Business of Law

  • March 28, 2024

    Fla. Judge Axes Club Owners' Suit 'Intended For The Media'

    A Florida federal judge has dismissed a complaint brought by two Little Havana businessmen against top-level Miami officials over weaponizing city resources against them for supporting a local political candidate, saying the lawsuit appeared to be "intended for the media" and needs to be refiled without errors.

  • March 28, 2024

    Munger Tolles, Stroock Alums Tapped For Calif. Judiciary

    Among California Gov. Gavin Newsom's picks for judgeships around the Golden State are a former Munger Tolles & Olson LLP attorney, who will serve on the state's Second District Court of Appeal, and a Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP alumna.

  • March 28, 2024

    Laurence Fishburne Portrays Atty's Harrowing Katrina Ordeal

    This weekend marks the end of a three-week debut run of the one-man show "Like They Do in the Movies," written and performed by Tony Award-winning actor Laurence Fishburne — which includes the moving story of what his longtime friend Duane Morris partner Joe West endured at a New Orleans hospital during Hurricane Katrina.

  • March 28, 2024

    WeightWatchers Adds 23andMe's Ex-Legal Head As Its GC

    WW International Inc., formerly known as WeightWatchers, hired Jacqueline Cooke from ancestry-tracking company 23andMe this month as its new general counsel and corporate secretary.

  • March 28, 2024

    NC Atty Says Career Coaching Business Stiffed Him On Pay

    A North Carolina lawyer said this week that he hasn't been paid for his work at a career coaching business in which he owns a minority stake after he discovered the company was bleeding funds and rife with mismanagement, according to an amended state business court complaint.

  • March 28, 2024

    Busy Chief Lawyer Lands On List Of Highest Paid 3M Execs

    While 3M Co. laid off thousands of employees in 2023, including some lawyers, its chief legal affairs officer saw his pay increase, earning over $6.7 million in total compensation as he joined the list of the company's five highest paid executives.

  • March 28, 2024

    Morgan Lewis Accused Of Age, Race Bias By Patent Specialist

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP gave preferential treatment to younger white co-workers of a Black patent prosecution specialist, including more overtime and better pay, according to a complaint filed Thursday in Washington, D.C., federal court.

  • March 28, 2024

    Legal Acumen Helped Lieberman In Senate, Colleagues Say

    While Joe Lieberman was best known for his political career, where he ran for vice president, supported the Iraq war and cast the deciding vote approving the Affordable Care Act, those who knew him as a practicing attorney recalled his integrity, kindness and respect for the legal process.

  • March 28, 2024

    Career Public Defender To Lead Federal Defenders Of NY

    The Federal Defenders of New York named longtime public defender Tamara Giwa as the group's next executive director starting Monday.

  • March 28, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty Calls For Injunction Amid Online Harassment

    A former Greenberg Traurig LLP patent attorney locked in litigation in Florida federal court with a social media influencer over claims the influencer mounted a campaign to get him fired and destroyed his reputation reiterated his request for a cyberstalking injunction Thursday as he detailed disturbing recent instances of online harassment he has received.

  • March 28, 2024

    Disbarring Jeffrey Clark Would Chill Gov't Dialogue, Prof Says

    A Yale Law School professor said Thursday that he does not believe former U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Clark should face punishment for advocating to send a letter to Georgia officials purporting to identify significant concerns with the 2020 election, testifying before a Washington, D.C., attorney ethics panel that such discipline would devastate free dialogue within government agencies.

  • March 28, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty Named Acting GC At Neptune Wellness

    Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. elevated to acting general counsel one of its in-house lawyers, who previously worked in BigLaw, the consumer-packaged goods company said in a securities filing on Wednesday, just days after a federal judge's order to replace its legal counsel.

  • March 28, 2024

    Grading Garland: Attys Give AG Mixed Reviews 3 Years In

    U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland's name won't be on the ticket in November, but his performance three years into his tenure is a subplot in the 2024 presidential election.

  • March 28, 2024

    Fired Alston & Bird Aide Fights Arbitration Of Vax Claims

    An Alston & Bird LLP staffer fired after refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19 told a Georgia federal court that it should refuse to force her discrimination suit into arbitration, since her employment contract was not a matter of interstate commerce.

