LAWYERSCHILE EL MUNDO INTERNACIONAL DEL ABOGADO

Rodrigo González Fernández y un grupo de egresados de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad la Republica en Chile ha decidido poner al alcance de todo el mundo de la profesion legal importantes materias en Ingles para ir practicando el trabajo en materia de Tratados internacionales y que nuestra profesión estará en primera linea. Invitamos a todos a opinar, debatir, participar activamente.Es el primer blog legal en inglés de latinoamerica.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

LEGAL WATCH BLOG Dumping on Contract Attorneys

Dumping on Contract Attorneys

Like Rodney Dangerfield, contract lawyers don't get no respect. While law firms earn substantial profits off the labor of contract attorneys, these lawyers have no job security, work long hours but aren't necessarily entitled to overtime and they don't have any bargaining power to demand better. To top it all off, contract attorneys also get the blame when things go wrong, reports The Recorder.

Apparently, two critical e-mails in a stock option prosecution against McAfee's former general counsel weren't turned over because temp attorneys had marked them as not relevant, Howrey partner Robert Gooding Jr. explained to federal district judge Marilyn Hall Patel. Gooding characterized the error as inadvertent, and said senior lawyers were supposed to have reviewed the contract lawyers' work but somehow the mistake was overlooked. Defense lawyers weren't convinced, and filed a motion to dismiss shortly after the hearing.

For now, Howrey hasn't been required to offer up the heads of the lawyers responsible for the gaffe. And that's fortunate for the contract lawyers, since firms are more than willing to harshly penalize contract lawyers for infractions.

For more coverage, see Gabes Guide to the e-Discovery Universe and WSJ Law Blog.

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Posted by Carolyn Elefant

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The Economy and the Rest of the Legal Profession

The Economy and the Rest of the Legal Profession

By now, most of us have realized that the market downturn is taking a toll on large law firms, with Heller Ehrman as the most recent victim. But what about the rest of the legal profession? How are other non-Biglaw lawyers holding up as the market goes down? Here's a quick roundup.

• New York Personal Injury Lawyer Eric Turkewitz reports that the personal injury bar is not immune to recession. He writes:

[W]ith the meltdown of mega insurer AIG, we could see something different. Even if they get rescued, there will no doubt be other insurers that have problems. We see this from time to time on a small scale when the executives drop their business ball, but we could now see it on a larger scale if things continue to go south. And a bankrupt insurance company would mean that the business end of lawyering could see some issues related to actually being able to get paid on a claim.

Turkewitz also notes CLE provider Lawline's report that lawyers are signing up in record numbers for training courses in bankruptcy.

• Recession will take a toll on the quality of criminal representation, predicts Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice. While a small segment of the criminal bar -- the high profile (though not necessarily the best) lawyers will continue to do very well, the rest will compete for those clients who can still afford to pay for lawyers (Greenfield explains that previously, clients might take out a second mortgage to pay their fees, but that's no longer an option with the banks in crisis). Moreover, lawyers will start competing on price, and quality attorneys will find themselves losing out to "bottom dwellers" who "suck up felonies for $1,000." Greenfield advises criminal defense lawyers to find ways to branch out into different practice areas to keep the revenue stream flowing.

• Not surprisingly, legal aid lawyers are busier than ever, with record numbers of foreclosures and more families qualifying for legal aid services.

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Posted by Carolyn Elefant

LEGAL BLOG WATCH: Plaintiffs Win Only 15 Percent of Employment-Related Cases in Federal Court

Plaintiffs Win Only 15 Percent of Employment-Related Cases in Federal Court

A study commissioned by the American Constitution Society reveals that, based on data from 1979 to 2006, plaintiffs who brought employment discrimination suits in federal district courts prevailed only 15 percent of the time, compared to 51 percent for non-employment related cases. The Wisconsin Law Journal and Sharpy News offer additional analysis.

In many instances, federal judges will dispose of federal employment cases at the summary judgment phase -- and there's often not much relief on appeal. The study also showed that, during a 16-year span from 1988 to 2004, less than 9 percent of the 2,042 cases lost at trial and appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals were reversed for plaintiffs in employment discrimination cases, compared with a 41 percent reversal rate for defendants who lost at trial.

Because of these trends in federal courts, many employment lawyers are bringing suit in state court, or turning to mediation to resolve employment disputes. Though state laws often don't allow punitive damages or damages for emotional distress, as is the case in federal court, the fact that state courts offer a greater likelihood of prevailing, for now, may make them a more favorable forum.

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Posted by Carolyn Elefant