Back in May, we reported that DLA Piper decided to cut its associates’ salaries. Initially it was a 20% cut on some associates, but after our report the firm moved down to a 10%, across the board, salary cut.
But saving money was apparently only one of the goals for DLA Piper. We can also add DLA to the list of firms that want to end the system of lockstep compensation. The National Law Journal reports:
DLA, the largest firm in the United States, with about 3,785 attorneys worldwide, is one of several firms rethinking its associate program amid the need for cost-cutting brought on by the recession and in light of clients’ demand that they pay only for associates skilled enough to deliver consistent quality. The firm hopes by year end to have a new associate compensation, training and promotion structure that discards the traditional “lockstep” system of paying them based on years of service, the leaders said.
“People really want to rethink the model,” said Lee Miller, one of the firm’s joint chief executives. “I don’t think the model is broken, but people want to rethink what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.”
The model isn’t broken, but the firm is going to change it anyway? That sounds like some excellent Shock Doctrine logic.
After the jump, more details about DLA’s new business model.
Continue reading “DLA Piper to Move Away From Lockstep … Eventually”
[Ed. note: The following piece was authored by The Legal Tease, of Sweet Hot Justice fame. Check out her other musings from Sweet Hot Justice here.]
It’s happened–after a few years and a few thousand billable hours, I’ve finally found him. Sure, there have been loads of false starts along the way, but I think this time it’s for real: I’ve finally met the worst partner in the entire firm. At first, I thought the winner might be Russ, the firm’s resident stone-faced robot and reigning Big Firm Savant. But no. Then, for obvious reasons involving hidden harnesses and coconut-flavored lube, I thought it could possibly be Ian, our favorite slave-driving Pervert, Esq. Wrong again. No, in the past few weeks, the true winner has revealed himself to be a creature far more insidious, more vile: the Cool Partner. And I’m here to warn you–he’s a type more dangerous than you’ve ever imagined.
As any Big Law victim can tell you, the Cool Partner, like any true predator, takes time to attract and distract his prey before he bares his polished little fangs and goes in for the kill. He may seduce you at first with hints of an actual personality, an apparent respect for your time, and possibly even a sense of humor. You’ll marvel at how comfortable you are around him, how energized you feel. You’ll smile and shake your head in disbelief as you sing his praises to fellow associates who ask why you look sunnier than usual. You might even find yourself–even just for one brief, indulgent little moment–wondering if you might’ve been wrong all those times you thought this job was nothing but a festering sewer of misery where dreams go to die at the hands of lunatic, unit-holding nerd sadists. Hell, you might even start waking up happy.
And then reality comes crashing back down.
Witness the carnage first-hand, after the jump.
Continue reading “The Myth of the Cool Partner”
* New Jersey Internet radio talk show host arrested for blogging that federal judges Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner, and William Bauer “deserved to be killed” after a recent decision on Chicago handgun ban case. [CNN]
* More Morgan Lewis Musical Chairs: Yesterday, the firm announced that it had tapped gas from Baker Botts. Good thing, because Morgan Lewis lost some energy to Pillsbury this week. [National Law Journal]
* We don’t know how Aaronson, Rappaport, Feinstein and Deutsch does in the courtroom, but it’s a big winner in the New York real estate market. [Observer]
* Nationwide (Law School) Layoff Watch: As predicted in May, layoffs have started at Harvard, despite HLS grads’ protest. [Boston Globe]
* The Fourth Circuit supports the ban on ‘partial birth’ abortions in Virginia. [Washington Post]
The second panel we attended at the recent convention of the American Constitution Society (ACS) focused on a topic near and dear to our heart: free speech on the internet.
The panel, The Internet Revolution and Its Effect on the First Amendment, featured the following participants:
Judge Merrick B. Garland, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Ann Beeson, Executive Director, U.S. Programs, Open Society Institute
Gregory S. McCurdy, Senior Policy Counsel, State Government Affairs, Microsoft Corporation
Cliff Sloan, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Paul M. Smith, Jenner & Block, LLP
Lee Tien, Senior Staff Attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation
A summary of the extremely interesting discussion, after the jump.
