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Business of Law

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    3 Ways To Make Yourself An Attractive Lateral Candidate

    BigLaw partners are often exceptionally good at practicing the law and serving clients, but when it comes to selling themselves to potential suitors while contemplating a lateral move, they’re not always so skilled.

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    BigLaw’s 10 Biggest Revenue Winners And Losers Of 2017

    In an otherwise positive year for law firm financials, a few firms stood out in 2017 with more drastic increases and decreases in revenue than the rest of the pack, according to the new Am Law 100 report released Tuesday.

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    Why More BigLaw Firms May Start Ditching Annual Reviews

    At least two global law firms are doing away with their annual associate reviews in favor of ongoing, associate-initiated performance evaluations, a new approach that may be the wave of the future for law firms.

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    Ready Lawyer One: Virtual Reality Is Coming To Courtrooms

    A Beijing murder trial in March is thought to mark the first time in China a court has used virtual reality during a criminal trial. As the technology's costs come down and its familiarity goes up, it likely won't be long before U.S. courtrooms follow suit.

  • April 26, 2018

    ABA To Mull Model 'Wellness' Policy For Struggling Attys

    Policymakers at the American Bar Association are expected to consider a model law firm policy aimed at promoting lawyer well-being later this year, an ABA committee chair said Thursday.

  • April 26, 2018

    Proskauer's Doe, Named In New Filing, Lodges Fresh Claims

    The female partner suing Proskauer Rose LLP in a $50 million gender discrimination case identified herself in an amended complaint Wednesday as Washington, D.C.-based Connie Bertram and lodged new allegations that the firm has disparaged her and frozen her out of firm business because she filed suit.

  • April 26, 2018

    Law360's Weekly Verdict: Legal Lions & Lambs

    Jones Day clocked a lion’s win this week when the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the law firm’s arguments and struck down partial decisions at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, while an in-house attorney at Merck made it on the legal lambs list after a judge said his “dishonest and duplicitous” behavior doomed a $200 million patent win for the company.

  • April 26, 2018

    Ex-Judge At Bracewell To Hear Cohen's Privilege Claims

    Former federal judge Barbara Jones of Bracewell LLP was appointed special master Thursday to hear disputes among federal prosecutors, President Donald Trump and Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen over potentially privileged materials seized from Cohen by the FBI.

  • April 26, 2018

    Slater & Gordon UK, With New Owners, Brings In Biz Leaders

    Slater & Gordon UK on Thursday announced that it has appointed to its senior management a pair of corporate leaders from the consumer business and private equity sectors as part of a round of leadership changes following the firm's sale to hedge funds.

  • April 26, 2018

    Senate Panel Advances Bill To Protect Special Counsel Mueller

    The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Thursday, sending the controversial measure to the full chamber, where it is opposed by the Senate’s leader and is likely to languish without coming to a final vote.

  • April 26, 2018

    Trump Taps Judges For 2nd, 4th Circuits

    State and federal judges dominated the list of the administration's nominees to federal courts announced Thursday, as President Donald Trump seeks to fill vacancies in the Fourth and Second Circuits, as well as courts in Florida and the Court of Federal Claims.

  • April 25, 2018

    Proposed Calif. Rule To Release Sex Deals Involving Judges

    A proposed California court rules change released Tuesday by a group convened by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye would mandate public disclosure of settlements resolving sexual harassment or discrimination complaints against judges or other court employees, but it doesn’t require agreements to identify the accused judicial officer.

  • April 25, 2018

    Farmers Say Firms Tricked Them Out Of GMO Settlements

    A group of North Dakota farmers accused a Texas law firm and co-counsel of tricking 60,000 farmers into signing a 40 percent contingency fee agreement in underlying multidistrict litigation over Syngenta AG’s genetically modified corn seed before secretly excluding them from other suits, in a putative class action filed in Minnesota federal court Tuesday.

  • April 25, 2018

    Corporate Attys Increasingly Steering Biz Strategy, GCs Say

    A corporate law department is expected to be at the forefront of the changes a business needs to make, not acting passively and waiting to be engaged, which historically was the case, a panel of general counsel from three technology companies said on Wednesday.

  • April 25, 2018

    Senate Dems Grill Trump Nominee For 5th Circ. Seat

    Democrats on the Senate’s Judiciary Committee on Wednesday grilled Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s general counsel Andrew S. Oldham, nominee to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, over his record defending the state.

  • April 25, 2018

    Judges Face Tough Choices In Fighting Political Attacks

    A recent push in two states to remove judges over controversial decisions and efforts to limit court authority through legislation in more than a dozen others represent a kind of Catch-22 for courts looking to publicly defend their independence while trying to remain out of the political fray, experts said.

  • April 24, 2018

    Skadden Partner, Ex-US Atty Fitzgerald Is Repping Comey

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP partner and former high-profile Chicago prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald confirmed to Law360 on Tuesday that he has been part of James Comey’s legal team since May 2017, the month the president fired Comey from his position as director of the FBI.

  • April 24, 2018

    Texas Firms See Opportunity In Shunning Merger Frenzy

    Texas law firms are operating against a drumbeat of new entrants to the market, competitive lateral hiring and mergers that have swept up several long-established firms, but the stalwarts say their partners and clients prefer independence and say they've got plenty of room to grow and thrive.

