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For the fifth straight month, the U.S. legal industry experienced job growth, adding 600 positions in July, according to preliminary data released on Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Many BigLaw associates haven't seen a base pay scale increase since 2023, and inflation-adjusted associate salaries at large law firms appear to have fallen to a decade low. Additionally, experts say it's unlikely most large law firms will offer a pay boost before the end of the year.
July was a month of debuts for a handful of firms that opened offices and expanded into new markets. Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP entered the Seattle market with the help of three former K&L Gates LLP attorneys, and boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP opened its first office in Washington, D.C., after launching earlier this year.
A team of six attorneys has left the recently launched Cohen Vaughan LLP to join Goldberg Segalla as they seek a better fit for their employment and civil litigation practices following the retirement of their former leader.
The American Bar Association urged an Illinois federal court to throw out a lawsuit from The American Alliance for Equal Rights alleging the association's Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund constitutes race-based discrimination, arguing that the claims are simply a "'desire to vindicate' a particular 'view of the law.'"
Linklaters LLP announced Thursday that it has added the former co-chair of Paul Hastings' London office to its corporate and structured lending practice.
Proskauer Rose's Rachel Fischer has successfully defended high-profile clients such as Fox News in a former producer's sexual harassment and assault suit and the MLB in an umpire's race discrimination suit, earning her a spot among the employment practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
Stuart Lombardi of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has worked for bankruptcy clients including families seeking defamation payouts in Alex Jones' insolvency and the representative of as-yet-unknown asbestos claimants in a talc producer's Chapter 11, earning him a spot among the bankruptcy law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
Chelsea Anderson of Fenwick & West LLP counseled project management software company Smartsheet Inc. on its $8.4 billion acquisition by a private equity consortium and advised real estate tech company Redfin on its $1.75 billion acquisition by Rocket Companies, earning Anderson a spot among the capital markets law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
Kerry Donovan of Winston & Strawn LLP was a key member of a team representing Macquarie Infrastructure Corp. and former executives at the U.S. Supreme Court that ultimately secured a 9-0 victory in a stock-drop class action, earning her a spot among the securities law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
WilmerHale's Steven Horn has been a strategic leader on the firm's work defending Intel Corp. from the sprawling, big-dollar patent infringement litigation brought by VLSI Technology LLC, earning him a spot among the intellectual property attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
Vinson & Elkins LLP's Stephanie Noble has scored high-stakes trial wins for oil and gas companies, including Antero Resources Corp. and Aera Energy LLC, earning her a spot among the energy law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
Babst Calland Clements and Zomnir PC has grown its environmental law offerings and established a presence in western New York with the addition of a longtime Perkins Coie LLP attorney.
Troutman Pepper Locke LLP announced Thursday the hiring of a former Husch Blackwell partner for its privacy and cyber practice group in Philadelphia.
Amid the Trump administration’s push to dramatically shrink the federal workforce, lawyer assistance programs in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia have launched a support group aimed at helping current and former government attorneys manage the stress of job losses and to navigate career transitions.
As one of the founding partners of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's new Miami office, Ken Wiggins said it made perfect sense for the firm to set up shop in a city that is becoming an East Coast hub for "technology innovation."
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP announced Thursday that it has welcomed three intellectual property lawyers from Latham & Watkins LLP, two of whom began their legal careers at Weil and will now co-head its IP, technology and science litigation practice.
K&L Gates LLP announced Thursday that it has named 14 new practice leaders, calling the appointments part of the firm's "commitment to investing in its emerging leaders and establishing the next generation of management."
The class of 2024 was the largest graduating law school class in nearly a decade, but it defied industry expectations by breaking records in overall employment rate, employment in jobs that require or anticipate bar passage, and median salaries, according to data released Thursday.
Law firms take great care to ensure their longevity. To develop leaders, they carefully identify, mentor and groom the next generation. While top firms can outspend them, some firms are finding alternatives to acquire and retain partners. In a bid to win the loyalty of key clients, firms are increasingly involving them in their lateral hiring processes.
