Careers

Law school ‘resurgence’ isn’t over, even as applicants drop

Educators aren’t giving up plans to open up a handful of new law schools, despite a nationwide drop in applicants and declining job prospects for graduates. Among the colleges planning to open law schools are Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne and the University of North Texas in Dallas, the Wall…

Feb 4, 2013 11:30 AM CST

2,400 jobs lost in legal industry in January

The legal industry shed 2,400 jobs in January, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the economy as a whole gained 157,000 jobs during that same month. According to Reuters, 1.125 million people had legal industry jobs as of January 2013, and that figure is consistent with 2012…

Feb 1, 2013 7:45 PM CST

Divorced matrimonial lawyer shares ‘survival tips’ with clients in new book

When Kristi Skordahl, a matrimonial attorney, got divorced from her husband, she wound up in a apartment with a single place-setting and a litter box for her cat, she says. But she made the best of the situation, getting a retail job while she reapplied for the bar exam since…

Feb 1, 2013 4:25 PM CST

Finding ways to keep fees low is ‘09 Legal Rebel Luz Herrera’s passion

Photo of Luz Herrera by Tony Avelar. Legal Rebel Luz Herrera Rebel Year: 2009 (Read her profile from 2009.) Home: San Diego What she’s been up to: Showing Thomas Jefferson School of Law students and alumni ways they can charge affordable rates and support themselves continues to be Luz Herrera’s…

Feb 1, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Ed Koch, former New York mayor with ‘chutzpah,’ dies

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch, a partner with Bryan Cave, died today at the age of 88. The cause was congestive heart failure, report Bloomberg News and the New York Times. The Times describes Koch as “the master showman of City Hall, who parlayed shrewd political instincts and plenty…

Feb 1, 2013 12:31 PM CST

Working for free: Lawyers incorporating pro bono into their lives talk about its rewards, challenges

Over the years, and especially during the last several decades, pro bono legal service has taken many forms.

A lawyer files an insurance claim for a neighbor after a fire. Two attorneys help a group of Vietnam veterans get recognized as a nonprofit by the IRS. The general counsel of a corporation joins a charity board. A large firm, better known for its work on mergers and acquisitions, files a death penalty appeal. A local tax lawyer runs for the school board.

Once perceived and defined as “charity work” governed solely by personal conscience, pro bono has evolved into a professional responsibility and a powerful force inside the practice of law.

Feb 1, 2013 11:20 AM CST

Muslim women lawyers aim to reconcile traditional beliefs with secular society

On a sweltering day in mid-July, Azizah al-Hibri, founder and chair of Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, presided over the graduation ceremony for the group’s 2012 Law and Leadership Summer Program. It was a festive occasion, held in the elegant drawing room of Karamah’s offices in Washington, D.C.,…

Feb 1, 2013 11:09 AM CST

It’s a golden age for Texas’ oil and gas transactional lawyers

“Mud lawyers,” that’s what they called them—oil and gas attorneys, viewed for decades as second-class citizens in the world of corporate transactional law. They dealt in wet, smelly products pulled from the ground, relegated to practicing in Dallas and Houston, earning subpar rates compared to their brethren in the white-shoe…

Feb 1, 2013 10:59 AM CST

Shattering the glass ceiling: Initiatives under way to end gender inequity in the legal profession

Time and time again, I have asked myself and others the same questions: Why are female lawyers still grossly underrepresented in positions of real power, influence and leadership? Why is there still such a disparity in pay between female equity partners and their male colleagues performing exactly the same work?…

Feb 1, 2013 10:40 AM CST

The Visionary: In memory of Steven Keeva, 1956-2012

He and his book moved me from my unthinking practice of litigation to an intentional practice of resolution. I may owe him my life. —Jeff Bean, Seattle I met Steven Keeva at the International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers conference in 1999. Like many lawyers, until I found IAHL I thought…

Feb 1, 2013 9:39 AM CST

New lawyers and military veterans both benefit from school’s legal clinic

In her own words, Kyndra K. Rotunda had a bee in her bonnet. The Chapman University law professor had turned away another case from a struggling military veteran—one too complicated for her clinic students to handle. But the matter would have been perfect for a new lawyer, and Rotunda knew…

Feb 1, 2013 8:50 AM CST

Mindfulness in legal practice is going mainstream

The call came on a Friday afternoon in 1991, the kind of news nobody wants to hear. But Timothy Tosta, then 41 and a partner in Baker & McKenzie’s San Francisco office, missed the call, and it wasn’t until the following Monday that he learned he had melanoma. The doctor…

Feb 1, 2013 8:10 AM CST

Threat of cyberattacks must be recognized and responded to, ABA president urges lawyers

When Hurricane Sandy swept across the northeast United States at the end of October, it left more than 8 million homes without electricity across 17 states. Some homeowners, as well as businesses, waited more than two weeks for power to be restored. But compared to what could happen in a…

Feb 1, 2013 7:50 AM CST

The Stonewall legacy: ABA commission creates an award commemorating a key moment for LGBT rights

Until the late hours of June 27, 1969, the Stonewall Inn had tried to keep a low profile as a gathering spot for gays in Greenwich Village. Still, like other clubs and businesses that catered to the gay community at a time when New York City law prohibited homosexuality in…

Feb 1, 2013 7:40 AM CST

Report: Secret plans in place to ax or demote 20 to 50 of 189 partners at Ashurst Australia

Relying on unidentified sources, an Australian business publication says the Australian arm of Ashurst is secretly planning to cull between 20 and 50 of its 189 partners in order to meet financial projections and complete its planned merger with the United Kingdom-based law firm of the same name. Doing business…

Jan 31, 2013 10:39 PM CST