Continue reading “At the ACS National Convention: The Internet and the First Amendment”
Indiana attorney Larry Wilder was honored with an ATL Lawyer of the Day mention last week thanks to the photo at right. It’s not a stock photo. That’s Wilder on a Wednesday morning, after a raucous night on the town.
That photo going viral has led Wilder to resign his lucrative job with the Jeffersonville City Council. Wilder had been the city’s highest paid attorney — raking in $107,000 from the city or four times that being made by the other five city attorneys — in addition to his private practice work.
From the Courier-Journal:
Larry Wilder, the embattled lawyer for the Jeffersonville City Council, has resigned following the release of photographs of him sleeping in a garbage can after a night of drinking.
“I felt that the best thing for my friends was to eliminate this as on-going angst,” Wilder said.
Wilder may be freeing himself up for a case against the Jeffersonville City Police Department. The photos were taken by one officer and released to the news media by another officer, even though Wilder was never charged. But as one ATL commenter observed last week:
I finally understand why there’s no reasonable expectation of privacy in one’s trash.
Jeffersonville City Council lawyer resigns [Courier-Journal]
Earlier: Lawyer of the Day: Larry Wilder
* If you missed South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s press conference, you missed American political theater of the highest order. In case you are interested, here’s what the South Carolina Constitution has to say about impeachment. [The Gaggle]
* This DePaul College of Law situation does not seem to be getting any better. What is the real story behind Provost Epps? Does interim Dean Judge Warren Wolfson have any chance at succeeding? Feel free to share your thoughts and tips. [Brian Leiter's Law School Reports]
* It appears that the law firms with high profits per partner don’t have lawyers that maintain blogs. Shocking! [Drug and Device Law]
* Tweeting jurors can not be stopped. It’s impossible. The end of the jury trial is near! [Law.com]
* Yesterday, The WSJ Law Blog told us that some conservative students organizations are holding affirmative action bake sales. Obviously, I have some thoughts. Here’s my best attempt to help these people. [True/Slant]
* Should the collar rest inside or outside the blazer? I pop the collar on the shirt and the blazer, because I’m prestigious. [Corporette]
[Ed. note: This post is authored by ATL guest columnist Hope Winters. Hope is an early retired lawyer, turned Senate staffer, turned corporate lobbyist. She lives in Washington, DC. Read her previous work here. Read part I and II.]
There are no structured activities left (other than Karmic Yoga which I will not even respond to here) so we decide to take a hike on the pristine lake the Dining Captain told me about before he attempted to rape me. Olivia whips out the sketchy map we can’t follow, and we end up not on a trail but stuck on path of poison ivy and prickly things and mud. We muddle through streams and rocks; my Chanel sunglasses slip and crash on a rock and break. I remind myself that I hate the Ashram and all its surrounding premises.
But suddenly, as we exit the rocks and the African bush, we really do emerge on flat land facing this huge vast beautiful lake. We just stare at it. It’s sparkling and navy blue and placid. Not a ripple. Not a crescent.
We’re suddenly silent. Peaceful. Grateful. We are Whitman and Thoreau.
We’re getting into it.
But will it last? The adventure ends after the jump.
Continue reading “The Return of Hope During the Recession: Adventures at The Ashram (Part III)”
As we mentioned last night, there is an interesting debate over what White & Case should have done in response to the adulterous sex scandal involving its associate, “Miami White.” The Daily Business Review takes a look at some of the competing theories for crisis management:
For White & Case, the unwanted publicity raises a question all law firm managers and public relations professionals should consider: If an employee’s dirty laundry gets a public airing, how can a law firm respond to minimize the damage?
When asked about the matter, White & Case spokesman William Sancho in Miami offered a brusque “no comment.”
Hours later, an official firm statement came out: “This is a personal matter for the individual involved, and we cannot comment on it.”