The U.S. Senate confirmed William Kimmitt on Tuesday to lead the U.S. International Trade Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Saul Ewing LLP is expanding its California team, announcing Wednesday that it is bringing on a pair of trusts and estates experts in its Los Angeles office, an Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside LLP tax and trust expert as a partner and a Lurie Zepeda Schmalz Hogan & Martin APC trust and estates disputes attorney as an associate.
McDermott Will & Emery LLP failed to address racist comments made during a diversity presentation, kept Black attorneys out of leadership and fired a Black associate who complained that she was repeatedly sidelined because of her race, the former employee alleged Wednesday in Illinois federal court.
Law firm Wiggin and Dana LLP said Vasiliki Yiannoulis-Riva has joined as partner from Polsinelli PC in its real estate, environmental, construction and facilities department.
Mark Liang of O'Melveny & Myers LLP successfully represented Google and LG Electronics in disputes where they faced tens of millions of dollars in potential liabilities for alleged patent infringement, earning him a spot among the intellectual property attorneys under the age of 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
In uncertain and challenging times, law firm leaders can build and sustain culture by focusing attention on mission, values and leadership development, and applying a growth mindset across their firms, says Scott Westfahl at Harvard Law.
Robert Keeling at Sidley reflects on leading discovery in the litigation that followed the historic $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner merger and how the case highlighted the importance of having a strategic e-discovery plan in place.
Opinion
CLE Accreditation Should Be Tied To Learning OutcomesGiven the substantial time and money lawyers put toward mandatory continuing legal education, CLE regulators and providers should be held to accreditation standards that assess learning outcomes, similar to those imposed on law schools and continuing medical education providers, says Rima Sirota at Georgetown Law.
While many lawyers still believe that a manual, document-by-document review is the best approach to privilege logging, certain artificial intelligence tools can bolster the traditional review process and make this aspect of electronic document review more efficient, more accurate and less costly, say Laura Riff and Michelle Six at Kirkland.
Robert Dubose at Alexander Dubose describes several categories of visuals attorneys can use to make written arguments easier to understand or more persuasive, and provides tips for lawyers unused to working with anything but text.
There are major differences between BigLaw and Mid-Law summer associate programs, and each approach can learn something from the other in terms of structure and scheduling, the on-the-job learning opportunities provided, and the social experiences offered, says Anna Tison at Brooks Pierce.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Do I Take Time Off?David Kouba at Arnold & Porter discusses how attorneys can prioritize mental health leave and vacation despite work-related barriers to taking time off.
The traditional structure of law firms, with their compartmentalization into silos, is an inherent challenge to mental wellness, so partners and senior lawyers should take steps to construct and disseminate internal action plans and encourage open dialogue, says Elizabeth Ortega at ECO Strategic Communications.
The key to trial advocacy is persuasion, but current training programs focus almost entirely on technique, making it imperative that lawyers are taught to be effective storytellers and to connect with their audiences, says Chris Arledge at Ellis George.
Female attorneys in leadership roles inspire other women to pursue similar opportunities in a male-dominated field, and for those who aspire to lead, prioritizing collaboration, inclusivity and integrity is key, says Kim Yelkin at Foley & Lardner.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza, now at Wilkinson Stekloff, recalls the challenges of her first case as a civil defense attorney — a multibillion-dollar multidistrict class action against Allergan — and the lessons she learned about building rapport in the courtroom and with co-counsel.
Most legal professionals lack understanding of the macroeconomic trends unique to the legal industry, like the rising cost of law school and legal services, which contributes to an unfair and inaccessible justice system, so law school courses and continuing legal education requirements in this area are essential, says Bob Glaves at the Chicago Bar Foundation.
While the American Bar Association's recent amendments to its law school accreditation standards around student well-being could have gone further, legal industry employers have much to learn from the ABA's move and the well-being movement that continues to gain traction in law schools, says David Jaffe at the American University Washington College of Law.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Do I Build Rapport In New In-House Role?Tim Parilla at LinkSquares explains how new in-house lawyers can start developing relationships with colleagues both within and outside their legal departments in order to expand their networks, build their brands and carve their paths to leadership positions.
Piper Hoffman and Will Lowrey at Animal Outlook lay out suggestions for attorneys to maximize the value of their pro bono efforts, from crafting engagement letters to balancing workloads — and they explain how these principles can foster a more rewarding engagement for both lawyers and nonprofits.