- Quickdraw McLaw
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- The 9th Circuit will not rehear the Nevada /Idaho gay marriage cases. [mynews3]
- Think your pay is bad? At least you’re not a juror. [Las Vegas Sun]
- Based on some of your comments, it seems like a lot of the former candidates with signs still up are family court practitioners. Is that what you’re seeing?
Shocking, another puff piece by Stutz about LSC in this Sunday's paper. So much for providing a full, unbiased view of their most recent business practices.
Agreed. I love the fact that no mention was made of the fact that the final year of the firm's operations was paid for by a $6,000,000 loan from a local bank.
Article also stated there was a merger between LSC and FC. That is not true. FC hired a handful of former LSC attorneys, a few support staff and nothing more.
Very key comment made above. How can the LVRJ call what happened a "merger"? If it was a merger, then FC would have assumed LSC's $6M credit line debt. That should wasn't going to happen.
LSC had some wonderful lawyers and human beings — Bob Faiss comes immediately to mind. But they also put in control the types of people identified above — those who worship connections and perceived status over all elsse. I worked there too and left long ago. My only regret is that I didn't leave earlier than I did.
Sigh…that's all you can come up with? I hope you're spending at least as much time looking for a new job as you do obsessing over how evil LSC was.
Hemo is back!
to 9:11: I agree with you.
Hilarious when people post anonymously and then post again anonymously and say they agree with themself.
It may come as a shock to you that anyone but Hemo is tired of the whining. It would be difficult for me to be more unlike Hemo, but think whatever you want.
I commend you for your honesty.
LSC is dead. Those of us fired on Dec 31st with no severance or insurance have gotten over it. Maybe it's time Las Vegas did.
I doubt it. Many of those who are jobless are now facing 400/wk checks to live off of, some of which have not yet received their first check.
It's funny to read the comments by the "move on" gang. They want to make it sound like LSC neatly closed up shop at year's end; the attorneys moved on as part of a well-orchestrated merger; all creditors were paid; all staff found work. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The attorneys with real talent left well before year's end. The rest stayed until the line of credit was exhausted. Then those with books of business (or at least the prospect of developing a book of business) were invited to join Fennemore Craig. Everyone else (staff included) was cast adrift. I don't care how many puff pieces the Review Journal runs, those are the facts.
I'm sure we'll get over it as soon as something more shocking and exciting comes along, but until then, this is the juiciest piece of gossip in town.
Well, if the unemployed will be receiving $400/per week in unemployment checks, I would say they are lucky. There are a lot of people who are on unemployment who get less than $400/per week. And, there are a lot of people without jobs who do not even receive unemployment.
I'm part of the "move on gang" and I don't at all think it closed up neatly. Usually when businesses fail for financial reasons, it's not pretty. I have never heard of a business that failed financially giving severance to the employees who lost their jobs when the business closed. I"m just not sure what you expected to happen differently.
@9:57 it didn't close up neatly at all, but the company is dead, and still people here are discussing it. You can't get even with the people who need getting even with, so why dwell? And no not everyone who lost their job because they chose to hang on and hope for the best has gotten another job. Its over. Want to talk about something interesting? How about everyone discuss the utter corruption in this state led by the awe-inspiring Land Deal Reid.
Why would a bunch of already wealthy borrow $6 mil when there are no assets left in the end…Where did that money go?
Some are likely wealthy, but others may spend their money as they receive it. The same inability in running a law firm likely occurs in the same people's personal financial affairs. Maybe that's an unfair statement for me to make, especially since there are so many minority owners involved who weren't in charge of the firm's finances, but I'm sure it likely applies to at least some of the folks.
You wouldn't even believe how many attorneys with 6 figure salaries short-sold their homes over the last few years or just walked away. Talk about living beyond your means…
What about the attorneys who make six figures a year, who either allowed there home to go into foreclosure, or stopped making their mortgage payments? Winners
their
I love the attorneys who "provided" predatory mortgage lending representations, and ripped of their clients.
Some of these attorneys, who voluntarily walked from their homes and making six figures, now are defending the banks in predatory lending defense.
Please stop responding to your own posts.
Not comprehending why a business (and presumably it was the business, not the "wealthy attorneys," that took the line of credit) takes a line of credit shows you have absolutely no idea about how business finances work.
Listen now, I cleaned all your toilets. Now please leave your tip here, Hemo.
It will be interesting to see if LSC goes through BK or gets put into an involuntary BK. And also how much of the owner draws will end up getting paid back to creditors of LSC under fraudulent conveyance and other theories.
You can't borrow $6MM from a credit line, distribute it out of the entity to the owners, and then walk away without consequences.
