At Lathrop & Gage, Riverbed Steelhead appliances play a crucial part in the firm’s data protection by consolidating critical services and data into one central location. CIO Ben Weinberger shows how Riverbed’s latest improvements meet the needs of a multilocation, 300-attorney firm.
Posts on ‘March 3rd, 2009’
Web Behavioral Advertising Goes to Court
Behavioral advertising has triggered legal controversy that has law firms scrambling to stay on top of a burgeoning practice. Lawyers say behavioral advertising is raising privacy, litigation and regulation fears among consumer advocates, legislators, and the electronic commerce and advertising industries.
White & Case Ends Alliance With Singapore Firm
White & Case, one of six international firms granted a license in December to practice Singapore law, has shelved plans to merge with local alliance partner Venture Law. “We have agreed with Venture Law to bring our Singapore formal law alliance with them to an end,” White & Case said in a statement. “Our commitment to Singapore, and our plans for the Qualifying Foreign Law Practice license that we were recently awarded, are unchanged.”
Firms Continue to Expand Despite Poor Economy
A tough economy doesn’t necessarily mean expansion-minded firms are putting their plans on hold. Blank Rome and K&L Gates each announced Monday the opening of an office in markets far from their respective home bases of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh: Blank Rome makes its West Coast debut with an office in Los Angeles, while K&L Gates’ new Singapore branch gives the firm its fifth office in Asia.
Laid-Off Associate Starts Partner Rating Site
Sam Smith landed an associate job at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in 2007, in the then-hot capital markets practice. The next year, he was laid off, along with 95 other lawyers. Unable to find a new job, Smith got entrepreneurial and opened a Web site, Rate a Partner. Says Smith: “The business model is pretty simple. The more lawyers talk about each other, the more ads we sell. Good partners will attract good reviews, bad partners will hopefully be exposed. It’s not scientific, but it’s a gauge.”
Anatomy of a Crack-Up: The Marc Dreier Case
Although it’s now clear there was no legitimate way Marc Dreier could have afforded the extravagant life he lived, he managed to fool a large number of people for a long time. At his law firm there was talk of his prowess as an investor and about money he was said to have inherited. Mostly, though, there was faith in Dreier himself, who until last December, delivered on his promises to the lawyers who worked for him. Even when they look back, they say they had no reason not to believe in Dreier.
Silicon Valley Raises Voice on IP Reform
Silicon Valley’s growing influence in Washington, D.C., will likely be
felt when a patent reform bill is reintroduced. Big high-tech companies,
like Cisco and Google, have pushed for the legislation that would limit
the power of patents in the courts. On the other side of the debate,
pharmaceutical companies that invest heavily in patenting their drugs,
and tech companies that rely on licensing patents for revenue, have
opposed past versions of the bill that they say would water down patent
holders’ rights.
Key Lawmaker Moves to Protect Privilege and Work-Product Doctrine
Despite reassuring statements by Attorney General Eric Holder on attorney-client privilege waivers in corporate probes, Sen. Arlen Specter is moving forward with legislation to put protection for the privilege and the work-product doctrine into law and throughout government. The bill would prohibit the government from conditioning charging decisions or any adverse treatment on the payment of employee legal fees, invocation of the attorney-client privilege or agreement to a joint defense agreement.