Around the Blawgosphere: Quitting law, by the numbers | The best word processor, word-count wise

Former lawyers confess Why do lawyers leave the law, and how do they feel about their choices? Adam Smith, Esq. and Above the Law teamed up late last year and polled 430 lawyers who had left practice—about half of them expats of Am Law 200 firms. The most common answer…

Jan 18, 2013 2:30 PM CST

New-model firm plans hiring spree, 50 to 100 lawyers a year

One part law firm and one part business entity, Washington D.C.-based Clearspire aims to expand its nontraditional legal services model across the country with the addition of 50 to 100 former BigLaw lawyers each year for the next five years. With brick-and-mortar outposts recently opened in New York, Los Angeles…

Jan 17, 2013 5:25 PM CST

SCOTUS artist acknowledges boredom even as he finds argument nuggets; Ginsburg neckwear chronicled

For those people who preferred comic books to text without pictures in grade school, there’s a Supreme Court website that may be of interest. CourtArtist.com features the sketches of courtroom artist Art Lien, with brief descriptions of the cases and links to coverage. He was there when Justice Clarence Thomas…

Jan 17, 2013 1:52 PM CST

Do any of these top five career regrets apply to you?

“I wish I hadn’t taken the job for the money.” That is among the top five career regrets expressed by a group of 30 professionals who spoke to a tech entrepreneur and blogger. The group included an investment bank executive, a failing self-employed photographer, a millionaire entrepreneur, and a Fortune…

Jan 17, 2013 12:36 PM CST

Only one woman has made partner in 25 years at BigLaw firm’s Miami office

Linda Leali didn’t have a lot of role models during her 12 years as an associate at the Miami office of White & Case. Only one woman has made partner in the firm’s Miami office in 25 years, the Daily Business Review reports. A magna cum laude law grad from…

Jan 16, 2013 11:30 AM CST

How two pals from torts class are getting a shot at stardom

Staten Island mediators Michele Sileo and Elura Nanos were often told they could be stars of a reality show. The two lawyers took the comments seriously, the New York Daily News reports. They found a production company and pitched the show. Now the two longtime friends are stars of a…

Jan 15, 2013 11:29 AM CST

Sotomayor: I wanted to be a cop, but learned from ‘Perry Mason’ that I could be a lawyer

As Sonia Sotomayor was growing up in a housing project in the Bronx, she wanted to become a police officer. But after a childhood diabetes diagnosis made that career an impossible dream for her, she realized, watching Perry Mason on television, that an alternative career as a lawyer had similar…

Jan 14, 2013 8:16 PM CST

How to practice law in a ‘sharing economy’ (Podcast)

Jan 14, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Lawyer for reputed mobsters says he is ‘dancing on the face of the Eastern District’

A high-priced lawyer who represents reputed mobsters says he has a specialty, and it involves “rats” who turn informant. “My specialty is cross-examining rats,” lawyer Gerald McMahon told the New York Post. “I have good instincts.” McMahon’s methods resulted in two big successes last year. One client, reputed Colombo associate…

Jan 14, 2013 2:23 PM CST

No more 3Ls? Proposal would let law students skip their third year

A law professor who says two years of law school is sufficient preparation for the bar exam is getting a serious hearing for his idea. New York University law professor Samuel Estreicher is proposing that New York change its bar exam requirement to allow students to take the test after…

Jan 14, 2013 12:00 PM CST

‘Consummate Lawyer’ and Onetime ABA President Wm. Reece Smith Jr. Has Died

Wm. Reece Smith Jr., celebrated throughout the bar for his devotion to legal services and dedication to the legal profession, has died at his home in Florida after a brief illness. He was 87. With a biography page that reads like a directory of possible awards for outstanding service to…

Jan 11, 2013 8:53 PM CST

Around the Blawgosphere: Craigslist Ad Offers Law Grads an Opportunity to Pay Their Dues—in Cash

For a monthly fee … “It’s come to this,” New Haven, Conn.-based writer Jane Genova wrote at Law and More in reference to a local lawyer’s ad on craigslist that appears to be seeking a “monthly fee” from new law grads interested in shadowing him or her. “Observe the following…

Jan 11, 2013 2:29 PM CST

Which City’s New Associates Get the Most Buying Power for Their Pay?

Newly minted associates who want to maximize the buying power of their salaries should not practice in New York City. More than 60 percent of the cities evaluated by NALP, the Association for Legal Career Professionals, provided better buying power than New York. The city is ranked 47th on the…

Jan 10, 2013 12:53 PM CST

Ex-Prosecutor’s Soaring Career at DOJ Is Shot Down by ‘Fast and Furious’ Fallout

Jason M. Weinstein seemingly was on a soaring career trajectory as a former federal prosecutor appointed to a job at the U.S. Department of Justice in 2009. The George Washington University law graduate’s aggressive approach, working with local police as the man in charge of the violent crimes unit at…

Jan 8, 2013 4:42 PM CST

Fannie Mae Reaches $20B Settlement with Banks; Lawyers Lose Jobs

A $20 billion agreement announced on Monday between Fannie Mae and major banks is bad news for lawyers and contract workers hired to review foreclosure irregularities. Promontory Financial Group was among the companies hired to evaluate robo-signing and other irregularities in a process set up in 2011, the Wall Street…

Jan 8, 2013 3:31 PM CST