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.
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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.
Attorneys, courts feel drop in bankruptcy filings
Bankruptcy attorney Mark S. Zuckerberg recently described the current state of his practice: “Nobody’s coming into my office; nobody’s calling me; nobody’s paying me.” His loneliness can be tied to the drop in bankruptcy filings. In 2015, petitions nationally fell to 860,182, an 11 percent decline from 2014 and the lowest number of filings since 2007.
Law schools, ILS partner on foreclosure prevention services
A grant from the Office of the Indiana Attorney General will help fund a partnership between Indiana Legal Services Inc. and two law schools in an effort to provide more services to those facing foreclosure in the state.
2015 record-breaking year for law firm combinations
The 91 law firm combinations announced in the United States last year is the highest annual total recorded by Altman Weil MergerLine, which has been compiling this data for nine years.
COA affirms attorney owes ex-assistant thousands in unpaid wages
An Elkhart solo practitioner must pay his former legal assistant more than $85,000 after she sued him to recover unpaid wages owed to her over the course of two years, the Court of Appeals affirmed Wednesday.
Henderson: Survey reveals signs of fundamental change in the legal profession
The traditional career path for Indiana attorneys – graduate from law school, become an associate in a law firm, work long hours and eventually become a partner – appears to be broken, or at least cracked.
Survey finds widespread professional satisfaction, little encouragement to pursue career in law
Life’s not bad being a lawyer. Work is satisfying, there’s time for life outside work, and the pay is good. But I wouldn’t recommend it. Those contradictions in lawyers’ prevailing attitudes were revealed in Indiana Lawyer's Practicing Law in Indiana survey.
Focus for law firms: Clients, clients, clients
Law firms large and small face similar challenges – keeping costs down and quality high while also finding ways to sustain and grow the business.
Chief legal officers: cost pressures biggest issue
Chief legal officers say internal and external cost pressures were their biggest concern in managing their law departments this year, according to survey results released Tuesday by Altman Weil.
Panel: Indiana’s economy to grow at slightly faster rate
Indiana's economy will grow at a slightly faster rate next year and into 2017 even as the state faces challenges from weakening international markets, Indiana University economists said Thursday in their annual forecast.
Can an on-demand lawyer startup transform the legal business?
John Suh is convinced that he can put lawyers back to work. In the past decade, the number of working lawyers has fallen by more than 50,000. Solo practitioners, the mom-and-pop shops of jurisprudence, have been in a death spiral for even longer.
Pence decides to pay off federal unemployment loan
Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday morning announced that the state would use about $250 million from Indiana's surplus to finish paying back the federal government for a loan the state took out to pay unemployment benefits during the recession.
Indiana programs help public sector attorneys with loans
Along with the government repayment and forgiveness programs designed to help new attorneys in the public sector pay their student loans, law schools and bar associations have established similar programs.
Forgiving student debt
The American Bar Association launched a campaign in response to proposed changes to federal loan forgiveness and repayment programs.
Confidence levels remain muted, partners say
If there’s optimism among law firm managing partners, it’s muted at best.
Record pace for US law firm combinations continues
Law firm mergers show no signs of abating. That’s the takeaway from a report from legal consultant Altman Weil Inc., which tracks the number of combinations — both large and small – among firms.
Total legal spending up 2 percent, survey says
Total legal spending is up slightly – by 2 percent – according to HBR Consulting’s 2015 Law Department Survey. But, not surprisingly, outside counsel spending is flat compared with last year.