By Ashby Jones We interrupt your weekend to report some sad news: Heavyweight mergers-and-acquisitions partner Roger Aaron, who spent his entire career at Skadden Arps, died Saturday following an illness. He was 69. Click here for the release from the firm. Aaron, who joined Skadden as a summer associate in 1967, became a partner at [...]

By Sam Favate Would-be lawyers have a lot to mull over these days before pulling the trigger on a law school:  struggles (and lawsuits) over law school job placement data, concerns over “economic viability,” suggestions that law schools may not be necessary, and stress levels high enough to bring in the puppies for therapy. Now, Yale [...]

By Jennifer Smith State lawmakers — have you heard that slashing judicial budgets could end up costing your state more money in the long run than it saves? If not, don’t blame the legal community, which has been beating the drum on this for months at hearings, in reports, and on newspaper op-ed pages. “Really, [...]

By Jennifer Smith The two legal superstars leading the fight against Proposition 8, California’s voter-mandated ban on gay marriage, were chilling in New Orleans this weekend. Chugging Hurricanes and flinging Mardi Gras beads at dewy co-eds? No, that’s not how David Boies and Ted Olson roll. The veteran litigators  were at an American Bar Association [...]

By Gillian Tan Though it’s early days, Australia’s Freehills has confirmed it is in merger talks with Herbert Smith, which has practices across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. “Freehills and U.K.- based international firm Herbert Smith have been holding preliminary discussions about a potential link-up. No decision has been made by either firm,” a [...]

By Steve Eder The Facebook IPO is one deal every lawyer in town was hoping to get in on — and the winners are in. According to Facebook’s filing on Wednesday, a cast of attorneys from Fenwick & West LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP are advising on the deal. The advisers are listed [...]

By Jennifer Smith The ailing legal industry showed some recovery in 2011, but a fourth quarter check of its vital signs by the Hildebrandt Institute, a division of Thomson Reuters, showed sagging demand, weak collections and rising expenses as firms ramped up headcounts. “The market fell sharply out of balance between demand and capacity in [...]

By Joe Palazzolo Aluminum maker Alcoa asked a federal judge Friday to toss a long-running civil racketeering lawsuit accusing the company of paying bribes in Bahrain to win business with its state-owned aluminum company. The case, as we’ve detailed here, is proceeding alongside a criminal investigation of Alcoa over possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, [...]

By Jennifer Smith The House and Senate didn’t agree on much last year, but LBers may recall that in November they did pass a bill that slashed federal  funding for civil legal assistance to the poor by about 14% — from  $ 404.2 million to $ 348 million. That’s the lowest level since 2007, according [...]

By Joe Palazzolo The Illinois Supreme Court announced a trial program on Tuesday to allow cameras in the state’s circuit courts. The Chicago Trib sums it up: The pilot program allowing the media to use both still and video cameras to record civil and criminal proceedings will be enacted “on an experimental and limited basis,” [...]

By Joe Palazzolo Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president, but he is probably best known for his work as a divorce lawyer. Or for slaying vampires. Historians are divided. Though it isn’t a part of his life that we typically celebrate, Lincoln actually was a divorce lawyer. In fact, he was involved in more than [...]

By Joe Palazzolo Practice law, for one thing. Failing that, U.S. News & World Report has cranked out a new list of suggested jobs in which law school school grads can leverage their degree. Journalism Real estate Nonprofit management Entrepreneurship The Arts Check out the U.S. News link for a bunch of names of law school grads who [...]

By Sam Favate The late comedian George Carlin used to say America was built on a double standard: “This country was founded by slave owners who wanted to be free.” We wonder how his joke would have sat with members of Tennessee’s tea party, which just presented state legislators with five priorities for action, including amending [...]

By Joe Palazzolo Associated Press R. Allen Stanford Trial Watch: • The trial of money manager R. Allen Stanford, who is accused of running a $ 7.2 billion Ponzi scheme, is set to begin Monday in Houston. Prosecutors claim the Ponzi scheme swindled thousands of people through the sale of fictitious certificates of deposit by [...]

By Joe Palazzolo MegaUpload.com landed a Mega lawyer: Hogan Lovells’s Robert Bennett. According to the AP, Bennett said Friday he’ll represent the company, which was charged Thursday, along with seven key company officials, with orchestrating a massive piracy scheme that allowed Mega users to download hundreds of millions of dollars worth of illegal movies, music and software. [...]

By Joe Palazzolo Republican support in the Senate for antipiracy legislation that had brought lawmakers together for most of the year is dwindling. But where do the Republican presidential candidates stand on the issue? During the CNN debate Thursday, they were asked to state their views on the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. (Spoiler: [...]

By Brent Kendall The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday threw out interim electoral maps a Texas federal court had adopted for the state’s upcoming elections. The high court, in an 11-page unsigned opinion, said the lower court failed to pay sufficient attention to the state Legislature’s objectives when drawing up the interim maps. The justices [...]

By Joe Palazzolo Tomorrow will mark the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC. The justices voted 5-4 that corporations and unions had First Amendment rights to spend as they pleased to favor or oppose candidates. A lot has happened since then, including several legal challenges that have sought to [...]

By Sam Favate We all know the phrase “not in my backyard.” We hear it when people don’t want a prison, a red-light district, or a nuclear power plant near their homes. Forget about backyards — the New Jersey Supreme Court has said communities can argue “not in my state” to keep adult-themed businesses from popping up nearby. [...]

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