Career & Practice

Now Practicing Law, 2 Ex-NFL Players Have Won Some $100M in Football-Related Worker’s Comp Awards

An unusually liberal worker’s compensation system in California, as far as professional athletes are concerned, made the New York Times this week when the wife of former National Football League player Ralph Wenzel filed an apparently unique test case over early-onset dementia that she contends is related to her 67-year-old…

Apr 8, 2010 12:07 AM CDT

Another Hogan & Hartson Office Exits Lovells Merger, Will Join Akin Gump

Following the lead of colleagues in two other European offices, the entire seven-lawyer Geneva contingent of Hogan & Hartson is exiting prior to the firm’s planned May 1 merger with Lovells. They will join Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, establishing a third European office for their firm, which already…

Apr 7, 2010 7:52 PM CDT

Ex-Associate Set for Trial in Small-Claims Suit Against Becker & Poliakoff in $2K Pay Dispute

Many an associate has complained about the sudden pay cuts imposed by a number of law firms in recent years as they struggled with a dismal economy. But Richard Valuntas didn’t just talk the talk. In a lawsuit that has already cost both sides far more in legal fees than…

Apr 7, 2010 6:32 PM CDT

1st Quarter Law Firm Mergers Lowest in a Decade, Altman Weil Says

In the latest sign that the structure of the legal profession may be undergoing a sea change, a consultant reports that law firm mergers during the first quarter of 2010 were occurring at the slowest pace in at least a decade. There were only eight such alliances between January and…

Apr 7, 2010 5:46 PM CDT

Debit Card Linked to Trust Account Led to Lawyer’s Disbarment

Anticipating a fee dispute after his law partners terminated his secretary last August, Garland Clifton “Gary” Hall III began withdrawing funds from a Chenault Hammond & Hall account to cover money to which he would be entitled for his commercial bankruptcy work. But there was one big problem. The firm’s…

Apr 7, 2010 4:48 PM CDT

‘Involuntary Law Firms’ Turn to Outsourcing for Business Help

The tight job market for lawyers is forcing more of them to start their own law firms, boosting the outlook for individuals and companies that help with the business aspects of a law practice. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on the trend and cites anecdotal evidence that more lawyers are striking…

Apr 7, 2010 12:11 PM CDT

Branding Applies to Lawyers as Well as Wheaties, Life Coach Says

Branding and packaging aren’t just concepts for Wheaties (the breakfast of champions) or Bounty paper towels (the quicker picker-upper). Lawyers need to differentiate themselves, and they can do it through branding, a life coach says. Writing at the Legal Intelligencer, lawyer and life coach Karen Shapiro says lawyers can set…

Apr 7, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

As Attorney Went on Trust Account-Funded Spending Spree, Client Slept in Car, He Tells Judge

While she was still in practice, attorney Jessica Miller intended to repay the money she stole from clients, a prosecutor told a Florida judge at her sentencing hearing. But what he described as Miller’s plan to start an exotic animal sales business and borrow against her home to replace the…

Apr 6, 2010 11:52 PM CDT

Merchant & Gould IP Boutique Opens NY Office With Darby Lawyers

Merchant & Gould has opened an office in New York City with two lawyers and a patent agent from the now-defunct Darby & Darby firm. A Minneapolis-based intellectual property boutique with more than 100 lawyers on its attorney roster, the Merchant firm saw the collapse of Darby & Darby last…

Apr 6, 2010 11:05 PM CDT

Bank Conflicts are a Major Factor in Lawyers’ Leaps to Smaller Firms

Although the financial crisis has revved up bank-related litigation, BigLaw firms aren’t seeing as much of it as a number of partners would like. Most represent banks and often are either conflicted out of such matters or reluctant to alienate a big client by participating even when no conflict precludes…

Apr 6, 2010 8:29 PM CDT

Latham Establishes New Saudi Arabia Office, Affiliating with Ex-Ally of White & Case

Latham & Watkins has established a foothold in Saudi Arabia by associating with a former ally of White & Case now operating the Law Office of Mohammed Al-Sheikh in Riyadh. Its new Riyadh office is the firm’s fourth in the Middle East, after a trifecta opening last year of offices…

Apr 6, 2010 5:15 PM CDT

Kelley Drye Defends De-Equitization of Older Lawyers in Lawsuit Response

Kelley Drye & Warren contends in response to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that a lawyer forced out of equity partnership at the age of 70 wasn’t an employee protected by federal law. Kelley Drye was responding to an EEOC suit challenging the law firm’s policy…

Apr 6, 2010 1:04 PM CDT

Lawyers and ‘Suited Geeks’ Turn Out for Cannabis Convention

Lawyers hoping to find new clients were among those attending the Colorado Cannabis Convention this past weekend. More than half a dozen lawyers that are gaining experience in medical marijuana law showed up at the convention, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports. Medicial marijuana dispensaries started springing up like weeds…

Apr 6, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Virtual Offices May Violate Ethics Rules, New Jersey Opinion Says

Lawyers who rent offices under time-sharing arrangements may violate New Jersey ethics rules if they hold out these workplaces as their principal place of business, according to a recent ethics opinion. Such “virtual offices” violate the state requirement for a bona fide office, according to a joint opinion by the…

Apr 6, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

As Feds Cast Wary Eye on Unpaid Interns, Positions Proliferate, Some Aimed at Law Grads

A recent New York Times article about the proliferation of unpaid internships appears to be eliciting a reaction of resigned acceptance rather than a backlash against employers who expect law students and even law graduates to work for free. As the article explains, standards (PDF) developed by the U.S. Department…

Apr 6, 2010 12:43 AM CDT