Practice Pointers
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Contracts, In-House Counsel, Practice Pointers
House Rules: Termination Clauses, Remedies, and Other Things to Argue About Before Christmas
Admittedly, I take on some large issues in this column. But this is neither a treatise on contract law, nor the forum to attempt one. I am simply attempting to give some pointers for negotiating commercial contracts. I do very much appreciate the emails that I receive that suggest where I missed some salient information, […] -
In-House Counsel, Practice Pointers
Moonlighting: Just Another Day on Mount Olympus at the Office
An in-house lawyer (let’s call her Athena) was recently offended by a statement made by a law firm attorney (let’s call him Hercules). Athena shared a conversation in which Hercules had told her that his firm would never stoop so low as to represent any companies in her industry (let’s say it’s the tobacco industry). […] - Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
In-House Counsel, Insurance, Practice Pointers
House Rules: Insurance, LoL, and Indemnity, Redux
I wrote about these contractual issues the week before Thanksgiving. I received so many emails that I thought it best to flesh these topics out a bit more. Also, some of these headings are from the anonymous “comments” section on this site, so I can’t attribute them (and I’ve also edited them for language). 1) […]
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Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Partner Issues, Practice Pointers
Inside Straight: The Mutual Menace Of One Bad Partner
Suppose your firm has one incompetent partner, and our joint has the misfortune to be working with that person. This guy consistently misses important issues. He sends us briefs that read (as did one draft I recently received): “In response to ALR’s motion to dismiss the OC, [plaintiff] added an allegation in the FAC that […] -
Banking Law, Contracts, Health Care / Medicine, In-House Counsel, Practice Pointers, Privacy
House Rules: HIPAA and GLBA and Indemnity, Oh My!
Caveat: I did not write the following dialogue. It is from the “comments” section of one of my columns where I mentioned I’d be writing about HIPAA and GLBA. Unfortunately, I cannot attribute the comments to the persons who wrote them, as they are anonymous; however they are quite apropos of today’s subject: 1) “I […] -
Billable Hours, In-House Counsel, Practice Pointers
Moonlighting: Low-Value Work (or, How to Catch Up on Glee)
Are your in-house working hours recently rivaling the billable hours you thought you had permanently discarded? Is your workload getting way too heavy — i.e., it’s really getting difficult to watch Glee on a timely basis? Do you find yourself working on pretty much the same form of contract over and over and over and […] -
In-House Counsel, Insurance, Practice Pointers
House Rules: Insurance, LoL, Indemnity, and Other Dirty Words
So, the Customer wants you to take on unlimited liability for breach of confidentiality, indemnify (and hold harmless) for any and all bad acts of your employees, and to carry a multi-million dollar insurance policy. What do you do? First, begin by triaging these from simplest to more complicated. During a negotiation it can be […] -
Biglaw, Job Searches, Practice Pointers, Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners
The Practice: Leaving Biglaw to Become a Relevant Real-World Lawyer
Brian Tannebaum has learned a lot in his first week here while reading comments from the anonymous miserable Biglaw associates. He learned the term “s**t law.” He has some advice for those that want to practice law, and not feed the billable hour factory that is Biglaw.... - Sponsored
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Contracts, In-House Counsel, Practice Pointers
Moonlighting: Feeling the Kumbaya (Part II)
In Feeling the Kumbaya (Part I), we looked at how different the perspectives of business clients and in-house lawyers can be. Below are a few techniques that have helped me and my clients to feel the Kumbaya for each other (or at least have helped them to not think I’m only a total loser who […] -
In-House Counsel, Practice Pointers
Moonlighting: Feeling the Kumbaya (Part 1)
So you’ve moved in-house or are planning to go in-house sometime. Be ready to think less like a lawyer. Business clients think differently. I know, crazy, right? But, seriously, one of the biggest transitions from working as a transactional lawyer at a law firm and moving over to a company is learning to understand the […] -
Airplanes / Aviation, Biglaw, Job Searches, Law Schools, Practice Pointers, Rudeness, UVA Law
