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Dewey trial expected to be ‘long legal slog’; what type of jurors will defense seek?

Defense lawyers for three former leaders of Dewey & LeBoeuf probably won’t want school teachers and administrators on the jury in the trial that is set to begin today. Those professionals are “punishers” used to handing out discipline, and will be inclined to side with prosecutors, according to Roland Riopelle,…

Apr 27, 2015 7:56 AM CDT

Long-serving federal judge, 92, says ice-skating energizes him for work

A long-serving federal judge in New York City credits morning ice-skating sessions for his continuing service. U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet, 92, took up the sport when he was in his seventies, after his wife gave him a pair of figure skates for his birthday as something of a…

Apr 24, 2015 3:50 PM CDT

Head of IP boutique takes 8-lawyer team to Arnold & Porter

Five years ago, James Otteson left Wilson Sonsini to form his own intellectual property boutique. Now he is back in BigLaw again, after leading all but one of the nine lawyers at his Agility IP Law to the Silicon Valley office of Arnold & Porter. The Recorder (sub. req.) and…

Apr 23, 2015 9:15 AM CDT

Standing desks and pricey cognac: Are they happiness boosters for associates?

A co-managing partner at Susman Godfrey is offering his take on morale boosters at his law firm. Responding to a Texas Lawyer inquiry on the subject, co-managing partner Neal Manne offered four reasons for happy associates (leaving partners out of the mix because they “exist in a state of perpetual…

Apr 23, 2015 7:06 AM CDT

Concerned about lifestyle and balance? You probably won’t amount to much in the law, recruiter says

Updated: Legal recruiter Harrison Barnes has a message for lawyers who want to avoid living in a van down by the river. If you want to be a legal professional with the responsibility of handling people’s problems, “You sure as hell better be committed to what you are doing,” writes…

Apr 21, 2015 8:02 AM CDT

Which law firms are most family friendly? Yale Law Women names top 10

Yale Law Women is recognizing 10 law firms for their family friendly policies. The top 10, in alphabetical order, are: Arnold & Porter Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Duane Morris Hogan Lovells US Hunton & Williams Kirkland & Ellis Morrison & Foerster Munger, Tolles & Olson Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe WilmerHale…

Apr 21, 2015 7:06 AM CDT

Diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder helped lawyer rebound from suspension

A Las Vegas lawyer says he’s tired of worrying about clients learning of his past and lawyers talking about him behind his back. Alex Ghibaudo decided it would be better to talk about problems that led to a five-year suspension and his rebound that helped him win reinstatement last year,…

Apr 21, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

New BigLaw associates make the most money in NYC, says survey

While $160,000 is widely recognized as the benchmark starting salary paid to first-year associates by the top BigLaw firms, a number outside New York City pay less. Before the recession hit the legal industry hard, 80 percent of the law firms employing 700 attorneys or more said they were paying…

Apr 20, 2015 2:45 PM CDT

Robins Kaplan to close Atlanta office; firm is ‘working on a transition plan’ for 12 lawyers

Robins Kaplan will soon be closing its Atlanta office, which at last report listed a dozen lawyers on the attorney roster, in order to focus the firm’s efforts elsewhere. “As a firm, Robins Kaplan has performed exceptionally well, especially over the past several years. As our clients’ needs have changed,…

Apr 17, 2015 12:10 PM CDT

Lawyer spent $26K of his savings to attend every Knicks game this season

A laid-off lawyer who decided to attend every Knicks game has spent $26,000 watching the losing season, but he’s hoping for better times ahead. Dennis Doyle tells the New York Times it has been an expensive and exhausting experience. “If I had better health care coverage,” he told the newspaper,…

Apr 17, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

‘Hire’ LinkedIn for referrals, marketing your firm, lawyers advise

For most people, LinkedIn is an online repository for your resume and a website that you rarely visit and almost never update. But the social media site can be a powerful advertising and content distribution tool for attorneys and law firms. That was the message from attorneys Dennis Kennedy and…

Apr 16, 2015 4:19 PM CDT

What’s the biggest time suck in your day?

What are the biggest roadblocks to productivity in your day? Earlier this week, we reported on an consultant who has advised attorneys to stop checking their email as soon as it comes in and to delegate as many routine tasks to assistants as possible. But there are other things that…

Apr 16, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

NALP sees ‘upward movement’ in starting pay for associates; median increases $10K

Updated and corrected: The year 2009 remains the high-water mark for starting associate salaries in BigLaw, but there is a bright spot for new lawyers in salary statistics released on Thursday by the National Association for Law Placement. The national median first-year associate salary at law firms of all sizes…

Apr 16, 2015 7:51 AM CDT

Demanding work schedules are damaging their health, say 82% of surveyed lawyers

The demands of work at leading law firms in the United States and United Kingdom are quantified in a new survey that found 22 percent of senior lawyers and partners work every weekend, and more than 10 percent work an average of 70 or more hours a week. Brutal work…

Apr 16, 2015 7:10 AM CDT

Want to be more productive? Delegate routine tasks and stop checking email constantly, expert says

Want to get more out of your work day? Then minimize interruptions, a time-management expert says. Find a way to work behind a closed door, delegate routine tasks to an assistant and stop checking email as it arrives in your in-box, writes Robin Henlsey in the Daily Report (sub req.).…

Apr 15, 2015 12:40 PM CDT