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Who Should Hold Katrina Fees?
Law Firm News |
2007/12/07 17:27
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A law firm fighting over legal fees with a prominent trial attorney recently charged with bribery wants a judge to take control of millions of dollars in settlement money from a Hurricane Katrina insurance case.
The motion filed Wednesday by the law firm of Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson & Lee said the indictment against Richard "Dickie" Scruggs "indicates that the Defendants are not proper persons to have control of any funds" at issue in the dispute.
Scruggs was indicted last week on federal charges of trying to bribe a judge to get a favorable ruling on a lawsuit filed by the Jones firm.
Scruggs and a group of his high-octane legal associates known as the Scruggs Katrina Group brokered a mass settlement with State Farm Insurance Cos. The Jones firm, which worked on the case, sued for a bigger cut of at least $26.5 million in legal fees; it rejected a check for $617,924 the Scruggs group sent it in March.
The Jones firm claims, among other things, breach of contract.
The indictment accuses Scruggs of conspiring to pay a judge $50,000 to rule in his favor on the Jones firm's lawsuit.
Four other people were charged, including Scruggs' son and law partner, Zach Scruggs. All pleaded not guilty, but on Tuesday one of the defendants, attorney Timothy Balducci, changed his plea to guilty on conspiracy to bribe a state court judge and is cooperating with prosecutors.
A message left after hours Thursday for Scruggs' attorney, Billy Quin, was not immediately returned.
The Jones firm's motion asks the Lafayette County Circuit Court to take control of all fees collected by the Scruggs Katrina Group, a consortium of lawyers that has represented thousands of Gulf Coast homeowners who sued over hurricane damages. It did not specify how much money is thought to have been collected by the group.
Scruggs, a brother-in-law of Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., has made millions from tobacco and asbestos litigation. He reportedly made $848 million for his part in brokering a multibillion-dollar settlement with tobacco companies in the mid-1990s. That case was portrayed in the 1999 movie "The Insider." |
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New Online Law Firm Offers Affordable Services
Law Firm News |
2007/12/06 18:04
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The name of Greenwich resident Patricia A. DeWitt's business says it all: lawyersforless.net.
In such a litigious society where attorney fees can cost as much as $1,000 per-hour and many individuals and families are feeling strapped by the rising cost of living, DeWitt is convinced that her "E" law firm will be the wave of the future with Web surfers - and anyone in need of an effective attorney at an economical price.
"The time is right for an Internet law firm," DeWitt said. "People can save a lot of money shopping on the Internet, so why not save a lot of money on the services of an attorney?"
While she has numerous reasons for launching a Web-based law firm, paramount among them is the desire to spend time with her 11-year-old daughter, Annie, a student at Glenville School. "I have my daughter's interests in mind," DeWitt said. "She's very excited. She's my biggest helper. She's my biggest fan."
A single mother, DeWitt enjoys working out of the home because it provides her more time to be with her daughter, who is adopted. With that background, part of DeWitt's focus is on assisting those interested in adoption through the legal process.
"Once I adopted, as an attorney I became extremely interested in the resources that are available to people who seek to adopt," she said. "I am dedicated to advising and assisting persons interested in adopting or having their infant adopted."
She also handles product liability, medical malpractice and negligent matters. Those type of cases, though, can take years to resolve, so they are taken only after agreeing on a contingent retainer. DeWitt does not handle criminal law.
"A small contractor knows it costs the customer more money to hire an attorney than the customer could get back in small claims court," DeWitt said. "Affordable legal representation might help those who don't want the hassle of personally appearing, but want the satisfaction of getting back whatever was rightfully theirs, up to the $5,000 limit of small claims courts."
With word quickly spreading about lawyersforless.net through articles published in local newspapers, DeWitt has cases coming her way. Some are simply small business owners who want to craft a better contract, others involved motor vehicle accidents. The common denominator, though, is that her clients are "savvy professionals" with little spare time on their hands.
"I'm really very impressed with the clients," she said.
Perhaps the most widely followed set of rates for attorney fees is what is called the Laffey Matrix, which is available from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, and is updated each year. The hourly rates are shown by years of experience. For June 1, 2006 to May 31, 2007 the rates are as follows: 20+ years of experience, $425 per hour; 11-19 years, $375; 8-10 years, $305; 4-7 years, $245; 1-3 years, $205; and paralegals/law clerks $120.
Hourly rates are increasing almost every year and some lawyers charge substantially higher than the rates shown by the Laffey Matrix. Consider, the first attorney in the U.S. to regularly charge a four-digit hourly fee ($1,000 and higher) was Benjamin Civiletti in late 2005.
With a resume that dates her professional law career back two decades, including serving as an enforcement attorney for the New York Stock Exchange before beginning her general practice in 1993, DeWitt can certainly charge more per hour. Yet she has decided quality of life and time with her daughter is more important to her than making a killing. Some attorneys have called her nuts, she said.
DeWitt's hourly rates were initially $70 per hour, yet after reevaluating her expenses and the amount of time she puts into cases (hours of research), she decided on an hourly rate of $140.
