Careers

‘Involuntary Law Firms’ Turn to Outsourcing for Business Help

The tight job market for lawyers is forcing more of them to start their own law firms, boosting the outlook for individuals and companies that help with the business aspects of a law practice. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on the trend and cites anecdotal evidence that more lawyers are striking…

Apr 7, 2010 12:11 PM CDT

TurboTax Revises Software After Retired Lawyer Spots a Glitch

Intuit is revising its TurboTax software after a retired lawyer alerted the company to an error. Charlie Freret, a retired lawyer from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs living in Chantilly, Va., used TurboTax to file his tax return electronically after he had already prepared his tax documents on paper, the…

Apr 7, 2010 11:43 AM CDT

Branding Applies to Lawyers as Well as Wheaties, Life Coach Says

Branding and packaging aren’t just concepts for Wheaties (the breakfast of champions) or Bounty paper towels (the quicker picker-upper). Lawyers need to differentiate themselves, and they can do it through branding, a life coach says. Writing at the Legal Intelligencer, lawyer and life coach Karen Shapiro says lawyers can set…

Apr 7, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Would-Be AG Drops Motion to Seal Depo in Which She Discusses Why She Is Qualified for Office

Seeking to force the state Democratic Party to acknowledge that she is qualified for run for office as Connecticut attorney general, secretary of state Susan Bysiewicz sued and, beginning last week, was in a deposition discussing her legal experience. But the deposition apparently didn’t go well, as evidenced by the…

Apr 6, 2010 7:28 PM CDT

Ohio Governor Suggests a Tribute for Chief Justice Who Died Friday

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is recommending that the Ohio Supreme Court building be renamed in honor of Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who died unexpectedly Friday afternoon. Moyer would have turned 71 this month, the Columbus Dispatch reports. He died a day after being admitted to the hospital for a gastrointestinal…

Apr 6, 2010 3:17 PM CDT

Kelley Drye Defends De-Equitization of Older Lawyers in Lawsuit Response

Kelley Drye & Warren contends in response to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that a lawyer forced out of equity partnership at the age of 70 wasn’t an employee protected by federal law. Kelley Drye was responding to an EEOC suit challenging the law firm’s policy…

Apr 6, 2010 1:04 PM CDT

Lawyers and ‘Suited Geeks’ Turn Out for Cannabis Convention

Lawyers hoping to find new clients were among those attending the Colorado Cannabis Convention this past weekend. More than half a dozen lawyers that are gaining experience in medical marijuana law showed up at the convention, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports. Medicial marijuana dispensaries started springing up like weeds…

Apr 6, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Virtual Offices May Violate Ethics Rules, New Jersey Opinion Says

Lawyers who rent offices under time-sharing arrangements may violate New Jersey ethics rules if they hold out these workplaces as their principal place of business, according to a recent ethics opinion. Such “virtual offices” violate the state requirement for a bona fide office, according to a joint opinion by the…

Apr 6, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

As Feds Cast Wary Eye on Unpaid Interns, Positions Proliferate, Some Aimed at Law Grads

A recent New York Times article about the proliferation of unpaid internships appears to be eliciting a reaction of resigned acceptance rather than a backlash against employers who expect law students and even law graduates to work for free. As the article explains, standards (PDF) developed by the U.S. Department…

Apr 6, 2010 12:43 AM CDT

Facing an Uncertain Future, Lawyer with Lung Disease Focuses on Music

After being diagnosed with a potentially fatal lung disease, Jeff Bove rearranged his priorities. Now 58, the Wilmington, Del., attorney has spent the last seven months preparing to release a four-disc box set of his work with four local bands over the past 25 years. It is dedicated to his…

Apr 5, 2010 4:41 PM CDT

Deputy Prosecutor Isn’t Licensed and Isn’t a Law School Student

Margie Alumbaugh doesn’t have a law license and she isn’t a student at a traditional law school, but she’s already getting experience as a deputy prosecutor. In February Alumbaugh became a prosecutor in Kittitas County, Wash., under a state rule that allows law students waiting to take the bar exam…

Apr 5, 2010 4:17 PM CDT

Add to April 1 Annals: Harvard to Refund Tuition of Jobless Law Grads

In another late-breaking addition to yesterday’s list of April Fools’ Day jokes, the Harvard Law Record is reporting that the Harvard Law School will refund the tuition of third-year students who graduate without job offers. The purported tuition refund offer does not apply to graduates pursuing public-interest jobs, who should…

Apr 3, 2010 12:34 AM CDT

After 17 Years as a Stay-at-Home Mom & Contract Lawyer, Amy Beckett Lands a New Job

After she began having children in 1992, Amy Beckett wanted to stay at home to take care of them and, fortunately, her husband earned enough that she was able to do so. A 1982 graduate of New York University School of Law, she had completed a judicial clerkship and had…

Apr 2, 2010 10:55 PM CDT

Ex-Ga. Chief Justice Chooses ‘Tomato Sandwiches’ When Mistaken for Restroom Attendant

Being a lawyer and then chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court didn’t shield Leah Ward Sears from slights and mistaken assumptions over the years. Writing in the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), Sears recalled an incident when she was a newly minted lawyer attending a luncheon at a private…

Apr 2, 2010 12:43 PM CDT

Controversial Maricopa Co. Attorney Resigns to Run for Ariz. AG

A controversial county attorney has resigned amid an FBI investigation and accusations of political cronyism. But the resignation is not an indication that County Attorney Andrew Thomas is backing down. He says he’s resigning to run for attorney general, an office he sought without success in 2002. The Arizona Republic,…

Apr 2, 2010 12:12 PM CDT