Careers

Inaccessible Case Files, Unsympathetic Court Clerks a Problem for Small-Firm Lawyers After Sandy

Just accessing case files was a problem for some solo and small-firm lawyers in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Manhattan lawyer Justin Blitz needed an important case file for a deposition, but he faced an obstacle: His office had no power, the New York Law Journal reports. A superintendent of…

Nov 6, 2012 4:07 PM CST

Nonequity Partners a ‘Mishmash’ Group; Average Pay Ranges from $1.53M to $100K

The average pay for nonequity partners at 168 of America’s top law firms is about $406,000, but the figure doesn’t tell the whole story. The nonequity partner population is “becoming more and more of a mishmash,” the American Lawyer reports, and that means wide differences in average pay for this…

Nov 6, 2012 2:01 PM CST

Wrong Turn En Route to Lunch with Sis Led Paralegal to 50-Year Career at Crowe & Dunlevy

A wrong turn en route to lunch with her sister led to a 50-year career at an Oklahoma City law firm for Jo Balding. Stepping off the wrong elevator, she found herself at the firm then known as Crowe, Boxley, Dunlevy, Thweatt, Swinford & Johnson, reports the Oklahoman. So, on…

Nov 5, 2012 7:34 PM CST

Scared to Expand? Experts Offer Hiring Advice in Troubled Times

Podcast transcript: This ABA Journal podcast is brought to you by WestlawNext, the legal research platform chosen by over 40,000 legal organizations for their tradition of editorial excellence combined with the most advanced technology. Learn more at WestlawNext.com. Stephanie Francis Ward: It’s often hard enough to support yourself in a…

Nov 5, 2012 2:30 PM CST

Law School by the Numbers: 300K Additional Law Grads by 2020; 73K New Jobs Forecast for Decade

The numbers illustrate the problems for law grads. The Washington Post does the math in a story that contrasts a “dirt cheap” law school with another that is the second priciest in the country. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts 73,600 new lawyer jobs from 2010 to 2020. But…

Nov 5, 2012 10:29 AM CST

Ginsburg Named One of Glamour Magazine’s ‘Women of the Year 2012’

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has achieved a new honor: She is one of Glamour Magazine’s “Women of the Year 2012.” The magazine noted Ginsburg’s groundbreaking work on behalf of women’s rights. Its write-up begins this way: “You could call it a bit of a rocky start: After being one of…

Nov 2, 2012 12:25 PM CDT

County Attorney Paid $375K to Get Raise After Spat over Merit Increases

The top lawyer in Jefferson County, Ala., won’t have to follow through on his threat to quit after winning a battle over promised merit pay raises for his office. County Attorney Jeff Sewell already was earning $375,000 a year, making him the county’s highest paid employee, Al.com reports. Now he…

Nov 2, 2012 11:37 AM CDT

Biloxi Blues: Legal-Cost Fears Have Victims of the Oil Spill Sliding out of the Middle Class

That was it. Nothing more could be done. Two years after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, Tina Copeland’s American dream was over. Her Mississippi Gulf Coast business was hemorrhaging funds, her marriage torn apart. Though billions were offered to settle damages from the April 2010 disaster, the formal process…

Nov 1, 2012 10:08 AM CDT

Judge Fights to Uphold Delaware’s Reputation of Being Fair to Corporations

On a chilly December morning a week before Christmas, Leo Strine, the top judge on the Delaware Court of Chancery, is in a giving mood. A group of lawyers that won a $1.26 billion award in a dispute over the acquisition of a mining company has returned to court seeking…

Nov 1, 2012 10:00 AM CDT

A Debate on the Future of Legal Ed Breaks Down to the Real Versus the Ideal

“If you are not going to law school … what is your alternative path?” asks Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the University of California at Irvine School of Law. “And in purely economic terms, is it better than law school? … It’s not just monetary. … There are all sorts…

Nov 1, 2012 7:30 AM CDT

Hay from a Hated Task: 2 Big-Firm Refugees Offer Online Help for Contract Signings

What was once the bane of their existence as junior associates is now the cornerstone of a new startup for two major law firm refugees-turned-entrepreneurs. Edwin Hermawan, 27, and Andrew Knepley, 31, got together earlier this year to form Signature Pages, a Web-based software offering that creates, sends out, collects…

Nov 1, 2012 6:50 AM CDT

Research Shows Perfectionism May Be an Inherited Trait

New research suggests perfectionists should blame their genes more than their upbringing. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) examines the perils of perfectionism in an article highlighting famous perfectionists. They include James Brown (known to fine his backup singers if they didn’t have pressed shirts and shined shoes), Steve Jobs…

Oct 31, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Orrick Announces Mitchell Zuklie, its Corporate Business Chief, as Chair Ralph Baxter’s Successor

Corrected: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has tapped the youngest of four vying partners to succeed chairman Ralph Baxter, the firm announced Tuesday. Mitchell Zuklie, 43, head of Orrick’s global corporate business unit and managing partner of the firm’s Silicon Valley office, will start a 15-month transition process under Baxter’s tutelage…

Oct 30, 2012 9:25 PM CDT

Name Partners of Florida Law Firm Are Mum Amid Reports of Its Dissolution

Florida law firm Rutherford Mulhall is reportedly headed for dissolution after closing several of its offices. The Boca Raton law firm has informed Florida bar officials that it is closing after laying off most of its 14 lawyers and staff, the Daily Business Review (sub. req.) reports. The story is…

Oct 30, 2012 2:39 PM CDT

Law School Says Lead Plaintiff in Job Stats Suit Against It Turned Down a Full-Time Law Firm Job

A California woman who says she can’t find work as a lawyer and is suing the law school she graduated from turned down a $60,000-a-year job from a Southern California law firm shortly after graduation, Thomas Jefferson School of Law says in a court filing. Anna Alaburda, the lead plaintiff…

Oct 30, 2012 2:00 PM CDT