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Nice Job: World’s Richest Representation

Ten years ago, Steven Selsberg left the Houston office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges because he didn’t make partner. Today, his professional future is looking a lot brighter. Although has racked up a number of professional accomplishments in the meantime, including partnerships at two major law firms, one in particular…

Sep 25, 2007 8:51 PM CDT

Ex-Prostitute Leaves Law to Write Movie Script

Lawyer Cupcake Brown, once a prostitute and a drug user, is leaving Bingham McCutchen to write the movie script for her best-selling memoir A Piece of Cake. A four-day crack binge nearly killed Brown, who turned her life around and graduated from law school in 2001, the Recorder reports in…

Sep 25, 2007 1:42 PM CDT

Dress for Jury Success: Less is More

Red suits for women and pink shirts for men may make powerful fashion statements. But when lawyers are appearing before juries, they’re fashion statements that should be avoided, along with provocative—and noisy—clothing, a consultant advises. “Less is more,” says consultant Andrea Ward, who recently discussed appropriate attire for jury trials…

Sep 24, 2007 10:29 PM CDT

Law School Secret: Bad Job Market

The job market is tough for many recent law grads, who are pointing their fingers at law schools for failing to warn them about their dim prospects. Top pay for new associates at the big law firms is $160,000, but most beginning lawyers make far less at the same time…

Sep 24, 2007 11:04 AM CDT

Law Job Interview First: Cushy Ski-Lodge Weekend

Law students interviewing at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges will meet their potential bosses during an all-expenses paid weekend vacation at an upscale ski lodge. About 40 students will travel to the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Deer Valley, Utah, this October where they will meet with firm leaders, including…

Sep 20, 2007 1:05 PM CDT

One Judge, One Career Clerk

Federal judges will be limited to one career law clerk under a new rule adopted by the U.S. Judicial Conference yesterday. The move is expected to save the courts tens of millions of dollars over the next decade, Legal Times reports. Career clerks make an annual salary of around $100,000…

Sep 19, 2007 10:46 AM CDT

Study: More Men Go Into Solo Practice

It might seem counterintuitive. But a massive 10-year study found that men going into solo practice far outnumber the women who do so. Although more women associates and partners leave law firms than men, it isn’t to go into solo practice. About two-thirds of the lawyers who launch their own…

Sep 18, 2007 8:55 PM CDT

Thrillers Pave Unlikely Path to Success

For most attorneys, planning to write a best-seller and have at least the option of retiring from law practice is about as realistic as high school players’ dreams of NBA or NFL stardom. But a fortunate few actually do achieve such goals, and among the elite cadre of lawyers whose…

Sep 18, 2007 3:24 PM CDT

New Firm Resolves ‘Sunday Stomach’

Kevin Broyles once wanted to be a partner at a big-name law firm. But today he counts himself lucky to be able to leave his law office in time to coach Pee Wee football at 6:30 p.m. “It’s a matter of getting your priorities in order,” Broyles, 36, tells the…

Sep 17, 2007 11:05 PM CDT

How Associates Can Make It Rain

Become an expert practitioner in a legal specialty. Build relationships with clients. And market yourself. These are the primary pathways that associates travel to become rainmakers who bring in new business rather than simply servicing other lawyers’ clients, reports New York Lawyer (reg. req.) The lengthy article, which is reprinted…

Sep 14, 2007 9:23 PM CDT

Lawyers Scammed by Fake Job Ad

Updated: Some lawyers are falling prey to scam job ads. Just ask ABA Journal freelancer Arin Greenwood. “This is the story in which you learn how a graduate of Columbia Law School—that’s me—and almost 80 other people, who really should have known better, got suckered into giving away all our…

Sep 14, 2007 4:40 PM CDT

Lawyer Cruises From Main Drag to UN

President Bush has chosen a lawyer from Southfield, Mich., to be an alternate delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. Rodger Young resigned from his firm, Young & Susser, to take the position, but will return as managing partner in early 2008, Crain’s Detroit Business reports. Young, a native of…

Sep 14, 2007 3:23 PM CDT

Law Profs Back Embattled Ave Maria Faculty

Updated: A continuing faculty controversy at Ave Maria School of Law that has become focused, in part, on a planned campus move from Michigan to Florida is heating up. Faculty say they have been treated outrageously by the current administration, and Christian legal academics are rallying in their support. In…

Sep 13, 2007 7:05 PM CDT

Big-Firm Alumni Have Van, Will Practice

Three former big-firm attorneys in Atlanta have made a name for themselves in a way that would have been hard to predict years ago. Jamie Hernan, Christopher Taylor and Jerome Lee have not only left King & Spalding and formed their own firm but bought a van in which they…

Sep 11, 2007 11:47 PM CDT

Starting at $40K, FL Jobs a Stepping-Stone

Young attorneys working as assistant prosecutors and public defenders in South Florida make only about $40,000 annually when they first start work. So, within five years, most have moved on to other jobs. In Broward and Miami-Dade counties, roughly 20 percent a year depart for greener work assignments elsewhere, and…

Sep 11, 2007 7:01 PM CDT