"In this day and age it's just really interesting to see that even with doubling my rates, I'm going to still be half of some of the lowest rates."
Further, there is the matter of combating a widely held societal belief: "Primarily, people think they get what they pay for."
DeWitt, certified to practice law in both New York and Connecticut, wants to focus on clients in Westchester and Fairfield counties because they are close to home and she is familiar with the courts in these jurisdictions. But with the lack of geographical boundaries on the Internet, lawyersforless.net could grow into something much larger than a single-mother's humble practice. "We could create a network," she said when asked about the potential for growth. "I suppose something can be done about it."
"There is life after the law firm," she reminds aging attorneys.
For information, visit www.lawyersforless.net or call DeWitt at 532-4120. |
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Greenberg Traurig Grows Bankruptcy, Litigation Practice
Law Firm News |
2007/12/01 15:48
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Greenberg Traurig, an international law firm with more than 1,750 attorneys in 28 offices throughout the United States and Europe, including Tampa, has added nationally recognized attorney Robert A. "Rob" Soriano as a shareholder to its business reorganization and bankruptcy and litigation practices. Soriano joins the firm from Shutts & Bowen's Tampa office. He was previously at Carlton Fields, also in Tampa, where he headed that firm’s bankruptcy and creditors’ rights practice group.
“Rob Soriano has a national reputation in the area of creditors’ rights and bankruptcy and will strengthen this practice for Greenberg Traurig in the Middle District of Florida. To that end, Rob will spend part of his time in our Orlando office,” said David Weinstein, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Tampa office. The office has grown by 16 lawyers since its founding in August of 2006. “Bringing Rob to Greenberg Traurig is something I've been attempting to do for more than a decade. Given where Rob is in his career, how well our Tampa office is developing, and where the bankruptcy and insolvency practice appears to be headed, Rob’s decision to join us could not come at a more opportune time,” said Mark Bloom, co-managing shareholder of the firm’s Miami office and co-chair of the national business reorganization and bankruptcy practice. “Greenberg Traurig has an excellent national platform and leadership position to offer my clients. In addition, this is somewhat of a homecoming as I will be working with old friends whose work I respect,” Soriano said. The firm’s business reorganization and bankruptcy practice brings together more than 65 attorneys located across the United States. The team has experience handling the many complex issues that arise in business reorganizations, restructurings, workouts, liquidations and distressed acquisitions and sales, as well as cross-border proceedings involving U.S. and foreign law. Soriano received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University, with high distinction, and his J.D., cum laude, from Syracuse University. He served as a law clerk to the Hon. Mark A. Costantino, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, and practiced at Skadden Arps in New York before coming to Florida. He is a member of the bars of both New York and Florida. Soriano has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for more than 12 years, was given the highest rating in Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Business Lawyers, and is listed in Florida Super Lawyers. In addition, Rob is a contributing editor to Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide and to Chapter 11 Theory and Practice. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of The American Law Institute. Recently, Greenberg Traurig was named “USA Law Firm of the Year” by Chambers and Partners. The award honors excellence in legal services in countries around the world. Winning firms are selected by a distinguished panel of judges made up of international corporate buyers of legal services. In Florida, practice areas that were ranked by Chambers and Partners in its USA Guide, or had members who were, include Bankruptcy/Restructuring; Construction; Corporate/Mergers and Acquisition; Environmental; Immigration Labor and Employment; Litigation; Litigation: Appellate; Real Estate; Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use; Tax; and Tax: Employee Benefits. Greenberg Traurig is ranked seventh on The American Lawyer’s Am Law 100 listing of the largest law firms in the U.S., based on number of lawyers. Additionally, the firm has strategic alliances with the following independent law firms: Olswang, London and Brussels; Studio Santa Maria, Milan and Rome; and Hayabusa Asuka Law Offices in Tokyo. For additional information, please visit the firm's Web site at www.gtlaw.com. |
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Caplan Law Firm adds new OWI practice specialty
Law Firm News |
2007/12/01 15:45
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Caplan Law Firm principal attorney Allan Caplan has announced that the firm is currently offering a new OWI practice specialty, defending residents of the state of Wisconsin who have been charged with OWI or Operating While Intoxicated. Wisconsin and other states typically use the term OWI as opposed to DWI or DUI with the operative word being ‘operating’. Attorneys Allan Caplan and Joseph Tamburino are both licensed to practice law and try court cases in the State of Wisconsin. A principal of Caplan Law Firm, P.A.,, Allan Caplan spent six years prosecuting major felonies and white collar crimes as an Assistant Hennepin County Attorney During his 32-year career. In 1983, Mr. Caplan formed Caplan Law Firm, P.A., one of the largest criminal defense firms in the Midwest, with six lawyers representing clients in criminal law matters, both locally and nationally. A MInnesota DUI attorney, Mr. Caplan has achieved numerous acquittals and successful results for his clients in every type of case ranging from DWI and DUI to first-degree murder. The Caplan Law Firm, P.A., recognized as a top criminal defense and Minnesota DUI law firm, has successfully represented numerous clients throughout Minnesota, the Minneapolis St. Paul area, Wisconsin, and the Federal Courts in a wide range of criminal matters. |
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Law Firms Fail to Make the Grade in Diversity
Law Firm News |
2007/11/30 17:25
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Ivan Wang is an attorney for McKool Smith law firm in Austin. He says he has never faced challenges as a minority and that his firm gives equal opportunities to all races. Yet, he is one of only two minority attorneys at the firm.
