JD Journal » legal career

Lawyers Changing Firms to Develop Careers

jim — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:02:40 +0000

Timothy Nitsch was once an engineer before becoming an attorney at SNR Denton which is a reputable law firm. During his time at SNR Denton, Nitsch did not receive many tips on how he would be able to further his career as an attorney. He took it upon himself to find information on different law firms that would be able to give him better opportunities.

A few months passed and Nitsch was now developing decent relationship with recruiters who could help him to develop. Nitsch says, “I watched the market to see how the firm I was at was developing financially and how they were presenting themselves to the legal industry, and also, how other firms were doing that.” Nitsch also stated, “I started looking for firms that fit my criteria of where I wanted to go.”

Nitsch was able to find a firm that fit his criteria in August and became an associate at Levenfeld Pearlstein almost immediately. Nitsch says, “SNR Denton was content with the work I was doing, but there really wasn’t a push to help me develop any additional skills or any clients or move to the next level.”

While Nitsch was satisfied with his own work at the law firm, he had hopes of developing new and additional skills that would further his opportunities and his ability to succeed in the legal field. Nitsch says, “Levenfeld is more geared toward finding new business and promoting associates in finding new business. It’s not so much go out and get business and bring it in immediately, but they assist you in identifying prospects and then harvesting business from those prospects over the long-term.”

Like many other lawyers, Nitsch wanted to join a law firm that would help him to develop his career as a lawyer. With developing his career, he would be able to find more clients and learn plenty of new things. The president of a reputable legal recruiting firm in Chicago has said that she is seeing lawyers change firms now more than ever before. The average lawyer will only change firms once or twice during their career, but some lawyers will change firms multiple times.

Many prestigious law firms are only hiring the best of the best lawyers. Some of these law firms include Kirkland & Ellis, Arps, Slate, and Meagher & Flom. Hiring the best lawyers helps the company to grow as a whole with a detailed strategy plan. Richard Levy, who is a partner at Latham & Watkins, has even said, “Before the three former Kirkland partners, we didn’t really have that component of a sophisticated real estate practice. It would have taken much longer to achieve the level of practice that we now enjoy.”

Many other firms are taking the same approach as these major law firms to help them develop their own firm and practices. It is important to continuously develop a firm and practice so that it can meet the needs of all clients.

Bowie & Jensen Opens Office in Manhattan

joshua — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:26:10 +0000

Towson, Maryland based Bowie & Jensen today announced the opening of its New York office located in Midtown Manhattan.

According to the article at baltimore.citybizlist.com, Bowie & Jensen Founder Robert R. Bowie, Jr. was quoted as saying: “The firm’s operations have grown significantly over the past few years, and a New York office will be a tremendous asset as we continue our growth. At Bowie & Jensen we are very lucky. We are small enough to be personally responsive to clients of all sizes and sophistications, but large enough to handle the most complex legal issues.”

Founded in 1990, Bowie & Jensen is a law firm focusing on all aspects of business law. The firm offers extensive experience in litigation, and corporate and intellectual property law. The firm supports clients that include companies in all stages of development.

Foley & Lardner Adds Seven Attorneys

joshua — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:35:22 +0000

Foley & Lardner announced yesterday seven lawyers from Lovells LLP have joined the firm in its insurance and reinsurance litigation practice group.

Gail Goering, Eric Haab and Neal Moglin will join the firm’s Chicago office as partners. Also joining the firm from Lovells are Kay Wilde as counsel, Peter Steffen as senior counsel, and Edward Diffin and Katherine Markowski as associates.

In the press release at Foley & Lardner’s website, Gordon Davenport III, chair of Foley’s Insurance & Reinsurance Litigation Practice Group was quoted as saying: “The arrival of Gail, Eric, Neal and their colleagues marks a major accomplishment for Foley’s Insurance and Reinsurance practice. The vast experience they bring in advising clients on a broad array of complex insurance and reinsurance issues will further enhance the service our firm has been providing to clients in the insurance industry for more than 100 years.”

Established in 1842, Foley & Lardner is a highly regarded national law firm providing client-focused, industry-specific services that result in high-value legal counsel for its clients. Practice areas encompass the full range of corporate legal services, and include mergers and acquisitions, IP litigation and intellectual property.

