Business of Law

How Lawyers Of Color Say They Climbed The Career Ladder

Law firms have touted improvements in terms of diversity and inclusion, but when you move the magnifying glass to the top of the pyramid, minority lawyers continue to hold a small fraction of leadership positions. Those who have successfully climbed up the ladder said the journey hasn't been easy.

Law Firms Sought Millions In PPP Loans As Virus Hit Industry

More than 170 of the largest law firms in the U.S. were among the businesses approved for loans under a federal program intended to ease the economic impact of COVID-19, with roughly 100 receiving a nod for funding of between $5 million and $10 million, according to newly released data.

Law360 Names Top Attorneys Under 40

We're pleased to announce Law360's Rising Stars for 2020, our list of 176 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments transcend their age.

Out-Of-Town Firms Keep Eye On NY Growth, Despite Virus

Once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, New York, as the world's leading financial center, has continued to draw the eye of out-of-town and national firms, several of which picked up local talent in recent weeks.

August 10, 2020
Roku's Trial Delay Request OK'd By 'Surprised' Texas Judge

U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright on Monday again delayed a patent jury trial involving Roku because of the coronavirus pandemic, noting his surprise this time that Roku's attorneys had asked for the case to start in October because of persistent safety concerns.
August 10, 2020
Fla. Bar Exam Software Sows Chaos For Grads

A group of law graduates asked the Florida Supreme Court for help Monday as they deal with data security breaches, overheated computers and malfunctioning facial recognition features in the remote bar exam software that will be used for the online Florida bar exam scheduled for Aug. 19.
August 10, 2020
Calif. High Court Won't Drop Pass Score For Past Bar Exams

The California Supreme Court issued an order Monday making its lower pass score for the Golden State's bar exam official, though it refused to retroactively apply the new score to past exams.
August 10, 2020
Recruiter Axes Fee Suit Against Kilpatrick Townsend Partners

After experiencing multiple losses in the courtroom, Houston-based legal recruiting firm Partners Legal Search has abandoned its $1.2 million Texas state court lawsuit that claimed two Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP partners robbed it of a job search fee by skirting the parties' 2017 agreement.
August 10, 2020
Ex-King & Spalding Partner Joins FBI As General Counsel

The FBI announced Monday that it has tapped a former King & Spalding LLP attorney with a decade of experience as a federal prosecutor to serve as the agency's general counsel.
August 10, 2020
BigLaw Atty Faces Ethics Complaint Over Kanye, Trump Work

An accountability watchdog group has filed an ethics complaint against a Husch Blackwell LLP attorney who seemingly represented both the Donald Trump reelection campaign and musician Kanye West's presidential campaign simultaneously.
August 10, 2020
Pa. Judge Bans Atty Exposed To Virus For Coming To Court

A Pennsylvania judge chastised a local attorney who was exposed to COVID-19 for using the pandemic as a tactical weapon and banned her from entering county courthouse facilities after she ignored the court's directive and showed up for a hearing in person even though her son had the virus.
August 10, 2020
NY Judge With Alzheimer's To Retire After Conduct Concerns

A Brooklyn state court judge has agreed to retire due to "advanced" Alzheimer's disease at the age of 54 after the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct received complaints about "erratic" behavior.
August 10, 2020
Susman Godfrey Elects New Leader To Succeed Late Founder

Susman Godfrey LLP has appointed its first female managing partner as a successor to founding partner Stephen Susman, who died last month after contracting COVID-19 while recovering from a bike accident.
August 10, 2020
15 Minutes With Dreamscape Immersive's Chief Legal Officer

The pandemic has pushed virtual-reality company Dreamscape Immersive's Chief Legal Officer Tammy Brandt to do what she does best: Help emerging businesses pivot to achieve success. Here, she shares more about the company's shift and the accompanying legal challenges.
August 09, 2020
Amid Calls For Police Scrutiny, Cities Look To Law Firms

A series of high-profile officer-involved killings has thrown a spotlight on police oversight. As the federal government steps back from providing departments with road maps for reform, a number of cities are hiring private attorneys to do the job, which some say could help lend credibility to findings and diffuse political tension.
August 08, 2020
Stephen Williams, Longtime DC Circ. Judge, Dies of COVID-19

