Today is Friday, so this news is timely. Some of you may recall the case of Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy. Norman Schoenfeld, an observant Jewish lawyer who once worked in A&O's New York office, sued the elite "Magic Circle" law firm, alleging that it discriminated and retaliated against him as a result of his observing the Sabbath.

For counsel, Schoenfeld retained Anne C. Vladeck, the superstar plaintiffs-side employment lawyer who successfully represented Anucha Browne Sanders in her sexual harassment case against Isiah Thomas and MSG. After Vladeck and Sanders won at trial, the parties settled the case -- including all appeals -- for a cool $11.5 million.

Back to the Schoenfeld case. Sources close to the case inform us that the parties have resolved the case, and it will be formally closed in the near future. It hasn't been dismissed yet, as you can see when you check the S.D.N.Y. docket (1:07-cv-11431-HB), where the last entry is the pretrial scheduling order. But the parties have an agreement in principle to settle, and it will be papered up soon.

We reached Todd Girshon of Jackson Lewis, counsel to Allen & Overy, by phone. He offered a "no comment" (although we detected a faint hint of amusement in his voice as he said it). We've left telephone and email messages for Anne Vladeck, counsel to Norman Schoenfeld. We haven't heard back from her yet, but we'll let you know if and when we do.

We must confess that, although we're happy to see the parties resolve their differences, we're sad that we won't get to write more about this case. As you may recall, when the story first broke, we thought that it might turn into "the Jewish version of Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell." It looks like that won't be happening. No tales of "bending over," boiled hard drives, or boasts of representing Nazis -- just a quiet settlement. What began with a bang has ended with a whimper.

In other Allen & Overy news, the New York office has a new managing partner. Congratulations to Kevin O'Shea, who assumed leadership of the New York office effective May 1. Presumably he's glad to have this lawsuit behind the firm as he takes the reins at A&O - NY.

Update: The firm has confirmed news of the imminent settlement. See here.

Earlier: Lawsuit of the Day: The Jewish Version of Charney v. S&C?
Schoenfeld v. Allen & Oy-vey-ry: We've Got Close to Bupkis
Schoenfeld v. Allen & Oy-vey-ry: A&O's Answer

Okay, you already knew that hiring Allen & Overy isn't cheap. Remember their European fee schedule?

So why was this U.K. judge so upset over an eight-figure bill from the firm? He really ought to know better. From the FT (via WSJ Law Blog):

A High Court judge has blasted a top City of London law firm for charging nine years’ worth of man hours on a five-day trial over BlackBerry patents, in a judgment that will fuel the growing controversy over lawyers’ billing practices.

Lawyers from Allen & Overy racked up nearly £5.2m [$10.32 million] in costs representing Research in Motion, the maker of the popular BlackBerry device, in a dispute with Visto, a US-based wireless technology company.

In a scathing judgment, Mr Justice Floyd said he would expect the firm’s associates to be able to recite “all the documents in the case by heart” given the amount of time they claimed to have spent on the dispute.

Try them, Your Honor. Those two poor associates billed over 4500 hours on the case over 15 months.

“The picture summoned up by this bill of costs is one which is totally unfamiliar to anyone who has been involved in economically conducted patent litigation,” the judge said. In refusing to award Research in Motion its full costs, he said he was bound to prevent a party from recovering “unnecessary and unreasonable’’ expenses.

Ten million bucks is a hefty sum -- but it's not unheard of in the world of high-stakes litigation. And when Blackberries are involved, legal bills balloon. Recall how Wiley Rein scored a $200 million payday for representing NTP in its litigation against RIM (on a contingent-fee basis).

And more Blackberry-related litigation may be on the way. See this piece from the National Law Journal, about how the devices may initiate "a new wave of wage-and-hour litigation," based on claims of unpaid overtime.

Biglaw associates are out of luck. But paralegals who had Blackberries bestowed upon them might have meritorious claims.

Judge lambasts lawyers’ fees [Financial Times via WSJ Law Blog]
U.K. Judge Rails at Allen & Overy's $10 Million Bill in BlackBerry Patent Case [Legal Week via WSJ Law Blog]
BlackBerrys may spur overtime suits [National Law Journal via WSJ Law Blog]

Earlier: Charging $1,000 an Hour Is For Chumps

We received 1,036 responses to last week's ATL / Lateral Link survey on where you'd most want to work, which, in turn, was based on your nominations last month.

Here's how it turned out:

Survey Results: Which Firm Would You Most Want To Work For?

