Posts on ‘July 8th, 2009’

Limited resources can inspire corporate legal departments to think creatively and invest in programs that save money, effectively utilize in-house counsel and improve customer service. Alternative dispute resolution, as opposed to litigation, is one way that a corporation can save money, says Chaton T. Turner, an assistant counsel in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s corporate legal department, which uses mediation to resolve certain disputes and grievances that patients have with the system.

Linklaters has pushed Clifford Chance aside as the largest global law firm based on revenues. The firm released its 2008-09 financials on Friday, reporting a slight increase in revenues and a drop in profits per equity partner. Gross revenue for the fiscal year was 1.298 billion pounds ($2.407 billion), a 0.4 percent increase from the 1.293 billion pounds ($2.589 billion) in revenues earned in 2007-08. In dollar terms, Linklaters’ revenues actually fell given the weakening British pound.

Unfortunately, an unprecedented number of attorneys have been laid off and jobs for new law school grads have evaporated, so in this market you need to get creative, says consultant Debra L. Bruce. She suggests publishing an article, which will enhance your resume, but also help you forge contacts with potential employers and provide potential speaking opportunities. Bruce notes that you can also use your initial article to generate more articles, thus multiplying the number of opportunities you will create.

Alternative billing is nothing new — a number of law firms around the country have been using alternative billing arrangements for a decade or more — but interest is heating up. The discussion of non-hourly billing options “has grown from a whisper to a roar” in recent months, says attorney Bruce Raymond. Large law firms are starting to use such billing, but smaller firms tend to have a larger percentage of revenue stemming from alternative arrangements, according to a recent Altman Weil survey.

Claiming federal authorities are retaliating against him “for his vigorous representation of criminal defendants,” a Georgia attorney facing money laundering charges has filed court pleadings that accuse federal prosecutors of “outrageous governmental misconduct.” In one of a series of motions to dismiss, J. Mark Shelnutt says authorities recruited his clients, criminal defense lawyers representing co-defendants of his clients, and federal prosecutors to secretly record his personal and telephone conversations.

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Tuesday dealt a blow to environmental groups, tossing a lower court ruling that a permit for a proposed power plant must limit carbon dioxide emissions. The lower court decision had been called the only U.S. court ruling holding that carbon dioxide emissions must be considered when building a power plant. But the Court of Appeals said the decision moved the issue too quickly, before Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency decided how to regulate greenhouse gases.

Hedge fund operator J. Ezra Merkin has moved to dismiss a damages suit brought by New York’s attorney general to recover an alleged $2.4 billion that was lost when Merkin turned over his clients’ money to Bernard Madoff to handle without telling the investors. In his motion to dismiss, Merkin challenged the suit’s assumption that he did not provide adequate disclosure that he was funneling the money to Madoff, and contended that his clients were “sophisticated” investors.