Careers

Court Nixes Ex-Greenberg Associate’s 2nd Try for Suspension re $493K Firm Scheme

For the second time in three months, the Georgia Supreme Court has nixed a former Greenberg Traurig associate’s effort to agree to a voluntary suspension of his law license concerning the $493,000 he obtained from the firm—and repaid—for work he performed under false identities. In March, the court rejected Michael…

Jun 7, 2010 10:36 PM CDT

Ex-BigLaw Attorneys Profit at Smaller Firm via Flexible Fees & Eat-What-You-Kill Comp

A willingness to be flexible about hourly billing rates and an eat-what-you-kill compensation structure has proven profitable for former BigLaw attorneys now practicing in the “Philadelphia” office of Chamberlain Hrdlicka. The office, which actually is located in Conshohocken, Pa., in the Philadelphia suburbs, resulted from a parting of the ways…

Jun 7, 2010 6:12 PM CDT

New Law Firm Formed with 15 Lawyers from LeClairRyan

Fifteen lawyers form LeClairRyan are striking out on their own. The group is forming the law firm Murphy & McGonigle to advise financial services clients facing securities litigation, the Washington Post reports. One of the new co-founders, Thomas McGonigle, told the Post that he and five other lawyers in the…

Jun 7, 2010 11:59 AM CDT

Lawyer Quits Covington, Makes $12K a Speech

Tax law partner Andrew Friedman quit Covington & Burling two years ago after spending 28 years at the law firm, but he isn’t hurting financially in his new occupation. Friedman is paid up to $12,000 a day, along with expenses, to give speeches explaining how laws and regulations affect investments,…

Jun 7, 2010 11:31 AM CDT

Law Jobs Still Lacking: Legal Sector Lost 22,200 in a Year, But Added 300 Last Month

The economy is showing some signs of recovery—including a gain of 300 legal-sector jobs in May, versus the loss of hundreds the previous month, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report. But accounts of the legal employment market still paint a grim picture of the situation many attorneys…

Jun 5, 2010 12:35 AM CDT

Major Law Firm Looks to ‘85 Broads’ for Female Attorney Empowerment

A major New Jersey-based law firm is looking to a global women’s networking group with a memorable name to help the firm’s seasoned female attorneys expand their professional contacts and influence. McCarter & English is now part of the 85 Broads community, reports the Hartford Business Journal. In a law…

Jun 4, 2010 6:05 PM CDT

Meet Eduardo Leite: Brazil-Based Energy Lawyer Set to Lead Baker & McKenzie

In an unusual move for a United States-based law firm, Baker & McKenzie has appointed a Brazilian energy lawyer as its global chairman. Eduardo Leite will take up his position at the helm of the Chicago-based international megafirm at the end of October. He presently works out of the Sao…

Jun 3, 2010 5:19 PM CDT

Lockheed’s GC Jumps to Hedge Fund

Lockheed Martin’s General Counsel James B. Comey announced plans yesterday to join Westport, Conn.-based hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. Comey, 49, who has served as senior vice president and general counsel since September 2005, will remain at the aerospace contractor through June 24 and will “continue to serve on Lockheed Martin’s…

Jun 3, 2010 1:38 PM CDT

Perkins Coie Opens New San Diego Office With 4 IP Lawyers, Plans 50 Lawyers There in 3 Years

Perkins Coie has opened a new office in San Diego with four lawyers, in the first step of a planned expansion of both its California presence and its intellectual property practice. The firm hopes to have 20 lawyers in San Diego by the end of the year and 50 attorneys…

Jun 2, 2010 7:35 PM CDT

Lawyer, Filmmaker & Now Ex-Judge Critical of Ethics Rules

At least for a time, Kenneth Del Vecchio found away to meld his two passions: the law and filmmaking. By day he was a part-time town judge in New Jersey, while much of the rest of his time was spent producing, writing, directing and acting in low-budget, often politically themed…

Jun 2, 2010 5:24 PM CDT

Four Partners Leave McDermott for Fish & Richardson

McDermott Will & Emery’s telecommunications practice chair is leaving with three other partners for Fish & Richardson’s regulatory and government affairs group in Washington, D.C. The former telecom chair, Shirley Fujimoto, and Jeffrey Sheldon will become partners at Fish & Richardson; David Rines and Kevin Cookler will be of counsel,…

Jun 1, 2010 8:56 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Won $2M for Libeled Jurist Is Now ‘Junkyard Dog for Aggrieved Judges’

A $2.1 million libel verdict that attorney Howard Cooper won for a Massachusetts judge has made him a go-to-guy for irked jurists in a multi-state region. Judges usually can’t directly reply to inaccurate media accounts without risking a legal ethics charge. But they can ask–and have asked–Cooper to pursue defamation…

Jun 1, 2010 3:01 PM CDT

Ex-Kirkland Partner Buys 4,500 Patents, Forms New Firm to Sue Infringers

A former patent litigation partner of Kirkland & Ellis has purchased 4,500 patents and is establishing a new law firm that will sue to enforce both his own patents and those of other clients. John Desmarais, 46, is opening his new firm, Desmarais, today in New York City, Bloomberg reports.…

Jun 1, 2010 1:20 PM CDT

Ex-Con Earns Law Degree, Hopes to Help Others Like Herself

Things didn’t look good for Lynn Burke when she got out of prison 20 years ago, after serving two years on a felony fraud conviction. Broke and the mother of four young children, she went home to find them living in squalor in a public housing project as her husband…

Jun 1, 2010 12:52 PM CDT

Kagan Went to Harvard After Chicago Hesitated to Hire Her

Formerly a tenured law professor at the University of Chicago, Elena Kagan wanted to return to teach there in 1999 after a stint at the White House with President Bill Clinton. But the faculty of the law school was hesitant to vote to approve her return, wondering if she was…

Jun 1, 2010 12:20 PM CDT