Overall, Latham & Watkins dominated the field, pulling in almost one fifth of all votes. Latham was the most popular choice among voters in L.A., the Bay Area, and Washington, DC, and was particularly favored by tax lawyers and litigators.

Runner-up Wachtell was actually the top choice of respondents in New York, narrowly besting Davis Polk and Latham. It was also, by far, the most popular pick among M&A lawyers, with roughly 30% of their vote.

Kirkland placed third overall, but was the top choice of Chicago respondents and patent lawyers, with almost twice as many votes as the next most popular firm in Chicago (Latham) and almost as many patent votes as the next two firms combined (Latham and Quinn).

Williams & Connolly, Ropes & Gray, and Davis Polk tied for fourth, with Ropes & Gray dominating the Boston vote, Williams & Connolly pwning DC (and gaining the second highest vote from litigators after Latham), and Davis Polk rocking the investment management scene (with Ropes & Gray running second best in that field).

Paul Hastings was the clear winner among labor & employment attorneys, winning almost 70% of the vote, and was also the most popular choice among real estate attorneys and lawyers in Atlanta.

On the Magic Circle front, Linklaters proved more popular than Allen & Overy, and was actually the most popular choice among securities lawyers. Allen & Overy was the most popular choice among structured finance attorneys.

Posted below is the European fee schedule of Allen & Overy. At current exchange rates -- approximately $1.55 to the Euro, and $2.00 to the British pound -- this means that partners bill out at about $1,050 an hour in Paris, and $1,190 an hour in London. Says a source: "Twelve-hundred bucks an hour for a partner in London? Ridiculous."

On the other hand, if a $1,200-an-hour partner can solve your problem in six minutes -- with a well-placed telephone call, or an absolutely brilliant judgment call -- maybe she's worth it. Perhaps you should be more worried about $600-an-hour junior associates (to say nothing of $350-per-hour paralegals).

This month's ATL / Lateral Link survey, focused on which firm you would choose if you could go anywhere, was dominated by Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton. But several firms were close behind.

  * Respondents had several reasons to applaud Latham: "Prestige", "Friends there are happy", "Awesome firm, awesome people", "They rock", "Prestige, substantive work, great litigation practice", and "Top notch clients and matters; kick ass bonuses; selective hiring in a good way (need good grades plus a good; personality); Vault top 10 without the stuffiness of originating on the east coast; good growth but no risk of Brobecking (great management + tons of funds).....should I go on?" Or, as one respondent summed it up: "ass kickers."

  * At Wachtell, with 2007 profits per partner of $4.48 million, money played a key factor in respondents' enthusiasm for the firm: "100% bonus", "money", "it's all about the cash", "I want the compensation!", "money honey" and, of course, "CASH."

  * "Money" was also a big plus for Cravath (even though their profits per partner were a mere $3.3 million). Voters also noted "Prestige, training, can go anywhere else afterwards."

  * "Prestige" and "Exit opportunities" also won several votes for Skadden, who also had more than $2 billion in revenues last year. (Their SideBar program is pretty cool, too.)

  * "Bonuses and work" were praised at Kirkland & Ellis, as was stability: "They're well positioned for the credit crunch and M&A downturn. And the pay's better, of course."

  * Sullivan & Cromwell was also coveted for "good work, and $$$$" as well as "reputation." With profits per partner of $3.13 million, that "$$$$" is appealing at multiple levels.

  * Paul Hastings surged in popularity as respondents complemented their labor & employment practice and their compensation structures in Atlanta and Chicago.

  * In an incendiary match-up, Davis Polk was heralded as "da bomb", while Boston heavyweight Ropes & Gray was declared "the bomb."

  * Among the Magic Circle firms, Allen & Overy supporters declared "Great offices, european attitude" while Linklaters was called "the best globally, both in equity and debt."

  * Debevoise won several votes for its combination of "prestige and culture".

  * Litigators were torn between Quinn Emanuel, where "hard core litigators with a great reputation" create an atmosphere where "[p]ersonality, quirkiness, and fun seem prevalent," and Williams & Connolly, as "the best litigatio[n] shop. Period."

So of these fourteen juggernauts of practice, prestige, and sweet, sweet profits, who would you most like to work for?

Cast your vote in today's ATL / Lateral Link survey, after the jump.

The Magic Circle law firm of Allen & Overy, defendant in Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy, has just filed its Answer (PDF). They're hoping to make Norman Schoenfeld's claims disappear. Schoenfeld, an observant Jewish lawyer who once worked at the firm, alleges that A&O discriminated and retaliated against him as a result of his observing the Sabbath.

