http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/index.jsp Selected Law Firms articles from the NLJ en-us 11/21/2009 Copyright 2009. Incisive Media US Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.law.com/service/terms_conditions.shtml http://www.law.com/img/newswire/nlj_rss.gif http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/index.jsp Former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle spoke with the NLJ about his jump from Alston & Bird to DLA Piper and his role in his new firm's global operations. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435716906&rss=nlj A panel of general counsel and senior in-house lawyers at a Boston conference revealed that cost isn't always their top criteria when picking outside lawyers. They also want outside lawyers to take the initiative in building a relationship. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435719245&rss=nlj Amid weak demand for both corporate and intellectual property legal work, Minneapolis-based Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi formed a new group with lawyers from both disciplines to help clients make money from their patent portfolios. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435660403&rss=nlj The resignation last week of Henry "Hank" White Jr., the American Bar Association's executive director, follows other recent staff departures amid a reorganization set in motion by the ABA's new president, Carolyn Lamm. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435617067&rss=nlj Former Sen. Tom Daschle is leaving Alston & Bird to join DLA Piper in a deal that was finalized late Tuesday, both Daschle and DLA Piper officials confirmed. Daschle will join the firm as a senior policy adviser, and will become a member of DLA Piper's governing global board. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435565631&rss=nlj Labor and employment law firm Jackson Lewis has opened its newest office in Cincinnati with five lawyers, continuing the construction of a national network that has doubled the firm's size to 42 offices over the past three years. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435562198&rss=nlj A recently released survey of law firm economics shows smaller and midsize law firms have been able to reduce expenses — but revenues have declined faster than their ability to trim costs. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435549958&rss=nlj Longtime Patton Boggs managing partner Stuart Pape is planning to step down at the end of 2010, passing the job to current deputy managing partner Edward Newberry as the firm tinkers with the way the position is structured. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435442206&rss=nlj There may be a silver lining to the catastrophic year endured by the legal industry: the financial turmoil may herald changes in the law firm recruitment process that could eventually work a fundamental restructuring of employment in the profession. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435466974&rss=nlj A big piece of the 4% decline in the total number of attorneys at large law firms came from losses in international offices, according to our annual ranking of the nation's biggest firms. Law firms with significant foreign practices saw their numbers in those offices decline — often sharply — as they struggled to adjust to plummeting demand from clients. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435422952&rss=nlj Cleveland-based Baker Hostetler opened a new office this week in Chicago with four lawyers, including three from Lovells and McDermott Will & Emery. The firm is leasing space from Drinker Biddle that can accommodate 24 lawyers, but ultimately hopes to have as many as 100 lawyers in the city. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435427295&rss=nlj Associate losses at the nation's largest law firms made history this year, but results for other attorneys and partners on the NLJ 250 show upheaval within those ranks as well. Law firms since 2005 had increased the number of "other" attorneys — a category comprising counsel, of counsel, senior counsel and staff attorneys. But in 2009, they cut about 10% of those attorneys. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435366519&rss=nlj The State Bar of California's crackdown on attorneys for alleged loan modification misconduct has claimed five more lawyers in Southern California, three of whom have resigned. A total of 14 attorneys have resigned or been placed on involuntary inactive status since April and about 250 lawyers are still under investigation. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435376307&rss=nlj A look at attorney headcounts in major U.S. cities reveals big declines in New York, Atlanta and Philadelphia, according to the NLJ 250, our annual survey of the nation's largest law firms. New York took the biggest hit with a 13.3% drop in attorneys working at big firms. Philadelphia's headcount plunged by 9.6%, and Atlanta's totals shrank by 9.4%. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435345819&rss=nlj A recent survey by real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle showed that more than 6 million square feet of built-out law firm office space is available throughout the country — the most vacant space in recent memory. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435322122&rss=nlj A court hearing on Tuesday in Chicago at which former Northwestern University journalism students planned to fight a subpoena for their records and grades turned into a judicial lambasting of their Sidley Austin lawyers. http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435347753&rss=nlj