Associates and staffers at Chadbourne & Parke who saw their pay cut last April will get the money back early next year in a lump sum payment. The decision, announced internally in September, was publicly disclosed last week, the New York Law Journal reports. Chadbourne never specified the amount of the pay cuts implemented in April. At the time, Chadbourne’s media relations manager, Andrew Blum, said personnel would be eligible to recoup the money at bonus time, based on law firm and individual performance.

Sheriff's officers are investigating a Kansas attorney for criminal use of explosives after they learned he used a dead grenade as a prop during his closing statements at a trial Monday. Lawyer Sam Kepfield pulled the dud grenade out to make a point in a forgery and theft case against a Hutchinson, Kan., woman. The Hutchinson News reports that Kepfield set the grenade on a ledge in front of jurors, then moved it to the prosecutor's table. He reportedly pulled the pin from the grenade and asked jurors, "Are you afraid now?" "I was trying to demonstrate what's called an…

Federal prosecutors asked Wednesday to dismiss the drug money-laundering case against Miami criminal defense lawyer Ben Kuehne. "I have had throughout a deep and abiding belief that things would turn out well in the end,'' Kuehne said in a statement provided to the Miami Herald. "However, I did not know the end result would come about by decision of the Department of Justice,'' he said. Kuehne was indicted in February of last year over six legal opinion letters for defense lawyer Roy Black (for which Kuehne earned $197,300) saying Black could legally accept $3.7 million in fees and $1.3 million…

ABA President Carolyn Lamm sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder Wednesday, praising his move to bring detainees suspected of being involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks to trial. "The transfer of these high-profile cases to federal court affirms this nation’s adherence to due process and the rule of law, and clearly establishes that these men are being tried as criminals, not as soldiers in armed conflict," Lamm wrote on behalf of the ABA. Holder announced Nov. 13 that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four alleged co-conspirators will be tried in federal…

New York solo Frank Shernoff represented his wife in a stock options dispute against her former employer, reached a settlement and later renounced it, saying opposing counsel from Day Pitney misrepresented its terms. Shernoff said in subsequent state court suit over the federal case that Day Pitney benefited from a cozy relationship with the court and won their case by fraud, reported the New Jersey Law Journal in a story reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.) But he filed not on behalf of his client—but himself. Shernoff said the disadvantages he faced resulted in extra legal work on his…

Law firm managers are closely watching Pittsburgh's Reed Smith as it moves ahead with its new talent-development program it's calling CareeRS. But Human Resource Executive reports that some critics remain skeptical that the program, at first geared toward the firm's associates, will succeed. Under the program, associates are no longer classified by their year, but rather by competency level: junior, midlevel, or senior. One purpose is to keep low-performing associates from just moving ahead in rank, while at the same time better identifying and partner-tracking high-performing associates. Yet Human Resource Executive reports that observers have pointed out that this model…

The number of federal bankruptcy cases is up more than 34 percent for the 12 months ending Sept. 30—the end of the federal judiciary's fiscal year—than it was for the prior 12 months, according to statistics released today. Business filings are up 52 percent over 2008 (58,271 from 38,651) while nonbusiness filings are 34 percent higher (1,344,095 from 1,004,342), according to an Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts news release. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported today about a "general sense among bankruptcy lawyers and court officials ... that the share of personal bankruptcies caused by illness is growing." Susan…

A death-penalty lawyer on Casey Anthony’s defense team had some candid comments about death penalty closing arguments in an Orlando appearance last year. Lawyer Andrea Lyon talked about pro death-penalty “killer” jurors, and how lawyers can appeal to those who are willing to spare their client by using emotional words and consistent theories of the case. Lyon spoke at a meeting of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers last year before she joined the defense team for Anthony, accused in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. The Examiner has the audio. “Here’s the problem,” Lyon told lawyers. “While…

At an Association of Corporate Counsel meeting in October, legal marketing consultant Larry Bodine found that what corporate clients really want is for their outside firms to offer "concierge services." This is a concept Bodine says he has suggested for years, usually to "blank stares" during retreats and training sessions. At the heart of the concierge concept is an outside lawyer who will make him or herself available for "unlimited quick phone calls and emails to answer quick questions from clients over the phone." One of Bodine's clients, an employment lawyer from San Jose, charges a flat fee and makes…