It wasn’t really surprising when White & Case declined to respond to the affairs of SexyLexus. But I wonder if Miami White was told by the firm that he couldn’t comment in the press? Cuckolded in Canada said his piece, SexyLexus called in, but multiple phone calls and emails to Miami White have not been returned.
Regardless of the particular plight of Miami White, should White & Case have gone in a different direction? Let’s get into it after the jump.
Continue reading “Should White & Case Have ‘Gotten In Front’ of the Miami White Situation?”
Sometimes a judge will rule in a way that upsets you. Most lawyers know to keep their cool. But not Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer Adam Rodgers.
Rodgers was annoyed that Judge Chris Wogan refused to lower his client’s bail or reduce his client’s sentence of prison time (which stemmed, ironically, from contempt charges). So Rodgers threw a tantrum. From the Philadelphia Daily News:
According to observers, the attorney, Adam J. Rodgers, threw a pen and his leather bag, pushed or hurled a chair, and raised a chair over his head, then slammed it down.
Rodgers then stormed out of Common Pleas Judge Chris R. Wogan’s courtroom, repeatedly screaming “Bull—-!” and yelling about the perceived injustice.
Luckily, the judge was out of the courtroom when all this transpired, so no contempt charges for Rodgers.
Rodgers was actually right about the “Bull—-.” Judge Wogan had his client mixed up with someone else. Post-tantrum, Wogan returned to the bench, lowered the bail from $50,000 to $15,000, and granted Rodgers’s client parole.
Lawyer throws fit in court upon hearing ruling [Philadelphia Daily News]
We’re quite talented at bringing you last week’s news. See, e.g., our ridiculously extensive coverage of the Battle of the Law Firm Bands.
The main reason for our D.C. visit was not the Battle of the Bands, but the national convention of the American Constitution Society (ACS) — the left’s answer to the Federalist Society. With the Democrats in control of both Congress and the White House, this year’s conference was well-attended and celebratory. There was even an upgrade in venue, from the Hyatt Regency to the Mayflower Renaissance.
(Was Eliot Spitzer on the program committee? Or did ACS go with the Mayflower because it’s the traditional venue for the annual conference of the Federalist Society?)
The first plenary panel of this year’s ACS conference featured a star-studded cast:
Judge Rosemary Barkett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Thomas C. Goldstein (moderator), Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Pamela Harris, O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Pamela S. Karlan, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
Goodwin A. Liu, Associate Dean and Professor of Law, University of California Berkeley School of Law
John Payton, President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Read our write-up, after the jump.
Continue reading “At the ACS National Convention: Keeping Faith With the Constitution”
Usually, Detroit doesn’t make the news unless something terrible is happening there.
Today is no different.
Word out of Crain’s Detroit Business is that the two biggest law firms in the city are laying off lawyers and staff:
Detroit’s two largest local law firms by reported revenue and number of attorneys — Dykema Gossett P.L.L.C. and Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone plc — together confirmed laying off 30 attorneys and 30 staff late Monday; but it was unclear how many were sent packing in Southeast Michigan.
The firms are blaming the layoffs on the economy.
“The firm has provided those who are leaving with severance benefits during this difficult time,” Dykema Chairman and CEO Rex Schlaybaugh Jr. said in a statement. “This reduction is based on the economic climate.”
Does anybody have any positive news to report about the Detroit economy? If so, please share in the comments. Anything positive will do, I’d settle for a story about how a local Detroit retailer is working on a streak of 100 days without having his store windows smashed in.
Dykema cuts, Miller Canfield cuts again [Crain's Detroit Business]
Dykema; Miller Canfield Layoff 60 [ABA Journal]
File Under ‘Not Too Surprising’: Detroit’s Biggest Firms Cut Lawyers [WSJ Law Blog]
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of law firm layoffs
It looks like former Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh will in fact be the next Legal Adviser of the State Department. The cloture voted just passed, 65 – 31 according to Congressional sources.