  • April 24, 2018

    In-House Attys Must Become Data Privacy Pros, Experts Say

    In-house counsel must prepare for sweeping new data privacy regimes and gird their organizations against a potential cyberbreach by educating themselves about the technical aspects of cybersecurity and building collaborative relationships with other corporate departments, a panel of experts told corporate counsel at a conference on Tuesday.

  • April 24, 2018

    Skadden's Greg Craig Makes Sudden Exit Amid Mueller Probe

    Gregory Craig, a politically connected legal adviser and lead author of a controversial report at play in the Mueller investigation, has left Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, a firm spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

  • April 24, 2018

    Law Professionals Have Duty To Push Diversity And Inclusion

    Diversity and inclusion in the legal ecosystem are global issues, and legal operations professionals have a responsibility and opportunity to promote and develop the topics across their organizations and industry, a panel of women said on Tuesday.

  • April 24, 2018

    Senate OKs Trump Pick For 5th Circ. Seat

    The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s choice for a Louisiana-based Fifth Circuit vacancy, sending Schaerr Duncan LLP partner Stuart Kyle Duncan, a lead attorney in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby case, to the bench Tuesday on a largely partisan vote.

  • April 23, 2018

    BigLaw On Track For A Big Lobbying Year In 2018

    The first quarter of 2018 started off with a bang for BigLaw lobbyists, with the majority of top firms exceeding last year’s lobbying revenue and Akin Gump posting its second quarter in a row earning $10 million or more in lobbying fees.

  • April 23, 2018

    Senate Advances Trump's Pick For 5th Circ.

    The Senate took a step toward confirming Schaerr Duncan LLP partner Stuart Kyle Duncan to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday after Republicans came together to advance his nomination.

Expert Analysis

  • Best Practices For Building A Better Meeting

    Nicholas Cheolas

    How can we improve meetings in the legal industry, which tends to evolve with the speed of a tranquilized water buffalo mired in quicksand? Breaking it down to three phases can yield significant benefits, says Nicholas Cheolas of Zelle LLP.

  • Guest Feature

    Michael Rubinoff: From Commercial Real Estate To Broadway

    Randy Maniloff

    “Come From Away” sounds like the stuff of a documentary on the Discovery Channel, not singing and dancing on stage. How could a musical tied to the 9/11 terrorist attacks ever get made — and by a real estate lawyer? The show’s producer, Michael Rubinoff, was kind enough to find 30 minutes to tell me, says Randy Maniloff.

  • 5 Ways Law Firms Are Becoming More Like Hotels

    Bella Schiro

    One way law firms differentiate themselves from the competition to attract and retain top talent is through their real estate and workplace strategies. Taking a lead from the hospitality industry can help create a more inviting, welcoming and collaborative workspace environment, says Bella Schiro of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

  • Opinion

    Gorsuch's 1st Year Shows He Is A Conservative Activist

    Elliot Mincberg

    In his first year on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch has proven to be a narrow-minded elitist who consistently votes in favor of corporations and the powerful, acting to roll back protections for workers, consumers, LGBTQ individuals and other marginalized communities, says Elliot Mincberg of People for the American Way.

  • Opinion

    There Is Middle Ground For US Lawyers On AML Regimes

    Matthew O'Hara

    The American Bar Association continues to oppose legislation that would impose certain European Union and U.K. anti-money laundering requirements on U.S. lawyers. The ABA should further consider its approach to this issue as there is a viable middle ground that protects privileged communications and confidential information while advancing the interests of the legal profession, says Matthew O’Hara of Freeborn & Peters LLP.

  • Finance-Savvy Millennials Are Shifting Business Of Law

    Michael Perlich

    The impact of millennials has already been felt within the legal community by our eagerness to embrace new technologies. One way that we will have potentially even more impact lies in our willingness to embrace new ways of developing business and financing law, says Michael Perich of Burford Capital LLC.

  • Opinion

    Attorney-Client Privilege Is Alive And Well

    Genie Harrison

    The FBI raid of the office of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer set off a firestorm of controversy about the sanctity of the attorney-client privilege, epitomized by Trump's tweet that the "privilege is dead." But attorney-client privilege is never taken lightly — I have battle scars from the times I have sought crime-fraud exceptions, says Genie Harrison of the Genie Harrison Law Firm.

  • Roundup

    Dissolving Practice

    Dissolving Practice

    In this series, experts discuss the unique aspects of closing a law firm, and some common symptoms of dysfunctionality in a firm that can be repaired before it's too late.

  • Series

    Dissolving Practice: How To Fix A Dysfunctional Law Firm

    Larry Richard

    I am often asked, “When there are one or more partner departures, what can a firm do to prevent this from escalating to a catastrophic level?” The short answer is “nothing.” Law firms need to adopt culture-strengthening lifestyles to prevent defections from occurring in the first place, says Larry Richard of LawyerBrain LLC.

  • Series

    Dissolving Practice: Partner Agreement Clauses That Can Help

    ​​​​​Leslie Corwin

    Given the competing public policies of protecting clients’ right to counsel of their choice, lawyer mobility, and the fiduciary duty partners owe to a dissolved firm, it behooves law firms to carefully review their partnership agreements to make sure they adequately spell out what happens in the unfortunate event that the law firm chooses to wind down, say ​​​​​Leslie Corwin and Rachel Sims of Blank Rome LLP.