http://www.lawupdates.com en LawUpdates.com, LLC Copyright 2014 2014-01-25T03:41:57+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/thomson_reuters_survey_highlights_companies_uncertainty_around_co/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/thomson_reuters_survey_highlights_companies_uncertainty_around_co/ Thomson Reuters, a leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, has released the findings of a new survey which shows that although conduct risk has become one of the highest priorities for regulators worldwide, there is still great disparity in how firms are defining conduct risk and similarly how regulators are referring to the concept. According to the Thomson Reuters Conduct Risk Report 2013, firms, in response to an increasing volume of regulatory… 2014-01-25T02:41:57+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/ftc_announces_revised_thresholds_for_clayton_act_antitrust_reviews_for_20/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/ftc_announces_revised_thresholds_for_clayton_act_antitrust_reviews_for_20/ The Federal Trade Commission has revised the thresholds that determine whether companies are required to notify federal antitrust authorities about a transaction under Section 7A of the Clayton Act, the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act. The HSR Act requires companies to notify authorities if the size of the parties at issue and the value of a transaction exceeds the filing thresholds, absent an applicable exemption. The FTC is required to revise various thresholds set forth… 2014-01-22T13:11:17+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/the_national_law_journal_reports_that_1_in_5_of_the_largest_u.s._law_firms_/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/the_national_law_journal_reports_that_1_in_5_of_the_largest_u.s._law_firms_/ Billing rates at the country’s largest law firms remain high despite pressure from clients in recent years—and in one instance have reached $1,800 per hour, according to a report published today by ALM’s The National Law Journal. Nearly 20 percent of the firms included in a survey of the NLJ 350 – the newspaper’s list of the largest 350 law firms in the U.S. by attorney headcount – had at least one partner charging more… 2014-01-15T11:05:56+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/2014_report_on_the_state_of_the_legal_market_issued_by_georgetow/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/2014_report_on_the_state_of_the_legal_market_issued_by_georgetow/ Georgetown University Law Center and Peer Monitor have issued their “2014 Report on the State of the Legal Market”. The report highlights recent trends in the legal market, as well as factors that will likely impact the market in 2014 and beyond. The report warns that unless law firms re-examine their traditional business models and embrace change in how legal services are delivered, they will not be able to successfully adjust to the significant outside… 2014-01-13T12:38:11+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/jpmorgan_chase_enters_into_deferred_prosecution_agreement_to/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/jpmorgan_chase_enters_into_deferred_prosecution_agreement_to/ Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced criminal charges against JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“JPMorgan” or the “Bank”), consisting of two felony violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, in connection with the Bank’s relationship with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities (“Madoff Securities”). The case is assigned to United States District… 2014-01-9T22:11:09+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/california_supreme_court_admits_undocumented_immigrant_to_sta/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/california_supreme_court_admits_undocumented_immigrant_to_sta/ In a decision filed Thursday, January 2, the California Supreme Court granted a motion filed by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California to admit Sergio C. Garcia, an undocumented immigrant, to the State Bar, granting Garcia a license to practice law in California.  The court’s decision was unanimous and was authored by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. Justice Ming Chin also filed a short concurring opinion. The court’s decision was based… 2014-01-9T00:28:47+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/stars_align_and_2013_proves_to_be_hottest_us_ipo_market_since_2004_momentum/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/stars_align_and_2013_proves_to_be_hottest_us_ipo_market_since_2004_momentum/ The market environment delivered all of the right signals in 2013, presenting a long-awaited window of opportunity for IPOs. With a calmer economic climate, companies looking to go public were seemingly unphased by the 4th quarter government shutdown. This, combined with low volatility and a huge backlog of PE-backed IPOs seeking an exit, brought IPOs back with a bang: 222 IPOs in total will go effective in 2013 raising proceeds of $59.7 billion1, with 76… 2013-12-24T18:40:00+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/ithe_american_lawyer_i_finds_law_firm_leaders_look_to_hire_litigators_wash/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/ithe_american_lawyer_i_finds_law_firm_leaders_look_to_hire_litigators_wash/ ALM’s The American Lawyer‘s survey of leaders of the Am Law 200, the nation’s largest law firms, finds mild optimism and modest growth expectations for 2014. In lateral hiring plans, the hottest practice is litigation and the hottest city is Washington, as regulatory rollout boosts lawyer demand. But fully 85 percent of respondents worry about underperforming partners, and overall deequitizations are expected to rise. The 11th annual Law Firm Leaders survey is published in the… 2013-12-20T08:39:23+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/representation_of_women_associates_falls_for_fourth_straight_year_as_minori/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/representation_of_women_associates_falls_for_fourth_straight_year_as_minori/ According to the latest law firm demographic findings from the National Association for Law Placement, Inc.