  • March 28, 2024

    Another Senate Dem Comes Out Against 3rd Circ. Nominee

    A third Senate Democrat, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, has come out against Third Circuit nominee Adeel Mangi, who would be the first Muslim federal appellate judge if confirmed, thus putting his nomination in further peril.

  • March 28, 2024

    Freshfields To Require Attorneys Work 4 Days In US Offices

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP will soon be mandating that all of its U.S. attorneys work from the office at least four days a week, a source with knowledge on the matter confirmed Thursday.

  • March 28, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen investors target fraudsters who ran a fake film tax scheme, Barclays Bank sue privately owned Russian bank PJSC Sovcombank, easyGroup bring a trademark infringement claim against online casino TGI Entertainment for its "easybet" word sign, and a bioethanol fuel company hit high-profile individuals connected to the collapsed Elysian Fuels scheme. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • March 27, 2024

    Judge Agrees To Training For 'Overly Harsh' Workplace

    The Judicial Council for the Second Circuit has declined to review the dismissal of a law clerk's complaint against a federal judge, who acknowledged the clerk's claims of their "overly harsh" management style and agreed to participate in workplace conduct counseling and training.

  • March 27, 2024

    Sedgwick Trustee's Valuation Of Firm Flawed, Judge Told

    An accounting expert hired by two ex-partners fighting the Sedgwick LLP trustee's bid to claw back $1.1 million testified at the close of a three-day California bench trial Wednesday that the trustee expert's valuation analysis is "materially flawed" and took a "sledgehammer" to the law firm's book value.

  • March 27, 2024

    Calif. Judge Decries DOJ's Broken Promises In Travel Ban Suit

    A California federal judge reprimanded U.S. Department of Justice attorneys for causing delays, breaking promises and hobbling the administration of justice while granting class certification to individuals who sought waivers to former President Donald Trump's travel ban targeting mostly Muslim-majority countries.

  • March 27, 2024

    Eastman Should Be Disbarred, Calif. State Bar Judge Rules

    A State Bar Court of California judge on Wednesday recommended disbarring Donald Trump's onetime attorney John Eastman, who helped plan and promote the former president's strategy to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

  • March 27, 2024

    Ex-GC For Lockheed Martin Space Joins Sherman & Howard

    A former general counsel and longtime attorney at Lockheed Martin has joined Sherman & Howard LLC as co-leader of the aerospace industry group, the law firm said Wednesday.

  • March 27, 2024

    Feds Say Murdaugh Lied, Broke Plea Deal Over $9M Fraud

    Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina attorney serving a life sentence for killing his wife and son, was dishonest with the government and should potentially face a harsher prison sentence than the one proposed in a plea agreement on federal charges of stealing at least $9 million from clients, prosecutors said. 

  • March 27, 2024

    Lateral Hiring Plummets As Post-COVID Talent Wars Cease

    Lateral lawyer hiring plummeted 35% overall in 2023 — marking the second consecutive annual decline and the softest market in 13 years, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association for Law Placement.

  • March 27, 2024

    Weil Latest Firm To Cut Back On China Presence

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP is the latest to join a growing list of major international law firms scaling down their operations in China, confirming Wednesday that it has closed its Beijing office and is considering consolidating its Shanghai office with its operation in Hong Kong.

Expert Analysis

  • AI In Accounting Raises OT Exemption Questions

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    A recent surge in the use of artificial intelligence in accounting work calls into question whether professionals in the industry can argue they are no longer overtime exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act, highlighting how technology could test the limits of the law for a variety of professions, say Bradford Kelley at Littler and Stephen Malone at Peloton Interactive.

  • Series

    Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Needs Regulating To Meet Ethics Standards

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    Third-party litigation funding can provide litigants with access to the legal system, but, as recent cases show, the funding agreements carry the potential for exploitation and may conflict with core aspects of the attorney-client relationship, making the need for a balanced regulation self-evident, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

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    As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.

  • Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks

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    As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • The Future Of ERISA If High Court Ends Chevron Deference

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decisions in two cases involving fishing company challenges to regulatory requirements could weaken or repeal Chevron deference, meaning U.S. Department of Labor regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act may be heavily scrutinized, modified or vacated by federal courts, say Naina Kamath and Julie Stapel at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

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