Careers

How these law students help costs and acrimony for divorcing couples (podcast with transcript)

In the wake of divorce, many families find themselves emotionally and financially devastated. If you're in the heat of a legal battle, it's easy to go too far and create acrimony with your ex-spouse which can poison any chance at a cordial future relationship–and drain both sides' bank accounts to pay for attorney fees. But what if if didn't have to be that way?

Feb 2, 2015 9:00 AM CST

Lawyer’s musical is revived more than 40 years after its debut

A 63-year-old California lawyer who co-wrote a musical while in college was surprised to learn this month that the play was being revived by the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. The play, Panhandle, was about Texas cotton farmers affected by the drought and the Depression. Jere Sullivan, a criminal defense lawyer…

Feb 2, 2015 6:15 AM CST

The most dangerous job in law

On April 6, 2014, guards at Vietnam’s remote Prison No. 5 escorted out a most unusual prisoner. He had been branded by the government as an enemy of the state and sentenced to seven years in prison. Human rights lawyers had a different view of the man, whom they and…

Feb 1, 2015 6:20 AM CST

How Dewey management's rosy picture masked an ugly truth

In December 2011, Dewey & LeBoeuf chair Steven Davis used a calm, matter-of-fact tone in a phone interview about his firm's uncharacteristically aggressive streak of lateral partner hiring during the previous year. It was all part of the plan, Davis said.

Feb 1, 2015 4:30 AM CST

Model program brings holistic solutions to divorce

In what may be a first in the divorce world, Pamela Robinson refers to her experience in getting a legal separation as “beautiful.” It even featured the appearance of a puppy. “I was absolutely pleased with it,” says the Denver mother of three and recruiter for accounting and finance professionals.…

Feb 1, 2015 4:20 AM CST

Young lawyers take flight after incubator programs

Like the incubators that help launch high-tech startups, law schools have been using the concept to jump-start the careers of young lawyers going into solo or small practices. It seems to be working. The country’s first law school incubator, based at the City University of New York School of Law,…

Feb 1, 2015 2:00 AM CST

Sedgwick ex-chair writes about what he knows in new novel

Former Sedgwick chairman Kevin Dunne is coy about how much of his debut novel, The Chairman, is autobiographical. Case in point: The main character’s name is Boxer Tate, a former bouncer who beats up a patron one night, gets locked up, becomes a lawyer and works his way up to…

Feb 1, 2015 1:30 AM CST

ABA to hold first midyear meeting in Houston since 1981

Recent incidents in which black men died during confrontations with police officers—most notably in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City—have put the issue of race relations in the United States back at the top of the news. Paradoxically, this attention comes at a time when at least two important anniversaries…

Feb 1, 2015 12:50 AM CST

Law dean calls out sexism in evaluation of female prof, tells students to forgo ‘fashion advice’

The vice dean of Rutgers School of Law-Camden says the “sexism” label isn’t one that he readily uses. But he didn’t hesitate to make the call concerning an evaluation of a female professor at the school. Submitting a public critique, “that explored, in some detail, the fashion stylings of one…

Jan 30, 2015 9:45 AM CST

Video advocating cop-killing includes appearances by two lawyers with Bronx Defenders

Two lawyers for a New York City-funded legal services group appeared in a rap video promoting the killing of police officers, a report by city investigators has found. The two lawyers for Bronx Defenders knew the video would feature rap lyrics endorsing violence against officers, according to the report. The…

Jan 30, 2015 7:27 AM CST

Curbs on pay guarantees don’t crimp lateral moves; which firms gained the most?

Lateral moves by partners at America’s 200 largest law firms increased last year, even as the firms curbed pay guarantees for new partner hires. In the year ending on Sept. 30, 2014, there were 2,736 lateral moves at top law firms, nearing the record high of 2,775 lateral moves during…

Jan 29, 2015 9:08 AM CST

Why this injured PI lawyer gave a hospital interview: ‘I don’t want the public to think I’m dead’

A Kentucky personal injury lawyer who broke his neck in a Jan. 19 bicycle accident is eager to return to part-time work. Darryl Isaacs, described as a “famed accident lawyer” in a Louisville Courier-Journal article, told the newspaper he’s lucky to be alive. He recently took his first steps since…

Jan 29, 2015 7:36 AM CST

Top NY lawmaker prosecuted over $3M asbestos-case referral fees exits speaker post and law firm role

After the announcement of criminal charges that he took millions of dollars in kickbacks under the guise of legal fees in exchange for misusing his government influence, a longtime New York Democratic legislative leader is stepping down from his role as speaker and taking an unpaid leave of absence from…

Jan 28, 2015 1:55 PM CST

Author tells tangled tale of the $19B verdict against Chevron in ‘Law of the Jungle’ (podcast)

In 2011, an Ecuadoran court found the Chevron Corporation liable for environmental damage caused by oil drilling in the 1970s-80s. Chevron was ordered to pay $19 billion to the plaintiffs who brought the suit, a collection of small farmers and indigenous peoples. Although it is tempting to fit this into a simple narrative-either "victory for oppressed people against an evil corporation" or "responsible corporation preyed upon by voracious plaintiffs attorneys"--the truth just isn't that simple.

Jan 28, 2015 9:15 AM CST

Women who ask for raises tend to be disliked, while men may ‘get a pass on swagger,’ law prof says

One theory offered to explain why women make less money than men is that women don’t ask for raises. But University of California at Hastings law professor Joan Williams suggests wage inequality has another component, the New York Times Op-Talk blog reports. Research has found “that women who do ask…

Jan 27, 2015 7:38 AM CST