Business of Law

News

PwC Forms Alliance With NY Firm, Furthering Big Four's Ambitions in Law

Ben Wheway | September 24, 2018

The deal brings together PwC UK and the New York-based immigration specialist law firm Fragomen, handing PwC a major foothold in the U.S. market.

News

Ex-Acting GC Hits NY-Based Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings With Federal Gender Discrimination Suit

Kristen Rasmussen | September 20, 2018

In a federal lawsuit filed in New York, Jennifer Fischman accuses Mitsubishi, as well as several of its affiliates and company executives, of passing over her for the permanent role of GC and COO in favor of a less-qualified, younger and less-experienced male attorney.

News

New York's Lippes Mathias Lands With Akin Gump Pair in DC

Dan Packel | September 18, 2018

The expansion into Washington gives the firm two new practice leaders and a federal lobbying presence.

News

Mintz Adds Ex-Prosecutor in New York

Meghan Tribe | September 18, 2018

The firm is beefing up its stable of former prosecutors in the Northeast with former SDNY prosecutor Jason Halperin and ex-Boston DA Daniel Conley.

Q&A

Cassin & Cassin: A Firm That Doesn't Have a Minimum for Billable Hours

Susan DeSantis | September 18, 2018

"We recognize that our attorneys have lives outside of work; we offer a true work-life balance environment and don’t have a minimum billable hours requirement," said Cassin & Cassin managing partner Michael Hurley.

News

Holland & Knight Adds 5 More Reed Smith Partners

Lizzy McLellan | September 04, 2018

The handful of lawyers specializing in cybersecurity and labor and employment work are located in Philadelphia, New York and California. They join more than two dozen colleagues who have left Reed Smith for Holland & Knight.

Expert Opinion

New Ethics Opinion on Litigation Funding Gets It Wrong

Anthony E. Davis and Anthony J. Sebok | August 31, 2018

The New York City Bar ethics committee recently issued Formal Opinion 2018-5: Litigation Funders’ Contingent Interest in Legal Fees.

News

Scott Mozarsky Appointed Regional Managing Director of Vannin Capital

Susan DeSantis | August 28, 2018

Scott Mozarsky joins Vannin from Bloomberg BNA, where he was president of Bloomberg Law.

Expert Opinion

Don’t Ignore PR When Developing Legal Content Strategy

Andrew Longstreth | August 22, 2018

In another lifetime, when I was a legal reporter, I remember getting a slightly queasy feeling in my stomach when I noticed legal blogs sprouting wildly 15 years ago. While some were dry, others were lively and engaging. I saw the future and it was filled with more competition.

Analysis

NY Legal Market Is Most Active Battleground for Lateral Moves

David J. Parnell | August 16, 2018

A shift in the way firms are pursuing laterals is disrupting the market and New York will be the primary battleground.

News

NY Law Firm Credits Trump Tax Plan for Irish Expansion

Dan Packel | August 14, 2018

Since the passage of the Trump tax plan in December, Tully Rinckey has both opened up a new office in Dublin and restructured its American operations.

News

Mary Jo White Adds OSU Football Coach Probe to Busy Schedule

Dan Packel | August 09, 2018

The Debevoise partner, named last week to help lead CBS' probe into harassment allegations against Leslie Moonves, is also investigating failure-to-report claims against Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer.

News

Buffalo Firm Expands on the West Coast

Xiumei Dong Xiumei Dong | August 06, 2018

The Buffalo-based firm's new outpost is staffed by five workers' compensation specialists and boasts ties to major league sports—including 108 games played in the NFL.

News

Litigation Boutique Expands Once Again in NY

Meghan Tribe | August 03, 2018

"I would say within five to seven years, we’re going to replace Quinn Emanuel as the next dominant global litigation firm, no question," said former Quinn Emanuel partner John Pierce, now managing partner of Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht.

Q&A

Midsize NY Law Firm Sees Commoditization of Legal Services as a Threat

Susan DeSantis | August 01, 2018

Jeffrey Boxer, co-chair of the litigation practice at Carter Ledyard & Milburn, discussed the advantages and challenges of being a midsize firm in a supersized city.

Expert Opinion

Retaliatory Discharge Claim at Law Firm Raises Questions of Fact

 Arthur J. Ciampi | July 30, 2018

The at-will employee protection most law firms have as employers which permits them to terminate an at-will employee for any or no reason but for a discriminatory reason faced scrutiny last month in the law firm context regarding an allegation that an associate attorney was terminated from their firm for raising ethical concerns.