Senior Judge Stephen F. Williams, a member of the powerful D.C. Circuit for more than 30 years, died Friday of COVID-19 complications at the age of 83, the court's chief executive confirmed to Law360 late Saturday.
August 07, 2020
In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.
August 07, 2020
Immigration Judges Can't Halt Policy That 'Muzzles' Speech

A Virginia federal judge on Thursday shot down the National Association of Immigration Judges' request to pause a Trump administration policy that the organization head claims has "muzzled" immigration judges, finding that the matter belongs in administrative court and the NAIJ hasn't shown it'd be irreparably harmed.
August 07, 2020
Rudy Giuliani Sued Over $15K Art Bill Linked To Divorce

An art adviser sued Rudy Giuliani in New York state court Friday for allegedly refusing to pay over $15,000 rung up when the adviser appraised art owned by the former New York City mayor and his now-ex-wife Judith for purposes of divvying up their property.
August 07, 2020
Harvard Prof Sues New York Magazine Over Unflattering Piece

A Harvard law professor who was the subject of a New York magazine story calling him "the most gullible man in Cambridge" has alleged the magazine's reporter deliberately twisted the facts to portray him as the victim of two extortionists and sexually harassed him during the process of reporting.
August 07, 2020
Winston & Strawn Launches ESG Advisory Team

Winston & Strawn LLP has announced the launch of a new team that will focus on helping corporate boards and management teams navigate ethical investing and related legal issues, joining a trend among law firms as clients take a harder look at their investment practices.
August 07, 2020
New PTAB Attys Cut Their Teeth At Mock Hearing

Junior attorneys got rare feedback Friday from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director, who commended their "really fabulous job" after a mock hearing in a training designed to give next-generation attorneys experience arguing before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
August 07, 2020
Pa. High Court Won't Waive Bar Exam Requirement Over Virus

Pennsylvania's chief justice said Friday that despite the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the state would not sign off on a plan to allow this year's crop of law school graduates to begin practicing without taking the bar exam.
August 07, 2020
Biggest Fed Court District Largely Closes Due To COVID-19

The Central District of California, the most populous federal judicial district in the nation, announced that it is mostly closing its courthouses again to the public and that jury trials will continue to be postponed due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.
August 07, 2020
Trump Pick For Central Calif. Court Worth More Than $4M

A California litigator tapped for a federal court seat by President Donald Trump has reported a net worth of more than $4 million, making him one of the wealthiest judicial nominees up for confirmation in the U.S. Senate.
August 07, 2020
Law360's Pro Say: Please Stop Rockin' Down In Trump World

Rock star Neil Young filed a lawsuit this week aiming to block President Donald Trump from using his music at campaign events — the first significant legal action taken by one of the many artists who have complained about Trump's choice of rally anthems.
August 07, 2020
GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

New data found that two-thirds of in-house legal leaders are struggling to manage their workload during the pandemic, and Britain's intelligence agency released instructions for how businesses should use insurance brokers to protect them from the threat of virtual crime. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.
August 07, 2020
Legal Industry Job Growth Slows In July

The legal industry in July added jobs for the third straight month, but the pace appeared to slacken after two months of robust growth, with the sector adding 1,900 positions, according to U.S. Department of Labor data released Friday.
August 07, 2020
Full DC Circ. Says House Can Sue For McGahn's Testimony

The D.C. Circuit ruled Friday that the U.S. House of Representatives may demand testimony from former White House Counsel Don McGahn.

Editor's Picks

Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year

Law360 congratulates the winners of its 2019 Practice Groups of the Year awards, which honor the law firms behind the litigation wins and major deals that resonated throughout the legal industry in the past year.
Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attorneys From 76 Firms

The elite slate of attorneys chosen as Law360's 2019 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.
The 2019 Law360 Diversity Snapshot

U.S. law firms have long touted their commitment to diversity and inclusion. But those goals still seem far from being realized. Law360’s annual Diversity Snapshot indicates only marginal progress on racial and ethnic diversity in the attorney workforce from year to year, even as demands grow from clients expecting more diverse legal teams.

