Today we conclude our coverage of the top New York partners to work for, as selected by our readers (see earlier coverage here and here).
These seven partners are proof that you can be a good partner who is good to associates while working at premier Biglaw firms like Chadbourne & Parke, Cadwalader, White & Case, DLA Piper, Baker Hostetler, Weil Gotshal, and Cravath.
Let’s find out how they do it….
Continue reading “Career Center Survey Results: Top Partners to Work For – New York (Part 3)”
* The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a lawsuit asking courts to force major companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sotomayor spent the entire oral argument asking attorneys how she could fit more Miami Sound Machine on her Zune. [New York Times]
* Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who can be seen every Thursday night on 30 Rock playing Kenneth the Page, shares none of Jan Brewer’s qualms about a “birther bill.” [Politico]
* The Ecuadorean Slapfight (also the name of my ska band in high school) between Patton Boggs, Gibson Dunn, and Chevron was squashed by a judge yesterday. [Reuters]
* Baker Hostetler is balling out of control on L’Affaire Madoff. [WSJ Law Blog]
Judge Vaughn Walker
* Tiger Blogger Vivia Chen wants white guys to be hunted like animals. [The Careerist]
* A copyright troll has found a way to exact a toll without actually owning any copyrights. No word yet on whether anyone has gained entrance into the boy’s hole. [Wired via ABA Journal]
* Alleged Wikileaker Bradley Manning is being transferred to another prison. Julian Assange celebrated the news by going dancing. [Fox News]
* Sponsors of Proposition 8 are mad that retired judge Vaughn Walker, who presided over Prop 8′s defeat in court, is giving lectures around the country that feature a three-minute clip of the trial. They say the video should remain in the closet. Or a desk drawer of some sort. [Los Angeles Times]
David Boreanaz
* What kind of a tour bus does Willie Nelson have? A cannabus. The singer won’t have to make a pit stop to sing in court on his maryjane charges. [New York Daily News]
* How is there a human trafficking problem in Michigan? Are they all Canadians? No one cares if Canadians aren’t getting their fair share of maple syrup. [Chicago Tribune]
* The FTC can be a real Buzz-kill. Google settled its privacy case with the feds over its failed social networking site. [Bloomberg]
* The big O avoids the big ©: my FAAAAAVORITE talk show host doesn’t have to pony up $100M. That makes me want to scream, cry, and then pee my pants. [Crimesider / CBS News]
* Let me save you the trouble: Dockette, your comment about dwarfs was completely inappropriate. I hope that you turn into a dwarf. [Washington Post]
* David Boreanaz settled a wangtastic lawsuit about his peen — and rightfully so, because the show is called Bones, not Boners. [E! Online]
* Howrey gonna make ends meet? By moving to Baker Hostetler. [Am Law Daily]
Irving Picard
Rack up another win for trustee Irving Picard, the partner at Baker Hostetler who’s cleaning up the Bernard Madoff mess. On Friday, Picard and Preet Bharara, the headline-making U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced a $7.2 billion settlement with the estate of Jeffry Picower (no it’s not spelled “Jeffrey”).
Picower, a successful investor and prominent philanthropist, earned billions — both real, through investing with Goldman Sachs, and fictional, through investing with Madoff — before he died in October 2009. Picower was found dead in the swimming pool of his home in Palm Beach, apparently after suffering a heart attack (a plot device familiar to viewers of Brothers & Sisters and The OC). If he had held on until January 2010, Picower would have avoided the estate tax.
Of the $7.2 billion settlement, $5 billion will go to Picard, to settle the complaint he filed against Picower in bankruptcy court, and $2.2 billion will go to the Department of Justice — the largest civil forfeiture payment in U.S. history. All of this money will eventually find its way to qualifying Madoff victims.
Based on monies collected to date, what kind of recovery might Madoff’s victims be looking at?
Continue reading “A $7.2 Billion Settlement Generates Money for Madoff Victims”
Mark Madoff, R.I.P.
Mark Madoff, the oldest of Bernard Madoff’s two sons, committed suicide on Saturday, by hanging himself in his Manhattan apartment. Saturday was a significant day: the second anniversary of Bernie Madoff’s arrest for running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
Mark Madoff’s lawyer, prominent Paul Weiss partner Martin Flumenbaum, issued a statement yesterday: “Mark Madoff took his own life today. This is a terrible and unnecessary tragedy…. [Mark Madoff was] an innocent victim of his father’s monstrous crime who succumbed to two years of unrelenting pressure from false accusations and innuendo.”
