Wake Up Call: Critics Hit Jones Day’s Lucrative ‘Texas Two-Step’

In today’s column, the U.S. legal profession added 1,800 jobs in January; U.K. general counsel say they don’t want to finance law firms’ big salary hikes for junior lawyers; PwC Legal opened an office in Doha, and HFW opened in the British Virgin Islands.

• Leading off, Jones Day has taken in almost $60 million in court-approved bankruptcy fees and “probably hundreds of millions of dollars overall” advising Johnson & Johnson and other companies on a so-called Texas two-step strategy to avoid asbestos-related liabilities cases. That revenue may be in jeopardy amidst criticism that the complex maneuver undermines the U.S. bankruptcy ...