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These are hard times for most people who work at big law firms. For some, they are unbearable. Though deeply individual tragedies, the recent suicides of Kilpatrick Stockton's Mark Levy and a laid-off Simpson associate are also horrible reminders of the toll that a profession's stresses can take, especially in an ailing economy. And the truth is, lots of lawyers have been unhappy for years. It's time for lawyers at big firms to reassess their priorities and values, writes Susan Beck, who warns: You just can't keep going like this.
Europe may not have a class action mechanism, but a securities fraud settlement approved Friday by a Dutch court comes pretty darn close. The Amsterdam Court of Appeals issued a binding declaration ordering Royal Dutch Shell to begin payment of $381 million to a foundation representing a group of more than 150 institutional investors from 17 European countries, plus Canada and Australia. The settlement resolves securities fraud claims stemming from Shell's overstatement of its proven oil and gas reserves.
The legal battle between former Covington & Burling staff attorney Yolanda Young and the law firm came to an abrupt halt Friday, when a federal judge dismissed the case after Young and her lawyer failed to show up in court. Young had alleged that the firm discriminated against its black lawyers and that she was the target of racially insensitive remarks and suffered retaliation when she complained. She wrote about her time at Covington in an essay on the Huffington Post titled "Law Firm Segregation Reminiscent of Jim Crow."
The Washington Independent reports that several law firms, including Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, appear to have conflicts of interest by doing bailout work and representing banking clients despite Treasury Department contracts forbidding the practice. The Am Law Daily made some calls of its own about another firm -- Squire, Sanders & Dempsey -- and concludes that the conflicts question doesn't look so cut-and-dried.
Two former Thelen employees are throwing in the towel after their attorney was accused of trying to get a piece of the action too many times. Cary Kletter filed three similar complaints in two courts and tried to intervene in a fourth case, but attorneys for Thelen threatened to seek sanctions, saying he was bogging down the courts so he could rack up fees for himself. Late Friday, Kletter said his clients, at the request of Thelen, had decided not to pursue the case, which would likely be "resolved or dismissed soon."
Traditional tools for finding a new job are not likely to work for the growing multitude of lawyers who have been laid off, according to a panel of recruiters and consultants who spoke in Atlanta last week. Resumes and recruiters are not going to be nearly as helpful as relationships and self-reliance, they said. And while it's important to talk with a recruiter and rewrite a resume, the key is working full time at looking for a job.
Software programs offer endless possibilities for paralegals to learn the most productive way to accomplish any task. Berger Montague litigation paralegal Kim Walker looks at some of the coolest software, including LiveNote and OpenOffice, that saves time and money for law firms.
Lawyers who have figured out how to provide less expensive services to corporations are the ones flourishing now. One such option is a "virtual law firm," composed of former big law attorneys working remotely to offer clients the same services as before at half the rate -- or less.
Absent a settlement, a jury to be selected beginning Tuesday in lower Manhattan will be asked to reach a historic verdict that would make Royal Dutch/Shell the first foreign corporation found liable in a U.S. courtroom for aiding and abetting human rights violations by the forces of a foreign nation. The plaintiffs are the families of seven Nigerians who were executed by the former military regime in Nigeria for protests against Shell's oil exploration and development activities.
With all the lateral movement over the past few months, we'd like to believe all the partings have been amicable, but we know breakups aren't always easy. The Am Law Daily asked McDermott Will & Emery partner William Schuman, chairman of the firm's professional responsibility committee, how to make a graceful exit. Schuman says, "The first thing to remember is you're not allowed to solicit clients or the associates of your firm while you're still there. You can't take stuff that doesn't belong to you."
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