Flumenbaum wasn’t the only powerful Paul Weiss personage named “Martin” with involvement in this case. Mark Madoff’s body was actually found by legendary litigator Martin London, a longtime partner at the firm who is now of counsel at PW.
As noted on his Paul Weiss website bio, “[t]he gamut of Mr. London’s successes is vast.” But his experience is primarily on the civil side, with occasional forays into white-collar criminal work. His docket generally doesn’t include violence and death; he’s not the kind of lawyer who sees dead people (e.g., a homicide prosecutor).
So how did Marty London come to find Mark Madoff’s body?
Continue reading “Madoff Son Found Dead in Suicide (By Legendary Litigator Martin London)”
If someone told you they had a $14,500,000 inheritance from their father stuck in a bank account in Burkina Faso, you would likely laugh in their face and offer them some Viagra and a penis enlarger in exchange for a slice of the fortune.
But what if they told you this while you were sitting in a conference room of a corporate law firm, and the person was flanked by Baker Hostetler attorneys who vouched for the legitimacy of the African fortune?
Under those circumstances, a group of Ohioans invested over one million dollars to help Willia Burton recover her supposed windfall from a foreign bank account. But it’s been five years, and it’s become evident that — sur-freaking-prise! — it’s actually a scam.
Now the nine gullible investors are suing Burton and her Baker Hostetler lawyers, William Culbertson and Paul Feinberg, for fraud, civil conspiracy, and negligent misrepresentation.
Unfortunately, there’s no claim to be made for the public humiliation they shall now suffer for falling for a “Nigerian bank account scam”…
Continue reading “Baker Hostetler Attorneys Accused of Aiding an African Bank Fortune Scammer”
Just after 11:00 a.m. today, President Obama will sign health care reform into law. Very soon after that, the constitutional challenges will begin. And two Baker Hostetler partners want to lead the charge. The National Law Journal reports:
David Rivkin Jr. and Lee Casey argued for months that the health care overhaul under consideration in Congress was unconstitutional. Now, the two Baker Hostetler partners will have a chance to make the case in court.
Rivkin and Casey, who work in the firm’s Washington office, have signed on as outside counsel to several state attorneys general who want the legislation overturned in court. The litigation is the initial wave of what is expected to be a long series of lawsuits challenging various pieces of the overhaul, which won final congressional approval Sunday.
Does Baker Hostetler really want its name all over this? On the one hand, Bush v. Gore made Ted Olson and David Boies big stars. On the other hand, do you really see SCOTUS overturning major health care reform on constitutional grounds? I don’t. I just don’t see how the Court takes this opportunity to stop the relentless expansion of the interstate commerce clause by overturning the most contentious public policy issue of our generation.
Which kind of leaves Baker Hostetler holding the bag for what may be interpreted as purely partisan lawyering…
John Mason Mings, an IP partner in the Houston office of Baker & Hostetler, committed suicide on Monday. AmLaw Daily reports on the 45-year-old lawyer’s death:
Witnesses observed Mings sitting by himself on the waters edge early Monday afternoon. Police called to the scene found Mings laying partially in the water, dead from a single gunshot wound to the head.
His firm bio remains available, though it includes an “In Memoriam” message. The Duke Law grad had formerly been a partner at Fulbright & Jaworski, before joining Baker in December 2008.
As AmLaw Daily notes, depression is a serious problem for lawyers:
A recent study found that depression among attorneys is on the rise, coinciding with increasingly bleak economic forecasts.
One expert has claimed that the typical personality traits and training of lawyers often prevents them from seeking treatment for emotional problems and substance abuse, which in turn leads to higher rates of depression in the profession. The American Bar Association has found that suicide among lawyers occurs two to six times more than among the general population.
Another recent suicide led the WSJ Law Blog to write a post today on technology, social isolation, and suicide.
