Just how bad was 2009? We all felt the pain last year. For some of us it was declining home values and loss of equity, for others it was lost jobs or reductions in salaries, and for some it was lower profits. (1 views)
Today's Legal Market and Your Job Search Looking for a new job in the legal industry? Despite the tough job market, the pace of lateral hiring is picking up this year. Large firms still have work to do and they're looking to lower risk by bringing in experienced attorneys, especially those with a portable book of business. (49 views)
Virtual Law? In a recent pod cast sponsored by Catuongo Court Reporting, the LegalTalkNetwork interviewed attorney Stephanie Kimbro of Kimbro Legal Services. Ms. Kimbro is a legal practitioner licensed in North Carolina that operates a complete ''virtual law firm.'' The idea of virtual business is as commonplace as buying the latest novel via our Kindles, making a dinner reservation or... (4 views)
Staffing Concerns and Legal Process Outsourcing In legal process outsourcing legal support is provided by other legal firms who provide these services. This article proposes to inform the readers in detail about legal process outsourcing or LPO and how it helps legal firms perform better by remaining focused on its core business areas. (94 views)
Women Quitting the Legal Profession There are a number of women who are quitting the legal profession because of various reasons. In fact, there is a significant exodus of women from the gamut of law jobs in spite of the fact that more and more women are graduating from law schools and institutions these days than men. (977 views)
Law Jobs in an Economic Slump This article deals with the hazards of the economic downturn and how legal professionals and employees are responding to the stress involved. Economic deterioration is a major issue with the lawyers, among whom a high rate of suicide has been reported. Law firms are resorting to pay cuts, layoffs etc. (283 views)
Attorney Careers: Things to Know This article discusses some important aspects of legal careers like types of specializations, whether private practice is better than working in a law firm, corruption in the legal field, skill sets required, significance of marketing to be successful as an attorney, and more. (172 views)
A Look at the Economy and its Effects on the Business of Law and Law Schools This article talks about how the economic crisis has hit across the board in the auto industry, the banking industry, retail market, and real estate market. The economic downturn has also found its way through law firms and into law schools. Law schools are gearing up to survive the sluggish economy. (93 views)
Changes in the Economy and its Influence on Law Firms This article talks about the changes which have been created within Law Firms since the sluggish economy has grown over the past few years. Many firms had to make layoffs and others could not bring on new law student graduates. Firms did not grow as fast in 2008 as they did in 2007. One repercussion will be lower salaries in Law Firms, especially for new hires. (67 views)
How is a New Graduate's Salary Determined in the Economic Crisis? This article talks about ways law firms are adjusting to today's economic conditions and salaries paid to new graduates. Of course many firms have experienced lay offs in response and others have placed new lawyers into pro bono work with their pro bono clients and reimbursed the non–profit organization for the new hire. Many creative plans have surfaced but there are... (91 views)
Lawyers Are Not Without Heart This article talks about Law Firms and how they are responding to the economic crunch in an unusual way and the public applauds their efforts. Law Firms are lending out new hires who are coming on board to wait it out for a year doing public interest work by consulting for non-profit corporations or an advocacy groups. In some cases the lawyer can choose the community... (6 views)
How is the Economy Affecting Lawyers? This Article talks about the economic atmosphere and researches to see which areas are hot and which are going cold for the legal profession. What is expected to happen in Law firms throughout this year? Will any programs from the Federal Government provide relief for Attorneys? (1140 views)
How do you get paid for Pro Bono Work? This article talks about how people are often paid for their pro bono legal work. Economically times are tough for everyone and maybe the business slow down has given attorneys some extra time that can be fruitful. Your work does not go unrecognized, especially if you given some assistance to a favorite non profit organization. Remember this famous quote from Anne... (238 views)
Online Legal Advice– Will it Change the Way Lawyers Do Business? The Information Age has been moving at a quick pace. Were you there when computers started being installed at every work desk? Do you remember when banking went online? Have you seen the growth in online legal services available? How about services that promise you answers right now and many attorneys which are waiting online and available, for a small price? How is... (105 views)
Legal Corruption Today Corruption is increasingly seen as a primary impediment to growth in the legal world and has also brought disrepute to it, with dramatic consequences in different scenarios. The nature of corruption stands in securing monopolistic income through power and coercion, thus breeding unrighteous money laundering. The state is the known to be the last social monopoly left in... (175 views)
Law Firm Hirings: the Present Story No legal professional in the US can ever forget Black Thursday, when six influential law firms cut loose, laying off hundreds of attorneys and legal staffers. All six firms–DLA Piper, Holland & Knight, Goodwin Procter, Bryan Cave, Epstein Becker & Green, and Dechert–started bloodletting in their respective firms with more than 700 attorneys and legal staffers losing... (266 views)
