A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:

Although Halloween is just around the corner, things are looking less scary in the Bay Area. With tech stocks soaring, start-ups and emerging companies are doing more deals and looking to grow.

Time for more lawyers! The Job of the Week, brought to you by Lateral Link, is with a prominent firm that’s back on the prowl for the best and the brightest corporate lawyers to handle these deals.

Title: Corporate Associate

Location: Bay Area

Bonus: This position qualifies for Lateral Link’s $10,000 placement bonus.

Description: A top-tier firm is seeking a mid-level corporate associate with 3 to 4 years of strong corporate experience at a reputable law firm, and excellent academic credentials. Experience should include public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, private equity, venture capital investments, and/or technology transactions. Candidates with strong experience representing emerging companies are preferred. California bar is required.

For more information about this position, please view Position #5440 on Lateral Link. Membership in Lateral Link is free, and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Earlier: Prior Job of the Week listings

A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:

• American Bar Association

• The Atlantic

• Kinney Recruiting

• Lateral Link

• LexisNexis

• Soul Calibur 4 PSP

• University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Isenberg School of Management

• WesCary3D

If you’re interested in advertising on Above the Law or any other site in the Breaking Media network, download our media kits, or email advertising@breakingmedia.com. Thanks!

The 2009 billable year hasn’t even ended at most firms yet, but October has been full of announcements from Big Law firms across the country about major changes to associate compensation.  Check out the ATL Career Center, powered by Lateral Link , for the latest information from the legal markets and updates from users about who is paying what when.  In the last week, we have updated the firm snapshots for Schulte Roth & Zabel, Katten Muchin Rosenman, Morrison & Foerster, DLA Piper, Fenwick & West, Bingham McCutchen, Dorsey & Whitney, Foley & Lardner, and Nixon Peabody.  Below are some recent nuggets of golden and not-so-golden news about compensation from the Career Center’s firm snapshots:

• This firm announced that, in January 2010, it will move away from a lockstep compensation system to one that emphasizes merit-based factors as a more significant component of compensation decisions.  The firm says the combination of base pay and discretionary and productivity bonuses will keep overall compensation at or above current levels, but associates worry they may see significantly less pay if they don’t achieve the necessary merit marks.

• This firm has confirmed that it will be paying bonuses in early 2010, an announcement associates can only hope is the first of many.  Although the firm anticipates the amounts will be less than previous years, bonuses are still predicted to range from $5,000 to $50,000.

• This firm recently cut starting salaries to $145,000 in all of its offices (other than New York and Asia). The firm has indicated it will continue to monitor the situation and may re-adjust salaries (up or down) in light of legal market trends if necessary.

• This firm is also taking the merit-based compensation route: although it plans to retain a lockstep scale for base salaries, the firm has announced that its practice group leaders will now have greater discretion in awarding year-end bonuses.  Billable hours will continue to factor into bonus determinations, but so will qualitative and quantitative factors, such as financial productivity, profitability and teamwork.

Use the Career Center’s firm snapshots and comparison tool to find out what other bonus and salary changes firms across the country are making.  And as always, we encourage you to send information about your law firm experience to careercenter@abovethelaw.com.

Are you familiar with the use of computer animations for presentations? Have you used 3D animation for mediation and/or trial presentations?

Please take our short, anonymous survey, sponsored by WesCary3D. To take the survey, please click here (or on the link below).

Thanks!

WesCary 3D Survey ATL [Survey Monkey]

The last couple Jobs of the Week have featured positions with AmLaw 100 firms on the East Coast and West Coast. We feel that we may be neglecting those of you in the middle of country, and since the hiring freeze is starting to lift at some companies, we decided to offer up an in-house position in Ohio for the Job of the Week, which is brought to you by Lateral Link.

Title: Corporate Counsel

Location: Cincinnati, OH

Description: Bank holding company with more than 1,200 branches in the Midwest and Southeast is seeking several attorneys with corporate experience to join their in-house team. Attorneys with experience in one of the following areas will be considered - general corporate (2-6 years), commercial creditors’ rights (5-15 years), bank regulation (4-8 years) and consumer regulatory (2-6 years). Candidates should have significant experience with a law firm or corporation in the relevant areas of expertise. Ability to interface successfully with senior management. Knowledge of the areas of expertise including technical knowledge. Good issue spotting, risk assessment, and problem solving skills.