We contacted the firm for comment. Here is their statement:

Allen & Overy denies all allegations of discrimination. This person's employment was terminated based solely on performance within his orientation period, a trial period of time mandated for all employees. He also failed to disclose to Allen & Overy the fact of his previous employment at another law firm.

Our firm has a strict written policy prohibiting any form of discrimination, and we provide all new employees and partners training in both diversity awareness and harassment prevention. Over the past several years, we have also instituted live diversity training for all of our existing attorneys and managers. We will vigorously defend our proud reputation of diversity and inclusion and are confident of a positive outcome for Allen & Overy with respect to these allegations.

More discussion, including interesting information from tipsters, after the jump.

Update (5/9/08): The case is settling. See here.

Back in December -- around the holidays, so many of you may have missed it -- we wrote about Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy. It's a lawsuit brought by Norman Schoenfeld, an observant Jewish lawyer who once worked in the New York office of Allen & Overy. Schoenfeld claims, among other things, that A&O discriminated and retaliated against him as a result of his observing the Sabbath.

Since then, we've received many requests for updates. This message is representative:

"Is there any news on this lawsuit? As a Sabbath observant 2L, this is of interest to me and many of my friends. A post on ATL providing an update would be appreciated. Love the site. Thanks."

We're not aware of any procedural developments in the case. And we sadly didn't receive much in response to our request for firsthand information about Norman Schoenfeld or Allen & Overy in New York. Here's the most interesting tip we received -- some opinions from an A&O associate:

"That this suit goes on is beyond anyone here at A&O. I did not know this Schoenfeld guy much for the five minutes he worked here and don't know if his complaint has merit. I will say this though: associates don't want to work with Mark Wojciechowski and are asking not to work with him."

"He told A&O he was bringing associates from Mayer Brown; MB associates refused to come work with him. Better to stay on a sinking ship like MB NY than work for a nightmare like Mark Woj...."

"No one can understand how firm management let this happen (rumor is that A&O already fired their first outside counsel). Recruitment of NY lawyers is badly affected and we just wait to see how much this costs the firm in damages (and associates of course since all s**t gets passed down - you know the partners won't take the hit in their pocket)."

We contacted the firm for comment, but they didn't have anything to add.

If you have any firsthand information to pass along about the events in question, please email us. Thanks.

Complaint: Norman Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy (PDF)

Earlier: Lawsuit of the Day: The Jewish Version of Charney v. S&C?

Bonus season is still with us, although it's winding down. Announcements continue to trickle in, but at a reduced pace. Going forward, we will combine bonus info into omnibus posts that will go up periodically, depending on whether we have a critical mass of tips.

Here is today's compilation of associate bonus news -- plus a tantalizing email, from Allen & Overy, that raises the possibility of an associate pay raise.

1. Thacher Proffitt & Wood: TPW has been hit hard by the credit crisis. As we reported back in November, they may be laying off associates this month. But at least they're still paying out bonuses to the folks who are still around:

TPW paid bonuses year end. No standard memo to all, so information is hard to come by. They paid market bonus ($35,000 for class of 2006) with an hours requirement.

There seem to be four tiers: 2100 hours = full bonus, 2000 hours = half bonus, 1900 hours = somewhere between a third and a fourth ($10,000 for class of 2006 associates), and below 1900 hours = no bonus.

2. McDermott Will & Emery. Here's a follow-up to our prior post on MWE:

They are having a videoconference on the 15th with all associates to discuss compensation. In the meantime, they allegedly are continuing to monitor market data. It appears as if they will try and fix their initial misread of the market, but no one knows when, how or by how much. In some cities, peer firms' bonuses [were] 3, 4 or 5 times MWE's bonuses.

3. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel: We previously wrote about the Kramer Levin bonus announcement. Now comes this caveat:

Sneaky to state that everyone gets the special bonus at 2000 hours, but it's not market. For example, a fourth-year will either get 80k for 2150 or 38k for 2000-2149.

The Kramer Levin memo appears after the jump.

4. Allen & Overy: This is not bonus news, but over at Allen & Overy -- or should that be Allen & Oy-vey-ry? -- an email went out before the new year telling associates that the firm probably "will not be able to announce associate/senior counsel salaries for 2008 before the year begins." One source wonders:

Have any other firms mentioned something like this? Do you think management knows something about a pending raise? Why wait, unless they have information about a possible raise?

