Law Firm NewsMakers

---

Law Firm News

Search For News Keywords

News Date

981 matches |  778-784 displayed

1  111 112 113 114 115  141

---

First Equal Justice Works Katrina

Megan Kraatz quit her high-profile job as an associate with Andrews Kurth to join the Equal Justice Works Katrina Initiative. She becomes the first Equal Justice Works Katrina legal fellow in Texas and will address some of the systemic problems hurricane survivors face in the state.

Megan Kraatz began her fellowship with Texas Appleseed in Austin, Texas, on April 3. Ms. Kraatz is working with governmental entities to help hurricane survivors who face foreclosure, eviction, labor abuses, insurance disputes, inadequate access to health care and disruption of public benefits. To help hurricane survivors address legal conflicts, she will initiate or participate in litigation against lenders, government agencies and landlords. She will also create a mediation program to help hurricane survivors address conflicts without litigation.

The Equal Justice Works Katrina Initiative has been established to address the many legal needs in areas hardest hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This program is placing lawyers and law students at nonprofit organizations located in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama in order to help the hundreds of thousands of people left without homes, jobs, access to health care and social services due to the damage from the hurricanes.

Equal Justice Works has obtained a $1 million matching grant from the JEHT Foundation to sponsor public interest attorneys to work in the Gulf Coast region for up to two years, providing direct legal services to Gulf Coast residents in need.

05-01-2006

---

Diversity Council at Holland & Knight

Holland & Knight LLP has formed a Diversity Council that will oversee diversity initiatives and programs in its 18 offices nationwide.

Holland & Knight partner Paul Thomas, an experienced counselor on corporate diversity issues, has been named Chief Diversity Officer and will also serve as the Firm Diversity Partner, chairing the new council. The Diversity Council consists of 13 members, including Mr. Thomas. Its mission is to ensure that all firm activities continue to foster diversity in all offices. The inaugural council includes top partners from across the country.

Under the direction of the new Diversity Council, Holland & Knight has also created "Affinity Initiatives" to better focus on the needs and interests of the African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic and Native American communities. The new initiatives will add new depth to previously established efforts centering on women, GLBT and other groups.

04-28-2006

---

Lawyers Care

Josh Kaplan, a 27-year-old graduate of Yale Law School and a second-year associate at Arnold & Porter, is asking fellow associates to give back a portion of their 2006 raises which range between $5,000 and $10,000.

Recently, top law firms have increased associate pay, with first-year salaries often starting at $135,000. Kaplan is of the view that the salary increase was not merit-based but resulted from a domino effect. Law firms have grown, but the pool of law students from top-tier law schools has remained fairly constant. So if one firm increases associate salaries, others must all follow suit to compete for the best talent.

Not wanting to define himself by the size of his paycheck, Josh wants to change the general perception of lawyers. He wants to convey to the world that the typical lawyer is not a greedy fat cat but a normal human being.

To prove his point, he has started a campaign which will prove that law firm associates are charitable. The website givealittle2006 asks associates to give back a portion of their salary with the goal of raising $250,000. The featured organizations include Doctors Without Borders, American Red Cross, Care and the Clinton Foundation.

04-28-2006

---

Supreme Court favors Business Arbitration

A major ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court has gone in favor of businesses wanting to settle disputes through arbitration, giving them power to do so. The ruling states that arbitration agreements are to be adhered to even when a contract's overall validity is in dispute.

Arbitration, often faster and less expensive, is generally preferred by business houses, and the decision is a message to the judiciary not to tamper with the arbitration system.

The ruling was handed down in a case involving Buckeye Check Cashing, an advance payday loan company. The company made a financial agreement with Cardegna, who agreed to the terms and conditions of the company and also signed a contract stipulating that "any claim, dispute, or controversy" would be settled "by binding arbitration pursuant to this Arbitration Provision." Later, however, Cardegna filed a class-action suit in a Florida state court, alleging that the rates of interest Buckeye charged on each loan were criminally usurious. As per the terms of the agreement, Buckeye looked for arbitration to settle the issue of the contract's legality. Cardegna did not agree, claiming that the arbitration clause did not apply, as the contract itself was void.

