The ABA is out with a new report that suggests the recession has negatively impacted diversity in the legal profession. The report also confirms reports we’ve heard about layoffs disproportionately affecting minority attorneys: The ABA Journal summarizes the findings:

“While law firms have increasingly come to recognize that diverse corporate clients and international markets often require lawyer diversity, the recession is drying up monies for diversity initiatives and creating downsizing and cutbacks that may disproportionately and negatively affect lawyer diversity—thereby undoing the gains of past decades,” states the report produced for the ABA Presidential Initiative Commission on Diversity.

The report, titled Diversity in the Legal Profession: The Next Steps (PDF), also urges law schools to take financial considerations into account in seeking greater diversity in admissions since diverse populations often are most affected by rising tuition costs and heavy debt loads.

That’s right, the ABA has some suggested solutions to this problem and — quite rightly — it starts with law schools.

Details from the report after the jump.

Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks, which has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker.

Regular readers of this column are well aware by now that the overall unemployment rate isn’t a particularly good indicator, but it’s the most-commonly discussed number so we use it. The predictions are always wrong, and the rate grossly undercounts the number of people any reasonable person would define as unemployed. But for all its problems, it’s not entirely useless to show trends.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

The unemployment rate fell from 10.0 to 9.7 percent in January, and nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged (-20,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

That’s what we’ve been harping on all along. Overall unemployment didn’t improve because of a flood of people going back to work; it improved because so many people fell out of the BLS’s definition. We remain frustrated by any definition of unemployment that doesn’t include people who got frustrated and gave up looking or whose unemployment had outlasted their benefits.

Perhaps to avoid the snowpocalypse in D.C., Justice Clarence Thomas went down to the Sunshine State this week, where he spent time speaking with law students at Stetson University and the University of Florida.

Though he’s the sphinx of the High Court, Justice Thomas is loquacious when not in oral arguments. He’s an engaging speaker: personable, genuine, funny.

Though we cringed watching video from his Thursday talk at the University of Florida. He talked about the elitism in SCOTUS clerk hiring and complained about “smart bloggers” — or “self-proclaimed smart bloggers” — labeling his clerks “TTT” last year. “That’s the attitude that you’re up against,” he told the UF law students.

We hope that comment was not inspired by these pages. In 2008, CT’s law clerks came from George Mason, Rutgers, George Washington, and Creighton law schools. If there were any “TTT” references to them here, they were in the comments section and did not come from our “smart” mouths, er, fingers. (Reader comments should not be confused with ATL editorial comment; this is why we hide the comments, for your protection.)

We worship The Elect, regardless of alma mater. Lat has been heaping slavish adoration at the feet of SCOTUS clerks since 2004.

More thoughts from Justice Thomas on clerk hiring, paying off his student loan debt, and law firm layoffs, after the jump.

More 2009 profit numbers are in, this time for law firms based in Boston. And, as we’ve seen elsewhere, partners in Boston are enjoying record-breaking profits. The Boston Globe reports:

Senior lawyers at three of Boston’s biggest law firms had their most profitable year ever in 2009, despite widespread job losses in the city’s legal industry.

Bingham McCutchen, Fish & Richardson, and WilmerHale all said they recorded the highest average profits per partner ever in 2009. Meanwhile, some other firms reported better-than-expected financial results.

For the associates laid off by Bingham, the associates laid off by Fish, and for the staff laid off by WilmerHale, I don’t know what to tell you. Biglaw partners in Boston didn’t just find a way to make money during the recession, they were able to make more money than ever before.

I guess all of the laid off associates and staff can feel good about helping them rake in the dough?

All the gory details after the jump.

Many job seekers would love to work as lawyers for the federal government but haven’t had luck landing a position. Openings for attorneys on USAJOBS attract hundreds of applicants. In light of massive law-firm layoffs and the relative stability of government employment, high demand for federal jobs is unsurprising. You have to be a positively brilliant lawyer to land a government gig these days.

Or not. If you’ve applied to the U.S. Department of Justice without success, ask yourself: Do I have a normal or above-normal IQ?

If you do, you might be… overqualified. From a Justice Department job posting (emphasis added):

The Civil Rights Division encourages qualified applicants with targeted disabilities to apply. Targeted disabilities are deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, convulsive disorder, mental retardation, mental illness, severe distortion of limbs and/or spine.

Quips former DOJ lawyer Ty Clevenger: “Having worked there, I think CRD has plenty of mentally retarded lawyers already. Mostly in supervisory positions.”

Says another tipster who brought this to our attention: “I understand how you can have a few missing limbs or be partially paralyzed and still be a trial lawyer, but someone with an IQ less than 70?!?!!?”

