Paralegals

Layoffs hit furloughed staffers at 2 BigLaw firms, lawyers and staffers at another

Updated: Layoffs are hitting workers at Baker McKenzie, Davis Wright Tremaine and Venable.

Sep 2, 2020 9:33 AM CDT

Growing number of law firms at least partly roll back salary cuts

Salary cuts are easing for lawyers and staffers at many law firms that adopted austerity measures to controls costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aug 26, 2020 3:54 PM CDT

Fired legal assistant at Kirkland & Ellis claims firm restructuring was motivated by age bias

A former legal assistant at Kirkland & Ellis alleges that the law firm discriminated based on age when it fired a group of older litigation support workers and made them reapply for new positions in a “sham process.”

Aug 17, 2020 11:04 AM CDT

Former Pierce Bainbridge paralegal sues firm and ex-partner over alleged sex assault

A paralegal who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by a former partner at Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht has emerged from the shadows with a lawsuit that she filed Thursday.

Aug 6, 2020 1:52 PM CDT

Should there be an Aspen Dental equivalent for lawyers? Task force backs rule changes

"Antiquated" legal ethics rules are interfering with access to justice and a more sustainable legal profession, according to a bar association task force.

Jul 23, 2020 11:39 AM CDT

Former BigLaw paralegal claims she was fired for reporting comment about too-tight pants

A paralegal has filed a retaliation lawsuit against McGuireWoods that claims that she was fired for reporting an office administrator’s complaint about the pants that she was wearing.

Jun 3, 2020 2:16 PM CDT

At least 19 more law firms cut pay and furlough employees; will partners ultimately benefit?

More and more law firms are cutting salaries, reducing partner compensation, and furloughing or laying off employees because of the novel coronavirus. Since the ABA Journal’s story last Thursday on the trend, at least 19 additional large and midsized law firms have taken temporary measures to reduce costs because of financial uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apr 16, 2020 3:48 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: California bar seeks proposals on nonlawyer practitioners; online ‘sneak-in’ contracts abound

California bar working group to consider licensing nonlawyer practitioners The State Bar of California is forming a working group to make recommendations on the licensing of nonlawyers to perform some legal services. The move follows the bar’s request for comment last year on proposals allowing legal technicians to offer legal…

Jan 28, 2020 4:01 PM CST

Suit accuses BigLaw lawyer of trying to rape an admin assistant and sending her explicit photos

Fox Rothschild has fired one of its lawyers after a lawsuit accused him of trying to sexually assault a legal administrative assistant and sending her a barrage of sexually explicit texts, some of which included pictures of his penis.

Dec 19, 2019 2:51 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Ex-law dean Norman Lefstein dies; inmate who got life for stealing $50 is released

Former law dean Norman Lefstein dies at age 82 Norman Lefstein, a former dean of Indiana University’s McKinney School of Law, died Thursday at age 82. Lefstein has been described as one of the giants in the legal profession and the architect of the modern indigent defense reform movement. He…

Aug 30, 2019 2:32 PM CDT

Former paralegal at US attorney’s office accused of using prosecutor info to expose informants

A paralegal in the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey has been indicted for allegedly using government information to identify informants and help her gang member son. Tawanna Hilliard of Brooklyn pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that include witness tampering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy, NJ.com reports. She was…

Aug 16, 2019 2:29 PM CDT

Lawyer disbarred for claiming paralegal’s work as his own; he regrets only ‘one license to lose’ for clients

The Tennessee Supreme Court has disbarred a Knoxville lawyer for alleged false and exaggerated time entries when he submitted a request for more than $103,000 in legal fees for the time that he spent fighting Lowe’s Home Centers over a discovery violation. The lawyer, Loring Justice, claimed his paralegal’s work…

Jul 8, 2019 3:52 PM CDT

Facing shortage of lawyers in some areas, this state is considering licensing legal technicians

The New Mexico Supreme Court has appointed a work group to consider whether the state should allow licensed legal technicians to provide civil legal services. The court has asked the group to submit a report by January 2020, according to a May 21 press release. Courthouse News Service and the…

May 28, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

Bullying and sexual harassment ‘are rife in the legal profession,’ global survey finds

One in three female lawyers have been sexually harassed in a work context, while one in two women have experienced bullying in the workplace, according to a recently released global survey of nearly 7,000 lawyers in 135 countries. The numbers were somewhat lower for male lawyers. One in 14 men…

May 16, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

Fired BigLaw paralegal must pay $35K sanction in dropped suit against law firm, 7th Circuit says

On Friday, a federal appeals court upheld a sanction requiring a paralegal who filed a $200 million bias suit against Baker McKenzie to pay the law firm’s attorney fees. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago upheld an order requiring the paralegal, Elena Stephens, to pay about $35,000.…

Apr 29, 2019 9:16 AM CDT