Last week, we dropped by NY LegalTech to find out What’s on the Mind of the General Counsel.

Three GCs were on the panel: Seth Krauss of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.; Dawson Horn III of Tyco International; and Jonathan Broder of Conrail. Conrail is, of course, the railroad company. Take-Two is a software and video game company, of Grand Theft Auto fame. Tyco is a well-known manufacturing company, of shower curtain scandal fame.

They provided some insight into the in-house world and what they look for when they hire outside counsel. “”We’re instruction-rich and cash-poor,” said one.

They offered advice to partners and lawyers who want their business. “Know something about me,” said Horn. In other words, Google him. And: “Believe in the cause,” he added.

That’s rather vague. More specific instructions for getting hired by a general counsel, and some advice for fellow GCs, after the jump.

I’m not a meteorologist, or a groundhog, but it looks like D.C. and Philadelphia are totally screwed today. A D.C. tipster called it a “snowpocalypse.” (Judge for yourself - the image above links to Weather.com’s live radar map.)

Our own Kashmir Hill — who has lived in D.C. and, inexplicably, liked it — claims that the blizzard will shut the city down.

So, which firms are closing, and how are people planning to spend their day?

Earlier this week, at the PLI Law Firm Leadership and Management Institute — which was excellent, by the way (and not just because we presented there) — Dean David Van Zandt, of Northwestern University School of Law, offered some reflections on the future of legal education. (We used one of his comments as a recent quote of the day.)

Dean Van Zandt’s presentation was thoughtful and thought-provoking. He analyzed a number of recent reforms made by leading law schools. He also explained the changes that Northwestern Law School has made to its academic program.

One of his most interesting tidbits was the starting salary that would constitute a “break-even point” for going to law school. In other words, what salary would you have to earn upon graduation in order to make going to law school an economically rational decision?

It has been a month since our last caption contest, so it’s high time for another. Here’s the pic:

Same rules as always: Submit possible captions for this photo in the comments. We’ll choose our favorites — with preference given to those with a legal bent — and then let you vote for the best one.

Please submit your entries by TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, at 11:59 PM. Thanks!

UPDATE: The time for submitting entries has passed. Check back later to vote on the finalists.

Last night, Marin liveblogged ABC’s new legal series, The Deep End. Over 2,000 ATL readers joined her for the series premiere. From the sound of it, doing doc review would have been a more enjoyable way to spend a Thursday evening. Marin declared:

this is why I only watch reality tv…. too painful to see how our nation’s brightest script writers can’t approximate real dialogue and human experience

The show was created by Biglaw refugee David Hemingson, a ‘90 Columbia law grad who summered at Milbank and worked for a few years at Loeb & Loeb in LA before turning to script-writing. Hemingson told the WSJ Law Blog:

How’d you go about making it real? Did you visit law firms?

I’d really stayed on the periphery of the legal world, and checked in with a lot of former colleagues and friends who are partners now. In addition I got in touch with a lot of people in their 20s and 30s. Everyone seemed to say the same thing about life as a young associate: you’re overworked and underfed in terms of guidance. You’re constantly overmatched and outgunned. You love the life and career, but constantly feel a bit in over your head.

Apparently, he stayed very far on the periphery. Says Marin:

Folks, I don’t even know what to say. This show is worse that I thought. It’s too ridiculous for words.

But lots of words have been written about it. Reviews from around the Web suggest that this group of fake lawyers can expect layoffs in the near future.

UPDATE: Marin’s liveblog of The Deep End has concluded.

But if you’d like to see what she (and assorted ATL readers) thought of the show, click on the box below.

What do you say to a recent law-school graduate?

— The Economist

Legal blogs and trade publications have been writing about “The Death of Big Law” for months. But now it’s official. The patient has been pronounced dead by no less an authority than the New York Times. Who needs the fat lady to sing when the Gray Lady has spoken?

First, a quick caveat. Obviously Biglaw hasn’t “died”; large law firms continue to exist, and they continue to be very profitable. They may have to evolve with changing times, but they are still with us, and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. What has died, rather, is a certain version of Biglaw, full of fabulosity, fun and frothiness — think Biglaw, circa 2007. May it rest in peace.

