Richard T. Hills Likes Being Part of the Team as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for MagnetBank While in high school, Richard T. Hills decided to follow family tradition and go into law. His father, Richard A. Hills, Jr., is General Counsel for MidCountry Financial Corporation based in Macon, GA, and several other members of his family are also lawyers. (7 views)
Can a legal career run in a the family for three decades? Ever wonder what it's like to grow up in a family full of attorneys? Kfir Luzzatto and John Pendleton could tell you. Both of them said that having a tradition of law in their families instilled in them love and respect for the legal profession. (5 views)
The Life and Career of Robert Shapiro, Considered the Lawyer of the Century He's the world's best-known criminal defense lawyer. With a ''who's who'' client list and a career that skyrocketed in the mid-1990s when he got involved in the ''trial of the century,'' Robert Shapiro has become a household name. (31366 views)
Extra! Extra! Law Firms Battle For Top Pay Hike As Giddy Associates Cheer Them On Biglaw starting salaries flatlined over the last five years, but recently have begun showing signs of life. Last year, top New York firms raised salaries by roughly $10,000 to $150,000, with many D.C. firms boosting salaries from $125,000 to $135,000 or $140,000. While not a substantial increase, the ripple effect was as far away as Charlotte, Atlanta, and Nashville, as... (32 views)
The Perpetual Salary Wars Back when I was younger and in college, I remember being amazed that salaries at some of the largest New York law firms were as high as $50,000 per year. This was not that long ago. Since I had wanted to be a lawyer from a fairly early age, the fact that salaries for attorneys were so impressive sounded pretty good. By the time I had graduated from college, salaries at the... (109 views)
How to effectively manage the tricky subject of Salary Negotiation Nobody wants to earn less than they're worth. There certainly are many reasons why employees leave their employers, including work environment, job responsibilities, and career development. Still, most surveys report that compensation is the most common motivation for people to seek a new position. Thus, it is only natural for an attorney seeking a new position to be... (442 views)
Chadbourne & Parke, LLP Located smack-dab in the middle of New York's famous Rockefeller Center, Chadbourne & Park, LLP, is sitting on some prime real estate. In fact, since Chadbourne is located in the same building as NBC, attorneys and legal staff report for work in the same place as the entire cast of Saturday Night Live. In addition, the firm is located right across the street from the Today... (198 views)
Make a proper appearance of your Resume Resumes and cover letters are the documents potential employers are going to look at and either be intrigued enough to file away for the future or be unimpressed enough to place in cylindrical files for homeless men on street corners to use as insulation on cold winter nights. Unfortunately, most employment-seeking documents are just lackluster or laborious enough to get... (16 views)
The Life and Career of Mark F. Nowak, Partner at Thorp, Reed & Armstrong, Enjoys the Autonomy of Being a Lawyer Civil trial lawyer Mark Nowak has had an interest in politics and government since he was very young, and he said that interest ultimately led him to consider a legal career. (319 views)
Gil Goldschein Thrives on the High Energy and Excitement of Being General Counsel for Bunim-Murray Productions When he was a law student at Brooklyn Law School, Gil Goldschein never aspired to work at a big law firm and one day make partner. Instead, he wanted a legal career that would allow him to be more directly involved in the company he represented and have more of a firsthand perspective on the matters he handled. And a career as an in-house counsel seemed to fit the bill. (130 views)
The Life and Career of Marc Simon: Writer and Producer of 'After Innocence' and Associate at Dreier, LLP Marc Simon is both an associate at Dreier, LLP, in New York and a successful documentary filmmaker, having most recently worked as producer and writer for After Innocence, a film spotlighting wrongful conviction and its damaging consequences. Needless to say, Simon is a busy, busy man, so when he agreed to give LawCrossing a couple of minutes of his time, I jumped at the... (363 views)
The Power of Gratitude: Getting and Keeping a Job by Being Thankful Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept in poverty by their lack of gratitude. — Wallace Wattles (258 views)
Lewis Shender, Vice President and General Counsel for Jenny Craig, Inc., Enjoys the Hands-On Involvement of Being an In-House Attorney Like many other young boys, Lewis Shender had big career plans set for himself when he was in grammar school. In addition to wanting to be a Major League Baseball player, a rock star, and a professional racecar driver, among other common career dreams of young males, Shender also aspired to be a lawyer. (174 views)
The Life and Career of Linda Fairstein: Author and Former Head of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office's Sex Crimes Unit I spoke with author and attorney Linda Fairstein the day before her newest book, Bad Blood, was set to hit bookstore shelves, and her excitement was contagious. With enthusiasm and passion, she explained to me what it was like to transition from working as an attorney to writing full time and how she manages to incorporate aspects of both of her favorite professions into... (799 views)
