Editor's Note: This is the first in a four-part series of columns by career coach and consultant Michael Melcher. Send questions or suggestions for future articles by clicking here and putting Careers Inbox in the subject line. Or simply discuss the topic in the comments below. How do you plan a meaningful, fulfilling and possibly lucrative career in the midst of a giant recession? It’s not easy. But it’s possible. Recessions constrain resources and require you to focus on short-term survival. But you can still plan creatively for long-term career growth. Here are five tips to surviving in the short…

In a second round of layoffs since December, Reed Smith is letting go 26 attorneys and 74 staff members in its United States and United Kingdom offices because of a slowdown in its transactional practices. "Specifically, we are initiating the outplacement of 17 associates in the U.S. and have started a consultation process in London that will potentially result in nine associate redundancies," the firm says in a written statement provided to Above the Law. "All of the affected associates are in the corporate and real estate areas of our practice, where demand for our services continues to be slow."…

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a trial judge’s mistake in seating a juror despite a lawyer’s peremptory challenge did not require reversal of the defendant’s murder conviction. In a unanimous opinion, the court upheld the conviction of Michael Rivera, despite an unsuccessful attempt by his lawyer to use a peremptory challenge to dismiss a female juror, according to the Associated Press and SCOTUSblog. The woman became the jury forewoman. Rivera had argued the mistaken denial of his lawyer’s peremptory challenge was a due process violation, but the Supreme Court disagreed in Rivera v. Illinois. Writing for the court,…

The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal of a $79.5 million punitive award in a tobacco case, saying it had erred in granting certiorari. The appeal by tobacco maker Phillip Morris was “dismissed as improvidently granted” in a one-sentence order, according to SCOTUSblog and the Associated Press. The dismissal leaves undisturbed an Oregon Supreme Court decision upholding the award. The case had been “something of a judicial minuet between the Supreme Court and the Oregon Supreme Court,” according to SCOTUSblog. The Supreme Court has twice overturned the punitive verdict, and the Oregon Supreme Court has twice reinstated it. In…

The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal of a $79.5 million punitive award in a tobacco case, saying it had erred in granting certiorari. The appeal by tobacco maker Phillip Morris was “dismissed as improvidently granted” in a one-sentence order, according to SCOTUSblog and the Associated Press. The dismissal leaves undisturbed an Oregon Supreme Court decision upholding the award. The case had been “something of a judicial minuet between the Supreme Court and the Oregon Supreme Court,” according to SCOTUSblog. The Supreme Court has twice overturned the punitive verdict, and the Oregon Supreme Court has twice reinstated it. In…

Law professors who tape and post their lectures online would likely want to avoid the plight of a college professor at the University of Alabama. He left his wireless microphone on during a bathroom break, recording “watery sounds” that could be heard on a classroom recording until the section was removed, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education (sub req.). Another professor at George Washington University made a frantic call to make sure a private conversation with a student worried about failing grades was cut from the tape. Officials complied, avoiding online dissemination of a conversation that would have violated…

Law professors who tape and post their lectures online would likely want to avoid the plight of a college professor at the University of Alabama. He left his wireless microphone on during a bathroom break, recording “watery sounds” that could be heard on a classroom recording until the section was removed, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education (sub req.). Another professor at George Washington University made a frantic call to make sure a private conversation with a student worried about failing grades was cut from the tape. Officials complied, avoiding online dissemination of a conversation that would have violated…

A Chicago lawyer who posed nude for Playboy and wrote its “Lawyer of Love” column has filed a sexual harassment suit against the magazine. Lawyer Corri Fetman claims in her $4.5 million suit that she lost her writing gig with Playboy after rebuffing the sexual advances of an executive there, the Chicago Tribune’s media group reports. Fetman claims digital executive Thomas Hagopian sent her sexually explicit e-mail and groped her before pulling her column, the story says. Fetman was previously in the news when she posed in racy attire on a billboard promoting her divorce law firm. The billboard's message…

A Chicago lawyer who posed nude for Playboy and wrote its “Lawyer of Love” column has filed a sexual harassment suit against the magazine. Lawyer Corri Fetman claims in her $4.5 million suit that she lost her writing gig with Playboy after rebuffing the sexual advances of an executive there, the Chicago Tribune’s media group reports. Fetman claims digital executive Thomas Hagopian sent her sexually explicit e-mail and groped her before pulling her column, the story says. Fetman was previously in the news when she posed in racy attire on a billboard promoting her divorce law firm. The billboard's message…

An arbitrator has ruled the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is violating federal labor law by seeking to avoid paying workers for overtime. Arbitrator Steven Wolf ruled the agency pressured employees to take compensatory time rather than overtime pay in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Washington Post reports. The ruling stems from a grievance filed by a union representing EEOC employees, the story says. The National Council of EEOC Locals contends the decision supports its contention that agency staffers are overworked. The EEOC has lost 25 percent of its staff, including investigators and lawyers who handle cases, in…