Legal Jobs - Philadelphia, PA

By Karen Sloan
March 16, 2011

Copyright 2011. ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. National Law Journal Online
Page from: http://www.nlj.com
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The employment picture is looking up for recent law grads — at least a little bit.

New figures from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) show that offer rates to summer associates rose from the historic low of 69% in 2009 to 87% in 2010. That 18% increase puts offer rates back in the ballpark of the 90% offer rates of 2008, which was the last summer program season before the financial crisis hit in earnest.

“Those numbers describe a soft bounce in the market,” said NALP Executive Director James Leipold. “Clearly, from a recruiting perspective, the most dramatic impact of the economic downturn has passed, and law firms are beginning to return to the market for new law school graduates with more confidence than they had at the height of the recession.”

However, Leipold warned that recruiting gains in 2010 were minor, and that the legal industry is still recovering.

With more job offers on the table last year, law graduates were pickier. Acceptance rates for permanent job offers fell slightly, from 85% in 2009 to 82% in 2010. There also were more opportunities for 2Ls to snag summer career opportunities than during 2009. The median number of summer offers from firms increased slightly, from seven to nine. Still, the overall size of summer programs remained smaller than ordinary in 2010 — the median class size dropped to four, after hovering at around six for most of the past decade.

On a bright note, most law firm offices that did not host a summer program last year are poised to add ‘em in 2011, according to NALP’s survey.

Recruiters were a bigger presence on law school campuses this fall. A quarter of law schools reported a 5% or larger increase in the number of employers who visited in 2010, compared to 2009. More than a third of employers told NALP that they either maintained or increased they number of schools they visited in 2010. Firms with 500 or more attorneys were most likely to have increased their on-campus interviews.

The hiring of 3Ls remained slow in 2010, however. Only 15% of law firm offices reported interviewing 3Ls, and only 40% of these that did ultimately made career opportunity offers.

“My expectation is that this slow growth in entry-level recruitment activity will continue, but it will be some years before we see a return to the sort of robust recruiting levels we saw in 2006 and 2007,” Leipold said. “And as for summer associate class size, we may never see these numbers return to what they were before the recession.”

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved

Posted Mar 1, 2011 12:22 PM CST
By Martha Neil

At Cobb Cole—where five lawyers were laid off or left of their own accord last year—the attorney roster decreased to 24, and there were staff layoffs as well.

At Chiumento Guntharp & Selis, the number of attorneys working at the firm was cut from seven to three in 2009, and the firm also made staff layoffs that year, too.

Meanwhile, Rice & Rose, which had five attorneys a year ago, now has 3, and the firm has shifted its practice focus to foreclosure defense and bankruptcy as the volume of real estate and transactional work dropped, reported the Daytona Beach News-Journal in a lengthy article detailing the recent travails of these and other Florida law firms coping with a difficult economy.

The article follows earlier news of a Florida Bar survey that paints a grim picture of what has been happening to practitioners throughout the state during the past 2 years.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, according to the newspaper:

A number of firms, including Cobb Cole, are solidly in the black thanks to their belt-tightening efforts and rejiggering of their practice focus. Others, such as personal injury shops, were fortunate to be in a line of work that wasn’t hard-hit by the recession.

“We billed more hours in January than in any month last year, and November and December of last year were both up over the same months in the previous year,” managing senior partner John Ferguson, who had to make layoffs in 2010 only a few months after he started in this role, tells the News-Journal. “We’re headed in the right direction, which is good.”

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved

By: Jerome Kowalski, Kowalski & Associates

Summary: As the United Kingdom marches towards the date upon which law firms may be owned by non-lawyers and the date upon which law firms may actually be publicly traded, the time has come to more seriously consider the viability of non-lawyer ownership of legal firms in the United States.

Capital is the lifeblood of law firms. Law firms traditionally relied on two forms of raising capital: Traditional bank lending and senior partner capital contributions. As the credit markets in the United States have dramatically tightened, banks’ underwriting criteria have become increasingly tighter and lending has become far more difficult for law firms. Additionally, banks are monitoring their law firm borrowers extremely closely. Lending covenants, which previously were easily waived are now largely carved in to stone.

