Paul Hastings

Jeff Randall joins Paul Hastings’ Palo Alto and Washington DC offices, as co-chair of the firm’s Global Intellectual Property Practice. He represents companies in multi-billion-dollar intellectual property cases. He earned his JD from the University of California Hastings College of Law.

Allan Soobert joins in Washington DC. He represents major technology companies in patent disputes before trial and appellate courts across the United States. His JD is from the Franklin Pierce Law Center where he was editor of IDEA, The Journal of Law and Technology. He received his LL.M in Intellectual Property from George Washington University Law School.

Jeff Pade also joins in Washington DC. He has represented clients in patent litigation matters before arbitration panels, federal district courts and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. His JD is also from the Franklin Pierce Law Center.

Founded in Los Angeles in 1951, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP is a leading international law firm with over 1,300 attorneys and 18 offices worldwide. Paul Hastings serves a diverse client base that includes many top financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies.

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The proposed $10.3 million cut would eliminate one-quarter of the school’s academic budget. The school says it cannot make any further faculty cuts, and could not accommodate more students.

Existing students would have to tolerate a tuition increase of $8,175 each to make up the shortfall.

Although Hastings is a state school, it is separate from other University of California law centers, and does not fall under the authority of the Board of Regents.

Some are asking why the state is opening a new law school at UC Irvine in August, but cutting the budget of a long-established and reputable school.

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PAR is an initiative of the Center of WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, and advocates for reduced hours as a way for law firms to retain attorneys, particularly women and minorities.

PAR’s Joan Williams: “Our analysis shows that flexible downsizing with balanced hours may save as much or more than layoffs. Flexible downsizing also helps firms retain their investment in high-performing attorneys and avoid certain legal risks.”

The group says layoffs are costly and can lead to lower overall billable hours. Reduced hours give firms more flexibility to respond to changing workloads, without going an expensive hiring process when business returns.

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“Dick Ackerman’s decades of experience in the legislature and as a corporate attorney combined with his creative entrepreneurial approach make him a great fit for Nossaman,” said Orange County partner John Erskine.

Ackerman comes to Nossaman following eight years in the Senate and five years service in the California State Assembly. Before representing Orange County in Sacramento, he was twice elected Mayor of Fullerton.

Ackerman earned his JD from Hastings College of the Law.

Nossaman LLP is a national law firm with 150 professionals across eight US offices.

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Fourteen of the 100 firms did not include any women.

The survey included 100 law firms, which were chosen based on prior years’ surveys, firm size, reputation, and availability of information.

From the report:

The best: Cravath (67%), Dickstein Shapiro (67%), Wiley Rein (60%), Andrews Kurth (57%), Bryan Cave (56%), Arent Fox (50%), Baker & Daniels (50%), Hogan & Hartson (50%), Holland and Hart (50%), King & Spalding (50%), Luce Forward (50%), Simpson Thacher (50%), and Sullivan & Cromwell (50%). A special mention goes to Farella Braun, whose only new partner is female (100%).

The worst: None of the following firms made a female partner this year: Cadwalader, Cleary Gottlieb, Dechert, Foley Hoag, Kaye Scholer, Lowenstein Sandler, Milbank, Schulte Roth, Steptoe, Strook, Venable, Wachtell, White & Case, and Wilkie Farr.

PAR is an initiative of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

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“I think if firms aren’t thinking about such a program, they really should,” consultant Charles Santangelo told the NLJ. “A number of firms are already talking about it, and it’s happening for some paralegals. It may or may not work, but they should consider it.”

The PAR has long advocated for reduced hours as a way for law firms to retain attorneys, particularly women and minorities.

Associates working reduced hours would see corresponding reductions in their compensation, which would help firms cut their costs without firing associates.

It remains to be seen if the reduced-hours schedule idea will catch on with law firms.

The PAR does not have any statistics on the number of firms using reduced hours as a response to the economy, because the trend is fairly new. But a growing number of firms have contacted the PAR since this summer to ask about reduced hours and how such a program could be implemented.

Michael Nannes of Dickstein Shapiro said he doesn’t foresee a wave of law firms looking to reduced hours solely as a cost-savings move. The reality, he says, is that having associates work fewer hours doesn’t provide the same level of savings as layoffs.

It costs a law firm less to have three associates working 2,000 than to have four associates working 1,500 hours because the law firm must pay for office space and benefits for that fourth, reduced-hours associate. That added cost is eliminated in the layoff scenario.

On the other hand, Nannes said, clients value continuity among attorneys, and reducing associate hours would help protect the continuity that is disrupted by the layoff process.

Via NLJ.

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Last fiscal year, the school received $10 million from the State of California — just over a quarter of its academic budget. Dean Nell Jessup Newton says that on her most recent trip to Sacramento, a legislator told her that she can expect more cuts this fiscal year.

When he gave $100,000 to the University of California to start the law school named after him, Justice Serranus Clinton Hastings imposed two conditions: the school must remain in San Francisco near the courts; and it could not be governed by the Regents of the University of California. Thus, the school’s head (who holds the dual titles of Chancellor and Dean) must directly obtain funds from the California Legislature, not the UC Regents, as other UC chancellors must do.

Newton said she will try to avoid raising student fees for 2009-10 beyond the already planned 13 percent. The 5 percent cuts she’s asked for won’t affect salaries or financial aid. But Hastings faculty and staff won’t get the cost-of-living or general salary increases they expected in January. Newton turned down a board-approved 4 percent merit increase to her salary.

The school added nine new faculty members in the last two years. For 2009-10, only two will be added, instead of four; faculty hiring plans for the following year are on hold altogether.

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