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Edwards Wildman lays off 10 lawyers, 42 staff

Edwards Wildman Palmer has laid off 10 attorneys and 42 staff members. The layoffs were made in 10 of the 525-attorney firm’s 16 offices, according to Above the Law and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.). “Advances in technology have resulted in a need for fewer support staff…

Apr 7, 2014 10:35 PM CDT

Did court reporter go rogue? He says he was fired for substance abuse, not for typing gibberish

A fired court reporter’s botched transcripts have reportedly led to appeals in several Manhattan court cases, including the fraud trial of a mortgage broker who was also convicted for trying to hire a hit man to eliminate a witness. Claudia Trupp of the Center for Appellate Litigation told the New…

Apr 3, 2014 3:10 PM CDT

Former AG Alberto Gonzales is new law dean at Belmont

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will take over as dean of the law school at Belmont University on June 1. Gonzales takes the place of Jeff Kinsler, who will become a full-time faculty member, according to the Tennessean and a press release. Kinsler was founding dean of the law school,…

Apr 3, 2014 12:51 PM CDT

Charles Keating, former lawyer and key figure in S&L debacle, dies at 90

Charles Keating, a former Cincinnati lawyer who went to prison after the collapse of his savings and loan, has died at the age of 90. A Los Angeles Times obituary describes Keating as “the poster child of the savings and loan debacle 25 years ago.” He spent less than five…

Apr 2, 2014 12:51 PM CDT

Would-be lawyer loses ADA challenge based on mental-health questions

The Vermont Supreme Court has rejected a challenge by a would-be lawyer who contends the state’s bar-admission rules and practices violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. The state supreme court said the bar applicant was rejected because of his conduct, apart from his mental health history or status. “We recognize…

Apr 2, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

Lateral partners are largely satisfied with their decision to move, survey says

Partners who jumped from one law firm to another are largely satisfied with their decision, according to a new survey. About 80 percent said they would join their current firm, if they could do it all over again, and about 16 percent said they would have moved, but to a…

Apr 2, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Conflict waiver OK’d city lawyer’s work for others while drawing severance pay, his counsel says

An ethics complaint by a city councilman against a former city attorney for Glendale, Ariz., is without merit, because it fails to take into account critical facts, a lawyer for Craig Tindall says in a written response. The complaint contends that Tindall, who now works as general counsel for the…

Apr 1, 2014 4:25 PM CDT

Women are squarely in the picture where law and technology combine

When Alison Monahan, founder of the Girl's Guide to Law School website, went to a high-profile legal technology conference last year in Silicon Valley, she noticed something missing on the roster of speakers: women.

"There was really only one woman speaking the entire day," she says. "I thought, 'Really? That's the best you can do?' "

That day she and some other female audience members decided to form an online group called Law Tech Ladies to cater to the small-but-growing number of women in the blossoming field where law and technology intersect.

Apr 1, 2014 10:40 AM CDT

Letters: The Stewart Model

THE STEWART MODEL “Meet Carl Stewart,” February, was well worth the time investment. As an attorney practicing for almost 11 years, I find comparatively few down-to-earth, humble and unpretentious people in this profession. Stewart is a breath of fresh air because there are not nearly enough of his character practicing…

Apr 1, 2014 10:10 AM CDT

Drag racing attorneys put the pedal to the metal

One typically associates drag racing with rebels without a cause in their teens and 20s—not law partners in later middle age. But that’s when lawyers Jeffrey Pagano and Keith Harrison, partners at Crowell & Moring, rediscovered their youthful passion. “Some lawyers golf. I go into Keith’s garage and he’s got…

Apr 1, 2014 9:30 AM CDT

Retirement planning includes caring for your health

Staying healthy in retirement requires planning. “Typically, health care is the second- or third-largest expenditure for retirees,” says Sunit Patel, senior vice president of Fidelity’s benefits consulting group, who worked on Fidelity’s projections that a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2013 with Medicare coverage, co-payments and deductibles, and out-of-pocket prescription costs…

Apr 1, 2014 7:30 AM CDT

ABA looks to aid underserved clients and underemployed lawyers

When James Silkenat became president of the American Bar Association last August, he identified as one of his top priorities the creation of a job corps for new lawyers. To that end, he announced the formation of the Legal Access Job Corps to tackle the lack of adequate legal representation…

Apr 1, 2014 7:09 AM CDT

Next leader wants a ‘go-to’ ABA

Paulette Brown of New Jersey has been formally nominated to become ABA president in 2015. She will be the first woman of color to head the nearly 400,000-member association. Brown’s nomination was announced as the House of Delegates met during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Chicago. Brown said that she…

Apr 1, 2014 7:00 AM CDT

‘After the JD’ study shows many leave law practice

A third-wave survey of lawyers who passed the bar in 2000 has found a decline in the percentage of lawyers practicing law and major differences in pay based on gender, law school ranking and grades. Twenty-four percent of the surveyed lawyers were not practicing law in 2012, compared to about…

Apr 1, 2014 6:50 AM CDT

Changes to bar pass standards delayed by lack of state data, panel says

A lack of national uniformity has encouraged an ABA committee to back away from recommending immediate changes in bar pass requirements of the law school accreditation standards. The Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar’s standards review committee, which is wrapping up a comprehensive review of the standards,…

Apr 1, 2014 6:40 AM CDT