Students Making Fun of Biglaw Interviewer Overheard By MOST OF THE AIRPORT
Every couple of years, people need to be reminded not to have private conversations in public. Who could forget Acela Bob, the Pillsbury partner who talked about firing people on a crowded train? UVA Law students, that's who. We have another installment of: when popping your collar goes wrong.... -
Admin, Announcements, Practice Pointers, Rudeness, Shameless Plugs, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: A Civil Practice
In his final Small Firms, Big Lawyers post, columnist Jay Shepherd reminders readers that clients don't like to see their lawyers palling around with the other side's lawyers. They hate the other side; they want you to hate the other side's lawyers. Here are a couple of reasons why you should be civil with opposing counsel.... -
In-House Counsel, Litigators, Money, Practice Pointers
Inside Straight: Projecting Defeat
During my 25 years litigating at law firms, I fretted about two words: “winning” and “losing.” (As one old-timer put it: “They don’t pay you twelve dollars a minute to lose.”) Now I’m in-house, and I’m still fretting about two words: “probable” and “estimable.” What happened? The accounting rules require corporations to take a reserve […]
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In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.
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Biglaw, Depositions, In-House Counsel, Litigators, Practice Pointers
Inside Straight: Reporting On Depositions
When is a litigator thinking most keenly about a specific witness's testimony? There are two days: The day you're taking (or defending) the deposition of the witness, and the day -- months or years later, if ever -- when you're examining the witness at trial. So when should you be making notes about the witness's testimony and your reaction to it? What do you use those notes for? -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Old People, Practice Pointers, Screw-Ups
Inside Straight: The Ghosts Of Incompetents Past
There’s a reason why people get crotchety when they get old. People forget about things that went right in their professional lives; that’s like water off a duck. But people remember things that got screwed up; that’s what sticks in their craws. You personally are not necessarily incompetent. But you’re tarred by the ghosts of […] -
Billable Hours, Practice Pointers, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Pricing Legal Services in Eight Easy(ish) Steps
So Lat calls me up all excited about some Biglaw Midsummer Bonus or something, which I totally ignore, and also about some hysterical dicta that Judge Kozinski wrote, which I also ignore (although it probably was pretty funny), and then he starts asking me about my law career. Which, you know, ended. And he points […] -
Media and Journalism, Practice Pointers, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Six Steps to Becoming an Expert
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Small Firms, Big Lawyers, one of Above the Law’s new columns for small-firm lawyers. So you’re at a small firm and you want to be successful. Good. Why you wouldn’t want that is beyond me. But if you want to be a successful lawyer, you need to […] -
Bad Ideas, Bankruptcy, Benchslaps, Biglaw, Fast Food, Practice Pointers, Rudeness
HappyMealGate: An Update on the Fry Guy
Earlier this month, we wrote about how William P. Smith — a partner at McDermott Will & Emery (Chicago), and head of its bankruptcy department — landed himself in the deep-fat fryer. Smith unwisely told a bankruptcy judge, in open court, that she was “a few French Fries short of a Happy Meal.” Well, Judge […] -
Bad Ideas, Bankruptcy, Benchslaps, Biglaw, Practice Pointers, Rudeness
ATL Practice Pointers: Don't Insult the Judge in Open Court
Or even in chambers, for that matter. But open court is worse. From a tipster: In a bankruptcy case here in the Southern District of Florida, William P. Smith — a partner at McDermott Will & Emery (Chicago), and the head of its bankruptcy department — actually told a judge she was “a few French […] -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Nauseating Things, Practice Pointers, Shameless Plugs
Associate Bonus Watch: Wachtell Lipton Windfalls
Ah yes, the legendary bonuses of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Tout le monde wants to know: So, just how big were they? Very big (and bigger than yours). We can’t give up specific numbers for specific classes, because that might get our sources in trouble (and WLRK is a pretty small firm). But we’ll […]