So, on to the article. It appeared in print in yesterday’s Sunday Styles — yes, the Style section, normally the home of wedding announcements and trendspotting pieces (sometimes of questionable validity). Despite its location in a guilty pleasure of a section, however, it’s a solid and hard-hitting piece.

The reporter, Alex Williams, begins by discussing The Deep End, the new ABC show set in a law firm (and previously mocked by Elie). It features associates having tons o’ fun — which makes it ridiculously outdated (assuming it ever was accurate). Williams writes:

“The Deep End” was conceived in 2007, that halcyon era of $160,000 starting salaries and full employment even for law grads who had scored in the 150s on their LSAT’s.

Those days are over. As the profession lurches through its worst slump in decades, with jobs and bonuses cut and internal pressures to perform rising, associates do not just feel as if they are diving into the deep end, but rather, drowning.

As you can tell from this excerpt, the article is stylishly written and fun to read. Although it might not tell regular ATL readers much that will surprise them, it’s a well-reported wrap-up of where things stand now, sure to be appreciated by a general audience. (It’s also much better than the Times’s last major effort to tackle Biglaw as a topic.)

The piece has been at or near the top of the NYT’s “Most E-Mailed” list for a few days now (since it first appeared online well before it showed up yesterday in print). Help it stay on the list by emailing the article to your parents or friends. Or do a good deed, and email it to that cousin of yours who is thinking about going to law school. She’ll thank you later.

Okay, that was a cheap shot — there are legitimate reasons to go to law school. But there are also things about the law, as a profession and as a business, that potential law students ought to know.

Let’s dig deeper into the piece….

Great news for Biglaw partners and the associates who love them. Early returns suggest that despite the global economic meltdown that wrecked multiple American industries, profits per partner remained relatively stable in 2009.

Biglaw partners made out okay. They survived. And they’re looking forward to even more profit in 2010. The WSJ Law Blog reports:

Here’s one thing that’s not in dispute: 2009 was awful for firms. A survey by Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group of 50 of the country’s 100 largest firms, as measured by revenue, found last year’s revenue at the firms was down an average 4% from 2008. These same firms, according to Citi, averaged 7% revenue growth in 2008, and 12% growth from 2001 to 2007. And the profit picture would have been worse had firms not aggressively cut expenses, by an average of 7% in 2009, says Dan DiPietro, the Citi’s Law Firm Group advisory head.

I think a four percent haircut, in the middle of the worst recession anybody can remember, is actually strikingly good for Biglaw partners. A lot of associates saw salary cuts of 10% or greater — to say nothing of all the people who saw salary cuts of 100%, i.e., who lost their jobs. Relatively speaking, I think a four percent drop in revenue — with the possibility that PPP won’t even fall by that much — is good news.

Of course, some firms beat the curve….

We’ve been reporting on firms that have announced pay freezes for 2010, but at some firms, the salary outlook for 2010 is still unclear.

For example, associates at Mayer Brown and Willkie Farr are huddled in the dark, not sure if they’re freezing. From a junior Willkie associate:

I’m a second-year associate at Willkie. I just learned that traditionally, associates are told about their imminent salary bumps at their year-end evaluations. I’ve discussed it with some friends, and nobody has heard anything about salary freezes or bumps at WFG.

And from an MB associate:

Mayer Brown’s still frozen. Granted they’ve put off addressing salary raises until February in the past, but we got our first 2010 paychecks today with no raises, and not a peep from the partnership to let us know they’ve even considered the issue. As of now I’m two years behind where I’d be at Dechert. This sucks.

We can’t confirm whether salaries at these firms are frozen for the year, but we can encourage a conversation about firms that are raising salaries. We hear from a Paul Weiss associate, for example, that an email went out letting them know salaries there are warm. Our tipsters says that PW checks this month will have the “usual bump” up.

Here’s an open thread for discussion of raises as usual. Who’s warm and toasty this January?

