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Holiday Parties: Keeping Expenses Low and Deductibility High
The Legal Intelligencer
The economy isn't giving us a lot to cheer about this holiday season ... and it could get worse. This year, it appears more companies are saying no to an annual tradition: the office holiday party. But attorney Kelly Phillips Erb notes that not only are holiday office parties a good way to say thank you to employees -- they may also bring tax benefits to the firm as well as employees. Phillips Erb discusses some of the things to keep in mind if law firms want to take advantage of those benefits.
Law School Ferry Commute Leads to Class Action Bid
The Connecticut Law Tribune
Little did Robert J. Peragine know that his commute to law school would lead to a case that could soon become a $8.7 million class action. During his ferry rides to Connecticut, other passengers saw him studying his law books and alerted him to a gripe they had over surcharges that didn't seem to benefit passengers. After a district court ruled that the surcharges were unconstitutional, and awarded damages to an individual passenger, Peragine knew there was a potential class involving all the other passengers.
Another Am Law IP Partner Leaves for Plaintiffs Firm
The American Lawyer
It seems large plaintiffs firms aren't done recruiting patent lawyers to their ranks. New York's Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann announced recently that former WolfBlock and Cozen O'Connor IP partner Joshua Raskin is joining the firm. Raskin's move follows similar lateral hires in recent years. Raskin found that at Cozen, a viable patent litigation practice was difficult to build given the constant pressure of the billable hour. "None of this is a knock on my former firms," Raskin says of his move.
Survey Finds Revenue, Profits Down at Law Firms
New York Law Journal
During the third quarter of this year, gross revenue among law firms industrywide fell by 6.9 percent and net income by 6.1 percent, according to a new survey by Wells Fargo Corp.'s Wachovia Legal Specialty Group. "What that tells you is there is going to be a lot more riding on the fourth quarter," said Jeff Grossman, national managing director at Wachovia. The survey was of 131 firms nationally, 50 percent coming from the Am Law 100 and with at least 10 in each region of the country.
Firm Vice Chairman Uses Twitter to Strike Back at NYT Reporter for Story on Client
The National Law Journal
Cassidy & Associates vice chairman Gregg Hartley didn't like a critical New York Times story on one of the firm's biggest clients, Equatorial Guinea. So he's hitting back against the reporter using an unusual vehicle: his personal Twitter feed. The reporter's father, a federal judge, presided over a high-profile case involving Equatorial Guinea. Hartley acknowledged that he hadn't verified the connection before tweeting. "Here's one thing about social media. You don't have to always be right," he said.
Ga. Jury Acquits Lawyer in Trial Over Drug Money
Fulton County Daily Report
A federal jury on Wednesday acquitted a Georgia criminal defense lawyer on all counts of a money laundering and drug conspiracy indictment that had also charged him with the attempted bribery of an Assistant U.S. Attorney. After eight days of testimony and 12 hours of deliberation, the jury found J. Mark Shelnutt not guilty, discrediting a two-year government investigation of Shelnutt. The case had centered on Shelnutt's acceptance of cash legal fees that were generated by illegal drug trade.
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