Posts on ‘May 20th, 2009’

Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has taken a lot of lumps lately because of its heavy investment in its securitization practice. Late last month it suffered another setback when a New York judge refused to dismiss a malpractice suit brought by Nomura Asset Capital Corp. arising from a commercial mortgage financing that Cadwalader handled more than a decade ago. The litigation raises questions about whether law firms could bear some liability for soured securitizations.

In a speech Wednesday, retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter made a powerful plea for re-educating the American public about the fundamentals of how government works. The republic, Souter said, “can be lost, it is being lost, it is lost, if it is not understood.” He cited surveys showing large majorities of the public cannot name the three branches of government. Souter spoke at a conference focusing on the independence of the judiciary, convened by retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

The fervor over the swine flu is contagious, and the legal community is not immune. Lawyers say employers want to know what they can do within the law to contain the swine flu if it strikes their workplaces. Attorneys for workers say lawmakers need to adopt protections for parents who might miss work because of school closures or a child’s illness. Even if the swine flu proves to be a false threat, it has given companies a chance to review their contingency plans for other crises, says one employment lawyer.

In the current economy, it’s crucial for attorneys and support staff to cultivate marketing skills. Legal marketing professionals Richard Alonso and Crystal Garcia suggest “pro bono networking,” which means giving freely, without keeping score. If you get laid off, your network will give you the first crack at opportunities. And it’s not too late to begin pro bono networking if you’ve already been laid off. The authors, who themselves have experienced recent layoffs, also provide other job-seeking tips.

Growing dissatisfaction with the billable hour dominated a discussion last week between in-house counsel and lawyers from boutique firms, who used the issue to make their case that smaller firms are more efficient than big firms. At a Georgia meeting of the Association of Corporate Counsel, four small-firm panelists asserted that boutique firms are leaner, more stable and often debt-free. The panelists were all members of the Georgia chapter of the International Network of Boutique Law Firms.