Paralegals

Lateral hires at Duane Morris brought extra legal assistants to firm, spurring layoffs

Duane Morris says the firm has hired around 42 partners and counsel in the last two years, many of whom brought their legal assistants with them. The result was overstaffing and the need to lay off 17 legal assistants, Above the Law reports. “Duane Morris does appear to be in…

Sep 12, 2013 1:28 PM CDT

35 staffers laid off at Pillsbury Winthrop

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has confirmed that the firm laid off workers last week to deal with elevated staffing levels in multiple offices. “The departures affect approximately 35 staff in various offices, departments and sections,” said chief operating officer Richard C. Donaldson in a written statement published Friday by Above…

Sep 9, 2013 2:15 PM CDT

Paralegal admits embezzling $327K, secretly settling law firm claims

A paralegal, office manager and secretary for a small San Francisco-area law firm has admitted embezzling more than $327,000 by secretly settling client claims and stealing the proceeds, as well as retainer payments, over a five-year period. Ana Lissa Reyes also signed up clients without the firm’s knowledge, and established…

Jul 3, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

Woods Oviatt adds 8 attorneys through merger with smaller legal shop

One of the larger law firms in Rochester, N.Y., region is dissolving as eight attorneys join one the area’s biggest law firms. Three of the lawyers from Fix, Spindelman, Brovitz & Goldman are joining Woods Oviatt Gilman as partners, the Rochester Business Journal reports. Paralegals and support staff are also…

Jul 2, 2013 7:50 PM CDT

Grand jury to investigate paralegal’s death in lawyer’s bathtub

An investigating grand jury will be convened in the death of a paralegal found dead in the bathtub at the home of prominent Philadelphia lawyer. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office has confirmed that the investigative grand jury will look into the death of 26-year-old Julia Law, report the Philadelphia Inquirer,…

Jun 7, 2013 2:29 PM CDT

$36 an hour is average pay for law firm paralegals, survey shows

A new survey finds that pay for paralegals is increasing even as law firms are billing for their work at lower rates. The average expected pay hike for paralegals was 3 percent, according to a press release. At the same time, rates that law firms charge clients for paralegal services…

May 31, 2013 10:54 AM CDT

Sending female intern’s horror-film clip to local law firms gets ex-partner suspended for 3 years

Updated: A former partner of a well-known Indiana law firm has been suspended from practice for three years for persuading his paralegal to impersonate that firm’s managing partner and send an email attaching a horror-film clip in which a new hire seemingly was onscreen in a state of undress. Arthur…

May 20, 2013 4:49 PM CDT

Law grad paralegal says employer asked her to be his ‘third wife,’ made her feed him with chopsticks

A recent law graduate working as a paralegal says a New York attorney talked to her about pornography, repeatedly pitched her on the benefits of polygamy, asked her to become his “third wife” and insisted that she feed him with chopsticks at a restaurant. Sarbrina Rafi makes the allegations against…

Apr 12, 2013 5:52 PM CDT

7th Circuit OKs $25K student-loan discharge for ‘destitute’ paralegal

A “destitute” paralegal who has made reasonable efforts to repay her student loan debt is entitled to a bankruptcy discharge of the remaining $25,000 or so despite the fact that she never enrolled in a federal income-contingent repayment plan, a federal appeals court has ruled. Reinstating a bankruptcy court’s determination…

Apr 10, 2013 6:20 PM CDT

Paralegal jobs being overtaken by technology, analysis reports

It was just two years ago that the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted an 18 percent growth rate in paralegal jobs through 2020, but now, according to an Associated Press analysis, a lot of that work is being taken over by technology replacing humans. “Those (paralegals) without technology knowledge and…

Feb 7, 2013 9:10 PM CST

Bad coffee leads to embezzlement case against law firm worker

A really bad cup of coffee that burned the lips of a Wisconsin law firm worker resulted in a criminal case against a co-worker who is now accused not only of tainting the beverage with a foreign substance but embezzling from her employer. Kay Lee Gysbers was released on a…

Feb 7, 2013 3:36 PM CST

Bar probes 3 lawyers accused of setting up opposing counsel for mid-trial DUI arrest

The Florida Bar is investigating three lawyers accused of playing a role in the mid-trial drunken-driving arrest of their opposing counsel in a hard-fought radio shock jock defamation case. C. Philip Campbell faces a driving-under-the-influence charge after he was arrested Jan. 23 at the wheel of a paralegal’s car as…

Feb 5, 2013 9:08 PM CST

Man who tricked judge into awarding $3M default judgment against sex-crime victim gets more time

Already convicted more than a decade ago in an Ohio sex-crime case involving two 14-year-old victims, a Washington, D.C., man is now facing another five-year term for schemes involving deception. One targeted a victim in the 2000 sex-crime case, and resulted in a $3 million default judgment in favor of…

Jan 29, 2013 9:43 PM CST

Wrong Turn En Route to Lunch with Sis Led Paralegal to 50-Year Career at Crowe & Dunlevy

A wrong turn en route to lunch with her sister led to a 50-year career at an Oklahoma City law firm for Jo Balding. Stepping off the wrong elevator, she found herself at the firm then known as Crowe, Boxley, Dunlevy, Thweatt, Swinford & Johnson, reports the Oklahoman. So, on…

Nov 5, 2012 7:34 PM CST

Judge Orders Paralegal and His Legal Nonprofit to Pay $2.2M, Bars Further Work for Inmates in NJ

A New Jersey judge has ordered a paralegal and his nonprofit legal assistance organization to pay $2.2 million and stop doing work for inmates in the state. The order last week in the Essex County Superior Court case came after Bruce Buccolo and the Project Freedom Fund failed to respond…

Oct 16, 2012 4:45 PM CDT