Large Firm

BigLaw firm drops performance reviews in test program; female associates are particularly pleased

Lawyers and staffers at several Allen & Overy locations aren’t being subjected to the annual ritual of performance reviews as part of a pilot program. The program, in place since October, affects about 500 fee earners and staffers, report Legal Business and the Careerist. The firm provides feedback through dialogue…

May 11, 2017 10:32 AM CDT

Cozen O’Connor adds 20 lawyers from Buchanan Ingersoll

Cozen O’Connor is launching a Pittsburgh office and expanding its labor and employment practice with the addition of 20 lawyers from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Cozen O’Connor announced Monday that it is adding 17 more lawyers from Buchanan Ingersoll, in addition to three Buchanan lawyers who joined the firm last…

May 8, 2017 12:32 PM CDT

International insurance law firm Kennedys to merge with New Jersey-based CMK

International insurance law firm Kennedys is gaining five U.S. offices through its merger with 100-lawyer Carroll, McNulty & Kull. Kennedys already has an office in Miami. The merger is scheduled to go in effect June 1 with New Jersey-based Carroll McNulty, and will give Kennedys offices in that state as…

May 5, 2017 10:56 AM CDT

5 tips from a BigLaw partner on ‘making it work’ in real life

Making it Work is a new column in partnership with the Working Mother Best Law Firms for Women initiative in which lawyers share how they manage both life’s challenges and work’s demands.

Joanna Horsnail, being a single parent for 10 years and partner at Mayer Brown for 13 years, offers tips for “making it work” while real life goes on around you.

May 1, 2017 3:00 AM CDT

General counsel say bold moves like HP’s diversity mandate are necessary to achieve lasting change

Achieving diversity in BigLaw has proved an uphill battle for advocates of inclusion. But many general counsel—who are uniquely positioned to influence the dynamic of legal teams—have chosen to direct their business to firms that show a commitment to diversity.

May 1, 2017 2:30 AM CDT

Am Law 100 rankings show growth, as well as growing divide between megafirms and large firms

Am Law 100 firms had a good 2016, but there are some potentially troublesome signs on the horizon. The official Am Law 100 annual rankings were unveiled Thursday by The American Lawyer. According to the publication, the Am Law 100 grew revenue by 4.3 percent in 2016, which was a…

Apr 27, 2017 12:40 PM CDT

Dewey leaders won’t testify in retrial for alleged scheme to mislead law firm lenders

Two former leaders of Dewey & LeBoeuf won’t testify in their retrial for allegedly misleading lenders and auditors about the law firm’s finances before its collapse. Lawyers for former chief financial officer Joel Sanders and former executive director Stephen DiCarmine indicated on Monday that they won’t be calling any witnesses,…

Apr 25, 2017 11:05 AM CDT

BigLaw partner’s widow is awarded $3M in suit claiming antidepressant caused his suicide

The widow of a former Reed Smith partner was awarded $3 million in a lawsuit contending that the maker of the antidepressant Paxil covered up the drug’s link to an increased risk of suicide. The amount was less than the $39 million sought by Wendy Dolin, the widow of Stewart…

Apr 21, 2017 8:22 AM CDT

Salary bump keeps more BigLaw associates from going in-house, but will partners feel a pinch?

The big bump in BigLaw associate salaries last year has slowed the movement of young lawyers to in-house jobs, but it might have a lead lining—the money has to come out of partners’ pockets and the number of partnerships could decline, Law360 (sub. req.) reports. Cravath Swaine & Moore set…

Apr 18, 2017 5:00 PM CDT

BigLaw practice areas with highest compensation had lowest percentages of women, study says

Women in the nation’s top 200 law firms are well-represented in niche practice areas. But the percentage of females is lower in practice areas that pay the most, according to a recent study. The “middling percentage” of women in high-earning practice areas effectively means that women earn less as a…

Apr 18, 2017 12:43 PM CDT

Dentons reportedly ousts 20 or more partners

Dentons has reportedly cut as many as 20 or more U.S. partners since January. The cuts were made after the law firm failed to meet its 2016 budget, unnamed sources told Law.com (sub. req.). The news follows reports last month that Dentons cut about 60 staff jobs to streamline its…

Apr 18, 2017 11:55 AM CDT

Boies Schiller expands in California with acquisition of litigation boutique

Boies Schiller Flexner has announced that it is acquiring a Los Angeles litigation boutique with more than two dozen lawyers. Caldwell Leslie & Proctor will join Boies Schiller on April 17, report the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, the New York Times, Law.com (sub. req.) and Bloomberg Big Law Business.…

Apr 11, 2017 11:53 AM CDT

Squire Patton Boggs announces alliance with Trump’s personal lawyer

Squire Patton Boggs has announced it is forming a “strategic alliance” with President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Squire Patton Boggs, an international law and lobbying firm, will collaborate with Cohen in jointly representing clients around the world, according to the announcement. The Am Law Daily (sub. req.) and…

Apr 5, 2017 9:15 AM CDT

Crowell and Herrick Feinstein call off merger talks

Crowell & Moring and New York-based Herrick Feinstein have ended their merger talks. The law firms announced the decision in a joint statement, report Bloomberg Big Law Business and the Am Law Daily (sub. req.), which says the New York Post was first with the news. The statement reads: “Over…

Apr 4, 2017 10:32 AM CDT

Civil rights lawyer who worked on Brown v. Board of Education dies at 96

A civil rights lawyer who helped write the briefs in the landmark school desegregation decision Brown v. Board of Education has died at age 96. William Coleman Jr. died Friday at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease, report the Associated Press and the Washington Post.…

Apr 3, 2017 11:59 AM CDT