In light of the frigid temperatures we’ve been experiencing here in New York, Elie and yours truly have decided to visit sunny Los Angeles this Thursday, January 7. We’ll be doing two events, both of them free and open to the public (and featuring free food):

1. The Future of Big Law: A Debate

When: Thursday, January 7, 2010, 12 noon.
Speakers: David Lat and Elie Mystal, editors of Above the Law, will debate whether lockstep is the best system for associate compensation and promotion at large law firms.
Where: Room 1457, UCLA Law School, 71 Dodd Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
Cost: Free. Lunch will be served.

2. Reception at Corkbar

When: Thursday, January 7, 2010, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Description: Meet and mingle with the editors of Above the Law and other lawyers from the area during this informal networking opportunity.
Where: Corkbar, 403 West 12th Street, Downtown Los Angeles, CA 90015.
Cost: Free. Appetizers will be provided; no host bar.

These events are being sponsored by the Los Angeles Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society, the Libertarian Law Council, and the UCLA chapters of the Federalist Society and the American Constitution Society.

Both events are free and open to all, but please reserve a spot by emailing la.fedsoc@gmail.com. Hope to see you there!

Over the course of 2009, we covered attempts from a number of firms to replace lockstep associate compensation with a “merit based” compensation system. We have seen firm after firm (and consultant after consultant) claim that clients really care about how law firms pay their associates. And who can disagree with a term like “merit?” DLA Piper put it this way in its defense of its new, merit-based system:

At its core, this new system forces differentiation and rewards outstanding performance.

Right now, merit-based compensation is certainly winning the branding war against lockstep. There are certainly very good arguments in favor of merit compensation.

But there are also good arguments in favor of lockstep. There are reasons why lockstep is still the choice of firms considered to be the best in the country. If merit-based compensation is just a thinly veiled attempt to cut total associate compensation, that’s one thing. But let’s not forget that lockstep has some serious upside for associates, partners, and yes, clients.

In light of the frigid temperatures and snow we’ve been experiencing here in New York, Elie and yours truly have decided to visit sunny Los Angeles on January 7, 2010. We’ll be doing two events, both of them free and open to the public:

1. The Future of Big Law

When: Thursday, January 7, 2010, 12 noon.
Speakers: David Lat and Elie Mystal, editors, Above the Law
Where: UCLA Law School, 71 Dodd Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (room TBA).
Cost: Free. Lunch will be served.

2. Reception at Corkbar

When: Thursday, January 7, 2010, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Description: Meet and mingle with the editors of Above the Law and other lawyers from the area during this informal networking opportunity.
Where: Corkbar, 403 West 12th Street, Downtown Los Angeles, CA 90015.
Cost: Free. Appetizers will be provided; no host bar.

These events are being sponsored by the Los Angeles Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society, the Libertarian Law Council, and the UCLA chapters of the Federalist Society and the American Constitution Society.

Please reserve a spot by emailing la.fedsoc@gmail.com. Hope to see you there!

Last week, we surveyed Above The Law readers about their billable hours for 2009. Over 16% of respondents will be billing less than 1600 hours, and the majority of them are billing less than 1500 hours.

Assuming a stingy two weeks of vacation, that means these folks are billing 30 hours per week. Those are not the kind of hours you want to be racking up in Biglaw. But 2009 was slow, and there wasn’t a lot of work to go around.

How did you spend those unbillable hours? We hope a decent percentage of them were spent here at ATL doing “trade media review.” We hope you weren’t spending your time playing Facebook Mafia Wars and getting tricked into opposing health care reform.

We talked to legal recruiter Dan Binstock about what associates should be doing during their unbillable time. He offers advice to low-billers (and anyone gunning for partnership) after the jump.

On Wednesday, we reported that Patton Boggs was keeping its salary freeze in place. In November, we told you that Covington & Burling was instituting a salary freeze, even though the firm didn’t do it last year.

But the news coming out of D.C. isn’t putting a damper on the holiday hopefulness of some New York-based associates. Above the Law received this question earlier this week:

I’m a senior associate at a large NYC law firm — I’m hearing rumors that some large law firms who have frozen salaries (which unfortunately includes my firm) are preparing for the big thaw — have you guys heard anything to that effect?

