As cases filed by MERS grew, lawyers representing troubled borrowers began questioning how an electronic registry with no ownership claims had the right to evict people.
When workdays stretch into worknights and the pressure to meet the quota for billable hours grows, lawyers and staff members at the firm of Perkins Coie can often expect a little bonus.
But the number is growing, and lawyers and fund industry executives are questioning whether they might mislead investors.
Now a second conflict of interest row is growing as lawyers representing victims of the abuse insist that Woolf should resign after it emerged that the Tory peer was one of her neighbours, with whom she had dined five times since 2008.
In a sign of growing entrenchment, lawyers for the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez said today that they would not turn the boy over to his Cuban father, even if he came for a visit, and suggested that they might not hand him over to the authorities even if they lost their custody case.
With the pressure from federal prosecutors growing, the lawyer then leading Mr. Chang's defense, Mr. Critchley, did something that stunned many of the lawyers following the case.
As the hedge funds' bond stakes grew, their lawyers prepared arguments to counter the strategy.
Demand had grown for lawyers who could help corporations roll back workplace, environmental and consumer regulations that had roots in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Although a growing number of lawyers handle such cases, only a small fraction litigate the complex ones.
In the age of Photoshop, detecting manipulated photos is a growing priority for lawyers, journalists and people involved in law enforcement and national security.
In the discussions, Mr. Posner said, American officials raised special concerns about a growing crackdown on lawyers who defend human rights advocates and dissidents.