Technology in Law Firms Today In recent years, technology has undergone a drastic change and brought in many fantastic and sleek products. This has resulted in a marked improvement in various sectors of our economy. Various law firms now boast of better intra–office communications and uncluttered desks. In the not–so–distant past, lawyers were laden with heavy case books in crowded libraries, as... (277 views)
E–Mail Scams Very Costly for Lawyers—Be Aware We are all familiar with the scam scares that have been going around for several years now. They come in different packages, shapes, and sizes, but always end up cheating people out of their money. It used to be that only naïve people were being taken advantage of, but scammers are getting more intelligent and are figuring out ways to hoodwink clever business people... (241 views)
General Counsels: Avoid ''Club Fed'' Corporate scandals keep showing up. Unfortunately, General Counsel-staff tend to take the fall. Why is this? There are numerous reasons, but mostly they revolve around the role of the attorney: oversight and professional responsibility. (165 views)
Calculation of Legal Charges as per Billable hours Evan R. Chesler, of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, wrote an article for Forbes Magazine in mid December that has generated quite a bit of discussion. He has contended that the billable hour for lawyers and firms should be killed. He has given several arguments in defense of his opinion (of course he did; that is what he gets paid so much to do) and even made sense doing it. (286 views)
Death Penalty Sentence Requires Qualified Lawyers The death penalty is becoming more prevalent today. For many years states had abolished this practice. However, in the last few years the need has apparently risen in several states to bring it back. There have been many instances of defendants who were wrongly accused and found guilty of crimes they did not commit being given the death sentence. This was especially true... (162 views)
Former In—House Counsel Sees Hope with New Trial Maria Tartaglia, former in-house attorney for PaineWebber in New Jersey, has successfully brought her case against her former boss to the New Jersey Supreme Court, who ruled on Tuesday that Tartaglia will have a new trial. Tartaglia claims that PaineWebber's excuse of firing her for poor work performance and absences is just that—an excuse. Tartaglia claims she was... (96 views)
Survey of General Counsels Indicates Budget Decreases, Spending Shift These days, at least three quarters of law department leaders in organizations across the United States are facing major budget cuts that average 11.9%, according to a national survey conducted by Altman Weil, a legal consulting firm. The survey, called the Altman Weil flash Survey on Law Department Cost Control, indicated that another 15.6% of legal departments expect... (57 views)
The Pressures of General Counsel Jobs Including Salaries A review of compensation among chief legal officers in the Southeastern US reveals that average salary packages were in the neighborhood of approximately $965,000. With bonuses and stock awards adding most of the value, the average base salaries were just over $300,000 and the top 62 had packages valued at more than $1 million, with the highest being 7 million. Stock... (2289 views)
Law Firms Are Degenerating—Three Ways to Save Them Marc S. Galanter and William D. Henderson, from The American Lawyer, addressed in their article, ''Three Ways to Save Big Firms'' the huge issues causing the degeneration of big law firms and posit three possible solutions. Referencing an essay by Larry Kramer, they list some of the large challenges that lawyers from big firms have to deal with today: ''soaring billable... (40 views)
The State of Boston Law Firm Jobs As like many other areas of the country, lateral hiring for Boston law firm jobs continues, but has slowed and become more selective than in previous years. Those in possession of strong academic records and good credentials will have little trouble finding law firm jobs in Boston, particularly if they specialize in the realms of corporate or tax law, or if they are... (796 views)
The Legal State of Texas Attorney jobs in Texas are plentiful; The Lone Star State sits in the hot bed of controversy regarding illegal immigration and deportation of convicted aliens. Houston, Texas is the fourth largest city in the United States and boasts some great law firms to work for that range in size from two attorneys to over 400 hundred; many larger firms have offices around the world.... (1002 views)
State of the Market for Attorney Jobs in California Every state experiences a different situation concerning the market when it comes to attorney jobs. Many job agencies across the U.S. offer varying jobs, so the market in every individual state is completely unique. The condition of the market for attorney jobs in California is very exclusive to the state of the market in other states across the nation. This article is... (3517 views)
General Counsel Weary of Increased Firm Rates Recent belt-tightening has drawn more focus to law firms' hourly rates. Although clients do not want their law firms to raise rates for 2009, rates will probably go up, according to law firm consultants, who predict a 3 to 5 percent rate hike for rates in 2009. This increase, enacted to pay for increased costs, will be less than the 5 to 10 increase firms made in recent... (28 views)
Enterprise Risk Management Conference for General Counsel General Counsel will gather on November 18 and 19 at a conference entitled 'Enterprise Risk Management for the General Counsel.' The conference, hosted by Corporate Counsel, will take place at the Harvard Club in New York, NY. (248 views)