Intriguing. We'll keep you posted.

We have to step out for a bit (company holiday party). We've only skimmed this Complaint (PDF), just filed in the Southern District of New York, by a Jewish lawyer against his former employer, Allen & Overy.

Check out the Complaint for yourself, by clicking here (PDF), and offer your thoughts in the comments. We look forward to reviewing your reflections when we return.

P.S. A special request: nicknames for this lawsuit, a la "Brokeback Lawfirm" for the Aaron Charney case, are especially welcome.

Complaint: Norman Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy (PDF)

Update: Here is the firm's statement, emailed to us by a spokesperson:

Allen & Overy denies all allegations of discrimination. This person's employment was terminated based solely on performance within his orientation period, a trial period of time mandated for all employees. He also failed to disclose to Allen & Overy the fact of his previous employment at another law firm.

Our firm has a strict written policy prohibiting any form of discrimination, and we provide all new employees and partners training in both diversity awareness and harassment prevention. Over the past several years, we have also instituted live diversity training for all of our existing attorneys and managers. We will vigorously defend our proud reputation of diversity and inclusion and are confident of a positive outcome for Allen & Overy with respect to these allegations.

We'll write more about this later. If you have any firsthand information to pass along about the events in question, please email us. Thanks.

Guess it's "Magic Circle" night here at Associate Bonus Watch. Fresh on the heels of Freshfields, we've confirmed the Allen & Overy bonus announcement.

Check out the memo, announcing year-end and special bonuses at market rates, after the jump.

Allen & Overy in the UK has over-produced a hiring video that uses real actors to portray A&O solicitors engaged in really interesting work for global clients.

Watch the video here at RollOnFriday, which offers this take on it:

Presumably the prosaic reality of 15 hour days drafting intercreditor deeds and dealing with IT problems would not make great TV. And my, what a lot of TV there is: it goes on for an age, and watching it is like wading through treacle as cast members mention "the deal" every five seconds.

The film laboriously tracks "the deal" in minutes, hours, and days, walking us through the boring lives of A&O partners, associates and trainees in the split-screen style of 24. The performance of the associates falls well short of the drama of Boston Legal. In the end, it would have been a more believable if the deal had collapsed in the last-minute negotiations, like in the real world, where heads would roll on Friday.

Anyone seen better--or worse--law firm recruitment videos?

* Across the pond, Allen & Overy hopes to pick up recruits -- quite literally. [Charon QC: The Blawg]

* One path to a judgeship: marry a prominent political fundraiser. [Daily Business Review]

* Alberto Gonzales and George Terwilliger should get along famously. [Washington Briefs]

* The fame of the S&C bonsai trees spreads, as ATL earns a shout-out in the Washington Post's Express. [Read Express]

That's the question we tackle in our latest column for the New York Observer. Here's an excerpt:

Among associates at large law firms, Facebook passed the tipping point sometime over the summer. Since the site opened to the public last year, adults everywhere have been joining—there are 40 million people already on Facebook, and about a million more every week. But lawyers seem to be particularly enamored of it (as is Microsoft, which is reportedly considering an investment that would value Facebook at as much as $10 billion).

It’s an expensive love affair.... Next year, the AmLaw 200 law firms are expected to hire 10,000 new associates. Let’s estimate, conservatively, that half of them spend one billable hour a week on Facebook. If we assume (again conservatively) an average hourly billing rate of $200, that comes to about $50 million a year in lost billable hours—and partner profits. Fifty million bucks will buy you a lot of Hermès ties.

You can read the rest of the piece by clicking here.

From Bluebook to Facebook: Social Site Seduces Firmland [New York Observer]

Sadly, the music-loving law firm of Nixon Peabody is not on this afternoon's list of five Vault 100 firms to talk about. And don't hold your breath -- we won't reach NP until we hit the 70's.

Here are the firms that are on the table:

51. Jenner & Block LLP (5.940)
52. LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP (5.925)
53. Allen & Overy LLP (5.922)
54. DLA Piper (5.913)
55. Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (5.913)

We note the presence of Cahill Gordon on this list. Even though Cahill routinely lands near the top of the profits per partner rankings of the American Lawyer -- in 2006, they were #6, with PPP of $2.575 million -- the firm's prestige seems to lag behind its profits. Any thoughts on why?

Please chatter away about these five firms in the comments. Thanks.

