JD Journal » lawyers

Law Firms Continue to Squeeze Associates with Salary and Bonuses

jim — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:09:47 +0000

Law firms across the country are starting to recover from the recession but plenty of them are not bringing their younger lawyers with them. Despite returning profits, partners are being cautious as they focus one of their eyes on damaged balance sheets and their other eye on stingy clients.

Young legal associates fresh out of college in 2008 took on large law school loans as they ran into layoffs and stagnant pay since then. Those associates have had fewer chances to get into law firms on the ground floor while the idea of partnership has pretty much gone out the window.

“What happens if Greece falls apart again?” says Greg Nitzkowski, the managing partner at Paul Hastings LLP. The firm is internationally known and has reduced its hires by about one-third since 2008. “We just think it’s prudent to plan as if this coming year is going to be a relatively flat year.…We’re not planning for a big upsurge in demand.”

The legal industry shed roughly 41,900 positions since 2009, according to the United States Labor Department. In 2011, only 2,700 cuts were made, which is much more moderate of a number.

Since 2008, many elite law firms have lowered their numbers of entry level lawyers by at least half. The salaries and the bonuses for those lawyers remain very flat despite a law school degree at a top university will cost $100,000 or more.

While the recession was in full swing, many law firms lowered their associate ranks by using layoffs and by delaying the start dates of graduates fresh out of law school. Many law firms are now employing the use of contract attorneys and outsourcing firms to complete routine tasks.

“Law firms basically focused a lot of head-count reductions during the recession on associate ranks, says Dan DiPietro, the chairman of Citi Private Bank’s law-firm group. “They feel like the associate ranks are where they want them to be.”

An international law firm, White & Case LLP is planning to hire 60 entry level attorneys this year. This number can be compared to the prerecession class hires that included 90 to 100 lawyers.

“The efficiency of law practice has just changed dramatically in the past five years,” says Bill Dantzler, a hiring partner and head of the firm’s tax practice. “We don’t have to have these armies of young associates. It’s good for the clients, it’s good for everybody.”

Reputable firms can now be much pickier when it comes to who they hire. Attorneys who are hired at big law firms will still work grueling hours. Associates at law firms with more than 700 lawyers billed an average of 1,859 hours in 2010. This comes out to more than seven hours per day, according to the National Association for Law Placement. As lawyer levels dropped, the average workload for associates grew by 2.3 percent since 2008, which is about 50 added hours per year.

Several law firms have said that they do not plan to raise the salaries of associates, which have not increased since 2007. The bonuses from December remained pretty much the same since 2010.

“Most firms are hesitant to lock themselves into something they can’t sustain,” says Paula Alvary from Hoffman Alvary. “While there is clear evidence that work levels are returning, they’re not at prerecession levels for most firms.”

2011 Ends on Sour Note for Legal Services Industry

jim — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:57:06 +0000

The month of December saw 200,000 jobs added in the United States but the industry of legal services suffered a loss of 1,800 jobs for the same month. These numbers were released by the United States Department of Labor last Friday.

The loss equates to 0.16 percent, and it is probably unsettling news for support staff and professionals in firms trying to reduce costs in 2012. Jerome Kowalski, the founder of the consulting company Kowalski & Associates, said that this really is not a surprise.

“The ultimate cause is the attempt by management at major law firms to increase profitability of their law firm practice. The problem is over the course of last year, law firm revenues went up, on average, between 3 and 4 percent, which just about keeps up with the rate of inflation, but expenses went up approximately 9 percent,” Kowalski said.

Kowalski was originally estimating that 2,000 jobs would be lost in the legal services industry, saying that the actual numbers surprised him. Kowalski also said that the data shows there will be more cutbacks in general staff members and maybe even lawyers during 2012.

“Over past three or four years, most firms have cut jobs on the professional side, starting with associates and even up to partners, to be as lean and trim as they can. So there’s not much more fat to slice away in most places,” he said.

The report released by the Department of Labor, the job data for December for the legal industry was 2,700 fewer than the numbers in December of 2010. As the 2011 year was closing, experts in the field were expecting a stale year for jobs in the industry.

There is pressure to reduce spending from corporate clients and an increase in competition for legal products from outsourcing companies and from legal firms. These have left firms operating very cautiously.

“The overall general health of the economy, the overall business climate, is one of caution, and sometimes, fear,” Jim LaRosa, co-founder of JuriStaff Inc. said.

A rut developed in 2011′s third quarter within the legal industry when it came to a services demands. This rut occurred while expenses reached a high for the past two years for the industry. In the third quarter the rates for attorney hiring jumped by 2.4 percent, which was the highest rate for 2011. On the other hand, the numbers for hours-per-layer productivity rates declined by 1.4 percent.

“If these hiring patterns continue, and if demand does not increase to keep pace, firms will likely face further declines in productivity, as well as increasing pressures on profitability,” the Peer Monitor Index from the Hildebrandt Institute said.

Irell & Manella LLP Announce Bonuses

jim — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:19:38 +0000

According to reports on Wednesday, the law firm of Irell & Manella LLP has doubled the bonus value set forth by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP earlier in December. Irell & Manella LLP is said to have dished out close to $75,000 to its associates.

The 2010 class at Irell will be issued a $15,000 bonus; the 2009 class will be issued a $20,000 bonus; the 2008 class will be issued a $30,000 bonus; the 2007 class will be issued a $40,000 bonus; the 2006 class will be issued a $50,000 bonus; the 2005 class will be issued a $60,000 bonus and the 2004 class will be issued a $75,000 bonus.

The memo sent out to associates at Irell emphasized that the bonuses were double the ones handed out by Cravath.

The Irell firm is not the first law firm to surpass the bonus threshold set by Cravath in December. In the final month of 2011, Fried Frank Shriver & Jacobson LLP said they would top the Cravath scale as they handed out bonuses that had varying amounts reaching a cutoff of $52,500.

Also in December, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP announced that the end of year bonuses it would hand out would also exceed the Cravath pay scale. Their bonuses surpassed the Cravath ones for lawyers who dedicated billable hours over 2,100 during 2011. Bonuses from Quinn Emanuel ranged from $6,375 to $62,000 and they were based on length of time at the firm and how many hours the lawyers worked during the year.

There were plenty of law firms to top the scale set by Cravath in 2011 and those firms are Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Clifford Chance LLP. It was reported that Clifford Chance LLP handed out bonuses worth $42,500 for the 2003 class and older.

The law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP handed out bonuses for 2011 that were higher than those issued by Cravath.

Some of the associates at Kirkland who were able to bill hours ranging from 2,250 and 2,350 hours for 2011 reported that they had been issued bonuses almost twice the amount of the Cravath pay scale. There were some associates who worked over 2,700 billable hours who claim they received close to $40,000 for a bonus. This amount would have been four times the amount handed out by Cravath.

The summer bonuses issued by Irell also went above those issued by Cravath in the spring. Irell said back in the month of July that it would issue bonuses of $27,500 to its associates, unrelated to the amount of billable hours worked.

Hubbard Is Going To Kanas City With Shook Lawyers

chelsei — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:45:38 +0000

Hughes Hubbard & Reed is making the move to America’s heartland on January 1 of next year with the addition of a products liability litigation team from the Kansas City-based Shook, Hardy & Bacon, the two firms confirmed last week.

The surprising addition for the New York-based Hughes Hubbard comes as regulatory changes prompt the tobacco companies to insist that their outside law firms cut their ties to the industry rivals. In adding the Shook group that totals somewhere from 20 to 25 lawyers, analysts and staffers. Hughes Hubbard will also take over all of Shook’s work for Lorillard Tobacco in a transition expected to span over several months, according to the Shook chair John Murphy.

Meanwhile, Shook will continue to represent their longtime client Philip Morris USA, says Murphy.

When it comes to the growth factor, Hughes Hubbard–which topped The American Lawyer’s A-list for the first time in this year–is well known to proceed very cautiously. The 123-year-old firm last opened a new office back in 2003, and then it ventured over to Jersey City to service a few pharmaceutical clients. The firm’s other offices are out in Los Angeles, Miami, Paris, Tokyo and also Washington D.C. According to the sibling publication The National Law Journal, at the last count the six non-New York offices combined had accounted for much less than a third of the firm’s over 300 lawyers.

Hughes Hubbard’s managing partner Theodore Mayer has recently said that the Kansas City office presents a chance to ”strengthen the roster of jury trial lawyers” within the firm and to ”add some depth and reach out to our national litigation practice.” Mayer has also said that the firms does expect the Kansas City team to handle all of the work for the companies besides Lorillard, though he acknowledges that the tobacco cases are going to take up a lot of the attorney’s time.

