North America/US - Page 153
Leading Watergate lawyer dies in Nashville
The lawyer whose questioning over the Watergate scandal uncovered the secret recording equipment used by President Richard Nixon has died of lymphoma at the age of 73.
New York could relax rules for foreign lawyers
The New York State Unified Court System is proposing to amend the Rules of the Court of Appeals to allow foreign lawyers to register as in-house counsel.
Kilpatrick Townsend joins forces with Dallas firm
International litigation specialist Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is to have a presence in Dallas, Texas, through a merger today with 21-lawyer practice Crouch & Ramey. It will become the 18th office in its network.
Ex-Skaddens associate pleads guilty to Ponzi scheme
Charles Bennett, 57, has pleaded guilty to putting the money of family and friends into a Ponzi investment scheme, which he now describes as a 'fiction of my crazed imagination'.
Baker Botts opens San Francisco office
The 725-lawyer practice is opening its 14th office worldwide and its second in California, where it already has an IT-specialist base in Palo Alto.
Milliken faces subpoena for General Motors bellwether
Michael Milliken, former general counsel for General Motors, is fending off a subpoena to testify at the company's upcoming ignition switch defect bellwether trial.
Houston law firm set to spend $25m on TV advertising
AkinMears appears at the top of a list in a report from the US Chamber Institute for Legal Reform and is followed by two other practices, which are said to each have budgets of over $24m.
Bonus culture delivers wrong messages to associates, says NY law professor
As associates await the start of the US bonus announcement season, a professor at the New York University School of Law, Stephen Gillers, says that they send 'all the wrong messages' to associates and are a 'sin' in the profession.
Pass rate at New York bar falls to eleven-year low
Only 61 per cent of all takers of the New York State bar exams got a pass, while the pass rate among first-time takers was 70 per cent, according to the Board of Law Examiners.
Survey indicates law industry poised for seismic shifts
Altman Weil's 'Law Firms in Transition Survey' suggests a potential retirement crisis, a growing threat from non-traditional competitors and an increased belief in the ability of AI to carry out work currently done by people.
Mediators aided by neuroscience
Mediators and other practitioners of alternative dispute resolution are using information gleaned from neuroscience to help clients through a conflict-ridden process.
Lear GC explains why legal team is getting smaller
Fortune 500 company Lear has halved the number of its in-house lawyers over the last decade - a trend which lets the $17.7m revenue business stay flexible on the legal side, according to GC Terry Larkin.
California Supreme Court to consider disbarring lawyer for 1,100 complaints
The Supreme Court will decide on the fate of James Mazi Parsa of Orange County after he was suspended for two years for having sex with a 17-year old employee and faces a range of range of different complaints from numerous sources.
Most law firms misunderstood future role of technology, say Altman Weil
Law firms are going through a 'dawning recognition' of the role of high tech in the legal sector - but it may be too late for some practices, according to an Altman Weil report.
Law school which cut admissions standards sees 31pc pass rate
Just under one in three students at Arizona Summit Law School who sat the bar exam in July got a pass - despite the school offering $5,000 to underperforming students to delay sitting the exam.
Lawyer's YouTube ad goes viral
There have been over one million views of the tongue in cheek YouTube videos made by Bryan Wilson, who calls himself the 'Texas Law Hawk'.
Cadwalader cleared of malpractice in Nomura case
The New York Court of Appeals has found that Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft gave 'proper advice' on a Nomura Asset Capital mortgage-backed securitisation, finding in favour of the firm and ending a long-running dispute.
Lawyer indicted on allegations of making false claims on BP oil spill
A Texas lawyer who has claimed to be acting for 44,000 victims of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil leak has been indicted for allegedly making false claims for compensation.
US partner charge out rates rise 5pc in 2014/15
The median charge out rate for partners in the top 50 US law firms has risen from $675 per hour to $711, according to LexisNexis, which is comparing its H1 2015 research to a previous piece of research that covered calendar year 2014.
Doubts emerge about reasons for prosecuting Dewey trio
As the Dewey & LeBoeuf prosecutors emerge from a four-month trial that has been declared a mistrial, questions are being raised about whether there should have been a trial at all and if it was approached in the right way.