Career & Practice

Meet Jaret Davis, 35, No. 3 Lawyer at Greenberg’s Miami Office

Twelve years ago, Jaret Davis was working as a summer associate at Greenberg Traurig. Now the 35-year-old corporate and securities lawyer is the No. 3 attorney in his law firm’s second-largest office, filling a newly created position as administrative shareholder, reports the Daily Business Review in an article reprinted in…

Apr 14, 2010 7:55 PM CDT

Ex-Labaton Sucharow Associate Ends $12M Suit for Cut of Fees

A former associate at Labaton Sucharow has ended his suit for a cut of fees earned in the firm’s representation of New Mexico’s state pension funds. The associate, Jon Adams, had claimed he was owed 10 percent of the $118 million earned by the firm because it got the business…

Apr 14, 2010 1:49 PM CDT

While Winning $1.25B in Bet-the-Farm Case, Lead Trial Lawyers Also Were Divorcing Each Other

As one of the top trial lawyers in California, partner Linda Smith of O’Melveny & Myers was an obvious choice to work on a major antitrust case against Intel Corp. on behalf of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. And so was her husband, O’Melveny partner and litigation star Chuck Diamond. The…

Apr 13, 2010 8:54 PM CDT

Ousted Lindquist Partner Accused of Stealing $1M from Firm & Clients

Ousted last month from Linquist & Vennum, a prominent real estate partner has been accused of stealing at least $1 million from the 200-attorney Minneapolis-based law firm and its clients between 2003 and 2010. The accusations against 56-year-old Michael Margulies are made in a disciplinary petition filed on Thursday with…

Apr 13, 2010 8:08 PM CDT

Bookkeeper Gets 51 Months for Stealing $948K From Law Firm

A former bookkeeper at a Wichita, Kan., law firm has been sentenced to 51 months in prison for stealing $948,000 while she was still employed there. Vicki Olivarez pleaded guilty to forging signatures on two checks while working at the Pistotnik Law Offices. She also admitted that she repeatedly wrote…

Apr 13, 2010 5:41 PM CDT

Lawyer Goes from Billable Bankruptcy to Success on a Flat-Fee Scale

Kevin E. Houchin has a story to share—one that took him from bankruptcy to success on a flat fee. Houchin, 41, a former marketing consultant who spent more than a decade in the ad industry, entered law school at age 33 with the intent to help creative entrepreneurs break free…

Apr 13, 2010 1:00 PM CDT

Partners in Small Firm Split Up Due to Bad Practice Fit

Two longtime friends and law partners have split up their Memphis, Tenn., firm after deciding that their two practice areas–matrimonial law and a business and commercial litigation practice, including mass torts–just weren’t a good fit. Crone & Mason has disbanded, as of April 1, and name partner Alan Crone has…

Apr 12, 2010 9:36 PM CDT

Law Grad’s Part-Time, Low-Paid Job Is More Than Many Have, Consultant Says

Make lemonade and count your blessings, a consultant tells a recent graduate of a low-ranked California law school who seeks advice about the low-paid part-time job she has finally found in a small corporate boutique in Chicago. “Breaking-In” should simultaneously make every effort to wow her part-time employer into offering…

Apr 12, 2010 7:19 PM CDT

Clifford Chance Drops Billable-Hours Requirement for Associate Bonuses

Updated: Clifford Chance in London will no longer condition associate bonuses on a minimum billable-hours threshold. The law firm’s bonus system is undergoing a “radical overhaul,” the Lawyer reports. Clifford Chance has already announced that is unfreezing associate salaries, and now it is revealing a “balanced and flexible bonus scheme.”…

Apr 12, 2010 4:08 PM CDT

Vegas Lawyer Reprimanded for Ad that ‘Grossly Misstated the Law’

Las Vegas lawyer Anthony “Tony the Tiger” Lopez Jr. has received a reprimand for running a radio ad that “grossly misstated the law.” The Nevada Supreme Court reprimanded Lopez for a 10-second Spanish-language radio ad that said, “If you have had an auto accident, by law you have the right…

Apr 12, 2010 3:01 PM CDT

Ruden McClosky Leaders Say ‘Nice Guy’ Culture Has Hurt the Bottom Line

Ruden McClosky has been hit hard during the economic downturn, dropping from 172 lawyers in 2008 to a little more than 100 by the end of March. “In the past year, the firm has been hit hard by the national financial downturn, enduring office closures, mass defections, layoffs, pay cuts…

Apr 12, 2010 12:30 PM CDT

Law Firm Employee Charged with Stealing Clients’ Identities

An employee of a San Jose, Calif., law firm has been accused of operating an identity theft ring that used identities stolen from the firm’s clients. The press release announcing the arraignment of the employee, Chev Chan, and five other defendants does not name the law firm where he worked.…

Apr 9, 2010 12:38 PM CDT

DLA Piper Hires Former Business School Dean as Consultant

DLA Piper has hired the former dean of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management as a consultant. Dipak Jain left his position at Northwestern last summer, the Chicago Tribune reports. He joins two other business experts who are working as consultants at the law firm: former LaSalle Bank chairman Norman…

Apr 9, 2010 12:00 PM CDT

Kelley Drye Drops De-Equitization Policy for Older Lawyers, Says EEOC Wanted Change

Kelley Drye & Warren is dropping a policy of removing older partners from equity partnership that had triggered a discrimination lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC had alleged that Kelley Drye undercompensated lawyers who were automatically removed from equity ownership after the age of 70. On Tuesday,…

Apr 9, 2010 11:43 AM CDT

Mayer Brown to Lay Off 28 Lawyers & 47 Staff in US, But Says Legal Market is Improving

In an internal e-mail today, Mayer Brown axed 28 associates and counsel and 47 staff in its United States offices, expressing regret at the layoffs” but saying that reduced demand for legal services and reduced attrition made it necessary. Nonetheless, there are “encouraging signs for 2010,” states the e-mail, which…

Apr 8, 2010 5:42 PM CDT