Former Chief Legal Counsel to MA Governor Mitt Romney Joins Proskauer

joshua — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:13:14 +0000

Former trial court judge, experienced litigator, and the former Chief Legal Counsel to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Scott Brown’s U.S. Senate Campaign, Daniel B. Winslow has joined the Boston office of global law firm Proskauer.

Winslow will act as a Senior Counsel in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department. He joins the firm from Duane Morris.

Mr. Winslow’s private practice focuses on complex civil and criminal cases for individuals and corporations, including bet-the-company litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Areas he focuses on include commercial disputes, securities law, intellectual property, and white-collar criminal defense.

Winslow also has an extensive background in government and public service, including overseeing the largest legal department in Massachusetts as Chief Legal Counsel to former Governor Romney. He also served for seven years as a Massachusetts trial judge, and as a presiding justice in the Wrentham District Court, a civil managing justice for the Southeast Region, Cape and Islands, and an associate justice in the Southern Appellate Division.

Winslow has also received numerous awards and recognition, including one of the nation’s “Top 500 Trial Lawyers” by Lawdragon Magazine.

According to the press release at the firm’s website, Steven M. Ellis, head of Proskauer’s Boston office, was quoted as saying: “We’re very pleased that a lawyer of Dan’s stature and reputation has decided to join us. Not only will he be a valuable addition to our growing Boston team, but his presence reaffirms Proskauer’s reputation as one of Massachusetts’ premier law firms and a true destination practice.”

Proskauer, founded in 1875, is an international law firm providing a wide variety of legal services to clients worldwide.

Haynes and Boone, LLP Realizes Significant Cost Savings With Use of Iron Mountain’s eVantage Solution

joshua — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:44:41 +0000

According to today’s article at marketwatch.com, Haynes and Boone, LLP has implemented Iron Mountain’s eVantage solution as a firm-wide eDiscovery platform to manage client data and reduce costs associated with the growth of electronic information in litigation and regulatory matters.

E-discovery refers to the collection, preparation, review and production of electronic documents in litigation discovery. This includes e-mail, attachments, and other data stored on a computer, network, backup or other storage media.

Thom Wisinski, Chief Knowledge Officer at Haynes and Boone, was quoted as saying: “Even though we are still in the implementation phase of using the eVantage solution, the firm has achieved measurable improvements in how it manages client data. In one of our first matters using the new workflow, we reduced the review data by 83 percent, resulting in significant cost savings for our client. Even technology-challenged attorneys now use eVantage analytics such as metadata-based search, domain-name filtering, and email-thread analysis to quickly analyze data and manage potential risks.”

Iron Mountain’s eVantage(TM) solution enables law firms, enterprises and litigation service providers to lower eDiscovery costs by providing on-site processing and early assessment capabilities to reduce the amount of data requiring attorney review.

Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm with almost 550 attorneys. The firm provides a full spectrum of legal services, and has offices in Texas, New York, California, Washington, D.C., Mexico City and Moscow.

Iron Mountain Incorporated provides information management services that help organizations lower the costs, risks and inefficiencies of managing their physical and digital data.

Orrick Herrington Gets New Digs

joshua — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:00:22 +0000

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe moved into its new New York office this week at 51 West 52^nd St., the firm announced in a press release. The office is located in the same building that houses the CBS headquarters, which is also known as Black Rock.

The office includes innovative designs and features that are non-traditional to law firms, including numerous public spaces, transparent glass office fronts and an open floor plan, with low-height components for greater visibility and interaction among staff. Additionally, to better connect with other offices and clients, Orrick invested in a state-of-the-art telepresence conferencing equipment.

“We abandoned prior notions about what a law office should look and feel like,” said Peter Bicks, Orrick’s New York office leader. “Using strategies often used by our clients, we designed the space to maximize efficiency and provide a more collaborative work environment for Orrick’s lawyers and staff.”

The firm said being environmentally-friendly was another top consideration for the office. Orrick will be applying for LEED green building certification for its New York office.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is a global law firm with more than 1,100 lawyers in 22 offices in North America, Europe and Asia. The firm focuses on litigation, complex and novel finance and innovative corporate transactions.

Lovells Beijing Chief Leaves on Eve of Merger

joshua — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:48:12 +0000

Robert Lewis, managing partner of Lovells’ Beijing office, has left the firm to join China’s AllBright Law Offices. The move comes just prior to Lovells merger with Hogan & Hartson, which is slated to go live May 1.

