jgraham

June 09, 2003 | Law.com

Betsy Whitaker, the incoming president of the State Bar of Texas, has said she yearns to be on stage. "I've always thought it would be a blast to be a singer," Whitaker says. She will be on stage as the public spokesperson for the State Bar, pushing to implement technology innovations that will make it easier for members to use Bar information and participate in Bar activities, such as surveys and elections.

By Jeanne Graham

10 minute read

March 06, 2012 | Law.com

The bonus pool at the largest firms in Texas was wider and deeper in 2011. Interviews with firm leaders show that the range of paid bonuses stayed the same, but firms paid more overall, because more associates qualified or earned bonuses on the high end of the range.

By Jeanne Graham

8 minute read

May 10, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

The rites of spring at Texas law schools include final exams, hooding ceremony preparations and learning the results of the February bar exam. Three of the nine American Bar Association-accredited Texas law schools have improved passing rates when comparing February 2010 with February 2009 exam results: Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock; and Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law and South Texas College of Law, both in Houston.

By Jeanne Graham

9 minute read

March 19, 2012 | Texas Lawyer

Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock jumped 16 places to tie for the 101st position in U.S.News & World Report 's annual law school rankings. Texas Tech Law Dean Darby Dickerson attributes the improvement to several criteria U.S.News uses for the standings. The school's placement rate for this year's rankings was 93.3 percent — which was the placement rate for the school's 2010 graduates — and the placement rate for last year's rankings was 85.9 percent, she says.

By Jeanne Graham

5 minute read

November 05, 2012 | Texas Lawyer

James Brashear likes to fly, whether he's piloting a plane or steering a legal department. As vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Zix Corp. since 2010, Brashear flies solo as the only in-house lawyer for the Dallas public company. Zix Corp., which offers customers email encryption services, generated nearly $40 million in 2011 revenue.

By Jeanne Graham

9 minute read

February 10, 2011 | Law.com

Partnership comes with many benefits -- firm ownership, prestige, higher billing rates. But at Houston-based Susman Godfrey, partnership also comes with a new pair of western boots. New partner Daniel H. Charest says the new boots are not his first pair, but they are his "best ones for sure."

By Jeanne Graham

2 minute read

July 30, 2010 | Law.com

Baker Botts associates are learning this week about potential changes to their pay and bonus packages that become effective Jan. 1, 2011, says Maria Boyce, partner-in-charge of the firm's Houston office. The firm is moving associates from lockstep promotions and pay to a merit-based system, she says. She also notes, "No associate is going to have their base pay cut in 2010 as a result of the introduction of this change."

By Jeanne Graham

3 minute read

September 07, 2010 | Law.com

A new, six-year joint J.D./M.D. degree program is being offered by Texas Tech University School of Law and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. Students interested in the joint degree have to apply to each program separately for admission.

By Jeanne Graham

3 minute read

June 01, 2010 | Daily Business Review

Warning to outside counsel: Don't look for increased billing opportunities from in-house clients during the coming months. Only 10 percent of 300 in-house lawyers surveyed by recruiting company Robert Half Legal say they will increase the amount of work they give outside counsel during the next 12 months.

By Jeanne Graham

1 minute read

April 07, 2011 | Law.com

Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr shareholder Rick Kopf had just three goals -- all accomplished -- while participating with his twin brother in a cross-country ski race in sub-freezing temperatures. "The first goal was to survive, the second was not to get hurt and the third was to finish," he says.

By Jeanne Graham

3 minute read