The Vault Top 100 Law Firms [Vault]

Earlier: Vault 1-5; Vault 6-10; Vault 11-15; Vault 16-20; Vault 21-25; Vault 26-30; Vault 31-35; Vault 36-40; Vault 41-45; Vault 46-50

Our posts on the perks or fringe benefits of law firm life continue to generate interest and good comments. Here is today's topic:

Why don't you guys do an open thread on working abroad? I know of several firms that send their associates for some period of time to work [overseas].

For example, Allen & Overy has a program in which they send their senior associates to London to work for something around six months. A friend of mind who worked for Shearman went to Asia, and some others from Baker McKenzie have been sent to other offices around the world.

One advantage of working abroad: a generous cost-of-living allowance. Last month, Cravath raised its London COLA:

Cravath Swaine & Moore has raised the cost of its living allowance (Cola) for London office associates from $85,000 (£41,000) to $110,000 (£53,000), The Lawyer can reveal. The 30 per cent hike at the elite firm takes remuneration for the most junior lawyers in Cravath's City office to potentially in excess of £150,000.

At current exchange rates, that works out to a starting salary of $300,000. Not bad. And a Cravath source tells us that the firm is eager for people to head over there: "[T]hey are super busy and trying to get more people to go and stay longer.... [T]hree hundred grand is a lot of dough, no matter how expensive London is!"

Your thoughts on overseas Biglaw gigs are welcome, in the comments.

Cravath hikes London cost of living allowance [TheLawyer.com]

Earlier: Biglaw Pay Raise Watch: Weil and Cleary to 180, Latham to 190!

We've been providing salary news updates in the comments because, due to technical difficulties, it's more reliable than trying to do so here on the main page. For your reference, here are links to the latest announcements:

1. Allen & Overy: Confirmed. Memo is here.

2. Debevoise & Plimpton: Confirmed. Memo is here.

3. McKee Nelson: Confirmed. Memo is here.

(We will spare you the details of the boring debate over whether they should be considered a DC firm with a very large New York office, which is the obvious preference of McKee Nelson's media relations people, or a firm that's roughly split between the two cities. How many D.C. associates can dance on the head of a pin?)

4. Schulte Roth & Zabel: Confirmed. Transmittal email for PDF memo is here.

****************************
Paging Biglaw boys: Is the retroactive portion of your pay burning a whole in your pocket? Are you trying to figure out how to spend $1,000 in found money?

Fret not. Have we got an idea for you:

For the High-End Bathroom, Something Unexpected [New York Times]

Tons of moves to report today -- and these are just the highlights:

New Partners:

* Latham & Watkins -- which, as discussed yesterday, is very popular with Supreme Court clerks -- has elected 26 new partners, in offices around the country. That's enough lawyers to start a whole new law firm.

You can check out their names here. If you graduated from law school around 1998, you probably know some of them.

"Magic Circle" Hiring Spree:

The top British law firms -- aka the "Magic Circle" firms -- continue to cast spells over U.S. practitioners, who have been flocking to their American offices in droves.

* Louis Kimmelman, former co-chair of O'Melveny & Myers's international arbitration practice, is heading to Allen & Overy's rapidly growing New York office. Kimmelman regularly appears before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, the American Arbitration Association, and other tribunals.

* Finance lawyers Zarrar Sehgal and Anthony Lopez III, to Clifford Chance (NY), from Milbank Tweed and Cahill Gordon, respectively.

Lateral Moves:

* Corporate and securities lawyer Michael Student, to Brown Rudnick, from Holland & Knight.

* Tax lawyer James Tander, corporate lawyer Patrick de Carbuccia, and real estate lawyer Michael Pollack, to Reed Smith (NY). They come from, respectively, Skadden Arps, Willkie Farr, and Withers Bergman of (New Haven, CT).

Government to Private Sector:

* Sharon McCarthy, a former deputy chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District, to litigation and tax boutique Kostelanetz & Fink, as a partner.

Internal Promotions:

* Paul Tvetenstrand, a partner in the structured finance practice group, has been elected chairman and managing partner of Thacher Proffitt & Wood.

Latham & Watkins Elects 26 New Partners [Latham & Watkins]
NY Partners Switching Firms, NY Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
More NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Firm Promotes 26 to Partnership [NYLawyer.com]
NY Practice Leader Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]

We're vaguely troubled by the title of this WSJ Law Blog post ('cause it makes us think of this). But it does report on a notable move within the legal profession, so we will plow ahead.