The cloture vote ends months of debate over Koh’s nomination. An up-down vote on his nomination should follow soon.
We’ll see if American foreign policy is immediately transferred to the control of a secret transnational body hell bent on taking our freedoms.
Koh cloture vote passes [The Cable]
Earlier: New York Post Writer Takes A Hatchet to Dean Koh
Yale Law School Conservatives Defend Harold Koh
Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com.
ATL -
For the NY bar, exam takers were given the option of either hand writing the test or typing it on a laptop using ExamSoft. I chose to type it because I can obviously type faster than I can write, but I have been having nightmares about my computer freezing on me or some kind of tech glitch happening during the test. I am really freaking out over here. Should I change over to handwriting?
Katharine Gibbs School for Typing
Dear Katharine Gibbs School for Typing,
When I was your age, there was no such thing as being given “the option” to type the bar exam, unless you were among a select group of Benedict Arnolds who volunteered to participate in the 2005 bar exam laptop test run. Everybody else hand wrote the exam, just like our fathers before us, and their fathers and our father’s father’s fathers and so on and so forth as far back as President Abraham Lincoln, who somehow got away with just “reading” law, most likely because he was a giant and people weren’t about to pick a fight with him over minor things.
The law guild is no different than any other gang: you have to get jumped to get in. Us hand writers wrote until our fingers seized up and our hands gnarled into claws, and by God we liked it that way. My year, some poor soul’s hand fell off altogether so he switched hands and kept right on writing, because that’s just what you do. You typers seem to forget that the first part of the Character and Fitness test is purification by pain.
But you and your Turing machines know nothing of “”honor” or “loyalty” or “code.” Maybe your so-called “laptop” will ease your sissy hand cramps, but it will do nothing to address the fundamental issue here. You, sir, have no respect for your elders or for the handwriting brotherhood. You sicken me.
Will there be problems with your laptop on the day of the exam? Only God knows. And He is watching you and your computer, my friend. And He is judging.
Your friend,
Marin
Continue reading “Pls Hndle Thx: And Now You Do What They Told Ya”
Back in March, we reported that two big time Skadden D.C. partners were splitting off from the mothership and forming their own firm. Yesterday, we received word that their new firm, BuckleySandler, made a significant new hire:
After 20 years with General Electric, Stephen Ambrose, Jr., former General Counsel of GE Capital’s consumer finance unit, is joining BuckleySandler, as Partner-in-Charge of the firm’s New York office, effective July 1, 2009. This move coincides with the opening of the firm’s New York office.
G.E., we bring good things to life.
A new New York office run by a finance guy? Are they hiring?
Actually, if I was an unemployed corporate attorney in NYC I wouldn’t wait for an answer to that question. Sending a cold, unsolicited resume to a person you haven’t met can’t really hurt. Not in this market.
A spokesperson for Buckley Sandler had this to say about the importance of the hire:
Steve’s reverse commute will provide the firm with not only an accomplished, well-respected addition but an industry insider with a complete understanding of the financial services landscape and huge sector experience. As Steve notes, “Joining BuckleySandler provides me with a superb opportunity to employ as outside counsel the client-focused service and cost management skills I’ve developed during my career, as well as the chance to practice with my longstanding and highly respected legal colleagues at the firm.”
Oh come on, he’s practically begging to be inundated with resumes from young lawyers who also want a complete understanding of the financial services landscape — and a paycheck.
Check out the full BuckleySandler press release after the jump.
Continue reading “Musical Chairs: BuckleySandler Snags High Profile Hire”
* California lawyer Ryan Kent has accused Dahn Yoga of being a cult and filed a class action suit against the Brain Wave Vibrators. [San Francisco Chronicle]
* Ross Mitchell spent just $38,000 on his online law degree and became his own first client. He won his lawsuit to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. [Boston Herald]
* Richard Posner is bearish on newspapers and bullish on draconian copyright protection for online news. Permission to link? [The Becker-Posner Blog]
* Is 12 years enough for Bernie? [Am Law Daily]
* Law school is great preparation for doing something other than law. [Legal Intelligencer]
* Musical chairs: Morgan Lewis taps gas from Baker Botts. [Am Law Daily]
Members of WMD and the Bad Ass Brass Band (Latham & Watkins LLP / Law Office of Richard Goldberg), rocking out.
