Death of a law firm

Large law firms are “immensely fragile institutions” and some of them aren’t likely to survive another year, according to a law professor who has studied firm management structures.Indiana University law professor William Henderson makes his prediction in cross posts on the Legal Profession Blog and the Empirical Legal Studies Blog. “There is a good chance that several hallowed BigLaw firms, particularly those with weak balance sheets, will cease to exist sometime in early to mid-2009,” he writes.He says a large proportion of big firms are in “one hell of a vise” because of the potential for weak collections and continuing costs after layoffs. Firms could be stuck with “vast expanses of Class A office space” after layoffs while making severance payments to its former lawyers, Henderson says.If revenues drop by 20 percent, a possibility for some firms with large capital markets practices, profits could drop 50 percent or more, … [Read more...] about Law Prof Predicts More Big Law Firms Will Collapse in ’09

Home Daily News Court: Law firm accused of having an on-site… Law Firms By Debra Cassens Weiss Posted June 14, 2018, 7:05 am CDT Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com. A Florida law firm accused of having a bar on its premises to encourage employees to work longer hours isn’t liable for the death of an intoxicated paralegal, a Florida appeals court has ruled. The Gladstone Law Group isn’t liable because paralegal Susan Salerno was killed by a train while while walking home—an accident that occurred outside the scope of her employment, according to the June 6 decision by the Fourth District Court of Appeal. The decision upheld dismissal of the case, the Daily Business Review reports. Salerno was a paralegal for both the Gladstone Law Group, a foreclosure law firm, and Del Mar Financial Service, a legal documentation support firm. The employers knew or should have known that Salerno was an alcoholic because she was required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, the … [Read more...] about Court: Law firm accused of having an on-site bar not liable for death of intoxicated paralegal

Earlier this month, New York-based Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy announced it will increase its associate salaries across the board by $10,000 to $15,000—a starting salary of $190,000 for those fresh out of law school. What followed was an outcry in the legal media and reports that unhappy clients are saying they won’t pay for it. Other legal markets have reported steep increases in associate salaries by the big international firms. JUVE, the German legal weekly, reported competition for talent with some international firms paying up to 130,000 euros ($153,000) for a first-year associate—a development that has left many German law firms worried. A WAR FOR TALENT With so many emotional reactions, I will try to put things in perspective. As explained on my blog, being an excellent lawyer will revolve less and less around legal knowledge. In the future, clients will not primarily be looking for knowledge of the law, but will increasingly engage lawyers because of … [Read more...] about It’s not the associate salaries, it’s the human skills that challenge law firms

Soft skills do not get much attention in law firms. That was my experience when I was practicing in small, medium and larger firms, and it still is the case today. Law firms are focused on leveraging, billable hours, business development and profits per partner. I am often informed by practitioners that “time in law firms is far too precious to prioritize attention to things like soft skills … whatever those are.” Soft skills also are not taught in law schools. The hard skills of strong legal analysis, proficient statutory construction, effective legal writing and persuasive legal argument get priority to produce “practice ready” lawyers, or so the theory goes. Ever-increasing and evolving substantive law puts pressure on law schools to teach what is tested on bar exams, and pass rates matter a lot to law school administrators. Even hard skills can get short shrift in that kind of competitive academic environment. When I was a teaching fellow at a Top 15 … [Read more...] about Law firms shouldn’t overlook value of soft skills

In Schlather, Stumbar, Parks & Salk, LLP, et al. v. One Beacon Ins. Co., No. 5:10-cv-0167, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147931 (N.D.N.Y. Dec. 22, 2011), the court held that an insurer breached its duty to defend when it withdrew from the defense of an underlying legal malpractice action against its insured, notwithstanding the fact that a “known claims” exclusion extinguished the duty to indemnify, because the applicability of the exclusion was not clear based on the allegations in the underlying complaint. The underlying legal malpractice complaint alleged that an attorney at the insured law firm dismissed the client’s wrongful death action without notifying the client of the dismissal.  When the client learned of the dismissal, she sent letters to the law firm that criticized the performance of her attorney and stated that the client did not consent to the dismissal.  More than a year after receiving the letters from the client, the law firm … [Read more...] about Law Firm Entitled to Damages for “Loss of Peace of Mind” After Insurer Withdrew from Defense Based on “Known Claims” Exclusion