Ha. Haha. Unfreezing? Yeah. Let me just ride my unicorn down the streets of El Dorado and see what there is to see.

Stressed out? You’re not alone. A few months ago, we surveyed ATL readers about their work-related, stress-induced illnesses. Over 50% of respondents have some serious head trips, suffering from “depression/anxiety/other mental illness.”

Our survey was far from scientific, but this rate strikes us as high. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the rate of mental illness in the general population is half of that, at 26.2%.

A third of the survey takers said they had insomnia/sleep apnea/sleep problems and headaches/migraines. Ulcers and alcohol/drug abuse are also problems for Biglaw folks. These rates though seem more in line with the rest of America.

See the full results from the survey, and hear tales from stress-sufferers, after the jump.

A lot of people have been emailing Above the Law asking about their partnership prospects. Senior associates who have survived layoffs are evidently concerned about whether they will have an opportunity to transition from employees to owners.

Our tipsters report their anecdotal sense that fewer partners are being made this year, at least compared to years past. One of our sources at Finnegan puts it this way:

How about doing a post on how (un)likely it is to make partner (especially equity) these days?

Finnegan just announced new partners for 2010 and there were only four on the list. Only four new partners (all nonequity) in a firm of almost 400 lawyers and 9 offices.

CORRECTION: Finnegan actually promoted five (not four) associates to partnership. In addition, it promoted a number of non-equity partners to equity partnership (or from “income partner” to “share partner,” in Finnegan-speak).

The economy sucks and profits per partner is way down and I’m sure the equity partners don’t want to share any more pieces of the pie than they have to, so should I just give up on my dream of making partner some day?

Yeah, it doesn’t look like Biglaw is eager to welcome the next generation of equity partners. Unless you are one of the few who (magically) has a booming book of business despite the recession.

The feeling that fewer partners are being made is based in reality. The New York Law Journal uses statistics to illustrate the plight of senior associates, after the jump.

On Friday, we gave you a sneak peek at the new rankings being developed by the Association for Corporate Counsel. The organization is asking its members to submit reviews about the law firms they work with based on a five star system.

We told you that the ACC rankings were still a work in progress, with many firms not having enough reviews to make their rating significant.

Still, the ACC would have preferred to keep its list a secret from the general public. The ABA Journal reports:

The ABA Journal asked the Association of Corporate Counsel for comment. Media representatives pointed to an online statement and a blog post by ACC President Fred Krebs. “It is premature and inappropriate at this time to cite ‘rankings’ of law firms given the limited number of evaluations submitted thus far,” Krebs says. “The ACC Value Index is in the early data-gathering stage, and it will take time to develop a robust database.”

It seems that the ACC’s real problem is that it doesn’t want its rankings to be termed “rankings.”

Our recent Career Center survey asked about compensation structure for salaries and bonuses at your firms.  The results reveal that reports of the death of lockstep compensation have been greatly exaggerated: a large majority of respondents — over 75% — say their firm still pays base salaries on a lockstep scale.  And despite the tough economy, over 96% of respondents expect a bonus this year.   

Check out the full survey results after the jump — and visit the Career Center, powered by Lateral Link — for more on which firm has announced an end-of-year salary freeze, the latest firm to join the hybrid-lockstep compensation bandwagon, and which firm is now rescinding offers to new associates.

Full survey results, after the jump.

On Wednesday, we told you that the Association of Corporate Counsel was ranking law firms based on evaluations from its members. We also told you that some law firm partners were very concerned about this list.

We have the list.

The ACC Value Index currently has responses for 448 law firms — big and small, big city and secondary markets. Sadly, the vast majority of the firms have very few responses. Apparently corporate counsels have better things to do than rank the quality of legal services they receive. Most firms — including some of the bigger names, like Cravath and Sullivan & Cromwell — have three or fewer responses.

But some firms have generated more reviews. Which firms from the Am Law 200 are in the top ten and bottom ten of the ACC rankings?