Bush-connected law firm in Iraq oil imbroglio

BigLaw powerhouse Baker Botts (”as in former Secretary of State James Baker”1) made its bones representing Texas oilmen. So it should come as no surprise that the firm has been dipping its toes in the Iraqi oil fields. The firm recently helped client Hunt Oil Company arrange a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government for [...]

Wal*Mart launches new market-based initiative to change law firm employment practices

Wal*Mart has written its outside legal counsel, complaining about recent pay hikes for law firm associates. The retail giant — which, coincidentally, labels its own wage-slaves “associates” — is unhappy that the firms have tried to pass along the cost in the form of higher billing rates. Wal*Mart — which, coincidentally, is currently the defendant [...]

The trouble with BigLaw diversity

Commenting on my earlier post about the “Better Legal Profession” project, Stanford Law Professor Michelle Dauber, a member of the project’s board, defends the mission of advocating for greater diversity in attorney hiring by BigLaw firms. Her response highlights the severe limits of the project’s scope and the fundamentally conservative nature of its ambition.
Michelle suggests [...]

Rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic

A group of Stanford Law School students are issuing report cards to law firms based on the gender, racial, and sexual diversity among their attorneys. So students from elite law schools will know at which firms woman, people of color, and LBGT people have the best opportunities to make bucketloads of money working on behalf [...]

Best law firm name ever

Forget “Sioux, Grabbit & Runne”, “Dewey, Cheatum & Howe”, and their kindred spoofs. Payne & Fears is the real deal.

Take this agreement, or shove it

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has lambasted mega-law firm O’Melveney & Myers (whose website boasts, “We are a values-driven law firm, guided by the principles of excellence, leadership, and citizenship”) over an unconscionable arbitration clause it imposed on employees. Having spent the past [...]

Silly law firm office policies

Toni Bowers at TechRepublic writes:
Liz Ryan, in her column for BusinessWeek, keeps a list of the best and worst corporate policies that she has encountered while being a consultant. This month, she added referral bonus programs to her list of Best Corporate Policies and anti-moonlighting policies to her list of Worst Corporate Policies.
We’ve all seen [...]

Missed opportunity

I was greatly amused to learn that Pittsburgh-based law firm Eckert Seamans has hired former Sen. Rick Santorum as a “consultant”. I spent two years as an associate at Eckert’s Philadelphia office. I’d burnt out after a mere five years of union-side labor practice, and thought I might be better off doing something less emotionally [...]