The group that will be arriving from Shook is going to include six partners and three of the counsel, this is according to Murphey, who also added that a handful of people are moving from Shook’s office down in Florida. Mayer says that ultimately a total of about 30 people will help launch the Kansas City office.

That office is going to be located at 2345 Grand in Kansas City’s Crown Center District, says Mayer. The building, that has been designed by the famed architect Mile van der Rohe, is currently home to a few other law firms, also including Armstrong Teasdale.

Mayer has acknowledged that firm has been very careful about where it chooses to open the new offices, and it is going to be where there has been some existing clients. ”We pick out spots to invest in where it ties in with our strengths,” says Meyer, he also adds that the new office fits into that strategy.

Robert Morvillo Passes Away at 73

jim — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 04:49:55 +0000

Robert Morvillo, a white collar defense lawyer, passed away at the age of 73 on Sunday. He is most famous for representing Martha Stewart, Geraldine Ferraro’s husband John Zaccaro, and AIG’s Maurice Greenberg. Morvillo’s law firm announced his death on their website:

“With great sadness, Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, P.C. announces the passing of our partner and colleague, Robert G. Morvillo. Bob was an unrivaled advocate dedicated to protecting his clients, upholding the finest traditions of the legal profession. He also was a dear friend, wonderful colleague, and cherished mentor to us all. We extend our love and deepest sympathies to his family. We will miss him.”

Morvillo was recovering from a recent operation, passing away in his sleep, according to the New York Times.

Morvillo first started out as a prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office in Manhattan under Robert Morganthau. Morganthau later became the District Attorney for Manhattan. The mark left by Morvillo on the legal industry is immeasurable. A boutique was founded by Morvillo in 1973 that would eventually turn into Morvillo Abramowitz. The firm became one of the top white collar practices in the entire country.

The law firm started by Morvillo was one of the first firms to focus on white collar criminal defense for high profile cases. He turned this practice into a very profitable enterprise. When the law firm began practicing this type of law, not many others were willing to do it because they viewed it as work beneath their standing. When you look at major law firms today, almost all of them have a practice that is devoted to white collar crime, competing with the firm of Morvillo Abramowitz.

Morvillo is most widely known for representing Martha Stewart in her case that charged her with obstruction of justice. There are a handful of Morvillo’s biggest victories that will only be known by a select few people because he was able to resolve those cases prior to charges being filed.

Friends and colleagues of Morvillo say that he was a sight to behold in the courtroom, according to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

“What is very difficult to convey is his tactical brilliance,” Judge Jed S. Rakoff said. Rakoff, speaking in Manhattan, presided over the final trial Morvillo was involved in this past summer.

“Win or lose, he was always thinking three steps ahead of anyone else in the room,” Rakoff said. Rakoff also is a 40-year friend of Morvillo. Their friendship began back when the two were federal prosecutors.

“He just had a great ability to see how a particular tactic would play out, not just in the short run but in the long run,” Rakoff said.

Three New Bankruptcy Judges for California Announced

jim — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 13:47:06 +0000

Three California federal bankruptcy judges set to retire are being replaced by an attorney from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, a partner from Friedman Dumas & Springwater LLP, and a solo practitioner. The announcement was made by the chief judge of the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ellen Carroll will be replaced by Pillsbury Winthrop counsel Mark D. Houle, who will be sworn into the position on February 17 at the office of the Central District of California.

“Mr. Houle is an experienced practitioner who comes to the bench with a thorough understanding of bankruptcy court operations,” Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said in a statement Tuesday.

Mary E.Hammond, a partner from Friedman Dumas, will be taking over the position of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Edward D. Jellen on February 2. The position is for the Northern District of California.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Whitney Rimel will be replaced by Frederick E. Clement in the Eastern District of California when sworn in on the 16 of March.

Houle has been employed by Pillsbury Winthrop since 2000, working in the firm’s insolvency and restructuring group. He represented secured and unsecured creditors, asset purchasers, and others in various bankruptcy-related cases at the firm.

Houle worked as an associate at Winthrop Couchot PC before he joined Pillsbury Winthrop. At the firm of Winthrop Couchot PC, Houle represented Chapter 11 creditors’ committees, debtors, and Chapter 7 trustees. Prior to that decision, Houle worked as a clerk for bankruptcy judges in the Central District of California.

Houle earned a bachelor’s degree from Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts. Houle earned his law degree from Boston College Law School. Houle is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Massachusetts Air National Guard.

Hammond was hired by Friedman Dumas in 2003 and was made a partner of the firm in 2008. Hammond’s practice includes commercial and bankruptcy law. She particularly focuses on business debtors, trustees, and secured and unsecured creditors. Hammond typically represents Chapter 9 and Chapter 11 debtors. Hammond was an associate at Murphy Sheneman Julian & Rogers, which is now Winston & Strawn LLP, before she joined Friedman Dumas. She was a clerk for Judge Jellen from 1998 to 2000 and served as a legal assistant from 1996 to 1998 for the North Carolina General Assembly. As a legal assistant, she worked for the Senate president pro tempore and Appropriations Committee co-chair.

Hammond earned a law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law and earned a bachelor’s degree from Duke University.

Clement has been practicing law since 1993 in Redding, California. Clement earned a bachelor’s degree from Westmont College and a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

$285 Million in Attorney’s Fees Awarded

jim — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:48:15 +0000

Leo Strine Jr., a Delaware Chancery Court Chancellor, provided cautionary words to the firms of Prickett Jones & Elliott and Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check. Stine claimed that the firms were too slow when it came to prosecuting a derivative lawsuit back in 2005, according to Reuters.

Strine awarded attorney’s fees in the case that total almost $300 million, coming in at $285 million, or $35,000 per hour for the more than 8,000 hours the firms worked on the case. The $285 million award by Strine is 15 percent of his original calculation, which was for $1.9 billion. Strine did say that as he recalculated the numbers, interest will add $100 million to the recovery for the shareholders, which would then add $15 million to the award of attorney’s fees.

“Limiting fee awards in large cases would create a strong disincentive to take the huge risk of trying large cases,” the brief said. “For example, how would lawyers be incentivized to take a potential billion dollar case to trial if they know that if they win a billion dollars they will get the same fee award as they would have if they settled the case for $200 million? It is clear that such a declining percentage approach would misalign the interests of the lawyers and those they represent.”

The defendants in the case have argued that Kessler Topaz and Prickett Jones should not be receiving any more than four times what their hourly bills would have been, which is roughly $13 million.

“The magnitude of plaintiff’s counsel’s request is unprecedented in this court,” a brief from Southern Cooper said. “To put it in perspective, the requested fee is equivalent to about 57 percent of the Delaware Division of Corporations’ total annual revenue. Moreover, research did not reveal any case anywhere in which counsel has been awarded anything close to an effective hourly rate that is more than the median American household makes in a year.”

Strine decided to grant such high fees because he wanted to send a message to the lawyers in the Southern Cooper case and to the entire class action bar of securities.

Strine also talked about rewarding the lawyers for the plaintiffs for their risk taking. He then chided the lawyers for the defense for their envious ways when the risks of the plaintiff lawyers pay off in recovery. Strine went on to declare that is lawyers will litigate big cases using discovery and trial, then Delaware will make sure those lawyers are compensated for the work that they perform.

Strine made sure his points were heard loud and clear by awarding a $300 million attorney fee to the attorneys on the case. Lawyers from the law firms involved did not return comment to Reuters regarding the attorney’s fees.

Firm’s Former Lawyer Sues Firm over Unpaid Bonuses

jim — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:30:26 +0000

In an interesting turn of events, two lawyers from Dallas who worked together in a groundbreaking case are now going to court against each other. Those two lawyers helped acquire rights for plaintiffs to pursue legal malpractice cases in federal court. The former co-counsels are now going against each other as defendant and plaintiff.

The case, Chris Kling v. Paul Storm and Storm LLP was filed back on the 21^st of November in the 191^st District Court in Dallas. Kling claims that Storm and Storm LLP failed to pay bonuses owed to him from the years of 2008 and 2009, which is listed in the petition filed with the district court. Kling is also alleging a breach of contract by Storm and Storm LLP, fraud, fraudulent inducement, and breach of duties of good faith. There are other causes of action that were listed in the petition as well.

Back in 2005, Kling was asked to join the firm of Storm and Storm LLP according to the petition and Texas Lawyer. Storm and Storm LLP and Kling agreed that Kling would be paid an annual salary plus bonuses. In June 2008, for example, Kling was paid a bonus of $34,692 by Storm and/or Storm LLP.

