Law professors generally don’t earn as much as Biglaw partners. Legal academic salaries, while generally in the low six-figures, rarely go over, say, $400,000.

But some law profs own very, very nice homes. See, e.g. (in descending order by value):

• Columbia professor Hans Smit ($30 million mansion — yup, that’s seven zeros);

• Yale professor James Whitman ($5.7 million co-op);

• NYU professor Cathy Sharkey ($5.2 million apartment);

• “Feldsuk,” aka Harvard professors Jeannie Suk, who has a new book out that looks quite interesting, and Noah Feldman ($2.8 million mansion);

• Columbia professor Edward Morrison ($2.6 million townhouse); and

• Columbia professor Sarah Cleveland ($2.5 million townhouse).

  Sometimes the professors get financial assistance for these purchases from the schools that employ them. But sometimes the professors buy them on their own, without any university help.

  For example, as reported in the New York Observer, Daniel Fischel, former dean of the University of Chicago Law School, just picked up an $8.45 million Manhattan pied-à-terre. As breathlessly described by writer Max Abelson, the apartment features “custom electric shades, a steam shower, and a Sub-Zero wine refrigerator.”

  Sounds fabulous! Maybe Professor Fischel can donate a weekend in this apartment to the CLF public interest auction?

  Fischel’s famous neighbors, plus the story of how he got this rich — being a law school dean pays well, but not that well — after the jump.

* Lawyers are winning in the long rivalry between lawyers and bankers. Endless financial fraud cases make lawyers look ethical. There is another fraud charge in Philadelphia against money manager Joseph Forte. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]

* The SEC is investigating Apple’s disclosures about CEO Steve Jobs’ health, to make sure the company did not mislead investors. [Bloomberg]

* The point man for Madoff’s investor Frank DiPascali will now be the go-to guy for prosecutors investigating the scheme. [The Wall Street Journal]

* Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Apeals to review his 19 convictions. [The Houston Chronicle]

* A Czech businessman settled a suit filed against him by hedge fund Omega advisors, after he alegedly bribed government officials in Azerbaijan, defrauding investors hundreds of millions. [The New York Times]

* In the aftermath of India’s Enron—the Satyam scandal, the Indian government will likely rescue Satyam’s workers from losing their jobs. [Time.com]

* SEC chairman Christopher Cox resigned in the wake of scrutiny of the SEC for failing to investigate allegations in the Madoff scandal. [The Associated Press]

The 5th Circuit has upheld the convictions of former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling, but they have determined that he should be resentenced. The AP reports:

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Tuesday denied Skilling’s request that his convictions be overturned because they were based on an incorrect legal theory.

We don’t have our hands on the 105-page opinion, but apparently Skilling’s argument that Enron was just ahead of the curve on the whole global financial crisis thing wasn’t enough to overturn his convictions.

Jeff Skilling To Run Free? [Dealbreaker]
Skilling convictions upheld, resentencing ordered [AP]

Here’s our latest Non-Top-Tier Law School Graduate of the Day, an alumnus of a Tier 3 school. And he didn’t even get an LLM from NYU!

Name: Daniel Petrocelli

Law School: Southwestern Law School, J.D., 1980

Current Position: Partner, O’Melveny & Myers

Why He’s Our Winner: The reader who nominated Petrocelli says it all:

You should consider featuring Daniel Petrocelli on your non-top-tier success series. This is the same Petrocelli who brought in the civil verdict against O.J. Simpson and represented Jeffrey Skilling. Petrocelli is now pulling in gazillions as a partner at O’Melveny & Myers in L.A.

From whence did he come? Southwestern University Law School. But wait, there’s more. It’s not featured on his bio, but he went to night school!!!

So whether to illustrate the heights to which non-top-tier graduates are capable of reaching, or to show how one doesn’t need to have their parents get them into Yale to succeed, you really should feature him.

