On The Merits

The number of non-equity partners has ballooned in recent years, with some data estimating there will soon be more of them at law firms than full partners. But not all of these attorneys are happy with their job classification.There are several ongoing employment lawsuits against firms from non-equity partners who claim they get the worst of both worlds: none of the profit sharing that full partners enjoy, but also no benefits or tax withholding that's standard for most employees.The guest on today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, says the non-equity partnership can benefit both lawyers and firms—if it's managed well. David Lat, author of the Original Jurisdiction newsletter and a Bloomberg Law columnist, talks about how firms can do make the non equity title work for everyone, and what types of attorneys can benefit.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Almost a year ago, the public first learned that David R. Jones, a now former federal judge, was in a secret, live-in romantic relationship with a partner at a bankruptcy firm that had lots of business in Jones' Houston court.Since then, Jones has stepped down from the bench, but the dust has definitely not settled. The federal bankruptcy monitor is trying to claw back millions in attorneys' fees that the firm, Jackson Walker, collected in cases overseen by Jones. And Jones himself is in more hot water after he sat down for an off-the-record interview with Jackson Walker—without approval from the judge investigating the whole matter.To untangle this messy situation, Bloomberg Law reporter James Nani joins our podcast, On The Merits, and talks about why Jones says he's done nothing wrong and whether Jackson Walker's reputation can come out of this intact.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

It's difficult enough for Congress to fill vacant judgeships, let alone create new ones in courts that have seen their jurisdictions grow in size. That means federal judges are having to take on more and more cases.That, in turn, means the wait for a civil trial in some federal courts can stretch for years. On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, reporters Suzanne Monyak and Tiana Headley talk about what's behind this backlog, and explain how a dispute over a North Carolina judicial nominee could make the problem even worse.They also talk about a potential solution: a bipartisan bill the Senate recently passed that would create more than 60 new judgeships in courts across the country, but would only allow future presidents to appoint judges to these seats.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Kamala Harris' nascent presidential campaign has the wind at its back right now. But her entry into the race doesn't change her party's daunting Senate map, in which Democrats are playing defense in states like Montana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin.On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Government senior reporter Greg Giroux says it will be tough for Democrats to hold onto the Senate unless Harris scores a surprisingly large victory and some downballot candidates ride her coattails to victory.He also says Republicans have largely avoided the mistakes of two years ago, when several flawed candidates won primary races and went on to lose races that the GOP was initially projected to win.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

When a legal malpractice claim is filed, regardless of whether or not it's meritorious, that means an attorney's relationship with their client has broken down.On today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, we're talking with Tyler Maulsby, an attorney at the firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz who represents other attorneys in malpractice cases. A recent report found that multi-million dollar malpractice payouts from legal insurers are increasing. Maulsby talks about what trends he's seeing and how his clients react when they get hit with a charge of malpractice.Maulsby says one common mistake: attorneys tend to want to defend their entire professional record in a malpractice case, when actually they should only be trying to refute the facts at issue. He also says some malpractice claims could have been avoided had the attorney been more judicious about which clients to take on.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Kirkland & Ellis, the largest law firm in the world by revenue, has mastered the art of forum shopping for the many bankruptcy cases it handles.That's the takeaway from a Bloomberg Law analysis of how the firm chooses which courts to file its bankruptcy cases. James Nani and Ronnie Greene, two of the reporters behind that analysis, talk about it on this episode of our podcast, On The Merits.They say Kirkland has shown it will stop filing in a particular court if it encounters any resistance to its clients or its proposed fee structure. And, because of Kirkland's enormous size, they say, this has ripple effects throughout the world of bankruptcy law.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Just the idea of litigation finance makes some people uncomfortable. To them, it's a distortion of the justice system when wealthy people or businesses profit by bankrolling a lawsuit.But the truth of how litigation finance actually works on a day-to-day basis is much more mundane, according to Bloomberg Law reporter Emily Siegel. She says most litigation financiers get involved in mass torts, not in cases where the defendants are individuals or small businesses.Siegel joins our podcast, On The Merits, along with her colleague Beth Wang, who's reporting on new proposed rules in New York that would regulate litigation finance disclosures. Wang says these rules are so narrowly tailored they would only apply in a very small number of situations.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Attorneys, especially those at the country's largest firms, have long tended to favor Democratic candidates. But lawyers are especially enthusiastic about the nascent presidential campaign of Kamala Harris.That's according to reporting from the guests on today's episode of our On The Merits podcast, reporters Tatyana Monnay and Brian Baxter. They talk about why Big Law attorneys are so strongly backing Harris and what this might mean for Big Law's influence on her administration next year if she wins in November.Monnay and Baxter also talk about Donald Trump's avoidance of Big Law after go-to Republican firm Jones Day decided to cut its relationship with him.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Kirkland & Ellis is shaking up recruiting with aggressive new strategies to attract young talent. They've doubled referral bonuses to $50,000, reflecting a competitive hiring landscape. Meanwhile, the firm is balancing seasoned attorneys' retention with year-end payhold policies. As the legal market recovers from its slump, the ripple effects on compensation strategies are noteworthy. The discussion reveals the challenges of navigating hiring post-layoffs and whether Kirkland's tactics are setting new industry standards.

A judicial clerkship can put a young lawyer on a path to a dream career. But if the judge is abusive or unethical, that dream can very quickly turn into a nightmare.That's what happened to Aliza Shatzman, a former clerk who had a terrible experience working for a judge. Shatzman went on to found the Legal Accountability Project, a group advocating for more workplace protections for clerks and other judicial branch employees.Shatzman joins our On The Merits podcast in the wake of a scandal involving an Alaska federal judge who resigned amid allegations of pervasive harassment and abuse of his clerks. We also hear from Bloomberg Law reporter Jacqueline Thomsen about why courts have their own system for handling employee disputes and why they don't want Congress to interfere with it.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.