Practice Management

Future Forward: How lawyers can embrace sustainability

Sustainable development means more than “being green,” says John Dernbach, an emeritus professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School and the founding director of its Environmental Law and Sustainability Center. Rather, he says, sustainable development balances environmental protection, economic development and social justice.

Apr 1, 2025 3:00 AM CDT

How should law firms handle return-to-office policies?

Companies have been in the news for implementing return-to-office mandates in efforts to foster necessary business objectives, including training, team building and overall success. Two studies from the past year offer seemingly different results on the impact of return-to-offices on employee morale.

Apr 1, 2025 2:10 AM CDT

How to master client development

Client development is the key to your success as a lawyer in a law firm, especially if you include career autonomy in your definition of success. The trouble is, most lawyers have a very narrow idea of client development. So let’s (re)define the concept of client development, identify the key questions you should be asking yourself, and provide actionable strategies to help you get started and ultimately excel so you can reap the benefits of client development now and throughout your career.

Apr 1, 2025 2:00 AM CDT

Second, third associate quit Skadden after firm reaches settlement to avoid becoming Trump target

Updated: A second and third associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom have left the law firm amid disagreements over its reaction to President Donald Trump’s punitive actions against disfavored firms.

Mar 31, 2025 3:09 PM CDT

Lawyer who once said BigLaw is too woke obtains 1 of 2 TROs granted to large firms suing over Trump orders

Updated: Jenner & Block and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr obtained temporary restraining orders Friday that block parts of President Donald Trump’s executive orders that suspended their lawyers’ security clearances, restricted their access to government buildings, blocked government hiring of their employees and sought reassessment of their clients’ government contracts.

Mar 31, 2025 1:35 PM CDT

Former BigLaw partner wins reversal on one count of cyberstalking conviction

A former BigLaw partner’s messages to a former colleague may have been distressing, but they didn’t amount to “true threats” needed for a cyberstalking conviction, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Mar 31, 2025 10:43 AM CDT

Two more law firms sue Trump administration to stop sanctions

Two law firms sued the Trump administration on Friday, challenging executive orders signed by President Donald Trump that imposed sanctions on the firms as part of his broader campaign cracking down on lawyers based on the clients they represent.

Mar 28, 2025 10:30 AM CDT

Lateral hiring bounced back in 2024, especially for associates in BigLaw, new NALP report says

Lateral hiring of law firm associates increased nearly 25% in 2024, far outpacing a much smaller increase of about 2% in lateral hiring of partners, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association for Law Placement.

Mar 26, 2025 3:49 PM CDT

Law firms refuse to represent Trump opponents in the wake of his attacks

President Donald Trump’s crackdown on lawyers is having a chilling effect on his opponents’ ability to defend themselves or challenge his actions in court, according to people who say they are struggling to find legal representation as a result of his challenges.

Mar 26, 2025 10:00 AM CDT

ABA, more than 50 bar associations condemn ‘government actions that seek to twist the scales of justice’

More than 50 state, local and specialty bar associations have joined with the ABA to “defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession.”

Mar 26, 2025 9:43 AM CDT

Jenner & Block’s rehiring of lead Mueller prosecutor cited in executive order targeting firm

Jenner & Block has become the fourth BigLaw firm targeted by President Donald Trump in a punitive executive order.

Mar 26, 2025 9:16 AM CDT

Former Skadden associate says ABA inspired her letter asking BigLaw to push back on White House executive orders

A week ago, Rachel Cohen was a finance associate in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. She watched as the Trump administration issued several executive orders aimed at law firms and the legal industry and noted BigLaw’s muted response. Last week, Cohen also shared with Skadden a conditional notice of resignation unless the firm came up with a “satisfactory response to the current moment.”

Mar 25, 2025 12:28 PM CDT

As DOJ employees fear what comes next, alums form group to help

A career federal litigator who left the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January founded the Justice Connection, an organization that supports the department’s current and former employees.

Mar 25, 2025 8:48 AM CDT

Paul Weiss leader cites potential ‘existential crisis’ as 1 reason for Trump deal; critics include 141 firm alumni

An executive order targeting Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison “could easily have destroyed our firm,” the law firm’s chairman, Brad Karp, told employees in a March 23 statement defending the deal that he reached with President Donald Trump.

Mar 24, 2025 1:49 PM CDT

2 firms speak out after Trump seeks lawyer sanctions for ‘unreasonable and vexatious’ suits against US

Two law firms have issued statements criticizing President Donald Trump after he issued a memo late Friday calling for sanctions, ethics referrals and reassessment of security clearances against lawyers and firms that engage in “frivolous, unreasonable and vexatious litigation” against the United States.

Mar 24, 2025 11:20 AM CDT