® (NALP),  women and minority partners continued to make small gains in their representation among law firm partners as a whole in 2013, and the percentage of minority associates has rebounded for the third year in a row after falling in the wake of the recession. However, the percentage of women associates has eroded every year since 2010. The net… 2013-12-12T10:42:18+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/global_patent_filings_see_fastest_growth_in_18_ye/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/global_patent_filings_see_fastest_growth_in_18_ye/ A new WIPO report shows that in 2012 global patent filings increased at their strongest rate in nearly two decades as industrial-design registration notched its best-ever rate of growth. Intellectual property (IP) filings have sharply rebounded since a 2009 decline at the height of the financial crisis. The report shows patent filings grew by 9.2% (2.35 million applications filed) in 2012. Utility model (UM) filings increased by 23.4%, industrial design filings by 17%, and trademark… 2013-12-11T22:31:44+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/hedge_fund_managers_making_significant_investments/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/hedge_fund_managers_making_significant_investments/ A global survey of hedge fund managers reveals that they are making significant investments in their firms’ infrastructure to comply with new regulatory requirements. According to The Cost of Compliance, a new report produced by KPMG International, the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and the Managed Funds Association (MFA), the average spend on compliance was at least USD700,000 for small fund managers, $6 million for medium-size fund managers, and $14 million for large fund managers.… 2013-12-5T23:23:01+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/law_departments_shift_more_work_in-house_according_to_acc_empsight_2013_la/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/law_departments_shift_more_work_in-house_according_to_acc_empsight_2013_la/ The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), a global bar association representing more than 33,000 in-house counsel in 85 countries, and Empsight International, LLC, a consulting firm providing compensation data on more than 10,000 attorneys at Fortune 500 and smaller organizations, have released figures of the ACC/Empsight 2013 Law Department Compensation Survey, which showed that companies are increasingly focused on streamlining the legal department, including reducing legal costs and improving law department management. According to the… 2013-12-1T10:43:10+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/opt-out_cases_more_likely_in_large_securities_class_action_settlemen/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/opt-out_cases_more_likely_in_large_securities_class_action_settlemen/ A new report by Cornerstone Research in conjunction with Latham & Watkins LLP provides a first-ever comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of opt-out securities cases. In these cases, at least one putative class member excludes itself from the class in order to pursue a separate lawsuit against the defendant. Not surprisingly, plaintiffs are more likely to bring opt-out cases stemming from larger class action settlements. About 53 percent of class actions with class settlements of… 2013-11-26T09:07:53+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/corporate_law_department_hiring_is_up_and_expense_cuts_continue_to_decline/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/corporate_law_department_hiring_is_up_and_expense_cuts_continue_to_decline/ In another sign that America’s largest companies are showing more optimism about future revenues, a new survey from ALM Legal Intelligence found that corporate law departments are hiring new lawyers at a rate not seen since prior to the 2008-2009 recession. ALM’s Law Department Metrics Benchmarking Survey (2013 Edition)—which analyzed data from 70 in-house law departments at U.S. companies with median global revenues of $3.3 billion—found that 59 percent of respondents hired new lawyers in… 2013-11-5T21:57:54+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/associate_salaries_bobble_but_remain_essentially_flat/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/associate_salaries_bobble_but_remain_essentially_flat/ Starting associate salaries at large law firms have remained essentially flat since 2007, despite some erosion of the prevalence of $160,000 as the norm. New research from National Association for Law Placement (NALP) reveals that first-year associate salaries of $160,000 are still widespread at large law firms of more than 700 lawyers — especially in large markets — and became somewhat more prevalent in 2013 compared with 2012, as a result pushing the median for… 2013-10-14T15:28:26+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/law_firm_merger_boom_continues_into_third_quarter_of_2/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/law_firm_merger_boom_continues_into_third_quarter_of_2/ There were 19 law firm mergers and acquisitions announced in the United States in the third quarter of 2013, according to Altman Weil MergerLine.  There have been a total of 58 law firm combinations announced this year – up 41% compared to the first three quarters of 2012. The largest deal of the year so far was announced in late September.  