Large Firm

In the Last Four Years at Debevoise, the Majority of New Partners are Women

For the last four years, the majority of new partners at Debevoise & Plimpton have been women. The law firm has announced 15 new equity partners from 2008 to 2011, and nine have been women, the Careerist reports. The percentage of females attaining partnership outpaces that of other large law…

Apr 1, 2011 12:56 PM CDT

Tab for Lawyers, Other Professionals in Madoff Aftermath Estimated to Exceed $1B

Lawyers and other professionals hired to clean up the aftermath of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme are expected to cost more than $1 billion. As of the end of last year, professionals hired in the Madoff cleanup had earned $288 million, the Washington Post reports. A report recently submitted to Congress…

Apr 1, 2011 12:24 PM CDT

Sedgwick Decides Shorter Is Better

Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold is getting a makeover. The law firm has officially shortened its name to Sedgwick, following the lead of firms such as Orrick and Bingham, the Recorder’s Legal Pad blog reports. Unlike the other firms, however, Sedgwick will use its shortened name across the board, not…

Apr 1, 2011 11:48 AM CDT

Remaining Howrey Staffers Abruptly Learn Their Jobs Are Ending a Month Early

Staffers working to wrap up operations at Howrey learned in a memo Thursday that they would be out of a job by the end of a day. Staffers were told they are being laid off because Citibank cut funding to cover payroll at the disbanding law firm, the Am Law…

Apr 1, 2011 11:28 AM CDT

Therapist: Find a ‘Calm Center’ at Work Who Creates a Mood Conducive to Getting the Job Done

It isn’t just legal skills that get the job done with a minimum of chaos. Especially in a crisis situation—i.e., routinely, for those who practice law in many settings—staying calm can be the key to a successful resolution, writes a former BigLaw associate who now works as a therapist. And…

Mar 30, 2011 5:50 PM CDT

As Chief Judges Agree Law Firm Can’t Simply Quit, One Sets Hearings for 9,000 Abandoned Cases

Throughout the state of Florida, chief judges apparently are in agreement that attorney David J. Stern and his law firm can’t simply abandon as many as 100,000 mortgage foreclosure cases. But that’s what reportedly has happened, as Stern notified the courts in lengthy letters earlier this month listing the cases…

Mar 30, 2011 4:24 PM CDT

Howrey Branding Efforts Should Have Targeted Its Own Lawyers, Its Ex-Marketer Says

If BigLaw branding worked, Howrey would have survived, according to a onetime public relations consultant for the law firm. If clients selected Howrey based on the institution, they would have continued to support the law firm, even as partner departures mounted, writes John Hellerman in an article for Law360. It’s…

Mar 30, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

17 Howrey Lawyers Join Baker Hostetler, Including Global Litigation Co-Chair Abrams

Early rumors suggested that Howrey’s co-chair of global litigation, Robert Abrams, would be joining the law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, Howrey’s co-counsel for 4,000 dairy farmers in a huge antitrust suit that could bring in a substantial contingency fee. Those rumors, detailed in an American Lawyer article, turned…

Mar 29, 2011 2:21 PM CDT

Client Interest in Flex Rates, Contingencies Prompts Akin Partner to Open Boutique

San Francisco lawyer Steven Kaufhold has been hearing more and more from clients who want flexible rate structures. So the securities litigator, who recently left Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, has launched his own firm to accommodate them. This month he opened Kaufhold Gaskin, according to the Recorder. Kaufhold…

Mar 25, 2011 5:10 PM CDT

Suit Claims Ropes & Gray Gave Female Partner’s Clients to Younger Male Lawyers

A fired Ropes & Gray partner has filed an age and sex discrimination suit that contends the firm ousted her at age 63 after she complained that her clients were being transferred to younger male lawyers. Patent lawyer Patricia Martone filed the suit Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, Above the…

Mar 25, 2011 1:27 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Indictment of In-House Lawyer Accused in Wellbutrin Probe, Cites Prosecutor Error

A federal judge has dismissed an indictment that had accused a former in-house lawyer of obstructing a probe into Wellbutrin off-label marketing, citing a grand juror’s “elephant in the room” question and a prosecutor’s incorrect response. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Titus of Maryland allows prosecutors to seek…

Mar 24, 2011 5:08 PM CDT

Skadden Beefs Up Its White-Collar Criminal Defense Team

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is adding another litigator to its white-collar criminal defense practice with the acquisition of Michele Roberts. Recently the law firm has “pulled in a rash of high-profile criminal-defense lawyers,” according to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. They include solo litigator Allen Ruby, former…

Mar 23, 2011 1:31 PM CDT

Ex-Ice Miller Associate Files ERISA Suit, Says Disability Payments re Motorcycle Accident Botched

A former associate of Ice Miller has filed an ERISA suit against the Indianapolis-based law firm contending that it messed up the long-term disability payments he was supposed to receive after a 1987 motorcycle accident that left him unable to work there due to cognitive impairment. Michael Bailey, 50, is…

Mar 22, 2011 10:52 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Decide if Sullivan & Cromwell’s Mailroom Mix-Up Bars Capital Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a mailroom mix-up at Sullivan & Cromwell that resulted in a missed deadline bars the habeas appeal of a death row inmate. The court granted cert today in Maples v. Allen, the Associated Press reports. Former Solicitor General Gregory Garre of…

Mar 21, 2011 7:44 PM CDT

Law Firms Need to Act More Like Businesses and Hire Accordingly, Prof Says

Law firms need to start acting more like businesses, a management professor says, and they could start by hiring “business-savvy nonlawyers” for leadership roles. Writing for the Washington Post’s Capital Business column, George Washington University business professor James Bailey says law firms need to beef up their executive teams by…

Mar 21, 2011 12:42 PM CDT