I may be just a little overexcited about what might otherwise be mundane news.  But, hey, I live in Hollywood, I'm attached to the paralegal field and well, I've been curious as to why just about every TV series revolving around lawyers and law firms leaves out paralegals. Years ago, I attended a Los Angeles Paralegal Association seminar where the technical advisor to a hit...

I would like to be the bearer of good news.  But today, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about last week. If you haven't heard by now, Valentine's Day weekend was not a happy occasion for over 1,000 attorneys, paralegals and staff.  A handful of firms decided in one two-day bloodbath last Thursday and Friday to lay-off over 1,100 law firm professionals.  And...

By Loni Morganelli American Paralegal in London   As 2009 ends its first month of the year, a total of 1,487 staff layoffs have been reported across some of the country’s biggest law firms.  This is only the number that BigFirms are reporting and does not include paralegals or staff who have been reduced to part-time. The number does not include layoffs in mid-size or...

By Loni MorganelliGuest BloggerAmerican Paralegal in London Last week, San Francisco Public Defender, Jeff Adachi, stressed the need for more paralegals on his staff.  Without the proper staff, adequate resources, and valuable services of paralegals, he may have to turn away high-profile cases, such as homicides and other major felonies.  Such a move will result in some cases being...

It used to be that Corporate America would not do the dastardly deed at holiday time.  That is to say, layoffs would be put off until after Christmas. That way, even though you knew it might be coming, you could "act as if" and have a supposed normal holiday. Nowadays, it seems as though firms are purging and scouring as fast as they can, holidays be damned. Today, Reed Smith, a...

Ok, so I admit it. I'm old enough to recall actually seeing the presidential candidate who years ago made history with his sound bite: "read my lips" on the 6:00 news. (No, it wasn't in black and white.)  He was obviously trying to make a point abeit a bit, well, sarcastically. But the doom and gloom of the economic crisis these days has us all wondering...

The Cenus Bureau issued a report in August with astounding, shocking and disappointing Women lawyers made a median of $93,600, a salary that was 77.8 percent of male lawyers’ median salary of $120,400. The fact that women lawyers make less is really not news. We all know or at least suspect that female lawyers lag behind males in the parity department as much as law firms deny...

A boutique business law firm for life sciences companies is luring clients with a lower-rate structure that relies on nonlawyer contract experts for template contract work. Waltham, Mass.-based Faber Daeufer & Rosenberg has attracted more than 200 clients since its October 2003 launch. According to an article from law.com, the firm began with two lawyers from Cambridge, Mass.-based drug maker...

A brand new term, secondments, the transfer of employees from one organization to another on a temporary basis has sprung up in the corporate world.  The reality is, this lending of employees from law firms to in-house legal departments is not anything that's brand new.  It's been going on for years. However, recently, secondments are gaining popularity with U.S. firms, as described in...