Stinson Morrison Hecker, a Midwestern law firm headquartered in Kansas City, announced it would… 2013-10-3T21:41:07+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/ithe_american_lawyer_i_finds_solid_global_100_law_firm_growth_last_ye/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/ithe_american_lawyer_i_finds_solid_global_100_law_firm_growth_last_ye/ The world’s 100 largest law firms enjoyed solid 3.8 percent growth in total gross revenues last year to $85 billion, according to ALM’s The American Lawyer, though they fell short of 2011’s 6.8 percent jump. Average revenue per lawyer (RPL) among the Global 100 was flat at $784,297 in 2012 compared to the prior year’s $784,419. A five-year RPL analysis accompanying the annual report, published in The American Lawyer‘s October issue and at americanlawyer.com, suggests… 2013-10-2T16:40:44+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/federal_agency_sues_morgan_stanley_barclays_jp_morgan_ubs_and_others_o/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/federal_agency_sues_morgan_stanley_barclays_jp_morgan_ubs_and_others_o/ The National Credit Union Administration has filed nine lawsuits in Federal District Court in New York against Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. and eight other institutions over the sale of nearly $2.4 billion in mortgage-backed securities to Southwest and Members United corporate credit unions. “We continue to pursue accountability and recovery in the wake of billions of dollars in sales of faulty securities that led to the collapse of several corporate credit unions and handed… 2013-09-25T18:29:42+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/wells_fargo_study_as_women_achieve_affluence_does_investing_confi/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/wells_fargo_study_as_women_achieve_affluence_does_investing_confi/ At a time when women make up about half the U.S. workforce and have been encouraged to take charge and “lean in,” more than two out of five working married affluent women (44%) between the ages of 40 and 69 report that they earn about the same (20%) or more (24%) than their spouses, according to a new Wells Fargo Affluent Women Retirement Survey (NYSE:WFC). The telephone survey, conducted by Koski Research of 600 women… 2013-09-19T20:57:12+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/finra_foundation_survey_reveals_over_80_percent_of_respondents_are/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/finra_foundation_survey_reveals_over_80_percent_of_respondents_are/ The FINRA Investor Education Foundation has issued a new research report—Financial Fraud and Fraud Susceptibility in the United States—which reveals that over 80 percent of respondents have been solicited to participate in potentially fraudulent schemes, and over 40 percent of those surveyed cannot identify some classic red flags of fraud. “When it comes to financial fraud, America is a nation at risk. Fraudsters are very effective at reaching and enticing vulnerable populations into turning over… 2013-09-16T17:59:07+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/legislation_allowing_qualified_undocumented_aliens_to_practice_law_in/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/legislation_allowing_qualified_undocumented_aliens_to_practice_law_in/ After passage by a vote of 60-3 in the State Assembly, legislation allowing qualified undocumented immigrants to obtain license to practice law in the state of California now goes to Governor Edmund “Jerry” Brown for his approval.  There is no clear indication however of how the state chief executive will act on it, i.e., whether to veto it or approve it. Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) introduced the bill only last week, and the… 2013-09-13T22:28:23+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/itc_pilot_program_involving_investigations_of_ip_right_violations_to_be_tes/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/itc_pilot_program_involving_investigations_of_ip_right_violations_to_be_tes/ The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has launched a pilot program to test whether earlier rulings on certain dispositive issues in some section 337 investigations could limit unnecessary litigation, saving time and costs for all parties involved. The pilot program is the Commission’s latest action in its ongoing efforts to improve its section 337 investigation procedures and meet its obligation to complete investigations expeditiously. Section 337 investigations involve allegations of unfair practices in import trade.… 2013-09-12T21:47:12+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/two_attorneys_charged_in_connection_with_rothstein/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/two_attorneys_charged_in_connection_with_rothstein/ Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. De Palma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, have announced the arrest of Douglas L. Bates, 54, of Parkland, and Christina M. Kitterman, 38, of Deerfield Beach. According to two indictments unsealed in court, Bates was charged with conspiracy to… 2013-09-6T20:30:33+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/former_hedge_fund_partner_of_global_accounting_giant_to_be_sentenced_in/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/former_hedge_fund_partner_of_global_accounting_giant_to_be_sentenced_in/ Craig B. Haber, a former partner of a global accounting firm Grant Thornton, has pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to stealing nearly $4 million in client payments intended for the firm, according to Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Haber plead guilty before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel. Bharara said: “Craig Haber committed a flagrant fraud against his accounting firm and its clients by directing millions… 2013-09-5T22:48:49+00:00 http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/united_states_and_switzerland_join_forces/ http://www.lawupdates.com/industry_news/entry/united_states_and_switzerland_join_forces/ The United States Department of Justice to has announced a program that will encourage Swiss banks to cooperate in the department’s ongoing investigations of the use of foreign bank accounts to commit tax evasion.  The department also released a joint statement with the Swiss Federal Department of Finance, stating that Switzerland will encourage its banks to participate in the program. “This program will significantly enhance the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to aggressively pursue those who… 2013-09-3T21:54:22+00:00