Career & Practice

Oops. Ex-Illinois Gov’s Unredacted Filing Seeking Obama’s Testimony Is Posted Online

Attorneys for impeached former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich today filed a motion asking a federal judge in Chicago to subpoena President Barack Obama to testify at Blagojevich’s upcoming corruption trial. But a computer glitch has made numerous redactions in the motion public, reports the Chicago Tribune. To see the redacted…

Apr 22, 2010 10:30 PM CDT

Merged Hogan Lovells to Amp Up Corporate Practice in New York & London

When Hogan & Hartson and Lovells merge next month, the two firms plan to focus on amping up their corporate practice in New York and London. In New York, the firm will augment the transactional team in an already strong corporate department to complement its existing strength in Washington, D.C.,…

Apr 22, 2010 7:48 PM CDT

Clifford Chance Cuts Management Duties So Partners Can Bill, Baby, Bill

In an effort to free up senior partner time for billable legal work, Clifford Chance is transferring some management duties to business staff and asking practice group leaders to gear down a bit. The new management strategy is outlined in a recently published corporate governance paper, reports Legal Week. The…

Apr 22, 2010 7:24 PM CDT

Survey: Most Pre-Law Students Confident re Own Prospects, But Dubious About Others

Despite the economic debacle of the past year or two, most pre-law students are confident about their own career prospects, a survey found. However, they express doubt about others’ ability to find the legal job of their dreams, according to a Business Wire press release. The survey by Kaplan Test…

Apr 21, 2010 11:25 PM CDT

Milbank Is the Latest BigLaw Firm to Open a New Office in Brazil

Milbank Tweed Hadley McCloy has become the latest well-known American law firm to open an office in Brazil, luring the former head of Shearman & Sterling’s practice to oversee its new Sao Paulo outpost. Joining Andrew Janszky there will be another Shearman & Sterling attorney, Tobias Stirnberg, Bloomberg reports. Brazil,…

Apr 21, 2010 8:54 PM CDT

Poker-Playing Sole Practitioner Is Charged in Alleged Mortgage Scam

A New York lawyer who placed second in the U.S. Poker Championship in 2005 has been charged in an alleged mortgage scam. Sole practitioner Ralph Pecorale of Long Island is accused, along with six other defendants, of grand larceny and conspiracy, reports the New York Law Journal in an article…

Apr 21, 2010 8:33 PM CDT

3 Lawyers Beat Rap re $6.5M Ransom Allegedly Sought for Stolen Leonardo da Vinci Masterpiece

Three lawyers have been acquitted in an alleged conspiracy attempt concerning a $6.5 million ransom sought from one of the United Kingdom’s richest peers, in exchange for the return of a stolen Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece valued at perhaps $75 million. A jury at the high court in Edinburgh, Scotland,…

Apr 21, 2010 7:54 PM CDT

Multiple Women Make Partner at Some Firms, While Others Promote All-Male Classes

The economy seems to be on the upswing again for a number of women associates who were promoted to partner this year at major law firms: More than one-third of this year’s new partners, among the 118 law firms surveyed by the Project for Attorney Retention, were female, up from…

Apr 20, 2010 8:46 PM CDT

Small Foreclosure Firm’s Big Bucks: Back Office Grossed $260M in 2009

The Law Offices of David J. Stern has only about 15 attorneys, according to legal directories. However, it’s the biggest filer of mortgage foreclosure suits in Florida, reports the Tampa Tribune. Aided by a back office that dwarfs the law firm with its staff of nearly 1,000, the Miami area…

Apr 20, 2010 4:59 PM CDT

Trustee Seeks $75M Forfeiture from Ex-Attorney Rothstein and His Law Firm

A bankruptcy trustee is seeking the forfeiture of more than $75 million in business assets, real estate, vehicles, yachts and other upscale property from ex-attorney Scott Rothstein and his former law firm. Assets previously seized by prosecutors in a fraud case against the now-disbarred lawyer actually belong to the Rothstein…

Apr 19, 2010 11:27 PM CDT

Judge Dismisses Mortgage Foreclosure Over ‘Fraudulently Backdated’ Doc

A Florida judge has dismissed a mortgage foreclosure case filed by a national bank, finding not only that the bank couldn’t prove it owned the mortgage at the time that it filed the complaint but “fraudulently backdated, in a purposeful, intentional effort to mislead” a purported 2007 “assignment of mortgage,”…

Apr 19, 2010 6:23 PM CDT

Growing Perkins Coie Is Latest Firm to Open a New Office in Texas

A growing Seattle-based international law firm has expanded its footprint to Texas with the announcement today that it is opening a new office in Dallas. Perkins Coie is bringing in former Greenberg Traurig partner Steven Smith, who specializes in real estate workouts and lending matters, to be the partner in…

Apr 19, 2010 5:29 PM CDT

Paul Weiss Is Bringing In DOJ Ace to Build Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Group

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison essentially planted its flag in a new practice area with the announcement Friday that it is bringing in as a partner a prominent federal prosecutor described by the Washington Post as the top catch for law firms seeking to attract Foreign Corrupt Practices Act…

Apr 19, 2010 4:46 PM CDT

Ex- Baron & Budd Lawyer Claims Firm Lured Him with Misrepresentations

The accusations are flying in a trial of claims by a former Baron & Budd lawyer who contends the law firm lured him to work there by misrepresenting its compensation system. A Dallas County jury begin hearing the case last week, Texas Lawyer (reg. req.) reports. The plaintiff, Gary Cruciani,…

Apr 19, 2010 3:29 PM CDT

Morgan Lewis Seeks to Expand European Nuclear Practice

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius has hired a top energy lawyer in London and is seeking to expand its overseas nuclear practice. Morgan Lewis hired Susan Quint, formerly a top lawyer for a state-owned nuclear energy services company, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The firm’s nuclear practice has 32 lawyers, and it…

Apr 19, 2010 2:53 PM CDT