Large Firm

After critical Sidley report, leaders leave psychologists group that backed harsh interrogations

Top officials of the nation’s largest professional organization for psychologists have left their jobs after a critical report by Sidley Austin. The report, commissioned by the American Psychological Association’s board, found that the group had colluded with Bush administration officials to maintain professional guidelines that would not prohibit harsh interrogation…

Jul 15, 2015 10:00 AM CDT

Greenberg Traurig launching German office with more than 50 lawyers from Olswang

Greenberg Traurig announced Tuesday that the 1,800-attorney law firm will open a German office Oct. 1. Located in the country’s capital city of Berlin, it will be operated by more than 50 attorneys from Olswang, who represent their soon-to-be former firm’s entire outpost there. The Olswang office’s staff also will…

Jul 14, 2015 12:50 PM CDT

Cover-up claim about GM ignition-switch issues is ‘reckless and outrageous,’ law firm says

Fighting an attempt by plaintiffs in a massive federal products liability case to get hold of confidential documents in discovery, King & Spalding came out swinging. Claims that firm lawyers conspired with General Motors to conceal ignition-switch defects are not only baseless and defamatory but “reckless and outrageous,” the firm…

Jul 14, 2015 12:05 PM CDT

Homeless man was once a BigLaw lawyer and the chief justice’s Harvard Law classmate

Alfred Postell is a 1979 Harvard law graduate who once worked at accounting firm Lucas and Tucker and the BigLaw firm then known as Shaw Pittman Potts & Trowbridge. He has degrees in economics and accounting. His Harvard law classmates included Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and former Sen.…

Jul 14, 2015 7:20 AM CDT

Dewey & LeBoeuf executives cooked the books, former law firm finance director testifies

About a third of the way into the prosecution case against three former law firm leaders criminally charged in the downfall of Dewey & LeBoeuf, testimony began Monday to establish what the government hopes will prove to be a crucial link: Former finance director Francis Canellas is pointing the finger…

Jul 13, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

Is popular verein structure jeopardizing big firms? Dentons challenges conflict-of-interest ruling

In a move that could have huge repercussions for several of the largest worldwide law firms, Dentons is challenging a U.S. International Trade Commission judge’s decision booting them off an intellectual property case over a conflict of interest. On Wednesday, Law360 reported that the megafirm had filed a motion for…

Jul 10, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Greenberg Traurig partner is arrested in alleged road rage incident

A Greenberg Traurig partner in Atlanta was arrested last week in an alleged road rage incident involving a tossed coffee mug. Police charged Victoria Davis Lockard, 42, with aggressive driving and criminal trespass, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Lockard is vice-chair of the firm’s pharmaceutical, medical device and health-care litigation practice,…

Jul 9, 2015 7:06 AM CDT

UK and Canadian firms OK 1,400-lawyer merger of equals, setting stage for more international growth

Two well-known law firms in Canada and the United Kingdom have agreed to a merger of equals, and are already looking ahead to further international expansion in upcoming years. The approximately 1,400-attorney firm to be formed in January by Gowling Lafleur Henderson and Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. will also…

Jul 8, 2015 1:45 PM CDT

McElroy Deutsch settles gender bias suit alleging unequal assignments, male-only golf outings

McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter has settled a gender bias suit filed by a fired associate who claimed the male associates got better work assignments and better bonuses than females. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield said the case had settled when she ordered its dismissal Tuesday, the New Jersey Law…

Jul 8, 2015 11:57 AM CDT

Summer associate perks proliferate; pay is $3,000 a week at some firms

Summer associates at the nation’s major law firms are earning $3,000 a week while being treated to special events such as chartered helicopter tours, disc jockey lessons, cooking classes, museum nights and baseball games. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) spoke with associates and law firms to learn what they…

Jul 7, 2015 10:58 AM CDT

Eric Holder returns to ‘last stop’ job at Covington, offers thoughts on Snowden and US Supreme Court

After six years as the nation’s top law enforcement officer, former Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. is returning to private practice at Covington & Burling and giving his thoughts on a number of issues. A partner at Covington from 2001 to 2009, before he joined the Obama administration, the 64-year-old…

Jul 6, 2015 4:55 PM CDT

Should BigLaw firms be donating more of their record profits to legal aid?

BigLaw firms are earning record profits, amounting to more than $100 billion last year. Yet they are donating only a tiny fraction of their earnings to help provide legal services to those who can’t afford representation, according to an analysis by the American Lawyer (sub. req.) In its first effort…

Jul 1, 2015 4:00 PM CDT

Appeals court blasts lawyers and ‘scorched earth tactics,’ publishes opinion despite settlement

A California appellate panel was so outraged by “scorched earth tactics” in a suit over a purportedly stolen hard drive that it issued a decision as “an example to the legal community” despite a settlement in the case. The opinion (PDF) by California’s Fourth District Court of Appeals blasted the…

Jul 1, 2015 8:30 AM CDT

Embarrassing Dewey emails are cast as sarcasm; partner insists ‘I am the reason you have this job’

Defense lawyers in the trial of three former leaders at Dewey & LeBoeuf are scrambling to defend emails presented by prosecutors as evidence the defendants intended to defraud lenders and bond buyers. Prosecutors have noted emails talking about “fake income” and “clueless auditor,” while defense lawyers argue the emails show…

Jul 1, 2015 7:24 AM CDT

News of DA probe ended Dewey merger and bank talks, says ex-leader of failed law firm

Prosecutors in a financial fraud case against three former leaders of Dewey & LeBoeuf say the trio knew long before their 1,400-attorney law firm imploded that it could not repay its debts and meet its financial obligations, and that they lied to lenders and engaged in accounting fraud to delay…

Jun 29, 2015 4:35 PM CDT