For our latest caption contest, we gave you this photo:
And you responded by taking a massive dump on us. Almost 500 entries were submitted.
We waded through all your s**t, like Hercules cleaning the Augean stables, and came up with ten finalists. View them and vote, after the jump.
Continue reading “ATL Caption Contest Finalists: Study Stall”
* “Did Facebook break the law when it changed privacy settings?” Quite possibly. [True/Slant]
* Former Congressman claims “common law copyright” in his name, and wants the news media to pay him $500,000 to license his name. I have the perfect solution: How about we all agree to never mention him? We know how much politicians love to be ignored. [The Legal Satyricon]
* Don’t apply to law school, kids. It’s not going to work out well for you. [Lawyerist]
* Who says law professors and lawyers don’t know how to dress? [New Haven Review]
* Is making money through teaching social media a form of snake oil, peddled by unsuccessful lawyers who can’t do anything else? [The Cuban Revolution]
* Car salesmen should fear Twitter. [TCPalm]
Stroock’s bonus news is out. The firm will be paying the Cravath scale, if you hit 1900 hours. If you missed that target, you’re out of luck. Here’s the statement from the firm:
2009 bonuses are consistent with the “Cravath scale” with a presumptive threshold of 1900 hours to qualify for consideration. Merit has always been a factor in our bonus program and plays a significant part in determining the level of bonus awarded. In addition, associates who have made extraordinary contributions to the firm in 2009 will be getting more than the Cravath scale.
Our tipsters seem satisfied with the bonus. They are more concerned about Stroock’s pay scale.
Details on that, after the jump.
Continue reading “Associate Bonus Watch: Stroock Strokes Associates With Cravath Bonus”
In yesterday’s post regarding the tragedy that left a Howrey associate, Elizabeth Fontaine (pictured), and three of her family members dead, we promised to keep you posted on new developments. We now bring you this update, from the Orange County Register:
Sheriff’s investigators believe they know how four people, including two young sisters, died in a bloody heap Monday inside a million-dollar home in Talega.
Grandmother Bonnie Hoult, 67, fired the gun that killed her daughter and grandchildren before turning the .357 magnum on herself, a senior homicide investigator told the Register, citing the department’s prevailing theory behind the killings that rocked a gated community.
He said her daughter Elizabeth Fontaine, 38, appeared to have been a willing participant in the killings, with both she and her mother choosing death for themselves and the girls instead of allowing the sisters to be sent temporarily into the custody of a sister of their father.
More about these modern-day Medeas, after the jump.
Continue reading “Update: Grandma May Have Been Triggerwoman in Howrey Associate Murder-Suicide”
In October, we told you that a Philadelphia Phillies superfan, Susan Finkelstein, allegedly attempted to trade sex for World Series tickets. Her preliminary hearing was yesterday, and … well, I’ll let the Philadelphia Inquirer explain it to you:
“I admit it. I’m a prostitute. I love sex. I’m a whore,” the Bensalem police officer testified that Finkelstein had told him as he posed as “Bob” at Manny Brown’s in Bensalem.
She talked about “how much she loved anal sex,” he said, alleging later that she pulled up her denim skirt to expose her genital area and asked, “You wanna touch it?”
Hey now. That might be even too much drama for TNT. Who does she think she is, Eddy Curry?
Finkelstein denies all of it. Her side after the jump.
Continue reading “Cop Claims Phillies Fan Said She Was a Whore”
The big day is almost here for many young lawyers. Recent law grads nestling up in their beds have visions of Blackberries dancing in their heads.
January 2010 will bring start dates for many bound for Biglaw firms. But some firms have had second thoughts. Winston Strawn and Nixon Peabody recently informed incoming associates of more deferrals.
This has made lots of young lawyers nervous. Brian Baxter at AmLaw Daily wants to help calm your nerves, so he surveyed over 40 top firms to ask whether their little associates can count on start dates coming down the chimney. Over half responded.
We’ve noticed that Paul Hastings-bound associates have been especially vociferous in our comments section. They can stop flipping out. According to a spokesman there, the firm plans to start them “on time” in January.
Given recent news and the AmLaw survey, we’ve decided to update our start date round-up. After the jump, we’ve got a new list of start dates at firms nationwide, sorted two ways: alphabetically by firm name and chronologically by start date.
Continue reading “Nationwide Start Date Round-Up: Who’s making contact in 2010?”
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.
Continue reading “Associate Bonus Watch: Sidley Austin Open Thread”
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.
Continue reading “Seyfarth Shaw Mystery Meeting Follow Up: Another Firm Moves to Kill Lockstep”
A college graduate without student loan debt is akin to reading a kind quote about Kim Kardashian in a tabloid—it’s rare.
In the past eight years, student loan debt has nearly tripled to a whopping $1.1 trillion, and in the past 10 years, the percentage of 25-year-olds with such debt has risen from 25% to 43%
It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that New York Fed economists warned last month that the burden of student debt could stilt consumer spending by twentysomethings, as well as further hamper the recovery of the housing market and economy.
To get a better idea of what massive student loan debt (we’re talking over $100,000 massive) looks like, we talked to an attorney who graduated with a large student loan debt. We also consulted LearnVest Planning Services CFP® Katie Brewer to see just how their repayment plans stack up.
S. Fischer, 36, Attorney
Graduated: 2001
How Much I Borrowed: $100,000
What I Still Owe: $45,000
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Ed. note: The Asia Chronicles column is authored by Kinney Recruiting. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates, counsels and partners in Asia than any other recruiting firm in each of the past six years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com.
Deal flow has clearly picked recently up for most US associates, counsels and partners in Hong Kong/China and Singapore. We are on the phone with a lot of these folks on a daily basis, many of whom we have known for years. Further, the head of our Asia team, Evan Jowers, and Kinney’s founder and president, Robert Kinney, frequently meet in person with leading US partners in Asia to assess their needs and keep on top of the inside scoop at as many firms as possible. The need for legal recruiting help in Asia from experienced recruiters appears to be live and well. In March, Evan and Robert were in Beijing at such meetings, in April, Evan was in Hong Kong, and for half of June Evan will be in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Thus its pretty easy for us to tell when there has been an across-the-market pick up in capital markets and corporate work.
On an average day in Asia when Evan and Robert visit firms, they typically have 5 to 9 meetings a day, mostly with US partners in the market. The reason they have these meetings is not simply because Kinney makes a lot of US attorney placements in Asia and that a particular firm may have openings; instead these are just visits with friends. After years of working together as business partners, the folks at Kinney are actually these peoples’ friends. The firms Kinney work closely with in Asia (which is just about every law firm – call us if you want to know the one firm in the world we will never place anyone with again, ever, and why) look forward to the visits, or at least act like they do. After seven years in the market, many of the client partners are former associate candidates. Also, these US partners see Kinney as a very good source of market information as well, because they know how deep their contacts are in the market and how frequently they are speaking to counterparts at peer firms.
Keep reading »
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