Lawyer - News

The EEOC recently held a public meeting to discuss employer testing and screening procedures, which they note are on the rise.  According to the press release: “Today employers commonly use a range of employment tests and other screening tools to... No comments

The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear three business-related disputes, including one dealing with railroad taxes and another with a gravel company's suit against the government. At issue in a third business case, involving contaminated well water on Oregon property leased by Mattel Inc., is the extent to which arbitration awards can be reviewed by federal courts. No comments

The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it significantly easier for employers to defend against Title VII workplace discrimination claims that are based on long-ago decisions about salary and raises. By a 5-4 vote, the Court said that employees claiming they received disparate treatment based on gender or race must do so within 180 days of the original discriminatory action -- not within 180 days of their last paycheck. Business groups applauded the ruling in No comments

A grim Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye said Tuesday that a finding in a study she initiated -- that state court judges' pay is 48th lowest in the country when adjusted for New York's high cost of living -- is further confirmation of the "miserable situation" the judiciary finds itself in after more than eight years without a salary increase. "What a pity, what a shame, what an embarrassment it is ... that our judges face a ninth year of absolutely frozen compensation," Kaye said. No comments

Disbarred Miami attorney Louis Robles was simultaneously ready to accept a plea bargain for taking $13 million from clients and set to flee the country. But no one outside the case knew because key documents were kept off the federal court Web site. No comments

Hofstra University law librarian Tricia Kasting says she's always picking up trivia, which is a useful habit as she tries to keep current in her profession. Keeping current has two parts: the awareness of new or changing resources and the appreciation of possible uses for your institution. As technology modifies traditional responsibilities, this awareness crosses more lines and covers more topics than ever. Kasting describes how she integrates the goal of keeping current into her regular duties. No comments

On a federal judge's advice, Brocade Communications has dropped Wilson Sonsini. Cooley Godward will replace the firm. The judge said last month that Wilson has an apparent conflict; the former Brocade CEO facing criminal options-related charges has blamed lead Wilson partner Larry Sonsini for his predicament. Wilson's ouster is the latest result of executives' attempts to blame options improprieties on outside lawyers and accountants, whom they say were hired to interpret confusing accounting rules. No comments

Pay hikes for first-year associates no doubt have made hourly demands at big law firms more tolerable, but some shops find that a few perks can go a long way in cultivating a warmer workplace. Law firms are initiating innovative fringe benefits -- such as dog-walking services -- in an effort to distinguish them from the pack and boost attorney recruiting and retention. Associate Brian Patten says he "couldn't be happier" with his new car, purchased with the help of DLA Piper's hybrid reimbursement program. No comments

Though allegations that Monica Goodling had politicized the hiring of federal criminal prosecutors were known by the time she testified before the House Judiciary Committee last week, her admission that she had taken political considerations into account in the hiring of immigration judges was not. As with the replacement of U.S. Attorneys, political appointees at the Justice Department appear to have trod upon department norms in filling immigration judge positions -- and may have even broken federal law. No comments

The Supreme Court refused to review the convictions and sentence Tuesday for serial killer Richard Ramirez, the so-called Night Stalker who killed 13 people in California in the 1980s. Ramirez, convicted in 1989, is not likely to be executed any time soon. He still has another round of appeals to pursue, and the state's death penalty has been on hold for the past 15 months on order of a federal judge. No comments