At what point does a salary freeze start to feel like a salary cut? Staff at O’Melveny & Myers are about to find out. O’Melveny just announced a new salary ice-age for its staff. Above the Law obtained this internal memo sent to O’Melveny staffers: We are committed to taking proactive steps to maintain our […]
I guess the summer months aren’t a bar to firms laying off more associates and staff. The Nashville Post reports (subscription) that Bass Berry is going through a round of cuts: In yet another sign that things in the economy need to get worse before they will get better, one of Nashville’s premier law firms […]
Explore the mindset, cultural shifts, and training strategies that define the AI‑savvy lawyer, revealing why human judgment, standardized competence, and integrated learning—not technology alone—will shape the future of the profession.
For the last few months, media outlets covering the legal industry — present company included — have predicted lean, mean summers for this year’s summer associates. Well, now you summer associates are ensconced in your Biglaw offices. Welcome! (Again.) We know that most programs are leaner in terms of the number of summer associates. Firms […]
As if creating new law schools from scratch wasn’t enough, now the schools themselves are starting to breed. Legal Blog Watch reports that The Massachusetts School of Law at Andover is metastasizing and creating a hybrid undergraduate program: The Massachusetts School of Law at Andover is branching out. It is launching the nation’s first college […]
In these tough economic times, I’m sure many people have been tempted to sightly exaggerate their credentials, experience, and competence. But you shouldn’t lie exaggerate to clients. At least not if you want to be a member of the bar in good standing. The National Law Journal reports that a former Pillsbury associate is getting […]
Remember the days when junior associates thought that work-life balance was important? Remember when people thought that law firms could be forced to change to accommodate associates who wanted to be lawyers and have personal lives? Those days are seemingly over. An interesting post on Law21 suggests that the quest for work-life balance (WLB) is […]
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Incoming first years at Shearman & Sterling have been trying to figure out when they can start at the firm. A couple of months ago, the firm said that December 2009 would be the earliest start date. But Shearman also encouraged its incoming first years to defer until September 2010, while promising those deferrals that […]
* Does SCOTUS need some affirmative action for non-Ivy League grads? [New York Times] * White & Case partner Tom Lauria, who got SCOTUS to issue a stay in the Chrysler-Fiat deal, is pissing people off and “enjoying the heck out of it.” He may take on GM next. [Wall Street Journal] * SCOTUS decided […]
We want you here as long as it makes sense. — Fictional Firm Chairman What does that mean? — Fictional Junior Partner It means you’re here until you’re not. — Fictional Firm Chairman Those are lines from a bit of YouTube fantasy porn for BigLaw attorneys frustrated by the way their firms are treating them […]
* Don’t forget: Lolcats and Above the Law with David Lat and Ben Huh tonight at 7:00 p.m. [Asian American Writers’ Workshop] * What happens when smart people don’t make smart decisions? The “human capital bubble” bursts. [Yahoo! Personal Finance] * Free CLE, with an option for even more free CLE if you use Twitter. […]
Legal work isn’t slowing down, and the firms that win won’t be the ones working harder — they’ll be the ones working smarter.
It has been a tough two weeks for employees at McDermott Will & Emery. First the firm cut the salaries of summer associates. Then MWE fired 72 people. Today, word came down to all associates and non-attorney personnel that the firm is also cutting benefits. A firm-wide memo explained: The Firm has evaluated its employee […]
Today we sat down with Gururaj Potnis, director of Manthan Legal, who was in New York to attend a legal conference. Manthan is an Indian company that describes itself as a “leader of offshore Legal Process Outsourcing.” According to Potnis, Manthan has roughly 280 lawyers — 140 senior attorneys, and 140 more junior colleagues who […]
The Village Voice had a great piece last week on the developing trial of Robert Simels, a New York attorney who has attracted a fair amount of fame from defending alleged mobsters and other assorted “kingpins.” Legendary local attorney Robert Simels is only being punished for representing some of New York’s most unredeemable gangsters, say […]
Ed. note: Welcome to the latest installment of “Notes from the Breadline,” a column by a laid-off lawyer in New York. Prior columns are collected here. You can reach Roxana St. Thomas by email (at [email protected]), follow her on Twitter, or find her on Facebook. It is spring, but the weather has turned cold again. […]
If you hire them, they will come. The National Law Journal reports that applications for the Judge Advocate General’s Corps are way, way up: The U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force report a surge in applicants for Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps jobs in recent years, according to recruiters and military attorneys. That […]