I suppose it would depend on the extent to which partners were still taking draws up to the end. I'm sure the operating overhead was not a small number every month.
Many firms, large and small have significant lines of credit. a 6mm line for LSC would not surprise me at all. If the bank had no PG's it was likely b/c of a long term relationship and a "too big to fail" mentality. I would guess the bank pulled the line some time ago when the rumors and vultures started to swirl and that was the reason for the "sudden" closure. There are ample stories of large firms using borrowed funds to pay bonuses and salaries based on revenues that never materialized.
Application for writ of pos. and motion to appt receiver set for 1/21.
I interviewed there out of law school in the early 90's. I was top 10% out of a prestigious California law school, law review, had a nice suit and a plan for client development, and gave a nice interview. I interviewed with Hejmanowski as well as a couple of other business lit partners and the firm's administrator. I recall being in absolute awe of Hejmanowski as he went on and on about himself. He was who I wanted to someday be! They did not hire me and I was absolutely crushed. They hired only one new associate that year and she was from a very prominent Nevada family; I was from a blue collar California family. I ended up in Nevada, but with a far less prestigious firm and at a far lower starting salary. But it ended up being a really good place to work. I made partner in 4 years and stayed there for 11 years before striking out on my own (my former partners remain to this day some of my closest friends).
Now that I've been practicing for two decades, I'm really glad I did not go the LSC route – not just because of all this recent stuff, but because of what I've learned about practicing law since law school. What I thought I wanted might have made me hate myself and the practice of law. For the past 10 years, I've run a very good solo law practice and have as much work as I want. I make more money than I need. I am by far more devoted to my family than I am to my law practice. I never missed one of my son's Little League games and now that he's in college, I am happy for that.
Over the years, I've done battle with the folks at LSC and firms like LSC; the attorneys always seemed so unhappy and petty. I've been in the halls of LSC many many times for depositions, mediations, and case conferences – it always seemed like an unhappy place. Younger lawyers always had a terrified look on their faces; older lawyers looked bloated and pasty. Lots of alcoholism and divorce in that firm. Lots of depression too. At least that's what I perceived. I cannot recall ever having a friendly conversation with an LSC lawyer. When dealing with them, the best you could hope for was an absence of unpleasantness.
To those lawyers who went that route, I ask: Knowing what you know now, would you do it again?
"They hired only one new associate that year and she was from a very prominent Nevada family"
Congrats. You learned everything you needed to know about Nevada before you even moved here.
That kind of stuff isn't limited to Nevada. It's just that prominent Nevada families aren't as impressive as prominent families in better regions of the country. Any schmuck family here can become prominent in one generation. If you want to be prominent elsewhere, it takes time.
I agree with about everything stated above. Unlike 1:43, I did get hired (a couple of years prior I think) and stayed for about two years. There were some very good individual people there, but the overall culture of the place was as stated above. This really hit me when I came back a few years later to do some depos and saw all the associates at their desks with ties still cinched up at 5:30. I guess a lot of big firms are probably that way. Glad for the experience; don't miss it.
Associates should be working at 5:30. It's difficult to master the craft when you're clock punching.
But, that ties were still cinched at 5:30 is, indeed, sad and telling.
LSC certainly had its issues, as does any other employer, but I am grateful they hired me straight out of school when lots of firms won't hire without at least some experience. There were a few total A-holes (one in particular stands apart from all the rest), but I was mostly able to avoid them and do work for partners who were decent human beings. The billables/credit/write offs were fairly reasonable and they gave 3/4 credit for pro bono. I wasn't "terrified" while I was there and neither were my peers who were reasonably competent. Overall it was a positive experience and gave me a foot in the door to a decent legal career. I'm glad your situation worked out well for you, but I think its a mistake to assume its awful for everyone.
3:08 on the 13th. That's why I moved to Nevada, to escape the caste system. "Prominent? " = Jerry Brown, son of Brown, Chris Dodd, son of Tom Dodd. Killer Kennedy, son of Joe. Bush1 and Bush2, linage of Prescott, Hitler's banker. Is it good to have judges become judges because a court house is named after dead relatives. Did Pro's lack of a pedigee mean he wasn't as good as a patrician type? Nevada is the American promise.
Very ironic that Hemo loved to recite the firm's motto, "don't f%@k it up", to all new associates at every turn.. Hemo truley failed to live up to the motto he created!!
Years ago, a senior associate said he was going to a different firm unless LSC wanted to increase his salary, and PRH famously quipped that "we could replace you with a monkey." Seems like a monkey could have done just as good a job of running the firm into the ground.