Careers

New Law Firm Perk: Lactation Room

An Indiana law firm has converted a conference room into a lactation room for nursing mothers, providing them with a private and comfortable place to pump breast milk and a refrigerator in which to keep it. Although a new state law now requires employers of more than 25 to offcer…

Mar 10, 2008 5:09 PM CDT

How to Tell When It’s Time to Look

Faint praise. Not enough work to do, or a lack of opportunity for advancement. A feeling of sheer misery. All are signs that it’s probably time to look for another position, experts say. “When you’re jumping for joy when the weekend arrives and when you can’t bear the thought of…

Mar 10, 2008 3:51 PM CDT

No Associates at This Law Firm, Just Consultants

A Canadian law firm says it has never has a problem with associates over billable hours requirements. That’s because it has no associates. Instead, Thackray Burgess has “consultants” who hire desk space from the 34-attorney business firm at a cost of $800 per month, and do as much or as…

Mar 10, 2008 3:14 PM CDT

Once-Prominent Lawyer Sues Casinos for Gambling Addiction

A former lawyer and TV commentator has sued seven casinos for failing to stop her compulsive gambling that led to $1 million in losses and the end of her law practice. Arelia Margarita Taveras once earned $500,000 a year, but she lost her New York practice and her law license…

Mar 10, 2008 11:48 AM CDT

O’Melveny Offers Buyout to Partners Over 50

O’Melveny & Myers is offering a buyout package to older partners, according to a lawyer who is taking advantage of it. Masood Sohaili told Legal Pad the buyout offer is temporary and available to lawyers over 50. He didn’t disclose any other details. Sohaili is taking the buyout and jumping…

Mar 10, 2008 10:43 AM CDT

Author to Would-Be Solos: Do It Now

Lawyers who are longing to pursue a solo practice shouldn’t hesitate because of a bad economy, advises an author who is herself a sole practitioner. Current technology makes it easier than ever before for a law firm associate to hang up a shingle and establish an individual law office. Meanwhile,…

Mar 7, 2008 9:43 PM CST

The Resume Gap: How Lawyers Who Left Law Can Get Back In

Women lawyers who take off more than a year of work to care for their children face big challenges when they decide it’s time to return to the law. But there are some strategies that can help, the New York Law Journal reports. Deborah Epstein Henry, founder and president of…

Mar 7, 2008 4:36 PM CST

‘Danny Boy’ and its Lyrics, Written by a Lawyer, Banned at One Pub

A New York pub owner has declared his bar a “Danny Boy”-free zone. Sorry about that, Frederick Edward Weatherly. He’s the lawyer who wrote the lyrics to the song in 1913, words so sad that bar owner Shaun Clancy says they are downright depressing, the Associated Press reports. Clancy, who…

Mar 7, 2008 3:33 PM CST

Scruggs’ Downslide: His Cases Had ‘Big Enemies and Bad Results’

Recently indicted plaintiffs lawyer Richard Scruggs bolstered his reputation as a legendary plaintiffs lawyer in the 1990s when he won settlements for shipyard workers exposed to asbestos and helped force tobacco companies to pay a $248 billion settlement. But in more recent years, Scruggs foundered as he pursued difficult cases…

Mar 7, 2008 1:17 PM CST

Bitter Boston Breakup Battle After Donovan Lawyers Create LeClair Office

Updated: A raid last summer by Virginia-based LeClairRyan on Boston’s Donovan Hatem has resulted in an extraordinarily bitter and well-publicized breakup battle. At least some of a welter of claims and counterclaims between current and former Donovan lawyers, contending that the firm didn’t pay departed partners their due, and that…

Mar 6, 2008 10:23 PM CST

AG Now Seeking Lawyer-Pay Info from 700-Plus N.Y. School Districts

An ongoing probe by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into the way school districts pay their lawyers has now expanded to request information from all of the more than 700 school districts in the state. It has also expanded to seek information not only about the way the districts…

Mar 6, 2008 9:35 PM CST

3 Lawyers’ New Gigs: Headmistress, Concrete Worker, Rap Artist

For lawyers unhappy in their current jobs, three recent reports of career changes by successful attorneys might offer some food for thought. Pinney Allen, 54, a top female partner at Alston & Bird, is leaving the firm July 1 to run the Atlanta Girls’ School, according to a Daily Report…

Mar 6, 2008 5:39 PM CST

Jenner & Block Demotes or Ousts at Least 10 More Equity Partners

The Chicago-based law firm of Jenner & Block is pushing at least 10 more partners out of the equity partnership ranks and asking some of the lawyers to leave, sources told the Chicago Tribune. The firm’s chairman, Anton Valukas, refused to confirm numbers but said some lawyers have been put…

Mar 6, 2008 4:44 PM CST

What Women Lawyers Want: Flex-Time and Part-Time Options

Flexible work arrangements are key to retaining women lawyers, but the culture of the legal profession doesn’t appear to value part-time work, according to a new study of Georgia law firms. The study by the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers found that only 30 percent of the surveyed law firms…

Mar 6, 2008 4:11 PM CST

Amidst Layoffs, Some Law Firms Prosper

Updated: Although some law firms are suffering as a result of the current turmoil in the U.S. economy, others are doing fine. One secret to their success: avoiding hot practice areas that now are not. Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney’s bankruptcy practice, for instance, wasn’t cut when the economy boomed and…

Mar 5, 2008 7:35 PM CST