Pennsylvania

Meet Shelley Smith, a City Solicitor With 200 Pairs of Shoes

It’s not easy being in the shoes of Shelley Smith, who has served as Philadelphia’s city solicitor for the past eight months. For one thing, they’re size 11, and she’s got 200 pairs—50 of them ready for action in a closet in her municipal office. For another, she’s got a…

Sep 2, 2008 7:22 PM CDT

3 Duane Morris Corporate Partners Jump to Sheppard Mullin

A three-lawyer corporate group is jumping ship from Duane Morris to Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton in the San Diego area. Robert Copeland, James Mercer III and Michael Umansky are joining Sheppard Mullin as partners, according to a law firm press release. They were previously partners in the San Diego…

Sep 2, 2008 5:48 PM CDT

DA’s Courthouse Sex Was a Crime, Claimed Victim Contends

The district attorney of Bedford County, Penn., admits that he had sex with a woman in his courthouse office last month after a monthly meeting of the Bedford County Republicans. At the time, he was vice chairman of the county’s Republican committee. But William Higgins, who is 34 and married,…

Aug 27, 2008 6:58 PM CDT

Leader of Dissolved IP Boutique Says No One Wanted His Job

A Philadelphia intellectual property boutique is being acquired by a larger firm, and the outgoing managing partner attributes his firm’s dissolution to an unusual problem: No one wanted his job. Synnestvedt & Lechner of Philadelphia was having a banner year in terms of revenue per lawyer, managing partner Joseph Posillico…

Aug 27, 2008 12:11 PM CDT

WolfBlock to New 1st-Years: We’ll See You in November

Faced with a business slowdown, Philadelphia-based WolfBlock has told its incoming first-year class to take a vacation. “The firm said all but one of eight recent law school graduates were told not to report for work until Nov. 10 rather than the normal start date shortly after Labor Day,” reports…

Aug 26, 2008 7:27 PM CDT

Duane Morris’ Staff Cuts Extend Beyond Marketing Department

The staff cuts reported earlier this week in Duane Morris’ marketing and business development units aren’t the only job losses at the law firm. Fifteen staffers in other departments have been laid off in addition to seven staffers cut in marketing and business development, the Legal Intelligencer reports. All but…

Aug 22, 2008 11:14 AM CDT

Judge Won’t Lift Sanction Against Lawyer for Client’s F-Bombs

Lawyer Joseph Ziccardi of Chicago has failed to persuade a judge to lift a $29,000 fine imposed for his client’s profanity-laced deposition. U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno of Philadelphia had imposed the sanction earlier this year after finding that Ziccardi’s client, Aaron Wider, had used the F-word or a variant…

Aug 18, 2008 2:44 PM CDT

Brighton Ruling Spurs More Minimum Prices and Some Lawsuits

A U.S. Supreme Court decision involving Brighton handbags has led several manufacturers to set minimum prices for their products and cut off retailers who fail to follow them. The June 2007 decision, Leegin Creative Leather Products Inc. v. PSKS Inc., said companies may set and enforce minimum prices if they…

Aug 18, 2008 11:58 AM CDT

Phila. Judge on Hot Seat re Allegedly Bogus ‘Stay-Away’ Order He Issued

Seeking to help out a lawyer whose daughter was receiving unwanted attention from an adult neighbor, Philadelphia Municipal Judge James DeLeon allegedly prepared a bogus “stay-away” order warning the individual to keep his distance, or risk arrest. Now, however, it is the judge himself who is facing potential sanctions, charged…

Aug 15, 2008 11:28 PM CDT

Dechert to Open New Office in Beijing

Dechert plans to open an office in Beijing, its second in Asia. It opened the first, in Hong Kong, at the beginning of the year, reports Legal Week. The new Beijing office “will focus on advising financial institutions, domestic and international companies and private investors on all corporate matters,” the…

Aug 15, 2008 4:18 PM CDT

Offit Snags 9-Lawyer Philadelphia Firm; BigLaw Mergers Help Us, MP Says

In two years, the Philadelphia office of Offit Kurman has grown from four lawyers to 20, with the law firm’s planned acquisition Oct. 1 of Abrahams, Loewenstein & Bushman and its nine attorneys. One major reason why it is growing, says Theodore Offit, managing principal of the 41-lawyer Maryland-based firm,…

Aug 14, 2008 8:45 PM CDT

Buchanan Ingersoll Sees ‘Rash’ of Lawyer Departures, Drop in Associate Hours

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney appears to be experiencing some growing pains. The Pittsburgh-based law firm has merged with several law firms in the past several years, including 120-lawyer Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling, also based in Pittsburgh, Legal Times reports. In 2006, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney finally made American Lawyer’s…

Aug 13, 2008 2:05 PM CDT

Charged in Daughter’s Death, Parents Sue Gov’t for Damages

Criminally charged with allowing their disabled 14-year-old daughter to die from neglect, a Pennsylvania couple have sued child welfare agencies and workers for damages over her death. Harshly criticized for doing so by government officials, Andrea Kelly, 39, and Daniel Kelly, 37, know they won’t themselves get any damages if…

Aug 12, 2008 7:10 PM CDT

Countrywide Requires Trustee to Keep Quiet, Prompting DOJ Objection

A settlement requiring a bankruptcy trustee in Pittsburgh to refrain from criticizing Countrywide Financial Corp. is being criticized by the U.S. Justice Department. A court filing by DOJ lawyers claims the deal may impede witness testimony in the U.S. Trustee’s investigation of Countrywide, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.).…

Aug 11, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Client Conflict Snags Akerman-WolfBlock Merger

An undisclosed client conflict is delaying the proposed marriage of the mid-Atlantic’s WolfBlock to Florida’s Akerman Senterfitt. The firms, which combined would be 800 lawyers strong, released a joint statement this week confirming merger talks, but noting that a client conflict needs to be hammered out. “While it continues to…

Aug 8, 2008 10:44 AM CDT