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Law.com - In-House Counsel
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Get daily news that in-house attorneys need to know, including legal department management tips and salary information.
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Protecting Yourself From and Surviving In-House Cuts
The volatile stock market and struggling economy have intersected at various points that have significantly affected attorneys in private practice and corporations. Corporate law departments are not immune from the headcount reductions that have openly and quietly affected law firms. In-house lawyers should be prepared, says consultant Frank Michael D'Amore, who provides suggestions that should offer protection and, if calamity should strike, better prepare you for the future.
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GCs Worry About Law Firm Mergers
For GCs, an important strategy for getting their work done within their corporate legal department budgets is to be able to pick and choose from a variety of sizes and types of law firms, from boutiques to giants. So, they're watching law firm merger developments with cautious concern. Many in-house lawyers fear that mergers, like the recent one between Powell Goldstein and Bryan Cave, will place increased pressures on hourly rates and minimum requirements at the new, larger firms.
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Citigroup's Board Shopping for a Legal Adviser
Citigroup's board is apparently fighting over which Am Law 100 firm it should retain as counsel. With Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Sullivan & Cromwell possibly conflicted out of the running, Cravath, Swaine & Moore may now be under consideration for the plum assignment of representing Citi's 15-member board. Beyond what's going on at the board level, sources say there appears to be a legal shakeout occurring in the M&A ranks as well.
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Greenberg Continues Unique Billing Arrangement With Alcoa
Three years ago, when Alcoa was looking for a law firm to handle its IP work exclusively and at a fixed fee, Greenberg Traurig beat out nearly three dozen firms. To win, Greenberg went through several interviews, submitted a lengthy written proposal, and agreed to bring in several in-house Alcoa attorneys the company was preparing to let go. Then came the real test: Would the contract pay off for Greenberg? Apparently it has, because the firm and Alcoa have renewed their deal.
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Employment Lawyers: We're Busier Than Ever
Employment firms nationwide say they are setting workload records as companies lay off employees at rates not seen in many, many years. In September alone, 284,000 jobs were lost in the U.S. The bulk of a management-side employment lawyer's work at a time like this is counseling employers on how to avoid litigation, but too many companies still ignore the rules, labor-side attorneys say. And it's not just high volume that lawyers are facing. In these times, they often have to react on short notice.
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GCs Prepare for Rate Battles
Battle lines in the hourly rate war are being drawn now. With the down economy, in-house lawyers are trying to prevent any type of raise, impressing upon law firms that legal budgets, along with everything else, are being cut as revenue, profits and stock prices plummet at many companies. Law firms say publicly that they haven't made up their minds, but several consultants and at least one management source say they expect rates to go up in 2009, although not as much as in years past.
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DOJ Accuses UBS Exec of Helping Conceal Billions From IRS
In an expanding probe of investment giant UBS, the Justice Department on
Wednesday announced the indictment of the Swiss bank's chairman of
global wealth management, accusing him of playing a key role in a tax
evasion scheme to shelter secret U.S. account holders from income tax
bills and drive up bank revenue. Raoul Weil, who oversaw the Swiss
bank's cross-border private banking business serving 20,000 U.S.
clients, helped conceal a combined $20 billion in assets from the IRS,
the indictment charged.
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How Much Work Are Corporate Law Departments Paying For?
What impact does a slow economy have on the amount of work corporate law departments send to outside firms? The answer depends on whom you ask. Two recent surveys offer different takes on how the lethargic economy is affecting the distribution of legal work. One survey found that legal departments have cut spending on outside counsel and have become more selective about the work they send out. But another survey has found that most corporations have maintained or increased their reliance on outside firms.
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Billing Gets Creative in Souring Economy
What has been a slow and steady call by many corporations, in-house counsel and legal think tanks to law firms to abandon the billable hour in favor of alternative fee arrangements has turned into a loud drumbeat as the economy heads south. Many law firms are now offering clients an array of alternative fee arrangements, including flat fees, success fees, contingency fees and retainers. Even some large law firms are bowing to pressure from economically challenged clients and agreeing to other types of fees.
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