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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

 

WE'RE ALL INDIVIDUALS - We told you last week that an impressive group of law firms, companies and legal pros called the Standards Advancement for the Legal Industry (SALI) Alliance had released its first set of billing codes, as part of a broader project to build industrywide standards for identifying and tracking legal matters. Reporter Roy Strom takes a closer look at the legal heavy hitters pushing the initiative and examines whether other law firms and clients will be onboard—or just bored—with the idea.

PERSISTENCE - Here's a name that should ring a bell: Jack Abramoff. Ellis Kim reports that nearly a decade after getting caught in the dragnet surrounding the infamous K Street lobbyist, an ex-congressional staffer is still battling his corruption conviction in Washington's federal courts. Lawyers for Fraser Verrusio, a former policy director on the House Transportation Committee, will appear before the D.C. Circuit today as part of a legal crusade to overturn his convictions. Verrusio was among nearly 20 individuals who pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Abramoff's work.  

NEW DIRECTION - For-profit Florida Coastal School of Law wants to separate from its much maligned owner InfiLaw Corp. and obtain nonprofit status. Karen Sloan reports that the 23-year-old school has filed an application with the ABA to make the change, which would enable it to affiliate with a yet-to-be-identified university. If the plan moves forward, InfiLaw could be out of the law school business. Its Charlotte School of Law closed in 2017 and its Arizona Summit Law School is winding down.

EDITOR'S PICKS

 

SEC Names Elizabeth McFadden as Deputy General Counsel for Law and Management

The Unicorn Watch: New Black Partners

Judge Restarts Emissions Class Action Against Mercedes-Benz

Sheldon Whitehouse Confronts 'Anonymously Funded' SCOTUS Amicus Briefs

FINRA Report on Best Cybersecurity Practices Is Must-Read, Alston & Bird Lawyer Says

George Washington Law Dean to Step Down After Five Years

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

 

TRAGIC - Barclays lawyers Matt Ziegler and Katherine Clarke were among those killed in an avalanche in the Italian Alps earlier this week. Rose Walker reports that the pair was among a group of four skiers whose bodies were reported to have been found Feb. 4 in the northern Italian region of Valle d'Aosta.

WHAT YOU SAID

“I fear that we're playing musical chairs with a lot of limited lawyers and limited partners.”

— SARRETTA MCDONOUGH, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN LAWYERS, ON THE DECLINE OF PROMOTIONS TO PARTNER IN BIG LAW AND THE RELIANCE ON LATERAL HIRES INSTEAD.

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