Practice Management

Egads! Will US Law Firms Go Public?

Of course it can’t happen yet. But senior partners at big U.S. law firms are talking about the possibility that they will one day be allowed to be have nonattorney shareholders, as Australia already permits and the United Kingdom is expected to allow within a few years. Otherwise, major American…

Aug 13, 2007 10:25 PM CDT

Spitzer Probe Spotlights NY Ethics Group

The ongoing investigation of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s office concerning a reported effort by his aides to discredit the Senate majority leader has put an unaccustomed spotlight on what until now was a low-profile government group–the State Ethics Commission. On the verge of a major reorganization, the commission is…

Aug 13, 2007 8:53 PM CDT

Judge: No Jail for Law Office Bat-Wielder

A middle-aged businessman who smashed a baseball bat through an inner window of an Australian attorney’s office after the lawyer locked himself inside will not be sentenced to jail. Instead, a judge imposed a $4,200 fine and a three-year good-behavior bond on Jim Byrnes, 47, who earlier pleaded guilty to…

Aug 13, 2007 7:16 PM CDT

CT Case: Sarbanes v. Attorney Ethics

Fellow practitioners are watching with increasing concern the case of Philip Russell, a Connecticut lawyer who has been charged with violating the Sarbanes-Oxley Act because he allegedly obstructed justice by destroying a client’s computer. “For a lawyer, especially a criminal lawyer, this is the most important case in a long,…

Aug 13, 2007 5:30 PM CDT

Anger, Frank Talk Help Promote Diversity

Working to diversify the legal profession–which lags significantly behind corporate counterparts–requires, as a first step, talking clearly about the issue. And sometimes anger helps. Or so Stanley Stallworth found about six years ago, as he was on the verge of making a diversity presentation to the executive committee of the…

Aug 10, 2007 10:01 PM CDT

3 Fen-Phen Lawyers Jailed Pending Trial

Updated: Seeking a several-month delay of a criminal fraud trial for allegedly bilking clients of $64 million in diet drug litigation settlement proceeds has cost three lawyers their freedom. Melbourne Mills, 76, William Gallion, 56, and Shirley Cunningham Jr., 52, were jailed after their bond was revoked today by U.S.…

Aug 10, 2007 9:27 PM CDT

San Diego Sues Willkie Farr

San Diego’s city attorney has filed a malpractice suit against Willkie Farr & Gallagher. It claims that the high-powered New York City-based law firm overbilled and exceeded the scope of its agreed representation to help a consultant and municipal audit committee prepare a report on the city’s financial failures. After…

Aug 9, 2007 5:16 PM CDT

Paris Hilton Sets Celebrity Precedent

It isn’t the kind of precedent that attorneys learn about in law school. But the media circus surrounding Paris Hilton’s brief stint in the slammer earlier this summer shows that the legal rules for celebrity attorneys are different than those that take priority in less-scrutinized practice areas. “The Hilton mess…

Aug 8, 2007 11:28 PM CDT

Did Affair With Mom Help Prosecute Son?

A prosecutor in Washington state has been accused of gaining information through an affair with the mother of an arson defendant to help prosecute her 17-year-old son. Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden reportedly admits he had a relationship with Kristine Wallace, but denies any wrongdoing, saying that the relationship ended…

Aug 7, 2007 9:16 PM CDT

Less Laughter as FL Lawyer Dies at 75

Sy Gaer, a beloved longtime Miami defense attorney known in courthouse circles for his cantankerous charm and unfailing sense of humor, has died following intestinal surgery. He was 75. Never at a loss for words, Gaer was quoted in the Miami Herald late last year in one classic courtroom exchange:…

Aug 7, 2007 7:09 PM CDT

States, Feds Ponder ‘Gender ID’ Bills

Gender identity isn’t a phrase that traditionally comes up in everyday conversation. But it’s a hot topic among lawmakers and lobbyists these days, as both Congress and a growing number of states consider legislation to make discrimination based on gender identity illegal. At this point, it isn’t completely clear what…

Aug 7, 2007 3:56 PM CDT

Judge Perry to Win ABA Marshall Award

A revered South Carolina civil rights lawyer whose career included numerous “firsts” is to be presented by the American Bar Association later this month with its prestigious Thurgood Marshall Award. To be honored by the ABA at its annual meeting for his “substantial and long-term contributions to the furtherance of…

Aug 6, 2007 5:40 PM CDT

New Bankruptcy Dept for Cravath

Signaling a sea change in the way that one of New York City’s most prestigious, upper-echelon law firms runs its practice, Richard Levin has now been working as a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore for a month. Levin not only represents a very rare exception to Cravath’s ordinary policy…

Aug 2, 2007 9:35 PM CDT

Unlicensed Gen’l Counsels are Unusual

Does a general counsel of a corporation have to be a licensed lawyer? To many, the answer to that question would seem to be a no-brainer: Yes. But a small number of general counsels have chosen not to maintain active law licenses, and are now fielding questions in the wake…

Aug 2, 2007 6:41 PM CDT

1st African-American State’s Atty in CT

The first African-American to serve as a state’s attorney in Connecticut was sworn in today in Hartford. Gail P. Hardy, 44, took her oath of office and begins overseeing prosecutions in the Hartford Judicial District today, reports the Hartford Courant. She was previously a senior assistant state’s attorney for the…

Aug 1, 2007 11:32 PM CDT