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January Jobs Report a Positive Step Forward

jim — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:36:49 +0000

The job market took a massive step towards recovery in the month of January but it is still on a very long road to full recovery. Nonfarm payrolls in the United States picked up 243,000 jobs in the month of January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is an increase from the revised 203,000 jobs in December.

In January, the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, which is a drop from the 8.5 percent in the month of December. Economists estimate that if the number of workers who dropped out of the labor force were included, then the unemployment number could be over 10 percent, which is still a very bad sign.

“This report is encouraging, but it still underscores how far a distance we have to go and how many people are still long-term unemployed and disconnected from the workforce,” said Harvard economist Lawrence Katz. “Even if we were willing to say that the scars of the great recession mean a couple of million people drop out permanently, we still have many years to go before we get back to where we were.”

The early expectations for job growth came in at 155,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate hovering at 8.5 percent. With the new job numbers, the total amount of nonfarm payroll jobs sits at 132.4 million jobs, which is 5.6 million jobs lower than the 138 million at its peak in January of 2008. In layman’s terms, it will take many more months to get job numbers back to where they were four years ago.

Hamilton Place Strategies, a Washington, D.C. consulting firm, released a study on the economy and jobs. The data released estimates that there could be three million long-term unemployed people in the country who are not being included in the count by the Labor Department because those three million people have stopped looking for new work. If these people are pushed back to the workforce because of signs that the job market is improving, then the unemployment rate would increase. In January, the participation rate for the workforce fell to 63.7 percent compared to 64 percent in December. This is the lowest number since January of 1982, which suggests that employees are still leaving the job force in massive numbers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics labels this group of people as those not in the labor force because they stopped looking for work over a month ago but still would like to have a job. This number has increased by 1.66 million since the start of the recession. The unemployment rate would hit 9.2 percent should those 1.66 million people re-enter the job force.

To compare the new numbers with old numbers, unemployment hit its peak in October of 2009 at 10 percent. A larger measure of unemployment, including workers only marginally attached to the job market fell to 15.1 percent, the lowest it has been since February of 2009.

January saw the private sector add 257,000 jobs as the government sector cut 14,000 jobs. Manufacturing added 50,000 jobs and leisure and hospitality added 44,000 jobs.

Emmetts Adding 100 Positions

joshua — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:38:43 +0000

UK law Firm Emmetts announced that it is planning to add 100 new positions this year. The firm, which operates three offices in the UK, will hire 60 new lawyers and 40 support staff. The move is based on a surge in negligence claims against companies, according to the firm.

Emmetts was founded in 2004 by husband and wife Richard and Lindsay Emmett. Originally operating out of their home in Preston, the firm has grown rapidly and now takes in around 1000 new clients per month from three offices in Preston, Longridge and London.

Firms Looking to Increase Summer Hires

joshua — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:08:16 +0000

AM Law Daily provided some encouraging news Friday in a preview of the upcoming summer hiring season. According to its reporting, summer associate class-size is expected to show significant increases in some cases among the more prestigious firms.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which has a summer class size of 23 now, is expected to increase its hiring to around 75 for next summer. The story notes how Cravath “shocked the market” when it slashed its summer class size from 123 in 2009 to this year’s low number.

The number of summer associates at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom fell from 225 in 2009 to 79 this year, but that number could jump back to over 100.

While still not at the levels from before the cuts, the AM Law Daily notes that the increases are “a modest jump, but modest jumps are what pass for good news these days.”

Ropes & Gray could go over 100 summer associates after having 82 this year. Jones Day expects to increase its summer class from the 124 of this year and Proskauer Rose will hold steady.

None of this is official, however, as much of the information for the story is based largely on anonymous sources.

Survey Confirms Summer Hiring Cool If Not Frozen

eric — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:26:58 +0000

AmLaw Daily reported today that firms have cooled their 2010 summer associate hiring down by an average of 44 percent. That equates to roughly an average of 31 fewer summer associates per firm for each of the 114 firms that took the publication’s survey.

