Associates: Keep Quiet - from NJL

The new associate mantra: Keep quiet - With layoffs piling up, associates do their best to fly under the radar.

With law firms unloading scores of attorneys amid the economic downturn, associates are finding that the balance of power has shifted away from them and into the hands of law firm managers. Gone are the days — as recent as a year ago — when firms had to pile on the perks to keep associates from jumping ship. With few ships for associates to jump to these days, young attorneys are increasingly reluctant to raise any issue that might put an unwanted target on their backs.

Life After Souter

With the announced retirement of Supreme Court Justice Souter, what lies ahead? As far as the political ramifications for President Obama and the nomination process, a new NLJ article "After Souoter"aims to answer that questions.

See also: Seven candidates who could be chosen by President Obama for the Supreme Court.

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com: "Only in the past 10 years have law firms begun to think about bringing professional managers into parts of the firm which are often run by committee--without an individual responsible for directing any part of the business. The challenge for law firms, he says, is to find a new way to introduce professional lines of responsibility and management without destroying the firm's collegial and consensual nature, which inspires trust and, in the end, benefits clients.

'One mustn't knock the partnership structure,' he says, 'but one needs to see how to build on top of that structure to maintain the positive elements of a partnership with the positive elements of a well-run corporation.'"

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com: "unlike a corporation with professional managers, a law firm's shareholders--its partners--are also expected to run the business day to day. 'Therefore, they have great difficulty letting go and allowing other people to take on responsibility for finance or strategy or human relations.' In many firms, he notes, the highest fee-producing lawyer is viewed as a good lawyer and is automatically chosen to run the practice group, whether or not he or she is an effective manager."

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com: "Law firms also tend to celebrate individual rainmaking partners, but no one individual can supply the kind of comprehensive service today's clients demand, Ryan adds. While 'rainmaking is virtuous,' he says, 'strategic account management is a team game. The question is how do you let the rainmaker continue to grow the business and discover the needs of the client, but integrate other people from the firm into the team?'"

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com: "another emerging model is the 'virtual' firm, which acts as an intermediary between clients and lawyers who have left big firms in order to work on a freelance basis. An example is Axiom Legal, a New York-based company that hires lawyers for temporary assignments. Axiom clients include Google ( GOOG - news - people ), Dow Jones, NBC and General Electric.

Axiom lawyers used to work in big firms and are well-trained but didn't want to join the 'whole rat race,' according to Chatain. The clients receive service similar to a major law firm at less cost. 'Almost everyone is happy,' says Chatain, except for the traditional law firm, 'which is unhappy because it actually trained the lawyers.'"

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com

New Fee Structure For Law Firms - Forbes.com: "law firms in Europe are now undergoing a period of rapid deregulation following passage of Britain's Legal Services Act of 2007, which allows for alternative business structures and non-lawyer ownership of firms, Burbank notes. 'It is quite conceivable that within 10 years, you will have a largely deregulated legal profession in the U.K. and Europe. Given the phenomena of globalization, it's hard to imagine this won't put incredible competitive pressure on large American law firms."