Career & Practice

Sick Call

Prepare ahead for days when kids fall ill

Dec 2, 2009 2:49 AM CST

Cashing Out

Hope to sell your practice? Plan early and well

Dec 2, 2009 2:39 AM CST

Web 2.Uh-oh

Judged by Facebook

Dec 2, 2009 2:29 AM CST

Rate-a-Neutral

Group to offer evaluations of arbitrators, mediators

Dec 2, 2009 2:09 AM CST

Billing Rates Projected to Increase 3.2% in 2010

BigLaw firms are shrinking and so are associate salaries. But billing rates are expected to go up next year. In the latest survey from the law firm consultancy Altman Weil, firms reported they project an average overall increase in rates of 3.2 percent in 2010. “Although these results may seem…

Dec 1, 2009 8:36 PM CST

40% of Firms Cut Starting Associate Pay, While 44% Consider 2010 Cut

Leaders of American’s top 200 law firms are more optimistic than they were a year ago. But associates may not be sharing that enthusiasm. An American Lawyer survey of law firm leaders found that 40 percent of the firms had reduced starting pay for their associates, and 44 percent are…

Dec 1, 2009 8:02 PM CST

Seyfarth Partner Sues Over Demotion, Claims Core Values Just a Marketing Tool

A Seyfarth Shaw partner who was demoted after a $30 million malpractice verdict that targeted his advice has sued his law firm in a complaint that derides its emphasis on profits. Lawyer William Lancaster claims in the lawsuit (PDF) that he was forced to accept a demotion and an unfair…

Dec 1, 2009 2:23 PM CST

Not Sending Clients Copy of Retainer a Costly Mistake for Law Firm

Delay in providing clients with a full copy of the applicable retainer agreement for their matter has cost a New Jersey law firm a six-figure sum. Reversing an earlier award of $163,000 to Alpert Butler & Weiss for unpaid legal fees and the cost of pursuing their collection action, a…

Nov 30, 2009 7:54 PM CST

BigLaw Partner Promotions Plummet, Even at Highly Profitable Wachtell

Last year, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz promoted six attorneys to partner. This year, despite being the most profitable firm in the country, it named only two new partners this month. And it’s far from alone in reducing its ownership ranks. Many BigLaw firms are promoting fewer associates to partner…

Nov 30, 2009 4:28 PM CST

Legal Secretary Sends E-Mail About Cancer Surgery, Is Fired, Suit Says

Within two hours after she e-mailed everyone at her New York law firm that she had cancer and was going to have to take two weeks off for surgery, a legal secretary had been fired, she alleges in a lawsuit. Theodora Benedict, 61, was invited to return to Tarnow &…

Nov 30, 2009 4:23 PM CST

Law Schools Reporting Drops of Up to 45% in On-Campus Interviews

A news report on the bleak job market for law grads is filled with numbers illustrating the problems. The law school at the University of Texas at Austin reported a 45 percent drop in on-campus interviews, ABC News reports. At Harvard, the percentage of employers participating in law student recruitment…

Nov 30, 2009 2:29 PM CST

Chadbourne’s Bonus Aims to Repay Cut Salaries

Associates and staffers at Chadbourne & Parke who saw their pay cut last April will get the money back early next year in a lump sum payment. The decision, announced internally in September, was publicly disclosed last week, the New York Law Journal reports. Chadbourne never specified the amount of…

Nov 30, 2009 12:23 PM CST

New Competency Programs Can’t Be Just a Cover for Pay Cuts

Law firm managers are closely watching Pittsburgh’s Reed Smith as it moves ahead with its new talent-development program it’s calling CareeRS. But Human Resource Executive reports that some critics remain skeptical that the program, at first geared toward the firm’s associates, will succeed. Under the program, associates are no longer…

Nov 25, 2009 6:50 PM CST

The Cost of a Law Firm Layoff: Multiply Senior Lawyer’s Salary by Five

Law firms are laying off lawyers with an eye toward cost savings. But Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli says there are also costs associated with a “brain drain” and they can amount to about five years’ salary for the layoff of just one senior lawyer. Speaking in an interview with…

Nov 25, 2009 3:00 PM CST

Meet William Marler, a Food Safety Lawyer Hungry for Change

Young and “extremely overconfident,” William Marler took a leading role in his first food-borne illness case when he was only five years out of law school. But news coverage about his severely injured 9-year-old client helped persuade another 200 alleged victims of a fast food restaurant in Washington state to…

Nov 24, 2009 7:08 PM CST