Careers

Milbank Will Send Associates to Harvard for Executive Training

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy wants associates who don’t make the partnership cut to be prepared for life on the outside. And that’s part of the reason it is sending its midlevel associates to Harvard University for five years of executive training in areas such as accounting, economics, finance and…

Feb 10, 2011 12:36 PM CST

Report: Yoss Firm Is Struggling After Admittedly ‘Terrible’ January, Has Laid Off Some Lawyers

After the suspension last year of its founding partner, Henry “Hank” Adorno, the Florida law firm now known simply as Yoss is struggling, the Am Law Daily reports. It had a “terrible” January, managing partner George Yoss told the Daily Business Review, explaining that the firm was two weeks late…

Feb 9, 2011 11:48 PM CST

Harvard 2L Becomes First Openly Gay President Elected to Harvard Law Review

A second-year student at Harvard Law School has become the first openly gay man to be elected as president of the Harvard Law Review. While he says his sexual orientation is a nonissue at the publication, he recognizes that the milestone has significance, Mitchell Reich tells the Harvard Crimson. As…

Feb 9, 2011 12:18 AM CST

Judge Saves Her Vacation by Putting Jury to Work at 3 a.m.

When a murder trial last year that was expected to take four weeks continued nearly two weeks longer, putting a Nevada judge’s vacation at risk, the judge resolved the problem by having the jury begin deliberations at 3 a.m. Clark County District Court Judge Valorie Vega also criticized attorneys on…

Feb 8, 2011 6:15 PM CST

Myth of Difficult Female Lawyer Bosses May Relate to Brain Wiring, Assistant-at-Law Says

Do women lawyers make more difficult bosses than male lawyers? There is a myth of cranky female lawyers, according to a legal secretary who identifies herself as the “Assistant-at-Law,” and it may relate to brain wiring and female relationships. Writing for Texas Lawyer, the Assistant-at-Law lays out her theories. “Women…

Feb 8, 2011 1:59 PM CST

Recruiters ‘Attack Like Piranhas’ as Law Firms Start to Crumble

The first sign of trouble for a law firm often occurs when partners with a large portable practice become dissatisfied with management and jump to a new opportunity. Then the next tier of partners fears problems and they circulate their resumés, according to New York recruiter Jerome Kowalski of Kowalski…

Feb 8, 2011 1:42 PM CST

Pay of $10M for Top Rainmaking Lawyers Creates Growing Morale Issues

Many law firms are reducing partner compensation so they can free up more money for superstars who in some cases earn as much as $10 million a year. Often the top earners are making eight to 10 times more than other partners, and it’s creating morale issues, the Wall Street…

Feb 8, 2011 12:36 PM CST

Eccentric Profs, Cheating Spouses Become Characters in Law Dean’s New Novel

Texas Wesleyan law dean Frederic White has written two books. The first is on Ohio landlord tenant law. The second, just released in December, tells of a suspicious death, law professors hiding shameful secrets, and raw ambition. “It is a work of fiction, you know,” White tells the ABA Journal.…

Feb 8, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Calwalader Gross Dips for 4th Year, But PPP Is $2.39M; Akin Gump PPP Soars 10.4% to $1.6M

For the fourth year in a row, gross revenue at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has dipped. Down 6 percent, to $429.5 million, in 2010, it has dropped by 27 percent since 2007, when it was $587 million, reports the Am Law Daily. Nonetheless, profit per partner is a healthy $2.39…

Feb 8, 2011 1:14 AM CST

McCarter & English Raids Robinson & Cole; Of 7 New Lawyers, 3 Were Practice Chairs There

Northeast regional powerhouse McCarter & English has raided a Hartford, Conn.-based rival, Robinson & Cole, of seven attorneys—including three new partners who previously chaired their practice groups at their now-former firm. They are intellectual property and information technology practitioner Richard Green, an ex-leader of the outsourcing, supply chain and technology…

Feb 7, 2011 8:52 PM CST

Has Downturn Provided ‘Protective Cover’ to Top Equity Partners?

The economic downturn that left new law school graduates with dismal job prospects appears to be benefiting equity partners, especially those at the top. Now there are fewer lawyers doing more work, and it’s helping boost partner pay, former Kirkland & Ellis partner Steven Harper writes in a column for…

Feb 7, 2011 6:56 PM CST

SEC Officials During Time of Madoff Swindle Now Have Lucrative BigLaw Jobs

Half a dozen officials who worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission at a time when Bernard Madoff’s multi-billion-dollar swindle of investors was ongoing have moved on to new jobs. Instead of earning approximately $200,000 a year working for the federal watchdog agency they’re now making up to $2 million…

Feb 7, 2011 5:27 PM CST

Dewey & LeBoeuf Hires Municipal Bankruptcy Specialist and His 9-Lawyer Team

Dewey & LeBoeuf is acquiring a group of 10 restructuring lawyers from Hennigan Bennett and Dorman, including an experienced municipal bankruptcy practitioner. The group of five partners, three associates and two counsel includes Bruce Bennett, a name partner and one of the co-founders of Hennigan Bennett, according to the Am…

Feb 7, 2011 3:26 PM CST

These Lawyers Still Love Law Practice. Find Out Why (Podcast)

Many lawyers are unhappy with their chosen profession, and the Great Recession isn’t helping much. But despite the struggles many are having with law practice and a fast-changing legal industry, there are still more than a few attorneys who love what they do, and always have. ABA Journal Podcast moderator Stephanie Francis Ward talked to some of them, and found out why.

Feb 7, 2011 2:20 PM CST

Chicago Lawyer Died in Blizzard After Apparently Falling in to Lake Michigan

Among the people who died in last week’s blizzard was a Chicago lawyer who fell into Lake Michigan and drowned. Lawyer Peter Davis, 60, was a Harvard law graduate who lived about five blocks from the lake, the Chicago Tribune reports. His legal secretary, Karen Johnson, told the Tribune that…

Feb 7, 2011 1:09 PM CST