Law firms react to downturn

By Stephanie Tavares (contact), In Business reporter

Fri, May 8, 2009 (10:19 a.m.)

The intermountain West law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is cutting its workforce because of a nationwide drop in demand for its services.

The firm last month laid off 5 percent of its associates as well as about 20 support staff across its 12 offices.

The Las Vegas office, which has been an economic leader for the firm, laid off one associate, local managing partner Ellen Schulholfer said.

“We continue to do well in this office, but in today’s environment we felt we needed to be conservative over the next 12 months,” she said.

The cuts come after years of expansion for the firm, which merged with Nevada-based gaming powerhouse Schreck Brignone in 2007. The local office has expanded by more than 50 percent since the merger.

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In a time when most law firms are cutting back, even laying off associates, Lewis and Roca has decided to expand into new markets.

The Southwest law firm is acquiring an office in California’s Silicon Valley.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based lawyers Frank Hiscox, Dana Brody-Brown and Alexa Horne will join the firm’s intellectual property group, headed by Las Vegas attorney Michael McCue.

“We are very excited about our growing intellectual property practice,” managing partner Ken Van Winkle said in a statement. “This expansion into Silicon Valley helps further the firm’s goal of becoming one of the premier intellectual property firms, enhances our ability to service the firm’s existing clients in the Silicon Valley area, and provides the leverage of our favorable rates to California companies.”

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The State Bar of Nevada has begun the election process for its 2009-10 board of governors. Ballots have been mailed.

The candidates for the next board include:

District 1: Amber Candelaria, Eric Dobberstein, Cam Ferenbach, Elana Graham, Anne Loraditch, Vincent Ochoa, Dawn Throne, Anne Wellborn and Ann Wilkinson.

District 2: Mason Simons.

District 3: Francis Flaherty.

District 4: Laurence Digesti, Bruce Hahn and Jenny Hubach.

The president for 2009 will be Kathleen England.

For more information on the candidates, log on to nvbar.org/baroverview/bogelecbio.htm.

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The Boyd School of Law will hold its Law School Convocation honoring its 2009 graduates May 8. The school has 142 graduates this year.

The event is also an opportunity to honor outstanding students. Several students will be recognized with the Dean’s Award for their contributions or accomplishments to the law school and community. They are Sarig Armenian, Robert Arroyo, Maria Magali Calderon, Patricia D. Doyle, Jane Alia Elzeftawy, Leslie Niño Fidance, Krystal Joy Gallagher, James Gantt Griffin, William Nicholas Miller, Megan Davis Nunn, Felicia R. Quinlan, Colleen Marie Reider, Matthew C. Seaton and Jamie Leigh Zimmerman.

Student Ofelia L. Monje will be presented the Barbara Buckley Community Service Award.

The James E. Rogers Outstanding Scholastic Achievement Award will be presented to Joshua Paul Gilmore.

Students Barbara Machiko McDonald and Diane L. Welch have earned the William S. Boyd Outstanding Graduate Award.

The Clinic Legal Education Association Award will go to William Nicholas Miller and Colleen Marie Reider.

Laina Tzvetansky will receive the American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Excellence.

The American Society of Legal Writers Scribes award will be given to Maria Magali Calderon, Leslie Niño Fidance, Megan Davis Nunn, Eric Matthew Pepperman and Matthew C. Seaton.

For more information on the convocation, log on to law.unlv.edu.

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Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is scheduled to be the speaker at the Clark County Bar Association’s annual Liberty Bell awards luncheon May 14 at Morton’s The Steakhouse.

The awards are given out each year in conjunction with Law Day to recognize members of the community for outstanding service.

For more information on the luncheon, log on to clarkcountybar.org.

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The Clark County Bar Association is hosting a free marketing seminar for lawyers June 18 sponsored by LexisNexus.

Dave Hendricks, head of LexisNexis Search Engine Marketing in Southern California and Nevada, is going to lead a seminar on how to maximize your firm’s visibility on the Web and in search engines.

For more information, log on tolexisnexis.com/marketmyfirm or clarkcountybar.org.

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Ooooo, fancy! Anyone checked out the state Supreme Court’s Web site lately?

Whoo-ee! What a change!

To start, the new Web site is pretty. Nice photos, bright graphics, clean layout.

I’m still not quite sure why there’s a map of Nevada with a star over Silver Springs, but it’s pretty nonetheless.

Technically, this is a Web site representing all Nevada courts — the “Nevada Judiciary” Web site — but the Supreme Court is the only one with front billing.

More importantly, this new Web site is far more easy to use than its predecessor.

The self-help section, in particular, is easy to use and potentially very helpful.

It would have been nice to have the information and news on high-profile cases out front, but those too are easy to find once you start looking around.

A document-search function would be nice, too, but I’m guessing we’re a long way from that kind of public access.

For a look at the new site, log on to nevadajudiciary.us.

Can they redo the Judicial Discipline Commission’s Web site next?

Stephanie Tavares covers utilities and law for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at 259-4059 or at tavares@lasvegassun.com.