January 2009

* Wow. There’s also a blog focused on Native American legal issues. We hope they are making progress on the “Give Us Back Our Goddamn Land v. People Who Couldn’t Hack It In Europe” case. [Native American Legal Update] * There could be a tax problem with Obama’s mother-in-law living in the White House. Of […]

A solid ice salary freeze is on at Arent Fox: As a result of this comprehensive review, the Executive Committee (the “EC”) decided that based on global economic conditions, the Firm will freeze associate base compensation at the current 2008 rates for 2009. But that’s not all: Additional adjustments to the associate compensation system, also […]

As you might have heard, New York Knicks atrocious waste of salary cap space star center Eddy Curry has been sued by a former employee. We all knew that Curry was a 6’11” behemoth of a man who is afraid of grabbing a rebound. But some of the allegations contained in the complaint against him […]

Superstar litigatrix Kathryn Ruemmler, a litigation partner at Latham & Watkins and an Enron prosecutor before that, has been picked to serve as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General in the Obama Justice Department. That title is a mouthful, but lawyers inside the Beltway know it’s a Big Deal. The revolving door between the DOJ and […]

Twenty-seven-year-old hottie marries much older non-hottie: Normally a match like this would be explained by the groom’s (1) job at Goldman, (2) trust fund, or (3) peerage. But no, this groom is (drumroll) the associate dean for finance and administration at Yeshiva’s Cardozo School of Law. This is how bad the economy is, folks: Attractive […]

Last night and this morning, tipsters informed us that significant layoffs were taking place at Blank Rome. A firm spokesperson is now able to confirm the news: As we continue to focus on helping our clients manage through these challenging economic times, and in order to position the Firm for continued success in 2009, it […]

Goodwin Procter just came out with their 2008 bonus news. Like other peer firms in Boston, Goodwin is going with a Cravath scale, though the firm does have a 1,850 hours requirement: For 2008, we maintained our bonus eligibility threshold of 1,850 hours, though many of our peer firms set significantly higher thresholds for bonus […]

Karen Sloan over at the National Law Journal has an interesting report on how the economic crisis continues to cause pain to the nation’s law schools: Instead of an expected 1% budget increase, the dean of the Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law learned that she would need to cut about 2% of […]

We know what Cleary is doing for associate compensation: they are paying Cravath bonuses but have decided against freezing salaries. Is anybody interested in what the partners will be taking home this year? According to AmLaw: Gross revenue is up roughly 8 percent to $965 million; profits per partner increased about 12 percent to $2.4 […]

* A “court” upheld the government’s authority to tap international phone calls and emails without a warrant. [The Washington Post] * Would-be Attorney General Eric Holder’s confirmation hearing went well yesterday, and he will go for more today. [The Associated Press] * Marc Dreier, the lawyer who sold hedge funds phony investments, wants to be […]

Apparently, many ATL readers are conducting their job searches via Craigslist, because this posting has appeared in our inbox more frequently than lobster references in the comments. We’ve already mentioned it in Non-Sequiturs, but we’re returning to it to beg you to stop sending it to us, and to give you the story behind it. […]

* California might start killing criminals again. [Johnny California] * “America needs a tax code simple enough for the Treasury secretary to figure out.” [WSJ via TaxProf Blog] * A South Carolina legislator wants to make it a felony if you use vulgar language around a minor. But don’t blame the great state of South […]

Howell Jackson will be taking a stab at filling Elena Kagan’s shoes at HLS: Howell Jackson has agreed to serve as the acting dean of Harvard Law School (HLS), subject to the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Dean Elena Kagan’s nomination to serve as U.S. Solicitor General, President Drew Faust announced today. Jackson, the James S. […]

Which firms are on the cutting edge of the digital age? Law and Technology News has an opinion. The publication just released their sixth annual law technology awards: The awards recognize outstanding innovation by law firms and law departments in their use of technology. The big winner is Fish & Richardson for most innovative use […]

Former SCOTUS Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is on a mission to educate. As reported last summer, she’s working with Georgetown University and Arizona State University on a “free, interactive, web-based program designed to teach and engage students in civics.” It’s called Our Courts, and it’s now live. By having civics lessons in the form of […]

There is justice for Judge Elizabeth Halverson. Her husband is going to jail for three to ten years for beating her with a frying pan. Not surprisingly, Ed Halverson didn’t go down without a fight: Before he was sentenced, Edward Lee Halverson, 49, stunned a Las Vegas courtroom with a claim that he struck Elizabeth […]

Just to close the loop on Cadwalader’s London partner defection, firm chairman Christ White sent the following firm wide email: Seven partners in the London office resigned from the Firm today to join Paul Hastings. The reduction in capabilities in London is unfortunate. However, these departures allow us to rebuild the London office into a […]

In our occasional series on career alternatives for attorneys — i.e., things you can do with a law degree that don’t involve working for a law firm as an associate or contract attorney — we’ve already touched on the writer/author career option. But when we happened upon How I Went From an NYU Law Student […]

Are there stealth layoffs going on in Russia? A tipster reports: I would like to bring your attention to the Moscow market. Moscow has a satellite office of nearly every major US firm, and every major UK firm. Most Moscow offices are between 20 and 35 associates, though some British firms are 100 strong. As […]

The confirmation hearings for Eric Holder as attorney general just started. We’ll try to keep an eye on it for you and update you with interesting news and notes. Especially when the Specter in the punch bowl speaks up. So far Holder has said the word “independent” twice and now we’re going through the list […]