Recession Special: The National Law Journal takes a close look at just how the recession is roiling every corner of the legal profession. State courts, facing huge budget shortfalls, are cutting services. Judges are taking paycuts. Litigation practices aren’t seeing a boom, despite the rough times. And one lawyer asks: Is it time to take the law firm public?
Souter Heads Home: It looks like retired Justice David Souter is “arranging his life to stay away from Washington” and in New Hampshire, reports Supreme Court correspondent Tony Mauro. The judge has turned down office space at the high court, setting himself up at the federal courthouse in Concord, N.H. instead. He plans to take cases by designation at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, which will take him all the way to Boston.
Clogged: D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Vanessa Ruiz, a potential contender for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, got a stinging review from the D.C. Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure over her backlog of old cases, Jeff Jeffrey reports. The commission, which still said she was “well qualified” for a new 15-year-term, noted that she had the worst backlog of any judge on the notoriously swamped court. Local lawyers say the problem probably wouldn’t keep her off the federal bench.
Iraq: New York-based Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has made a serious profit handling Iraq’s $130 billion in debt. The firm has brought in about $20 million in fees and disbursements over the past five years, reports Leigh Jones.
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