Career & Practice

Eyes Widen as Above the Law Blogger Attends NALP Panel on Online Rumor Mills

Fellow attendees stared at him as though he had three heads and vampire fangs when he went to a National Association for Law Placement program this morning on navigating online rumor mills, says Above the Law blogger Elie Mystal. But there is no silver bullet that can kill the insider…

May 1, 2010 12:01 AM CDT

Teary Ex-GC for Ponzi Schemer Rothstein: ‘I Didn’t Know the Guy Was a Criminal’

The former general counsel in the law firm of convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein cried several times during a deposition yesterday, saying he had trusted the lawyer who lured him to a job that eventually paid $500,000 a year. David Boden testified in a deposition taken in the bankruptcy of…

Apr 30, 2010 3:21 PM CDT

Legal Profession at ‘Transformative Stage,’ ABA President Says in Law Day Message

ABA President Carolyn B. Lamm says in a Law Day op-ed that lawyers need to adapt their practices and acquire new cultural understandings to adjust to law in the 21st Century. The legal profession is at “a transformative stage,” Lamm writes in a commentary on this year’s Law Day theme:…

Apr 30, 2010 2:28 PM CDT

As Hundreds of Law Firms Report E-Mail Scams, One Loses Bid for Insurance Coverage

The plight of a law firm in Albany, N.Y., serves as a cautionary tale for other small-firm lawyers who are increasingly targeted in e-mail collection scams. Lombardi, Walsh, Wakeman, Harrison, Amodeo & Davenport is among hundreds of law firms that have been victimized in the counterfeit check scams, the New…

Apr 30, 2010 1:57 PM CDT

Fla. AG Probes Large Foreclosure Law Firm re Possible ‘False & Misleading’ Mortgage Docs

The attorney general’s office in Florida is investigating a law firm with a high-volume foreclosure practice to determine whether it was in involved in “fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases,” reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). A spokeswoman for the Tampa-based firm Florida Default Law…

Apr 29, 2010 10:59 PM CDT

$650K Clawback of Rothstein Firm Donations Sought from Fla. GOP, Other Politicians

A bankruptcy trustee in Florida is seeking the return of $650,000 in political contributions made by the former Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm to various politicians and political causes. The largest single clawback, $237,000, is sought from the Republican Party of Florida, reports the Miami Herald. The firm, whose former…

Apr 29, 2010 9:18 PM CDT

Judge Raps Kelley Drye for Not Disclosing Receipt of Confidential Opposing Counsel Communication

A law firm’s failure to timely disclose to the court that it had inadvertently received an e-mail containing a confidential client communication by opposing counsel “certainly violates the spirit, if not the letter,” of the New York City Bar’s ethics committee’s opinion on handling accidentally received e-mail, a Manhattan judge…

Apr 29, 2010 8:03 PM CDT

Panel: Suspended Lawyer Only Pretended Not to Practice and Should Be Disbarred

After his law license was suspended, a prominent Kansas attorney essentially kept right on practicing, bringing in another lawyer to serve as the public front of his law firm but continuing to operate it himself from behind the scenes, contends a state attorney disciplinary panel. It is now recommending that…

Apr 29, 2010 7:13 PM CDT

Harvard Law Student’s Racist E-Mail Goes Viral; Dean Calls It ‘Sad & Unfortunate’

The dean of Harvard Law School has now weighed in concerning a student’s racist e-mail that reportedly went viral on the Internet this week. Dean Martha Minow describes the e-mail in a statement today to the law school community as “troubling” and a “sad and unfortunate incident” that “prompts both…

Apr 29, 2010 6:32 PM CDT

Tribunal Rules Against Ex-DLA Piper Partner Who Claimed Pregnancy Bias

An employment tribunal in the United Kingdom has ruled against a former DLA Piper partner who claimed the law firm was “an old boys’ club” that fired her because she was pregnant. DLA Piper has received notice that the Liverpool tribunal unanimously dismissed all of the claims by former partner…

Apr 29, 2010 2:58 PM CDT

Two-Sided Business Card, Potential Client Confusion Cited in Lawyer’s Suspension

A Seattle lawyer has been suspended, in part for mixing his law practice with his duties as president of the local chapter of a civil rights organization. Lawyer Alfoster Garrett Jr. was suspended for 2½ years, the Seattle Times reports. A disciplinary report by the Washington State Bar Association suggests…

Apr 29, 2010 12:51 PM CDT

Not-So-Bad News for BigLaw: Small Drop in Head Count, Small Boost in Partner Profits

Things weren’t so bad last year in BigLaw, new financial numbers reveal. Head count at the nation’s top 100 firms dropped by 1,219 lawyers last year, just a 1 percent decline, even as half the law firms increased in size. And profits per equity partner increased slightly, by .3 percent,…

Apr 29, 2010 12:16 PM CDT

Is Orrick Considering Merger with UK Law Firm?

A British legal publication is reporting that Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe is exploring a merger with British law firm SJ Berwin. According to the Lawyer, SJ Berwin was considering mergers with several U.S. law firms, but two of them—Goodwin Procter and Proskauer Rose—are no longer interested. A London-based recruiter told…

Apr 28, 2010 11:58 AM CDT

Billionaire Harvard Alum’s Big Bucks to Help 10 Law Grads Get Public-Interest Jobs

A well-known graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School is donating $1 million to the two schools, part of which will fund public-interest jobs for 10 law school alumni. Sumner Redstone, the executive chairman of Viacom Inc., announced the donation and the funding of the 10 Redstone Fellowships for…

Apr 27, 2010 7:26 PM CDT

Ex-Law Firm COO Faces Money-Laundering Conspiracy Case re $1.2B Rothstein Ponzi Scheme

The chief operating officer of the former Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm has been federally charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering concerning the $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme that now-disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein ran from his South Florida law office. Once described by Rothstein as his right-hand woman, Debra Villegas,…

Apr 27, 2010 6:51 PM CDT