Schulte Roth Founder Played Key Role in Real-Life ‘Loving’ Case

by

Posted:

Attorney Bill Zabel said the new movie “Loving” accurately portrays the struggles of a white man and a black woman whose U.S. Supreme Court case overturned laws against interracial marriage.

How would a trusts and estates attorney who has represented some of the nation’s richest people know?

Zabel, founding partner of New York-based Schulte Roth & Zabel, wrote the winning brief for the ACLU in Loving v. Virginia, which was decided in 1967 and is now the basis for a film directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga.

Link.

PDF: Schulte Roth Founder Played Key Role in Real Life Loving Case _ The American Lawyer

Meet the Woman With the Highest Score on the Texas Bar Exam

by

Posted:

‘Mother of Animal Law’ Parlayed Her Passion Into a Profession

by

Posted:

One of Joyce Tischler’s earliest memories as a child was bringing home an injured bird to nurse back to health. That passion to help animals propelled her to a career with the Animal Legal Defense Fund, which she has led for more than three decades.

“It wasn’t a career path when I started down it—there was no animal law,” said Tischler, 63. “We invented it.”

People who know Tischler use words like “pioneer” and “visionary” to describe her. Tischler said she can’t remember who first called her “the Mother of Animal Law,” but the title stuck. Tischler’s peers say it’s an apt moniker for the lawyer who may have penned the first legal article about animal rights, “Rights for Nonhuman Animals: A Guardianship Model for Dogs and Cats,” while still in law school.

Link.

PDF: ‘Mother of Animal Law_ Parlayed Her Passion Into a Profession _ Law

Atlanta Attorney’s Documentary on Gender Bias Features Legal Pioneers

by

Posted:

Lawyer Found Guilty in Money Laundering Case

by

Posted:

A Texas attorney and two co-conspirators face 40 years in prison after a federal jury on Friday convicted them in a case involving defrauding lawyers and law firms across the nation out of at least $8.8 million.

Attorney Perry Don Cortese of Little River, Texas, and his co-defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit international money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, according to U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III of Florida.

Link.

PDF: Lawyer Found Guilty in Money Laundering Case _ Texas Lawyer

Though Not the Diva, Justice Ginsburg Snags Juicy Part in Opera

by

Posted:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been promoted.

Ginsburg—a passionate, lifelong opera fan—will have a speaking part as The Duchess of Krakenthorp in the Nov. 12 opening night of the opera, “The Daughter of the Regiment,” presented by the Washington National Opera.

Link.

PDF: Though Not the Diva, Justice Ginsburg Snags Juicy Part in Opera _ Law

 

Dementia Dilemma: When Older Partners Pose a Liability

by

Posted:

He’s a senior partner at the firm—an accomplished, 50-year attorney and beloved mentor—who has begun to arrive late for court. He forgets key facts in cases. He dresses a little sloppily. He’s frequently impatient and quick to anger.

It’s a scenario that’s becoming more common as baby boomers enter retirement age. The normal reaction from his colleagues is to ignore the problem or make excuses for the behavior of their esteemed partner. But that reaction could wind up hurting the aging attorney, his clients and the law firm if the real reason behind the change is age-related cognitive impairment, most frequently caused by dementia.

“It is a competence issue,” said Patrick Krill, founder of Krill Strategies, which consults with law firms about lawyer mental health and substance abuse issues. “If a lawyer is in cognitive decline or otherwise impaired, the risk to the firm and to the client is very real, irrespective of what is potentially causing that decline or impairment.”

Link.

PDF: Dementia Dilemma_ When Older Partners Pose a Liability _ Law

 

Pumping and Practicing: A Delicate Balance for Breastfeeding Lawyers

by

Posted:

Working mothers who nurse must express their breast milk—a process that takes about 20 minutes—every two to three hours to supply food for their babies and cue their bodies to continue making enough milk. For lawyer moms, who often practice at the whim of client demands, it’s a huge challenge to keep a set schedule to pump their milk, especially in a profession in which when they often can’t control times for meetings, breaks and court appearances.

Link.

PDF: Pumping and Practicing_ A Delicate Balance for Breastfeeding Lawyers _ Law

Three Indicted for Racketeering, Fraud in Connection With Attempted Murder of Judge Kocurek

by

Posted:

As Austin’s Legal Market Explodes, Firms Rush In

by

Posted:

This article originally published in Texas Lawyer magazine on April 4.

When John Gilluly started practicing law in Austin in 1998, the city’s legal market lived and breathed real estate, government and practices surrounding those areas.

But everything was changing.

The growth of the city’s technology sector in the dot-com boom of the late 1990s was attracting West Coast firms that wanted to expand in Austin, recalled Gilluly, who then was an associate in the Austin office of the West coast firm of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, a predecessor of DLA Piper.

Then everything changed again.

The dot-com bust of the early 2000s dashed the hopes of some of the firms, which closed their doors, causing partners to scurry to other firms. Gray Cary remained, although it shrank its size, said Gilluly, now managing partner in the Texas offices of DLA Piper in Austin.

Since then, he said Austin’s legal market—and his firm—have grown steadily.

“Other firms’ lawyers have either transitioned to become aligned with the business economy in Austin by working with tech companies or other growth companies,” Gilluly said. “Now, unlike the early ’90s when I started, you have a reasonably robust market of lawyers who have worked in this area for a long time now—over 15 years. Across the board, the firms for the most part have grown.”

By every marker, the economy in Austin is booming—spurring startups and business relocations, creating impressive numbers of jobs and flooding the city with new residents. The growth has also boosted the legal market—and law firms are reacting by opening new offices or expanding existing operations.

…

Download a PDF to read the rest of the article.