Connecticut Pulse

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    The Most Notable Numbers For 2024 Mid-Law Promotions

    Partnership promotions among Mid-Law firms ticked downward during the 2024 promotion cycle, with average class sizes falling below five partners, based on an analysis of announcements from mid-size and regional firms.

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    Southeast, Michigan Highlight Mid-Law Partner Promotions

    A survey by Law360 Pulse of Mid-Law partner promotion class announcements shows Southeastern markets like Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas started 2024 with heavy growth, while Michigan-based firms saw a substantial increase from previous years.

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    Number Of Women In Mid-Law Partner Classes Stays Stagnant

    The percentage of female attorneys in this year's partnership classes among Mid-Law firms remained constant, with experts saying that although midsize and regional firms tend to do better than their BigLaw cousins, work remains to be done if firms are to reach gender parity among their partner ranks.

  • Vexatious Litigation Claims Can't Transfer, Conn. Court Says

    A construction supplier has no basis for vexatious litigation claims against multiple attorneys, much less a claim for early remedies from them, because the allegations are tied to the company's predecessor and current company can't pursue them, a Connecticut appeals court ruled Friday.

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    'Bright Line' Recusal Rule May Be Challenging To Fed. Judges

    A new ethics opinion clarifying when federal judges should step aside from cases when they own stock in a party's parent company is a positive step toward transparency, but it also creates a lot of work for judges and may not have much practical impact, according to experts.

  • Conn. Trial Attys Slam Proposed Offsets For Jury Awards

    Connecticut lawmakers on Monday considered a bill that could reduce economic damages awarded to personal injury and wrongful death plaintiffs when a collateral payment source, such as an insurer, has a right of subrogation, a measure that trial lawyers panned as an insurance industry perk that would undo precedent.  

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    Pitney Bowes' Chief Legal Officer To Retire At Month's End

    The top legal officer at Pitney Bowes Inc., who has worked at the company for more than two decades in various roles during separate employment stints, is set to retire on March 31, according to a Monday public filing.

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    In-House Atty, Ex-Hartford Mayor Among 22 Conn. Judge Noms

    Attorneys from Halloran & Sage LLP, Faxon Law Group, Brown Paindiris & Scott LLP and other Connecticut firms are among 22 nominees announced Friday for seats on the state trial court's bench, alongside an in-house counsel for The Hartford and nearly a dozen public servants, including a former mayor of the state capital.

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    Houser Reports Data Breach Affected 325,000 People

    Houser LLP experienced a data breach beginning in May that affected more than 325,000 people, the law firm said in a regulatory filing with the Office of the Maine Attorney General posted Wednesday.

  • Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Susman Godfrey LLP and Truelove Law Firm lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions after a Texas state jury awarded $287 million to Dutch telecommunications company Koninklijke KPN in a contract dispute with Samsung Electronics Co.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    February ended with a bang as BigLaw made moves and the Supreme Court waded into former President Donald Trump’s legal woes. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse’s weekly quiz.

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    Clerk Database Founder On Cruel Judges, Law School Inertia

    This month, the Legal Accountability Project will launch an online clerkship database consisting of more than 800 reviews of state and federal judges. Access will be limited to law students undergoing the clerkship application process and seeking honest assessments of their would-be bosses.

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    How Aspiring GCs Can Be Sure Their Comp Packages Are Fair

    The beginning of proxy season is upon us, which means we can gain insight into compensation packages for public companies' legal chiefs. But how can lawyers, especially those stepping into their first general counsel role, be sure their own compensation is fair and reasonable?

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    Gfeller Laurie Names 2 Attys As Counsel In Conn.

    Gfeller Laurie LLP has named two of its civil defense litigators as counsel, the firm said Wednesday.

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    Law Firm Real Estate Report

    The expansion of law firm footprints in North Carolina and Florida, a couple of homecomings in Minnesota and Sarasota, Florida, and the completion of a multimillion-dollar renovation in Houston were among some of the biggest real estate moves for law firms in February.

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    McCarter & English Wants Ex-Client To Cough Up Extra $1.8M

    McCarter & English LLP on Thursday asked a federal judge in Connecticut to hike a prejudgment remedy order against a former client by $1.8 million, which would nearly double the original remedy of $1.85 million, arguing that interest on subsequent jury awards continues to add up as the dispute spills from federal court to the Connecticut Supreme Court.

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    Inside BigLaw's 'Tremendous' Hunger For Restructuring Attys

    Even as the economy appears poised to pick up steam in 2024, BigLaw firms are still aggressively adding restructuring capabilities, with a number of recent lateral hires reflecting the glut of work still to be found in the practice area.

  • Photronics GC Sees Comp. Top $2M In 2023

    The top attorney for Photronics Inc., a Connecticut-based semiconductor photomask manufacturer, saw her compensation increase slightly in 2023, pushing it to just over $2 million.

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    Meet The Attys In Suit Over Toll Brothers Deal

    A home security subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based building firm Toll Brothers has sued two Connecticut-based security companies, accusing them of failing to disclose a $5 million consumer protection settlement while negotiating the purchase of its customer accounts. Here, Law360 Pulse takes a look at the attorneys representing the parties.

