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Heading back to Latham, former White House counsel Ruemmler recalls DC confirmation fight

Former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler is rejoining Latham & Watkins, where she was a partner before her most recent government service. Ruemmler will be a partner in Latham’s litigation department and a member of the white-collar defense and investigations practice group, according to a press release. In previous government…

May 21, 2014 3:15 PM CDT

US will release drone-strike memo holding up judicial confirmation of former Justice official

U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. won’t appeal an appeals court order requiring disclosure of a classified legal memo justifying the killing of an American terrorism suspect living overseas, according to published reports. The Justice Department told the White House on Tuesday of its decision to release the 2011 memo…

May 21, 2014 12:50 PM CDT

LSAC to pay $7.73M, change LSAT policies in settlement of ADA suit

In a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over Law School Admission Test policies concerning the disabled, the Law School Admission Council has agreed to pay $7.73 million and stop flagging test scores of those who were given extra time, among other policy revisions. The LSAC did not admit…

May 20, 2014 10:30 PM CDT

A few hours on LinkedIn brought me $12,000 worth of referrals in weeks, lawyer tells columnist

Mark Poniatowski, a business lawyer, recently beefed up his LinkedIn profile, and that led to the California attorney getting referrals worth $12,000, Forbes reports. Kern Lewis, a marketing specialist and Forbes contributor, writes in the publication’s Entrepreneurs column that the referrals came a few weeks after Poniatowski improved his LinkedIn…

May 19, 2014 8:20 PM CDT

Debevoise partner dies in apparent suicide jump

A Debevoise corporate partner died Friday evening after apparently jumping from the 22nd floor of his New York City apartment by Central Park. Stephen Hertz had a practice focusing primarily on mergers and acquisitions for private equity clients, according to his law firm bio. The New York Daily News said…

May 19, 2014 1:35 PM CDT

Lateral associates are more likely to leave for performance reasons, study says

Laterally hired associates left their law firms for performance reasons last year more often than entry-level associates, a NALP Foundation study has found. Fifty-one percent of laterally hired associates left their firms because of failure to meet work-quality or productivity standards, compared to only 34 percent of entry-level associates, law…

May 19, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Becker-Posner Blog shutters after Gary Becker’s death | Ready for chip-and-pin credit cards?

Nobel Prize-winning economist and University of Chicago professor Gary Becker died last week at the age of 83, and over the weekend, The Becker-Posner Blog said “farewell” with no other commentary. Other law bloggers paid their respects. “Becker pioneered the application of economic analysis to questions that were previously considered…

May 16, 2014 1:30 PM CDT

Disclose depression? Managing partner recalls reaction to revelation

Today Dan Lukasik has a website called Lawyers with Depression and a part-time coaching practice for lawyers struggling with the issue. But he wasn’t always public with his own experience with depression. Lukasik says he was 40 years old when depression took hold of his life more than 12 years…

May 15, 2014 3:20 PM CDT

Law prof will be first Native American woman to serve as a federal judge

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed three nominees to federal judgeships, including a former prosecutor who will be the first Native American woman to serve as a federal judge. A member of the Hopi tribe, Diane Humetewa was approved in a 96-0 vote. She is special counsel at Arizona State…

May 15, 2014 2:32 PM CDT

Do you secretly believe your job isn’t necessary? Academic sees corporate law as one of the BS jobs

British anthropologist David Graeber recalls discovering the remarkable career of a childhood friend. The friend was a poet and then the front man in an indie rock band—a singer Graeber heard on the radio without realizing he was the friend he had known. But after a few unsuccessful albums, the…

May 15, 2014 1:53 PM CDT

Dad was wrong; you can’t do anything with a law degree, job-seeking lawyer says

As Jim Saksa was pondering whether to attend law school, his father offered what may have seemed like sage advice: You can do anything with a law degree. Now Saksa is looking for a job outside the legal field, and he’s beginning to think his expensive JD is more of…

May 15, 2014 12:03 PM CDT

Are you working too hard? Here are the warning signs

Feeling anxious and irritable? Forgetting appointments or having trouble concentrating? Feeling aches and pains, experiencing minor illnesses, and having trouble sleeping? All are signs you are too busy, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. A person’s ability to handle multiple tasks is affected by his or her personality, the…

May 15, 2014 10:55 AM CDT

Prosecutor who died in fiery chain-reaction crash ‘was an American hero,’ state AG says

A longtime Pennsylvania prosecutor was among three people killed Monday in a fiery seven-vehicle accident on a Pennsylvania highway. Robert Rosner, 52, died at the scene of the Interstate 78 accident after the car he was driving was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer, crashed into several other cars and…

May 14, 2014 10:00 PM CDT

Shoot to become a Mars colonist or a lawyer? Texas man must decide

Going to law school in an uncertain job market is a lesser risk for Cole Leonard than his career alternative. Leonard, 27, must choose between going to Texas Tech’s law school, where he has been accepted, and trying to become one of the first colonists on Mars. Leonard is among…

May 13, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Godzilla may breathe fire, but he still needs a lawyer

A float in a 1991 parade launched a lucrative legal relationship for Chuck Shepard, who may not be able to breathe fire and crunch cities with a stomp of his foot but nonetheless has skills that are much-needed by an iconic monster. As the lead lawyer protecting the Gozilla brand,…

May 12, 2014 10:15 PM CDT