Some general counsel are starting to push back against big law firms charging $400 an hour for the work of associates, writes Joe Patrice for Above the Law.

Patrice quotes from an Am Law Daily report on a recent summit:

At a Manhattan conference on legal innovation this month, Mark Smolik, the general counsel of DHL Supply Chain Americas, had a message for the law firm representatives in his audience.

“Sorry, law firms. You spend on the training,” Smolik said. “I cannot afford to pay your associates $325 an hour.”

Smolik warned the group that he could hire those associates himself and “pick them up right out of law school.”

Read the Above the Law article.

While the usual marketing tools of websites, press releases, advertising, etc. can help bring clients to a lawyer’s door if managed effectively, many attorneys continue to miss out on one of the most effective means of attracting new business: personal networking.

Bruce Vincent, writing on the website of Muse Communications, says the “problem” with personal networking for a lot of people, attorneys included, can be traced to a perceived lack of time or, in some instances, a simple, but common, fear of social situations or public speaking. Fortunately, those obstacles can be overcome with a little planning, and the results are well worth it.

In his article, Vincent discusses how to find the time for personal networking, gaining social media dominance without spending excessive time on the project, face-to-face interactions, and how to use a low-maintenance way to keep your name in the minds of potential referral sources.

Read the article.

Join Our LinkedIn Group

Above the Law reports that Hogan Lovells recently decided to offer “voluntary retirement” packages to about 400 of its senior business support staff members in the U.S.

Staci Zaretsky writes that those who have been with the firm for at least five years were offered an out, and it’s expected that 5 to 10 percent of those who received the offer will take it.

“In addition to the hundreds of voluntary buyouts Hogan Lovells is offering to business staff members here in America, the firm is set to cut up to 90 jobs in London thanks to a recent restructuring,” Zaretsky adds.

Read the Above the Law article.

Join Our LinkedIn Group

Image by Disney | ABC Television Group

The Justice Department recently asked law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for information and documents related to its work on behalf of a client of Paul Manafort, reports The New York Times.

That client, Viktor Yanukovych, the Russia-aligned president of Ukraine, needed some cover to justify the jailing of a political rival, according to reporters Kenneth P. Vogel and Andrew E. Kramer.

They explain:

The request comes at a time when Mr. Manafort, his work for Mr. Yanukovych’s party and for Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs as well as the handling of payments for that work have become focal points in the investigation of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and connections between Russia, Mr. Trump and his associates.

Read the NYT article.

Join Our LinkedIn Group

Burford’s 2017 Litigation Finance Survey shows that litigation finance continues to achieve dramatic growth, finding that the use of litigation finance in the United States grew by 28% from last year, to 36%. And it has grown 414% since 2013.

Among respondents in the US, UK and Australia, a majority of users (59%) say their use of litigation finance has increased in the last two years.

A strong majority (72%) of all respondents agree that litigation finance is a growing and increasingly important area of the business of law—and, notably, 40% of US companies report having foregone claims due to the cost of litigation.

Pointing to continued growth on the horizon, among all respondents whose organizations have not yet used litigation finance, a majority of law firm respondents (57%) and nearly half of in-house respondents (49%) are likely to consider its use in the next two years.

Some early concerns about litigation finance have evaporated. For example, in the US, the number of in-house respondents with concerns about litigation finance leading to unnecessary litigation fell to 10% from 81% five years ago. Among all respondents, ethical concerns rank dead last among obstacles to use, at 9%.

Only 7% of all respondents are unfamiliar with litigation finance, and only 4% of law firm respondents.

Christopher Bogart, Burford’s CEO, commented: “Burford’s latest research affirms our own experience: More and more often, clients and law firms are turning to litigation finance as a solution to some of the intractable challenges and pressures of managing legal cost and risk, and that strong demand is driving dramatic growth.”

Burford’s 2017 Litigation Finance Survey was conducted by ALM Intelligence, the research arm of ALM Media, publisher of The American Lawyer, from May 17 to June 16, 2017. The full report is available online.

Join Our LinkedIn Group

International law and lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs hit another roadblock in its fight with a Chinese entity when a panel concluded that the current trademark holder in China maintained rights in the domain and dismissed the complaint.

World Trademark Review reports that a Chinese company appears to be practicing law using the same name and logo as that of the established firm Squire Patton Boggs, promoting its practice on a website located at squirepattonboggs.net.

“Delving deeper, we discovered the Chinese company is the same one that had previously used the brand of another international law firm, Norton Rose Fulbright (we reported on this a year prior),” writes Tim Lince. “Much of the text used on the Chinese company’s website was lifted from other law firm sites, and many of the images were either stock images or taken from movie posters, including those on the staff page.”