Storm and Kling were the representatives for Air Measurement Technologies in Air Measurement Technologies Inc., et al. v. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, et al. This was a legal malpractice case filed in a United States District Court in San Antonio. The case eventually reached the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on interlocutory appeal. Back in 2008, according to the petition, Kling was named as the lead counsel for the case, and then in 2009, a jury returned $73.4 million in a verdict in the favor of Air Measurement Technologies.

For the time period of May 2008 through November 2008, Kling alleges that the defendants did not pay him a bonus. In April of 2009, Kling says that the defendants did pay him a portion of the bonus owed to him but not all of it.

June of 2009 came and went with no bonus payment to Kling, which was due for work performed for the firm from December 2008 to May 2009. After the payment was not received, Kling decided to quit working for the firm, according to the petition.

“Chris didn’t want to file the lawsuit, but we’ve given him [Storm] multiple opportunities to resolve this matter. And Chris filed a lawsuit to get paid the money he’s owed,” says Rogge Dunn, a partner in Dallas’ Clouse Dunn, who represents Chris Kling.

An answer to the petition was not filed by Storm and Storm LLP. One of the Storms, Paul Storm, left the firm and has since joined the Dallas firm of Thompson & Knight. The law firm of Storm and Storm LLP has also closed.

Former Appellate Judge Joins Maryland Law Firm

jim — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:43:35 +0000

Joseph F. Murphy, former Maryland Court of Appeals Judge, is joining the law firm of Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White. Murphy joins his daughter Erin and a talented group fo lawyers at the firm. Murphy will be the head of the law firm’s Alternative Dispute Resolution practice while also assisting with litigation issues.

“Judge Murphy is one of the most accomplished appellate advocates in the country, and we are thrilled he has chosen to join our firm,” said Steven D. Silverman, Managing Partner, Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White. “Joe’s talent, judgment, experience and leadership position us to continue to succeed in the highly competitive field of high stakes appellate litigation and high stakes litigation.”

Judge Murphy released the following statement about joining the law firm of Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White:

“I am very excited to be joining Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White and its formidable appellate and litigation practice. The firm is a model of excellence, and the firm’s depth of talent, reputation and commitment to the practice are well known. I look forward to working with my daughter Erin and the firm’s outstanding team to carry on their tradition of excellence and to grow and develop the litigation, alternative dispute resolution practice and appellate practice in the service of firm clients.”

Murphy was appointed to the Circuit Court for Baltimore County in 1984. Prior to that appointment, Murphy practiced law as a staff attorney for Legal Aid. Murphy also worked as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, worked for the Deputy State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, and was a partner in the law firm of White & Murphy in Towson. In 1993, Murphy was appointed to the Court of Special Appeals, becoming its chief judge only three years later. He held this position until 2007, which is when he was appointed to the Court of Appeals. Murphy also teaches Evidence at the University of Baltimore Law School and is the author of the Maryland Evidence Handbook. Murphy also teaches Trial Practice at the University of Maryland Law School.

Silverman added the following in the statement about Murphy joining the law firm:

“Judge Murphy is a uniquely gifted lawyer. It is a great honor to have him at firm. Our clients will benefit from the insights and experience of his great legal mind. We also are committed to supporting his ongoing work with the University of Maryland and University of Baltimore Law Schools.”

Andrew Slutkin, a partner in the law firm, also added the following about Murphy joining the firm:

“He is not only an outstanding jurist and an outstanding lawyer, but an outstanding person. I cannot overstate how excited we are to have Joe at the firm. What a wonderful honor this is that Joe selected our firm from among the many other premier law firms that he could have chosen,” Slutkin said.

Law Firms Renewing Space Leases

jim — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:59:52 +0000

The Jones Lang LaSalle ‘Law Firm Office Perspective’ report is released annually and this year’s states that law firms across the country are rightsizing their needs for space, which means they are renewing their leases. For law firms that have leases expiring, close to two-thirds of those firms are renewing their leases. Law firms from most major markets of the country continue to search for the best locations in terms of space for their operations. These law firms play an important role in the commercial real estate industry as they occupy 17.1 percent of Class-A downtown office space across the country.

New York City has the highest number of law firms leasing 50,000 square feet of space or more at 117. Washington D.C. comes in second with 91, Chicago has 54, Los Angeles has 42 and Boston has 33. The areas of the country with the largest percentage concentration of law firms in the country include Tampa, Austin, and Washington D.C. Throughout all of these markets, law firm occupancy takes up 30 percent of the areas.

“Confidence levels, both consumer-related and business-related, have declined over the past few months,” said John Sikaitis, Director of Office Research, Jones Lang LaSalle. “The legal industry is typically a lagging indicator when it comes to the overall economy, and has continued to add jobs. However, revised economic forecasts do not bode well for firms’ near-term business prospects and we predict most law firms will keep growth contained over the next few quarters.”

The report also released that the law firms can negotiate a discount of at least five percent when using direct-leased space and a discount of 25 percent for subleased space. This trend will likely continue to for quite some time for small and midsize firms but larger law firms will soon see the window of opportunity disappear.

Tom Doughty is the head of the Law Firm Group and he had the following to say:

“In Chicago, only three available blocks of Class-A space larger than 200,000 square feet are currently on the market and a variety of firms including DLA Piper, SNR Denton and Latham & Watkins (as well as a variety of other corporate users) are in the market with large requirements. New York on the other hand, has nearly 100 law firms occupying more than 50,000+ square feet who account for 42 percent of the total market. Law firms actively looking for space include Arnold and Porter, Pillsbury and Sullivan & Cromwell. Another notable city is Los Angeles, where 16 percent of the market is occupied by law firms. Further, law firms currently comprise 32 percent of the overall active requirements in the market. Four firms are currently in the market for more than 50,000 square feet of space in the Los Angeles market. The relative shortage of large-block Trophy-class space could eventually drive the development of one or more new office towers over the next several years,” Doughty said. “Until then, though, the limited amount of big-block options will reduce leverage for large firms.”

Trials and Litigation

jim — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:15:18 +0000

Trials and litigation are an important part of the everyday operation of the United States justice and legal systems. Trials are an event in which two parties, a plaintiff and a defendant, appear in a courthouse to dispute information with evidence in front of a jury, a judge, and the public. Not all trials are open to the public but a good majority of them are open to the public. Trials can last anywhere from one day to over a year at a time. Litigation is the process of carrying on a legal contest by judicial process.

There are two forms of trials; bench trials and jury trials. A bench trial is when the trial is presided over by a judge and typically end in a quick manner. Once the judge rules in favor of one party, it more often than not forces the other party to offer a settlement. A settlement is when the two parties reach an agreement about the dispute and resolve the claim in question. A jury trial is a trial that is held before a group of community members that have been chosen for that particular trial.

Jury selection for a trial can take anywhere from a couple of days to a handful of weeks. Attorneys from both sides of the case will ask each juror a set of questions they have prepared for the jury selection and the judge for the case will also preside over the jury selection process. Jurors know they have to appear for jury duty because they will receive notice of their appearance in the mail. If someone does not appear for jury selection they can be fined and even sent to jail. People are eligible to not serve jury duty, for instance, a student. If someone can prove that they are a full-time student in high school or college, then they do not have to appear for jury duty.

The types of trials vary depending on the type of crime that is involved. There are criminal trials, civil trials, administrative hearing and trial and labor trials. A criminal trial originates when the government accuses a person of committing a crime. All criminals in the United States have the right to a trial by a jury of their peers. The government is attempting to deprive the accused of life, liberty and property by accusing them of a crime. In a civil trial, a trial is held for minor disputes between two private parties. For instance, a civil trial would include a woman suing her ex-husband for spousal support or child support because he is not paying.

Administrative hearings are not normally considered trials even though they contain many aspects of trials. Labor trials are trials that an employee brings against their employer for breaking the laws and regulations set forth by the government regarding labor.

Litigation usually occurs following the filing of a lawsuit. A lawsuit is a motion brought against a company or individual seeking legal or equitable remedies. In lawsuits, the person that files the suit is the plaintiff and the person that is named in the suit is the defendant. They are the same two parties involved in civil and criminal trials.

Mainstream Media and Law School

jim — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:59:05 +0000

Many students applying for law school believe that they will be able to find a job right out of school despite the tough economy and will make money hand over fist as well. What many law student applicants come to find out is that this is far from the truth. One of the main reasons for this is that the media sugarcoats how successful young attorneys can be right out of school.

If law school students and applicants perform just a little bit of research they will be able to find out that the legal world is not what it is portrayed to be in movies and television. In fact, it is very difficult to find a job upon graduation. Law school students need to determine if spending $100,000 or more on a law degree is worth it in this current economy. Thousands of law school students decide to make this investment for the wrong reasons each year.