Am Law is also reporting that some of the biggest dips in hiring came from those firms found on its “A” List. This includes Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which went from 223 summer associates last year to a meager 79 this year, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which saw an 81 percent cut in summer jobs. Ballard Spahr eliminated its summer camp entirely.

Finally, both Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Latham & Watkins had the largest summer school classes, although both saw a shrinking, about 40 associates less, of those classes.

Morris Manning & Martin Announces Summer Associate Program

eric — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:36:30 +0000

Morris Manning & Martin announced today that it is reinstating it summer associate program. The firm will be hosting nine associates during the summer months.

According to the firm’s human resource partner, Vanessa Goggans, the firm opted out of the ten week program in 2009 due to economic reasons, a trend among many law firms. However, this year the firm has seen significant economic growth, Goggan reports and the firm is excited to reinstate the program.

Morris, Manning & Martin is a full-service commercial law firm representing domestic and international clients throughout the United States. MMM’s goal is to deliver industry-focused, diverse legal solutions by, involved lawyers who are dedicated to clients’ success, whether in a transaction, in court or in the everyday course of business. MMM specializes in green industry, healthcare, intellectual property, capital markets, environmental, insurance, mergers & acquisitions, technology, timberland and forest products, real estate, and litigation practices. MMM has offices in Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Savannah, Taipei, Beijing and Washington, D.C. and now an alliance with FGCN in São Paulo, Brazil.

Report Shows Legalized Gambling to Have Huge Benefits

daniel — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 03:16:16 +0000

British research and consulting firm H2 Gambling Capital has produced a new report that could facilitate the creation of legalized online gambling. The reason is simple: the report estimates the creation of 32,000 new jobs and $57.5 billion in tax revenue over a 5-year period.

“This study should provide further incentive for the Obama administration and Congress to act quickly to regulate Internet gambling,” said Simon Holliday, a director at H2.

HR2267 is Congressman Barney Frank’s efforts to create such legislation, and the new information is a boon. Congressman Jim McDermott has a complementary tax proposal which also stands to benefit from the new report.

Freshfields to Add 15 Lawyers to Munich Office

Erik Even — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:55:38 +0000

Freshfields will add at least 15 lawyers to its Munich office, including four partners who will relocate from Frankfurt.

Yorck Jetter, Matthias-Gabriel Kremer, Rick van Aerssen and Markus Fisseler will transfer to Munich at the start of the new financial year.

Senior associate Wessel Heukamp will be promoted to partner and join the office, bringing the total number of partners in the office to 13.

Teams of associates will be hired for each new partner, expanding lawyer count in the office by around 50%. The firm intends to hire locally in Munich, and move associates over from Frankfurt, which has 60 partners and over 500 total staff.

Freshfields’ also has offices in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg. The firm recently shut its office in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is the fourth largest law firm in the world by revenue, and a component of the UK’s Magic Circle of leading law firms

UK Firm Hiring 150

Erik Even — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:53:34 +0000

York, UK’s Minster Law is recruiting 150 people for its two offices in York and Wakefield.

CEO Matthew Briggs hopes to bring 40 jobs to York before Summer.

The firm is the UK’s largest road traffic accident injury and loss recovery company. It recently shifted emphasis from business law to employment law, following an increase in redundancy cases.

The company expects 40% growth in 2009. It currently employs 350 at its York office.

Taft Stettinius & Hollister Adds 8 to Dayton Office

Erik Even — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:00:36 +0000

The Dayton, Ohio office of Taft Stettinius & Hollister has added eight new lawyers.

The firm is bringing on all four lawyers from Crew & Buchanan in Dayton, effectively moving Crew & Buchanan to practice out of Taft’s local offices.

The new lawyers from Crew & Buchanan include partners Joseph Buchanan, Jennifer Hann Harrison, Jeffrey Swillinger and associate Andrew Tahler.

The firm also is adding partners Barbara Duncombe, Suzanne Sumner and Tom Menza, who come to Taft from Dayton-based Sebaly, Shillito and Dyer, to create a new focus on government contract law.

An additional lawyer will start at the firm next week.

