Baker & McKenzie

Law Firm Merger Mania: Ardor Cools

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law firm merger.jpgIn the immortal words of Roxette, “It must have been love; but it’s over now.” Last month, we marveled at all the law firm merger rumors making the rounds. These days, however, merger talks are falling apart, left and right.
As we first reported, the contemplated merger between Heller Ehrman and Baker & McKenzie is officially dead. For the skinny on their breakup, see Legal Pad. Apparently client conflicts were the deal breaker (as they so often are; they’re the law-firm equivalent of serious religious differences, or really bad STDs). Baker & McKenzie will have to settle for being a firm with a measly $2.2 billion in annual global revenue.
And now this, from the National Law Journal:

In the days that followed the joint announcement by Wolf Block and Akerman Senterfitt that their merger talks hit a snag over a conflict, sources have pointed to deeper issues affecting the drawn-out discussions…

One source aware of the merger discussions said the combination would be a good thing for both firms but said Wolf Block leadership is unwilling to work out certain tax and pension concerns.

There is concern among some of Wolf Block’s partnership over having to pay a significant amount in taxes upon merging with a corporation, the source said. There is also concern over having to make up for Wolf Block’s unfunded pension liabilities. Both of the issues could cause partners to “take a real financial hit,” the source said, adding that a loan could solve those problems, but firm leadership seems unwilling to go that route.

We’d end with the requisite punchy quip, but unfunded pension liabilities leave us uninspired.
(It’s a Friday, in August, after 3 PM. Why are you still here?)
Trouble with WolfBlock-Akerman merger talks over more than conflicts [National Law Journal]
Conflicts Blamed for Failed Heller Merger Talks [Legal Pad]
Bakers breaks £1bn mark with 20% revenue boost [Legal Week via ABA Journal]
Earlier: Heller Ehrman Is NOT Merging With Baker & McKenzie
Law Firm Merger Mania: Collected Rumors and News

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Biglaw Perk Watch: Working Abroad

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London Bridge small Tower Bridge of London Fergie Abovethelaw Above the Law online legal tabloid.jpgOur 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!

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Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 41-45

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Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver Hedges Manulife Tower 865 S Figueroa St Above the Law blog.jpgWe’re pressing on with our series of open threads on Vault 100 law firms. We know that some of you are eager to discuss firms ranked in the 70′s, and we don’t want to disappoint you.
And a quick word from one of our sponsors, ATL’s Career Partner, Lateral Link:

“Lateral Link provides free access to the Vault firm information/career guides. Readers can get free access to the full information on our site as part of our career center.”

Without further ado, here are the five firms for this afternoon (in Vault 100 order, prestige scores in parentheses):

41. King & Spalding LLP (6.183)
42. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (6.099)
43. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP (6.080)
44. Baker & McKenzie (6.079)
45. Baker Botts LLP (6.061)

Please discuss them 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

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Baker & McKenzie

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Baker McKenzie Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgRemember that cute little bar graph, prepared by some disgruntled people in the Washington office of Baker & McKenzie? It looks like it worked.
A source at the firm reports that the firm just raised associate salaries. An associates’ meeting was held earlier today. We haven’t seen the memo yet, but here are the numbers (emphasis added):

Old pay scale:

145/155/170/190/210/220/230/240

New pay scale (retroactive to 7/1):

160/170/190/210/230/250/265/280

Also, from a meeting earlier in the week, in which the upcoming recruiting season was discussed:

“The hiring partner made a comment about the bar chart posted on the web, mentioned that he was evaluating the situation, and mentioned AboveTheLaw by name. Then today we got the raise news.”

Update: We now have the Baker & McKenzie – DC memo. We’ve posted it after the jump.
Earlier: Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: What’s Up With Baker & McKenzie?

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: What’s Up With Baker & McKenzie?

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Over in the D.C. office of Baker & McKenzie, the natives are getting restless. They’ve prepared this cute little bar graph (thumbnail image; click to enlarge):
Baker McKenzie small 2 first year associate salaries Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.JPG
The graphic above also reflects that Williams & Connolly now pays starting salaries of $165,000. We hadn’t heard (or written) about that news, but it’s official.
Does anyone have a memo and/or more information about what Williams & Connolly pays beyond the first year? If so, please email us. Thanks.
Update / Correction: Whoops, we forgot that W&C raised salaries back in March. What we were thinking, and meant to write, is that Williams & Connolly hasn’t raised associate salaries in response to the latest round of nationwide pay hikes (as kicked off by Orrick).
Remember that W&C traditionally doesn’t pay year-end bonuses, but pays an above-market base to make up for it. Their current scale — 165, 180, 195, etc. — is still above-market, but not by as much as usual.
Further Update / Correction: Apparently Greenberg Traurig is still at $145K in Washington. We’ve revised the graph accordingly.
Earlier: Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: What’s Up With Williams & Connolly?

