Career & Practice

British BigLaw Firm A&O Plans to Shift Back-Office & Legal Support Workers to Distant Location

In the latest signpost pointing the way toward a new approach to BigLaw practice that is rapidly gaining traction, a London-based international firm has announced it is shifting its back-office and legal support functions to a distant location. Allen & Overy expects to have some 300 staffers working in Belfast,…

Feb 2, 2011 5:46 PM CST

Legal Marketer Sees Lessons in Alleged Near-Assault by Airline Employee

Legal marketer Larry Bodine usually uses his blog to deliver advice and news about how law firms can attract more clients through good communications strategies and effective use of technology. After a clash with a United Airlines employee, Bodine was once again delivering marketing advice, although this time it was…

Feb 2, 2011 3:11 PM CST

2L Glad He’s No Longer a ‘Pariah’ After Syracuse Drops Probe of Satirical Blog

A Syracuse University law student is feeling relief now that the school has dropped a harassment probe for his satirical blog posts. Syracuse ended the investigation after the student, Len Audaer, e-mailed apologies to several students who had complained about the SUCOLitis blog, which had used real names and fake…

Feb 2, 2011 12:44 PM CST

Staffers Working 24/7 at Mayer Brown During the Blizzard

At least one Chicago law firm was ready for the blizzard. At Mayer Brown, “We’re a 24-hour operation,” says Bob Harris, director of public relations. “Closing down has an impact on the firm’s offices around the world, because several of our administrative departments are centralized here, such as conflicts and…

Feb 2, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Selling Foreclosure Firm’s Back Office Earned $60M for Attorney David Stern

A Florida attorney known as a foreclosure king earned $60 million last year by spinning off his law firm’s back office operations and selling them, as a separate company, to investors. But that investment hasn’t proved nearly as profitable as they hoped. David J. Stern’s law firm lost much of…

Feb 2, 2011 2:59 AM CST

Colo. Secty of State Changes Mind, Won’t Moonlight at Former Law Firm After All

Sharply criticized after he announced a plan to moonlight at his former law firm to supplement his government salary, the newly elected Colorado secretary of state has changed his mind. Scott Gessler announced today that he won’t be taking a second job putting in 20 hours per month at the…

Feb 2, 2011 12:35 AM CST

Imprisoned Ex-Lawyer Lifts Weights, Learns to Type, Is Fired and Rehired as Cook, E-Mails Friends

Once a prominent forensic accountant and attorney known for his natty attire and expertise concerning receiverships, Lew Freeman is now serving a federal prison term of more than eight years in South Florida for stealing millions while working as a court-appointed fiduciary. But although his expensive suits and technicolor socks…

Feb 1, 2011 10:02 PM CST

PI Firm Seeks Tweets About Icy Walkways; Promises to Donate Sandbags to Slick Properties

A Milwaukee personal injury law firm is on the hunt for slick spots on the city’s sidewalks. The Warshafsky Law Firm is soliciting tips from city residents through Twitter, Facebook to identify slippery spots around the city and then posting them on a dedicated blog, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel blog Proof…

Feb 1, 2011 9:12 PM CST

Watch Your Social Media Posts Because Lawyer Regulators, FTC May Be

While social media marketing is still in its Wild West stage, devil-may-care attorneys recklessly exploiting the media could soon face grief, according to a panel that helped open LegalTech New York 2011 this week. Lawyers engaging in hyperbole on blogs, artificially inflating the number of followers they have on Twitter…

Feb 1, 2011 7:16 PM CST

It’s Time to Consider Law as a System

On Monday I saw Gabriel Buigas, deputy general counsel for Hewlett-Packard, present a terrific keynote at LegalTech New York on “Legal vs. IT: Turn the Battle into a Solution to Meet Compliance.” [Full disclosure: Legal OnRamp has a commercial relationship with HP.] Gabriel perfectly encapsulated my views described in a…

Feb 1, 2011 3:36 PM CST

Winston & Strawn Said to Offer Jobs to About Three-Quarters of Howrey’s Partners

About three-quarters of Howrey’s partners have reportedly gotten offers from Winston & Strawn, a onetime potential merger partner. According to the Recorder, the job offers were made over the weekend. A recruiter familiar with the situation told the publication that all partners got job offers unless they had a conflict…

Feb 1, 2011 12:27 PM CST

Seduced: For Lawyers, the Appeal of Social Media Is Obvious. It’s Also Dangerous

Illustration by Jean Francois Podevin Sean W. Conway thought he was writing an ordinary blog post. He never suspected he would wind up facing ethics charges. “I felt completely within my rights as a citizen, exposing what I thought was an injustice,” he says. It seemed to the then-35-year-old defense…

Feb 1, 2011 10:20 AM CST

Blawg 100 Popular Vote: The Readers Have Spoken

More than 4,000 readers registered to vote on ABAJournal.com for their favorite law blogs in our 4th annual Blawg 100. Here are the popular choices in each of the 12 categories: Court Watch SCOTUSblog is the one-stop shop for news and expert analysis of all things U.S. Supreme Court—from lower-court…

Feb 1, 2011 9:30 AM CST

Trust Account Guidelines for Lawyers Adapt to Electronic Banking

Illustration by Stuart Bradford On Aug. 9, 2010, the ABA’s guidelines for client trust account recordkeeping came to terms with the electronic revolution in the banking industry. In an action that was essentially unanimous, the ABA’s policymaking House of Delegates adopted the Model Rules for Client Trust Account Records to…

Feb 1, 2011 8:10 AM CST

Firms’ Re-Entry Programs Open Doors

Almost 21 years after leaving the law when her twins, the second and third of six children, were born, Cynthia Wells returned last July and picked up almost where she’d left off. Though the firm’s name and technology had changed, Wells nestled easily into her former practice group in Sidley…

Feb 1, 2011 8:06 AM CST