Careers

Oregon State Bar Mentoring Program Aims to Help New Lawyers Acquire Skills to Build Solo Practices

In an effort to address the surging number of new lawyers launching solo practices, the Oregon State Bar is launching a new statewide mentoring program to pair the freshly minted graduates with experienced mentors. The Practical Skills Through Public Service program, an initiative of the Oregon New Lawyers Division, places…

Jun 17, 2011 6:22 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Shall You Use Another Word?; Bloggers Reflect on Debt, Small-Firm Ownership

Skip the Word, or You Shall Misuse It As one study questions U.S. Supreme Court justices’ increasing reliance on dictionaries, Lawyerist contributor Andy Mergendahl blogged Black’s Law Dictionary this week, pointing out its definition of shall (omitting examples): “Shall (vb). 1. Has a duty to; more broadly, is required to…2.…

Jun 17, 2011 1:30 PM CDT

Several White House Staffers Are Quitting to Attend Harvard Law School

President Obama’s alma mater is the destination of choice for several of his staffers, including his personal secretary. Five White House staffers are heading to Harvard Law School this fall, Politico reports. They will be joining two other former Obama aides who recently finished their first year at the law…

Jun 17, 2011 12:16 PM CDT

Former Law Students Open Pudding Shop

Cupcake trucks have proved popular with entrepreneurial law graduates. Now two former Villanova law students are trying another culinary business: a pudding shop. The business is called Pudding Lane and it’s located in Havertown, Pa., Philly.com reports. The owners are Mike Leibowitz and Bret Binder, who met at Villanova Law…

Jun 17, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Longtime U of Montana Law Prof Denied Emeritus Status Decries ‘Petty’ and ‘Inexplicable’ Decision

A conservative constitutional scholar who formerly taught at the University of Montana for 23 years has been denied emeritus status in a faculty vote. Rob Natelson, who retired in May 2010 as a tenured faculty member to join the Independence Institute, said he was disappointed by the “petty” and “inexplicable”…

Jun 16, 2011 10:57 PM CDT

Ex-Inmate Earns Yale Law Degree, Gets Ready to Take Florida Bar Exam

A former drug dealer who used his prison time productively, getting a high-school equivalency diploma and reading prodigiously so he was ready to enroll in college after his release, has now passed another milestone. Andres Idarraga earned his law degree from Yale University last month, and is now getting ready…

Jun 16, 2011 9:44 PM CDT

Exodus of Prosecutors Slows Case Disposition in Fulton County, Ga.; DA Blames $56K Starting Pay

Nearly a fifth of the assistant prosecutors in the Fulton County, Ga., district attorney’s office have left so far this year, in moves some attributed to what the newspaper describes as the office’s “micromanagement style” and others said they made to advance their careers. DA Paul Howard points to the…

Jun 16, 2011 9:00 PM CDT

Supreme Court Vacates 2nd Circuit Win for Lawyer Challenging Student Loan Fees

The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated a federal appeals court decision that allowed a solo practitioner to avoid arbitration in a lawsuit that claims his student loan company charged hidden penalties. Manhattan solo Joshua Fensterstock had claimed in his suit that Affiliated Computer Services Inc. and Education Finance Partners were…

Jun 16, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Meet ‘Lawyer Gaga,’ a Member of the Defense Team in Casey Anthony’s Murder Trial

Although Whitney Boan is reportedly an excellent criminal defense attorney, she’s becoming a household name among those following the Casey Anthony murder trial for another reason: She looks a bit like Lady Gaga, in the celebrity’s least flamboyant moments. Known as “Lawyer Gaga,” Boan can be seen in the background…

Jun 15, 2011 11:40 PM CDT

32 Law Firms Certified for Empowering Women

Thirty-two law firms have received a “Gold Standard Certification” for hiring women equity partners and promoting them to leadership positions. The Women in Law Empowerment Forum certified law firms with more than 100 lawyers that met three of six criteria for percentages of equity partners and leaders, the National Law…

Jun 15, 2011 1:26 PM CDT

Uncertainty and Stigma Plague Growing Legions of Contract Lawyers

The work is unsteady and the pay can be low, but contract lawyering is on the upswing. Dozens of large law firms are hiring staffing agencies to supply contract lawyers, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. They include Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; and Davis…

Jun 15, 2011 11:33 AM CDT

Milbank Corporate & Securities Leader Takes Team to Dewey, Where He Will Head Latin America Practice

The head of the Latin America practice group at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy is taking a team of lawyers to Dewey & LeBoeuf, where he will serve in a similar leadership role. Michael Fitzgerald, who also chaired the global securities and global corporate groups at his now-former firm, is…

Jun 14, 2011 7:32 PM CDT

Judge’s Son, AKA Bellagio Biker Bandit, Takes Plea in $1.5M Vegas Casino Chips Heist

The son of a municipal judge has taken a plea deal in a brazen $1.5 million heist at a Las Vegas casino that made international headlines. Anthony Carleo, 29, pleaded guilty this morning in the so-called Bellagio Biker Bandit case, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The suspect in the December…

Jun 14, 2011 5:03 PM CDT

Weil Stuns Clifford Chance With Raid on London HQ; ‘Most Damaging Team Hire Ever’ By US Firm?

Weil Gotshal & Manges has stunned British behemoth Clifford Chance with a raid on the firm’s London headquarters in which the New York-based BigLaw firm has stolen four of CC’s five so-called City funds partners. Described by Legal Week as “most damaging team hire ever inflicted on a leading City…

Jun 14, 2011 12:46 AM CDT

‘Better at Spotting Logical Fallacies Than Guns Concealed in Waistbands,’ Cop Pursues Harvard JD

Deciding that he might be a better fit in another job, a young Baltimore police officer with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland found he had at least one other good option. This fall, Adam Braskich, 26, will begin studying for a juris doctor degree at Harvard Law…

Jun 13, 2011 10:56 PM CDT