Those wrong reasons can be blamed on law schools that bend the truth when it comes to their statistics in an effort to increase enrollment. There are over 10 law schools across the country facing class action lawsuits for intentionally inflating employment statistics of their graduates. These inflated statistics have led to students being jobless after graduation and in debt because of the cost of the education.

The information regarding the class action lawsuits against the various law schools has been appearing in major news outlets across the country. This is helping current law school students understand what is occurring at schools across the country, possible even their own. The news is also affecting prospective law school students, who will now think twice before deciding to apply.

The media can still be a helpful hand for those looking to apply at a law school, specifically the site known as Top Law Schools. This site is a nonprofit, which prides itself on providing applicants with accurate information on schools across the country. The website provides a forum for users, who can remain anonymous; to post any questions they have about law school. Those questions range from how to negotiate with a school for a larger scholarship to how to study for the LSAT. Forum users tend to ask tougher questions because their names do not appear on the screen, making it easier to protect their reputation no matter the question they ask.

The website mentioned above, along with other legal websites, ensure that students and prospective applicants are receiving the correct information about law schools. The information has been taken from these sites and posted on blogs, school websites, and even on the news recently. For the most part, law schools report their graduates’ job information accurately, but not everyone can be trusted. Advice for prospective law students is to do as much research as possible before deciding whether or not to go to law school.

Law School Problems

jim — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 03:06:01 +0000

When paying upwards of $150,000 and graduating with a degree most would expect to know what they needed to perform the job they studied for. This is not true in the case of many law schools. While they are top notch schools it seems that many of the professors have never practiced law. They have only taught the facts and written legal articles such as “A Future Foretold:Neo-Aristoelian Praise of Postmodern Legal Theory.”

Practical training is lacking in many aspects in the law schools around the country. The schools have for many years put more emphasis on the theoretical over the practical and useful. The classes are often time stuffed with varieties of law that do not prepare the student for the real world cases they will face.

When the economy was booming clients would often pay for the students to learn on the job. This gave them great experience and they learned how to properly handle the cases while doing the cases. The clients have paid close to $300 per hour for those who are learning in the job force. Because of the recent downturn in the economy and all the problems with the legal-fees they are essentially telling firms to train them on their own time and dollar.

Due to this turn in client funding and willingness to pay for the on the job training, hiring as seen a dramatic decrease the past three years. They have lost close to 10,000 jobs just since 2008. They are not hiring the fresh out of school graduates anymore because they do not have the funds or the time to train someone.

Law schools are taking note of this decline and are adding more programs to their schedules to help their students gain the experience needed to land the jobs. This helps to give them the valuable experience in the real world that is needed to succeed. The problem is almost all of the funding goes to those professors writing the legal review articles and this can cause problems. The practical experience is just not there. This goes back to the professors never practicing law in an actual setting a day in their life. For medical schools it would be like filling those professor spots who have never sat foot inside of a hospital.

Some firms are allowing first year associates to spend around four months on corporate law. This is done at a reduced salary and they are not able to bill the client yet. They find it is a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs of corporate law and get real hands on experience in how it works. While you would think it comes from the school itself, the firms are where today’s lawyers are learning what it means to be a lawyer.

New Law Firm Alternative

jim — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:50:13 +0000

It’s no secret that working with a lawyer can be expensive. It’s also no secret that there are just times when you need a lawyer. If you say you cannot afford a lawyer, then you are assigned a lawyer who does not truly care about your case. The cost of a lawyer can also be unpredictable and their rates can shoot through the roof at any given moment.

However, there are times when you need the best lawyer money can buy. If your life or reputation is on the line, then you truly have no choice but to hire only the best. How do you go about finding the right law firm to hire?

That being said, there are times when hiring a top-tier national or international firm, even if expensive, might make sense. But how do you decide what work rises to the level of needing one of those firms? That question can be answered based on the type of legal help you actually need.

If you had to sum it up in one question, it would be “how strategic is the work?” One helpful way to think about this is to break down your legal needs into 3 categories: the company, important and commodity. There are studies that show a consumer can care less about the price as long as the product is delivered at a top notch rate.

It comes down to what the specialty of your lawyer is and how much you are willing to pay. No one knows if they can justify paying a lawyer $600 dollars an hour. But it has been done in the past and will be done in the future. Protection is also a key aspect in paying a lawyer that much. If the lawyer delivers what you are paying him or her to do, then most would say it’s worth paying top dollar.

You will be excited to know that getting a lawyer at a decent rate is becoming increasingly widespread. Not all law firms are out to get your money, in-fact a few are out to save you money. A law firm in the United States known as FLEX and another law firm in the United Kingdom known as Lawyers on Demand are prepared to make a difference.

These companies want to offer legal support at the fraction of the cost of a regular law firm. Many are curious as to how they can make this happen. The key is to providing experienced lawyers but at the same time providing predictable fees. (No fee surprises.) These companies are prepared to lower their salaries and provide legal services to the general public at a smaller rate. The key is to figure out what kind of legal help you need and then go from there. Price and tolerance are two factors that may help this idea succeed.

Do Lawyers Undersupply? Barriers to Protect Consumers

chelsei — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:14:40 +0000

If you want to go to law school, but can’t get into an ABA-accredited one, then there has to be something wrong with you. Maybe you cant read scantron sheets or brochures, but something is not right if you can’t get into law school but you really want to.

It doesn’t matter if you had some kind of culturally difficult upbringing or have some kind of trumped-up attention disorder or if you are a deaf-mute, because even intelligent abused orphaned deaf-mutes suffering from ADHD with daddy issues can easily get into accredited law schools, given the totally minimum barriers to entry into such programs. All you have to do is fill out some forms and take a multiple choice exam without scoring significantly worse than random chance, and then…you are in!

I’m not sure that most people understand that the barriers to entry, such as they are, aren’t just there to protect lawyer salaries. Lawyers are also trying to protect the consumers of legal services too.

Look, no one is saying that having a great LSAT score or a solid college GPA means that you will be a really good lawyer.

What they are saying is that doing the things you need to do in order to get into an accredited law school, and eventually become a practicing attorney is one important indication that you might not be a mouth-breathing idiot who should never be trusted with such a sensitive matter. This is not a foolproof system. People go and slip through the cracks all the time. But, the suggestion that there should not be anything standing in the way of a potential imbecile and a career in the law-talking business is just disgusting.

From the Economist:

”Three supply barriers bulk largest. The American Bar Association accredits law schools, and in most states you must be a graduate of one of them to practice law.
The second hurdle for a would-be-lawyer is the bar exam itself.
Finally, American states do not allow non-lawyers to manage or invest in law firms, nor can companies not run by lawyers practice law in any form.”

Now, let’s deal with the last thing first. Allowing banks to also provide some legal services wouldn’t have any effect on the supply of lawyers, though it may as well increase the demand for lawyers to work at these mythical bank firms that can steal your money, and then turn around tell you how to sue them to get it back.

And as for the second ”hurdle”, the bar exam, that is legitimate point. Certainty, the bar prevents some of the people, some people who would be great lawyers, from becoming lawyers. But, it definitely seems that the problem there isn’t that the test is too unreasonably difficult, the problem is that law schools have three but can’t seem to teach everybody enough to pass this entry exam.

The People of Oakland Go on Strike, Except for the Lawyers

chelsei — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:01:14 +0000

Yesterday, Oakland hit its excitement level as several thousand people crowded into the city in a ”general strike” and marched all across the town to ”take over” the Port of Oakland. No one is really sure what those quotes mean, specifically, but the crowd of people on strike estimated somewhere between 3,000 to 40,000 people.

Even if the exact number of people there isn’t certain, one thing is, and that is: those people definitely wanted to make a ruckus. They wanted to disrupt the city’s business, as per usual, and they succeeded. Most businesses decided to close for the day, not wanting to be disturbed by the riots going on in the streets. The riots got so bad, that Oakland Mayor Jean Quan recommended city employees take the day off. Excluding, of course, the police, who did not appreciate the riot at all.

One law firm did brave the riot. Although, they locked the building down to keep the rioters away.

This is what the official memo said:

”Occupy Oakland is situated in downtown Oakland (also known as City Center), where there are numerous firms and state and federal government buildings, including the federal courthouse…While my firm not shutting down, it does seem like our building management is planning for the worst…”

The firm was asked to not be named because its a small office, but we know that it’s in the Ask.com building, along with a few other law firms offices and the public defenders office. The building was in ”pseudo-lockdown”. The only door that was open was the one entrance to the lobby. And there were more than just the usual one or two security guards keeping a lookout.

