Law firm mergers on pace for potential record year
It’s shaping up to be another record year for law firm mergers and acquisitions.
Economy
Articles
Employers struggle with complicated immigration system
At the third meeting of the Senate Select Committee on Immigration Issues, business professionals and attorneys told committee members the measures Indiana has adopted in recent years have actually hurt the state’s economy and public safety.
Valparaiso Law School reduces faculty, class size to prepare for a different future
Valparaiso Law School is hardly the first to feel the pain of falling student applications, but as the subject of a recent profile in the New York Times, its troubles may be the most well-known.
Legal Service Corp.’s Levi putting spotlight on crisis in legal aid
Emphasizing that legal aid is having to turn away half of those who ask for assistance, Legal Service Corp. board chair John Levi is pushing to raise public awareness and ultimately get more resources flowing to legal services for low-income individuals.
New overtime rules force hard choices for employers
For Purdue University—the state’s eighth-largest employer—new overtime rules could mean an $8 million or so hit to the school’s already-stretched budget.
DOC to close southern Indiana prison this month
The state Department of Correction will close its minimum-security Henryville Correctional Facility in southern Indiana by July 1 in a cost-saving move, the agency announced Wednesday.
Senate report: Illegal immigration costs state $131M
Indiana lawmakers studying the issue of illegal immigration in the state will view a report Wednesday that finds undocumented people will cost the state’s taxpayers $130.7 million this year.
Deregulation touted for growth, innovation in legal profession
To revitalize the legal profession, an economist and Yale law student are calling for an end to the rules and regulations that require bar exam passage, prevent nonlawyers from practicing and prohibit anyone who does not hold a J.D. degree from owning law firms.
New OT rules force hard choices on small businesses
The regulations being issued by the Labor Department today would double to $913 a week from $455 the threshold under which salaried workers must be paid overtime. In terms of annual pay, the threshold rises to $47,476 from $23,660. The rules take effect Dec. 1.
Wal-Mart sues Visa over chip-enabled debit cards
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has sued Visa Inc., charging that the payment network is not allowing the retail giant to let customers verify chip-enabled debit card transactions with what it believes is a more secure method: personal identification numbers.
Legal-oriented groups pick Indianapolis for annual conventions
As part of its effort to attract a variety of events and conventions, Indianapolis has put a focus on attracting professional conferences. Having three legal-oriented groups come within two years indicates the city’s strategy is working.
Companies reconsidering North Carolina over LGBT rights
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory met with gay-rights advocates bearing a letter signed by more than 100 corporate executives urging him to repeal the nation’s first state law limiting the bathroom options for transgender people. The law also excludes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from anti-discrimination protections and blocks municipalities from adopting their own anti-discrimination and living wage rules.
Pence signs med-mal cap increase on final day
Medical malpractice victims will be eligible for more compensation after Gov. Mike Pence signed into law a bill increasing the payment cap for the first time since the 1990s. The cap would increase from the current $1.25 million limit to $1.65 million next year and then to $1.8 million in 2019.
Staples judge slams FTC on Amazon testimony in merger case
A federal judge criticized the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for attempting to elicit false information from an Amazon.com Inc. executive to support its lawsuit to block Staples Inc.’s takeover of rival Office Depot Inc.
Disputes increase over who’s an employee and who’s an independent contractor
Independent contractors have long been a part of the workforce. However, with the rise of on-demand service providers who run their businesses almost solely with independent contractors, closer scrutiny is being paid to what, exactly, these workers are in the new “gig economy.”
Second round of settlement money coming to IOLTA
Indiana’s IOLTA program is preparing to receive a multi-million dollar boost. The money is coming from a second round of funding released as part of the settlement agreement with the Bank of America as a penalty for financial fraud during the mortgage foreclosure crisis.
Smaller class sizes cause faculty buyout offers at Valpo Law
In an announcement made Feb. 26, Valparaiso University Law School added itself to the list of law schools shedding faculty in the face of declining enrollment.
Valpo Law announces faculty buyouts, smaller future classes
Valparaiso University School of Law announced Friday afternoon it will offer buyouts to tenured faculty and faculty members with multi-year contracts.
Legal education at what cost?
The economic storm of recent years was particularly perilous for the legal industry and law schools, but despite encouraging signs, former Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard said the dangers have not passed.
Steady increase in law firm recruiting continues
The last summer recruiting recycle for law graduates was the biggest since the recession, a report from the National Association for Law Placement found.