Careers

Lawyers who self-medicate to deal with stress sometimes steal from those they vowed to protect

At one point in his legal career, Dallas attorney Tom Corea had a fancy downtown office, a six-bedroom/six-bathroom house, a fleet of high-end cars, and his own indoor horse arena. He also had a wife, a girlfriend and a mistress.

Mar 1, 2015 6:10 AM CST

As law school enrollment drops, experts disagree on whether the bottom is in sight

Corrected: Given recent trends, it came as no surprise that enrollment at ABA-accredited law schools fell again in 2014, according to figures released in December by the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. It was the fourth straight year in which law school enrollment dropped after peaking…

Mar 1, 2015 1:50 AM CST

Legal incubator dubbed ‘Project Lemonade’ gets $400K grant from MacArthur Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded a $400,000 grant to an Illinois legal incubator for recent law school graduates. Administered by the Chicago Bar Foundation, the Justice Entrepreneurs Project has “great potential to develop replicable, market-based models,” a MacArthur foundation spokesman says in a written statement…

Feb 27, 2015 1:45 PM CST

Are you smarter than a robot? Lawyers, surgeons make list of jobs being replaced by computers

In past years, blue-collar jobs were most threatened by automation. But white-collar jobs–including lawyer jobs–are also on the line, Forbes reports. IBM’s Watson computer has already demonstrated its prowess at Jeopardy and has bested humans in diagnosing lung cancer. The ramifications have produced a “drumbeat of worry,” Forbes says. The…

Feb 26, 2015 10:44 AM CST

ABA to fund startup projects to hire new and underutilized lawyers

The ABA has announced it will award $40,000 in Catalyst Grants to groups with proposed programs to hire new and underutilized lawyers. The grants will be awarded to bar associations, courts, law schools and other groups planning innovative programs to provide for unmet legal needs of poor and moderate-income individuals,…

Feb 26, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Judge agrees to reprimand for not revealing speeding ticket en route to appeals court job interview

Florida Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler was ticketed for speeding in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012, twice at speeds of as much as 30 mph or more over the legal limit, although one of the other tickets was dismissed. In 2014, as she was on her way to an interview…

Feb 25, 2015 2:45 PM CST

Did local defense attorney’s criticism spark governor’s unusual firing of top prosecutor?

A longtime prosecutor says she was fired Sunday by Alaska’s governor in a move that news reports suggest may be unprecedented. No specifc reason was given by newly elected Gov. Bill Walker, who himself is an attorney with expertise in oil and gas matters, for forcing Bethel District Attorney June…

Feb 25, 2015 12:25 PM CST

Job market for new law grads is improving, NALP chief says

At first glance, the job market for new law grads appears grim. For six years in a row, the employment rate fell for law grads nine months after graduation, hitting a low of 84.5 percent in 2013, according to James Leipold, the executive director of the National Association for Law…

Feb 25, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Columbia is No. 1 on list of law schools with highest BigLaw placement; Yale isn’t among top 10

For those who hope earning a juris doctor degree will be a ticket to a high paid job as a BigLaw associate, a new National Law Journal survey points to 10 well-known law schools that send the highest percentage of their graduates to the nation’s elite law firms. Columbia Law…

Feb 24, 2015 11:10 AM CST

Are you a workplace jerk? Overassertive bosses are less likely to hear about it

People often have a blind spot when it comes to an assessment of their own assertiveness. One study illustrating the problem found a big gap in how negotiators viewed their assertiveness and how others saw them, according to Columbia business professor Daniel Ames and doctoral candidate Abby Wazlawek, who conducted…

Feb 24, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Silicon Valley agog as trial looms in high-profile sex-discrimination case against Kleiner Perkins

Ellen Pao’s resume includes a stint as an associate at Cravath Swaine & Moore as well as a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and dual graduate degrees, in law and business, from Harvard University. But she didn’t have what it takes to succeed at Kleiner Perkins Caufield…

Feb 23, 2015 4:40 PM CST

Judge withdraws as nominee for top state court seat after racially insensitive email surfaces

Following news reports about a racially insensitive email, a nominee for a seat on Pennsylvania’s top court has withdrawn from consideration. A day before his scheduled confirmation hearing for a supreme court seat, Judge Thomas Kistler, who serves as president judge of Centre County Common Pleas Court, said he is…

Feb 23, 2015 10:55 AM CST

Steamy novel writer will have to get psych exam in wrongful firing suit against BigLaw firm

The self-published author of an erotic novel will have to submit to a psychiatric examination in her suit claiming Allen & Overy used the book as a pretext to fire her. Plaintiff Deidre Clark, who had worked as a senior lawyer in the firm’s Moscow office, must have the exam…

Feb 23, 2015 6:15 AM CST

New racially insensitive email arises concerning Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Only a few months ago a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice announced his retirement, following a scandal over raunchy emails sent from his personal account. Now questions are being asked about another racially insensitive email that may have been sent by a nominee to fill a vacant seat on the state’s…

Feb 20, 2015 1:30 PM CST

Want to avoid layoffs? Commitment to mission of your employer may help

Workers with an emotional commitment to the goals and mission of their employer may be less likely to be laid off, a new study suggests. The study published online by Human Resource Management found that employees with a high level of “affective organizational commitment” were less likely to be laid…

Feb 19, 2015 6:00 AM CST