Posts on ‘March 23rd, 2009’

On Friday, a unanimous 2nd Circuit panel denied Bernard L. Madoff’s bid for bail reinstatement while he awaits sentencing for orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Some attorneys question what Madoff has gained from his guilty plea, given that he would have been able to remain free longer if he had continued to contest the charges. However, with no hope of beating the charges, Madoff may simply have wanted to spare himself and his family from a prolonged legal ordeal.

David Becker, the just-installed SEC general counsel, is in a policy-making pressure cooker with nothing less at stake than the way Washington regulates Wall Street. But that’s part of the thrill, says the SEC veteran, who has served before as GC from 2000 to 2002 and as deputy GC for the two years prior. One observer says Becker’s level head helps him stand out: “When you’ve been in Washington a long time, you really appreciate people who aren’t screamers.”

A key skill for lawyers is finding and analogizing cases in legal argumentation. Dr. Adam Wyner discusses the application of natural language processing tools to online bodies of case law for quicker, more cost-effective delivery of accurate analytic search results.

“Prestigious Manhattan Law Firm 499 Park Avenue, New York — EVERYTHING MUST BE SOLD” reads a notice on the Web site of the auctioneer for the court-ordered liquidation of Dreier LLP scheduled for Thursday. But a new criminal indictment released last week against disgraced attorney Marc S. Dreier — which adds a count of money laundering to the host of charges against him — has created a tug of war between prosecutors and the bankruptcy trustee that casts a cloud over the value of the items up for auction.

With the economic meltdown, lawyers who still have jobs are working longer hours for dwindling pay. Many people who are thankful just to be working may be actively ignoring warning signs of an unhealthy environment. But according to psychologists, burnout is a real risk with progressively dire consequences, leaving its worst victims with an abiding sense of personal failure. And the more burnt out you are, the longer it takes to recover. Here are six factors that can fuel the fires leading to a burnout.

Wolf Block partners met Monday to discuss the fate of the firm and issued a statement that they voted to commence an “orderly unwinding of the firm’s business.” The partners determined the continued attempts to finance the firm’s operations would create more harm than good for clients and employees, the statement said. Wolf hired consulting firm Hildebrandt and Leslie Corwin of Greenberg Traurig to work with firm leadership to relocate as many people as possible, while liquidating the firm’s obligations.

DLA Piper informed all of its U.S. partners on Friday that it will reduce pay for most of them by 11.5 percent in 2009, while strong performers will get more money. The law firm projects that revenue will decline 7 percent in 2009 and that profits will drop 6 percent, according to U.S. managing partner J. Terence O’Malley, who said the move is a way for the firm to reduce its reliance on banks.

While many industries have streamlined their marketing and sales efforts with various online platforms, pharmaceutical companies are still trying to tackle social networking. Whether it is the fear of increased adverse event reports or FDA regulation of patient and physician interaction, pharmaceutical companies are still weighing the positives and negatives of Web 2.0. Attorneys Frank Vellucci and Eddie Huang discuss Web 2.0 and the issues pharma faces if it chooses to embrace the platform.