Legal firms have been increasing capital contribution requirements from their partners. In some instances, legal firms are even requiring capital contributions from non-equity partners, who are in essence, paying to get a job. Raising funds through capital contributions also raises other irksome issues: First, to the extent that increased capital requirements derive from deductions in profit distributions, senior partners are actually taxed on income they do not even receive. Thus, the cost to individual partners in making these capital contributions imposes an added cost. Second, lateral partners, historically largely made their capital contributions through a bank with which the legal firm had a friendly relationship. In today’s economic climate, pure friendship is not a valued coin of the realm. In making such loans, banks also view such loans as added exposure to a single borrower, namely the law firm.

Is investment by non-lawyers in law firms the answer? Should law firms go public? We have serious reservations about whether equity investment in legal firms by non-lawyers will easily discover their way to commercial legal firms.

But, we will surely watch the British experiment closely.

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved

Less than a year remains until the final stage of the Legal Services Act comes into effect. This law will permit U.K. law firms to accept outside equity investment for the first time. Of course, law firms have been preparing for the change many feel will radically alter the vocation.

As referenced in September 30th edition of The AmLaw Litigation Daily, Matthew Hudson, former leader of the London offices of O’Melveny & Myers and Proskauer & Rose, feels “The legal market faces an interesting future.  I look at ABS as similar to the financial services major bang.  ”In the 1980s, investment banks were partnerships and charged by the hour. Now, all investment banks are companies with external capital and they charge transactionally. The same structural issues are present in the law. To have associates all trying to be partners is antiquated, unfair, and drives firms to make the wrong decisions. Something has to give.”

In July, Hudson started his own law firm, MJ Hudson, using seed funding from several private equity investors–debt he believes will be converted to “minor stakes” when the ABS legislation takes effect in October.

Major Law lawyers across the country are gearing up for the advent of ‘Tesco Law’, named after grocery retail giant Tesco, which is just one conglomerate likely to exploit one of the LSA’s other key elements: the potential for corporations and businesses owned by non-lawyers to provide legal services.

But while the seemingly inevitable influx of big brands into the legal market represents a leading concern for those smaller firms, the extent to which the effects are felt elsewhere in the industry is a matter of debate.

Equity partners would also have to come to terms with the fact that significant outside investment would likely come at a price: they would make less money, at least initially. Private equity houses would want a return on their investment–typically 20 % within 3 to five years. The long-term opportunities for cashing-in could be considerable. When Goldman Sachs floated in 1999, the senior partners’ stakes received during its transformation to a corporate entity were worth billions.

And while the sounds coming from larger firms suggest that they are entirely dismissive of the need for external investment, doubters should recall that even Magic Circle heavyweight Clifford Chance tapped the debt markets in 2002, raising $150 million through a dual-tranche bond issue.

For the investor, too, there are a number of potentially serious issues to deal with. Most essential is how you would actually go about valuing a law firm. While the reported profit margin, which treats the total net income distributed among the equity partners at the end of the financial year as the absolute bottom line, may look valuable, it actually presents an overly positive perspective by ignoring any fixed salary that these managers might receive. This also precludes the calculation of EBITDA–the favored tool for private equity valuation.

Explains legal consultant and former Clifford Chance managing partner Tony Williams, who was recently instructed by midmarket investor Lyceum Capital to advise on their possible activities within the sector, ”Law firm valuation is both an art and a science.  Law firm profit margins are only notional, as they’re on the basis that none of the senior managers are paid a salary—they’re not even getting a brass farthing above the line. Senior partner remuneration is reported as one figure, but really it’s two things–it’s a payment for a day position and it’s payment for putting capital into the business as a proprietor. Firms have never really looked at it that way before, but that’s exactly what [private equity investors] would do.”

Many believe this is the wave of the future. “Give it 25 years and all law firms will be incorporated,” adds Hudson, who previously spent six years working in private equity for Credit Suisse and specialist secondaries investor Coller Capital. “[The change] may start with the consumer firms, but it will transform law at the highest levels and will also travel across the Atlantic.”

In less than a year, the U.K.’s legal environment will change forever. U.S. legal firms, attorneys  and investors will assuredly be looking on with intense interest.