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Two New Rumors

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Howrey LLP Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.JPGTwo things we’ve heard recently (the first more definitive than the second):

1. Howrey LLP: Last week, they made a “secret announcement” — nothing in writing — of associate pay raises in Chicago, California, and Washington, DC.

2. Baker & McKenzie: In their Chicago office (and perhaps others), they sent around a memo similar to the Jenner & Block memo. It was basically “a non-committal memo, pledging to remain competitive, and acknowledging recent associate salary adjustments in the market.”

If you can provide us with more details, or have some associate pay raise news not previously reported herein, please drop us a line. Thanks.
Update: The Howrey raises have been announced, but not yet implemented. When they will take effect, and whether they will be made retroactive, is unclear.

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Musical Chairs: 01.03.07

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musical chairs 2 Above the Law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFSome other noteworthy moves within the legal profession (besides Chief Judge David Levi’s selection as Dean of Duke Law School):
Within government:
* This is big news: the new Attorney General for New York, Andrew Cuomo, has hired Barbara D. Underwood as his solicitor general.
Underwood has a resume to die for. She has served as counsel to Eastern District U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf, as chief assistant U.S. Attorney in the E.D.N.Y., and as principal deputy solicitor general over at the Justice Department (under President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno).
Surprise surprise: Barbara Underwood is among the Elect (OT 1970/Marshall). We hear that she beat out other former Supreme Court clerks to win the New York SG job.
The fact that so many high-powered people were vying for the gig shows that state solicitor general posts are acquiring more and more cachet. Being an ex-SCOTUS clerk is rapidly becoming a requirement for these jobs. E.g., Ted Cruz in Texas (OT 1996/Rehnquist); Kevin Newsom in Alabama (OT 2000/Souter).
The rest of today’s transitions, plus links, after the jump.

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Musical Chairs: 11.08.06

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Musical Chairs Above the Law Legal Blog Above the Law Legal Tabloid Above the Law Legal Gossip Site.GIFPersonnel changes are everywhere today — and not just on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon. Some notable moves within the legal profession:
Lateral Moves:
* Private equity and M&A lawyer Dennis Barsky, to Jones Day, from Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
* Corporate lawyer Jonathan Stapleton and investment-funds lawyer Margaret Paradis, to Baker & McKenzie (NY), from Arnold & Porter and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, respectively.
* Insurance and financial services lawyer Chiu-Ti Jansen, to Sidley Austin, from LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae.
Government to Private Sector:
* Marc Agnifilo, former head of the violent and organized crime unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey, is joining Brafman and Associates. Yes, that Brafman — renowned criminal defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman, Diddy-defending attorney to the stars.
(Disclosure: Marc Agnifilo is a former colleague of ours, as well as a tremendously experienced and exceptionally talented lawyer. He has a fantastic sense of humor. And he’s the nephew of celebrated writer Don DeLillo.)
Firm Adds Two NY Corporate Partners [NYLawyer.com]
NY Private Equity Partner Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]
NY Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
Baker & McKenzie LLP Announces Ambitious New Strategy and Leadership Team in New York [Baker & McKenzie]

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Musical Chairs: 10.18.06

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musical chairs above the law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFThe only noteworthy moves today come from Texas. Oh well, at least yesterday was busy.
Lateral Moves:
* Corporate lawyers Paul Bishop, T. Alan Harris, Annette Trip, and Don Wood, to Sutherland Asbill & Brennan (Houston), from Locke Liddell & Sapp.
* A pair of Geralds — Gerald Pels, and Gerald Higdon — to Sutherland Asbill (energy and environmental), from Locke Liddell & Sapp.
New Partners/Principals:
* Dechert (Austin): Intellectual property lawyer Steven Daniels.
* Baker & McKenzie (Dallas): Litigator Elizabeth Yingling.
Lone Star Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
Women on the Move [Dallas Business Journal]

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Non-Sequiturs: 8.3.06

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* Are lawyers really this superstitious? Or is a trial just an excuse to go on a sugar binge and get all liquored up? [WSJ Law Blog]
* Heh, looks like there’s another “backdating scandal” happening out on the West Coast. [The Recorder]
* Extreme Makeover: Federal Courthouse Edition. [Washington Post]
* It’s not just meant for movie theaters. That Nokia ring tone may be coming to a courtroom near you. [New York Law Journal]
* Oh Claude, why didn’t you try the whole “insanity” thing? If it worked for Andrea Yates, it might have worked for you. [Associated Press]
* We’re impressed by The Recorder’s ability to cram bad puns on Fish & Richardson into its title and lede. We count two and a half, since “sticks” sorta conjures up images of Mrs. Paul’s. [The Recorder]
* “Baker & McKenzie, be on alert: henceforth, Boing Boing will be actively monitoring your website to identify dumbass activity and will, if necessary, take appropriate action to point out instances of wasting clients’ money by sending out unnecessary and obnoxious warning letters.” [The American Lawyer; Boing Boing]

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