Linklaters Goes Back to Full Lockstep
March 31, 2010
Abandoning lockstep pay for associates has been all the rage among U.S. firms that consider themselves trendsetters. Some of the firms that have broken from lockstep and moved toward merit-based pay over the past year have frozen associate salaries as an initial step in the process
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Linklaters Goes Back to Full Lockstep
Keeping Up With What’s In and Out in Big Law
March 31, 2010
Trendy. Hip. Cool
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Keeping Up With What’s In and Out in Big Law
Move Rejected to Impeach Md. Attorney General Over Stance on Gay Marriage
March 31, 2010
The Maryland House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday rejected a resolution to impeach the state attorney general over an opinion issued this year on gay marriage. Maryland law defines marriage as between a man and woman, but Attorney General Doug Gansler wrote that the state generally acknowledges couples married elsewhere. Maryland is one of six states that does not specifically address the validity of same-sex marriages from other states.
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Move Rejected to Impeach Md. Attorney General Over Stance on Gay Marriage
Report Blasts States for Abusing Civil Forfeiture Laws
March 31, 2010
A new Institute for Justice report asserts that police and prosecutors nationwide are abusing their forfeiture privileges by seizing property to pad their budgets, in many cases never even charging the property owners with a crime. The report by the libertarian public interest law firm also says that, in some instances, money from forfeitures is not used for law enforcement but to buy sports tickets and to fund campaign ads.
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Report Blasts States for Abusing Civil Forfeiture Laws
Buchanan Ingersoll’s Revenue Falls 3 Percent, RPL Goes Up by 5 Percent
March 31, 2010
Buchanan Ingersoll’s dip in revenue in 2009 was due to cost pressures from clients and a lower head count, but efficiencies gained last year helped bolster other financial metrics, the firm’s new CEO said. The firm saw gross revenue fall, from $272.8 million in 2008 to $264.9 million in 2009.
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Buchanan Ingersoll’s Revenue Falls 3 Percent, RPL Goes Up by 5 Percent
Report: Securities Class Action Filings Fall in 2009
March 31, 2010
Federal class action filings fell from 210 in 2008 to 155 last year, according to a new PwC report. There were 51 filings directly related to the financial crisis in 2009, compared with 99 in 2008. It was the second straight year that financial services firms bore the brunt of new securities filings, and while the overall numbers decreased, PwC believes that the decline may be a temporary lull, as plaintiffs lawyers look for new targets.
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Report: Securities Class Action Filings Fall in 2009
Dogged by Lawsuit After Barring Service Animal From Office, Lawyer Settles for $50K
March 31, 2010
A Colorado lawyer who barred a veterinarian and her service dog from his law office has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a federal discrimination suit. The Justice Department suit alleged that attorney Patric LeHouillier violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when he refused to allow the woman and her dog — and the woman’s lawyer — to enter his office for a scheduled deposition in a civil action.
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Dogged by Lawsuit After Barring Service Animal From Office, Lawyer Settles for $50K
High Court Justices Appear Skeptical of Private Contempt Prosecutions
March 31, 2010
In a case closely watched by advocates for domestic abuse victims, several Supreme Court justices on Wednesday expressed serious discomfort with a D.C. law that lets the victims themselves bring criminal prosecutions to enforce restraining orders. The case asks whether these individuals — often battered women who work without the help of a lawyer — are acting as agents of the government
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High Court Justices Appear Skeptical of Private Contempt Prosecutions
Calif. Federal Judge Rules Against Government on Warrantless Wiretaps
March 31, 2010
Much of Chief Judge Vaughn Walker’s latest message for the Justice Department in a closely watched warrantless wiretap case is simple: Maybe you had a secret warrant, but since you won’t produce it, deal with the consequences. In a summary judgment grant to Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation on Wednesday, Walker found that the government eavesdropped on the nonprofit without getting a warrant from a special national security court.
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Calif. Federal Judge Rules Against Government on Warrantless Wiretaps
New Front Opens in Dispute Between ABA, FTC
March 31, 2010
The American Bar Association and the Federal Trade Commission have been battling for a year over whether regulations designed to prevent identity theft should apply to lawyers. Now, they’re tangling again, this time, over regulations aimed at mortgage fraud. The latest dispute involves a proposed FTC rule that would affect for-profit companies that try to prevent home foreclosure by helping consumers renegotiate mortgage loans.
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New Front Opens in Dispute Between ABA, FTC