News

NY Lawyer Sues Former Firm for Age Bias

Scott Flaherty | July 27, 2018

Roger Rosendahl, who was 73 when he joined Stoel Rives as a partner, has accused the firm of pushing him out because of his age and thwarting him from doing substantive work for a client he helped land.

News

Fenwick, Fueled by Technology, Expands to 37 Lawyers in NY

Xiumei Dong | July 26, 2018

After nearly a dozen years at Davis & Gilbert, Vejay Lalla is headed to Fenwick & West.

News

Evan Greebel Shouldn't Go to Jail, His Former Law Partners Say

Christine Simmons | July 17, 2018

The former Big Law partner and lawyer to imprisoned ex-pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli "had a terrible encounter with the devil incarnate," one of his former law firm partners told a judge.

News

3 NY Boutiques Among Those Matching Milbank on Associate Pay

Lizzy McLellan | June 15, 2018

Several elite litigation boutiques are keeping pace with salary increases at Milbank and Cravath. One hints it's about to go even higher.

News

Sidley Private Equity Practice Head Jumps to Willkie in NY

Dan Packel | June 12, 2018

Matthew Rizzo, who formerly led Sidley Austin's private equity practice, has joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York, while Jessica Sheridan has come aboard in Texas.

News

Partnership for Children's Rights Merges With Mobilization for Justice

Susan DeSantis | June 07, 2018

Partnership for Children’s Rights, a not-for-profit law firm, is merging with Mobilization for Justice Inc., an anti-poverty organization.

News

Greenberg Traurig Shareholder in NY Helps Defendants Beat Back Securities Fraud Charges in Connecticut

Robert Storace | June 07, 2018

Greenberg Traurig's Marc Mukasey leads a team of white collar defense attorneys who successfully represented two traders charged with crimes.

2018 Attorneys’ Guide to Civil Practice in the New York County Supreme Court

Peter McGowan | June 05, 2018

For the past 22 years, NYCLA's Committee on the Supreme Court has published its annually updated Attorneys’ Guide to Civil Practice in the New York County Supreme Court, which is an exceptional guide book covering all aspects of litigating in Manhattan. And once again the 23rd edition of the Attorneys’ Guide does not disappoint.

Michael Miller Addresses NYSBA as Its President

Michael Miller | June 04, 2018

"Members of this great profession of ours, particularly the members of the organized bar, stand on the front lines protecting, defending—and yes, even expanding—our precious civil liberties and the administration of justice."

News

Fewer Firms Expected to Follow Milbank's Associate Pay Boost

Christine Simmons | June 04, 2018

The pay increase could result in differentiation among law firms, observers say.

News

Nassau Bar President Wants to Reach New Lawyers

Susan DeSantis | June 01, 2018

Elena Karabatos is a partner in the matrimonial practice of Schlissel Ostrow Karabatos.  She is the immediate past president of the New York Chapter…

News

Facing Increased Competition, NY Bar Associations Reveal New Incentives

Susan DeSantis | June 01, 2018

The New York City Bar is set to announce today that most of its hundreds of CLE classes will be free for new graduates, newly admitted lawyers, in-house/corporate counsel, academics, nonprofit lawyers, judges and their staffs.

News

New State Bar Association President Sees Tremendous Opportunity for Growth

Susan DeSantis | May 31, 2018

"There are a lot of lawyer jokes, but when people are in trouble and need help, they don’t call comedians – they call us."

News

Behind the Law Firm Brawl That Could Cost Michael Avenatti Millions

Christine Simmons | May 25, 2018

Avenatti’s firm and his former colleagues there paint very different pictures of the events that led to a $10 million judgment this month.

Commentary

Are Law Firm Bonuses Considered 'Wages'?

Arthur J. Ciampi | May 24, 2018

Whether bonus payments to employees are “wages” under the New York Labor Law is an oft-litigated issue in employment disputes.

News

Fast-Growing Kobre & Kim Adds Lawyers in NY, Asia, London, DC

Dan Packel | May 24, 2018

A key part of the firm's model is finding former federal prosecutors eager to work on the ground in foreign jurisdictions.

News

Abbe Lowell, Counsel to Kushner, Joins Winston in NY and Washington, D.C.

Ryan Lovelace | May 23, 2018

Lowell is just the latest Norton Rose Fulbright partner to join Winston & Strawn over the past year.

News

Manhattan Lawyer's Racist Rant, Other Events Show Social Media's Power Over Lawyers

Scott Flaherty | May 22, 2018

A racist rant. Scrutiny over prolific billable hours. Controversy over arbitration pacts. All three have made news in the legal world in the past few months, and all were thrust into the spotlight through social media.

