Legal IndustryRSS

  • July 29, 2010

    Ex-Thompson & Knight Atty Tapped For Federal Bench

    President Barack Obama has nominated a white collar defense lawyer who helped open the San Antonio office of Thompson & Knight LLP to replace disgraced Judge Samuel Kent on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

  • July 28, 2010

    ABA Says US News Unstoppable In Rankings World

    There is “relatively little” the legal education community can do in the short term to unseat U.S. News and World Report's dominance in the world of law school rankings, according to a report from an American Bar Association committee that finds the ranking system “not entirely benign.”

  • July 27, 2010

    Senate Falls Short In Bid To Undo Citizens United

    The U.S. Senate on Tuesday fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward with legislation responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision with new limits and disclosure rules on corporate spending in federal elections.

  • July 27, 2010

    How To Slam-Dunk Closing Arguments

    The best closing arguments will sway errant jurors to your side — or change their frame of reference for damages in the event that the cards are stacked too heavily against you. Top litigators share their most effective strategies for making sure you don't lose the trial for your client at this crucial juncture.

  • July 27, 2010

    BigLaw Unlikely To Ditch Swank Digs To Go Virtual

    More lawyers are joining the ranks of virtual attorneys who forgo chic full-time office space and instead work from home to lower overhead costs, but experts said BigLaw firms are unlikely to abandon their opulent digs anytime soon.

  • July 23, 2010

    So You Think You're About To Be De-Equitized ...

    With more lawyers than ever expected to face de-equitization this year, experts gave Law360 their advice on how to avoid getting the bad news, and what to do if it's unavoidable.

  • July 22, 2010

    Obama Names 2 For District Court Spots In Md., Fla.

    President Barack Obama has tapped a sitting magistrate judge and a federal public defender to fill district judge vacancies in Maryland and Florida.

  • July 22, 2010

    5 Tips For Nailing Voir Dire

    The voir dire process can be crucial to the outcome of a case, but it's also a balancing act for lawyers, who need to uncover potential biases while staying in the good graces of potential jurors. Here, top litigators weigh in on the best strategies to ensure that jurors perceive you favorably during voir dire but give you the information you need to steer your case in the right direction.

  • July 21, 2010

    Schwarzenegger Taps Justice For Calif. High Court

    Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that he had picked Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who currently sits on the California Court of Appeals, to serve as chief justice of the state's highest court.

  • July 21, 2010

    Pitfalls To Consider In Two-Tiered Associate Tracks

    As corporate firms look to meet client demands by introducing two-tiered associate tracks, they should be wary of at least four potential pitfalls, legal experts say.

  • July 21, 2010

    Freshfields To Offer Attys Job-Sharing

    In an effort to better accommodate its associates, Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has unveiled an alternative work program that would give associates the options of job-sharing and off-site working.

  • July 21, 2010

    Confirmation Delays Wreak Havoc On Civil Litigation

    Many U.S. district courts are operating without a full bench, and the delay in filling empty seats is causing a devastating slowdown to the court system that puts increased burdens on judges, lawyers and litigants, according to experts.

  • July 20, 2010

    Kilpatrick Stockton, Townsend Cease Merger Talks

    Kilpatrick Stockton LLP and Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP confirmed Tuesday they have called off talks of a potential merger because they were unable to resolve client conflicts.

  • July 20, 2010

    Senate Quarrels Keep Judicial Vacancies Piling Up

    While all eyes might be on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, federal court watchers are calling on the Senate to turn its attention to the lower court vacancies that have stacked up as even the least controversial of nominations fall victim to senatorial squabbling and stalling.

  • July 20, 2010

    Recession Takes Bite Out Of GC Bonuses

    The recession has taken its toll on the pocketbooks of the U.S.' best-paid corporate general counsel and in-house attorneys, particularly in the realm of traditional cash bonuses, which dropped on average 37 percent, according to a recent survey.

  • July 20, 2010

    Senate Panel OKs Kagan With 1 Republican Vote

    The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to serve on the nation's highest court Tuesday, with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., breaking GOP ranks to vote for a nominee he described as “a loyal American.”

  • July 19, 2010

    Judges Offer 5 Sure Bets For Botching Settlement

    Facilitating settlement between embattled and often bitter parties is hard enough without attorneys adding to the mayhem by failing to come fully prepared to negotiate, a group of federal magistrate judges told Law360.

  • July 16, 2010

    5 Ways To Stave Off Punitive Damages

    Bank-account-busting punitive damages awards are a client's and a defense attorney's nightmare when facing a high-stakes lawsuit. But there are a few easy steps that can help ward off disaster, lawyers said.

  • July 15, 2010

    Law Firms Fall Back In Step With Lockstep

    After abandoning the model briefly during the recession, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has become the third major law firm in recent weeks to announce it will revert back to a lockstep associate salary structure in 2011, and legal industry experts expect more firms to follow suit.

  • July 15, 2010

    Obama Nominates 7 To The Federal Bench

    President Barack Obama has nominated six individuals to fill vacancies on federal district courts in Oregon, the District of Columbia, Georgia and Illinois, and tapped University of Wisconsin School of Law professor Victoria F. Nourse to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.