What has the world come to when Cravath, Swaine & Moore has a terrible year? The firm that has served for decades as the touchstone for prestige in the profession last year suffered a 13 percent drop in revenue and a 24 percent plunge in profits per partner, and has asked incoming first-year associates to […]
Many American presidents have been lawyers, but almost none have come to office with Barack Obama’s knowledge of the Supreme Court. Before he was 30, he was editing articles by eminent legal scholars on the court’s decisions. Later, as a law professor, he led students through landmark cases from Plessy v. Ferguson to Bush v.
AmLaw Daily spent the morning digging into some of the filings already crowding the Chrysler bankruptcy docket, but it’s going to be a while before we find one more interesting than Jones Day’s application to be Chrysler’s lead counsel. The firm already has billed Chrysler a smidgen more than $18.5 million since Chrysler paid the
Too many lawyers are chasing too little work. And meanwhile a number of law firms are effectively serving as bankers for cash-strapped clients struggling in a difficult economy. After a “disastrous” fourth quarter in 2008, many law firms can expect an even more worrisome 2009, writes Dan DiPietro in the Am Law Daily. He serves
The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into Google’s settlement with authors and publishers over its Google Book Search service, according to two people briefed on the matter. Lawyers for the Justice Department have been in conversations in recent weeks with various groups opposed to the settlement, including the Internet Archive and Consumer Watchdog.
Legal barriers to prosecuting Bush-era officials over alleged torture would be substantial, legal experts said Wednesday. But Democrats were seizing on the issue to score political points anyway, while some Republicans warned against opening a Pandora’s box of recrimination, and a new congressional report suggested widespread involvement in the matter. A day after President Barack
Midsize law firms in the Midwest, outside the biggest cities, are hiring lawyers, opening offices and bringing on new associates this fall as they fare better than many larger urban rivals in the face of the recession. Law firm leaders at the firms, with between 100 and 450 lawyers, say their better fortunes are mainly
Former employees of Heller Ehrman sued at least 179 former partners on Friday, including former Chairman Matthew Larrabee, demanding they fork over $32 million for the largest group of creditors in the defunct firm’s bankruptcy. The suit targets all partners who were at the firm on Aug. 11, 2008, when 60 days’ notice should have
When a Swedish court ruled last week that the four people behind the Pirate Bay website were to be sentenced to a year in prison each and face a cumulative fine of €2.7 million, the reaction from the entertainment industry was one of glee, and media reports were all of a ridiculous “we’ve turned a
A group of New York-based lawyers and legal scholars has joined other alarmed observers of China in attempting to intercede for Gao Zhisheng, a well-known Chinese human rights lawyer who disappeared after he reportedly was forcibly removed from his home by police on Feb. 4. The Committee to Support Lawyers in China wrote to Minister