Lewis will join the firm as a senior international legal consultant because Chinese law does not allow foreign lawyers to be partners in its country’s law firms. He will continue to work with his former colleagues at Lovells through the Sino-Global Legal Alliance (SGLA). Lewis helped establish the referral group, which includes a total of13 Chinese firms, three years ago. Lewis will take over as chief administrative officer of SGLA in conjunction with his new role at AllBright, LegalWeek reports.

Lewis commented on the move in a press release.

“I am very pleased in my new roles to have the opportunity to continue to promote the original objectives of the SGLA to develop a new model for legal practice in China, melding international and domestic legal services resources and capabilities,” he said.

“In my new position with AllBright in Beijing, I will be able to leverage the competitive efficiencies of a leading domestic Chinese law firm through the national and international network of the SGLA, providing additional value for both foreign and domestic clients, particularly in certain key market segments not served by international law firms.”

McDermott Will ‘Vindicated’ By Federal Court of Appeals

joshua — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:21:24 +0000

McDermott, Will & Emery gained a reversal this week from the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of $4.3 million in sanctions previously ordered against the firm for its role in a 2008 patent dispute with BrainLab.

The Recorder reports a three-judge panel from the Federal Circuit overruled unanimously a decision to levy sanctions against the firm by Colorado Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch for its role in representing Medtronics. According to the report, the panel found Matsch was too tough when deciding that McDermott lawyers acted “cavalierly, with reckless indifference to the merits of Medtronic’s infringement claims.”

However, Judge William Bryson said in a 38-page ruling that the panel disagreed “with most of the district court’s criticisms of Medtronic’s litigation tactics.”

Terrence McMahon led the McDermott Will team. He commented on the decision to the Recorder.

“This is a complete vindication of the trial work we did for Medtronic, and I’m pleased that the Federal Circuit has concluded that we engaged in proper and zealous advocacy,” he said.

McDermott Will is headquartered in Chicago, Ill. It is one of the 10 largest law firms in the United States and one of the 20 largest in the world.

DLA Piper Adds Former ‘Dealmaker of the Year’ from Nixon Peabody

joshua — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:38:24 +0000

Nixon Peabody suffered a blow this week as Peter White, who was named a ‘Dealmaker of the Year’ in 2007 for his role in securing financing for two new Major League ballparks in New York, has left to join DLA Piper’s sports and entertainment practice. Joining White in the move to DLA Piper are Mark Whitaker in Washington D.C. and Katherine Baynes in Rochester, N.Y., both of whom have public finance practices, the National Law Journal reports.

In addition to playing a key role in the building of new stadiums for the New York Yankees and New York Mets, the report notes White has played a key role in the development of stadiums and arenas for sports teams in the National Football League, National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. White is slated to aide DLA Piper on international deals as well.

Whitaker was a partner in Nixon Peabody’s sports and entertainment practice. He represented the Ricketts family in securing a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley field, the NLJ reports. Baynes practice focuses on a variety of bonds, including revenue, civic facility revenue, college and university and hospital and health care.

DLA Piper is one of the world’s largest law firms. It has 3,500 lawyers practicing in 67 offices in 29 countries.

Skadden Arps To Cut Summer Program Invitations In Half

todd — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:17:45 +0000

Prominent New York based firm Skadden Arps sent out offers to potential candidates for their 2010 summer program. The firm, which boasts over 2,000 lawyers, announced in August that there would be massive cuts to their summer hiring. They hired 225 students for this summer’s program and they plan to hire less than half of that for the summer of 2010.

It is up in the air as to how the rates for summer participants will compare to previous years.

Jack Thompson Hopes SCOTUS Will Save His Legal Career; Has One Vote So Far (Guess Whose?)

Erik Even — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:24:24 +0000

From GamePolitics, the best place to follow the ongoing saga of batcrap-crazy ex-lawyer Jack Thompson:

Jack Thompson is hoping that the United States Supreme Court will consider his appeal of the Florida Supreme Court ruling that disbarred him for life.

In mid-December the anti-game attorney requested from the U.S. Superme Court an extension of a Christmas Eve deadline in which to file what is known as a petition for a writ of certiorari.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has granted Thompson’s request, meaning that the embattled anti-game violence advocate will have until February 18th to petition for cert with the Supreme Court.

I’m not surprised that Thomas would back Thompson — they’re both famous, media-friendly lawyers, terrible at their jobs, who subscribe to the dumbass Sarah Palin wing of the Conservative movement.

Via GamePolitics.