Cleary Gottlieb sued by former project lawyer for alleged racial bias in firing

Updated: A former project lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton claims in a lawsuit that the firm discriminated against him when it fired him in August 2012. The Dec. 23 suit by Maryland lawyer Lyle Silva, who is African American, says he “received nothing but outstanding praise” during his…

Dec 29, 2014 8:33 AM CST

Lawyer is jobless and sleeping in his car after losing suit seeking OT for document review

A contract lawyer who claimed he should have been paid overtime for document-review work has suffered another setback with a judge’s decision to toss his would-be class action. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan of Manhattan ruled in a Sept. 16 opinion (PDF) that plaintiff David Lola was engaged in the…

Sep 22, 2014 5:45 AM CDT

Baker & McKenzie to open back-office operations center in Belfast

Baker & McKenzie has chosen Belfast as the location for a second back-office operations center. The law firm expects the new office to employ about 120 professionals by the end of its first year of operation, rising to between 200 and 250 employees at the end of three years, according…

Aug 28, 2014 12:22 PM CDT

Lawyer suing for document-review OT applies for job with defendant; sanctions bid fails

A lawyer who filed a suit contending that lawyers in document-review jobs deserve overtime pay is still looking for contract work—and even sent his resume to one of the defendants. The resume sent by David Lola to Tower Legal Staffing spurred a sanctions bid by its lawyers, who contended Lola’s…

Feb 12, 2014 3:48 PM CST

New job titles reflect economic challenges, changing career expectations for lawyers

Jan 1, 2014 9:00 AM CST

Was a contract lawyer for Quinn Emanuel entitled to overtime pay? Judge hears arguments

A contract attorney doing document review was hired for his expertise and is not entitled to overtime pay, according to a lawyer for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan who defended his firm’s pay practices before a federal judge on Tuesday. Marc Greenwald, co-chair of the firm’s white collar and corporate…

Oct 23, 2013 12:15 PM CDT

Contract lawyer claims he is entitled to OT pay due to ‘extremely routine nature’ of job

A lawyer who performed document review for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan on a contract basis claims in a lawsuit that he is entitled to overtime pay for work in excess of 40 hours a week. The plaintiff, New York lawyer William Henig, claims he typically worked 57 to 60…

Mar 5, 2013 12:31 PM CST

Patton Boggs axes 30 attorneys and 35 staff, no partners get pink slips

Unlike a number of other major law firms, Patton Boggs didn’t lay off workers during the recession. But it axed 65 attorneys and other employees Thursday, after 2012 revenue and profits slipped, the firm’s managing partner said Friday. Let go were 30 lawyers and 35 staff members, managing partner Edward…

Mar 1, 2013 9:13 PM CST

Law firm billing contract lawyers at $1K hourly must reveal what they were paid, federal judge says

Ruling from the bench, a federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday gave a green light to a request for discovery by a class action activist concerning the wages paid by a law firm to the contract attorneys it billed out at $1,000 an hour. Citigroup Inc. agreed last year to…

Mar 1, 2013 7:05 PM CST

Does Legal Fees Motion in $590M Citigroup Case Include $1K Per Hour for Low-Paid Contract Lawyers?

A protester has filed an objection to a legal-fees request in a securities case settled by Citigroup for $590 million, contending that the lead plaintiffs law firm is trying to charge $1,000 per hour for some contract attorneys who were actually paid only a small fraction of that amount. Attorney…

Jan 3, 2013 8:03 PM CST

Legal Rebels 2012: If the Shoe Fits…

This is our fourth iteration of the ABA Journal’s Legal Rebels, our annual nod to lawyers who are helping change the profession in ways both big and small. These are the innovators—the folks who’ve found a different path, some new way to blend the needs of their clients or their…

Sep 1, 2012 10:40 AM CDT

Boston Law Firm Got 32 Applicants for Attorney Job Paying $10,000 a Year, Partner Says

A small Boston law firm that hit the headlines when it advertised a job for a new law graduate paying $10,000 a year got 32 applicants for the position, a partner of Gilbert & O’Bryan tells the Boston Business Journal. Although observers note that the the pay is less than…

May 31, 2012 10:35 PM CDT

Eversheds Makes In-House Contract Lawyer Team Permanent as Expected 15-Attorney Roster Nears 80

An experimental in-house contract lawyer service at a major United Kingdom-based law firm has gotten off to a bigger start than expected and has been made permanent a little over halfway into a one-year pilot program. Eversheds now has almost 80 contract lawyers available to clients through Eversheds Agile, Legal…

Mar 23, 2012 7:06 PM CDT

Nixon Peabody Isn’t Shy About Its Hiring of an Outsourcing Company

Updated: More than 80 percent of law firms surveyed about their use of outsourcing companies in 2010 declined to answer the questions. That attitude is apparently changing. In a press release, Nixon Peabody is announcing it has entered into a preferred vendor relationship with Pangea3 for e-discovery review. Pangea3 will…

Jan 31, 2012 2:20 PM CST

Former Staff Attorney Sues Quinn Emanuel, Alleges Race Discrimination in Assignments, Retaliation

A former staff attorney at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has sued the law firm for race discrimination and retaliation. Kisshia Simmons-Grant says in her federal district court suit that the law firm gave work to less qualified white staff attorneys while she went without assignments and hence was not…

Oct 31, 2011 6:37 PM CDT