Careers

Harvard Prof Has Some Advice for Lawyers Fearful of Change: Start by Doing the Right Thing Poorly

Harvard business professor Tom DeLong tells of a lawyer who made partner because he had the right skills and know-how. But when the lawyer was expected to bring in business, he became locked into work routines and became “overhead.” In an article reprinted by the Am Law Daily, the American…

Jul 20, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Law Firms Beef Up Their Antitrust Practices; Ex-Regulators in Big Demand

Corrected: Several law firms are bolstering their antitrust practices with lateral hires and the acquisition of onetime government lawyers. The most high-profile recent hire is that of Justice Department antitrust chief Christine Varney, who will join Cravath, Swaine & Moore this September, the Washington Post reports. Varney started the DOJ…

Jul 20, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

NY Law Dean Responds to Times Critique, Cites ‘Lifelong Value’ of Legal Education

Replying to a Sunday New York Times article on law school economics that obviously hit a nerve, the dean of New York Law School today said that prospective students are not, as the article seemingly implies, “sheep who do not know that we live in challenging economic times.” Many read…

Jul 19, 2011 8:43 PM CDT

NBA Lockout Is Giving at Least 1 Player Time to Focus on Law School Applications

Forced to stay off the basketball court right now because of the NBA lockout, Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons has a back-up plan. The 36-year-old has long been interested in becoming a lawyer, and is now at home in Virginia researching law schools, reports the Detroit News. He hopes…

Jul 19, 2011 7:14 PM CDT

Recruited by Skadden as She Neared 70, Chicago Lawyer’s Job Is to Bring in Business, Mentor Women

Sheli Rosenberg had retired in 2002, well-to-do and weary after decades as a high-profile Illinois lawyer. When Wayne Whalen of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom asked her to breakfast last year at the Chicago Club, Rosenberg, who is now 69, expected him to pitch her about making a political…

Jul 19, 2011 5:20 PM CDT

Legal Services Corp. Faces Potential 26% Budget Cut; ABA President Voices Concern

Legal services programs are weighing some painful choices in light of a proposed 26 percent cut in federal funding. The proposal to cut $104 million in funding follows Congress’ decision in April to impose a 4 percent midyear cut in LSC funding, the National Law Journal reports. If the cuts…

Jul 19, 2011 2:50 PM CDT

Top-Earning GC Is a Woman Who Made $6.5M In Cash Compensation

A woman who is chief legal officer of tobacco giant Altria Group is the nation’s top-earning general counsel. Denise Keane earned $6.5 million in total cash compensation in 2010, putting her in the No. 1 spot in a survey of general counsel pay, Corporate Counsel reports. No woman has held…

Jul 19, 2011 1:41 PM CDT

First Openly Gay Man Confirmed to Federal Bench

The U.S. Senate has confirmed the first openly gay man to the federal bench. The Senate approved the nomination of J. Paul Oetken on Monday, report the National Law Journal and the New York Times. He will be a federal trial judge in Manhattan. Oetken, a Yale law graduate, is…

Jul 19, 2011 12:32 PM CDT

BigLaw Partner Sues Legal Recruiter, Says She Lied to Get Him to Leap to Patton Boggs

Updated: A partner at Bryan Cave has sued a Dallas legal recruiter, contending that she lied to help persuade him to move from K&L Gates, where he was then a partner, to Patton Boggs. Diane Caldwell of Caldwell & Associates Inc. represented herself as an independent recruiter, when she wasn’t,…

Jul 18, 2011 9:37 PM CDT

Help Wanted in New Jersey: Unpaid ‘Special Assistant US Attorneys’

The U.S. Attorney’s office in New Jersey is following the lead of its counterparts in other states by advertising for some unpaid help. The office is seeking “special assistant U.S. Attorneys” willing to work for free in Camden and Newark, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. Twenty-one other U.S. Atorney’s…

Jul 18, 2011 2:48 PM CDT

Receptionist with Demanding Lawyer Boss Learns Being Too Nice Hurts Careers

A receptionist working for “a high-powered attorney” wrote to a career columnist for advice when the boss began demanding that he or she run personal errands. “For the past few weeks,” the receptionist wrote the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), the lawyer “has been asking me to do things that…

Jul 18, 2011 12:26 PM CDT

Academic All-Stars Won’t Be Hired at Kramer Levin if They Aren’t Client-Worthy

Being an academic all-star doesn’t ensure you a job offer at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel. The law firm asks its interviewing attorneys to consider whether job candidates would be presentable to clients. And that eliminates some people, James Grayer of Kramer Levin tells the Careerist. “They can be first…

Jul 18, 2011 12:04 PM CDT

New York Law School Dean Hits Legal Ed, But Hikes Class Size 30%

Updated: New York Law School Dean Richard Matasar claimed in 2009 that law schools are “exploiting” students who accumulate large student debt but don’t succeed. That same year, New York Law School increased the size of its first-year class by 30 percent, even as law firm hiring took a dive,…

Jul 18, 2011 11:43 AM CDT

There’s a Reason for the Lawyer Generational Divide: Getting Burned Spurs Nitpicking

One criticism of younger lawyers is that they aren’t as devoted to perfectionism as their elder counterparts. Is this evidence of a generation lacking in commitment? More likely, older lawyers like to nitpick because they have been burned in the past, according to an Above the Law column by Aon…

Jul 18, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: More Lawyers Working Via Smartphone; Can Poetry Help You Get to the Point?

Smartphones Taking Hold At iPhone J.D., Adams and Reese partner Jeff Richardson shared some stats from and thoughts on the results of the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center’s 2011 Legal Technology Survey Report. This year, 88 percent of the 838 lawyers who responded to the survey reported that they owned…

Jul 15, 2011 1:30 PM CDT