Show Me the Money...or How You Will Make Me Money This week, I spoke with Rick Gillis, who, over a short number of years, has developed quite an impressive career as an employment expert, public speaker, author, and radio show host. As founder of The Really Useful Job Company, Gillis has built the formula of fundamentals that will get job candidates hired. (40 views)
The Life and Career of Jonathan C. "Jay" Augustine: A Litigator at Heart Who Believes Community Involvement Is as Important as Winning Cases Successful labor and employment litigator Jay Augustine said that two key factors contributed to his decision to enter the legal profession. One was the social exposure he received from his mother, who was a social studies teacher, and the other was his environment. (378 views)
The Case for Jury Consultants and the process of selecting the potential Jurors Is it really akin to malpractice if an attorney elects not to use a jury consultant during a trial? Money is a big motivating factor since conducting jury research often leads to settlements. Jury consultants have become increasingly popular, especially because of their involvement in so many recent high-profile trials, such as those of Martha Stewart, Michael Jackson,... (1295 views)
The Life and Career of Ramsey Clark: Former United States Attorney General When Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006, the nation stopped to take notice. While most people would agree that Hussein deserved the hand he was dealt, it's important to remember that we live in a nation where everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty—and that even the not-so-nice characters have rights to attorneys who will fight for their freedom.... (98 views)
Kieran Shanahan advises of how to shine in both Law and Politics The environment in which Kieran Shanahan grew up played a pivotal role in shaping his career in the legal field and the political arena. (43 views)
Following the Career Paths of Your Law Role Models Remember when your professors told you that average grades would not carry you to a successful law career? Well, this can be true, but they left out one thing. There is a popular phrase that you should jot down on a sticky note and live by: "It's not about what you know; it's about who you know." Sure, in the law world, the schools you attended and the grades you earned... (10 views)
Jeff Kerr Battles Animal Abuse as General Counsel of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) A passion for justice compelled Jeff Kerr to enter the legal field, and that same passion ultimately led him to become a champion for animal rights. (279 views)
Top 3 Reasons Attorneys Decide to Move In-house What is it about going in-house that seems to increasingly draw attorneys from law firms to in-house legal departments? According to a recent survey by NALP, the attrition rate for experienced attorneys with about five years of experience jumped dramatically, from 60 percent in 2000 to 78 percent in 2005. A BCG Attorney Search survey concluded that approximately 80 percent... (115 views)
The Life and Career of Shaun C. Clark a Top Entertainment Attorney As an undergrad at the University of Texas at Arlington in the early 1990s, Shaun Clark aspired to have a career in the entertainment industry and believed that pursuing a career in law would be the best way to reach his goal. (780 views)
Trapping O.J. Simpson: An Atypical Lawyer and His Methods Jonathan Polak does not fit the typical, cliché lawyer image. He is not fast-talking, conniving, or deceptive. In fact, he is probably the nicest, most humble lawyer around. But do not let that fool you into thinking he is a pushover. Although Polak has a glowing integrity that beams even over a phone line, his determination when it comes to winning his cases is... (340 views)
It's the New Year: Four Quick Questions to Help You Determine if Your Career is on Course Most attorneys will agree that besides their families and their health, their careers are probably the most important aspect of their lives. If, however, you are like most attorneys, you probably spent more time working on your last project than you spent during the entire last year thinking about your career direction. (13 views)
Thomas Dorer: General Counsel for West Virginia University As an undergrad studying history at Brown University, Thomas Dorer decided that he wanted a career in law, but not just any type of law. He specifically wanted to practice higher-education law. (157 views)
Real Estate Attorneys Play Bigger Role in Corporate Deal-Making Real estate attorneys are adopting more deal-making skills characteristic of their corporate counterparts, according to an article in the National Law Review. Real estate attorneys say clients that are buying and selling high-dollar, multi-property assets increasingly want a lawyer who not only understands how to access properties, but who can also play a role in crafting... (101 views)
Using Psychology to Get Your Resume Noticed This week, I spoke with Paul Endress, a nationally recognized expert in the application of psychology to business in the areas of communication, hiring, and retention. Over the past 25 years, he has started nine companies, which means he knows a thing or two about hiring and what to look for in cover letters and resumes. (75 views)
Clear Out the Clutter and Make Room for Excellence It is finally the start of a new year, and whether you are looking to revitalize your current job path or jumpstart the career you hope to have, you will want to give an invigorating boost to your career and your resume. Make it your New Year's resolution to think about the goals that you have for your future, as well as the ones you have already accomplished, and... (8 views)