Legal Industry

May 16, 2012
Last Dewey Leader Calls It Quits As Partner Exits Continue

The final member of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP’s Office of the Chairman bowed out Wednesday, leaving for Arnold & Porter LLP, making room for the struggling firm’s general counsel to step in in order to wind down the day-to-day operations.
May 15, 2012
Obama Nominates 2 Judges For NY, Calif. Federal Courts

President Barack Obama on Monday nominated a state judge and a magistrate judge to sit on the federal courts for the Western District of New York and the Central District of California, respectively.
May 15, 2012
Rivals Grab Stragglers As Dewey's Italian Office Spins Off

Partners continued to break away from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP on Tuesday, with partners heading to Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, Holland & Knight LLP and other rivals and a portion of the crumbling firm's Italian offices planning to form a new firm.
May 15, 2012
Top Female Trial Attorney: Dorsey's Lisa Marchese

For Dorsey & Whitney LLP partner Lisa Marchese, trying a case is about boiling it down to a theme and story that will resonate with the jury, regardless of their backgrounds and the legal complexities at hand.
May 15, 2012
PBGC Sues Dewey For Control Of 'Underfunded' Pension Plans

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. sued Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP in New York federal court Monday in an attempt to gain control of the ailing law firm's three pension funds, claiming the plans are underfunded by more than $80 million.
May 14, 2012
Rakoff Slams US Sentencing Guidelines For Being Too Harsh

A federal judge on Monday called federal sentencing guidelines irrational, overly punitive and too blunt, saying he would continue to deviate from them despite the U.S. Department of Justice's plea for more uniformity in sentencing.
May 14, 2012
Calif. Judiciary Decries Proposed 20% Cut To Court Funds

With California facing a $15.7 billion deficit, Gov. Jerry Brown released a revised state budget Monday that called for $8.3 billion in government cuts, including slashing funds to the court system by 20 percent, which judicial leaders claim would hurt access to the courts.
May 14, 2012
Top Female Trial Attorney: Crowell & Moring's Janet Levine

Crowell & Moring LLP's white collar expert Janet I. Levine rocketed to national prominence in 2005 when she won a dismissal of charges for her client, an alleged double agent in a front-page scandal that sullied U.S. intelligence operations. In protecting others' reputations over the past three decades, Levine has earned one for herself, landing her a spot on the list of Law360's Top Female Trial Attorneys.
May 14, 2012
Vinson & Elkins Opens San Francisco Office

Vinson & Elkins LLP has opened a new office in San Francisco that will focus on white collar, antitrust and commercial litigation, as well as intellectual property law, the firm announced Monday.
May 14, 2012
ABA Group Floats Tougher Data Security Rule For Attys

An American Bar Association commission has proposed expanding established data security standards to the legal sector by amending an ethics rule to require lawyers to take reasonable steps to safeguard client information.
May 14, 2012
Greenberg Traurig Enters Warsaw With 50 Dewey Defectors

Rival firms continued to bolster their bankruptcy, litigation, insurance and other practices Monday with the addition of several former Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP attorneys, while Greenberg Traurig LLP opened a Warsaw office with more than 50 attorneys from the sinking firm.
May 11, 2012
Wilson Sonsini Courts Startups With 3rd Bay Area Office

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC is opening its third Bay Area office in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood to collaborate more closely with the tech startup companies clustered in the area, the firm said Friday.
May 11, 2012
DeCotiis Seeks Quick Win In NJ County's Malpractice Suit

An attorney for DeCotiis Fitzpatrick & Cole LLP argued Friday that Bergen County, N.J., can't establish proximate cause in its legal malpractice action against the law firm over a hospital operator's $700 million-plus suit for Medicaid-related payments.
May 11, 2012
Top Female Trial Attorneys: Quinn Emanuel's Faith Gay

A good litigator can explain a client's case, but a great litigator can tell a client's story, connecting with an audience by weaving the complexities through a narrative that makes listeners understand and, most importantly, agree. Few attorneys can tell a story quite like Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP's Faith Gay, making her one of Law360's Top Female Trial Attorneys.
May 11, 2012
Dewey Loses Another Leader, Calif. Partners Open New Firm

Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP’s partners continued scrambling for the exits Friday, as another member of the Office of the Chairman left to join Proskauer Rose LLP while a group of California partners departed to open a new intellectual property boutique.
May 10, 2012
Calif. Judges May Get To Strike Data From Financial Disclosures

After California judges raised concerns over security risks, the staff of the state Fair Political Practices Commission issued a proposal Monday that would require judges to post their financial disclosure forms online, but allow them to request in advance that certain sensitive data be redacted.
May 10, 2012
Dewey Partners Likely To Face Wrath Of Creditors

Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP partners owed potentially millions of dollars in unpaid compensation are not only unlikely to recover any of that money, but could also end up on the hook for payments to creditors should the tottering firm file for bankruptcy protection, experts said.
May 10, 2012
Dewey Faces Suit Over Layoffs As US Absorbs Pension Plan

Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP faced more setbacks Thursday when an employee accused the embattled law firm of failing to give at least 450 employees enough notice for planned layoffs, amid a move by federal regulators to take over the firm’s pension plan.
May 10, 2012
Top Female Trial Attorneys: Quinn Emanuel's Diane Doolittle

The quickest way to sum up why Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner Diane Doolittle has a place on Law360's list of Top Female Trial Attorneys is with six words: 22 years, 66 trials, four losses.
May 10, 2012
McGuireWoods To Team Up With Parisian Firm KGA Avocats

McGuireWoods LLP and Paris-based law firm KGA Avocats announced Thursday they've entered into a nonexclusive cooperation agreement, planning to work together to serve clients and market services across the U.S., U.K. and mainland Europe.