December 2008

The memo below was sent to us by a tipster, with this prefatory comment: “No one really knows what the f*** the second half of the first sentence of the memo means.” So, dear readers: What does this language mean? The most literal interpretation is that Squire Sanders will resist associate pay raises in 2009 […]

In today’s National Law Journal, Leigh Jones reports that non-equity partners at major law firms are also worried about the future. With all of the frightening career news floating around, it seems reasonable that either you are bringing in business, or you are terrified. The upshot is that some law firms — especially those that […]

* The Austin Powers “Random Task” joke is too easy here. Instead, I’ll assume that this case will only provide further evidence for TSA officials demanding that we walk through nasty airports barefoot and broken. [What About Clients?] * If you are going to comment on commenters, then ATL’s commentariat has to be part of […]

Last Thursday, we reported that King & Spalding might represent the last best hope for Thacher Proffitt & Wood. The Legal Times puts TPW’s situation into the clearest possible terms: [Thacher’s] overall headcount is down more than 100 lawyers compared to last year — and so are its profits. Profits per partner fell more than […]

We received multiple reports this morning that Drinker Biddle & Reath let go of approximately 20 people, all on Friday. Tipsters reported the information this morning, but a morning commenter had the best line: Yes it’s true about DBR – on Friday afternoon. No stealth – they came around to every office – told everyone […]

Last week, we posted an open thread to discuss end-of-the-year gift giving to your secretary and/or paralegal. We’ve waded through the many comments to fish out some points of consensus. A few secretaries appeared on the thread to urge associates to give cash or an AmEx/Visa gift card equivalent, and not a gift card to […]

Based on the anemic associate bonuses recently announced by Cravath, one might think that the firm is hurting. We hear that work at CSM is a little slow — and that there may be some anxiety over the staggering cost of the firm’s $900 million lease at Worldwide Plaza. But don’t shed tears for Cravath […]

Ropes & Gray has announced the bonus structure they will be paying to junior associates across all of their offices. While the structure is nominally a Half-Skadden payout (which might work just fine for Boston based attorneys), there are a bunch of interesting caveats. The basic structure is as follows: Class: Base Salary: Bonus: Total […]

If you watched any ESPN this weekend, you might have caught SportsCenter’s ridiculous coverage of Philadelphia 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks getting fired. Cheeks is the fifth NBA coach to get fired before Christmas (which is a record, apparently) and somebody at ESPN decided that it was appropriate to merge the “bloodbath” of NBA coaches into […]

We received 1,037 responses to last week’s ATL / Lateral Link survey on layoffs, which is up a bit from 800 this summer. As we feared, the number of reported layoffs is also up a bit from this summer:   * Roughly 11% of associates reported public layoffs at their firms, up from about 4% […]

I think I speak for many ATL readers and Biglaw followers when I ask: when the heck is S&C going to announce its 2008 associate bonuses? Because the delay is getting ridiculous. It’s December 15th. All of S&C’s peer New York firms have announced already, except for Weil — and historically speaking we can’t expect […]

* Investigators looking in to Bernard Madoff’s ponzi scheme “found evidence he ran an unregistered money-management business alongside his firm’s brokerage and investment-advisory subsidiaries.” [Bloomberg] * A little insight into how Marc Dreier cheated even the best businessmen. [New York Times] * Regardless of whether Gov. Rod Blagojevich resigns today, Democrats will have to decide […]

If you thought the Kirkland & Ellis holiday party reminder was out of step with these sober times, here’s an invitation you might find more appropriate: Quips our tipster: “Nothing says ‘holiday cheer’ like preemptive admonitions against bringing anyone to the party you might actually WANT to talk to, driving home Toonces the Cat-style, or […]

Lindsay Lohan is kind of over as far as celebrity gossip goes: no more car accidents, no more sloppy drunk photographs, and in a relatively stable relationship. But now Lohan’s girlfriend, Samantha Ronson, is getting pulled back into the tabloids, and she’s dragging First Amendment attorney Martin Garbus along with her. Martin Garbus prides himself […]

* I was a little confused as to how Bernard Madoff’s giant ponzi scheme could have gone unnoticed for so long by authorities or investors. Then I heard that New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon was invested in Madoff. Now … everything makes sense. (This n-e-v-e-r happens to the Yankees. Ever. I’m going to short-sell […]

Dean Elena Kagan strikes again. From an HLS press release: Renowned legal scholar Lawrence Lessig has been appointed to the faculty of Harvard Law School, and as the faculty director of Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. The announcement was made jointly today (Dec. 12) by Harvard University Provost Steven E. Hyman […]

Broward County has given us many, many Judges of the Day in the past. Now the county has earned the dubious distinction of our first ever “Courthouse of the Day” award. The central courthouse building is a disaster area. From Courthouse News Service: A 2-inch pipe burst on the second floor, courthouse communication center, damaging […]

In response to the many queries we receive from couples hoping to be selected for LEWW (yes, we do get them — mostly from grooms, oddly enough), we’d been thinking about drawing up some submission guidelines (sort of like the NYT’s). But we’ve got a better idea. Three words: pay to play. See, we’ve got […]

I know a lot of readers think we have an ax to grind with the University of Michigan Law School (even though we take pot shots at Head Coach Sweater Vest at every opportunity). We like Michigan. Maybe if more U-M Law students trusted that, a certain student would have come to ATL instead of […]

Last Thursday, we reported that Proskauer Rose laid off 35 associates and 25 staff. At the time, the firm released a statement explaining the need for the cuts: We are taking these actions in response to the worldwide economic crisis, as well as an unprecedented reduction in our historical lawyer attrition rate, which requires that […]