N.Y. Attorney General Sues Banks Over Use of MERS Electronic 'End-Around'

In his latest broadside against the banking industry, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is alleging that the nation's largest banks use the Mortgage Electronic Registration System to evade public filings, shortchange localities of $2 billion in fees and compromise homeowners' interests. A complaint filed on Friday describes MERS, a Virginia-based digital mortgage tracking service, as "a shell company" established as a stealth mortgagee for banks, particularly JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

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Part-Time Law School Losing Allure

The National Law Journal

According to the Association of American Law Schools, lagging employer support, workers' fears about losing their jobs, the growing popularity of MBA programs, rising tuition and the tough legal job market all are contributing to declining enrollment in part-time law school programs.

Generic Drugmakers Settle Class Action Over Antidepressants

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The Legal Intelligencer

1:45 P.M. ET

Less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Pliva v. Mensing, two generic drugmakers have agreed to the national settlement of a class action alleging that their version of a popular antidepressant drug was not as therapeutically effective as the brand-name drug.

Golden State Brings Mixed Fortunes for Law Firms in 2011

The Recorder

A rising tide may lift all boats, but not all law firms rose with the swells in 2011's choppy waters. A few California-centric firms saw large gains in revenues or profits in 2011, while at the other end, firms like Orrick and Pillsbury spent the year mostly treading water.

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DOJ Puts Brakes on Lance Armstrong Investigation

The Am Law Daily | Feb. 3, 2012

In a big victory for the cycling star and his lawyers from Keker & Van Nest, Patton Boggs, and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, the U.S. Attorney's Office in L.A. announced late Friday it has closed a two-year criminal probe into the seven-time Tour de France winner and members of his former U.S. Postal Service team without bringing charges against the targets. Months of press leaks, attacks by former teammates and other negative publicity helped persuade federal prosecutors to take the unusual step of publicly issuing a press release to clear Armstrong of any wrongdoing.

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Other Voices from the Legal Web

While the nation's 100 highest-grossing firms rebounded from a disastrous 2009 by posting healthy gains in 2010, gains at the Second Hundred were less robust. The Second Hundred's total gross revenue rose 2.2 percent, to $17.46 billion in 2010 from $17.08 billion in 2009, while average revenue per lawyer increased just 1.5 percent, to $579,749 from $570,999. Average profits per partner rose 3.4 percent, to $665,665 from $643,580. So why aren't they worried?

The 2011 AmLaw 200

Gross Revenue

RPL Top 20

After watching profits per partner sink 4.3 percent in 2008 and revive only 0.3 percent in 2009, Am Law 100 firms finally posted a healthy increase—8.4 percent—in 2010. But much of that gain is attributable to firms’ aggressive cost-control measures, especially in the area of headcount, which dropped 2.7 percent over 2009. As a result, growth in revenue per lawyer—the most reliable measure of the overall financial health of law firms—was more tepid, 4.4 percent

Overview: Back in Black

Gross Revenue

Revenue Per Lawyer

The NLJ 250, The National Law Journal's annual survey of the nation's largest law firms, shows that Big Law continued to shed lawyers at a brisk clip in 2010. Nearly 2,900 fewer lawyers worked for the 250 top firms last year. That's in addition to the approximately 6,600 attorneys who departed in 2009. In the 34 years The NLJ has been surveying large firms to gather headcount numbers, there have never been multiyear declines of this magnitude.

THE 2011 NLJ 250

Branch Offices

Gains & Losses

Largest U.S. Law Offices

Since the early days of our survey, which ranks the world's largest law firms by revenue, international reach and profit have seemingly grown hand in hand. But when one examines the performance of individual firms in 2010 or charts their performance over time, it is unclear if there is truly a causal relationship between global expansion and financial success. Star performers can be found among the most stubborn homebodies and the most persistent imperialists.

The 2011 Global 100: Most Revenue

The 2011 Global 100: Most Profits Per Partner

The 2011 Global 100: Most Lawyers

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