From the aforementioned post:

Matthew Gluck is joining Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman as a senior partner, marking a significant hire for the plaintiffs’ law firm. Gluck had been a litigation partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson since 1973....

Milberg Weiss was indicted in May on fraud charges based on allegations that it paid plaintiffs to file cases. It pleaded not guilty and has vowed to fight the charges. Since the indictment, the firm has lost a significant number of partners and associates.

Gluck's move continues the trend of breaking down the barrier between plaintiffs' firms and Biglaw. Sometimes Biglaw associates might, after a few years of practice, move over to the plaintiffs' side; but such moves at the partner level were much less common. Biglaw was Biglaw, plaintiffs' firms were plaintiffs' firms, and never the twain shall meet.

This may be changing. Gluck's move, from Fried Frank to Milberg Weiss, comes not long after former Milberg Weiss name partner Patricia Hynes moved in the opposite direction -- from Milberg Weiss to the New York office of Allen & Overy, the defense-oriented British firm.*

So why did Gluck make the move?

Gluck, 64 years old, is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Cornell University. He told the WSJ’s Nathan Koppel he was soon facing retirement age at Fried Frank and wanted a new challenge.

Attempting to turn around a class-action-complaint mill under federal indictment would indeed qualify as a "challenge." But the undaunted Gluck is surprisingly sanguine about Milberg's future:

“I don’t know why people have left [the firm] except for panic,” he says. “It doesn’t strike me as rational.”

Not "rational"? Clients defecting en masse, partners fleeing in droves, courts taking the firm off cases, or refusing to appoint them in new ones... Call us Debbie Downer, but this doesn't sound too promising.

Even if you question the original decisions of clients, partners, and courts to abandon Milberg in the first instance, here's the problem: the prophecy of doom has turned self-fulfilling. Does the name "Arthur Andersen" ring a bell? Even though the accounting firm was ultimately vindicated in the Supreme Court, that vindication came too late.

But hey, Matt Gluck's arrival is undoubtedly a good thing for Milberg. In addition to being an experienced litigator, Gluck has -- as noted by Milberg Weiss managing partner Sanford Dumain -- "superb credentials in the area of bankruptcy law."

* Yes, Allen & Overy is one of the "Magic Circle" firms. There, we said it. Now wasn't that fun?

Fried Frank Partner Comes In Through Milberg’s Out Door [WSJ Law Blog]
Milberg Gets Fried Frank Veteran [Wall Street Journal]
Against Tide, Lawyer Joins Milberg Weiss [New York Times]
Matthew Gluck bio [Martindale-Hubbell]

Lateral Moves:

* Litigator Robert Knuts, to Allen & Overy, from Day, Berry & Howard. Knuts was with the New York office of the SEC from 1994 to 2003.

As you may recall, London-based Allen & Overy is trying to build up its New York litigation practice -- most recently through the addition of former plaintiffs'-side princess Pat Hynes.

* Private equity lawyer James Kelly, to Nixon Peabody, from O'Melveny & Myers.

New Partners:

* Goodwin Procter: corporate and private equity lawyer Edward Braum.

NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
NY Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]

Since it went and got itself indicted, things have been less than peachy-keen over at Milberg Weiss, everyone's favorite class-action complaint factory. Milberg has lost oodles of prominent partners to other plaintiffs' firms. And now things are turning downright ugly:

Patricia Hynes, a former name partner of Milberg Weiss, is crossing over to the other side. Starting today, she will be a senior counsel in the New York office of Allen & Overy, an elite, London-based firm that defends companies against securities-fraud litigation, according to a release issued by A&O. “We are desperately trying to build the U.S component of a great firm,” says A&O partner Pamela Rogers Chepiga,* who notes that she used to work with Hynes in the U.S Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.

Yes, that's right. Pat Hynes -- who was a name partner at Milberg, back when it was called Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach -- is going to be a defense lawyer in securities class actions.

Congratulations to Hynes for seeing the light -- or, at the very least, the fat paycheck that A&O probably dangled before her.

Milberg Weiss Heavyweight Bolts to the Other Side [WSJ Law Blog]

Earlier: Prior AboveTheLaw coverage of Milberg Weiss

* The legal world is a small one: Pamela Rogers Chepiga is the wife of Simpson Thacher powerhouse partner Michael Chepiga (who also finds time to be a Broadway playwright).

(Disclosure: Back when we were in private practice, Michael Chepiga got mad at us on the telephone -- and was entirely in the right. After changing into dry underwear, we called him and left a voice-mail of one thousand apologies.)