This is the building-wide email that was sent out. You can tell that management was a little jumpy:

”We are providing you with information herein that may help guide your planning efforts. All CBRE-managed buildings located in Oakland City Center will remain open with restricted access. Your employees can anticipate possible delays entering and exiting the buildings and garages. Each building will have one accessible entry point manned by a building security officer and admission into the building will require one of the following forms of identification that must be carried at all times while in and around the building:
Building access card;
Driver’s License;
Business Card;
Elevator will remain operational, although access will be affected should there be a need shelter in place. All other transportation systems may be affected by the protests including BART, AC Transit, street closures, and garage access. We also encourage the use of alternative corporate office locations for all tenants. Should conditions deteriorate during the day, we advise all tenants to remain in the building and shelter in place.”

Sounds like they’re planning for a Russian invasion. Which is honestly not necessary seein as all of the rioters were students, union workers, older people, babies, and pregnant woman.

How to Get Attention From an In-House Lawyer

chelsei — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:03:00 +0000

To begin, here are a few things that are true about Big-law:
(1) A partner at Law Firm A regularly has his briefcase sent to his home in a limo.
(2) Law Firm B is chock full of lawyers of all faiths and backgrounds, but holds its summer outing at a country club known for being ”restricted”.
(3) Attorneys at Law Firm C take a helicopter from the 34th Street helicopter port in Manhattan to a hearing in Connecticut, and then bill the client for it.

The names of the firms and the lawyers are not named to protect them, but all of the stories are true. And they have gotten everyones attention, all for the wrong reasons. The first person have obviously never heard of a bus, or a taxi. The second firm has evidently never heard of a thing called tact, or good taste. And as for the third people, well, lets just say that they no longer appear on Company Y’s preferred outside counsel list.

I guess there is a thousand things to say about different techniques of networking and getting business. Because law firm marketing departments use innumerable strategies to try and get ”in” with prospective clients. People go to and through any number of these programs and trainings and junkets and beauty pageants and kimono openings during their firm days, and I know everyone else has as well.

Here are a couple of ways that people have tried different strategies, and they actually ended up working.

One is to become closely aligned with a partner who has a pretty large client. Then wait for that partner to retire and leave the helpless client to the longstanding associate. As for the rest of the associates in the firm, this is pretty useless. The first associate hit the jackpot, but the rest are left stranded.

Another way is to do so much close work with your client that the client just starts to give its work directly to the associate. So, as the rest of the class is still on their own, so are you.

While this may be a sad and dark picture of sales possibilities, its really your decision. If you put in the right amount of effort, you will eventually get out what you put in. And if you use the right marketing departments to it’s upmost, you will obtain the dossiers on potential clients, everyday you will be in contact with your potential clients, you will use anything in your arsenal of power to seek potential clients, and you will never stop. And even if you aren’t the networking and marketing type, you will bust your tail for a client, working for hours and hours on good work, ensuring that your client knows you on a personal level, and the more senior you are, maintaining direct contact with your client. Believe this or not, firms don’t always judge partner candidates on ”books” of business, they judge them for their ridiculously hard and diligent work for the firm.

Taylor Swift Threatening Legal Action Over Alleged Topless Photo

rebneely — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:00:13 +0000

Country music singer Taylor Swift, who has always put forth a wholesome image over the course of her singing career, has threatened to take legal action over an alleged topless photo of her posted on the website Celeb Jihad. The woman in the photo is allegedly a Swift lookalike.

According to the October 30^th celebs.gather.com article, “Taylor Swift Considering Legal Action Over “Leaked” Pic”, Taylor Swift’s legal team is threatening to file a trademark-infringement lawsuit, demand that the picture be removed from the website, which was posted several months ago. They claim the photograph represents “false news” and “false pornographic images” about Swift. The caption accompanying the post reads “Taylor Swift Private Pic Leaked?”.

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989. She is a country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress. She released her third album, entitled “Speak Now” on October 25^th of this year. It sold over 1 million copies in one week. In 2009, she was named Artist of the Year by Billboard Magazine. She earned four Grammy awards following the release of her second album Fearless. This included Album of the Year at the 52^nd Grammy Awards. The album was at the top of the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks.

Currently, she is promoting her Wonderstruck perfume throughout the U.S.

According to her “My Life” page at her website, Taylor Swift writes: “These days, I’ve been trying to classify my thoughts into two categories: “Things I can change,” and “Things I can’t.” It seems to help me sort through what to really stress about. But there I go again, over-planning and over-organizing my over-thinking! I write songs about my adventures and misadventures, most of which concern love. Love is a tricky business. But if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be so enthralled with it. Lately I’ve come to a wonderful realization that makes me even more fascinated by it: I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to love. No one does! There’s no pattern to it, except that it happens to all of us, of course. I can’t plan for it. I can’t predict how it’ll end up. Because love is unpredictable and it’s frustrating and it’s tragic and it’s beautiful. And even though there’s no way to feel like I’m an expert at it, it’s worth writing songs about — more than anything else I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

Clearly, with this type of open minded attitude, Swift will undoubtedly be able to overcome anything that is thrown at her – good or bad.

On November 11, 2009, Swift had the honor of becoming the youngest artist to be awarded the Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the Year. She is one of only six women to be given the Country Music Association’s highest honor.

Everyone is Not Qualified to Become a Lawyer

jim — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 03:26:55 +0000

The steps to becoming a lawyer are not at all easy. However, a few scholars think that the game field should be changed a little. You might think that they want to tighten the ropes in becoming a lawyer but instead they want to loosen the process.

What is this theory? If any person can pass the bar exam, then they must be qualified to practice as a third party lawyer. Of course not just anyone should be allowed to defend people in court. However, the price of hiring a lawyer is outrageous and is hurting those who really need someone to defend them.

The cutback in jobs has hurt even the occupation of lawyers. Several law firms have slowly cut thousands of attorney positions because they law firm cannot afford to keep them on. If you were to look back on old time requirements for becoming a lawyer are a lot different than today’s standards.

There are a few reasons why a lot of people would make a good lawyer without the proper education. People like Abe Lincoln would in no way qualify to be a lawyer according to today’s requirements. However, that did not keep Lincoln from being an amazing lawyer. He held qualities that are not seen in the most qualified lawyers in today’s society.

Another quality of a great lawyer is finding someone who can deliver an argument. Some law school graduates are awesome at doing the small stuff. But society needs lawyers that folks can afford and that can deliver a great argument to a sea of jury. There are no second chances in a trial and you get one chance to get it right. The lawyer you hire to do your legal work could make or break your case. “The reason companies are willing to shell out so much money for legal advice is that the biggest, most important cases don’t get do-overs”. states Megan McArdle who is on staff at The Atlantic.

On the other hand—not just anyone should be allowed to become a lawyer. Experience and education help sculpt lawyers into the award winning citizens they are today. Is it fair to let a third party lawyer represent someone who cannot afford a real one? The prices of legal help will not necessarily go down but instead the system will be altered.

No one wants an “okay” lawyer. Anyone that hires a lawyer to do their work expects to win. If you want the best lawyer out there, then you have to be willing to pay for it. In reality, that is what these two scholars are trying to stop. The best lawyers out there are the ones that cost thousands of dollars. Their fees are unrealistic for those who are low income and cannot afford their services.

Workers Laid Off By KEL Law Firm

jim — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:30:50 +0000

Lawyers are leaving KEL law firm but not by choice. No one knows how much staff was actually dismissed but several lawyers were laid off this past week. This is sad news for the lawyer world because many firms were just now recovering from the recession. The most troubling part of this story is that no one knows why these lawyers were dismissed.

One of the founders of the firms covers up the questions by saying they over-hired in certain areas. Letting go some of the lawyers helps release some of the stress of having too many workers. Jeffrey Kaufman (the co-founder) also states that a law firm is a lot like any other business.

“We have people who come and go all the time at different times of the year,” Kaufman said. “It is like the retail business — things slow down at certain times of the year and get busy at other times. But this is not an issue of times being bad for us. Really, this is not a big deal at all.”

While it may not be a big deal to him, it is a big deal to those who walked out of the law firm without a job. Some of the top lawyers of the firm received their notices as early as Tuesday last week. Again, one laid off lawyer explains that no one knows who was laid off and how many were let go. However, there is some speculation as to why these lay-offs might have occurred.

“Mistakes in a consumer-bankruptcy case involving Sanchez and the inadvertent violation of a related court order drew the wrath of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Briskman, who temporarily barred KEL from practicing bankruptcy law in the Middle District of Florida. The Orlando-based judge later filed a complaint with The Florida Bar and cited KEL itself for what he termed “unprofessional” work.”

One of the lawyers who received a “lay-off notice”– states that he has cleared his role in the matter. The lawyer, also known as William Sanchez, states that he must take a few exams to refresh his license and also pay a small fine. However, an ongoing investigation still exists with “KEL partners Kaufman, Matt Englett and Craig Lynd.”

