ABA Journal Top Stories

• Exploding Text-Harrassment Cases Create Pitfalls for Defense Attorneys

  As supervisors increasingly make objectionable comments to employees via text messages, resulting harassment cases over after-hours comments no longer are based simply on "he said, she said" evidence. But this seeming bonanza of proof for plaintiffs lawyers is surrounded by potential pitfalls for defense attorneys, according to a Texas Lawyer [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 6:43pm EST
  

• Rothstein Firm Is Running on Fumes, Newspaper Says

  Despite an effort by partner and president Stuart Rosenfeldt to create a new law firm out of the apparent ashes of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, the well-known Fort Lauderdale, Fla., law firm is running on fumes. After stunning revelations of alleged misconduct by a top partner, the departure of some other [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 5:07pm EST
  

• Legal Sector Lost 5,800 Jobs Last Month, Labor Bureau Says

  As the nation's unemployment rate topped 10 percent last month, lawyers were not spared. The legal sector lost 5,800 jobs, according to seasonally adjusted statistics in a just-released report (PDF) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. When not seasonally adjusted, the figures show a gain of 1,500 jobs, but [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 4:05pm EST
  

• Two Law Firms Housed in Orlando Building Where Shooter Left One Dead

  At least two law firms are housed in an Orlando, Fla., office building that was the site of a shooting today that left at least one person dead and five others injured. Police say the suspect, Jason Rodriguez, is a former engineer who worked for a transportation consulting firm in [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 2:27pm EST
  

• ‘Star Associate’ Alleges Breakdown Over Work Conditions, Sues Sedgwick & Partner

  A former associate in the New York office of Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold has filed a disability discrimination suit against the firm and an a partner he alleges was abusive, contending that he was driven to a breakdown with overwork and mistreatment and then abruptly fired when he had [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 2:20pm EST
  

• Did Top Texas Judge’s Testimony Open Door to Wrongful Death Suit?

  Contending that a top Texas appellate judge misled a federal appeals court that dismissed a wrongful death claim by the wife and daughter of a executed inmate, a civil rights group has asked a federal judge to reopen the case . It concerns a controversial refusal by Texas Court of [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 1:10pm EST
  

• Why Abandoning Lockstep Can Lead to Disgruntled Associates

  Abandoning lockstep promotions and salary hikes for associates can hurt morale if the system is perceived as unfair, according to a consultant who is an organizational psychologist. Writing for the New York Law Journal, Larry Richard of the legal consulting firm Hildebrandt warns about the dangers of moving to a [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 11:27am EST
  

• Mass. Appeals Court Lawyer Reportedly Offered to Write Term Paper for $300

  An undercover journalist researching the “shadowy underworld” of ghostwritten term papers says a senior staff attorney with the Massachusetts Appeals Court offered to write a term paper on physician-assisted suicide for $300. The lawyer, Damian Bonazzolli, was one of 62 people who offered a price quote to the undercover journalist, [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 10:48am EST
  

• Southern New England Law Dean Prepares for Battle over Merger Plan

  Southern New England law school dean Robert Ward is preparing for battle over his school’s plan to merge with the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and become the state’s first public law school. Ward defended his school during a tour of the campus with a Boston Globe reporter. Ward says [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 9:41am EST
  

• Woman Lawyer Who Hid Gender in 1930s Law Job Applications Dies at 99

  A woman lawyer who used initials in 1930s job applications to hide her gender has died at the age of 99. Anne Sullivan, formerly Anne Chawk, was licensed in 1934 and signed her job applications "A.M. Chawk" so they wouldn’t be tossed out, the Chicago Tribune reports. She volunteered in [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 9:16am EST
  

• Nadel Receiver Leaves Fowler White Boggs Along With at Least 9 Others

  The court-appointed receiver trying to recover money for investors with alleged Ponzi schemer Arthur Nadel is forming a new law firm. The receiver, Burton Wiand, is a partner at Fowler White Boggs in Tampa. He is leaving the law firm with at least nine other lawyers to form Wiand Guerra [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 8:59am EST
  

• Troutman Sanders: Confident Its Accused Real Estate-Chief Will Return to Work

  The Troutman Sanders law firm has released a statement expressing confidence that a kickbacks case involving the chair of its real estate practice will be successfully resolved. Troutman Sanders partner Leonard Grunstein is accused of helping a client who bought a nursing home company obtain $50 million in kickbacks from [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 8:13am EST
  

• Revised N.J. Ethics Rule Allows Lawyers to Tout Super Lawyers Designation

  The New Jersey Supreme Court has changed the ethics rules to allow lawyers to tout their designation as among the "Super Lawyers" and "Best Lawyers in America." The rule change, enacted Wednesday, carries some restrictions, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. Any ad that mentions such a designation must include [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 7:49am EST