Expert Analysis

Opinion

ADA Protects Lawyers With Disabilities, But We Must Do More

As an attorney with cerebral palsy, Danielle Liebl at Reed Smith says that while the 30-year-old Americans with Disabilities Act has protected her against discrimination, the legal industry must do more to accommodate lawyers with disabilities and make them more comfortable in self-identifying.
Perspectives

Legal Deserts Threaten Justice In Rural America

Many small towns and rural counties have few lawyers or none at all, which threatens the notion of justice for all Americans and demands creative solutions from legislators, bar associations and law schools, says Patricia Refo, president of the American Bar Association.
Analyzing Upward And Downward Trends In Legal Tech

Advances in legal technology are often accompanied by bombastic overstatements, but it is important to separate the wheat from the chaff by looking at where various technologies stand on the hype curve, says Lance Eliot at Stanford Law School.
Q&A

Coping With A Pandemic: Eckert Seamans' Karen Elliott

As society continues to adapt to COVID-19, Law360 is sharing reactions from around the business and legal community. Today's perspective comes from Richmond-based Karen Elliott, a member at Eckert Seamans focused on labor and employment law and commercial litigation matters.
Opinion

ABA's New Guidance On Litigation Funding Misses The Mark

The American Bar Association should revise its recently approved best practices on third-party litigation funding as they do not reflect how legal finance actually works and could create confusion among lawyers, says Andrew Cohen at Burford Capital.
What Firms Should Ask Before Hiring Attorneys From Gov't

In the final year of any presidential administration, there is an undeniable appetite on the part of large law firms for government-savvy legal talent, but firms need to first consider how they will actually utilize their new star hire, says Michael Ellenhorn at Decipher.
The Ethics Of Using Chatbots For Legal Services

Delegating legal work to robots involves several risks, including running afoul of statutes dictating unauthorized practice of law, but with the right precautions, law firms can lawfully employ artificially intelligent chatbots that can imitate human conversations, say attorneys at Haynes and Boone.
Opinion

ABA Must Seize Opportunity To Respond To Bar Exam Chaos

The challenges of administering bar exams this year have put the future of the profession in jeopardy, but the American Bar Association at its ongoing annual meeting can adopt a resolution that would urge jurisdictions to take emergency actions with respect to licensure of new attorneys, says Nicholas Allard, former president of Brooklyn Law School.
When Judges Are Not Neutral

The Sineneng-Smith case recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court and the ongoing Michael Flynn saga in D.C. federal court arguably demonstrate that all courts do not always act as neutral arbiters, says Douglas Lang at Dorsey & Whitney.
How Pandemic Is Affecting The Pace Of Judicial Opinions

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way judges work, but how has it impacted the volume of work product they generate? Ben Strawn and Omeed Azmoudeh at Davis Graham investigate using data from the PACER federal courts registry.
Q&A

Coping With A Pandemic: Burns & Levinson's Josef Volman

As society continues to adapt to COVID-19, Law360 is sharing reactions from around the business and legal community. Today's perspective comes from Boston-based Josef Volman, co-chair of the business law group at Burns & Levinson.
6 Steps For Law Firms Looking To Improve Their Culture

The COVID-19 crisis represents an inflection point for law firm culture, and smart firm leaders will take advantage of this moment to build innovation-welcoming environments that support partners, associates, business services teams and clients alike, say Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Legal and Kathleen Pearson at Pillsbury.
Virtual Courts Amplify Lawyers' Corporate Spokesperson Role

Greater access to virtual court proceedings during the pandemic means an increased likelihood that legal arguments will jump from the courtroom to the court of public opinion, so counsel must tailor statements with the client's reputation in mind, says Mike Dolan at Finsbury.
Law Firms Must Note Pandemic's Outsize Impact On Women

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, gender roles in many families have reverted to scenes from the 1960s, and law firms have a huge opportunity — indeed a business imperative — to avoid the mistakes of the past, say Roberta Liebenberg at Fine Kaplan and Stephanie Scharf at Scharf Banks.
The 'Rocket Docket' Show Goes On Despite Setbacks

After 11 years as the fastest civil trial court in the land, the Eastern District of Virginia rocket docket is now tied for second place among the nation's 94 district courts, but the court has moved swiftly to adapt to the COVID-19 crisis and continues to dispense justice safely and efficiently, says Robert Tata at Hunton.