Continue reading “Baker & Hostetler Partner Commits Suicide”
We are so close to the end of the Vault open threads that I’m starting to get my second wind. I don’t know much about the firms on this part of the list, but you guys do. You know a lot. You’re so smart, you probably don’t even need this quick recap of the next group of firms. But I’ll go through it anyway:
81. Katten Muchin Rosenman
82. McGuireWoods
83. Baker & Hostetler
84. Dickstein Shapiro
85. Venable
86. Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell
87. Bracewell & Giuliani
88. Dorsey & Whitney
89. Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner
90. Hughes Hubbard & Reed
Locke Lord is in the house. The firm moved up ten spots from last year.
Other movers and shakers after the jump.
Continue reading “Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 81 – 90 (2010)”
* It’s a good time to be a lawyer with game. [AmLaw Daily]
* Judicial reform advocates are doing happy dances in response to the SCOTUS ruling in Caperton v. Massey. Elected judges must step aside when faced with cases involving people who donated generously to help put them on the bench. [Washington Post]
* Baker & Hostetler is on the rise thanks to Bernie Madoff, or rather the hiring of the trustee for Madoff’s investment firm. [Wall Street Journal]
* Tony La Russa’s attorney learns a valuable lesson: You don’t have a deal until you have a deal in writing. News reports of a settlement in the St. Louis Cardinals coach’s suit against Twitter over a made-up profile may have been a bit premature. [The Recorder]
* A stripper’s pole is not like a chair in a hair salon. When it comes to wage-and-hour laws, a stripper is more like a waitress or a pizza delivery man than a hair stylist. Minnesota strippers are suing to be recognized as employees rather than independent contractors. [National Law Journal]
* Cap’n Crunch with Crunchberries have crunch, but don’t have berries. A San Diego woman sued for fraud when she “discovered” this. California Judge Morrison England Jr. dismissed her suit letting her know that there is no such fruit as crunchberries “growing in the wild or occurring naturally in any part of the world.” [USA Today]
Our Vault 100 series is winding down. We hope that the insiders have enjoyed the opportunity to brag (or to vent) about their firms. And that the curious have appreciated insights into life at various firms in the top 100.
Here is the next bunch up for discussion (with their prestige scores in parentheses):
81. Crowell & Moring LLP (4.763)
82. Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP (4.754)
83. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP (4.735)
84. Arent Fox PLLC (4.726)
85. McGuireWoods LLP (4.697)
86. Venable LLP (4.676)
87. Dorsey & Whitney LLP (4.575)
88. Dickstein Shapiro LLP (4.554)
89. Baker & Hostetler (4.531)
90. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P (4.503)
Are the following statements true or false?
Okay, you know the drill.
Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads – 2009
We continue our series of posts about summer associate misadventures. If you have an anecdote you’d be willing to share, please check out the submission guidelines, and then email us.
We’re continuing with our theme of summer associates as superheroes. Move over, X-Men; make way for the X-Summers!!!
1. Superhero name: The Nekkid Sleeper
2. Special power: Drunken, semi-nude slumbering.
3. Summered: Baker & Hostetler, Cleveland, summer 2001
4. Claim to fame: From a Midwestern tipster:
“After a Saturday-night firm event, followed by a non-firm-sponsored night of drinking, The Nekkid Sleeper found himself stranded downtown without a car. It was after the rapid (light rail line) shut down for the evening, and he didn’t have enough money for a cab, so he decided he’d crash in his office at the firm.”
“One problem: That summer, the firm didn’t have enough office space for all the summers, so every other week, the summers would have to rotate offices. This particular week, The Nekkid Sleeper’s office was a cube in the firm’s library. The Nekkid Sleeper stumbled up to the firm library, found a sofa, and passed out in a drunken haze. It was hot and humid, so he unconsciously (or so he claimed) removed his shirt sometime in the middle of the night.”
“All was well until 6 a.m. Sunday, when a female partner who had a big upcoming trial wandered into the firm library to get a book — and saw what she thought was a half-nude hobo, sprawled out on the firm’s nice sofa….”
5. What happened next: “Rumor was that the incident happened about a week before the mid-summer reviews were to take place, and he got a stern lecture about inappropriate behavior… Word on the street was that he got an offer, but took a clerkship and then never returned to the firm.”
(The usual rules apply. Please don’t name the Nekkid Sleeper or speculate about his identity. Thanks.)
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of summer associates (scroll down)
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.
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.
