Posts on ‘March 4th, 2009’

In its second round of layoffs in just four months, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe sent home 12 percent of its nonpartner lawyers Tuesday — one of the largest law firm cutbacks to date in the current layoff season. Orrick Chairman Ralph Baxter Jr. said the November cuts specifically targeted slowing practice areas, while this week’s reductions are due to an unprecedented world economic crisis. Will other law firms conduct their own second round of layoffs in the near term? Consultants offer some predictions.

Federal prosecutors are signaling loud and clear that they want companies to do a better job of policing themselves. Last year, for the first time, every deferred or nonprosecution agreement that the U.S. Department of Justice reached with a corporation required the business to adopt ethics and compliance reforms. That’s the most significant finding in a new study comparing the 16 prosecution agreements signed in 2008 with those in past years.

A lawyer being incompetent in the discovery and management of evidence directly pertaining to the facts of a case can be prejudicial to a client — as much as bribery or dishonesty can be. Know how to find and analyze electronic information or use someone who does, says legal technology consultant Joseph Howie.

As businesses face greater and greater economic threats and challenges, it may be tempting to cut corners or to turn a blind eye to potentially questionable practices. But the multifaceted doom that False Claims Act violations can invite is a stark deterrent. The prospect of learning about a pending whistleblower case from the Justice Department can be among a company’s worst fears. Attorney John L. Sinatra Jr. offers eight simple suggestions to help avoid false claims problems.

The once-vaunted tradition of lifetime employment in Japan is not much in evidence these days, but the going hasn’t been so rough for the nation’s corporate lawyers. A traditional scarcity of lawyers saw top Japanese firms ramping up their hiring in recent years. But that’s starting to change as the country’s law firms suddenly find themselves with too many lawyers and too little work.

With the tax-filing deadline approaching, you’ve probably begun to compile your 2008 tax information — or have at least thought about it. Attorney Barbara A. Ruth discusses one potential deduction that lawyers often miss: certain unreimbursed expenditures incident to pro bono services. And she also gives us some other good news about the IRS’s generous nature: Individuals aren’t usually precluded from deducting expenses associated with charitable services merely because they enjoy the activity.

A growing number of attorneys are going solo or starting their own small firms — many of them recently laid off and unable or unwilling to return to big-firm life. And plenty of solos start out after being laid off from a government job, too. Experts say it’s a good time to be in solo practice or at a small firm. And it could beat some alternatives. Says Omair Farooqui, who started a small firm eight months ago, after being laid off: “I just didn’t want to sit at home, looking for jobs or swatting flies.”

In a case of major interest to the tobacco industry and more than 25 amici curiae, the California Supreme Court must decide whether every potential member of a class of smokers seeking restitution for false advertising must demonstrate personal damage. Careful questioning and poker faces by the justices during Tuesday’s oral arguments left the outcome mostly a mystery, but a couple of amici on the consumers’ side predicted the justices would reverse the appellate court, which upheld class decertification.