Careers

Want to reduce stress and boost your confidence? Strike a power pose

Striking a power pose can have lingering effects that can help in a job interview or at work, even after you’ve relaxed your position, new research suggests. What, exactly, is a power pose? It can be a tall stance, with a slight lean forward, hands at the side, the Wall…

Aug 26, 2013 11:25 AM CDT

State bar examiners change rules after dustup over religious headwear

The Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners announced last week that bar takers will be allowed to wear religious or medical necessity headwear without prior written approval. The policy change comes in response to a miscommunication with a young Muslim woman who was asked to remove her religious headgear by a…

Aug 23, 2013 8:28 PM CDT

Are unlimited vacation day benefits a perk or a pain?

With more companies offering unlimited vacation days to employees, some are wondering if this seemingly friendly perk is actually a downer for workers. The practice, which has taken off in places like Silicon Valley and adopted by Netflix and Best Buy, saves companies from having to track employee vacation time…

Aug 23, 2013 7:42 PM CDT

Best way to make partner? Switch law firms first

Is unwavering loyalty to a firm – not to mention work ethic, skill and rainmaking ability – the best way to rise to partnership? An analysis by the Am Law Daily (reg. req.) would suggest that there’s more than one way to climb the ladder. Looking at 50 Am Law…

Aug 23, 2013 10:52 AM CDT

Ron Motley—asbestos and tobacco ‘class-action pioneer’—has died

South Carolina lawyer Ronald L. Motley who led billion-dollar suits against the asbestos and tobacco industries died Thursday. He was 68. “Ron was a true giant of the legal profession. A trail blazer and innovator,” Motley’s longtime friend and Motley Rice co-founder Joe Rice said in a statement. Rice described…

Aug 22, 2013 10:43 PM CDT

Patton Boggs loses another partner—its New Jersey MP

The managing partner of Patton Boggs’ shrinking New Jersey office has left the firm. A staffer who answered the phone told the New Jersey Law Journal that environmental litigator John McGahren left the firm and there is no forwarding information available. He helped lead a 25-lawyer exodus to Patton Boggs…

Aug 22, 2013 2:32 PM CDT

Justice Alito’s son is hired as an associate at Gibson Dunn

The son of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. will be joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as an associate this fall after clerking for a federal appeals judge. Philip Alito was a summer associate at Gibson Dunn in 2011 and a clerk for Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of…

Aug 22, 2013 2:06 PM CDT

Lawyer to be disbarred for forging letters from state OK’ing condo conversions

A Brooklyn, N.Y., real estate lawyer will be disbarred for forging the state documents he needed to convert space in six buildings into 88 condominium units. Eduard Fridman, 36, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court on charges that he falsified six approval letters for the condo conversions from the…

Aug 21, 2013 9:01 PM CDT

Why date a lawyer? Quoting your boyfriend will make you sound smart, matchmaking website says

Why date a lawyer? You might get some free legal pads and your parents will be impressed, according to a matchmaking website. Above the Law has fun with eHarmony’s “15 reasons to date a lawyer.” No. 1 on eHarmony’s list: 1. “Quoting your date will make you sound smarter: ‘My…

Aug 21, 2013 12:53 PM CDT

Groklaw founder shuts down the blog, citing fear of email surveillance

Updated: The founder of Groklaw has decided to shut down the technology blog because of fears its email communications could be subject to government surveillance. Former paralegal Pamela Jones founded Groklaw in 2003 to cover legal news of interest to the free software and open source community. In this final…

Aug 21, 2013 11:20 AM CDT

Disbarred lawyer pleads guilty after accepting money from a prospective client

Former Parsippany, N.J., township planning board lawyer John J. Montefusco was disbarred in 2009 for taking bribes from a local builder. But that didn’t stop him from accepting money from a prospective client facing criminal charges earlier this year as a retainer for legal services, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Montefusco,…

Aug 20, 2013 6:06 PM CDT

Defendants sport spandex and pajamas in Vegas courthouse, to the exasperation of judges

The Clark County courthouse in Las Vegas has a formal dress code, but it’s rarely enforced. No shorts, no tank tops, no T-shirts with offensive slogans or pictures, the dress code says. Shoes are required. But casual clothes—particularly shorts—are becoming more common, the Las Vegas Sun reports. Pajama-clad people come…

Aug 20, 2013 3:28 PM CDT

Rosa Parks’ attorney: ‘If the story would be told, I’d have to tell it’ (podcast)

Fred D. Gray was 24 years old when he defended Rosa Parks after she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white person in Montgomery, Ala. But the story you might think you know is not the full story.

Aug 20, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Affordable day care? One lawyer earns 50 cents after footing the child-care bill

Affordable day care is a well-known problem for low-wage earners. But even upper- and middle-class families are encountering problems, according to the New York Times Opinionator blog. The story cites these figures: In 35 states and Washington, D.C., the cost of center-based day care is higher than the cost of…

Aug 20, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

$4.4M slashed from budget, 12 laid off at Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Lackluster enrollment is being blamed for a $4.4 million budget cut at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. The cut means that 12 adjunct faculty and staff members at the San Diego school will lose their positions. In addition to the staff cuts, 14 classes that had limited enrollment or were…

Aug 19, 2013 9:12 PM CDT