Several of the “laid-off” employees have spoken up about “why they think this has happened.” Many of the “former employees” think it has to do with the foreclosure aspect of the law firm. Whether KEL law firm confirms this or not is up to them. However, Kaufman still continues to deny that this is the reason the company has slowed down with business. Kaufman continues to state the following

“This has nothing whatsoever to do with the downturn in foreclosures. That area is still very good for us,” he said. “It doesn’t make up a majority of our work, anyway. We have huge areas of family law in which we are also doing well.”

Lawyer Helps Nevada with Casino Licensing

jim — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 03:40:36 +0000

Frank Schreck is a 27-year-old lawyer. When Schreck found out that his mentor, Mike O’Callaghan, was up for election as a governor, he decided to leave his law firm so that he could devote time to helping O’Callaghan with the upcoming election.

Schreck has said, “I was the young punk who was having fun on the campaign while leading school integration rallies.” Speaking on his decision, he says, “Now I was going to the gaming commission. Mike was my hero. I would have done anything he asked.” Schreck had much gratitude for O’Callaghan and wanted to help him as much as possible.

Schreck has now been practicing gaming law for well over 40 years. At the age of 67, he has represented people such as Steve Wynn and Sumner Redstone. He has also represented major companies such as MGM Resorts International and Penn National Gaming and Station Casinos.

Frank Schreck is proud to say that he was able to help Frank Fertitta Jr. obtain a gaming license in the 70’s. Schreck worked hard to make changes to the gamin law in Nevada. In 2009, he was able to push changes that helped to increase the amount of stake than an investor would be able to own during a public gaming company without the hassle of licensing.

In the past three years, Schreck chose to merge his law firm with another law firm. The office that he merged with is Brownstein Hyatt Farber which has several offices scattered around the United States. Some of the offices are located in Washington D.C and Denver. Schreck says, “The size of the firm has allowed us to develop some practice areas we wouldn’t have been able to do on our own.” The merger has worked to his advantage and has helped the firm to become more successful.

While it seems Schreck has been successful for a long time, he has no intentions of retiring soon. Schreck feels right at home in his office which is full of memorabilia from his career as an attorney. Such memorabilia includes framed pictures of Schreck with President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama.

Some people have suggested that Schreck write a book about his accomplishments to help others succeed in the field. However, Schreck says, “Much of what I know is privileged.” When asked about his career and his decision to merger, Schreck has said, “Mergers were the big thing for a long period of time and we were approached by everybody who came to town. Our gaming practice made us the most attractive. The big Arizona firms all came to us first. But the bottom line was from a corporate culture, none really seemed to fit. I had my three younger partners handle the negotiations because they were going to have to live with this longer than me. The merger didn’t impact our gaming practice but it brought us a lot more real estate, corporate and commercial work.

Recent Law School Graduates Sue School for Deception

jim — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:08:02 +0000

The University of Illinois is just one of several law schools that are now under scrutiny for misleading current and potential law students into believing certain information about graduates of the school. The school released false information about starting salaries upon graduation as well as high rates of employment upon graduating from the school. The school lead potential students to believe that the chances of landing a job upon recent graduation were very high and promising and that the starting salary would be high.

Recent graduates of the University of Illinois are upset that the school falsified such important statistical information. Students were led to believe that there was a higher success rate of finding employment in the field of law immediately after graduating and are now realizing that this is not true. Many of the recent law school graduates are having a hard time finding employment due to the recent cutbacks which have caused many law firms to merger with one another in an attempt to survive.

Because of the downward spiral of the economy and the recession, very few laws school students are finding immediate employment after graduating. In fact, in 2009, only about fifty percent of law school graduates found employment in the legal profession after a period of time.

Senator Barbara Boxer is urging the American Bar Association to protect potential law students by providing only the most accurate information and statistics about post graduates instead of giving hopeful students such misleading information. “The difference between the information reported by schools and the real legal employment rate for recent graduates is very troubling,” says Boxer.

The American Bar Association claims that it is working to make the necessary changes for potential and current law school students. The ABA only wants to release accurate information to these potential law students about future employment in the legal field. To ensure accuracy, the ABA will begin collecting information and statistics from different law schools on their own.

Kyle McEntee, a law school student since 2009, has said, “Law school is not the magic ticket to financial security that people think it is.” McEntee also says, “For some it will be and for some it won’t be. People need know that when deciding how much debt to take on.”

The dean at Loyola University Chicago’s law school agrees that it is in the best interest of the students to give honest and correct statistics and information about recent graduates to potential students. Around half of the students who graduated from Loyola were able to find jobs at law firms within a nine month period. Only a handful of graduates were able to land jobs for bigger law firms. Yellen says, “It’s incumbent on us to give an accurate sense of how students are doing.” He also says, “If a school has an 85 percent employment rate but half of them are short-term, nonlaw jobs, that’s not something it should keeping from students.”

Small Law Firms Popping up Across Country

jim — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:13:21 +0000

When the economy of the United States went in the tank back in late 2007, many lawyers began opening their own law firms after being laid off by the firms they were working for at the time. One area of the country where this was very prominent was Boulder, Colorado. In 2010, of Gross Hartman LLC opened its doors with seven lawyers in the fold. In 2009, the firm of Shoemaker Ghiselli & Schwartz opened its doors with six lawyers employed.

The lawyers who started these firms came from national powers such as the former Hogan & Hartson LLP, which is now known as Hogan Lovells USA LLP, and closed its office in Boulder in 2009. Another firm where these creators came from was Cooley LLP from Broomfield. Roberts & Olivia LLC, located in Boulder, is the smallest of these new boutique firms in Colorado. Bill Roberts and Keith Olivia worked at Holme Roberts & Owen locally and then at the former Hogan & Hartson Boulder office. When Hogan & Hartson closed, Olivia and Roberts moved to a building in Siena Square.

Smaller law firms across the country are more efficient and have lower overhead costs compared to larger law firms, which in turn helps to keep lawyer rates low. The smaller firm/big experience trend has developed over the past ten years after the economy tightened not long after the tech bubble burst.

“We spend a lot more time working directly with clients as opposed to the model that the larger firms use,” Olivia said. “The larger law firm model tends to work with layers of supervision – older attorneys supervising the younger attorneys.”

Andrew Shoemaker of Shoemaker Ghiselli & Schwartz, used the weak economy to his advantage when opening his boutique firm in March of 2009.

“The economy was helpful to us,” Shoemaker said. “We practiced with a certain area of expertise for large sophisticated clients, and when the downturn occurred, clients realized they could get same product as before, but without having to pay for the overhead of an international firm.”

Jim Linfield, a managing partner at Cooley, had the following to say about smaller law firms:

“One of the things that works to our advantage, is our broad network with venture capitalists on the East and West coasts,” Linfield said. “We’re positioned to help (local entrepreneurs) get in front of the right funding sources. The firm is the largest in Boulder County, adding six new lawyers in 2009 and six new lawyers in 2010. The Broomfield office is one of the busiest of any in the firm, which is based in Palo Alto, California.”

The clients of Cooley accounted for half of all venture capital that was raised in Colorado in 2010 and 2011. There were more than 50 financings that raised more than $500 million.

Peter Mullen, Force in the Legal World, Dies at 83

jim — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 01:00:41 +0000

Peter Mullen, one of the most respected men in the legal world, passed away at the age of 83 on Saturday in New Preston, Connecticut of a heart attack en route to the hospital. Mullen joined the New York law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 1961 when the firm had only 10 lawyers. When Mullen stepped down as the de facto chief executive of the firm in 1994 there were more than 1,000 lawyers working there and it had become one of the world’s richest and most prominent firms.

“The white-shoe firms said that takeovers were a one-time blip,” recalled John C. Coffee Jr., a law professor at Columbia, who in the mid-1970s practiced at one of those firms, Cravath, Swaine & Moore. “They said that Skadden was riding a short-term wave, and that it would be caught in a terrible crunch when it crashed and disappeared.”

Towards the beginning of the 1990′s, the firm had acquired almost one third of the Fortune 500 list as clients, and today it remains as the world’s second largest law firm in terms of revenue and the eleventh largest firm in terms of lawyers employed. Early in the decade of the 1970′s, Mullen began holding 7.5 percent of the earnings from each partner, after taxes, to use the money to finance the firm’s growth. It was Mullen’s goal to see that the firm grew without taking on any debt.

“It was radical,” Lincoln Caplan wrote in his history of the firm, “Skadden: Power, Money, and the Rise of a Legal Empire” (1993). “It left Skadden with a mountain of cash — 100 percent more capital than it needed, by the firm’s estimation, and the means to grow in any direction it wanted.”