Read the World Trademark Review article.

Join Our LinkedIn Group

Above the Law follows up on an earlier report on the disparity of benefits offered to staff members of big law firms, compared to those offered to lawyers, this time with a focus on family leave.

“There’s a reason, grounded in scarcity and specialization, to pay attorneys more than the staff,” writes Joe Patrice. “But there’s not much reason why an attorney needs more time to bond with a newborn than someone in human resources would. Perhaps the firm knows that its associates are so socially dysfunctional they need an extra several weeks to seem human? That’s certainly a colorable argument.”

The article points out that some firms avoid the attorney-staff disparity by making benefits equal.

Read the Above the Law article.

Join Our LinkedIn Group

Texas lawyers are bound by the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, which covers advertising, which includes social media, which includes LinkedIn. Compliance, or non-compliance, with those rules is monitored by The State Bar of Texas’ Advertising Review Committee, points out Amy Boardman Hunt of Muse Communications.

She discusses ethical rules as they pertain to ad review issues.

The two most important rules, she explains, are: 1. Never publish anything false or misleading, and 2. Make sure your goal is to educate your audience, not to market yourself.

She goes on to discuss the best practices for staying out of trouble.

Read the article.

Bloomberg BNA will host an event in San Francisco dedicated to understanding, preparing for, and benefiting from spin-offs.

The complimentary event will be Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, 1:30-6 p.m., in Bloomberg’s San Francisco office at 3 Pier #101.

With a record $250.9 billion of spin-offs completed globally in 2015 and fairly steady activity since then, understanding this type of corporate restructuring and the hidden challenges to overcome are essential for senior executives.

Participants will hear in-depth conversations about:

• Trends in spin-off activity and important market perspectives
• Investor engagement opportunities to consider
• Cross-functional challenges and opportunities

The event is sponsored by Baker McKenzie.

Speakers will be Sergio Letelier, Vice President, Office of the General Counsel’s Corporate, M&A and Ventures Group, Hewlett Packard Enterprise; and Jeff Marks, Managing Director, Corporate Finance Advisory, J.P. Morgan.

Register for the event.

Attorneys at Gruber Hail Johansen Shank have been recognized multiple times with the publication of the latest Best Lawyers in America and Texas Super Lawyers listings. The publications use comprehensive surveys, peer evaluations, blue-ribbon committees and independent research to select the honorees each year.

Name partners G. Michael Gruber, Brian N. Hail, Mark L. Johansen and Mark A. Shank again are recognized among the top five percent of attorneys in the state on the Texas Super Lawyers list, along with partners Tricia R. DeLeon, Orrin L. Harrison III, Michael J. Lang, and Anthony J. Magee.

In addition, Shank is named among the Top 100 attorneys in Texas, and joined by Gruber among the Top 100 attorneys in Dallas/Fort Worth.

Read the article.

Alison Frankel reports for Reuters that briefing wrapped up this week on Proskauer’s motion to end a sex bias suit by an anonymous partner in its Washington, D.C., office.

She writes that Proskauer’s motion for summary judgment, the woman simply can’t sue the firm under federal and state anti-discrimination laws because those laws protect employees and she’s an equity partner — not an employee.

“The woman, who is represented by Sanford Heisler Sharp, tells a different story in her brief opposing summary judgment,” Frankel writes. “According to her, Proskauer’s rank-and-file partners have effectively no control over the firm. All important decisions about hiring, firing, governance and compensation are delegated to Proskauer’s seven-member executive committee, which she depicts as the power center of the firm.”

Read the Reuters article.

While Big Law firms with Houston offices are still in recovery mode from Hurricane Harvey, many firms with downtown offices were spared the worst of the record-breaking storm’s damage, reports Bloomberg Law.

Reporter Stephanie Russell-Kraft quotes Kenneth Broughton, managing partner of Reed Smith’s Houston office: “I would say a fairly high percentage of attorneys live either downtown or within 15 or 20 minutes from downtown, and most of those areas were not flooded.”

Broughton said he has been in the office for most of the week, and the Houston office will be re-opened on Tuesday.

The report also covers storm response at Baker Botts and Andrews Kurth.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

Join Our LinkedIn Group

Students and faculty at South Texas College of Law-Houston — and Houston’s legal community at large — have bonded in response to the overwhelming humanitarian need created by the storm, reports Bloomberg Law.