News

ABA 'Furiously Working' to Craft Proposal on Lawyers' Mental Health

Ryan Lovelace | May 22, 2018

Ahead of the American Bar Association's annual meeting this summer, an ABA working group is debating a proposed resolution to help lawyers and law firms deal with problems of mental illness and impairment.

Letter to the Editor Commentary

Justices in Town and Village Courts Should be Lawyers

Thomas F. Liotti | May 18, 2018

The New York Law Journal’s article entitled Are Times Changing For Old-School Town and Village Courts In New York? is rhetorical. It answers the question…

News

$1,745 Hourly Rate in the Toys R Us Bankruptcy Sparks Debate

Ryan Lovelace | May 18, 2018

It's easy to be impressed by individual partner rates approaching $2,000 an hour, but the widening gap between whole categories of law firms may mean more for the industry's future.

News

Big Law Vets Target Buzzy Blockchain for Growing Boutique

Dan Packel | May 17, 2018

A pair of former partners at Reed Smith and Hogan Lovells launched DLx Law earlier this month. They've now named their first new attorney who will split his time between Delaware and New York.

News

Judge Leticia Astacio Appeals Her Removal From the Bench

Susan DeSantis | May 17, 2018

Leticia Astacio was suspended from office last month after she was arrested for allegedly attempting to make an illegal firearms purchase at a Dick’s Sporting Goods in Henrietta.

News

Power Sharing: Law Firms Say It Can Be Nirvana but Experts See Pitfalls

Susan DeSantis | May 15, 2018

Experts aren't fond of the idea: two co-managing partners or a committee of equals running a law firm. But the leaders of some of New York's midsize firms swear by it.

Profile Q&A

An International Arbitration Star With NY Roots: A Q&A with Wilmer’s Gary Born

Jenna Greene | May 14, 2018

One of the world's top arbitration experts, Wilmer Hale's Gary Born shares how he got his start, his goals as chair of the 70-lawyer practice, the benefits of "double-hatting"--and why he likes planes without wifi.

News

Columbia, Cornell Law Among Schools Asking Firms to Disclose Summer Associate Arbitration Agreements

Meghan Tribe | May 14, 2018

Yale Law School and 13 other top law schools are issuing a survey to law firms asking them to disclose whether or not they require summer associates to submit to forced arbitration agreements and related nondisclosure deals.

News

Big Law Sports Deal Vet From NY Takes a Turn as Team Owner

Meghan Tribe | May 10, 2018

Irwin Raij, an O'Melveny & Myers partner known for handling high-profile sports transactions, recently saw his four-year wait finally end for the debut of a new professional soccer team that he co-owns in Los Angeles.

News

Lawrence Randolph Bailey, the First African-American Equity Partner at Eckert Seamans, Dies

Susan DeSantis | May 07, 2018

Lawrence Randolph Bailey Jr., the first African-American attorney to become an equity partner at Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, died May 2 in Westchester at the age of 68.

News

NY Firm Opens Office in Houston 2 Months After Austin Move

Brenda Sapino Jeffreys | May 03, 2018

The launch had been delayed by Baker Botts' 90-day hold on partners. Shearman & Sterling hired partners from Baker Botts, Thompson & Knight and Jones Day to launch its Houston office, which will bolster the firm's oil and gas practice.

Live Coverage News

Jed Rakoff: Only the "Relatively Rich" Can Afford to Hire a Lawyer

Jed Rakoff | May 03, 2018

Judge Rakoff, in his Learned Hand Award speech at the Federal Bar Council's Law Day dinner, said: We cannot blind ourselves to the failure of our profession to provide affordable legal services to what is probably a majority of our fellow Americans. What is needed is a global solution.

News

How the GC of TED Talks in NY Is Battling the Problem of Sexual Harassment After Complaints at Group's Conferences

Stephanie Forshee | May 03, 2018

In a recent interview with Corporate Counsel, Nishat Ruiter of TED provided a rare look into how a GC has handled harassment issues in the era of #MeToo.

News

White & Wiggins Adds NYC Office, Four Laterals and New Name

Brenda Sapino Jeffreys | May 02, 2018

The Dallas minority-owned firm expands with the addition of an international practice that focuses on the energy and entertainment sectors in Africa.

Best Practices Commentary

Why Lawyers Need to Learn to Write Clearly

Gerald Lebovits and Cynthia R. Moore | May 01, 2018

Many factors cause lawyers to write turgidly, including a limited knowledge of how to write in plain English and a belief that readers prefer dense writing to simple, interesting, easy-to-understand writing.

News

3 Latham Partners in NY Among Candidates to Replace Bill Voge

Scott Flaherty | April 30, 2018

Partners in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and London are vying to lead the 2,400-lawyer firm following Voge's ouster in March.