Weiss to Plead Guilty; His Ex-Firm Changes Its Name

Updated: Pioneering securities class-action lawyer Melvyn Weiss has agreed to pay $10 million in fines and penalties and to serve up to 33 months in prison to resolve charges that he paid kickbacks to lead plaintiffs. Weiss’ lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, announced details of the agreement today in a press release.…

Mar 20, 2008 10:39 AM CDT

N.J. Prosecutors Investigate JuicyCampus Site

In what may be the first such investigation in the nation, prosecutors in New Jersey reportedly are investigating a controversial no-holds-barred college campus gossip website for possible consumer law violations. The state’s attorney general and Division of Consumer Affairs have subpoenaed the website owner and advertisers, seeking information about how…

Mar 19, 2008 9:26 PM CDT

How Blackwell Sanders Cut Attrition in Half

Kansas City firm Husch Blackwell Sanders reports it has cut its attrition in half after it cut its lockstep evaluations of associates in 2001. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to compensate, bill for and advance associates based on how many years they’ve shown up for work,” partner Peter…

Mar 18, 2008 9:18 PM CDT

BigLaw ‘Ghetto’? Former Staff Attorney Raps Covington’s D.C. Office

A former staff attorney at Covington & Burling’s office in Washington, D.C., contends that the law firm is improving its diversity profile by hiring black lawyers for low-level “ghetto” positions. And, if that’s true, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog suggests, Covington may not be the only BigLaw firm to…

Mar 18, 2008 5:30 PM CDT

Lawyer Suspended After Second Paralegal Steals From Client Account

Maryland lawyer Charles Jay Zuckerman thought the new paralegal he hired would clean up the mess caused by a predecessor who stole from his client trust account. But the new paralegal was also a thief, taking more money than the first, the Daily Record reports. In all, the two paralegals…

Mar 18, 2008 2:14 PM CDT

More Law Firms Boost Maternity Leave to 18 Weeks

About a dozen large law firms have boosted maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks in one of the first significant changes to parental policies in several years. One of the first to change its policy was Sullivan & Cromwell, which made the decision in July, the National Law Journal…

Mar 18, 2008 11:58 AM CDT