Careers

New mom will get stop-the-clock breaks to pump breast milk during bar exam

Told there was no procedure for appealing a decision by Illinois bar exam authorities not to provide stop-the-clock breaks when she needed to pump breast milk, Kristin Pagano nonetheless wrote a letter requesting reconsideration. On Tuesday, that request was unanimously granted by the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar.…

Nov 26, 2014 9:30 AM CST

More firms, including Cravath, jump on BigLaw bonus bandwagon; Skadden says some will get $110K

At least three more BigLaw firms have jumped on the year-end associate bonus bandwagon. Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Proskauer Rose; and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have all announced in internal memos that they will follow the same $15,000 to $100,000 range as at least four other major law…

Nov 25, 2014 2:20 PM CST

Pepper Hamilton’s nonlawyer CEO is leaving the firm

Pepper Hamilton’s nonlawyer CEO, Scott Green, is leaving the firm to “pursue other interests,” according to a statement by the law firm. Green was hired in February 2012 and his contract with the law firm expires in 2014, report the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.), the Philadelphia Business Journal and Philly.com.…

Nov 25, 2014 11:16 AM CST

New law school president throws in towel after 8 days on the job

Hired on Nov. 13, the new president of Charleston School of Law threw in the towel barely more than a week later. In a Thursday-night email, Maryann Jones told two of the school’s three owners that she’d had enough, citing turmoil over the private school’s proposed sale to InfiLaw, the…

Nov 24, 2014 5:25 PM CST

Judge to end case over nude photos posted online by her husband by retiring from bench

As a 10-day hearing was set to begin Monday in a legal ethics case over nude photos of a senior Canadian judge, a lawyer for the Manitoba jurist asked that the case be dropped because her client plans to retire in May. Although the graphic photos were posted on the…

Nov 24, 2014 2:07 PM CST

More BigLaw firms match Simpson bonuses of $15K to $100K

An early start to the end-of-year bonus season was kicked off Friday by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Its announcement of an associate bonus schedule of $15,000 (prorated for incoming first-years) to $100,000, depending on seniority, was quickly matched by two other BigLaw firms. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Paul…

Nov 24, 2014 10:15 AM CST

More than 750 Bingham partners, lawyers and staffers are going to Morgan Lewis

Morgan Lewis is acquiring 525 lawyers and staffers from Bingham McCutchen in addition to 226 partners from the law firm. Terms of the acquisition were finalized on Friday, the Am Law Daily reports. The acquisition gives Morgan Lewis about 2,000 lawyers in 28 offices. Morgan Lewis chair Jami McKeon said…

Nov 24, 2014 9:23 AM CST

Pregnant lawyer is denied trial delay in ‘tumultuous’ hearing; law partner blasts prosecutors

A pregnant lawyer who sought a delay in a federal corruption case because a “grueling” trial would be too taxing during her third trimester was turned down by a federal judge last week. The New York Times described the hearing as “tumultuous” while the New York Daily News referred to…

Nov 24, 2014 8:35 AM CST

Early announcement of big year-end bonuses stuns Simpson Thacher associates

It isn’t yet the season in which major law firms traditionally announce end-of-year salary supplements for their hardworking junior lawyers. So associates at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett were stunned Friday by an early announcement of big bonuses, Above the Law reports. The announcement also establishes a benchmark that associates at…

Nov 21, 2014 12:18 PM CST

Expectant mom is denied extra time to breast pump during February bar exam

An expectant mother who plans to take the Illinois bar exam a month after she gives birth to her child has been denied extra time to breast pump. Kristin Pagano, a California lawyer who recently moved to Illinois with her husband, plans to breastfeed her newborn. Her due date is…

Nov 20, 2014 9:19 AM CST

Jones Day objects to blogger’s story on its ‘trim, perky and adorable’ hires

Jones Day registered its disapproval when an American Lawyer blogger described its new Supreme Court law clerk hires as “trim, perky and adorable.” Jones Day hired seven former Supreme Court clerks this year, bringing to bringing to 19 the firm’s total number of SCOTUS clerk hires in three years. The…

Nov 20, 2014 7:13 AM CST

Sex harassment suit claims trial lawyer refined his techniques to avoid explicit job-for-sex offer

A sexual harassment suit filed against a San Diego trial lawyer alleges he used his legal knowledge to avoid explicit offers of jobs for sex. Rejected job applicant Alexa Zanolli, a staff lawyer for the federal court in San Diego, filed an amended suit against John Gomez of Gomez Trial…

Nov 20, 2014 5:45 AM CST

Lawyer is reprimanded for including noncompete provision in associate’s contract

An Indiana lawyer has been reprimanded for including a noncompete clause in an associate’s contract and telling clients after firing the associate that he would be taking over their cases. Lawyer Frank Hanley was reprimanded Nov. 6. The Legal Profession Blog noted the case and linked to the order (PDF).…

Nov 19, 2014 1:14 PM CST

Workers reportedly get pink slips at Bingham global services center

News of a planned mass lateral move of three-quarters of Bingham McCutchen’s partners to Morgan Lewis & Bockius has quickly been followed by news of layoffs at Bingham’s global services center in Lexington, Kentucky. Unnamed employees told WKYT they got layoff notices Tuesday that will take effect on Friday. However,…

Nov 19, 2014 11:52 AM CST

Are 2016 law grads in luck? New stats say lawyer jobs will exceed graduates that year

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has changed the way it calculates job openings in the legal profession, producing a rosy outlook for law grads in 2016. The bureau’s new method of calculating workers leaving an occupation who need to be replaced no longer relies on the assumption that workers enter…

Nov 19, 2014 9:04 AM CST