Career & Practice

Blawgs Help In-House Counsel Decide on Hires, Survey Says

Have lawyer blogs really caught on among corporate counsel who could throw work your way? Twenty-seven percent of 164 in-house counsel who responded to a survey (PDF) indicated that reading blogs published by lawyers on relevant topics was one of their most important activities for researching outside counsel for a…

May 28, 2010 6:04 PM CDT

Long-Time Legal Secretary Reflects on Law Office Changes

Much has changed since 61-year-old Carol Coon started work as a legal secretary at Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Kansas City. The National Law Journal summarizes the law firm environment in 1977, when Coon started work at the firm. “Pantyhose was a must for female employees,” the story says. “The…

May 28, 2010 4:16 PM CDT

Younger Partners Ascendant at Cravath, ‘Not Your Grandfather’s’ Law Firm

The culture is changing at Cravath, Swaine & Moore as partners in their 30s and 40s are handling high-profile work that once would have gone to older lawyers. The older generation of lawyers was on board with the “sea change,” the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports, partly because their…

May 28, 2010 11:42 AM CDT

Supreme Court’s Con Law Decisions Available Through iPhone App

You can get the Supreme Court’s top constitutional law cases at your fingertips with a new iPhone app called PocketJustice. The free version has abstracts of the court’s top 100 constitutional decisions, while the version that costs $4.99 has information on more than 600 cases, according to Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites.…

May 28, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Morris Manning’s Last-Minute Summers Can Expect More Work, Less Play & No Promises

Morris Manning & Martin’s summer associates should expect a full load of substantive work this summer. But extravagant social events are a thing of the past. That’s according to the Atlanta-based firm’s managing partner Louise Wells, who tells the ABA Journal that the newest recruits were also cautioned that permanent…

May 27, 2010 9:38 PM CDT

Jury Acquits Man of Murder in Case of Cop Who Died 41 Years After Shooting

William Barnes has already served 16 years in prison for shooting and paralyzing a police officer in 1966. Now, as a result of a jury verdict on Monday, the 74-year-old defendant won’t have to serve any more time for the policeman’s death 41 years later. The jury deliberated only six…

May 27, 2010 11:54 AM CDT

Hospital Treats Patients By Pointing Them to Legal Help

The rats kept scurrying through Idrissa Munu’s home in Washington, D.C., for several years, even after he killed three with a baseball bat and took them in a plastic bag to the property manager’s office to complain. But after a doctor at the Children’s National Medical Center connected the rodents—and…

May 27, 2010 10:59 AM CDT

Ex-Partner Charged in Alleged $2M Theft from Law Firm & Clients

Fired, disbarred and divorced earlier this year, an ex-partner of Lindquist & Vennum in Minneapolis has now been charged with wire fraud, Michael Margulies, 56, allegedly embezzled some $2 million from the firm and its clients between 1994 and 2010, reports the Star-Tribune. He is accused of forging checks and…

May 26, 2010 9:16 PM CDT

A Trans-Atlantic Merger Without Layoffs? Sonnenschein Chair Says None Are Planned

The chairman of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal says there are no plans for layoffs or office closings as the result of the merger of his law firm with London-based Denton Wilde Sapte. The new law firm, if approved by the partnerships in a June 9 vote, will be called SNR…

May 26, 2010 6:07 PM CDT

Exec’s ‘Passion’ for NeuTec Pharma Led 2 Lawyers to Buy Stock, Jury Is Told

An executive of NeuTec Pharma had such a “passion” for his company that he told friends and family members “I work for the most amazing company that will save many lives and make me very wealthy one day.” But, although his enthusiasm for the biotech company “rubbed off” on about…

May 26, 2010 6:06 PM CDT

New Global Firm—SNR Denton—Would Combine Sonnenschein and Denton Wilde

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal chairman Elliott Portnoy is set to take on a bigger job—as co-CEO of a new firm that combines Sonnenschein and London-based law firm Denton Wilde Sapte. The new firm, if approved by the partnerships, will be called SNR Denton and will have 1,400 lawyers and fee…

May 26, 2010 3:20 PM CDT

Solo Advises New Law Grads Not to Hang Out Their Own Shingle

Austin, Texas, solo practioner Scott Field has this bit of advice for law grads thinking of hanging out their own shingle: Don’t do it. Writing for Texas Lawyer, Field says solo practice is difficult even for experienced veterans. “No one else is responsible for bringing in business,” said Field, who…

May 26, 2010 2:54 PM CDT

Why Law Firms Are Like Hotels: ‘Rack Rates’ Are Negotiable, Real Rates Vary by Client

Law firms, it appears, are like hotels. There is a higher “rack rate” that is held out as the norm, but the amount charged is often lower. And law firms have different billing rates for different clients, even when the work is similar. Those are the findings of an analysis…

May 26, 2010 1:08 PM CDT

‘Cavernous’ Partner Offices Left Behind in Law Firm Moves

Several law firms in the Washington, D.C., area are moving to new digs, lured by good deals and the convenience of moving rather than renovating. Law firms are downsizing, going from 800 or 900 square feet per lawyer to spaces configured to provide about 600 square feet per employee, according…

May 26, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Law Prof Surveys Legal Secretaries, Chronicles Layoffs, Conflicts with Female Lawyers

Legal secretaries are largely invisible in the academic literature, but one Chicago law professor is setting out to change that. Felice Batlan, an assistant law professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, surveyed 164 legal secretaries last year and learned some sobering news, the Wisconsin Law Journal reports. Nearly 20…

May 26, 2010 10:30 AM CDT