Practice Management

No-No-No: Tips for Holiday Parties

Lawyers and clients alike can cut down on potential liability for holiday merrymaking at office events by following a few simple tips. Among them: hire professional bartenders, arrange for free taxis home and make clear to managers that they are considered on duty at such holiday events and should not…

Dec 10, 2007 8:25 PM CST

Pay Cut for $2M Legal Aid Lawyers

Unlike their American counterparts, some British lawyers make a more-than-comfortable living as legal aid lawyers. Barristers reportedly can earn as much as a million pounds annually—that’s a little over $2 million in U.S. dollars—for defending complex criminal cases. But this cushy situation is about to change, as the Legal Services…

Dec 10, 2007 5:27 PM CST

Man Held in Law Firm Bombing

A suspect was detained overnight in the bombing yesterday of a Paris law firm in which a secretary was killed and an attorney was seriously injured. A 45-year-old architect who allegedly harassed a lawyer at the firm two years ago was arrested at his mother’s home and taken in for…

Dec 7, 2007 6:43 PM CST

‘Obsessive’ Client Accused of Hiring Hit Man to Kill Lawyer’s Wife

A New Hampshire woman has been arrested on charges she hired a hit man to kill the wife of a prominent lawyer she had hired. Katherine Mandola is accused of offering to pay an undercover state trooper $4,000 to kill the wife of lawyer B.J. Branch, the Union Leader reports.…

Dec 7, 2007 3:06 PM CST

Irked Client Publicly Zings Counsel

Apparently unsuccessful in an effort to contest a $342,000 legal bill in court, the owners of a bankrupt construction company have taken their complaints over the way a big Buffalo, N.Y., law firm handled their case to the court of public opinion. A billboard, a website, flyers distributed to area…

Dec 7, 2007 1:04 AM CST

Lawyers Probed in ‘Pretext’ ID Theft

Updated: Lawyers throughout the country reportedly may be investigated as part of a Washington state-based probe of an alleged scheme in which a local firm, BNT Investigations, was hired by private detectives all over the U.S. to obtain confidential personal information by pretext. A federal grand jury in Seattle has…

Dec 7, 2007 12:06 AM CST

What Clients Think of Lawyers

A significant number of British clients are unhappy with their lawyers and, like their American counterparts, many complain about a lack of communication. According to a survey by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, which regulates the profession in England and Wales, one in five clients feels let down by legal counsel,…

Dec 6, 2007 5:12 PM CST

Bar Group Sues Texas Lawyers Who Practiced With Businessman

A committee of the Supreme Court of Texas has filed suit in state court against five lawyers and a politically connected businessman, contending that they collaborated in the unlicensed practice of law. Because the businessman, Mauricio Celis, is not a lawyer and operated a law firm in Corpus Christi, the…

Dec 5, 2007 1:26 AM CST

Funny Lawyer Ads No Joke in N.Y.

Law firm ads that show attorneys towering over skyscrapers and offering legal advice to space aliens obviously aren’t meant to be taken seriously. But New York’s attorney general isn’t finding them at all amusing, reports Portfolio magazine on its website. In a brief filed yesterday in response to a July…

Dec 4, 2007 11:50 PM CST

Legal Ads Ring Up Phone Book Profit

Updated: Despite all the innovative advertising options that today’s high-tech world has created, one form of law firm marketing is still the gold standard for many. It is the old-fashioned phone book. Coveted ads on the front and back covers, in particular, represent money in the bank for law firm…

Dec 4, 2007 9:43 PM CST

New BigLaw Job: Lend-an-Associate

An innovative perk being offered to favored clients by a small but growing number of law firms can also provide big benefits to associates. So-called secondments—essentially, a loan of an associate to work onsite for a client for a period that often lasts for months—are growing in popularity with major…

Dec 4, 2007 8:56 PM CST

Philly Bar Chief Wants Law Firms to Hike Legal Aid Donations

The incoming chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association is trying to help law firms’ bottom lines at the same time he is urging them to pony up more money for legal aid. A. Michael Pratt says he wants the city to repeal a professional services tax that subjects law firms…

Dec 4, 2007 4:46 PM CST

How to Get Popular Judge: Check Box

Over the years, an 86-year-old federal judge who sits in Brooklyn, N.Y., has developed a following among local plaintiffs lawyers. And complex tort cases are frequently given to U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein, despite a random assignment system. How does this happen? The New York Sun apparently has the answer:…

Dec 3, 2007 11:38 PM CST

Pricey Perks Risk Miami Attorney’s Job

A $300,000 office renovation. A $1,500 lunch tab. Expense-paid staff training trips—to Hawaii and Cancun. No, these aren’t the hallmarks of a successful private-practice law office. They’re some of the expenses run up by Miami City Attorney Jorge Fernandez, who envisions his municipal law office as a “world-class law firm…

Dec 3, 2007 7:38 PM CST

The Real Witness

Hearsay is easier to deal with than the rules you’ve been taught make it seem

Dec 1, 2007 7:49 PM CST