Christopher Hitchens has famously declared that "the four most over-rated things in life are champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics." LEWW humbly submits an addition to this list: the University of Pennsylvania. Or "Penn State." Whatever you call it, we're tired of it. Its graduates are ridiculously overrepresented on the weddings page. (We haven't done a scientific survey, but we'd venture to guess that we've written more about newlyweds from Penn than from any other school--even New York schools.) And really, what's so great about Penn, other than its football team?

As you can probably guess, it's another Penn-heavy week on the Legal Eagle Wedding Watch. But don't worry; we've lightened the tedium with a few other degrees--and some strikingly attractive contestants:

1. Stacey Sarfatti and Rustin Paul

2. Tamar Shuldiner and Keith Levenberg

3. Melissa Hutson and Matthew Rizzo

Click on the link below for these couples' pictures and credentials.

We've previously reported on law firms having difficulty getting clients to pay their bills. It's not just happening to firms working on deals that go bust; it has also happened to a firm representing a celeb after his marriage went bust. From Am Law Daily:

Blank Rome is suing rapper/actor/activist Mos Def for over $60,000 in unpaid legal bills stemming from his 2006 divorce from Maria Yepes.

The couple ended their 10-year marriage that year in a Brooklyn court, with Judge Sarah Krauss pleading with them to settle their differences outside her courtroom.

Reports say that the Brooklyn-born Mos Def (real name: Dante Smith) owes the money to Blank Rome in the form of unpaid fees and retainers. The Emmy, Golden Globe, and Grammy award-nominated entertainer retained lawyers from the firm's well-regarded matrimonial practice, which advises high-end clients on divorce, mediation, property distribution, paternity, visitation rights, and trusts and estates.

This is Mos Def's second month in a row of legal troubles. In November, Las Vegas police issued an arrest warrant after Mos got in a scuffle with a photographer. In more bad news, his portrayal of Chuck Berry in the recently released music biopic extravaganza Cadillac Records was panned by the Los Angeles Times.

We wonder if this will make him rethink the title of his upcoming album, rumored to be titled Ecstatic.

Some good news for Mos Def, after the jump.

Our continuing coverage of no offers suggests that a 90% offer rate is actually outstanding. Today we have news from two more firms that fell short of 90% but still made offers to the majority of their 2008 summer associates.

Our tipsters were right on the money with the information that Blank Rome no offered 4 summer associates out of a class size in the mid-20s. According to Blank Rome spokesperson Topper Ray:

Our 2008 summer associate class was comprised of 28 summer associates -24 2L's and 4 1L's. 20 out of 24 2L's received offers.

Ray also confirmed that the 4 1Ls received invitations to summer with the firm next year.

In this market an 83% offer rate isn't terrible, even though Blank Rome was able to extend offers to all of their 2007 summer associates.

The news was a little worse at another Philadelphia powerhouse, Pepper Hamilton. According to Pepper Hamilton spokesperson Polly Coxe:

In 2008, Pepper Hamilton extended offers to 20 of 27 summer associates in Philadelphia (two students withdrew from consideration before we made offer decisions). Firm-wide, we made offers to 30 of 38 summer associates. This is approximately the same number of offers we extended the past two years.

More from the streets of Philadelphia after the jump.

This isn't super-exciting news, since the key point -- an increase in starting salaries -- was previously announced.

But in case you're interested, the pay raise (and bonus) memo of Blank Rome -- which announced an increase in first-year associate salaries last fall, but said it was still "reviewing the compensation levels for all Associates to make appropriate incremental increases based on class year" -- appears after the jump.

Yesterday Blank Rome announced associate pay raises, of varying sizes, that will take effect in 2008. The firm will move to a starting salary of $160,000 in New York, but not in Washington. In the Philadelphia mother ship, starting pay will be $145,000.

The billable minimum at Blank Rome is 2000 hours. Here's the memo:

MEMORANDUM

TO: All Attorneys

FROM: David F. Girard-diCarlo, Chairman
Carl M. Buchholz, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer

DATE: October 3, 2007

RE: Associate Compensation

We are pleased to announce that the Firm will be increasing starting salaries for Associates, effective January 1, 2008. Starting salaries for Associates in New York will be increased to $160,000, in Washington to $150,000, and in Philadelphia to $145,000. All other offices will be appropriately adjusted to reflect their respective markets.

In addition to increasing starting salaries, we are reviewing the compensation levels for all Associates to make appropriate incremental increases based on class year. Adjustments will be made effective January 1, 2008, and the information regarding these adjustments will be communicated directly to Associates by the Practice Group Leaders once they have been determined. These adjustments will be in addition to the merit increases and bonuses being awarded to our Associates.

We've previously covered Denver and Hartford. Today our series of posts profiling associate compensation in various smaller legal markets -- smaller than New York or Washington or Los Angeles, at least -- turns to Philadelphia.

What's going on in the City of Brotherly Love? Based on some recent articles we've read, it seems that the standard starting salary in Philly hovers between $135,000 and $145,000.

At $135K: Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis; Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll; Duane Morris; Blank Rome; Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen; and DLA Piper.

At $145K: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Dechert; Drinker Biddle & Reath; and Pepper Hamilton.

Will Philly move to the $160K scale anytime soon? If so, when? And who will lead the charge?

In the cheesesteak metropolis, starting salaries aren't the only issue. Per a commenter:

[W]hen you do [Philadelphia], please make sure to point out our mid-level comp which sucks. We get about a 5k raise per year (though [in] some years we do get 10k but not most). After 7 years we're just clearing 200k.

Interesting -- and depressing. Is so-called "compression" higher up the seniority ladder a more pressing salary issue in Philly right now than the state of starting salaries?

Please discuss, in the comments. Thanks.

Hangley Aronchick Raises Associate Salaries to $135,000 [Legal Intelligencer (subscription)]
Pepper Hamilton Raising First-Year Associates' Salaries by $20,000 [Legal Intelligencer (subscription)]

A few more announcements have floated in, including ones from Blank Rome and Winston & Strawn. More details, plus a memo (in the case of Blank Rome), after the jump.

(These were the announcements that were into us and confirmed by the time we left for New York this morning. If you submitted confirmation of an announcement after 5 AM today, we'll include it in our next round-up of pay raise news. Thanks.)

Here are the highlights from the latest collection of job moves:

New Firms:

* Eve Rachel Markewich and Lawrence Rosenstock are leaving Blank Rome's New York office to set up their own shop, to be called Markewich and Rosenstock. They will focus on Surrogate's Court and general commercial litigation. Markewich was an unsuccessful candidate for Manhattan surrogate last year; Rosenstock is a Democratic district leader in the borough.

Lateral Moves:

* Dr. James Hill, to McDermott, Will & Emery (IP department), from Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear.

* The stork is coming -- not with a bundle of joy, but a book of business. Anita Stork is leaving Cooley Godward, which is about to merge with Kronish Lieb, to join Covington & Burling's litigation and antitrust and consumer practice group as a partner.

Two NY Partner-Politicos Quit to Launch Their Own Firm [NYLawyer.com]
Left-Coast Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]