Recruiting mentally retarded lawyers to litigate civil rights cases for the DOJ may take the expression “good enough for government work” too far. But, in fairness, there is a caveat to all of this….

Last month, as your ATL editors were leaving work, we ran into a fresh recruit to Biglaw, newly arrived in New York with a January draft date. He was at the corner of Mott and Houston after having looked at a possible apartment for rent. He recognized us as chroniclers of Biglaw’s troubles and complained about the New York housing search.

It’s not that it’s hard to find an apartment these days, thanks to the recession-inspired exodus from Manhattan. Instead, our Biglaw-bound reader said that he had found the perfect apartment but that the landlord had turned his application down. “I don’t have bad credit,” he said, and he looked respectable enough, going to open houses in a suit. “I think the landlord may have googled my firm and seen that it’s had layoffs.”

We doubt that landlords are coming to Above the Law to do background checks on potential tenants. We suggested that the rejection may be due instead to a certain housing phenomenon: discrimination against lawyers.

Yesterday we reported on layoffs at Howrey. Our sources told us that 100 people were axed, but a Howrey spokesperson declined to give us firm numbers.

It turns out that our sources were pretty accurate. The firm confirmed to AmLaw Daily today that it laid off 94 people: 29 associates and 65 staff, from 10 offices. A tipster says one-third of the “reduction-in-force” took place in Howrey’s D.C. office.

The rumor mill at the firm is still churning, though, claiming that Howrey has taken a number of actions to cut costs — and that the number of laid-off individuals may be higher than 94.

While associates at some firms are still waiting to learn what their 2009 bonuses will be, associates at other firms are learning more about what the future holds in store for them, as more firms announce new compensation structures for 2010 and beyond.

Check out the ATL Career Center, powered by Lateral Link, for the latest information on which firms are making a full recovery and which firms are still stuck in the downturn.

In the last week, we have updated the firm snapshots for Vinson & Elkins, Wachtell, Irell & Manella, Paul Weiss, Wilson Sonsini, Hughes Hubbard, Quinn Emanuel, Chadbourne & Parke, Latham, Cooley Godward, Goodwin Proctor, Bryan Cave.

Below are a few of the latest updates from the Career Center firm snapshots:

• This firm not only avoided layoffs and pay freezes last year, it had its most profitable year ever in 2009.
• While 2010 has brought salary thaws at many firm, salaries at this firm remain frozen. 
  
• In addition to recently raising salaries to pre-freeze levels, this firm awarded make-whole bonuses to associates to make up for salary lost during the freeze in 2009.  

After the jump see which firms were most popular in January.

Update: Howrey has confirmed that 94 people were laid off. More information here.

Howrey LLP has been generating a lot of news recently. Last week, the firm got hit with a $30-million racial discrimination suit by a former Brussels-based associate. But the rumor mill there was already churning with other, more depressing news here in the U.S.

Sources say that 100 people were laid off today. The firm has confirmed that layoffs took place, though it won’t confirm the numbers. Update (Feb. 3): Howrey gave solid numbers to AmLaw Daily today. The 100 figure was pretty accurate. The exact figure was 94 people: 29 associates and 65 staff. We’ve also heard reports that the firm asked some associates to go part-time

From a tipster:

Howrey has just internally announced sweeping layoffs, something everyone here saw coming for a very long time once the 2009 numbers came out. This is the first time I’ve heard Howrey actually use the word “layoff” in an e-mail to its associates.

An email went out this afternoon from managing partner and CEO Bob Ruyak. Here’s an excerpt from the email, available in full, along with a firm statement, after the jump:

While demand from clients for our services remains stable, it does not, unfortunately, provide enough work for all of our attorneys and staff to be fully utilized.

This contradicts what associates were told on a recent firmwide conference call…

Occasionally, I am guilty of overselling my point. That slight personality flaw means that I have at least one thing in common with Brad Karp, chairman of Paul Weiss. American Lawyer reports that 2009 was the most profitable year ever for Paul Weiss (more on that later). The article contains an interesting turn of phrase:

Though the firm’s gross revenue slipped by 3.8 percent, from $692 million in 2008 to $665.5 million in 2009, profits per equity partner (PPP) hit $2.69 million, up from $2.65 million in 2008. Notably, the firm achieved its results without resorting to layoffs. In fact, lawyer head count at the firm increased slightly from 647 to 653.

No layoffs you say? None? Zero? Well allow this tipster to retort:

PW’s Load of S***.

I was among the one third of PW’s staff attorney program that was axed. I also know that more senior associates were given the “talk” about how they have no future at PW, so they better get their shit together to leave. One of them left into the “wild blue yonder” because he had no place to go.

