Billionaire R. Allen Stanford had hoped to live with his girlfriend in a luxury apartment in Houston, albeit wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, while preparing for his trial on federal charges concerning the alleged $7 billion bank fraud he is accused of masterminding. But U.S. District Judge David Hittner revoked Stanford's bond today, reversing a magistrate judge's ruling last week that Stanford could be released on $500,000 bail before Stanford had a chance to post it, reports Bloomberg. “The court determines that Stanford is a serious flight risk and there is no condition or combination of conditions of pretrial release…

Amidst the dismal economy, layoffs, pay cuts and constant pressure to work more efficiently for corporate clients is some definite good news, one might think: As law firms increasingly embrace alternatives to charging clients on a billable-hour basis, there may foreseeably come a time when lawyers no longer must submit daily timesheets itemizing the minutes they spent on client matters. Think again. Even as some lawyers are envisioning a potential billable-hour-free practice with a breath of relief, others are arguing that practitioners should still render a detailed accounting of their work every day ... in order to be more efficient,…

News today that Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis is cutting associate—and partner—pay is the latest in a series of announcements that seem to signal a seismic shift in the way well-known law firms are managing corporate law practice. Even though the firm is on budget for the year, Schnader Harrison is chopping $10,000 from all associate salaries, and partners have also agreed to cut their own pay by 5 percent. With the announcement, Schader becomes at least the fifth Pennsylvania-based firm to change its compensation scheme in some manner in recent weeks, according to the Legal Intelligencer. But Pennsylvania's legal…

Democrat Al Franken edged out his Republican opponent in a hard-fought election for a U.S. Senate seat by 312 votes, the Minnesota Supreme Court decided today in a unanimous ruling expected to give the Democratic party a solid 60-seat majority. After the court's decision, incumbent Norm Coleman conceded the race, reports the Associated Press. Initially, Coleman was reported to have a razor-thin lead when the ballots in the November 2008 election were first tallied, recounts Reuters. A total of about 2.4 million votes were cast. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said he will certify the candidate found by the court…

Adding to a growing law firm economy trend intended to add value to corporate clients' legal spending, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis is implementing an across-the-board pay cut for associates and partners. Schnader is chopping $10,000 off of all associate salaries, and partners have also decided to cut their own pay by 5 percent, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. High-earning staff members are targeted in the cost-cutting program, too: Those making more than $60,000 annually will have their salaries reduced by 3 to 5 percent, the newspaper recounts. Associates at the 200-attorney Philadelphia-based law firm earn from $125,000 to $156,000 a…

Munger Tolles & Olson is No. 1 on the American Lawyer’s law firm A-List (reg. req.) of elite law firms. Munger Tolles got the top spot two years running, the American Lawyer reports. The firm has a strong cultural commitment to pro bono, minorities make up 22 percent of its lawyers, and its associates are satisfied, largely because there aren’t too many associates, the story says. The "Wall Street Journal Law Blog explains the magazine’s A-list criteria this way: “The A-List looks at four factors—revenue per lawyer, commitment to pro bono, diversity among lawyers, and associate training and satisfaction—swirls them…

Chief legal officers surveyed are skeptical about all the talk at law firms about changing their model for the delivery of legal services. About 75 percent of CLOs gave law firms low marks when asked how serious law firms are about changing their legal service model to deliver greater value to clients, according to a survey by legal consulting firm Altman Weil. At the same time, in-house lawyers are taking steps to tighten their own belts by laying off lawyers and cutting back on outside legal work, the survey showed. The CLOs were asked to give firms a score ranging…

As Clifford Chance expands its practice in Asia, it is also eliminating one of its offices in Europe. Arbitration specialist Nish Shetty of the Wong Partnership will be establishing a southeast Asian disputes practice in Singapore for the London-based megafirm, reports the Law Central blog of the London Times. At virtually the same time, Clifford Chance has also announced that its Budapest office will be spinning off by the end of July. The new firm, Lakatos Köves & Partners, will continue to work closely with Clifford Chance. Managing partner David Childs explains the Hungarian lawyers did good work for Clifford…

New salary figures for law graduates show a growing gap between associates at the big firms and everybody else. A survey of the class of 2008 shows 23 percent of the graduates made $160,000, the amount the big law firms paid to newly minted associates, according to a press release by the National Association for Law Placement. But 42 percent earned between $40,000 and $65,000. When the figures are placed on a graph, there are two peaks, one for those in the lower range and one for the higher range. “Prior to 2000, starting salaries for new law school graduates…

Clients may like the new apprenticeship programs being tried by a few law firms, but associates taking a pay cut to participate may not be as enthusiastic. Carter Phillips, managing partner of Sidley Austin's Washington, D.C., office, tells the National Law Journal that law students interviewing for jobs may be unwilling to give up the money. "If you're a top-flight law student and you talk to one firm offering $80,000 or $100,000 to take extra classes and then you talk to another firm offering $160,000 to do work you can bill to a client, I don't see that as much…