“Law firm partners have opened their houses to clients and associates, according to Gibson Dunn staff. Firms that are fiercely competitive in the court room have banded together to determine how to effectively provide legal services, explained a partner at Holland & Knight,” writes Max Siegelbaum. ” And members of the legal community — from law students to big law partners — have donated time, energy and resources to helping to house, clothe and feed people displaced by the storm. Big Law Business heard from 15 people during Monday and Tuesday following the disaster.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

A survey of 125 law professionals reveals that 94 percent of law firms are focused on being more efficient, but the findings within this survey indicate that only a small group of opportunistic law firms are actually executing on this focus, leading to new business opportunities for their practices.

The Exterro survey is available for downloading at no cost.

This benchmarking report discusses how this small subset of innovative law firms are beating their competition by redefining their legal processes to increase client satisfaction and revenue.

The report includes:

• 36-page comprehensive report filled with key insights on how law firms are currently managing their business.
• Insight into key topics which include how law firms are managing their legal processes, the future of legal operations and more…
• Example of one interesting stat: Compared to 5 years ago, 51% of law firms are more focused on legal project mgmt. principles and technology.

Download the report.

Aaron Davis, a partner in the Minneapolis law firm Patterson Thuente, was placed on leave after the firm learned that Davis owned a neo-Nazi record label.

Minneapolis City Pages lists some of the albums and songs on Davis’ Behold Barbarity Records and Distro, including “Kill the Jews” and “At the Dawn of a New Aryan Empire.”

In a post on the Above the Law site, Elie Mystal offers some commentary: “There are a lot of things you can do while being a neo-Nazi. You can start your own record label. You can buy tiki torches, freely and without prior restraint. But a private employer has no duty to hire you so you can menace the people you work with your genocidal views.”

Read the City Pages article.

Read the Above the Law article.

Some high-profile members of the Donald Trump circle found out the hard way recently that they somehow had missed one of the basic rules for dealing with the media.

In a post on the website of Muse Communications, Amy Boardman Hunt offers a reminder about the First Rule of Dealing with the Media: Assume you are on the record.

“If you want your discussion to be off the record, i.e. the information can’t be used or attributed to you, you must establish that by mutual agreement before the information is relayed. If the reporter doesn’t agree to make the information off the record, it’s not off the record,” she explains.

Read the article.

Several large law firms have spoken out against President Trump’s remarks following the Charlottesville violence, denouncing the president for casting blame on both sides and making a moral equivalency between Nazis and those who opposed them, reports Above the Law.

Reporter Staci Zaretsky writes that those firms include Skadden Arps, Paul Weiss, Lowenstein Sandler, Wachtell Lipton, WilmerHale, Polsinelli, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, Crowell & Moring, Latham & Watkins, Hogan Lovells, Akin Gump, and Greenberg Traurig.

Read the Above the Law article.

The 10th Annual Blickstein Group Law Department Operations Survey, in cooperation with Consilio, is the oldest research specifically covering law department operations. It is designed solely for the professionals who manage complex legal department operations for their companies.

The LDO survey was first created in 2008 to give law departments a consistent platform to benchmark themselves and shed light on the then-emerging profession of law department operations. In addition to being the original of its kind, as the industry has grown exponentially the LDO survey remains the most respected benchmarking tool in the space.

Participants are being sought for the survey. Only survey participants will receive a copy of the proprietary results.

The report will co ver such topics as:

• Compensation
• Legal Service Delivery Models
• Artificial Intelligence
• Technology and Cybersecurity
• Change Management

Participate in the survey.

It’s no secret that gender parity is lagging in the legal profession, with women making up just 18 percent of equity partners, according to the National Association for Law Placement, writes Amy Boardman Hunt for Muse Communications.

In the article, she discusses the practice of amplification: when a woman makes a key point, other women repeat it, giving credit to its author.

She writes that amplification is like a team sport: “Even better, for women who are reluctant to promote themselves, you can rest easy knowing that amplification isn’t tooting your own horn. Instead, you’re promoting other women (who, per your agreement, are promoting you in return).

Read the article.

David Lat of Above the Law writes about a BigLaw firm’s move back from providing financial transparency.

“K&L Gates, a firm that has long prided itself on financial transparency, is now moving in the opposite direction. After four consecutive years of publicly posting its financial statements, the firm has closed the gates on such disclosure,” he explains.

He reached out to the firm, which responded that K&L Gates did not issue a press release about its 2016 financial results, but instead provided that information directly to Am Law for its rankings. Lat points out that the AM Law 100 report is not as comprehensive as full financial statements.

Read the Above the Law article.