The Dayton office will now have more than 30 lawyers, moving it from the ninth largest law firm in the Dayton area to the sixth.

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is a corporate law firm with headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Gibson Dunn Revenues Up, No Layoffs Planned

Erik Even — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:06:42 +0000

Am Law 100 firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher reports that gross revenue rose 5.4% to $957 million in 2008.

Gibson Dunn’s profits per partner declined 1.3% to $1.9 million, while revenue per lawyer dropped 4.3% to $1 million.

In May, Gibson Dunn announced the opening of an office in Singapore, bringing the firm’s office total to 15.

The Los Angeles-founded firm added 25 lateral partners, more than double the number of laterals it hired during any prior year. The 920-lawyer firm’s legal talent grew by 10%.

The firm intends to attract more laterals in 2009.

Founded in 1890, Gibson Dunn has almost 1000 attorneys and over 2000 staff located in 15 offices around the world.

Revenue Up at Employment Law Firm Jackson Lewis

Erik Even — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:03:43 +0000

Jackson Lewis, a national workplace law firm with 541 attorneys in 40 offices, grew in 2008.

Head count grew by 20% in 2008, through August 31; it has grown by another 12% since.

Gross revenue rose 20% in 2008, to just over $233 million, and profits per partner rose 2.6% to $517,000. Revenue per lawyer was flat at $495,000.

The firm says it succeeded in the rough economy by focusing on its employment practice.

“We’re doing fine,” says Patrick Vaccaro, the firm’s managing partner. “A lot of the business we’re doing now is recession-related, but to me, that’s not the kind of business that makes me happy. I’d rather have our employer clients healthy. In the long-term, that’s best for us.”

The firm opened eight new offices in 2008, inclusding Memphis, Tennessee; Jacksonville, Florida; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Detroit, Michigan and Las Vegas, Nevada.

The firm expects to open two or three new offices in 2009.

Nixon Peabody Launches Israel Practice

Erik Even — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:20:48 +0000

Nixon Peabody has launched an Israeli business practice group, to counsel companies in the Jewish State and those doing business with them.

The move may prove controversial, as there are calls to divest from Israel in the wake of the recent Gaza offensive.

Sam Feigin and Mark Kass, partners in the New York-based law firm’s Washington, DC office, will lead the practice.

The office’s lawyers, who hail from 14 Nixon Peabody offices in the US and abroad, work in the high-tech, life sciences, interactive entertainment, digital media and other sectors.

The offerings will include legal and business services to companies and investors doing business in Israel, and to Israeli companies, investors and entrepreneurs with commercial interests abroad.

Nixon Peabody LLP is one of the largest multi-practice law firms in the United States, with offices in 17 cities in the United States and one in London, and more than 700 in 25 major practice areas.

India Considers Opening Nation to Foreign Law Firms

Erik Even — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:05:18 +0000

HR Bhardwaj, India’s justice minister, says his government has circulated draft regulations on allowing foreign law firms to practice in India.

International law firms have been barred from practicing in India since a High Court ruling in 1995. Foreign lawyers have since either provided advice on Indian legal issues from offices in other countries, or more recently formed alliances with domestic Indian firms.

Announcing the move after a meeting with UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, Bhardwaj encouraged Indian lawyers to drop their longstanding opposition to liberalization, saying that allowing foreign law firms to practice in India would create “thousands” of legal jobs.

“The initiatives we are taking at the government level will not harm lawyers here,” Bhardwaj said.

IP Firm Oblon Spivak Seeks Patent Attorneys [Video]

Erik Even — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:26:45 +0000

From LawCrossing:

Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, a prominent intellectual property law firm in Alexandria, Virginia, is currently looking to hire qualified patent attorneys for its electrical/mechanical patent prosecution practice.

To be considered for the positions, the firm requires a law degree, a degree in electrical/computer engineering or physics, and a license to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Candidates are also required to have stellar academic credentials and strong writing and communication skills.

Founded in 1968, Oblon Spivak is one of the largest firms in the nation specializing exclusively in intellectual property law.

– Misty Kingma