Leigh Jones

October 07, 2009 | Law.com

An attorney recruiting firm has leveled a $100 million lawsuit against Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, claiming that the law firm squeezed it out of a placement deal last summer. CB Legal Search LLC contends that it helped orchestrate an insurance practice group's move in July from Chicago's Bollinger, Ruberry & Garvey to Los Angeles-based Lewis Brisbois but was cut out of the deal by the law firm.

By Leigh Jones

2 minute read

August 21, 2007 | Texas Lawyer

The billable hour: demanding, disparaged and now dead � at least at one Atlanta-based law firm. Ford & Harrison, a 190-attorney labor and employment firm, has tossed out billable hour requirements for first-year associates. The program aims to close the practical-skills gap of law school education and increase value to clients. "Everyone sits around and complains about the problems," said C. Lash Harrison, managing partner of the firm. "I figured, what the heck, maybe we can try something."

By Leigh Jones

4 minute read

October 16, 2009 | The Legal Intelligencer

It could mark one of the biggest changes for lawyers joining the profession since the first U.S. bar exam was given in Delaware in 1763 -- a single bar exam aimed at standardizing attorney credentials nationwide.

By Leigh Jones

10 minute read

February 16, 2007 | National Law Journal

Big law firms are snatching up graduates as quickly as schools can churn them out. With the same number of students graduating each year, the tightest squeeze may be on midsize firms. So three years ago Phillips Lytle crossed off some top schools and centralized its recruiting efforts, and now partner Edward Bloomberg makes all hiring decisions. Although the 173-attorney firm isn't giving up hope that it can snag some students from national schools, it's redirected its recruiting budget to regional schools.

By Leigh Jones

6 minute read

October 25, 2007 | Law.com

Steve Langerud has simple but crucial advice for law firms: Hire those who really want to work for you. As a one-man career-counseling road show from the University of Iowa College of Law, Langerud is traveling across the country meeting with the school's alumni. Since his newly created job started six months ago, he has sat down with about 100 graduates. He says the main lesson he's learned is that an honest assessment of expectations from law firms and recruits can prevent regrets from both sides later.

By Leigh Jones

3 minute read

April 24, 2007 | National Law Journal

The number of attorneys defecting from the Department of Justice to private practice is mounting. Although some departures may be attributable to the usual revolving door for attorney jobs at government agencies, the imbroglio surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is an unlikely enticement for attorneys to stay put. Akin Gump partner Mark Botti, formerly with the DOJ's Antitrust Division, says the recent trouble at the department had more of an impact on appointed attorneys than career attorneys.

By Leigh Jones

3 minute read

March 31, 2005 | Corporate Counsel

With the onslaught of corporate multijurisdictional, multiparty litigation, in-house attorneys say they are placing a premium on team players who can band together with other defense attorneys to help curb legal bills and put big cases behind them. "General counsel want someone who is not a jerk, somebody who plays well in the sandbox," said Candace Beinecke, managing partner of New York's Hughes Hubbard & Reed, national counsel for Merck & Co. in the Vioxx litigation.

By Leigh Jones

7 minute read

November 14, 2003 | New York Law Journal

By Leigh Jones

3 minute read

July 16, 2010 | Law.com

In a disciplinary matter involving former McGlinchey Stafford partner John Clegg, the Supreme Court of Louisiana has determined that the law firm did not violate confidentiality when it reported his drug use to the state's attorney discipline body. At issue was whether the confidentiality that Clegg was owed as a participant in the Lawyers Assistance Program, which precludes LAP volunteers and professionals from reporting lawyers in the rehabilitation program to disciplinary authorities, applied to McGlinchey Stafford.

By Leigh Jones

4 minute read

March 15, 2006 | The Legal Intelligencer

Hiring partners don't mention it, would-be associates won't touch the subject, and law schools would rather avoid the issue altogether. But the possibility of failing the bar exam becomes a reality for tens of thousands of law school graduates each year.

By Leigh Jones

9 minute read