NY 1st-Year Pay Plan: $250K, But No Jobs

Observers are waiting to see what the next salary move will be in New York City, where law firms that tried to surge ahead on first-year pay are now neck-and-neck with competitors from other major cities. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s move earlier this year to raise starting pay to $160,000…

Oct 1, 2007 7:41 PM CDT

Florida Ups Ante on Child Sex Crimes

As a new statute takes effect that will triple some penalties and criminalize behavior that isn’t criminal elsewhere, Florida’s laws against committing sex crimes involving children have become some of the toughest in the nation. In Florida, for example, it is now a crime to take a trip with the…

Oct 1, 2007 7:18 PM CDT

Ready, Aim—Indict!

Some Texas grand jurors are getting a cop’s-eye view of police work

Oct 1, 2007 6:12 PM CDT

Lending to Lawyers—At 18 Percent-Plus

Once upon a time, plaintiffs lawyers had to front their own litigation costs. Today, companies lend them the money—at a price. A retired New York judge, for instance, runs Counsel Financial Services, reports the Buffalo News. It loans lawyers money to fund litigation at annual interest rates ranging from 18…

Oct 1, 2007 5:30 PM CDT

A More Approachable Bench

Oct 1, 2007 5:29 PM CDT

NY AG to Facebook: Consumer Fraud?

The social networking site Facebook reportedly has been warned by the New York attorney general’s office to stop overstating the safety of the site for youngsters. Claims by Facebook administrators that Facebook is safer for minors than other online sites don’t appear to be true, and may give parents a…

Oct 1, 2007 3:58 PM CDT

New Turmoil at Ave Maria

In the latest turmoil at Ave Maria School of Law, the alumni board of directors of the Michigan institution has issued a vote of no confidence in the school’s top leaders. It called—for the second time—for the ouster of the dean and board chairman of the Catholic law school, reports…

Oct 1, 2007 3:35 PM CDT

Judge Who Jailed ‘Asshole’ Critic Will Step Down

A New York family court judge who sent a woman to a holding cell for calling her an “asshole” has agreed that she won’t seek reappointment. Judge Marian Shelton admitted to violating a rule requiring judges to be “patient, dignified and courteous,” the New York Law Journal reports. She will…

Oct 1, 2007 12:36 PM CDT

MO Firms Talk Merger

Two Missouri law firms are discussing a merger that would create the state’s second largest firm. Blackwell Sanders and Husch & Eppenberger are discussing a combination that would produce a 630-lawyer firm, the National Law Journal reports. With 800 lawyers, Bryan Cave is the state’s largest law firm. Husch has…

Oct 1, 2007 12:07 PM CDT

Profit Drove Doc’s Diagnoses, Motion Says

A doctor who provided testimony on the proper standard for the diagnosis of asbestosis and silicosis is himself under fire in an asbestos lawsuit in Philadelphia. A motion filed in the case says Mississippi physician Jay Segarra has made $10 million as “a professional witness,” Adam Liptak writes in his…

Oct 1, 2007 11:52 AM CDT

Lawyers May Reveal Work Product in Document Dustup

Qualcomm’s outside lawyers can reveal work-product information to help explain why the company failed to turn over hundreds of thousands of discovery documents. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major of San Diego ruled Friday that the lawyers may reveal work product but not information protected by the attorney-client privilege, the Recorder…

Oct 1, 2007 11:24 AM CDT

US Judge Reprimanded After Harassment Complaint

An employee’s sexual harassment complaint has resulted in a reprimand against U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Galveston. The Judicial Council of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reprimanded Kent following the complaint of former case manager Cathy McBroom, Texas Lawyer reports. The council’s order (PDF) of…

Oct 1, 2007 10:45 AM CDT

Stranger Posted Bell’s Bond in Jena 6 Case

Although he had never met Mychal Bell, a doctor living elsewhere in the state posted the bond the 17-year-old needed to get out of jail and return home to the tiny town of Jena, La. Meanwhile, others also offered to do so, too, according to Bell’s lawyer. As a result,…

Sep 28, 2007 11:17 PM CDT

Practicing Lawyer Also Sells Luxe Goods

Like a number of others who market luxury goods to upscale clients, Maryann Mihalopoulos isn’t ready to give up her day gig. A lawyer who runs a business litigation and divorce firm in Dallas, the 47-year-old mother of three also manufactures and sells Xela Aromasticks reports the International Herald Tribune.…

Sep 28, 2007 10:51 PM CDT

Sutherland Latest Celeb Behaving Badly?

Kiefer Sutherland is potentially facing jail time, if he is convicted of having violated his probation on a 2004 drunken-driving charge by driving under the influence this week. The 40-year-old actor, who won an Emmy for his work as counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer on 24, a popular Fox TV show,…

Sep 28, 2007 9:58 PM CDT