December 2007
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Associate Bonus Watch 2007, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Skaddenfreude
Associate Bonus Watch: A Pre-Announcement from Kirkland & Ellis
For associates in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis, this Wednesday is when they’ll learn their financial fate: From: Jonathan PutnamTo: New York AssociatesCc: John Desmarais, John Kuehn, Michael Movsovich, Maria DavalosSent: December 17, 2007Subject: Associate Bonus Meeting As in past years, John Desmarais will give a short presentation this week to explain […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.17.07
* Is this brilliant, or awful, or both? [LexBlog via WSJ Law Blog] * Move over, bonsai trees. Make way for… law faculty recruitment swag? [Feminist Law Professors] * State government lawyers to…. $197K! No, seriously. [Pennsyltucky Politics Blog / Harrisburg Patriot-News] * A cautionary tale about law firm websites, courtesy of Jones Day. [Legal […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Federal Judges
Justice Kennedy's Senate Spy
What are the duties of a Supreme Court law clerk? The primary responsibilities of SCOTUS clerks include reviewing cert petitions, conducting legal research, and drafting opinions. But Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has added a new task to the list: congressional gossip gathering. On Friday, he dispatched one of his clerks to the Senate. The clerk’s […]
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Biglaw, Money, Skaddenfreude, Williams & Connolly
Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Williams & Connolly to $180K
The litigation powerhouse of Williams & Connolly has announced associate pay raises, effective January 1, 2008. We have confirmed the fact of the raise with sources at the firm. There was no comprehensive memo, so we’re not 100 percent certain of the specific numbers. But word on the street is that the new pay scale […] -
Biglaw, Law Firm Mergers, Law Firm Names, Mergers and Acquisitions
Law Firm Merger Mania: K&L Gates + Hughes & Luce
The combined firm will have over 1,500 lawyers in 23 offices. It will “employ the K&L Gates brand and have the legal name of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP.” Press release here. Update: Some commentary from an inside source, after the jump. K&L Gates, Hughes & Luce Partners Vote to Combine Firms Effective […] -
Bad Ideas, Blackberry-Crackberry, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Email Scandals, Jews, Rudeness
Dewey & LeBoeuf: A Bunch of Nazis?
The firm of Dewey Ballantine was never known for being particularly PC. From a 2004 article by Anthony Lin, for the New York Law Journal: Nearly one year after lawyers at Dewey Ballantine infuriated members of the Asian-American community by performing a stereotype-laden parody song at their annual dinner, the law firm is again dealing […] -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Job Survey, Money, Skaddenfreude
Featured Job Survey: Bonuses
Last week, our Associate Bonus Watch kicked back into high gear, with news (or teasers) from Ropes & Gray, Sidley Austin, Chadbourne & Pourke, Arnold & Porter, Wachtell, Fried Frank, and O’Melveny & Myers, as well as pay raise news from Boies Schiller. Today’s ATL / Lateral Link Featured Job Survey keeps that thread alive. […] -
Jeffrey Epstein, Law Schools, Politics, Sex, Sex Scandals, UVA Law
A Sex Scandal Round-Up
Some quick updates on law-related sex scandals previously covered in these pages: First, Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison, a recent Lawyer of the Day, is resigning. We’d say that this is pretty lame; what prominent public official hasn’t had an affair? But there are other allegations in the mix, including a claim that he tried […] - Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Zach Warren from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the potential and the pitfalls. -
English Grammar and Usage, Guns / Firearms, Reader Polls, Violence
On Pistols and Punctuation (Plus a Poll)
Yesterday’s New York Times contains an interesting op-ed about how to read the Second Amendment. Adam Freedman — author of The Party of the First Part: The Curious World of Legalese, a potential stocking stuffer for the lawyer in your life — parses the use of commas in the amendment. He concludes: [At the time […] -
Baseball, Guns / Firearms, Morning Docket, Rape, Sentencing Law, Sports, Television, War on Terror
Morning Docket: 12.17.07
* Bush administration seeks greater power over promotions of military lawyers. [Boston Globe via How Appealing] * Saudi king pardons rape victim who had been sentenced to 200 lashes (for being alone with a man at the time of the attack). [AP via New York Times] * Limited effects of recent SCOTUS sentencing decision? [Chicago […]
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Associate Bonus Watch 2007, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Skaddenfreude
Associate Bonus Watch: Sidley Austin (Non-New York)
For non-New York associates of Sidley Austin, Monday is the big day. The firm just sent out a memo informing them that bonuses will be distributed at that time. As you may recall, the firm previously announced special bonuses, but only for its New York office — news that was not well-received outside of NYC. […] -
Email Scandals, Law Schools
Because Listserv Clusterf**ks Happen at Top Five Schools, Too
Law school list serve trainwrecks are a staple here at ATL. We’ve written about several — see, e.g., Cumberland Law School; Washington University School of Law — and they tend to be popular with readers. A student at NYU Law School brought a recent listserv debacle to our attention: [This listserve controversy] touches on many […] -
Biglaw, Job Survey, Money, Reader Polls
Featured Job Survey Resuts: How Much Is Your Time Worth?
