Legal Industry RSS

  • April 24, 2014

    Alito Says Justices Rival Attys In Oral Argument Time

    Although U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments are peppered with queries from interrupting justices who average more than one question per minute, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said on Thursday that the arguing lawyers still take up 60 percent of the hourlong discussions. 

  • April 24, 2014

    Law360's Weekly Verdict: Legal Lions & Lambs

    This week's legal lions are led by some Michigan lawyers who won a U.S. Supreme Court decision with big implications for affirmative action programs, followed by some plaintiffs counsel who stared down a BigPharma company in a long-running class action. Our legal lambs include Apple Inc. counsel who got a reprimand for patent troll-like behavior, and another group of lawyers who got a tongue lashing for failing to give a New Jersey court a timely heads up about a settlement.

  • April 24, 2014

    Lawyers Can View Jurors' Public Online Profiles, ABA Says

    The American Bar Association said Thursday that attorneys can review information that jurors make publicly available on social media websites without violating ethics rules, as long as they refrain from sending direct communications or attempting to access private data.

  • April 24, 2014

    More Work, Less Play At Law Firm Retreats

    BigLaw lawyers should expect more business and less partying at this year's spring retreats as firms look for ways to show the pricey events make an impact on the bottom line, experts say.

  • April 24, 2014

    Female Powerbrokers Q&A: Williams & Connolly's Enu Mainigi

    I find that both female and male associates who have spent some time in another career before or after law school initially have better success in taking ownership of matters and thereby standing out to senior partners, says Enu Mainigi, a member of Williams & Connolly LLP’s executive committee and head of the firm's health care law and False Claims Act practices.

  • April 24, 2014

    Female Powerbrokers Q&A: Dorsey's Liz Buckingham

    Baby boomers with large books of business are retiring. At our last partners’ meeting, two teams composed of a senior male partner and a junior female partner talked about their transition planning. It was a powerful message, says Elizabeth Buckingham, head of Dorsey & Whitney LLP's trademark, copyright, advertising and brand management practice group.

  • April 23, 2014

    Better Economy May Spur Bankruptcy Firms To Branch Out

    Stutman Treister & Glatt, a Los Angeles-based bankruptcy firm that advises hedge funds and other bondholders, plans to shutter its doors in May in part because of slower Chapter 11 activity and greater refinancing opportunities, and experts say the shifting market may prompt other bankruptcy boutiques to join forces with larger firms or diversify their practices.

  • April 23, 2014

    Privileged Dechert Tapes Will Stay With Coudert Administrator

    Dechert LLP on Wednesday failed to reclaim backup computer files created while it was taking over the Paris office of defunct Coudert Brothers LLP, leaving privileged client communications in the hands of the Coudert bankruptcy administrator.

  • April 23, 2014

    Yale Law Women Names Top 10 Family-Friendly Firms

    Arnold & Porter LLP was for the ninth year in a row honored by Yale Law Women for its family-friendly practices among Vault Top 100 law firms, the group announced Thursday.

  • April 23, 2014

    4 Practice Areas Generating Big Billable Hours

    Although some practice areas have shrunk amid a shifting legal landscape, the demand for a select few legal services is growing by leaps and bounds, giving attorneys the opportunity to generate huge billable hours. Here, Law360 looks at practice areas experiencing explosions in demand.

  • April 23, 2014

    Malpractice Firms In Demand As Claims Against BigLaw Rise

    As competition for high-stakes legal work intensifies, major law firms are becoming increasingly exposed to massive professional liability claims, driving a need for experienced lawyers who can handle the demands of defending BigLaw clients, experts say.

  • April 23, 2014

    Female Powerbrokers Q&A: Curtis' Nancy Delaney

    As wonderful as my male mentors were, they did not completely understand what it was like for me to be on trial when my son took his first step or how a traditional business “dinner” with a male client can be more complicated for a woman, says Nancy Delaney, the first female litigation partner at Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP and founder of the firm's women's initiative.

  • April 23, 2014

    Female Powerbrokers Q&A: Alston Hunt's Anna Elento-Sneed

    When a senior male partner "volunteered" all the female associates to staff a social event for a males-only organization, we told him we refused to participate. We thought we would get fired, but we stuck together and did not have to attend, says Anna Elento-Sneed, chairwoman of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing's labor and employment, government contracts and corporate governance practice group.

  • April 22, 2014

    Former Top-Level Dewey Atty To Testify In Criminal Case

    The lead prosecutor in the criminal trial of the former heads of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, who are accused of artificially inflating the firm’s books before its collapse, on Monday revealed that former Dewey executive committee member John Altorelli will be called as a witness for the government.

  • April 22, 2014

    Gender Equality A No-Brainer For Employment Firms

    Employment law firms are doing far better than their BigLaw brethren at promoting and retaining female talent, reflecting a professional knack for supportive workplace policies, a client-driven focus on equality and a cultural history of inclusion that dates back decades.

  • April 22, 2014

    2 More Patton Boggs Partners Bolt Amid Merger Talks

    Two more Patton Boggs LLP partners have joined a steady stream of departures from the struggling lobbying firm as it negotiates a potential deal to merge with Squire Sanders LLP.

  • April 22, 2014

    Firms Eyeing Gender Equality Should Adopt Corporate Culture

    U.S. law firms continue to make it hard for women to advance, but experts say the legal industry could look to an unlikely source for inspiration — corporate America.

  • April 22, 2014

    Female Powerbrokers Q&A: Priest Johnson's Priest Johnson

    I left the national law firm scene because of the inherent challenges of being a woman at a national law firm — primarily the rigidity and inflexible, often unrealistic, scheduling expectations, short-term view of being a valuable contributor to the firm, and the demand that I “act like a man” in the way I did my job, says Kimberly Priest Johnson, founder of Priest Johnson PLLC and a former federal prosecutor.

  • April 22, 2014

    Female Powerbrokers Q&A: BakerHostetler's Lauren Resnick

    I started breaking into “old boys’ networks” when I was 9 years old and the only girl at a soccer camp. They picked me last for teams — until they saw I could play as well on the field as any of them, says Lauren Resnick, BakerHostetler's business development partner and New York administrative partner, and a former federal prosecutor.

  • April 22, 2014

    4 Ways To Get Your Law Firm Merger-Ready

    Joining forces with another law firm is an efficient way to strengthen specific practice areas, offer services in more markets and grow a book of business, but firms that are unprepared for a merger opportunity risk turning positive change into a potentially damaging experience for both clients and employees, experts say. Here, Law360 looks at ways to be ready when opportunity knocks.