Law.com - Legal News, Legal Technology, In-House Counsel, Small Firms

ALM Global

Newsletters

LAW.COM NETWORK

Ditching Billable Hour: 'Everyone Wants to Do It'

Corporate Counsel

More companies are paying their outside counsel off the clock, according to the Hildebrandt 2009 Law Department Survey. Just over half of the 231 companies surveyed said they either have started or will start negotiating non-hourly billing arrangements with their outside counsel.

Coudert Estate Pursues Fees Earned From Former Clients

New York Law Journal

The Coudert Brothers estate's liquidation plan administrator claims Baker & McKenzie breached an agreement with the defunct law firm by failing to hand over part of a contingency fee earned from work for former Coudert clients. The contingency fee could be as high as $17 million.

Guilty Verdict for McKesson Chairman, but GC Acquitted

The Recorder

A California jury convicted former McKesson HBOC Chairman Charles McCall on Thursday on four securities fraud counts and one charge of circumventing accounting controls. At the same time, they acquitted the company's former GC, Jay Lapine, on each of the three counts he faced.

MORE HEADLINES

VIDEO

Our New LTN Website

Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News, offers a quick tour of our legal technology venue, full of news, analysis, podcasts, blogs and more.

LEGAL BLOG NEWS

D.C. Legend 'Jack' Miller Dead at 85

Herbert J. "Jack" Miller Jr., a pioneer of white-collar criminal defense also known for his representation of the Kennedy family and President Richard Nixon, died Nov. 14 from flu-related complications, according to a statement from Baker Botts, where Miller was a retired partner.

-The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

An Actual Mickey Mouse Case

Mickey Mouse filed a trademark lawsuit against Donald Duck in Florida district court this week. Yes, the case was actually filed. No, we cannot say whether Mouse's claims are frivolous.

-Legal Pad: A Cal Law Blog

Court to Shorten Oral Arguments to Speed Caseload

The D.C. Court of Appeals announced a "pilot project" Tuesday to cut oral argument time in half to help speed up its caseload.

-The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

SPECIAL REPORTS

Madoff Watch

ALM

Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme has rocked the financial world, sparking a range of legal proceedings. Keep up with Law.com’s coverage and the latest filings in civil, criminal and bankruptcy actions in our special section.

Crisis on Wall Street

ALM

As Wall Street's woes continue, Law.com presents ongoing coverage of the financial meltdown from across the globe, with ALM updates on what it means for law firms and lawyers. See if your law firm is on The Layoff List.

FEATURES

Navigating Big Law's Complicated Power Structure

Fulton County Daily Report

Big Law is governed by many unspoken social rules, says The Snark, and what is acceptable behavior often depends on where you fall in the Big Law hierarchy. The Snark attempts to provide some guidance on the basic power structure and how it plays out in specific situations.

Externalize Document Storage in SharePoint

Special to Law.com

A controversy has been brewing in law firms as more documents find their way into Microsoft SharePoint's SQL Server: Is SharePoint a viable replacement for a DMS? Mark Gerow, of Fenwick & West, discusses the case for moving documents out of SQL Server using an "External Blob Store."

Holiday Parties: Keeping Expenses Low and Deductibility High

The Legal Intelligencer

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 thank employees -- they may bring tax benefits to the firm as well as employees.

Lowering the Raised Bar

Special to Law.com

Attorneys Joseph G. Falcone and Morghan Richardson of Chadbourne & Parke discuss pending federal legislation that seeks to undo the pleading standards of the U.S. Supreme Court's holdings in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal.