Bonuses at Sidley Austin are out, and they are all individualized. Perhaps Sidley doesn’t want its associates to know what their colleagues are making.
Which might be a smart move. Above the Law sources report that there is significant variance in the Sidley bonus. We’ve heard of bonus payouts as high as $90,000 for associates. That’s the kind of payment that blows Cravath and S&C out of the water.
But we’ve also heard about associates who received nothing at all. According to our sources, some Sidley associates received a bonus of squat (though none of the people who allegedly received nothing spoke with us directly; all of our tipsters received at least something).
Still, with a big bonus disparity, you can understand why the firm might want to keep the information hidden from its own people. You don’t want these kinds of conversations at the holiday party:
SIDLEY: Look, no large purchases, okay? Don’t draw attention to yourself. Nothin’ flashy.
WINNER: Check out this new coat I bought for my girl! Ain’t it beau-ti-ful ?
SIDLEY: Whatta you, stupid? You’re gonna get us all pinched!
WINNER: I’m sorry, Sidley, I just thought ..
SIDLEY: Get it outta here, get it outta here!
LOSER: Ahh, ahh, Sidley, umm, we’ve got to talk. I ain’t got paid yet.
SIDLEY (to winner): Keep that guy away from me.
WINNER (to loser): Why are you coming in here bustin’ balls? C’mon, it’s Christmas.
LOSER: Look, I see guys with fur coats, guys with fancy Christmas trees, and I ain’t got paid yet. I want my money, I want my money.
WINNER: And you’re gonna get it. Trust me. But right now let’s relax and have a good time.
LOSER: I want my money Sidley.
After the jump, we have a couple of reports on how Sidley chose its winners and losers.
With the holidays approaching, associates find themselves facing a quandary. Since work is still slow at many firms, associates may be tempted to take vacation before the economy bounces back and brings 70 hour work weeks with it.
On the other hand, does taking vacation in a recession send the wrong message? This week, our ATL / Lateral Link survey asks what you think about using vacation time while the chips are still down. We’ll use the information to update the ATL Career Center and bring you the results next week.
If you have information about your firm that you want to share with other career center users, please email us at careercenter@abovethelaw.com. Thanks!
Last month, we wondered if law firm holiday parties would be happening this year, in light of the Great Recession and the difficulties it has created for Biglaw. Sure, the economic situation seems to be improving — but is there really that much to celebrate as 2009 draws to a close?
Based on our informal survey of a few leading law firms here in New York, it seems that Christmas / holiday parties are happening, but have been scaled back from prior years. For example, take Weil Gotshal. The firm weathered 2009 better than most other top shops, thanks to its booming bankruptcy practice, but didn’t go all out in the party department. From Am Law Daily:
[Weil] held its holiday party [last] Thursday night on a semi-abandoned floor in its Manhattan headquarters. Instead of a live band, someone brought an iPod for background music. And the firm turned to its regular cafeteria catering service — Sodexo — for the food, though the menu (which included sushi and other goodies) was high-quality, says Barry Wolf, the firm’s newly elected executive partner.
“It was appropriately scaled down and it was fantastic,” says Wolf, who confirms descriptions of the party we heard from several Weil sources earlier today. “And it was convenient. Attendance was better.”
Weil isn’t alone in toning down the holiday glitz. Let’s look at what other New York firms are up to this season.
Seyfarth Shaw held its firm wide meeting on Monday, and we (finally) know what went down. The top line news is that Seyfarth will be moving to a pure competency based associate compensation system. But it won’t be fully up and running until 2011. Seyfarth’s managing partner, Steve Poor, issued this statement to the firm after the meeting:
We all recognize that the profession of law is changing in some profound and fundamental ways. Our Firm is making strong strides to align our services with changing client needs through initiatives like Seyfarth Lean, which are gaining strong recognition and support from many of our clients. We discussed another key change that we will introduce more formally in January — one that will change the way we train, develop, recognize, reward and promote our associates. We will be moving to a full competency-based talent system that will be phased in over the course of 2010. We believe this effort will benefit our clients, our Firm and each of you individually. Promotions and compensation will no longer be tied to class years, so that you will be able to excel and be recognized based on your individual skills and accomplishments. Enhanced training will help you develop broad-based skills to add greater value and meet changing client needs, like those being evaluated in the ACC Value Index. More information will be coming to you next month and throughout the year.
So, like Sonnenschein and WilmerHale, Seyfarth will be changing associate compensation, but it’s not yet prepared to tell its associates (or its recruits) how much they’ll be making under the new model.
Despite not being ready to roll out its new program, Seyfarth will still be taking a look at associate costs for 2010. Details on Seyfarth’s 2010 structure after the jump.
Back in April, we wondered about the departure from Sullivan & Cromwell of John O’Brien, a highly regarded and well-liked corporate partner who focused on M&A work. This development captured our interest because it’s unusual for lawyers to leave the (highly lucrative) partnership of a top firm like S&C.
When partners leave a place like Sullivan & Cromwell, there’s often a story behind the departure. E.g., Carlos Spinelli-Noseda (partner left S&C after billing clients and firm for more than $500,000 in fraudulent travel and entertainment expenses).
In addition, word on the street was that O’Brien was escorted from the building by security personnel. Partners are being asked to leave their firms with increasing frequency during the recession — but they’re not usually walked out by muscle.
* Mumbai high court upholds 1995 decision invalidating licenses for White & Case, Ashurst and Chadbourne & Park to open firms in India. Unless the government changes the law, that goes for any other non-Indian firm that wants to open an office there. Partnerships with Indian firms and offshore work still welcome, of course. [Bloomberg]
* An Indiana judge survives a vampire attack. [Associated Press]
* Will Obama be called to testify in Blago’s trial? [Chicago Tribune]
* Closing arguments in the other huge American criminal trial in Italy this year. [ComputerWorld]
* Bankruptcy judge James Peck okays $50 million in bonuses for Lehman bankers. [Bloomberg]
We mentioned the NYU Law awkward and silent dance parties earlier this month. Kash was very diplomatic in that post. I would have emphasized the extreme dorkiness on display.
I’m not sure the clip below from UNC Law is much better. But it’s certainly louder, and that counts for something.
* Maybe I should check out some The Good Wife episodes over the holidays. People who watch it tell me it’s good, and it can’t possibly be worse than what The Deep End will offer. [Law and More]
* More people try to explain the value of work to (non-lawyer) Elizabeth Wurtzel. [Double X]
* Your depressed Biglaw salary is still better than what the J.D.s make at the Big 4 firms. Go check out the comments and feel good about yourselves. [Going Concern]
* Best of luck to Mr. Herrmann of Drug and Device Law in his future endeavors. [Drug and Device Law]
* If I was ever on Inside the Actor’s Studio and James Lipton asked me “what is your favorite sound,” I’d have to answer “the sound of my own voice.” [Litination]
It’s that time of the year again, says one ATL reader:
now would be a good time for the old “how much are you giving your secretaries for the holidays?” story
It’s customary for associates at large law firms to give a cash gift to their administrative assistants, often along with a card or small gift. Not everyone opts for cold, hard cash — some do AmEx or Visa gift cards.
This year has been a tough one. Some associates have had their salaries frozen and have gotten “baby bonuses” in comparison with years past. Are you planning to let the economic pain trickle down?
Some discussion and advice from last year, after the jump.
Billionaire and hedge fund god Steve Cohen, founder of SAC Capital, has been sued in a civil RICO case by his ex-wife, Patricia Cohen.
And this isn’t some kind of pro se craziness. The suit is being handled by noted trial attorney Paul Batista.
Dealbreaker has the full story, and it is juicy. Click on the link below for the details. SAC Capital, Steve Cohen Sued By Ex-Mrs. C [Dealbreaker]
Tragedy struck the Irvine, CA, and Houston offices of Howrey earlier this week. The ABA Journal reports:
A Howrey intellectual property lawyer was found dead along with her daughters and mother Monday in an apparent murder-suicide.
Associate Elizabeth Fontaine, her two daughters and her mother were killed on the same day that a California judge gave temporary custody of the girls to an aunt, according to the Los Angeles Times’ L.A. Now blog and the Associated Press. Authorities are conducting forensics tests to determine who pulled the trigger.
Howrey confirmed that Elizabeth Fontaine was a Howrey employee in a firm-wide email yesterday. The email, plus AN UPDATE, after the jump.
We have done a series of posts about the terrible jobs being offered to attorneys and law students during the recession. There will be a contest to crown the Worst Job of the Year — please send us your tips on jobs we might have missed. To make the finals, we need something more than an employer looking for vastly overqualified people to do menial work for little pay. That’s almost standard in this market.
No, to be a contender for worst job of the year, you need to have something special. You need a particularly onerous requirement, or you need to show a real flair for being unreasonably cheap with your new potential employee.
This job has both. A law firm in Houston Texas is looking for a licensed attorney to do low-level file management. The pay is craptastic, the benefits are insulting, and there’s a special requirement:
• Non-smokers only
Really? Non-smokers only? I swear smokers are being positively discriminated against in this country. We should be a protected class. You shouldn’t be able to discriminate against people just because they might get lung cancer and don’t really care.
But maybe smokers would self-select out of the applicant pool for this job anyway. After all, smokers know that life is way too short (their lives particularly) to waste doing file management, for $25K, while hoping to one day be eligible for a vacation.
The other job details and an update after the jump.
Earlier this year, Kansas lawyer Kimberly Ireland filed a lawsuit against state judge Kevin Moriarty, accusing him of masturbating while overseeing her divorce mediation. After we wrote about it, her ex-husband came to Judge Moriarty’s defense, saying his wife’s accusations were limp.
Ireland is now recanting her claims as well, issuing a public apology.
Excerpt and links, after the jump.
Update: This motion was granted.
Some on this board have doubted my commitment to college football. Even though I didn’t go to a school with a major FCS team, I adopted Michigan long, long ago (Elvis Grbac era), and I know how important the sport is.
So believe me when I say that this motion to continue is one of the most rational arguments you are likely to hear today. The motion comes from defense counsel in Alabama. It’s so wonderful that even the plaintiffs attorneys found it amusing, as this email from Marsh, Rickard & Bryan shows:
Check out this Motion to Continue that was filed by the defendants in one of our cases today. LOL, it’s awesome.
Roll Tide!
Indeed, it is awesome. And, by now, I’m sure you know why defense counsel is asking for the continuance.
But it’s not just the thought. After all, sports-related continuance motions have been filedbefore.
It’s the execution that makes it great. Check it out, after the jump.
Here’s a bit of surprising good news, from a source at Simpson Thacher:
Thought that STB should get its props for the (completely unexpected) notice that those on the public service fellowships will receive a pro-rated portion of the bonus that their individual class years received. Not bad, considering that normally not being employed at the firm by bonus day means no bonus.
This does seem like a pleasant surprise — especially since we now know that Simpson initially didn’t budget for bonuses for younger classes. We looked back at the terms of the public interest fellowship program at Simpson for mention of prorated bonuses for participating associates, and we found none.
Back in October, we wrote a piece for the Washington Post about retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s new educational video games. She’s spearheading a project called Our Courts, which seeks to improve civic education in middle schools. One game, Supreme Decision, lets the kiddies weigh in on a First Amendment case in the Supreme Court. The other, Do I Have A Right? (DIHAR), lets players start a law firm and serve clients with constitutional issues.
The subject of law firm management is a subject near and dear to many ATL readers’ hearts. We have noticed that commenters often have many suggestions for how it can be done better. So we have decided to put you to the test with a DIHAR tournament.
The winner of the tournament will get more than just bragging rights. The award for the ATL reader with the highest score is a starring role in an upcoming Our Courts game.
More information, plus complete contest rules, after the jump.
* Microsoft reaches a settlement with European antitrust regulators, agreeing to give Windows users a choice of browsers. [New York Times]
* Garth Brooks is suing his hometown hospital for half a mill. (If we had knowledge of any of his music, we’d engage in some wordplay here based on an album or song title, but we don’t.) [CNN]
* First the government bailed out Citigroup; now it’s giving Citi some nice tax breaks. [Washington Post]
* The bankruptcy bar: it’s all about the benjamins, baby. Here’s a list of prominent practitioners and how much they charge, gleaned from public filings. [Am Law Daily]
* A federal judge sets aside the guilty plea of Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli. [Blooomberg]
* Raj Rajaratnam and Danielle Chiesi, accused of involvement in the notorious Galleon Group insider trading ring, have been indicted by a federal grand jury. [New York Times]
* Congratulations to McGuireWoods, which led a defense team that just won a jury trial in a patent infringement case involving wireless aircards (which are great, by the way; if you travel a lot, get yourself one). [Richmond Times-Dispatch]
If Dewey doesn’t follow the market and instead pays what it did last year, I’ll strip naked and run through the streets screaming “I am TTT! I am so TTT!”
Happily for me — and the women and children of the New York metropolitan area — Dewey & LeBoeuf decided to match the associate bonus market. The firm will be on the Cravath scale (not the S&C scale).
Bonus news before Christmas is so much better than re-deferment news during Chanukah.
Check out the full Dewey & LeBoeuf bonus memo after the jump.
* “They used to call me Crazy Joe, now they can call me the Batman.” [Bad Lawyer]
* Is it really so hard to imagine that young, talented, hard-working individuals would rather start their careers instead of sitting around for a year while being fed $80,000 to stunt their professional growth? [The Economist]
* E-marriage sounds like a terrible idea, for alcoholics. [Ideoblog]
In 2009, a small group of Harvard Law School students noticed an absurd monopoly in the bar prep space, held by an unchallenged leader with a non-evolving product. In response, these students teamed up with Harvard Law alumni to launch BarMax on January 14, 2010.
The mission: democratize bar prep by embracing new technologies to provide the very best bar exam review courses at a fraction of the cost normally associated with these courses.
Since then, with the encouragement of thousands of students and an unwavering commitment to their success, BarMax has established itself as a comprehensive alternative to the stagnant, over-priced status quo.
As we continue to expand, we do not want to lose sight of the basic premises that led us to create BarMax in the first place. If you are a law student who believes that there is something fundamentally wrong with being forced to take out yet another loan to pay for a $4,000 bar exam prep course, you are not alone.
Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past five years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com
Happy Chinese New Year! We were extremely busy the past few months, including most of our US based team working from our Hong Kong offices during November and December.
As a follow up from our recent post, which listed our 62 US associate and counsel placements in Asia last year (vast majority in HK / China), please note that thus far in January ’12, we have already made seven US associate and counsel placements in Asia. This is an especially impressive number, considering the biglaw lateral hiring market in Asia is down right now (see state of the market brief overview below). These new placements are of new hires in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, who were interviewing with their new firm for a month or more and they are spread out among different practice areas, including project finance, litigation, fund formation, M&A and cap markets. We are close on four additional new associate placements, in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, that we expect to close soon. We do not discuss partner placements in these articles, but the pace of partner recruitment in Asia (a large part of our business) has continued.
Hedge Fund In-House Openings in Hong Kong
We are seeing a small run of new in-house openings in Hong Kong at hedge funds. We are currently filling three different in-house positions at three different hedge funds in Hong Kong, two of these searches we are handling on an exclusive basis. All three will most likely be filled by a US associate, with about 4 to 6 years of experience. Mandarin not required. Candidates from NYC and London will be considered, but at one of these funds the new hire will likely come from Hong Kong / China or Singapore (with HK being the strong preference).
Please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com if you are interested in these hedge fund openings. As you probably would expect, the competition for these spots will be fierce and the funds will be very selective when choosing which candidates to interview.
Bonuses at Sidley Austin are out, and they are all individualized. Perhaps Sidley doesn’t want its associates to know what their colleagues are making.
Continue reading “Associate Bonus Watch: Sidley Austin Open Thread”
Last month, we 
Back in April, we 
A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:
* Microsoft reaches a settlement with European antitrust regulators, agreeing to give Windows users a choice of browsers. [
