Paralegal allegedly shoots three at law firm

Not a good start to the new year for anyone! "One man was arrested in connection with the shooting that wounded three people inside a law firm Tuesday night. "Bill J. Weir, 58, a Joshua Tree attorney, handyman Rocky Favorite, 50, and Dawn Croom, 25, were shot when a gunman opened fire just after 4 p.m. in Weir's law office in the 62700 block of Twentynine Palms Highway, said San...

“Virtual Workers Cut Overhead at Law Firm”

How often have you dreamed about working remotely for your law firm? "Like most firms, at Traverse Legal we constantly grapple with dilemmas about staffing. The uncertainty of workload always creates a serious quandary. Understaffing can fuel burnout, and can leave otherwise necessary billable work undone. It also can lead to client friction. How many times have your staffing problems caused...

Temp Staff Demand Greatest for Paralegals, Legal Support Staff, Attorneys

Isn't it just great to be in demand? "Temporary legal staffing is the most consistently fast growing segment of the contingent workforce in the United States and is largely driven by merger and acquisition activity and litigation-related work, according to a new report by Staffing Industry Analysts, the premier provider of market intelligence about the contingent workforce.   -- Over...

“Law firm employees walk to lunch, get fit”

Sounds like a very good idea to me. Does your firm have a similar program? "If a Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC employee invites you to lunch, it's a good idea to wear comfortable shoes. "This late December walk was one of the monthly 'mystery walks' taken by co-workers at the firm. Those who take the extended stroll get to eat on the company dime when they arrive at the...

Five Law Firms Make ‘Best Companies’ List

No, really, it's true! "Five law firms made Fortune magazine's list this year of the best 100 employers to work for -- one less than last year. "Alston & Bird, Arnold & Porter, Nixon Peabody, Perkins Coie and Bingham McCutchen held their ground. But Morrison & Foerster, the only California-based firm to make the 2006 list, dropped off the chart. "'It's a brisk...

Library of Congress Enhances Thomas Database

Good news dug up by the research mavens at The Virtual Chase: "The Library of Congress announced the release of a beta versionof Thomas, a Web site that provides access to federal legislation andrelated documents. More search features are available as well as morehelp for those unfamiliar with searching for federal legislation."

“How Business Trounced The Trial Lawyers”

It's not looking too good for plaintiff's lawyers. So, how are plaintiff paralegals affected? "By focusing on litigation reform at the state level, business has won key battles. Suddenly, it's a tough time to be a plantiffs' attorney. "In 1901 a well at Spindletop Hill sent petroleum shooting 200 feet in the air and made Beaumont, Tex., one of the first oil boomtowns. Decades later some locals...

Fulbright’s Third Annual Litigation Trend Survey Findings

Very interesting survey about litigation trends in the U.S. Number of lawsuits...ouch! "Here's a sample of the findings:Large U.S. companies face an average of 305 pending lawsuits. For the largest U.S. companies, those with $1 billion or more in annual gross revenue, the number of lawsuits soared to 556 cases, with an average of 50 new disputes emerging each year for close to half of...

Harvard 3Ls visit India…

...& investigate outsourcing of work for attorneys & paralegals: or 3Ls Shaun Mathew and Vikram Thomas, the fact that legal offshoring is in its infancy makes this the right time to study it. And, as children of professionals who emigrated from India to the U.S., they have their own experience with an earlier chapter of globalization. “'Our idea was to go to India and see firsthand...

“Legal Tech Expert E-Mails His Wish List to Santa”

And what a smart wish list this is. I also think those paralegals already familiar with this stuff are smart: "Dear Santa, "I've been a good boy this year. I spent all my time helping lawyers and judges with electronic data discovery (EDD) and studying really, really hard about electronically stored information (ESI) , data harvest, spoliation, de-duplication , meet-and-confer ,...