For more information about each position, please view Positions #5458, #5457, #5456, #5455 on Lateral Link.  Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Earlier: Prior Job of the Week listings

A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:

• American Bar Association

• The Atlantic

• Charles Griffin LLC

• Kinney Recruiting

• Lateral Link

• Legal Reform Summit

• LexisNexis

• Soul Calibur 4 PSP

• WesCary3D

If you’re interested in advertising on Above the Law or any other site in the Breaking Media network, download our media kits, or email advertising@breakingmedia.com. Thanks!

Last week’s Career Center survey asked whether you think there will be enough work for the class of incoming associates at your firm.  The good news is that, despite the all the hype about some firms indefinitely deferring new associates, the vast majority — 91% — of new associates are starting at their firms in Fall 2009 or are scheduled to start in the first half of 2010.   The bad news is that a majority of respondents think there won’t be enough work for all this new blood, at least not in the practice areas they want to work in. 

Check out the full survey results after the jump, and visit the Career Center, powered by Lateral Link , for more on which firm unexpectedly pushed up start dates, the latest firm to offer new associates "walk-away" money, and a firm that has made major changes to their lock-step compensation structure. 

Survey results, after the jump.

Although Above the Law is based in New York, we adore our West Coast readers. We try to post stories that would be of special interest to them as often as possible, typically later in the day to account for the time difference. (We have one such post coming out after this one; we’re not done for the day.)

And we regularly visit the Left Coast. For information about two upcoming events that we’ll be participating in later this week — a talk at King Hall on Thursday, and a social networking conference at Boalt Hall on Friday — check out the links below.

• Social Networks: Friends or Foes? [Boalt Hall - UC Berkeley School of Law]
• King Hall LSA presents Above the Law’s David Lat [King Hall - UC Davis School of Law]
• King Hall LSA presents Above the Law’s David Lat [Facebook]

P.S. As previously explained, we generally don’t do event plugs on the ATL main page, unless we or one of our advertisers is involved. But if your event is free / non-commercial, you can promote it in ATL’s Community section. If your event is not free, you can advertise it with us. E.g., the Legal Reform Summit in D.C. (October 28), or the ABA Law Firm Marketing Strategies Conference in Philadelphia (November 12-13). Thanks!

A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:

• American Bar Association

• The Atlantic

• Charles Griffin LLC

• Kinney Recruiting

• Lateral Link

• Legal Reform Summit

• LexisNexis

• Soul Calibur 4 PSP

If you’re interested in advertising on Above the Law or any other site in the Breaking Media network, download our media kits, or email advertising@breakingmedia.com. Thanks!

Fall is here, reflected in the chillier temperatures we’ve been experiencing here in New York. But here’s an opportunity for reminiscing about the glorious days of summer.

Check out this slideshow of photographs from our fabulous summer rooftop gathering, sponsored by our friends at Applied Discovery. If you’ve ever wanted to see our very own Kashmir Hill play Wii Tennis, this is your chance!

If you’d be interested in sponsoring an Above the Law event, please email us at advertising@breakingmedia.com (subject line: “ATL Events”). Thanks!

Earlier: An ATL Event: Rooftop Gathering with Applied Discovery

I don’t think there are a lot of people who have been working in Biglaw for only four years and are sitting on a portable book of business. But, if you are, this Craigslist posting may be for you:

ATTORNEYS WITH BOOK OF BUSINESS ONLY! NYC (Midtown)

I am starting my own law firm, and will be soon opening my law firm based in downtown NY, I am currently the head of a corporate group at a large fim and I seek entrepreneurial attorneys (attorneys ONLY) to join as either potential partners or for Of Counsel positions to help establish presence in New York, and other major markets. Only attorneys already admitted in NY may apply.

The law firm is seeking lawyers with experience in a range of different practice areas, principally in Securities, Capital Markets, FINRA Arbitration and Securities litigation, also including, but not limited to, general corporate, real estate, tax, energy, tort , intellectual property (including patent, trademark, copyright and technology licensing), white collar criminal defense, litigation, commercial litigation, international and/or labor & employment law.

Successful candidates will have self-sustaining practices as well as a strong desire to work in a collegial, collaborative, flexible and entrepreneurial environment law firm or become part of building their own firm as Of Counsels or join our starting firm benefiting from large marketing, the ability to show prospective clients that they are with a large firm rather than sole practitioneers and cross refer business clients and retain their relations with their clients and increase their portofolio.

Don’t you usually look for a professional headhunter to fill a position like this? I just can’t imagine a person with a self-sustaining practice looking to lateral over Craigslist.

Then again, check out the minimum qualifications. The candidate this firm is looking for might not exist.

The Dodgers win, the Angels win, and everything is looking up in Los Angeles — including the job market.