McKool Smith received a D on the 2007 law firm report card presented at a press conference Thursday at the Travis County courthouse.
The report card, issued by minority lawyers' groups, gave a letter grade to the top 25 law firms in Austin based on the number of minority attorneys, minority partners and minority law clerks involved with each firm.
"What we ask of the law firms is very simple," Paul Ruiz, recruiting chairman of the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin, said in a statement. "Even though the percentage of minorities in Texas is well over 50 percent, we are asking Austin law firms to meet the threshold of the percentage of minority attorneys who are licensed to practice law in Texas, which, according to the Texas State Bar, is 15 percent."
Any law firm with a minority representation of 15 percent received an A on the report card, Ruiz said.
According to a report released by the State Bar of Texas, Hispanics make up 7 percent and African Americans make up 4 percent of the total number of State Bar Attorneys in Texas in 2007.
The Brown McCarroll firm received the highest grade, an A, with more than 24 percent of their attorneys being minorities, according to the report card. Five of the 24 firms on this year's report card failed.
Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody improved from a grade F in 2000 to a C in 2007, according to a diversity progress report released with the report card.
Paul Saenz, a Hispanic shareholder at Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, said the firm had formed a diversity committee and implemented improvements in their hiring process to develop more diverse candidate pools since their 2000 report card grade.
Having minority attorneys at law firms is important for representing all communities and businesses and to take advantage of all market segments, Saenz said.
Law professor Daniel Rodriguez said that teachers and administrators work on encouraging minority law students to succeed in the profession and stay energetic in their pursuit to find their first job.
Rodriguez also said the small number of minority law professors at elite schools and at senior levels makes it hard to relate and identify to the backgrounds of the minority students in their classes.
According to the 2004 census report, white male attorneys make an average of $17,000 more than their Hispanic male colleagues and $46,000 more than their black male colleagues.
Law student Yuridia Caire said she does not personally feel discriminated as a minority in the UT School of Law, but said she notices many law firm's Web sites show very low numbers of minority attorneys and partners.
"Many law firms all over say they are dedicated to increasing minorities, but in the end, their actions are not what they are saying," she said. Caire is a vice president of the Chicano and Hispanic Law Students' Association and said she notices that many law firms hold study sessions with the group and then do not end up hiring the students.
The Chicano and Hispanic Law Students' Association is dedicated to helping law students in the law school process and improving their bar scores, Caire said.
According to the UT Statistical Handbook, of the 1,427 enrolled law students at UT in 2005, 230 were Hispanic and 77 were black. In 2000, there were 126 Hispanic and 33 black law students out of the 1,406 enrolled. |
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Associate Attrition Rates are on the Upswing
Law Firm News |
2007/11/30 17:15
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With associate attrition rates on the upswing and young lawyers unwilling to sacrifice personal time, law firms are being forced to rethink the classic high-workload, partner-track model for associates or watch as valuable talent slips away.
Firms have found that the lure of a hefty paycheck in exchange for a rigorous schedule has lost some of its shine for associates, who have different views on what success represents and increasingly leave firms after a handful of years. The new paradigm presents a dilemma for law firms, which have for years relied on the assumption that money -- and the potential of making partner -- buys loyalty.
Local and national law firms have begun to tweak that model, looking for creative alternatives to retain associates who are expensive to hire, but even more expensive to replace.
In 2006, the associate attrition rate in the U.S. was 19 percent, the same percentage as the previous year, which was the highest rate documented by any prior study of attrition, according to the National Association for Law Placement Foundation in Overland Park, Kan. Broken down, larger firms experience even higher rates of attrition with firms larger than 500 reporting a range of 13 percent to 27 percent attrition, according to NALP.
Associates' salaries at large firms range from $160,000 to $285,000 with the possibility of bonuses of $25,000 to $50,000. Meanwhile some law firms peg the cost of replacing an associate at around $300,000.
"Obviously law firms are quite concerned that associates are bailing out left and right," said Paul Clifford, a principal at Law Practice Consultants LLC in Boston. "Firms are starting to wake up to this and are starting to get more creative."
Nationally, McDermott Will & Emery is in the process of hiring a new class of about 15 staff associates who will charge less per hour for lower-end work, make less money and not be on the partnership track, according to a story on Law.com. The lawyers hired will be those who are not interested in working 80-hour weeks. The move is designed to benefit clients, who will pay less for their services. A representative from McDermott Will & Emery said the firm did not wish to comment for this story. |
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