Here are the results from yesterday’s Featured Job Survey, brought to you by ATL and Lateral Link, which inquired into billing rates. More than 700 of you responded to yesterday’s survey, not counting a few dubious entries. In case you were wondering, yes, we really do discard your response if you claim to be billing […]
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Bonuses, Cheapness, Money, Sports
Morgan Lewis to... Free Ski Trips?
Last month, Morgan Lewis & Bockius issued a bonus non-announcement — a placeholder memo, indicating that bonus news would be forthcoming. Perhaps MLB associates have reason to be optimistic. The firm must be saving some money, since it’s making associates pay their own way on the ski trip of Business and Finance Practice Group. Our […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2007, Bonuses, Midsize Firms / Regional Firms, Money, Skaddenfreude
Associate Bonus Watch: Midsize / Regional Firms
Our recent open thread about boutique law firms prompted another request for more beyond-Biglaw discussion: Not really a tip, but how ’bout a thread on midsize firms — not quite big law, which has been going on for a while, and not quite boutique, which you just recently posted. I’m talking 75-200 attorney type firms […] -
Advertising, Bad Ideas, Plaintiffs Firms
Why We Need More Regulation of Lawyer Advertising
The ethical rules governing advertising by lawyers are designed in large part to protect the public from misleading pitches. But maybe it’s the lawyers who need protecting — from themselves. If these lawyers scratch themselves inappropriately during meetings, or hog the cold cuts at lunch, don’t say they didn’t warn you. Magilla Gorilla, Esq. [copyranter] […] -
Advertising, Job of the Week, Job Searches, Politics, Shameless Plugs
Job of the Week
Here’s the latest Job of the Week, courtesy of ATL’s career partner, Lateral Link. If you’re not already a member of Lateral Link, you can sign up through their website. Membership, which is free and confidential, allows you to learn about new legal opportunities as they become available. Position: Staff Counsel Company: ActBlue Location: Boston, […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2007, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Skaddenfreude
Associate Bonus Watch: Wachtell Weighs In(100 Percent Bonuses, Again? Where's the Suspense in That?)
We have confirmed the rumor that has surfaced here and there in the comments: Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz once again paid year-end bonuses to its associates that were 100 percent of their base salaries (which are already above-market; starting salary at WLRK is $165,000). This is consistent with past practice; Wachtell has paid 100 […] -
CIA, Death Penalty, Labor / Employment, Morning Docket, Movies, New Jersey, Television, Torture, War on Terror
Morning Docket: 12.14.07
* So, it’s gonna be illegal now, which means the CIA can’t do it, right? [Washington Post via How Appealing] * New Jersey gets rid of the death penalty; now if they could just tackle that disgusting odor. [BBC] * Prosecutors go 0-1-6 in Sears Tower trial. [CNN] * Hey, look everybody! International law! They’ve […]
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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Boies Schiller & Flexner to $168K
So yes, it’s true. The rumor that Boies, Schiller & Flexner has raised starting salaries to $168,000, which has surfaced here and there in the comments, has been confirmed for us by a knowledgeable source. The news was announced last weekend at the firm meeting in Jamaica. As for the rest of the scale, second-years […]