Mullen attended the Loyola School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan before attending Georgetown. After time at Columbia Law School, Mullen spent nine years at the law firm of Dewey Ballantine, only to be voted down for a partnership in the firm.

“He was mature, confident and ambitious, and a very good corporate lawyer,” Mr. Caplan said. “But he had that essential Skadden need and drive because, in the eyes of the New York City bar then, not making partner was a public failure from which he needed to recover. When he went to Skadden in 1961, at the age of 32 (he turned 33 that year), he was motivated to succeed.”

Mullen was born on April 8, 1928 in Manhattan. He became a partner in the firm after his first year of employment and was named managing partner in 1967, which put him in charge of the firm’s business operations. Mullen also served on Georgetown’s board from 1982 to 1998 and served as the Chairman of the Board from 1985 to 1992. At one point during his career, Mullen also served as the Chairman of Orbis International.

Just How Much Is a First-Year Lawyer Worth?

jim — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:42:17 +0000

The message that corporate America is sending to the nation’s law firms is “class dismissed.” It’s a result of cost-slashing and the practice of passing along the cost of training to young lawyers that has been going on for decades.

David Brill, who is the general counsel of American Stock Transfer & Trust, believes the training of new lawyers “shouldn’t be done on our nickel.” Well, this isn’t the case anymore. With the recent recession and financial meltdown, many companies have now started pushing back.

The discussion of the trend of clients refusing to pay for on-the-job training has prompted WSJ law reporter Ashby Jones to join the Mean Street. No one will argue that many young lawyers do have reputable work experience. Their experience typically includes three years of law studies, summer internships and the time it took to study and take the bar exam. Plus, many young lawyers have helped a judge research and draft legal opinions. This experience though isn’t good enough. David Brill states that “younger attorneys can be fine on less complicated matters, but we draw the line at anything with any complexity.”

The difference that many experience lawyers see is between a new lawyer and one who can provide value to a client. New lawyers are lacking the comfort and confidence that is supposed to be given to a client, refined knowledge of the business world and necessary skills such as prepping a witness for a deposition.

Most law firms treat their new lawyers fairly well. Usually, the new lawyers first two years resemble an apprenticeship; however, they are paid a very good rate. The yearly salaries at many of the nation’s largest law firms start at $160,000 and go higher.

The costs of young attorneys are usually recouped by simple jobs in the office like researching, proofreading or pulling important documents from boxes of paperwork. These simple jobs allow law firms to pass the costs to their clients by billing anywhere from $200 to $300 per hour. This type of practice is starting to be a big problem and many companies do not want to do business that way.

“According to a September survey for The Wall Street Journal by the Association of Corporate Counsel, a bar association for in-house lawyers, more than 20% of the 366 in-house legal departments that responded are refusing to pay for the work of first- or second-year attorneys, in at least some matters. Almost half of the companies, which have annual revenues ranging from $25 million or less to more than $4 billion, said they put those policies in place during the past two years, and the trend appears to be growing.”

It is taking some time for this adjustment to take full effect. After the 2008 financial collapse, many law firms reduce pay immediately, but most have held their salaries steady. The recent client demands haven’t been able to shake firms’ hiring or billing practices, but as many say, at least not yet.

Life for Lawyers after Layoffs

jim — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:52:22 +0000

Lawyers are not very often referred to as refugees. However times are tough in the economic times of lawyers as well. Major Law firms have been notorious for laying- off more than 1400 lawyers. This is not a surprise to most people because everyone has been experiencing layoffs around the country. However, landing a position as a lawyer is not as easy when 1,400 of your peers have been laid-off as well. Most of the layoffs of lawyers were from major law firms that simply closed their doors.

Fortunately, most of those lawyers have found new jobs and are not waiting around for employment anymore. Eighty eight percent is a large number of employees that have found jobs. Some of the lawyers who were laid off went on to work for even better firms. Reports have shown that of the 1400 that were laid off—have found major positions with 250 of the nation’s largest firms.

“The vast majority of those attorneys have since landed new jobs, according to a study by Emory University business professor Christopher Rider. He tracked the employment of 1,426 attorneys left jobless by the dissolutions of Heller Ehrman; Thelen; Thacher Proffitt Wood; WolfBlock; Dreier; and Morgan & Finnegan. By reviewing resources including LinkedIn, Martindale-Hubbell and other online directories, Rider confirmed that 88% found jobs.”

A lot of these lawyers did get help finding employment. “Alumni networks were most useful in helping partners find new jobs, the study determined. For associates, working with the right partner often was the critical factor in finding new employment.”

Most of these lawyers found that networking was the best way to find an open position. This often works for more than just lawyers. A lot of people these days are finding employment through networking and talking to others.

“The results of this study indicate that prior education and employment network contacts do indeed facilitate employee-employer matching but that only contacts made during prior employment experiences are likely to help individuals attain positions of greater intraprofessional status.”

While some of these lawyers were burned by their former law firm bridges; a lot were able to move on to bigger and better things. While associate lawyers may not be scoring big with alumni contacts, “big wigs” are finding more success with that job route. A study has shown more details in this matter:

“To Rider’s surprise, his analysis found that alumni networks were more important for senior attorneys than for associates. That might be a result of associates depending on partners to bring them along to a new firm, rather than finding new employment on their own, he said.”

In these tough economic times, lawyers seem to find a job in any way possible. If you know someone who can help you land a position, that is great– but networking also seems to be a major key factor in the life after a lawyer layoff.

Former ACLU Lawyer Confirmed by Lawyers as Judge

aostler — Thu, 12 May 2011 20:10:44 +0000

San Francisco Judge Edward Chen was finally confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the federal district bench in California after a protracted delay over his civil liberties record and controversial statements he made in a speech. The final vote was 56-42 with just a few Republicans crossing the aisle. A speech Chen gave in 2005, in which he expressed some ambivalence about his patriotism as a Japanese-American, was cited by some GOP members as the reason for their opposition. Senator Jeff Session from Alabama said that Chen displayed an “ACLU chromosome”.

Read the original article here:

Senators Confirm Former ACLU Lawyer for Judgeship

American Bar Association to Kill LSAT?

marvins — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:05:10 +0000

The American Bar Association, the biggest voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the world, is now reviewing the possibility of making the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) an optional requirement rather than mandatory for law school admissions. The National Law Journal reported that the ABA committee is currently looking at the feasibility of the option.

Donald Polden, dean of Santa Clara University School of Law, said that ABA will most likely adopt the new proposition. “The committee reviewing the standards is leaning toward dropping the rule that law schools require J.D. applicants to take a ‘valid and reliable admission test.”

David Yellen, a member of the review committee and dean of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, explained that one of the principles behind the elimination of LSAT, which ABA committee is highly considering, is to give law schools more independence on their own admission policies. “Is taking a standardized test the only way to determine if someone should be able to go to law school? Schools ought to be able to decide how they want to admit students.” Yellen added that regardless of ABA’s recommendation, he believes that most law schools would still support the administration of LSAT as a requirement in admissions. “I believe that most schools would continue to require the LSAT, in part because it is the most reliable way to measure applicants against each other and make merit-based financial aid decisions.”

The members of the US legal community have varying reactions and predictions over the latest industry news. Some said that those established law schools will continue to require LSAT while some may adopt the new option, especially those newly opened law schools which are in need of students. As of today, ABA committee is still reviewing the new proposal.

No Bonuses at Jones Day

marvins — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:48:46 +0000

Jones Day, a leading international law firm based in Ohio, will once again forgo associate bonuses this year.

Joe Sims, a Jones Day partner, said in an email that Jones Day will not bow to industry pressure by providing bonuses. He explained that the associates at their firm are rewarded in different ways. “We don’t do bonuses. We did away with that several years ago. Most bonuses are tied to hours billed, which creates an artificial incentive-artificial in the sense it is separate from any particular client needs-to bill hours. We compensate our associates based on their overall contribution in all the aspects of their work, just as we do our partners.” Sims added that although Jones Day does not give bonuses, the firm provides merit raises to its associates.

Recently, other law firms such as Boies Schiller, Susman Godfrey, Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan, Cahill Gordon & Reindell and Cravath, Swaine & Moore announced their year end bonuses. The bonuses in most firms range from $7,500 to $35,000. However, Boeis has moved well ahead with its $75,000 to over $200,000 bonus to its associates. Sims explained that even though Jones Day does not give out bonuses, their associates stay with the firm because it’s still making partners. In fact, Jones Day recently announced that the firm has 36 new partners in its various practices such as antitrust, trial practice, bankruptcy, merger and acquisitions–and even a couple or so in real estate.

