The growth in Israeli law firms' activity came to a halt in 2008, due to the recession and reduction in companies' business, which reduced demand for legal services, reports BDICoface in the BDICode 2009.

BDI says that the number of attorneys employed in Israel's 20 largest law firms was unchanged in 2008, compared with 2007, at 1,203. The number of law firms employing more than 100 attorneys was also unchanged, at five.

However, the number of partners at law firms rose by 8% in 2008, which BDI attributes to the firms' wish to keep employees by promoting them.

BDI says that 3,167 new attorneys entered the profession in 2008, 14% more than in 2007. BDI points to the steady growth in recent years in law graduates from colleges compared with universities: in 2008, 72% of all law graduates came from colleges. On the other hand, 95% of university law school graduates passed the bar, compared with 85% of college university graduates.

In the 2008 BDI rankings, Herzog Fox & Neeman Law Office kept its first place ranking, and Goldfarb, Levy, Eran, Meiri & Co. kept its second place ranking. Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein rose to third place from fifth place in 2007, and Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Nalevy, Greenberg & Co. fell to fifth place from third in 2007. Yigal Arnon & Co. stayed in fourth place.

The Reed Smith law firm said it will cut salaries for all U.S. associates by 10 percent across the board, effective July 1.

In an internal memo that was originally leaked to the Web site Abovethelaw.com Wednesday afternoon, managing partner Gregory Jordan said the firm had already adopted changes to its business plan because of the recession, changing client demands, and the competitive landscape in the legal industry. Among other things, Jordan said it has meant lower compensation levels for partners, though he did not specify by how much.

A spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh-based firm, which has about 280 employees in Philadelphia, confirmed the authenticity of the memo.

Jordan said the firm will set the salaries for the incoming class of first-year associates in the United States at a later date, but they will be at least 10 percent lower than the current levels. Jordan said the firm will freeze associates’ salaries in its European and Middle Eastern offices, and will set the starting salary for newly qualified associates in the United Kingdom about 10 percent lower than the current level. Asian operations are not affected by the action.

Herzfeld & Rubin P.C. is relocating its headquarters to 125 Broad St. in New York's Financial District, after a 50-year stint at 40 Wall St.

Mack-Cali, which owns roughly 40 percent of the 40-story office tower, signed the global law firm to a 20-year, 56,322-square-foot lease. The new deal brings the REIT's 525,000-square-foot portion of the 1.3 million-square-foot high-rise to full occupancy. Mark Shapses, Joseph Messina and Jason Schwartzenberg with Studley represented Herzfeld & Rubin.

The law firm joins prominent tenants such as Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), both of which own their space. Herzfeld & Rubin's 64,736-square-foot lease at 40 Wall St., which encompasses floors 50 through 56, is up at the end of this year. The new space offers comparable size, but on less than two floors.

The new deal brings a nearly four-year search to an end. "We were hired in 2005 to find a more cost-effective, efficient occupancy solution for the firm, and periodically went out into the market looking for space," said Shapses. "The market went through extraordinary price and availability changes in that period. The right situation with the right economics hadn’t surfaced until now."

Schwartzenberg noted that the space hadn't even hit the market yet. "We knew it would soon be vacated so we moved quickly to secure it."

Mack-Cali will cover 100 percent of the modifications Herzfeld & Rubin requires. The concession package also includes free rent and furnishings.

New financial disclosures show that former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens spent at least $1 million on legal bills defending himself against charges that he failed to report gifts as required.

A report filed this week with the Senate shows that Stevens owes between $1 million and $5 million to the Washington law firm Williams and Connolly for defending him in his corruption trial last year.

A jury found the longtime Republican lawmaker guilty in October on seven counts of lying on financial disclosure forms about gifts, including renovations that doubled the size of his home in Girdwood, Alaska. A judge dismissed the case in April, saying prosecutors withheld evidence that might have been favorable to Stevens at trial.

The disclosures filed this week are the same type of annual reports used against Stevens in his corruption case. The forms, which cover 2008, show that Stevens also owes $50,000 to $100,000 to another Washington law firm, Utrecht and Phillips.

A lawsuit was filed in federal court Wednesday on behalf of more than 15,000 students who paid thousands to attend President Barack Obama's inauguration but reportedly were left out in the cold.

The lawsuit filed in Washington says Vienna, Va.-based Envision EMI promised middle, high school and college students across the country special access to the inauguration, parade and a black tie inaugural ball on Jan. 20.

But the lawsuit, filed by attorneys of two students, says once the students got to Washington, they had no tickets for the inauguration or parade. And the balls they attended were not official events connected to the inauguration.

Envision, a for-profit company that reportedly brought in $40 million from the inaugural sales, has said it would refund students $1 million. But the lawsuit says that would only reimburse each attendee about $65. The students were charged $2,380 to $2,620 and also had to pay for travel to Washington, formal wear for the ball and in some cases extra meals not included in the base cost.

"These kids took odd jobs and raised funds from family, friends and strangers in order to participate in the defendants' inaugural youth conference to eyewitness a truly historical event," said Bernard DiMuro of DiMuroGinsberg PC, which filed the lawsuit jointly with another law firm, Hausfeld LLP. "Instead all they saw was the inside of a bus or were dropped off near the Washington Monument to fend for themselves."

A decline in legal spending by large companies is about to be reversed, according to a new survey of Fortune 1000 companies.

The study by market research firm BTI Consulting says large companies will increase legal spending on outside counsel nearly 5 percent over the next six months, according to a press release. The top areas for growth in legal spending will be in the areas of regulatory compliance (up 5.8 percent), bankruptcy (up 2.6 percent), securities and finance (up 2.1 percent), and employment (up .7 percent), an executive summary says (PDF).

The projected increase in spending follows a significant drop in legal spending last year and in the first six months of 2009. When the expected increase is taken into account, overall legal spending is expected to decline just 1.4 percent for the year.

In a press release, Michael Rynowecer, president of BTI Consulting, calls the findings “a big ray of sunshine in what has been a very stormy environment.” He cautions, however, that some law firms won’t benefit from the increase in spending.

“Rather than a wholesale recovery, we are seeing a shift of resources to specific firms and practices that are well-positioned,” he said in the press release. “Large companies are sharing this renewed spending with a smaller group of law firms than just six months ago. Those firms caught unaware or unprepared for this shift will continue to face significant challenges and not reap the benefits of this increased spending.”

The study is based on 370 interviews with corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies that average $19.4 million in outside counsel spending.