The Job of the Week is brought to you by Lateral Link. As we mentioned last week, things are picking up all over — Lateral Link has opportunities for corporate attorneys, tax attorneys, and IP attorneys, all over the U.S. and Asia.

Position: Litigation Associate

Location: Los Angeles, CA.

Bonus: This position qualifies for Lateral Link’s $10,000 law firm signing bonus.

Description: A litigation powerhouse is seeking a mid-level litigation associate. This firm is very particular and candidates must have prior experience from an AmLaw 100 firm and should have graduated in the top 10% of their law school class.

For more information about this position, please view Position #5414 on Lateral Link. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Earlier: Prior Job of the Week listings

Welcome to the first in a series of monthly “Ask the Experts” posts, brought to you by the ATL Career Center, powered by Lateral Link. Over the next few months, we’ll be talking with legal career experts, everyone from recruiters to hiring partners to professional development staff. The conversations will focus on what associates and law students need to know to be successful in this turbulent job market.

This week, we spoke with Tricia McGrath, a Director at Lateral Link who works with partner and associate candidates on law firm searches, and with candidates seeking in-house positions. We asked Tricia for advice on what kind of résumés get an employer’s attention. Visit the Resources section on the Career Center to get the answers to the following questions, as well as advice on the one thing you should never do.

Q: How detailed should my resume be?

Q: My career counselor recommended that my résumé begin with my experience and end with my education. Is this a good idea?

Q: Should a résumé ever be more than one page?

Q: I was laid off from a Top-20 law firm a few months ago. When my severance ran out, I took a contract attorney position to help pay the bills. This isn’t the type of job I want to call attention to when I’m applying to firms - do I need to include it on my résumé?

Q: Should I bother explaining to prospective employers why I was laid off, or is the less said the better?

Read the full article, as well and see other resources, on the Career Center. If you have tips or questions that you would like covered in future Ask The Expert columns, please email careercenter@abovethelaw.com.

A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:

• American Bar Association

• The Atlantic

• Kinney Recruiting

• Lateral Link

• LexisNexis

• Soul Calibur 4 PSP

• U.S. Chamber for Legal Reform

If you’re interested in advertising on Above the Law or any other site in the Breaking Media network, download our media kits, or email advertising@breakingmedia.com. Thanks!

Which firms were the “hottest” firms for September — i.e., the firms whose profiles were most visited on the ATL Career Center, powered by Lateral Link? These were the top five:

1. This firm, based in D.C., “lives up to its reputation for being a lifestyle firm.”

2. This firm, also with a sizable D.C. presence, offers its lawyers “immediate substantive responsibility” on “high-stakes” matters.

3. This firm has a top-flight sports law practice, with clients including Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and the National Basketball Association.

4. This firm has a definite international bent, with more than half of its clients located abroad.

5. This firm, a litigation powerhouse, boasts an “eclectic group” of attorneys, with a “mix of personalities.”

The Career Center is constantly being updated with responses from users and the latest news from the legal markets. Unlike many other resources, it’s dynamic, not static.

Some recent highlights from the Career Center’s firm snapshots, after the jump.

A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:

We received over 1300 responses to last week’s Career Center survey on how lawyers feel about their careers in light of the recession.  Despite economists’ encouraging words about the light at the end of the tunnel, respondents across the country remain deeply concerned for themselves and the legal industry as a whole.  Although the economy has pulled out of its tailspin, recovering financial institutions and businesses are no longer generating the same level of legal work they once did, making it extremely difficult for major corporate law firms to stage their own comebacks.  With business stagnating, several major law firms have gone out of business , and waves of layoffs have left thousands of big firm attorneys without jobs and countless others thinking they could be cut next. Check out the Career Center, powered by Lateral Link, for more on which firms are starting to recover from the downturn and which firms continue to struggle.

Check out the survey results, after the jump.

A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Above the Law:

Over the last month, we’ve seen a significant spike in the number of ATL readers making use of the information on the Career Center. With hundreds of thousands of visitors to the law firm snapshots and tens of thousands of law firm comparisons generated on the Career Center, we want to know what is on our readers’ minds when it comes to your careers.

Could it be that a year after Lehman’s collapse, and with Bernake’s reassurances that the recession is "very likely over," attorneys feel it is safe to go back on the job hunt? Perhaps the recent layoffs are creating concern that things are getting worse, and people want to know their options? Either way, the good news is that our friends over at Lateral Link tell us that hiring is starting to pick up and they have dozens of attorneys interviewing, so options are out there.

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.

ATL Career Center [powered by Lateral Link]