We have reported extensively on the difficult offer situation for people who summered at Philadelphia area firms in 2009. Morgan Lewis & Bockius had an offer rate below 28%. Pepper Hamilton offered about 63% of its summers. Dechert told half of its summers that the firm would wait until January to make a decision offers, yet continues to interview 3Ls this recruiting season.

Let’s close the loop on the Philadelphia market with two other well known firms: Drinker Biddle and Cozen O’Connor. The Legal Intelligencer reports that Drinker Biddle did slightly better than its area competition:

The firm gave offers to about 68 percent, or 25, of the 37 2L summer associates it had firmwide in 2009. The offer rate was about the same in Philadelphia, where 13 of the 19 2Ls received offers, the firm confirmed.

After the jump, Drinker Biddle chairman, Alfy Putnam, explains the firm’s decision.

The National Law Journal reports that some firms are hiring lawyers — including associates — in Chicago. The ABA Journal summarizes the good news:

Three law firms are moving into new offices in Chicago and seeking to fill the space with new lawyers.

The firms getting new digs are Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Nixon Peabody; and Cozen O’Connor, the National Law Journal reports.

Happy Friday indeed.

According to the NLJ, despite all the hits the Chicago legal market has taken during this recession, the city is in an expansionary mood:

While law firm expansion has slowed in Chicago during the recession, particularly compared to the accelerated growth in the prior five years, many national firms that set up shop in the city since 2000 are still looking to add lawyers. Efforts to recruit partners with business has been a constant, but firms in the past month have started to look for associates in certain practice areas, including finance, banking, litigation and bankruptcy, said Amy McCormack, who leads the Chicago recruiting firm McCormack Schreiber.

Does that include Kirkland & Ellis? Let’s take a look inside (its new offices), after the jump.

* The Chrysler bankruptcy judge, Arthur Gonzalez, is a hotshot and has presided over Enron and Worldcom bankruptcies. [The Associated Press]

* What did Obama mean when he said he was looking for “empathy” in Souter’s replacement? [Politico]

* The rickety farm house (pictured here) where Souter grew up and to which he returns each summer is completely charming. [The Boston Globe]

* Former Bush fundraiser and ambassador to Austria, David Girard-diCarlo, joins Philadelphia firm Cozen O’Connor. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]

* The California Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that let a Catholic Lutheran school expel two 16-year-old girls for having a lesbian relationship. [The Los Angeles Times]

* Trying terrorism suspects is complicated, to say the least. [The New York Times]

Multiple tipsters are telling us that the respected Philadelphia based firm of Cozen O’Connor laid off 61 employees today. As we understand it, the breakdown is 55 secretaries and 6 paralegals.

The firm did not respond to ATL’s requests for comment.

Tipsters report that layoffs have been rolling over the course of yesterday and today. It’s possible that not everybody at the firm has been informed of the moves, which would explain the firm’s silence.

The layoffs would be the latest hit to the Philadelphia market, today. We’ve already published sad information about Dechert and Wolf Block.

Hopefully the Rocky statute will still be standing tomorrow.

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of staff layoffs

Former Justice Department official Monica Goodling isn’t the only appealing female who’s hiring lawyers these days. Yet another damsel in distress, who has also been in the headlines lately, has obtained legal representation for herself.

Remember Adriana Dominguez, the Brooklyn Law School student who made a nude video for Playboy TV? If you email Ms. Dominguez with an interview request, you receive this message:

I have no comment at this time. If you have any further questions, you can direct them to my attorney:

Brian Bloom
Cozen & O’Connor
(212) 509-9400
bbloom@cozen.com

Sincerely,
Adriana Dominguez

Why on earth has Adriana Dominguez hired a lawyer? We saw the video, and it was pretty trashy — but not criminal (although reasonable minds can differ).

Here’s the law firm bio of Dominguez’s attorney, Brian Bloom (Cornell 1999, Hofstra Law 2002):

Brian A. Bloom joined the New York Midtown office of Cozen O’Connor in March 2005 as an Associate in the General Litigation Department. He concentrates his practice in commercial litigation and intellectual property matters. Brian has represented various entertainers, musicians, and recording artists, including Eminem and (the Estate of) Tupac Shakur. Prior to joining the firm, he was a litigation associate at Fischbein Badillo Wagner Harding, LLP.

Tupac is probably turning over in his grave right now. Assuming he’s actually in it.

P.S. We’re guessing that Bloom and Dominguez are friends and that he picked up this matter as a favor to her (i.e., allowed her to refer to him as her attorney). But did he clear it with the powers-that-be at Cozen O’Connor, go through the requisite conflicts check, etc.?

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Adriana Dominguez (scroll down)