Indeed — Dan Petrocelli is a worthy winner. But one caveat: he did graduate first in his class, and served as editor-in-chief of the law review. So his job prospects were considerably better than those in the middle or at the bottom of the class.

Daniel Petrocelli bio [O’Melveny & Myers]
The Inside Story of How O.J. Lost [Time]

Really, really long.* To wit, 292 months long. For the mathematically challenged among you, that’s 24 years and four months. Ouch.

But given the size and scope of the Enron fraud, the lengthy sentence may be appropriate (even if it’s higher than many Wall Streeters expected). You can compare Jeffrey Skilling’s sentence to those of other leading white-collar criminals over at the WSJ Law Blog.

* We briefly contemplated a far more crude cinematic allusion, involving this movie, but thought better of it.

Skilling Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison [Associated Press]
Skilling Gets 24 Years [DealBreaker]
Skilling’s Sentence: 24 Years, 4 months [WSJ Law Blog]

Oodles of juicy moves today, especially out of and into the federal government. As the leaves change, so do the lawyers.

Government to Private Sector:

* Federal prosecutor John Hueston, a leader of the team that prosecuted Enron execs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, is heading for the greener pastures of Irell & Manella.

All around the country, AUSAs with white-collar criminal experience are leaving U.S. Attorney’s Offices — including our former workplace — for the more lucrative precincts of private practice. The trend is especially pronounced in the legendary Southern District of New York, as noted by Anna Schneider-Mayerson.

Private Sector to Government:

* Corporate and securities lawyer Michael Halloran, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop, has been appointed to serve as deputy chief of staff and counselor to Christopher Cox, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lateral Moves:

* Broker-dealer compliance specialist Steven Lofchie, to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, from Davis Polk & Wardwell. (In this day and age, compliance is a hot area. We’re guessing Lofchie got offered a nice deal.)

* Tax lawyer John Narducci, to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, from White & Case.

* IP lawyer Robert Wasnofski Jr., to Dorsey & Whitney, from Baker Botts.

* M&A lawyer Sandy Feldman, to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, from Torys.

Retirements:

* Plaintiffs’ lawyer Alan Schulman, of Bernstein, Litowitz — and formerly of the indicted Milberg Weiss — is retiring at the end of the year.

Not Going Anywhere — Yet:

* Apple CEO Steve Jobs and HP CEO Mark Hurd are sticking around — despite the problems that their companies face.

NY Practice Leader Leaves One Elite NY Firm for Another [NYLawyer.com]
More NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Milberg Weiss: Merger Talks Break Down; An Alum Retires [WSJ Law Blog]
Enron Prosecutor John Hueston to Join Irell & Manella [WSJ Law Blog]
The Gang That Shot Straight Is Disbanding, For a Profit [New York Observer]

* Ah, the Brits. We don’t want to emulate them on, say, the culinary front — bangers and mash, anyone? But we may be able to learn a thing or two from their counterterrorism laws. The Justice Department is comparing U.S. and British counterterrorism laws to see if any changes should be made in American law — and if those changes would be constitutional. [New York Times]

* It’s official: now that President Bush has signed the bill, the controversial cross on a San Diego hilltop in now under federal control. But litigation seeking its removal will continue. [Los Angeles Times]

* Now that Ken Lay has passed away, effectively vacating his Enron convictions, the government wants to recover some of Lay’s proceeds from fraud from fellow fraudster Jeffrey Skilling. But they’re not the only ones with an eye on Skilling’s assets. Jeff Skilling owes L.A. law behemoth O’Melveny & Myers some $30 million in legal fees (on top of the $23 million he paid the firm previously, before the start of trial). [New York Times]

* The NYT editorial board doesn’t like President Bush’s judicial picks. We’re sure this will keep him up at night. [New York Times]

* Americans are even more stupid than previously thought. According to a recent poll, “77 percent of us can identify two of the Seven Dwarfs, [but] only 24 percent could name two Supreme Court justices.” [Washington Times]