Fulbright & Jaworski Moves to Different Thomas Properties but still in Downtown

marvins — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:27:02 +0000

Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, one of the largest law firms in the US with over 1,000 lawyers, announced a plan to move its Austin offices to other buildings managed and owned by the Thomas Properties Group Inc. The Austin offices at One American Center at 6th and Congress will now be transferred to San Jacinto Center at Cesar Chavez and San Jacinto; both are still in downtown Austin. The move is expected to materialize in the summer of 2011. The international law firm plans to occupy over 73,000 square feet among the 8th through 11th floors. This will mean that the firm will have an approximately 18% occupancy in the entire building. The firm will also move all of its employees, which are over 190 in total.

Fulbright & Jaworski’s Partner-In-Charge for the Austin office, Butch Hayes, explained that the firm decided to make a big move after more than 25 years of stay in One American Center. “This move will allow us to be situated on contiguous floors, to create more collaborative space for our attorneys and staff, and to have better access to the 2nd Street area. For many years we have appreciated our relationship with Thomas Properties and are pleased to continue it in this way.”

Andrew Smith of the Thomas Properties Group expressed his excitement over the latest decision of the firm. “We are extremely pleased that Fulbright & Jaworski has chosen to stay in one of our class-A downtown properties. It was a top priority to find a way to keep such a valued customer in the CBD and in one of our properties. Their decision to move from one of Thomas Properties’ buildings to another is strong evidence to our relationship, our market-leading efforts in sustainability and our focus as a firm on customer service.” Smith also revealed that the firm considered other locations before they managed to seal the deal. “It’s also a strong endorsement for downtown. Fulbright & Jaworski had a number of options outside of the CBD. To keep them downtown is the latest validation of the continued transformation of Austin’s CBD into a 24-hour urban core that has the right balance of live, work and play.”

9 Lawyers from Dissolving Tabbert Hahn Earnest & Weddle Join its Rival Firm

marvins — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:00:45 +0000

Tabbert Hahn Earnest & Weddle, a mid-sized law firm based in Indianapolis that has government, lobbying and pharmaceutical practices, is now slowly dissolving after more than 20 years of existence in the legal industry. The Indianapolis Business Journal revealed that the firm will close at the end of the year, though an actual date has not yet been finalized, so many of its lawyers and staffers are leaving to transfer to a much bigger firm in the city. There are five partners and four associates who are slated to join Bose McKinney & Evans in 2011. The lawyers who will jump to Bose are: named partners Gregory Hahn and Robert Weddle, partners Matthew W. Conner, Mary M. Ruth Feldhake, and Chad T. Walker. Meanwhile, the four associates are the following: David J. Duncan, Joel T. Nagle, Kevin M. Quinn and Elizabeth Schuerman.

Named partner Gregory Hahn expressed his excitement over the move. He described the firm’s decision as more of a business combination rather than a merger. “Overall as a law firm, we have a number of national and international clients and this just gives us a bigger platform to represent those interests. I’m very excited about this. They’re great lawyers and have a great reputation, and this combo will help everyone go to a bigger plateau.”

Bose spokesman Roger Harvey confirmed that nine attorneys would be joining their firm. He added that their firm circulated a company-wide e-mail informing the current staff and lawyers about the new hires and the latest changes in their company.

Skadden to Shutter its Office in San Francisco

marvins — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:04:52 +0000

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, a prominent law firm based in New York City, announced that it will close its San Francisco office. The office will be merged with Skadden’s Palo Alto office. The firm first entered the Silicon Valley and San Francisco during the dot.com bubble days. Lawyers who have been watching Skadden’s progress through the years are saying that the consolidation of Skadden’s Palo Alto and San Francisco offices is not that surprising anymore since talks about it have been circulating the industry for years.

San Francisco legal recruiter, Gary Davis, said that he was not surprised by Skadden’s announcement because this decision was strategic and beneficial to the overall welfare of the firm, given that the San Francisco office is relatively small and the Palo Alto office has a promising market. He also interpreted the move to mean that Skadden has a new strategy wherein the firm will just concentrate in the growth of one office. “It would be much more surprising to hear that an indigenous firm like Morrison & Foerster announced it was closing here or in Silicon Valley. Out-of-state firms usually need a compelling reason to keep two offices open in a small geographic location, like a client or partner request.”

The new office will be led by Kenton King, the Palo Alto corporate partner. It s website also named six other partners, three counsel and 17 associates, all of whom are litigators.

Senate Approves Changes to “Red Flag” Rule

joshua — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:15:53 +0000

Despite Republican promises to block any legislation in the Senate until the Bush tax cuts are extended, the Senate moved quickly yesterday to approve a bill co-sponsored by John Thune (R-SD) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska) that would redefine the term “creditor” for purposes of the controversial “red flag” rule used by the FTC. Under the current broad definition, lawyers, doctors, and other people or businesses that provide services upfront in the expectation of future payment are considered creditors. This bill redefines it to a more common sense definition of someone that advances funds based on credit reports in the expectation that the money will be repaid later. The House of Representatives must take up the bill before it will become law, but the ABA is anticipating quick passage by the House.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 13:15:22 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Wednesday, October 27th. Here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s stories.

Four litigators from medical malpractice firm Duffy & Duffy were named top attorneys by Super Lawyers magazine…

Seven partners at national litigation firm Milberg were named by Super Lawyers as top lawyers in the New York metro area…

Eighty-one lawyers from Thompson Hine LLP were selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2011…

Veteran federal tax attorneys, Daniel A. Dumezich and Gary S. Colton, Jr., joined Winston & Strawn LLP’s office in Chicago office as partners….

Milberg LLP was named to the National Law Journal’s 2010 Plaintiffs’ Hot List…

Thompson Hine is Well-Represented on ‘Best Lawyers’ List

joshua — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:20:53 +0000

Eighty-one lawyers from Thompson Hine LLP were selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2011.

More than 39,000 attorneys participated in this year’s survey. Lawyers are selected for the list based on votes received in a survey of their peers.

Thompson Hine is the top-listed firm in Ohio in construction law, and is one of the top Ohio firms in employee benefits law and tax law. Additionally, 25 Thompson Hine partners have now been included on the Best Lawyers list for 10 years or longer, which is indicated below.

The Thompson Hine lawyers included in 2011 are:

Atlanta
Joseph M. Rigot

Cincinnati
Paul Allaer
Christopher M. Bechhold
Timothy R. Brown*
Stephen J. Butler
Louis K. Ebling
Stephen M. King
Andrew L. Kolesar
Earle Jay Maiman
Robert A. Selak
Patricia Mann Smitson
Louis F. Solimine*
Keith P. Spiller
J. Shane Starkey
David J. Willbrand

Cleveland
Thomas A. Aldrich
Jeffrey R. Appelbaum*
James B. Aronoff
Heather Aley Austin
Mal Bank*
Richard C. Binzley*
Stephen L. Buescher*
Thomas J. Callahan
Dianne S. Coscarelli
Thomas J. Coyne
Andrew L. Fabens, III*
Robert C. Folland
Robert B. Ford*
Heidi B. Goldstein
Michael L. Hardy*
Harold W. Henderson
David J. Hooker
Leslie W. Jacobs
Steven S. Kaufman
James C. Koenig
Brian J. Lamb
Alan R. Lepene*
Craig R. Martahus*
Donald H. Messinger*
Leslee W. Miraldi
David J. Naftzinger
Deborah Z. Read
James D. Robenalt
Robyn Minter Smyers
Linda A. Striefsky*
Patrick J. Sweeney
Elizabeth B. Wright
Karen D. Youngstrom
Thomas F. Zych

Columbus
Jim Balthaser
Michael W. Currie
Daniel F. Edwards
O. Judson Scheaf, III
John T. Sunderland
Peter D. Welin
Anthony C. White
William C. Wilkinson

Dayton
Stephen J. Axtell
Wray Blattner*
Robert J. Brown*
Lawrence T. Burick*
Richard F. Carlile*
Mark A. Conway
Robert M. Curry*
Thomas E. DeBrosse*
Francesco A. Ferrante
John L. Green
Timothy J. Hackert*
J. Michael Herr*
Teresa D. Jones
Mark P. Levy*
Theodore D. Lienesch
Crofford J. Macklin, Jr.*
David A. Neuhardt*
Sharen Swartz Neuhardt
Joan H. Roddy*
Arik A. Sherk*

New York
Norman A. Bloch
Douglas E. Grover
Mario J. Suarez

Washington, D.C.
Nicholas J. DiMichael

*Included on the Best Lawyers in America list for 10 years or longer

Established in 1911, Thompson Hine is a business law firm with offices in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, New York and Washington D.C.