They welcomed the first year class of 100, that is why it appeared that their numbers went up slightly without layoffs.

I can’t speak to secret talks that lead to mysterious disappearances, but we were all over the staff attorney layoffs at Paul Weiss, just a couple of months ago. Details after the jump.

Is it me or has there been an awful lot of news coming out of Wisconsin recently?

Last week a Wisconsin prisoner was denied his fundamental Dungeons & Dragons rights — rights that would be protected by my class 8, Constitution of Living, artifact. Then we had a story about an attempt to bring cast members from the Jersey Shore to speak at the Wisconsin Law School graduation.

That attempt failed. We understand that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle will be the commencement speaker. Perhaps Wisconsin law students can use the opportunity to convince the Governor to protect state jobs in Wisconsin’s district attorney offices. As it stands right now, a number of Wisconsin D.A.s are slated to be fired. But in a textbook example of “how to strike fear into the hearts of your employees,” Wisconsin D.A.s don’t know who will be shown the door, or when, or how many of them will be fired. The ABA Journal reports:

Prosecutors’ offices in Wisconsin have received notices from the state that they will face layoffs, leading to public safety worries and contingency plans.

It’s not known how many layoffs are planned or when they will occur, according to WQOW18 and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The state budget crunch is forcing the cuts.

After the jump, press from around Wisconsin has watched enough Law & Order episodes to know that you can’t have successful crime fighting without capable district attorneys.

Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks, which has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker.

We’re coming down to the wire on the Law Shucks Lateral Tracker launch promotion iPhone 3GS giveaway. Read the announcement and the rules, then get those submissions in by midnight January 31 for your chance to win the phone or the other prizes.

Initial jobless claims dropped slightly last week, to 470,000, which was slightly better than the previous week, but once again not in line with the expected 450,000. That actually caused the four-week moving average of initial claims to increase slightly, which isn’t usually a good sign.

But there may now be cause for guarded optimism. The US economy grew by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, the fastest pace in six years. That spending was in infrastructure, not directly in jobs, but it could presage increased staffing. President Obama is hoping to spur that along with a one-year, $33 billion tax credit for small-business new hires and a payroll-tax reduction.

On the whole, though, the week in law-firm economic news was relatively good. Details after the jump.

UPDATE: We have additional coverage on this story here.

Associate layoffs are sometimes conducted in a stealth manner. Partner layoffs are always conducted in secret. Forcing out partners has been a big part of the Great Recession. But when firms “quietly ask partners to leave,” the information actually stays pretty quiet.

But last night, the Above the Law inbox started buzzing with news that four real estate partners had been asked to leave Paul Hastings.

UPDATE: Sources now report that only three partners are being asked to leave.

How do we know this? Well, Paul Hastings may have quietly asked these people to leave, but their offices were packed up loudly.

We understand that all of the departures are in Paul Hastings’s New York real estate department. We’ve got the names, details, and a firm statement, after the jump.

Our recent Career Center survey asked about whether you think layoffs and salary cuts are a thing of the past or if 2010 will bring more of the same.  The majority of respondents — 70% — are optimistic about salaries, saying they do not expect any further salary cuts in 2010. 

However, respondents were not so optimistic about the chances of future layoffs.  After a year in which over 75% of respondents saw layoffs at their firms, almost half — 45% — think there is at least a 50-50 chance of more layoffs in 2010. 

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 above-market bonuses for the second year in a row and which firm is so confident about recovering from the recession that it is opening multiple new offices.

Full survey results, after the jump. 

Some lawyers love what they do. Those who don’t are vocal about how much they hate their jobs. So what would the naysayers prefer to be doing professionally? Above the Law editors have heard these “dream careers” tossed around: government intelligence analyst, writer/journalist, banker (so they can keep making the bank), and — for those who want to stay in the law, but not Biglaw — assistant U.S. attorney, judge, or law school professor.

Some people are content to stay in the law but need a creative/fun outlet. It’s an added bonus if that outlet also makes money. One such endeavor is to open a restaurant. (The belief that most restaurants fail in the first year is a myth, after all.)

We’ve written before about lawyer-turned-Subway entrepreneur Larry Feldman. But being king of a sandwich-shop franchise is not really the glamorous side of food service. The daydream version involves starting up a place with a bit more character.

For some, being laid off has been a push to tap into a culinary side. Here in New York, a first-year associate caught up in law firm layoffs used the opportunity to open a Taiwanese steamed bun cafe in the Lower East Side, called Baohaus.