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    Gov't Attys Must Mind Confidential Info Or Be DQ'd, ABA Says

    Both current and former government attorneys who take on private clients should look out for instances where their possession of "confidential government information" calls for them to be disqualified from representing a client, according to the latest guidance from the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, released Wednesday.

  • Conn. State Worker Wants Atty Fees After Noose Trial Win

    A Black employee of Connecticut's state energy and environmental regulator is asking a federal judge to award more than $200,000 in attorney fees after he prevailed in a lawsuit alleging that he was racially tormented and exposed to nooses in a hostile work environment.

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    Behind Benesch's Strategy To Add And Keep BigLaw Laterals

    Mid-sized Ohio-based firm Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP has become an attractive destination for a certain type of BigLaw lateral partner, attracting a notable number over the past six months from firms such as Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Jenner & Block LLP.

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    Law Firm Leasing Activity Reaches Pre-Pandemic Level

    Major firm relocations in late 2023, including Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's December deal for a 20-year lease in a midtown Manhattan skyscraper, helped fuel the hottest legal office space market since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Connecticut Atty's Fishy Email Prompts Trust Account Audit

    A Connecticut Superior Court judge has ordered an attorney to cooperate with an official audit of his Webster Bank lawyer trust account after he responded to an overdraft notice and a commensurate disciplinary inquiry with an email saying the issue wasn't a priority because he was on a fishing trip.

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    Approach The Bench: Judge Michael Baylson

    Though his standing order on lawyers writing briefs using artificial intelligence — one of the first in the country to address the technology — is fairly broad, Judge Michael Baylson of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania says he's "not banning AI."

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Expert Analysis

  • A Call For Personal Accountability On Diversity And Inclusion Author Photo

    While chief legal officers are increasingly involved in creating corporate diversity, inclusion and anti-bigotry policies, all lawyers have a responsibility to be discrimination busters and bias interrupters regardless of the title they hold, says Veta T. Richardson at the Association of Corporate Counsel.

  • Learning How To Code Can Unleash New Potential In Lawyers Author Photo

    Every lawyer can begin incorporating aspects of software development in their day-to-day practice with little to no changes in their existing tools or workflow, and legal organizations that take steps to encourage this exploration of programming can transform into tech incubators, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Supporting Associates Amid Pandemic's Mental Health Toll Author Photo

    As junior associates increasingly report burnout, work-life conflict and loneliness during the pandemic, law firms should take tangible actions to reduce the stigma around seeking help, and to model desired well-being behaviors from the top down, say Stacey Whiteley at the New York State Bar Association and Robin Belleau at Kirkland.

  • The Importance Of Client Engagement In Law Firm Innovation Author Photo

    As clients increasingly want law firms to serve as innovation platforms, firms must understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach — the key is a nimble innovation function focused on listening and knowledge sharing, says Mark Brennan at Hogan Lovells.

  • The Unique Challenges Facing Women-Owned Law Firms Author Photo

    In addition to establishing their brand from scratch, women who start their own law firms must overcome inherent bias against female lawyers and convince prospective clients to put aside big-firm preferences, says Joel Stern at the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms.

  • The Pursuit Of Wellness In BigLaw: Lessons From My Journey Author Photo

    Jane Jeong at Cooley shares how grueling BigLaw schedules and her own perfectionism emotionally bankrupted her, and why attorneys struggling with burnout should consider making small changes to everyday habits.

  • Why We Must Recruit And Advance More Black Prosecutors Author Photo

    Black Americans make up a disproportionate percentage of the incarcerated population but are underrepresented among elected prosecutors, so the legal community — from law schools to prosecutor offices — must commit to addressing these disappointing demographics, says Erika Gilliam-Booker at the National Black Prosecutors Association.

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    Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Deal With Overload? Author Photo

    Young lawyers overwhelmed with a crushing workload must tackle the problem on two fronts — learning how to say no, and understanding how to break down projects into manageable parts, says Jay Harrington at Harrington Communications.

  • A Scientific Path For Improving Diversity At Law Firms Author Photo

    Law firms could combine industrial organizational psychology and machine learning to study prospective hires' analytical thinking, stress response and similar attributes — which could lead to recruiting from a more diverse candidate pool, say Ali Shahidi and Bess Sully at Sheppard Mullin.

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    Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Seek More Assignments? Author Photo

    In the first installment of Law360 Pulse's career advice guest column, Meela Gill at Weil offers insights on how associates can ask for meaningful work opportunities at their firms without sounding like they are begging. 

  • Legal Sector Regulatory Reform Is Key To Closing Justice Gap Author Photo

    In order to improve access to justice for those who cannot afford a lawyer, states should consider regulatory innovations, such as allowing new forms of law firm ownership and permitting nonlawyers to provide certain legal services, says Patricia Lee Refo, president of the American Bar Association.

  • Law Firm Tips For Attracting, Retaining Attys During Pandemic Author Photo

    Steps law firms can take to attract and keep the best lawyers amid the pandemic include diversifying expertise to meet anticipated legal demands, prioritizing firm culture, and preparing for prospective partners' pointed questions, says Brian Burlant at Major Lindsey.

  • Clients Have The Power To Promote Wellness At Law Firms Author Photo

    Law firm clients can play a role in lowering mental distress in the legal profession by seeking lawyer wellness data from firms and factoring those responses into outside counsel hiring decisions, says Jonathan Prokup at Cigna.

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