Cravath

Associate Bonus Watch: Cahill Gordon Brings the Heat

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It’s getting hot in herre [sic] — and not just due to the scorching temperatures we’re experiencing here in New York City. Today we’re experiencing a flare up of Biglaw bonus news. And maybe some partners are starting to sweat, thinking about whether they might have to cough up some extra cash to keep their associates happy.

Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch. The notion of widespread midyear bonuses, comparable to the spring bonuses we saw in 2011, remains laughable an outside possibility. But it’s a little less crazy than it might have seemed a few weeks ago, now that multiple firms have plunged into the summer bonus pool.

This morning we wrote about June bonuses at Quinn Emanuel. Around the same time, we started receiving preliminary reports of July bonuses at Cahill Gordon.

The reports are accurate. Let’s learn about the amounts, as well as Cahill compensation more generally….

UPDATE (11:55 PM): Please note the correction below regarding amounts paid to junior associates.

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Caption Contest Winner: Cravath, Swaine & MOAR BROS

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Early last week, we asked readers to submit possible captions for this photo of a bro and his Cravath duffle bag:

Over the weekend, you voted on the finalists, and now it’s time to announce the winner of our caption contest. As a special bonus, we also have a comment from a “bro” who says he’s the one featured in the photo….

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Caption Contest Finalists: Cravath, Swaine & MOAR BROS

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Earlier this week, we asked readers to submit possible captions for this photo:

Let’s have a look at what our readers came up with, and then vote on the finalists….

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Caption Contest: Cravath, Swaine & MOAR BROS

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It’s summer, it’s hot, wherever they go you can best believe bros will be rocking the flip flops.

We’ve had caption contests before that focused on Cravath swag, and technically this is more of the same. But I’m less interested in the Cravath duffel bag in the following picture. It’s the whole ensemble the merits a caption contest.

As our photographer said:

It never ceases to amaze me the extent to which BigLaw continues to encourage and reward the ‘bro’. “Thanks for bidding us at OCI we have just 1 question: did u wear oversized womens’ aviators, baggy cargo shorts, a dumb polo, and flipflops every single day of law school?” You’re hired.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

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New Leadership At Cravath

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Apparently, there is news happening today that is not coming from the Supreme Court. No, I’m not talking about the impending contempt vote on Attorney General Eric Holder — which is going to look really partisan after what Roberts did today.

I’m talking about news from one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. Evan Chesler, presiding partner of Cravath Swaine & Moore is at the end of his term. Chesler will now be “Chairman” of Cravath, and the firm has elected a new presiding partner.

Who will lead Cravath as it establishes the “new normal,” post-recession?

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2013 Vault Law Firm Rankings: Prestige Can’t Buy You Money

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The new Vault Rankings are out. It’s a fun day for large law firms — a day when their prestige is matched against that of their peers.

The day is even more significant this year, since it appears that so-called “top” Biglaw firms are now paying bonuses largely in “prestige points.”

Vault ranks the prestige of firms based on nearly 17,000 surveys sent to law firm associates all across the country. Just by looking at the top ten firms, I think we can agree that associates who fill out these surveys have no memory and have really enjoyed this period of salary stagnation.

As I mentioned last week when talking about associate hours, it seems Biglaw partners really know what they’re doing. Whether we’re talking about prestige or associate hours, partners have figured out that associates will take less money and like it….

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High-Profile Sex Discrimination Suit Shines Ugly Light on Silicon Valley ‘Bro Culture’

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Not cool, bro.

Californians tend to be quite protective of the state’s reputation as a progressive paradise. Where equality is important for everyone, no matter your race, gender, sexual orientation, whatever. Where organic food is simply better, no matter how much it costs. Where the earthquakes are a fine price to pay for an entire year of temperate weather.

So, when the New York Times ran an extensive article this weekend about an accomplished female attorney who sued the major venture capital firm where she is a partner for sex discrimination, it puts a real fly in the state’s — and specifically the tech industry’s — collective ointment.

The Times’s extensive story concerns Ellen Pao, a graduate of Harvard Law School and a former associate at Cravath. She has sued Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a major VC firm.

Let’s take a look at the specifics of the suit, as well as what it might mean for attorneys who work within the emerging “brogrammer” culture in Silicon Valley…

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Caption Contest Winner: Biglaw Beach Blanket Bonus Bingo

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Early last week, we asked readers to submit possible captions for this photo:

On Thursday, you voted on the finalists, and now it’s time to announce the winner of our caption contest….

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Caption Contest Finalists: Biglaw Beach Blanket Bonus Bingo

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Earlier this week, we asked readers to submit possible captions for this photo:

Let’s have a look at what our readers came up with, and then vote on the finalists….

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The 2012 Am Law 100: Revenue and Profits Continue To Climb

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As we mentioned last week, the American Lawyer recently released its highly influential, closely watched Am Law 100 law firm rankings. And despite all the doom and gloom permeating the legal profession, as well as the stagnant bonuses for associates lucky enough to make it into Biglaw, partners at large law firms are living just as large as ever.

In a way, the recovery in Biglaw is not unlike the recovery in America in general. If you were already well-off, you’re doing great now. It’s just not trickling down to anybody else. See, e.g., anemic spring bonuses.

Interestingly enough, the division of the world into “haves and have-nots” continues even into the world of major law firms. Partners at super-top-tier firms are putting even more distance between themselves and partners at less high-powered or less profitable firms.

Let’s look at the numbers, shall we?

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