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Boom in Eateries Heats Up Lawyers' Practices
Chefs and restaurant owners have been opening new eateries in Oakland, Calif., right through the recession, and lawyers have been eager for a seat at the table. Local firms like Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean are stepping up their marketing efforts and plumbing their personal networks to raise their profiles. Chef Daniel Patterson, who is married to Wendel Rosen associate Alexandra Foote, says word of mouth is invaluable in the tight-knit culinary community, noting, "Restaurateurs are not very lawyer-savvy."
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Lawyer, Soldier and Legislator Is Now Actor in Matt Damon Film
The new Matt Damon movie about the Iraq war, "Green Zone," scheduled for release today, includes a small speaking part for Texas State Rep. Allen Vaught, D-Dallas, an attorney at Baron & Budd and an Iraq war veteran. The movie is based on "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," written by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, former Baghdad bureau chief for The Washington Post, who interviewed Vaught for the book. As a captain in the U.S. Army reserves, Vaught commanded one of the first units to enter Fallujah.
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Court Upholds Dismissal of Suit Against Firm That Offered Job to Sitting Judge
A law firm that engaged a retiring judge in employment talks while he presided over one of its cases is not liable for damages to the other party, a New Jersey appeals court ruled Wednesday. The appeals court affirmed the dismissal of legal malpractice and deprivation of due process counts against Herten Burstein and attorney Thomas Herten. The court found no evidence the job offer caused the judge to rule in the firm's favor but ordered a new trial, concluding the judge's conduct had the appearance of impropriety.
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Lawyer for 'D.C. Madam' Slapped With 3-Year Suspension
Montgomery Blair Sibley, best known for his representation of the late
"D.C. Madam," had his law license suspended for three years by the D.C.
Court of Appeals on Thursday. The court's decision is a reciprocal
disciplinary sanction that stems from a 2008 decision by Florida's
Supreme Court to pull Sibley's license in that state for three years
because he failed to pay more than $100,000 in child support and because
he repeatedly filed "vexatious and meritless" lawsuits against judges
who have been assigned his cases.
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New Mediation Group Focuses on Entertainment Industry
Longtime entertainment attorney James S. Mulholland and California state legislator Charles M. Calderon have created an alternative dispute resolution organization focused exclusively on the entertainment industry. Employment cases could prove one big source of business, Mulholland says.
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Solo Punished for Paying Paralegal a Percentage of Fees
After practicing law in New Jersey for 57 years, Martin Burger learned something new: You can be reprimanded by the state Supreme Court for paying paralegals a percentage of fees on cases they bring in. He also learned the punishment could have been worse. In an order made public on March 5, the justices adopted the Disciplinary Review Board's finding that Burger capitalized on paralegal Lita Biederman's contacts in the Filipino community to generate immigration cases.
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The 4 People Lawyers Won't Meet in Solo Practice
"You're so lucky you work for yourself; you don't have to work with people like [fill in the blank]." Solo practitioner Paul Schorn hears this often from friends in midsize and large firms, and in his heart, he knows they're right: Part of what makes solo practice worthwhile is getting to avoid some of the people who can drain all the fun out of practicing law. Here are four types of people Schorn is happy not to face on a daily basis, along with the lessons he believes people can learn from them.
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Civil Litigator Scales 5 of the 'Seven Summits'
David N. Schaeffer, a partner at Holland Schaeffer Roddenberry Blitch, has climbed five of the "seven summits," the highest peaks of the seven continents. Schaeffer's appetite for climbing challenges apparently was whetted after he climbed Mount Whitney, which he says is "not very difficult." Schaeffer recalls, "Some 80-year-old had done it that day for the 35th time, so it was time for something more challenging." His book, "A Regular Guy's Guide to Five Big Mountains," comes out this fall.
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Indictments Dismissed Against Lawyers Charged in 'Slayer Statute' Case
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled last week that criminal indictments against two lawyers must be dismissed, putting to rest a case that the state's criminal defense bar worried could threaten the livelihoods -- and liberty -- of lawyers whose clients are ultimately convicted. The lawyers were accused of stealing from the estate of a murder victim by accepting legal fees from his wife, who first inherited her husband's estate but ultimately pleaded guilty to a murder-for-hire plot.
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High Court Finds Lawyers and Their Advice Covered by Bankruptcy Reform Law
Consumer bankruptcy lawyers are "debt relief agencies" under a 2005 federal bankruptcy law and restrictions on the type of advice they can give clients are constitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday. In a challenge brought by a Minnesota law firm, the justices unanimously held that the plain language of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act clearly indicates that lawyers function as debt relief agencies when they provide bankruptcy help to consumers covered by the law.
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Going Solo? Get a Practice Management System
The economic downturn has led many attorneys, by chance or by choice, to stike out on their own. There are many technology tools to help you, says attorney Joseph J. Zaknoen, but the most important is a good practice management software system. Zaknoen turned to LexisNexis TimeMatters.
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Major Companies Pledge $30 Million to Minority- and Women-Owned Law Firms
About a dozen major corporations, including Prudential Financial, DuPont and Microsoft, pledged Thursday to spend $30 million in 2010 on minority- and women-owned law firms as part of a new commitment called the Inclusion Initiative. In-house lawyers at DuPont and Prudential hatched the idea and recruited in-house lawyers at other companies to build a larger coalition, says Prudential GC Susan Blount. Other companies in the coalition include American Airlines, Accenture, Comcast and General Mills.
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