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A roundup of recent legal industry news from the Philadelphia area:
Penn, Villanova top local law schools in U.S. News rankings
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is No. 4 in U.S. News & World Report’s annual law school rankings for the second year in a row, while Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law maintained its edge over Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.
Penn Law tied for 4th with Duke University, Harvard University and University of Virginia. The school trailed Stanford University, Yale University and University of Chicago for the second straight year.
Penn Law is one of more than 40 of the 196 accredited U.S. law schools chose two years ago to no longer actively participate in U.S. News' annual report as some deans called the rankings “profoundly flawed” and not transparent enough. In response, U.S News did change its methodology, focusing almost 60% on the successful placement of graduates and bar passage. It also considers peer assessment, lawyer/judge assessment, LSAT/GRE, median undergraduate grade point average, acceptance rate, student-faculty ratio and library resources. U.S. News said 144 law school cooperated with the latest report.
Villanova slipped from No. 43 to No. 48 while Temple held steady at No. 54. Drexel University’s Kline School of Law moved from No. 80 to No. 75, Rutgers Law School inched up from No. 109 to No. 103 and Widener University’s Delaware Law School went from being ranked No. 175 to being lumped in with schools ranked between No. 178 and No. 196.
Three of the local schools also ranked in the top 10 in specialty areas. Penn finished in the top 10 for business/corporate law (4th), contracts/commercial law (5th) and criminal law (7th). Temple finished No. 1 in trial advocacy and Drexel finished No. 8. Tom Kline of Kline & Specter made a $50 million donation to Drexel Law in 2014, with a significant amount of that money earmarked toward trial advocacy.
Morgan Lewis opening in Saudi Arabia
Morgan Lewis & Bockius said it plans to open an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, continuing its expansion and client service in the Middle East after establishing United Arab Emirates locations in Dubai in 2013 and Abu Dhabi in 2019.
The office comes after Saudi Arabia began allowing foreign law firms to operate in the country independently, removing a requirement in October that they work through affiliated Saudi law offices. Reuters reported that seven other U.S. and international law firms have since opened in Saudi Arabia or have been granted a license to do so.
Morgan Lewis, Philadelphia’s largest law firm, said that it represents multiple institutional investors, state-owned entities, and global corporations in cross-border transactions, financing, and disputes involving Saudi Arabia.
The location in the Saudi capital will be led by Dubai-based partner Sara K. Aranjo, Los Angeles and Dubai-based partner Ayman Khaleq and Dubai of counsel Sourabh Bhattacharya. The firm said Khaleq, has represented Saudi Arabian clients for over 22 years.
The Saudi office will be the 34th for Morgan Lewis and the 16th overseas location, as the firm also has eight locations in Asia and five in Europe. The firm has more than 2,000 lawyers, including 300 in Philadelphia.
Lamb McErlane affiliates with lobbying firm
West Chester’s Lamb McErlane has formed a business affiliation with Harrisburg-based lobbying group The DT Firm.
In addition to lobbying in Harrisburg, DT consults with clients, spanning from nonprofits to international companies, advising on economic development and procurement. Lamb McErlane said the affiliation will further expand its regional presence and is an added asset to its clients.
Lamb McErlane is one of the largest law firms in Chester County with 48 lawyers listed on its website. The firm has long had strong political ties, with former Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Alan Novak serving now as of counsel and providing government relations services to clients. The firm was co-founded by former Chester County District Attorney William Lamb.
Familiar Faces in New Places
- Gerald Hathaway has joined Fox Rothschild’s Atlantic City office as a partner in the labor and employment department. He was most recently as partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath in New York.
- Evan Davis has joined Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld as counsel to help the firm launch a gaming and sports practice. He was most recently deputy general counsel at Penn Entertainment and prior to that was general counsel of Rivers Casino in Philadelphia.
