Atlanta’s biggest law firms are giving up floor after floor of the best office space in the city as they try to slash tens of millions of dollars in real estate costs.

Large firms that can combine the best talent with the lowest overhead will have the advantage as their clients continue to cut back on legal work and fees, industry insiders said.

The latest giant on the verge of making a move is Alston & Bird LLP, which leases about 435,000 square feet between two buildings, One Atlantic Center and Atlantic Center Plaza at West Peachtree and 14th streets. Atlanta Business Chronicle has reported that many expect the law firm will consolidate into about 300,000 square feet within the 50-story One Atlantic Center.

The developer Daniel Corp. has also pitched the law firm on a new office tower.

A decision could be reached in September, according to sources familiar with negotiations.

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2010/09/06/story5.html?b=1283745600%5E3893351

The Dodd-Frank financial law passed in July provides for the larger bounties, with the hope of fingering wrongdoers such as Bernard Madoff before they swindle thousands of people.

People who supply "original information" about large frauds could net as much as 30% of the penalties and recovered funds collected by the SEC, which could add up to a multimillion-dollar payout.

Lawyers who represent whistle-blowers have been spreading the word about the new incentives.

"We've gotten some very high-quality tips," said SEC official Stephen Cohen.

He said the program aims to get timely information from insiders close to a fraud so the SEC can bring a case quickly, limit the damage and recover funds for victims. "The goal is not just to get more tips; we want to get more high-quality tips," Mr. Cohen said.

Defense lawyers warn that the bounty program could spawn a flood of frivolous cases that create headaches for companies.

Also, the large awards could spur employees to report problems to the government instead of working through normal corporate channels and letting the company self-report any issues, said William Jordan, a corporate defense attorney at Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird LLP.

On the surface, Heidi Short’s job isn’t very exciting. She’s a land-use and zoning attorney with Phoenix-based law firm Fennemore Craig PC.

But it’s what Short does with the information she gleans from local zoning and permit applications that has piqued people’s interest, and it’s emblematic of the changing face of media and information.

Short pens the Arizona Dirt Lawyer blog on the Valley’s restaurant scene. She uses city agendas to figure out restaurant and bar openings and expansions before they become public knowledge. She launched the blog in May and spends about five to 10 hours a week posting information.

Recent blog posts mention new restaurants opening in Biltmore Fashion Park and downtown Scottsdale, as well as the reopening of Richardson’s restaurant in Phoenix, which had been damaged by fire.

Short’s blog is one of the growing number of examples of how the information landscape is changing and traditional media no longer have a monopoly on news. There are hosts of blogs in large markets such as Phoenix, offering niche and specialized information on local sports teams, politics, restaurants, technology and public relations.

A New Jersey judge ordered two law firms to pay $1.96 million in legal fees after sanctioning them for filing frivolous litigation they pursued on behalf of billionaire Ronald Perelman.

Superior Court Judge Ellen Koblitz imposed the fees on Paul Weiss Rifkin Wharton & Garrison LLP of New York and Lowenstein Sandler PC of Roseland, New Jersey. Koblitz ruled the firms filed a frivolous amended complaint for the estate of Perelman’s late wife, Claudia Cohen, in seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from her father, Robert Cohen, and brother James Cohen.

The judge said the evidence in the case should have convinced the firms that Robert Cohen didn’t make an oral promise before 1978 to leave Claudia as much of his estate as James would get. Koblitz said Paul Weiss, which made $650 million in revenue in 2009, and Lowenstein Sandler, which made $183 million, were unrepentant.

“A monetary sanction will discourage a repetition of frivolous litigation, especially in light of the lack of acknowledgement of wrongdoing,” Koblitz ruled Aug. 20 in Hackensack, New Jersey. “Without remorse, or any acknowledgement of wrongdoing, how can they reassure the court that this behavior will not reoccur?”

Koblitz, who dismissed the lawsuit last year after a trial, said that while Lowenstein Sandler now has an internal method to safeguard against frivolous litigation, Paul Weiss claims it has never been sanctioned for that reason in the 100-year history of the firm.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-27/law-firms-paul-weiss-lowenstein-sandler-sanctioned-in-perelman-case.html