Posts on ‘March 6th, 2009’

Three of President Barack Obama’s nominees for the Justice Department — Elena Kagan, nominee for solicitor general; David Kris, nominee for assistant AG in charge of the National Security Division; and Thomas Perrelli, nominee for associate AG — won the Senate Judiciary Committee’s endorsement on lopsided votes Thursday. Sen. Arlen Specter, the committee’s ranking Republican, said he still has some concerns about Kagan’s views, saying she gave “inadequate answers” to his written questions on controversial issues.

Three years after she began the “heart-wrenching” experience of mediating wrongful-death and personal-injury lawsuits that arose out of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, it is impossible to tell whether the litigants received better recoveries than people who went through a compensation fund created by Congress, Skadden Arps partner Sheila L. Birnbaum said in a final report to a New York federal judge. The report details efforts that have left all but three of 95 cases settled for a total of $500 million.

By rejecting the narrow and exacting holdings in two U.S. Supreme Court cases and then expanding key definitions in the Americans With Disabilities Act, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 — which became effective on Jan. 1 — significantly broadens the protective scope of the ADA. Employers should take a more cautious approach in their employment practices and decisions and should expect an increase in the number of disability discrimination claims asserted by employees, says attorney Robert M. Behrendt.

While the BlackBerry is by no means endangered at law firms, Apple’s iPhone is a big contender. The first-generation iPhone was decidedly for consumers, but with new 2.0 software — along with the new iPhone 3G, which runs over a faster cellular network — lawyers are embracing it.

A report by notes that the market for lateral hires among Canadian firms remains hot, with widespread layoffs not yet a concern. Only two major Canadian firms have implemented cutbacks to attorneys and staff, while the rest of the Great White North’s legal landscape remains relatively unscathed. It turns out that Canadian law firms, much like their bailout-resistant banks, aren’t nearly as leveraged as their U.S. and U.K. peers.

Schuyler Roche, a Chicago law firm with 40 attorneys, will combine next month with the smaller Chicago litigation boutique Crisham & Kubes, the two firms said. The combined firm, to be called Schuyler, Roche & Crisham, will have 50 attorneys, including 22 shareholders. The difficult financial environment didn’t trigger the merger, but Schuyler Roche’s Jim Komie and Crisham & Kubes’ Tom Crisham said they’re pleased that combining the firms will allow them to spread reduced costs over a larger head count.

There have been thousands of layoffs in the legal market since the financial crisis began, but if you are one of its casualties, you do have options and can still create opportunity, says attorney Ari Kaplan. Start thinking about who inspires you in your community and why. Then try to meet one or all of those individuals. You can rely on your personal style to determine the best approach. Kaplan suggests several means of deepening these connections and potentially creating your next job opportunity.

When Latham & Watkins IP partners David Nelson and Sean Pak joined Quinn Emanuel last month, managing partner John Quinn said it was “almost unheard of” to find two young IP lawyers with “significant trial experience.” But that hasn’t stopped Quinn Emanuel from trying to limit the finder’s fee it has to pay. The firm has filed suit against Major Lindsey & Africa, which brokered Nelson’s lateral move, claiming the legal recruiting company doesn’t deserve the fees it’s demanding for Pak and future Latham laterals.

Pillsbury laid off 55 lawyers and 100 staff Thursday, finalizing a move revealed by an indiscreet partner during a conversation on an Amtrak train last month. The cuts amount to a 12 percent reduction in nonpartner ranks. The firm is giving laid-off attorneys three months’ severance, while packages for staff will be based on seniority. The firm also is offering a unique severance alternative: It’ll fund one year of salary and benefits, on the nonprofit pay scale, for laid-off lawyers who go to work at legal nonprofits.

During oral arguments Thursday, California Supreme Court Chief Justice
Ronald George and Justice Joyce Kennard, who helped form the 4-3
majority that let same-sex couples wed for six months last year, gave
all indications that Proposition 8 — the measure that took that right
away — must be accepted as the will of the people. Gays and lesbians
can take comfort in the fact that the justices indicated that the 18,000
same-sex marriages that took place before Prop 8 are safe.