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved

December Ten, 2010

Bowling Green, KY – When you call the GLI (Grimes Legal, Inc.) headquarters, more likely than not,  the voice you will hear on the other end will belong to Tangi Wheet, the newest member of GLI’s Administrative Support team.

Tangi has served in the administrative field for several years with other companies including corporate and law offices. She brings with her the knowledge and skills to keep executive departments organized and focused on helping you attain your professional goals.

GLI is excited to have Tangi on board and feel she will be a productive member of the team for many years to come.

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved

December 10, 2010

Bowling Green, KY – When you call the GLI (Grimes Legal, Inc.) headquarters, more likely than not,  the voice you will hear on the other end will belong to Tangi Wheet, the newest member of GLI’s Administrative Support team.

Tangi has served in the administrative field for several years with other companies including corporate and law offices. She brings with her the knowledge and skills to keep executive departments organized and focused on helping you attain your professional goals.

GLI is excited to have Tangi on board and feel she will be a productive member of the team for many years to come.

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved

www.gcareerbreakthrough.com  

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved

Brenda Collins brings 30 years of Sales Experience to GLI
July 26, 2010

Bowling Green, KY – GLI (Grimes Legal, Inc.) welcomes Brenda Collins as a Recruiting Specialist. At GLI, a sampling of Brenda’s responsibilities includes sourcing, identifying, recruiting, and counseling legal professionals in order to place ‘em in client legal organizations and contacting law firms and organizations to identify permanent placement needs and business requirements.

“Brenda brings a wealth of business, sales and management experience to GLI. Her vast human resource experience in major US markets such as Boston, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Portland and Seattle will be invaluable as GLI expands into other venues”, says Nancy Grimes, President and Managing Partner of GLI.

Brenda has served in all aspects of the search process, from conducting original search on candidates to meeting with large institutions and committees to determine their need for the appropriate fit, with the past 10 years primarily focused on healthcare, hotel and hospitality, food service and entertainment. Prior to that, her main placement opportunities came in higher education where Brenda received President Club accolades 4 of her 6 years with American Education Center, now known as Education Management Corporation. She has successfully placed senior level personnel in sales, marketing, human resources, general management, event management and collegiate disciplines.

Brenda has a firm commitment in building and fostering strong relationships with both clients and candidates that are grounded in integrity. She has developed a strong network throughout the country within the executive search and educational communities, knowing that the candidates she helps place also become clients.

In addition to her duties at GLI, Inc., Brenda takes great pride in being active as a community volunteer, and creating and developing a program for at-risk individuals coming out of the penal or home incarceration program find work with application, job interview and placement skills.

Brenda graduated from Brown Mackie College in Salina, KS with a degree in Business Management.

For more information on GLI, log on to www.grimeslegal.com

Contact:
Tonya D. Johnson
Director of Marketing
GLI/Grimes Legal, Inc.
Email: tdjohnson@grimeslegal.com

About Grimes Legal, Inc.

Grimes Legal, Inc. was founded to provide businesses with a unique resource for locating, qualifying and recruiting proven performers in diverse areas of specialization. We achieve this by first working to understand the business needs of our clients. This requires thorough research into nuances of the industries in which our clients flourish, learning the philosophies of management which guide our clients’ business and professional strategies and focusing objectively on their individual cultures.

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Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved

Bowling Green, KY

On May 20, 2010, GLI sponsored Karl Rove as the keynote speaker for Foundation Christian Academy’s first annual Benefit Dinner at Sloan Convention Center in Bowling Green, KY.

Karl Rove served as Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush from 2000–2007 and Deputy Chief of Staff from 2004–2007. Karl Rove has been described by respected author and columnist Michael Barone in U.S. News & World Report as “…unique…no Presidential appointee has ever had such a strong influence on politics and policy, and none is likely to do so again anytime soon.” Washington Post columnist David Broder has called Karl a master political strategist whose “game has always been long term…and he plays it with an intensity and attention to detail that few can match.” Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard, has called Karl “the greatest political mind of his generation and probably of any generation… He knows history, understands the moods of the public, and is a visionary on matters of public policy.”

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
    Retained Legal Recruiters © Copyright 2008 Grimes Legal, Inc. | All rights reserved