Chadbourne & Parke

The closer we get to the time when incoming associates in the class of 2009 are supposed to start, the more deferral extensions we are likely to see. Over the weekend, news broke that Chadbourne & Parke had decided to push back half of its incoming class “indefinitely.” We don’t have any information about whether […]

We continue our slog push through the nation’s 100 top law firms, as ranked by our friends over at Vault. Here are the next ten firms, to be discussed in the comments to this post: 71. Reed Smith72. Bryan Cave73. Perkins Coie74. Hunton & Williams75. Patton Boggs76. Arent Fox77. Schulte Roth & Zabel78. Howrey79. Chadbourne […]

We reported earlier today that Chadbourne & Parke was laying off people today (check out our prior coverage here). We just received this firm wide email: Accordingly, with deep regret, we are reducing the number of attorneys in our offices worldwide by approximately 25. Today will be the last day at the Firm for many […]

This layoff news is breaking right now, so we don’t have all of the details. But we understand that “heads are rolling” today at Chadbourne & Parke. The firm did not respond to an immediate request for comment, but there are multiple reports of the layoff reaper making the rounds at the firm right now. […]

As we noted in yesterday’s Morning Docket, even the New York Times has taken note of the salary freeze trend at law firms. The Times reached out to Above The Law’s own David Lat for the story: Although many associates are angry about the freezes, others are relieved, said David Lat, founding editor of AboveTheLaw.com, […]

We haven’t yet gotten our hands on the Chadbourne & Parke bonus memo, but a firm spokesperson confirmed what the general numbers look like. According to the spokesperson: “Our bonuses are on Cravath, Half-Skadden, scale. Individual bonus determinations are based upon individual performance and pro rated for part time attorneys and attorneys who have been […]

The winter wedding announcements are often a prestige wasteland, but we’re actually quite pleased with the caliber of the couples we’ve been able to round up for the first 2009 edition of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch (which admittedly includes some entries from late 2008). Here are your contestant couples: 1. Bella Sewall and David Wolitz […]

In response to the many queries we receive from couples hoping to be selected for LEWW (yes, we do get them — mostly from grooms, oddly enough), we’d been thinking about drawing up some submission guidelines (sort of like the NYT’s). But we’ve got a better idea. Three words: pay to play. See, we’ve got […]

A firm-wide memo from Charlie O’Neil, managing partner of Chadbourne & Parke, announced that the firm was instituting a legal and non-legal hiring freeze in response to the economic downturn. The lengths O’Neil went to try and bury this important piece of firm information are slightly amazing. The firm-wide email was entitled “How Are We […]

The Vault 100 march continues! In this series of open threads, we list the firms, and you all discuss their upsides and downsides. We’ll be wrapping this puppy up this week. Here are the next ten (with prestige scores in parentheses): 71. Nixon Peabody LLP (5.218) 72. Hunton & Williams LLP (5.208) 73. Perkins Coie […]

Yesterday at around 5:30 p.m., just as the New York office was getting ready to head off to the firm holiday party, Chadbourne & Parke issued its bonus memorandum. The upshot is that Chadbourne is paying year-end and special bonuses to “eligible” associates in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, and Houston (yes, Houston — wow). […]

Some notable moves within the legal profession: Government to Private Sector: * Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, to LeBoeuf Lamb in DC. Last November, Steele lost his bid to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate. * Michele Hirshman, who served as Eliot Spitzer’s top deputy at the Attorney General’s office before he became Governor, […]

Earlier today, we published salary data for Wilson Sonsini. We quoted a poster who was disappointed that the raise was retroactive only to February 1st. We then received this clarification from a source at the firm: Our raise was made retroactive to February 1 rather than January 1 because we have a February 1 fiscal […]

As previously mentioned, we’re on a reduced publication schedule this week. We’ll be doing a daily news round-up (and maybe a few other random posts here and there). We’ll return to our normal diarrhea of the keyboard publishing schedule on January 2. * Civil libertarians, just raise the white flag. The Justice Department knows what […]

Over at Infirmation / Greedy NY, there’s an interesting thread about Chadbourne & Parke. It started off with this post: I heard a rumor from a partner at my firm that C&P is in “turmoil” and that numerous partners are looking around for new firms. Has anyone else heard a similar rumor? Any comment from […]

The latest collection of moves within the profession: From government to private sector: * George Bundy Smith, former judge on the New York Court of Appeals — the state’s highest court (duh) — to Chadbourne & Parke, as a litigation partner. Lateral moves: * “A little ditty, about Jack and Diane”: M&A lawyer Jack Bodner, […]

In addition to the major move reported this morning, a few other legal professional developments worth noting: New Partners: * Chadbourne & Parke: Corporate lawyers Frank Vellucci and Ayse Yüksel (both in New York, but Yüksel also works in London). * McCarter & English: Corporate lawyer Lance Friedler, securities and white-collar criminal litigator William Moran, […]