Associates

Role-Playing Game Suggests Lower-Paid Future for BigLaw Lawyers

A sort of Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game at a law school last weekend shed light on a possible future for BigLaw that includes lower salaries and more training for associates. The game was led by Indiana University law professor Bill Henderson and Anthony Kearns, the lead risk manager for…

Apr 21, 2009 12:02 PM CDT

Longtime Friend of Slain Pa. Lawyer Mourns—and Seeks Justice

Eric Birnbaum and Terry Goldberg had been pals since the two were about 14 years old, attending both college and law school together. So the still-unsolved slaying of Birnbaum outside the Bucks County, Pa., law office in which both worked as attorneys has hit Goldberg hard. Goldberg has lost weight…

Apr 20, 2009 5:57 PM CDT

Temp. Suspensions Sought for Leaders of Ariz. Consumer Law Firm

Over the last three years, Phillips & Associates has represented more than 30,000 clients. So it isn’t amazing there there have been multiple client complaints during the same period, according to the lawyers in charge of the Arizona consumer law firm. But state bar regulators see the situation differently. In…

Apr 20, 2009 5:15 PM CDT

Once Courted by BigLaw, Lawyers Find Government Job Search Is Demoralizing

Laid-off BigLaw lawyers are sending a flood of resumés to U.S. agencies, only to learn that advertised jobs aren’t available or computers are winnowing out their applications. Lawyers sending their resumés “into the murky depths of Washington’s alphabet soup” are being stymied by hiring freezes and computer programs selecting applicants…

Apr 20, 2009 12:11 PM CDT

Treadmill Desks Gain Traction at Chicago Law Office

Last year, in an effort to lose 40 to 50 pounds, Texas lawyer Ross Robinson paired a $700 low-speed treadmill with his stand-up desk. Less than a year later, the Winstead partner is 40 pounds lighter, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg.…

Apr 17, 2009 9:35 PM CDT

Boston Firm Snags 6-Lawyer Dewey Wealth Team

A 200-attorney Boston-based law firm has further expanded its growing New York office by adding a six-lawyer trusts and estates group from Dewey & LeBoeuf. Economic uncertainty, ironically, is keeping wealth management lawyers at Sullivan & Worcester and other firms busy, as clients reconfigure their remaining assets and anticipate possible…

Apr 17, 2009 8:46 PM CDT

Baker & Daniels Cuts 5 Associates & Others, Imposes Staff Wage Freeze

In a second round of layoffs since December, Indianapolis-based Baker & Daniels has cut more than 15 positions. The 320-attorney firm has also imposed a wage freeze, according to managing partner Tom Froehle, on what the Indianapolis Business Journal describes as “all operational staff.” Froehle confirms that nine staff positions…

Apr 17, 2009 7:06 PM CDT

Prof’s Tragedy Inspires Law Grads to Seek Spirit of True Success

Colin Colverson thought he’d made a good career move by shifting from home building to law school just before the recession hit. Now he’s on the verge of graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law. And about all he has to show for it, right now, in…

Apr 17, 2009 5:50 PM CDT

Adding to Grim Math of Legal Job Market: 43,000 New Law Grads

After a stunning series of law firm layoffs and incoming associate start-date deferrals this year, some 43,000 third-year students will soon be graduating from the nation’s law schools. This grim math adds up to a tough job market for both the new graduates and a number of young attorneys who…

Apr 17, 2009 5:12 PM CDT

Enterprising UCLA Offers Skills Training for Jobless 1st-Years

So many law firms have deferred the start date for entering first-year associates that a number reportedly are having difficulty finding jobs at nonprofit organizations. But at least one law school is now offering another alternative for newly minted attorneys without a place to start work. The University of California…

Apr 16, 2009 6:55 PM CDT

Robinson & Cole Chops $10K Off Associate and Counsel Paychecks

Adding another name to a small but growing list of well-known law firms cutting attorney pay, Robinson & Cole has announced that all associate and counsel salaries will be reduced by $10,000, effective immediately. Although it has been expanding in the in New England, the 240-attorney Northeast regional firm has…

Apr 15, 2009 11:53 PM CDT

Lawyers Retool for Bankruptcy Practice, Due to Dismal Economy

Back when the economy was robust, attorney Brett King worked on mergers and acquisitions in Asia. Now he and other lawyers there bill themselves as “restructuring” experts—sometimes concerneing the same failed deals they helped put together, reports the Wall Street Journal. And they’re far from the only attorneys seeking a…

Apr 15, 2009 6:39 PM CDT

Associate Who Claimed Drugging at Bingham Party Sees Complaint Tossed

A Massachusetts agency has tossed a complaint by a former associate who claimed Bingham McCutchen didn’t do enough to investigate her claim of a drugging at a law firm holiday party. The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination said former associate Michelle Moor failed to prove the working conditions at Bingham were…

Apr 15, 2009 11:18 AM CDT

BigLaw ‘Has Changed Forever,’ Says Womble Carlyle, Cutting Pay 10 Percent

Imposing a roughly 10-percent pay cut that will be less for some and more for others, a well-known 530-attorney Southeast and Atlantic regional firm says there has been a sea change in corporate law practice. “The world of large law firms … has changed forever,” says Womble Carlyle Sandridge &…

Apr 14, 2009 11:06 PM CDT

Northwestern Allows Unemployed Law Grads to Defer Loan Payments

Northwestern Law School has announced that graduates with deferred law-firm start dates don’t have to make school loan payments until they begin work. Laid-off alumni may also be able to participate in the loan forbearance program, announced in an e-mail to students by law dean David Van Zandt, the Chicago…

Apr 14, 2009 6:21 PM CDT