Business of Law

Twitter Talk: Its Search and Trends Can Keep You Up to Speed

Of all the social media tools, Twitter seems to be the hardest for lawyers to understand. The oddness of the lingo, the 140-character limit on posts, and the abbreviations and casualness of the medium can all raise the question: What is the point of all these people tweeting about what…

Sep 1, 2012 6:59 AM CDT

Bad News Gets Worse: 2011 Grads Face Tightening Job Market

According to the National Association for Law Placement, the overall employment rate for new law school graduates is the lowest it has been since 1994, when the rate was 84.7 percent. In commentary accompanying its report Employment for the Class of 2011—Selected Findings, NALP Executive Director James Leipold said, “For…

Sep 1, 2012 6:50 AM CDT

Lawyer at Large: Minnesotan Fulfills His Dream of Visiting Every Country

Like Johnny Cash, John Rheinberger can sing “I’ve been everywhere, man, I’ve been everywhere.” To date, Rheinberger, a tax and estate planning lawyer in Stillwater, Minn., has visited 193 countries recognized by the United Nations, plus Vatican City, Taiwan and Kosovo for a grand total of 196 places. His wandering…

Sep 1, 2012 6:40 AM CDT

To Teach or Not to Teach: Adjunct Work Can Come with a Hefty Price

Part-time teaching has always been a time-consuming and sometimes thankless pursuit. Even so, with a glut of attorneys competing for work in a down economy, more solos appear to be considering adjunct teaching jobs as a means to supplement their income and test an alternative career path. “We’ve had an…

Aug 1, 2012 7:00 AM CDT

Of Sound Mind: Make Plans for Your Digital Estate

The digital world intrudes on reality in many fascinating ways, raising new questions and leaving us to scramble for answers. It’s hard enough for each of us to keep track of our passwords, user names and accounts when we are of sound mind and body. How difficult will it be…

Aug 1, 2012 6:50 AM CDT

Mongolia or Bust: A New ‘It’ Country Draws Adventurous Lawyers to BigLaw

Sure, the electricity flickered off twice as Elisabeth Ellis waited for a phone call one recent morning. She’s heard hot water can be scarce at times, but she’s not yet experienced that hiccup. And she admits to a first-day thought at the supermarket of “God, what have we done?” But…

Aug 1, 2012 6:40 AM CDT

Lesson from Dewey: Look Closely at Your Own Firm’s Finances

While the legal market, clients and the media keep tabs on the fallout from the Dewey & LeBoeuf bankruptcy, some lenders and consultants are encouraging lawyers to closely examine their firms’ balance sheets and partner agreements. Banks and law firms may have short-term memories with regard to lending and borrowing…

Aug 1, 2012 6:30 AM CDT

Reality Sinks in: Attitudes Have Changed About the Post-Recession Marketplace

Back in spring 2009, few law firm leaders told the first Altman Weil Law Firms in Transition Survey that they believed several law practice challenges highlighted by the recession were permanent. But four years have made a huge difference. The 2012 Law Firms in Transition Survey found a dramatic shift…

Aug 1, 2012 6:20 AM CDT

Beyond Prediction: Technology-Assisted Review Enters the Lexicon

Last February, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck took American litigation another step into the digital domain: He backed the use of predictive coding, a form of technology-assisted document review, in an employment case. Predictive coding is a method of reducing the number of documents that need human review by first…

Aug 1, 2012 6:09 AM CDT

Betting on a New Frontier: Solo Sets Sights on Africa

Liberia-born solo Johnetta Paye is betting her homeland holds great promise for American attorneys. Africa is opening up as a new frontier for American business, and Paye is offering clients wanting to expand into the subcontinent a distinct advantage: She knows the culture and has direct access to resources on…

Jul 1, 2012 7:30 AM CDT

Paladins: High-Demand Litigators Make Travel Work for Them

For 20 years Steven Zager has spent half the year working from hotel rooms, planes and makeshift offices set up in locales far from his home base—these days the New York City offices of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Such is the life for high-stakes litigators like Zager—who, as…

Jul 1, 2012 7:20 AM CDT

A Discovery: Study Tech-Aided Review Before It’s an Ethics Issue

While staying current on e-discovery technology can be daunting, some attorneys say ignorance of the tools may soon be considered an ethical violation. After all, it’s tough to claim ethical competence if you’re not well-versed in legal technology, according to Courtney Barton, assistant general counsel for AOL. Barton advises getting…

Jul 1, 2012 7:10 AM CDT

U of Denver’s Law School Takes an Extra Step Toward Transparency for Its Graduate Employment Data

There is no doubt the demands for increased law school transparency will continue to grow as universities are sued by aggrieved graduates, U.S. senators call for more data, and the ABA considers tough penalties for schools that report false statistics. So when the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law…

Jul 1, 2012 7:00 AM CDT

‘Entry’ Fee: Surprise–Inexperienced Associates Cost More

“Since the recession, in-house counsel have been increasingly reluctant to pay fees for entry-level associates,” The 2012 Real Rate Report notes. “General counsel often feel that they end up paying for entry-level lawyers’ on-the-job training.” And the report uses actual billing data from 2007 to 2011 to show an increased…

Jul 1, 2012 6:49 AM CDT

Call Out: Apps Put Videoconferencing in Lawyers’ Hands

Videoconferencing via smartphone is now a widely available application—and one attorneys may want to employ in their practices. Here’s a sampling of applications. All the apps are free: • Oovoo, a leader in the smartphone video app space, works across multiple platforms, including Android, Apple’s iOS and various PC operating…

Jul 1, 2012 6:40 AM CDT