The State Court and the Florida Supreme Court ruled against Buckeye, but the U.S. Supreme Court stated that issues concerning the validity of the contract must also go to an arbitrator. It is a victory for businesses, especially financial service companies who are often charged that their contracts are not valid.Mixed responses to new bankruptcy regulations

04-28-2006

---

Mixed responses to new bankruptcy regulations

With the enactment of The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, debtors no longer have the option of simply choosing to liquidate all of their debts under Chapter 7 bankruptcy and must undergo a complex means test in order to qualify. The first major change in 27 years, which took nine years to be completed, has met with criticism as well as support.

To reduce and deter abusive filing practices, the Reform Act places tighter restrictions on the process of filing for bankruptcy. The requirements would keep people from using bankruptcy to wipe away debts they could otherwise pay, which results in an increased number of filings under Chapter 13 bankruptcy instead of Chapter 7. Chapter 7, also known as straight bankruptcy, wipes most debts clean, while Chapter 13 is a bankruptcy involving the adjustment of debts for someone with regular income and includes a court-mandated repayment plan for a portion of the debt.

Some critics believe that the bill is not in tune with today's context of credit and debt. It may also have an adverse effect on individuals who seek relief from debts caused by extenuating circumstances, such as illness, divorce or long-term unemployment. Going by the statistics, the number of people who filed for bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2006 dropped compared to the same period a year ago, indicating that the law may not have accomplished its goal. Other critics point to "loopholes" which seem to allow wealthier bankruptcy filers to protect more of their assets. The bill still allows exemptions for certain types of trusts created to shield money from creditors. Bankruptcy attorneys say that the provisions of the bill related to attorney responsibility will raise bankruptcy filing fees and discourage the practice of pro bono bankruptcy aid.

Proponents of the bill say that the great rise in bankruptcy filings necessitates tightening the rules. They point to people who file for Chapter 7 when they don't deserve the "fresh start" it promises. The financial services industry says that it is then forced to pass the costs of bad debts on to the rest of the credit using community.

04-27-2006

---

Tort liability and its impact on consumers

Constantly increasing tort costs are affecting the overall U.S. economy. According to figures provided by the American Tort Reform Association based on the study by Tillinghast business of Towers Perrin, the cost of the U.S. tort system for 2003 was $246 billion or $845 per citizen or $3,380 for a family of four. U.S. tort costs increased 35.4 percent from 2000 to 2003.

According to the study, U.S. tort costs reached a record $260 billion in 2004, or approximately $886 per person. This surpassed the previous record set in 2003 by $16 billion. The 2005 Update analyzes U.S. tort costs from 1950 through 2004 with projections through 2007. The study also examined tort costs in several other industrialized nations and found that U.S. tort costs exceed other countries' by a sizeable margin when measured as a ratio to economic output (measured by GDP). The U.S. had a 2.2% ratio of tort costs to GDP, compared with Germany (1.1%), Japan (0.8%) and the U.K. (0.7%). Aside from Italy (1.7%), the other countries examined in the study have tort costs comparable to historic levels observed in the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s. Going by the current trend, Tillinghast expects U.S. tort costs to increase approximately 6.5% for the next three years.

04-27-2006

---

Paperless law practice

Inundated with court documents, deposition transcripts, case filings, expert witness studies, financial documents and billings receipts, law firms are contemplating the move to a paperless business. Getting attorneys to rely solely information online, however, has proved a challenge, especially for older and more traditional attorneys.

Many law firms in the Phoenix area, including the branch office of Greenberg Traurig, have initiated the process by filing court documents electronically and requesting deposition transcripts in PDF format.

According to sources in Phoenix, paperless practice has benefits beyond just the absence of paper cuts. The paperless method reportedly makes document management and organization easier than the traditional system.

04-26-2006

---

981 matches |  778-784 displayed

1  111 112 113 114 115  141