Law Firms

Emeka Orjiakor spent his first six months as a real estate lawyer in a sleek glass-and-steel downtown high-rise. Now he's feeling more down to earth in the humble offices of a public-service practice, helping the poor fight foreclosure and eviction. Orjiakor, an associate at Sidley Austin LLP since September, is on loan -- at a substantial pay cut -- to the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice through a program designed to retain young talent whose jobs are disappearing in the recession.

In his books, speeches and campaign commercials, Sen. Barack Obama often harks back to his days as a civil rights attorney. It is fundamental to his autobiography, displayed on his campaign website and woven into his appeals for votes. In one of his television ads leading up to the South Carolina primary, Obama recalled "working as a civil rights attorney to make sure that everybody's vote counted."

Convicted securities class-action lawyers Melvyn Weiss, William Lerach and Steven Schulman, who admitted paying kickbacks to clients to win bigger fees, were sued by two former partners at their old firm, now called Milberg. Douglas Richards and Michael Buchman, who quit the New York-based law firm last year, alleged that the three men lied to them while denying any wrongdoing, according to separate complaints filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.

When environmental lawyer Loren Montgomery realized she was pregnant eight years ago, she feared she would never make partner at her high-powered firm. Traditionally, lawyers have been rewarded for working 80-hour weeks and schmoozing with clients outside the office. Taking maternity leave and scaling back on billable hours, Montgomery assumed, would mark her as lacking a competitive edge. "I was nervous about telling people," she recalled. "I was worried what it would do to my career."

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has vetoed a $96,000 contract for outside legal help to defend the city against allegations that it discriminates against the disabled on skid row. It marks only the fourth veto the mayor has issued since taking office in 2005.

The loose-leaf binders on Beverly Hills attorney Paul Kiesel's blond wood shelves contain hundreds of stories alleging deception, loss and heartache. Kiesel is representing struggling homeowners who contend they were misled about the terms of their mortgages. He is far from the only lawyer finding himself busy these days as a result of the hard economic times.

A year ago, newly minted lawyer Shawn Foust approached a senior partner at his Century City firm with an idea: dedicate an entire practice to the video game industry. Today, the 26-year-old coordinates a team of 20 lawyers at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton that tackles mergers, licensing contracts and other deals that help make the burgeoning game business hum. "I'm pursuing my lifelong dream of combining the two things I love -- games and law," Foust said.

The Pentagon has disavowed a senior official's remarks suggesting companies boycott law firms that represent detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Charles "Cully" Stimson, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, said in a radio interview last week that companies might want to consider taking their business to other firms that do not represent suspected terrorists.

A Pentagon official who criticized American law firms for defending detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay apologized in a letter to the editor published in the Washington Post today. Charles Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for detainee affairs, said last week in a radio interview that he found it "shocking" that major U.S. law firms would represent Guantanamo detainees pro bono.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 9 to 1 Friday to retain outside lawyers to help defend the city in a lawsuit brought by Tennie Pierce, a firefighter whose firehouse meal in 2004 was laced with dog food. Pierce has alleged that the act was racially motivated. The contract with the firm Jones Day is worth as much as $750,000. The case is scheduled to go to trial in March. Councilman Bernard C. Parks dissented, saying the city has spent enough on the case. He has pushed for a settlement.