How law firms are addressing burnout
FORBES — Burnout and culture are two topics that dominated the workplace conversation in 2021, and the legal profession was no exception. A profession that isn’t known for making swift change found itself navigating unprecedented challenges while also experiencing tremendous growth, leading to an uptick in stress and burnout. A recent article about law firm culture defined it…
Read More about How law firms are addressing burnout2022 ABA Midyear Meeting will take place entirely online
ABA JOURNAL — The 2022 ABA Midyear Meeting, which will take place from Feb. 9 to 14, had been scheduled to be in Seattle. But after assessing the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19, the ABA Board of Governors voted Thursday to change the meeting to a fully virtual format. More information will be made available…
Read More about 2022 ABA Midyear Meeting will take place entirely onlineLarge New York Law firms raise associate starting salaries to attract talent
REUTERS — Large U.S. law firms may be poised for yet another round of associate pay raises, with New York-based firm Milbank on Thursday increasing annual salaries by as much as $20,000 depending on seniority. Within hours, rival New York firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft said it would match the new Milbank salaries. Both firms said first-year associates…
Read More about Large New York Law firms raise associate starting salaries to attract talentEx-lawyers discuss why they left their careers
REUTERS — Making partner, the old joke goes, is like winning a pie-eating contest where the prize is more pie. So perhaps it’s not surprising that some lawyers lose their taste for it. Last week, Washington Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax ran a letter from a burned-out lawyer signed “Happy to Drop Out.” “I recently resigned from my…
Read More about Ex-lawyers discuss why they left their careersCalifornia’s plan to license non-lawyers sees mixed reactions from the legal profession and public
REUTERS — Attorneys have a lot to say about allowing competition from so-called paraprofessionals in California. The State Bar of California this week said it had received 1,318 public comments on a proposal that would enable specially trained nonlawyers to offer legal advice in limited settings, such as employment and consumer debt, in a bid to expand…
Read More about California’s plan to license non-lawyers sees mixed reactions from the legal profession and publicThe 10 Legal Tech Trends that Defined 2021
LAWSITES — As awful as was the year 2020 for so many reasons, my year-end report last year found reasons to be optimistic. “The silver lining of 2020,” I wrote, “is that we have been forced to consider changes that were long overdue and then given the opportunity to implement those changes.” This year, my report is…
Read More about The 10 Legal Tech Trends that Defined 2021Northwestern Law professor Alyson Carrel honored by AALS Section on Technology, Law, and Legal Education
NORTHWESTERN PRITZKER SCHOOL OF LAW — Alyson Carrel, Harry B. Reese Teaching Clinical Professor of Law and co-director of the Center on Negotiation and Mediation, was awarded the 2022 Technology, Law and Legal Education Section Award from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). She was presented the award during the AALS Annual Meeting, which took…
Read More about Northwestern Law professor Alyson Carrel honored by AALS Section on Technology, Law, and Legal EducationUC Berkeley Law reappoints dean Erwin Chemerinsky
BERKELEY LAW — At times, the descriptions of Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky seem wholly contradictory. Colleagues joke that he’s a machine, that no human could write so many books, op-eds, and articles; answer so many emails, phone calls, and letters; and lead so many organizations, initiatives, and committees. But they’re also quick to note his humanity,…
Read More about UC Berkeley Law reappoints dean Erwin ChemerinskyOregon Supreme Court tentatively approves proposal for law practice licensing through supervision and experience
BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE — The Oregon Supreme Court has tentatively OK’d a proposal that would give would-be lawyers the option to skip the bar exam and instead become licensed to practice law through experience or supervision. The state’s highest court in a unanimous vote “expressed approval in concept” to a pair of alternative pathways designed for law students…
Read More about Oregon Supreme Court tentatively approves proposal for law practice licensing through supervision and experienceOpinion: How diploma privilege could help diversify the legal profession
THE HILL — When Kim Kardashian announced to her 272 million Instagram followers that she passed the “baby bar” exam on her fourth try, reactions ranged from celebration to derision, and then to confusion over what, in fact, is a baby bar. California’s First-Year Law Students’ Examination, or “baby bar” is a one-day test designed to allow prospective lawyers…
Read More about Opinion: How diploma privilege could help diversify the legal profession