Law Firms

How Alston & Bird Improved Retention by 6 Percent

An Altanta-based law firm that recently made a top 100 list of the best companies to work for explains how it helped improve employee retention in an article published in Business Law Today, a publication of the ABA Section of Business Law. Alston & Bird’s retention rate jumped by 6…

Feb 25, 2008 7:06 PM CST

Loss of Bankruptcy Rainmaker Shows Weil Gotshal ‘Time Warp’

Partner defections in the bankruptcy department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges highlight a disagreement in the firm about how its pre-eminent restructuring practice should be integrated with the rest of the firm. New York lawyer Martin Bienenstock, the co-head of Weil’s bankruptcy department, left the firm in November to join…

Feb 25, 2008 12:38 PM CST

Large Law Firms Prepare for a Slower Year

Large law firm leaders and consultants tell the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) that legal work is slowing in several segments, leading them to expect a less than stellar year in 2008. Last year was a boom time for many firms, which saw revenue growth of more than 10 percent…

Feb 25, 2008 11:51 AM CST

Like to Golf? San Diego Law Firm Seeks Associate Rainmakers

In an unusual recruiting effort, a small San Diego law firm apparently isn’t seeking hardworking associates who never leave the office until night has fallen and they’ve met their billable-hours quotas. In fact, a yen to spend a sunny Friday afternoon on the golf course or at a leisurely lunch…

Feb 22, 2008 7:37 PM CST

Going Public Pays: 56% Profit Increase Follows Law Firm’s IPO

The eye-popping expansion of an Australian plaintiffs firm that went public last year in order to fund its acquisitions of other law partnerships has also led to an eye-popping increase in its revenue stream. Slater & Gordon reports that its overall half-year profits are up 56 percent since it sold…

Feb 22, 2008 5:54 PM CST

What Are the Oscar Odds for Legal Thriller ‘Michael Clayton’?

The legal thriller Michael Clayton has seven Oscar nominations, but its chances of a win may not be all that good, if history is any judge. In 80 years, there have been only 10 wins for legal movies or actors who play lawyers, law professors, judges or legal assistants, reports…

Feb 22, 2008 4:04 PM CST

Kirkland & Ellis Disdains Litigation—Against Itself

Kirkland & Ellis was recently named American Lawyer’s “Litigation Department of the Year” for its courtroom victories, but the law firm would prefer that its associates keep their employment disputes out of court. Kirkland & Ellis recently dispatched a memo to its associates and other employees informing them that they…

Feb 22, 2008 3:34 PM CST

Seven WolfBlock Partners Leap to Smaller Firm

Seven partners at 300-lawyer Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen are jumping to 45-lawyer Pennsylvania law firm Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin. The partners are making the move as WolfBlock continues to look for a merger partner after the collapse of merger discussions with Cozen O’Connor, the Legal Intelligencer reports. Hangley…

Feb 22, 2008 11:46 AM CST

Feds and State Investigate N.Y. Lawyer Who ‘Worked’ 1,286 Days in a Year

It hasn’t been a good week for Lawrence Reich. A Newsday article yesterday features a photograph of FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents wheeling a cart of document boxes containing business records for the New York lawyer, apparently en route to a federal grand jury investigation. Meanwhile, another Newsday article…

Feb 21, 2008 10:17 PM CST

2nd Circuit: Lawyer ‘Failed Spectacularly’ in Immigration Case

Like too many other immigrants, Garfield Livern St. Valentine Aris was not well-served by a number of lawyers, the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says in an opinion yesterday. In fact, his initial counsel “failed spectacularly,” a three-judge appellate panel writes, after a paralegal misinformed him…

Feb 21, 2008 9:03 PM CST

DLA Piper Raids Locke Lord Bissell; 8 Restructuring Lawyers Jump Ship

DLA Piper has raided the Chicago office of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, persuading eight attorneys to jump ship and join the megafirm’s office there. The group, which includes both litigators and corporate lawyers, specializes in corporate bankruptcies and restructuring matters, reports the Chicago Tribune. It includes Timothy Brink, 42,…

Feb 21, 2008 8:00 PM CST

Legal Gossip Maven David Lat Dishes on Above the Law

Updated: Harvard. Yale. Wachtell. Federal prosecutor. Federal appeals court clerkship. All are part of David Lat’s impressive resume. Yet the 32-year-old is now prominent not in a traditional legal job but as the editor of one of the nation’s most-talked-about legal blogs, Above the Law. A self-described legal tabloid, it…

Feb 21, 2008 6:45 PM CST

Hughes Hubbard Investigated Alleged Prof Plagiarism

Hughes Hubbard & Reed was hired in 2006 to investigate allegations that a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College used the work of a former colleague and students without attribution. The college said yesterday (statement posted by the Columbia Spectator) that Madonna Constantine, who was recently in the news after…

Feb 21, 2008 5:16 PM CST

Drop in Partner Numbers Drives Higher Partner Profits at Buchanan Ingersoll

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney had fewer partners in 2007 but higher profits per equity partner. The two numbers are related, chief executive officer Thomas VanKirk told the Legal Intelligencer. “Leverage like that will always have some impact on profits per equity partner,” he said. The firm had 193 equity and…

Feb 21, 2008 2:03 PM CST

High-Profile Skadden Litigator Goofs, Sends Private E-mail to Reporters

Updated: Well-known litigator Sheila Birnbaum of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom believed Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood used a press release and newspaper column to mischaracterize a recent confidential settlement with her client State Farm, and she said so. Her opinion was intended to circulate in an internal e-mail,…

Feb 21, 2008 1:03 PM CST