If you’re at your computer (and perhaps in the office) at this late hour, you must be very bored.
So check out a slideshow of photos from the sixth annual Battle of the Law Firm Bands, an event previously covered here and here, after the jump.
Continue reading “ATL Field Trip: The Battle of the Law Firm Bands (Part 3)”
Kaye Scholer — which conducted stealth layoffs in November and open layoffs in February — is now cutting back on associate pay. The move will only affect associates that are on track to bill below 1600 hours this year, but affect them it will. The WSJ Law Blog reports:
Here’s the way it’ll work: All those first and second year associates who, as of June 1, were on pace to bill fewer than 1600 hours for the year will have 20% of what they stand to make over the last half of the year withheld. (In other words, the firm will hang on to 10% of the year’s salary.) For third year associates who fall beneath the threshold, the firm will withhold 15% of the July-December pay (or 7.5% of the full-year salary).
If, at the end of the year, the associates have hit 1600 hours, they’ll have their full pay restored.
Resting at #70 in the Vault rankings, Kaye Scholer seems to just be continuing the trend of firms in this range trying what they can to save money.
At least the attorneys will have the opportunity to make the money back if they can pick up their hours. It’s more like being sent to your room without dinner, instead of being left by the side of the road.
Kaye Scholer to Withhold Pay From Lower-Billing Associates [WSJ Law Blog]
Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Kaye Scholer
In This Market: Are You Getting Laid Off or Fired? A Kaye Scholer Case Study
[Ed. note: This post is authored by ATL guest columnist Hope Winters. Hope is an early retired lawyer, turned Senate staffer, turned corporate lobbyist. She lives in Washington, DC. Read her previous work here. Read part I of this piece here.]
After this dinner I’m still starving from, we hop into the car to drive to the purported “private” room we paid extra for. Now I’m really starting to believe murder or rape is a foregone conclusion. I attract criminals like Jewish men attract Asian girls. And here’s the thing, there’s nothing to stop anyone from doing anything. We’re not allowed to lock either our door nor the front door to the Brady Brunchesque house we will be staying in tonight. Our “private” room is in this house. I said a private room. Like hotel room. Not a room in some random family’s house. Not some room I’m not allowed to lock.
As I enter the spacious open living room containing a lot blue mats and a lot small purple chairs for meditation, I find a DVD player. Excellent. Civility. I’ll just do my Denise Austin Yoga for Abs video and skip class tomorrow. It’s almost pitch black in the room because not only do these people not eat, they don’t do electricity.
I walk over to the big glass window peering out over the water — trying to find the lake, and then, I hear this boy’s voice.
“Hey.” I turn around quickly.
Plaid flannel shirt. Black wire rimmed glasses. Scruffy beard. Red North Face jacket. So Ted Bundy.
I have met my maker.
Can Hope survive her first encounter with Ashram men? Non-homicidal details after the jump.
Continue reading “The Return of Hope During the Recession: Adventures at The Ashram (Part II)”
* Some people think that White & Case should have gotten out in front of the SexyLexus story. Regardless of what you think, it’s an interesting case study on Biglaw spin management. [ABA Journal]
* I really hope that a successful business relationship isn’t like a successful marriage. Quite frankly, I don’t know how many roofies one man is allowed to carry around before it gets a little bit weird. [A VC in NYC]
* I’ll take the penis mightier, Trebek. [Courtoons]
* Tax law and the tragedy on the Washington Metro. [Tax Prof Blog]
* I vote we move to a system where the entire jury trial has to be done in segments of 140 characters or less. [What About Clients?]
