Paralegals

Texas Man Charged With Taking Photos Up Legal Assistant’s Skirt at Courthouse

Already at the Harris County courthouse on a misdemeanor drug charge, a 19-year-old Texas man was charged with a felony today after he allegedly used a camera phone to take photographs up a legal assistant’s skirt while pretending to tie his shoelace. The unidentified 29-year-old woman was speaking with a…

Aug 5, 2009 11:30 PM CDT

Less Pay, More Vacation for Employees of Scotland’s Biggest Law Firm

Staff members have voted overwhelmingly in support of a temporary 10-percent pay cut at the biggest law firm in Scotland, from September to April, when the next fiscal year begins. The alternative would be layoffs, as Dundas and Wilson rebalances its expenses to match income, reports the BBC. Meanwhile, the…

Jul 24, 2009 7:42 PM CDT

Dechert Confirms Layoffs of ‘a Number of People’

Dechert has laid off additional lawyers and staffers in a sixth round of cuts. The law firm confirmed layoffs of “a number of people” in a statement made to the Legal Intelligencer. The publication says the firm’s largest round of layoffs was in March, when the firm laid off 63…

Jul 24, 2009 11:59 AM CDT

Suit by Crowell & Moring Staffer Claims Age Bias Spurred Firing

A 54-year-old woman who was fired from her job as an administrative staffer at Crowell & Moring last year claims in a lawsuit that age bias was the reason. The suit by Mona Saunders, who worked in a variety of jobs during her 18 years at the firm, says the…

Jul 22, 2009 3:27 PM CDT

Weil Gotshal Paralegal Ad Is Bummer for Recent Law Grads

A recent e-mail to 2009 law graduates trumpeted a BigLaw job opportunity they might wish to pursue in the Boston area. The problem was, it was a job advertisement for a paralegal position at the local office of Weil Gotshal & Manges. A copy of the job ad is posted…

Jul 21, 2009 7:57 PM CDT

Baker & McKenzie to Lay Off 11% of Lawyers, Professionals in China

Updated: Baker & McKenzie plans to lay off 11 percent of its 350 lawyers plus professional staffers in China and Hong Kong. Baker & McKenzie confirmed its plans in an e-mail to Bloomberg News and the ABA Journal. It plans to lay off a comparable number of secretarial and support…

Jul 8, 2009 11:56 AM CDT

Are Law Firms Beginning a Summer Doldrums for Layoffs?

The start of summer marks the slowest month so far for law firm layoffs. A midyear review by the blog Law Shucks finds that June was the slowest month for layoffs this year. That month, 481 people were laid off at major law firms—347 staffers and 134 lawyers. The worst…

Jul 7, 2009 12:11 PM CDT

Orrick Axes Lockstep Pay and Staffing, Amps Up Training in New Practice Model

In a press release posted on its website today, Orrick trumpets a new “talent model” that will, as the law firm puts it, “re-engineer the way the law firm delivers high-value legal service.” Central to the plan is the elimination of a so-called lockstep pay scale that ups the ante…

Jul 1, 2009 10:50 PM CDT

Tennessee Law Firm Bass Berry Lays Off 10 Associates, 22 Staffers

Bass Berry & Sims has laid off 10 associates and 22 staff members at its three offices in Tennessee. Managing partner Keith Simmons told the Nashville Business Journal that the cuts were “proportionally divided” among the offices in Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis, and all practice areas were affected. The story…

Jun 11, 2009 12:22 PM CDT

Latham’s San Francisco Lawyers Allowed to Wear Jeans All Summer Long

Lawyers at Latham & Watkins’ San Francisco office can sport jeans all summer long, a break from a policy that allowed “nice blue jeans” only on Fridays. The firm changed the policy in response to requests by associates and staffers, office managing partner Scott Haber told the Daily Journal (sub.…

Jun 8, 2009 1:24 PM CDT

Squire Sanders Mulls Possible Merger With Denton Wilde Sapte

Merger talks reportedly may be under way between Squire Sanders & Dempsey and Denton Wilde Sapte. Still in the early stages, the conversations could achieve a transatlantic engagement as soon as this fall if they go well, reports Legal Week. The article relies on unidentified sources; Howard Morris, who is…

Jun 5, 2009 7:12 PM CDT

Sonnenschein Partner Sued for Accident Caused by His Runaway Car

A Sonnenschein partner is facing a lawsuit by a 7-year-old girl and her mother alleging his Lexus ran into them after he tried to park in front of a California grocery store to buy Girl Scout cookies. The suit claims lawyer Paul Glad, a litigator who chairs the insurance group…

Jun 4, 2009 2:45 PM CDT

Jones Day Memo Freezes Staff Pay, Asks Troops to Work Harder

Jones Day is freezing staff pay through June 30, 2010 and eliminating “year-end payments” and discretionary bonuses in 2009 in response to the dismal economy. Meanwhile, the 2,400-attorney international firm also urges staff to work harder in an internal memo obtained by Above the Law. “In this difficult economic environment,…

May 27, 2009 5:21 PM CDT

Paralegal Bought Elderly Lawyer’s Law Practice for $20

A California paralegal has been sentenced to two years in prison for inducing an 84-year-old lawyer to sell his law practice to him for $20. The lawyer, who wasn’t named, was suffering from early-stage dementia, the Orange County Register reports. Paralegal Mario David Abernathy of Garden Grove was sentenced after…

May 27, 2009 11:11 AM CDT

Sleep Docs Offer Tips for Legal Workers and Others Stressed Out by Economy

Sleep isn’t as restful as it used to be for 49-year-old “Frances,” a law firm employee who worries that she and her boyfriend could lose their jobs due to the dismal economy. ‘I’ll have dreams about what can happen, of actual conversations of talking to my boyfriend and saying, `Oh,…

May 26, 2009 5:41 PM CDT