Further south, in Washington, D.C., another casualty of the recession layoffs got into the eat-out business. Julie Liu, a former Katten Muchin associate, launched a restaurant in Dupont Circle last year named Scion. She was very thankful to Katten for her three-month severance: it “basically paid for Scion’s kitchen equipment.”

We caught up with Liu about opening a restaurant with her sister, and got some advice for other wannabe restaurateurs.

Last week, Wilson Sonsini was busy shuffling staffers out the door. Today, Wilson Sonsini is proud to announce bonuses for the lawyers — just in case any of them were feeling bad about their recently departed secretaries.

The firm-wide memo just went out; here’s the bonus news:

Merit Bonus The firm will pay merit bonuses for FY10 to all eligible non-member attorneys. Continuing with the criteria implemented last year, the merit bonus program provides for hours-based awards to all attorneys in good standing who achieved 1,900 or 2,100 bonus-eligible hours over the course of the 2009 calendar year. In addition to the hours-based component, attorneys also may receive a discretionary amount based on work quality and overall contribution to the firm. …

This year’s total bonuses range from a maximum of $9,000 for eligible associates from the class of 2008 to a maximum of $49,000 for eligible associates from the 2002 and earlier classes.

While the top number is more than the Cravath scale, we have no idea how many lawyers actually exceeded the Cravath bonus. I’ll spare you the familiar rant about the uselessness of providing the high score without mentioning the average payout associates received. Suffice it to say: nobody’s fooled.

UPDATE: We now have the full bonus memo for WSGR, which appears after the jump.

Wilson Sonsini also announced salary news today. After the jump, you’ll see that it looks suspiciously like a thaw of one class year.

Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks, which has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker.

Unemployment rose again last month, climbing higher in 43 states, which is particularly surprising when compared to the 36 states that reported improved numbers in November. Once again, it might have been worse, but for the curious ways in which the unemployment rate is calculated:

In another nationwide trend, long-suffering states like California and Michigan saw their jobless rates stabilize even as they continued to bleed jobs. That’s because thousands of frustrated workers gave up hunting for work and dropped out of the labor force, which means they aren’t included in the unemployment rate.

Contrary to common sense, the unemployment rate isn’t calculated based on the total number of people who don’t have jobs, so people becoming so frustrated they quit looking actually improves the number (even though they’re certainly telling their friends they’re unemployed because, you know, they don’t have jobs).

Overall, 85,000 jobs were lost in December (compared to a 4,000 job increase in November) - but 600,000 people left the labor force in the same period. So the numbers are even worse than the record levels they’re currently reaching. For example, New York’s unemployment rate is nine percent, a 26-year high, and New Jersey’s 10.1% is a 33-year high.

The trend isn’t looking much better lately, either. First-time jobless claims rose 36,000 to 482,000 last week, once again surprising economists, who had a consensus estimate of a slight decrease (although this week’s numbers might be slightly off due to estimating necessary as a result of the Martin Luther King holiday). That marks the first time the four-week rolling average has increased in 19 weeks.

But that’s the big picture. After the jump, the goings on in the legal sector.

As we’ve discussed before, Latham & Watkins can be a bit bipolar. Sometimes the firm is in manic mode, expanding and hiring and paying very generous bonuses. Then it sinks into depression, replete with freezing salaries and large-scale layoffs.

Right now L&W seems to be in happy mode. In recent weeks, it has announced true-up salary raises and opened new offices (in Houston and Beijing).

And today, fulfilling the hopes of many associates, it announced bonuses. Very generous bonuses — big enough to induce survivors’ guilt.

So, how big are the Latham & Watkins payouts?

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.

Dorsey & Whitney is not planning on more layoffs. Not in California. Anything you may have heard to the contrary is false.

If you happen to work for Dorsey & Whitney in California, you may have noticed a recent report in the San Jose Mercury News. Tons of readers sent the story to Above the Law. The news organization reprinted a list of companies that had filed layoff notices in compliance with California’s WARN regulations. Companies with more than 75 employees must provide 60 days’ notice in advance of laying off 50 or more employees.

Here’s the list. You’ll note that Dorsey & Whitney is prominently listed on the top of the page. In three separate entries, the paper makes it look like Dorsey & Whitney is planning on laying off 72 people sometime in 2010.

That’s not correct. First of all, the entries list Dorsey & Whitney as laying off people in Valencia, when in fact Dorsey’s Southern California’s office is in Irvine. Also, there aren’t even 72 people working in Dorsey’s Irvine office. It would be mathematically impossible for the firm to lay off that many people in Southern California.

The WARN filing is just a big clerical error. How did this mistake happen? The firm explains after the jump.