February 2009
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Musical Chairs
Latham & Watkins: Two IP Partners Leave
We got a report last night that Latham & Watkins was losing two more IP partners to Quinn Emanuel. We’ve been able to confirm with sources at Quinn that the firm has in fact added Sean Pak and Dave Nelson. Both partners were patent litigators with Latham. Our sources at Latham are worried that this […] -
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, James Colliton, Lawsuit of the Day, Prostitution, Sex Scandals
Lawyer of the Day: A Prostitute-Loving Cravath Partner?
[Ed. note: We mentioned this briefly in Morning Docket. But any story involving the words “Cravath partner” and “hookers” deserves its own post.] The late Deborah Jeane Palfrey, aka the “D.C. Madam,” has a New York counterpart. From ABC News (via our sibling site, DealBreaker): Wall street lawyers, investment bankers, CEOs and media executives often […] - Sponsored
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Layoffs, Partner Profits
Layoffs: What Partners Think
Leigh Jones of the National Law Journal was able to get partners to open up about the reason behind Biglaw layoffs. Not surprisingly, it’s all about the Benjamins: Law firm leaders and industry consultants say a firm cuts costs by an average of $250,000 for each attorney let go. For each legal assistant or other […]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket 02.06.09
* A New York madam, whose escort service was busted last year, shares her client list with ABC News. Among her clients, “a partner at the Wall Street law firm Cravath Swaine Moore ‘looking for a party girl to come fully equipped’ [who] spent a total of $20,000.” Perhaps we’ll call Cravath bonuses hooker-sized rather […]
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Weil Gotshal Associate Shown the Door for Failure To Graduate From Law School
We’ve often explored the studio space in terms of what a “performance-based layoff” actually means. But today we can report about at least one person who would have been fired in this market or any other. According to multiple sources, both inside and outside Weil Gotshal, the firm recently fired an associate for failure to […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 02.05.09
* Here is an actual quote from “local woman” Phyllis Shepard: “I’ve never seen anything like this. You know it happens behind closed doors, obviously. But in a public place, it’s no good.” [MSNBC] * Next week on the Simpsons, Bart gets busted with 2.5 grams of weed and gets sent to Principal Skinner. [My […] -
Job Searches, Pro Bono, Public Interest
Can't find work? Try working for free volunteering.
When the economy was better, we had a career alternatives for lawyers series, for those in Biglaw looking to do something new. Given the layoffs and sluggish law firm hiring these days, we’re starting a new series: “Can’t find work?” We’ll offer “options” for those shut out — or forced out — of Biglaw. On […] -
Dreier
Penthouse Arrest For EVERYONE!
[Ed. note: This is a cross-post from one of our sister sites, Dealbreaker, which we thought you might appreciate because of its focus on an ATL celebrity: the recently indicted, high-profile litigator, Marc Dreier.] Clearly, major fraud defendants have the best racket going- unless you just can’t live without the Deli down the street. First […] - Sponsored
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Federal Government, Harold Koh, Law School Deans, State Department
Dean Koh to State Department?
The Yale Law School campus is buzzing with rumors that their popular dean, Harold Hongju Koh, could be leaving for a job in the Clinton State Department. The Yale Daily News reports that Koh could be appointed as legal adviser to the State Department: In that position, Koh — a former assistant secretary of state […] -
Law Schools
Cooley Law School Develops More Useless Than Normal Law School Rankings
Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s tenth annual Judging the Law Schools rankings are available. (Hat tip: ATL commenters.) I was not aware that this school list existed. But now that I’ve seen it, I can’t stay the same. The rationale behind this list is rigorous and powerful: Imagine that college football teams are ranked each […] -
Biglaw, Money, Salary Cuts, Salary Freeze, Skaddenfreude
The February Freeze Round-up: New Firms on Ice (and smaller raises at Jenner & Block NYC)
Another month, another round of freeze announcements. Here are the latest firms to announce the withholding of class year raises in 2009: Baker & McKenzie (“Slurpee” freeze– will be revisited on June 30) Cooley Godward Patton Boggs Seyfarth Shaw Jenner & Block is not freezing salaries, but it is giving smaller raises to New York […] -
Sports
Sports and the Law: Can Schools 'Cheer' Their Way into Title IX Compliance?
Last Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a cheerleader who allegedly failed to spot his teammate was immune from liability under a Wisconsin assumption-of-risk statute, which forbids bringing a claim against any amateur athlete who acts negligently while performing a sport. In reaching this conclusion, the court explained that competitive cheerleading was indeed a […] -
Biglaw
Goodbye, lockstep compensation?
We linked to this article from the National Law Journal in the Morning Docket yesterday, but we think it warrants a deeper treatment. Karen Sloan of the National Law Journal digested a recent survey [PDF] of legal market trends by Hildebrandt and Citi. A lot of it we all know already– things were bad in […]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket 02.04.09
* Cash-strapped states may tighten their seat belt laws. More than a dozen states are considering switching to primary seat-belt enforcement–pulling over drivers just for not buckling up–in order to qualify for a federal incentive program. Ohio, for one, could get $26.8 million for changing its law. [Associated Press] * New Jersey attorney Harold Hoffman […]
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Layoffs
Nationwide Layoff Watch: Paul Hastings Atlanta Lays Off 15% of Its Associates
Rumors have been flying into ATL about what’s going down in the ATL all week. We are now able to report that the Atlanta office of Paul Hastings is going through a round of layoffs. Most of our sources agree that approximately ten associates have been let go. The ten people represent about 15% of […] -
Law Firm Mergers
Law Firm Merger Mania: Haynes & Boone Signs Up for New California Adventures
Expanding during a recession? Hey the Empire State Building was constructed during the height of the Great Depression, and that worked out well. Today, Texas readers demanded that we herald the merger of California IP boutique MacPherson, Kwok, Chen & Heid with Texas powerhouse Haynes & Boone. We aim to please. According to the Haynes […] -
Perks / Fringe Benefits
SmallLaw Reversed Perk Watch: Don't cry over the Kleenex
We’ve been providing extensive coverage of the economic troubles of Biglaw. But what about smaller firms in smaller markets? An ATL reader from a 35-attorney firm in St. Paul, Minnesota wrote to us about perk cuts in SmallLaw: As of December, my firm no longer provides Kleenex. So now, when I am crying my bitter […] -
Career Alternatives, Job Searches, Layoffs, Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners
Can't find work? Start your own firm.
The number of attorneys looking for jobs continues to grow each month. And we can’t help running into them in New York, ground zero for attorney layoffs. We asked one Thacher refugee whether he had thought about banding together with other jobless legal eagles to start their own venture. “Too junior, not interested,” he replied. […] -
Clerkships, Law Schools, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Clerks
Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: A First for Seton Hall
We take back what we previously wrote about Justice Samuel Alito being “a bit secretive about his clerk hiring.” Presumably Justice Alito signed off on this press release issued by Seton Hall Law School, announcing the hiring of Lucas Townsend (Seton Hall 2004 / Ackerman (D.N.J.) / Trump Barry) as an Alito clerk for October […] -
Layoffs
Nationwide Layoff Watch: McDermott Will & Emery Cuts 60
I hope you weren’t planning on a “snow day,” because it is still raining law men. McDermott Will & Emery just announced that they have laid off 60 associates and 89 staffers. A firm-wide memo just went out to MWE employees: Our Firm performed well in 2008 and remains strong as we move into 2009. […]