Do You Have Big "Books of Business"?

I do!

They consist of the following:

1.  All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten; and

2.  Mob Rules:  What the Mafia Can Teach the Legitimate Businessman.

Oh yeah, I forgot about this one (you'd be surprised how much business can get done with it).

So if you're like me and you have huge, heavy "books of business," you can apparently get hired by a big firm where nobody will ever try to steal or otherwise claim credit for your personal business books:

Law firms are hiring lawyers who can bring their "book of business," said Matt Gorson, president of Greenberg Traurig, which has offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.

The firm has hired 20 lawyers so far this year, compared with 14 lawyers in 2010.

Other South Florida law firms have been adding to their legal staffs as well.

Holland and Knight has hired 15 lawyers so far in 2011, up from 11 in 2010 at its Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach offices. Morgan Lewis in Miami hired seven lawyers in 2010, and five so far in 2011; that compares with only one lawyer in 2009, said law firm partner Mark Zelek. Bilzin Sumberg in Miami has hired 9 lawyers in the past month alone, according to a spokeswoman.

Even some firms that were hard hit by the recession are adding lawyers. Fort Lauderdale-based Ruden McClosky, which specializes in real estate and land use, has hired seven lawyers in the past four months, according to a spokeswoman for the firm.

Ruden?

Yes, absolutely -- if your books of business are big you should head immediately to Ruden -- just ask Julie Kay!

New GT Offices Just Like Home!

The Miami Herald takes a look at GT's new office space, which is designed to be comfortable and just like home, if your home is a huge office building downtown:

“What this space does is embody the old adage of home away from home. Think about it. At home today, no one goes to a ‘home office’ to sit and work on a computer. They have wireless. They sit in the most comfortable space they can find."

Hmm, I like this concept, but fellas please -- no emailing from the bathroom, ok?

“Again, the desired effect is similar to home, in that you want to feel like you’re mobile.”

Indeed, everything at Greenberg is mobile. Even the walls slide on tracks.

Exactly!

My home is so mobile, not only my walls slide on tracks, my whole home slides on tracks.

(In fact, I actually live in a dilapidated trailer park right next to the railroad tracks, so what I'm understanding is GT's new space is pretty much a giant, moveable, wall-sliding mobile home/portable wifi station attached to its own Starbucks/sports bar.)

That does sound warm and comfy!

GT to Be Honored for Overturning Gay Adoption Ban.

It's an old legal truism that every person and issue deserves an attorney, but not everyone deserves you.

With that in mind I see that Save Dade is honoring GT for their pro bono and historic work overturning Florida's ban on gay adoption:

For the past 33 years, the state of Florida banned gays and lesbians from adopting.  In September of 2010, the ACLU of Florida victoriously struck down this ban. The ACLU of Florida has fought for the rights of children to have a "forever home," and this victory continues to prove their commitment to the fight for LGBT equality and rightfully earns them the 2011 Champions of Equality Award., stated CJ Ortuno, Executive Director of SAVE Dade.

The ACLU of Florida’s victory, however, was not its alone.  Greenberg Traurig LLP, a for-profit law firm, stepped up to defend , pro bono, the rights of the two children who have now been legally adopted by Martin Gill.

Greenberg Traurig has publicly stated that this case was the “most meaningful” for its team. Its willingness to go above and beyond to­ protect the interests of these children earns it the 2011 Champions of Equality Award.

As Glenn Garvin noted in his review of last night's excellent American Experience, dealing with the heroic efforts by visionary, forward-thinking activists to strike down Jim Crow in the South:

The immediate and profound reaction to each — even among viewers who lived through the 1960s: “That was America? It’s a testament to how stunningly and totally the civil-rights movement eventually triumphed that these images seem so utterly alien, as if they were drawn from a world long ago and far away. Could we really have lived in a country in which water fountains were marked white and colored? Where a public park could have a sign out front reading, whites only? Where a young white woman could smile sunnily into a TV camera and explain that three kids shot to death for registering black voters were asking for it? Where federal troops could be seen lining the streets of a state capital, grimly mounting bayonets onto their rifles in preparation for the day’s work?

It's always good to be on the right side of history, at least once in your life, on at least one issue of consequence.

The reception will be on 5/20 at the Ice Palace in downtown Miami.

GT Opens "Law Office of the Future"!

You gotta love this press release:

Greenberg Traurig's Miami office has much more than a new address at 333 Avenue of the Americas at the core of Downtown Miami. The new location is positioned to be what has been called, the “law office of the future."

By whom?

Anyways, as proof there's this:

The interior design of the space allows for 24/7 wireless mobility and connectivity with clients without rigid boundaries.

Wow!

I believe that high tech thingy they are talking about is called a "router."

I kid I kid -- congrats on the new digs!