Paperless law practice

04/26/06

Paperless law practice

Inundated with court documents, deposition transcripts, case filings, expert witness studies, financial documents and billings receipts, law firms are contemplating the move to a paperless business. Getting attorneys to rely solely information online, however, has proved a challenge, especially for older and more traditional attorneys.

Many law firms in the Phoenix area, including the branch office of Greenberg Traurig, have initiated the process by filing court documents electronically and requesting deposition transcripts in PDF format.

According to sources in Phoenix, paperless practice has benefits beyond just the absence of paper cuts. The paperless method reportedly makes document management and organization easier than the traditional system.

Allen & Overy adds experts to New York team
Allen & Overy has appointed Howard M. Goldwasser and Lawton M. Camp as partners in its New York office. Both were previously partners in the Structured Finance Group of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. The firm has praised their experience, particularly in the strategically important areas of cash and synthetic CDOs, as well as their flexibility to adapt to new products and new markets.

Howard M. Goldwasser became partner with Orrick in 1999 and has broad-ranging Japanese and U.S. securitization experience. He has represented underwriters and other arrangers, originators and issuers, credit-enhancers and investors, including ABCP conduits, in securitization transactions in Asia and the United States. He has also represented banks and non-bank lenders in a variety of financings, including project financings (construction phase and term phase), secured and unsecured financings, LBO financings and single lender and syndicated financings.

Lawton M. Camp joined Orrick in 2001 and has experience in a variety of structured finance transactions, which include collateralized loan, bond and debt obligations; synthetic collateralized debt obligations; credit card receivables; trade receivables; mutual fund fee receivables; and various derivative instruments and structured financial products.

Allen & Overy has a leading U.S. and international capital markets practice that includes one of the largest and most integrated global teams of lawyers handling derivatives, structured finance and securitizations. The move illustrates the firm's long term commitment to this practice

GrayRobinson President to continue for another 5 years
Byrd F. Marshall, Jr., President and Managing Partner of the Florida firm, GrayRobinson has received a 5-year extension on his position. As President and Managing Partner since 1992, he becomes one of the longest serving managers of one of the largest law firms in the State of Florida.

Guiding GrayRobinson through a tremendous period of growth, Marshall was recognized as one of the Top Managing Partners by Florida Trend magazine in 2005. Under his leadership, GrayRobinson emerged as a regional Central Florida firm and blossomed into a 190 attorney, 10 office firm.

A securities lawyer with experience and expertise in representing public and private companies as they address their capital needs, Marshall has acted as general counsel to New York Stock Exchange companies, American Stock Exchange companies and companies traded on NASDAQ. GrayRobinson is a full-service corporate law firm providing legal services for Fortune 500 companies, emerging businesses, lending institutions, local and state governments, major developers, entrepreneurs and individuals internationally.

COOL THREAD OF THE DAY

Annoying associates

johndoe1: Does anyone else work with an associate who is really really annoying? I literally had an associate who wouldn't leave me alone, at work or at home; it was pretty scary. I finally had to tell the associate never to contact me at work or at home. Anyone with similar stories?

Browneye: I hate to say this, but...I was that associate that bothered you. I was just trying to be friends. Can I have your home number?

bakerstreet: I have to admit that none of our associates are half as annoying as several of my law school classmates, although we do have one who reminds the rest of us of "Hands" from Boston Legal.

dubs00: I agree, no one I work with is near as annoying as any of my classmates from law school. We don't hire annoying or conceited people.

True story, another large firm, several blocks down, hired the girl from my law school class with the highest GPA. She's a witch with a capital B ("witch"). At one point, in one class, witch mentions that she couldn't understand how others could be so stupid as to not understand the material. Witch is just a nasty person in general. She REALLY didn't like me. She couldn't understand how I could go to bars with classmates, socialize, have a life outside of school, and still do well.

One of my friends, also hired by that same firm, got married. I went, with my then fiance, now wife, to his wedding. I'm in line to grab booze for my fiance and I, when the witch proceeds to come over to our table and basically conduct a 10 minute cross exam of my wife.

I wasn't aware she had been invited, or I would have warned my wife. Anyhow, she made sure to insinuate all sorts of nasty things about me to my wife, including the fact that, according to the witch, I was terrible in bed (and she knew, because we apparently had slept together — trust me, wouldn't have happened no matter how drunk or no matter how desperate). She said a lot of other derogatory things as well, but I digress.

Well, my wife tells me about all of this as we are walking to the car (we went with two other couples) and a friend is totally unsurprised.

I can handle annoying associates. But if I worked with witch, I'd shoot myself.

As an aside, my "revenge" as it were, came when the partner I do a lot of work with and myself pitched for one of her firm's large clients about 8 months ago. I mentioned, in meeting with them, that we were approachable, dedicated to client service, and committed to making sure they are in the loop and able to ask us questions. They mentioned that their current attorney typically was condescending. I just said "I know ___," and we don't treat our clients, or any other people, that way. We got the work.

It proves that high GPA alone doesn't make a great or successful attorney.

Bullrunner: To bad the BIGLaw firms (that consider grades as the only hiring criteria) haven't figured that one out yet.