We received 1,036 responses to last week's ATL / Lateral Link survey on where you'd most want to work, which, in turn, was based on your nominations last month.

Here's how it turned out:

Survey Results: Which Firm Would You Most Want To Work For?

Overall, Latham & Watkins dominated the field, pulling in almost one fifth of all votes. Latham was the most popular choice among voters in L.A., the Bay Area, and Washington, DC, and was particularly favored by tax lawyers and litigators.

Runner-up Wachtell was actually the top choice of respondents in New York, narrowly besting Davis Polk and Latham. It was also, by far, the most popular pick among M&A lawyers, with roughly 30% of their vote.

Kirkland placed third overall, but was the top choice of Chicago respondents and patent lawyers, with almost twice as many votes as the next most popular firm in Chicago (Latham) and almost as many patent votes as the next two firms combined (Latham and Quinn).

Williams & Connolly, Ropes & Gray, and Davis Polk tied for fourth, with Ropes & Gray dominating the Boston vote, Williams & Connolly pwning DC (and gaining the second highest vote from litigators after Latham), and Davis Polk rocking the investment management scene (with Ropes & Gray running second best in that field).

Paul Hastings was the clear winner among labor & employment attorneys, winning almost 70% of the vote, and was also the most popular choice among real estate attorneys and lawyers in Atlanta.

On the Magic Circle front, Linklaters proved more popular than Allen & Overy, and was actually the most popular choice among securities lawyers. Allen & Overy was the most popular choice among structured finance attorneys.

This month's ATL / Lateral Link survey, focused on which firm you would choose if you could go anywhere, was dominated by Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton. But several firms were close behind.

  * Respondents had several reasons to applaud Latham: "Prestige", "Friends there are happy", "Awesome firm, awesome people", "They rock", "Prestige, substantive work, great litigation practice", and "Top notch clients and matters; kick ass bonuses; selective hiring in a good way (need good grades plus a good; personality); Vault top 10 without the stuffiness of originating on the east coast; good growth but no risk of Brobecking (great management + tons of funds).....should I go on?" Or, as one respondent summed it up: "ass kickers."

  * At Wachtell, with 2007 profits per partner of $4.48 million, money played a key factor in respondents' enthusiasm for the firm: "100% bonus", "money", "it's all about the cash", "I want the compensation!", "money honey" and, of course, "CASH."

  * "Money" was also a big plus for Cravath (even though their profits per partner were a mere $3.3 million). Voters also noted "Prestige, training, can go anywhere else afterwards."

  * "Prestige" and "Exit opportunities" also won several votes for Skadden, who also had more than $2 billion in revenues last year. (Their SideBar program is pretty cool, too.)

  * "Bonuses and work" were praised at Kirkland & Ellis, as was stability: "They're well positioned for the credit crunch and M&A downturn. And the pay's better, of course."

  * Sullivan & Cromwell was also coveted for "good work, and $$$$" as well as "reputation." With profits per partner of $3.13 million, that "$$$$" is appealing at multiple levels.

  * Paul Hastings surged in popularity as respondents complemented their labor & employment practice and their compensation structures in Atlanta and Chicago.

  * In an incendiary match-up, Davis Polk was heralded as "da bomb", while Boston heavyweight Ropes & Gray was declared "the bomb."

  * Among the Magic Circle firms, Allen & Overy supporters declared "Great offices, european attitude" while Linklaters was called "the best globally, both in equity and debt."

  * Debevoise won several votes for its combination of "prestige and culture".

  * Litigators were torn between Quinn Emanuel, where "hard core litigators with a great reputation" create an atmosphere where "[p]ersonality, quirkiness, and fun seem prevalent," and Williams & Connolly, as "the best litigatio[n] shop. Period."

So of these fourteen juggernauts of practice, prestige, and sweet, sweet profits, who would you most like to work for?

Cast your vote in today's ATL / Lateral Link survey, after the jump.

Debevoise & Plimpton has long been among New York's most prestigious law firms. It's also widely viewed as an excellent place to work.

In the past, Debevoise's prestige has arguably outpaced its profits. It's often ranked more highly on the Vault 100 than on the Am Law 100 (when ranked by profits per partner). In the most recent rankings, Debevoise was #13 on the Vault 100 and #20 on the Am Law 100 by PPP.

Perhaps that's about to change. From Legal Week (via Law.com):

Debevoise & Plimpton has unveiled stellar financial results for 2007, with the New York law firm seeing both partner profits and fees climb by more than 20 percent over the last 12 months.

Profits per equity partner (PEP) at Debevoise rose by 26.5 percent from $1.81 million last year to a new high of $2.29 million. Global revenue, meanwhile, was up by 23.4 percent from $575 million in 2006 to $709.54 million.

A source who passed along this news added: "Although not mentioned in the article, several large investigations are the driving force behind these numbers."

Of course, that's not surprising. Thanks in large part to former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, internal investigations have long been a mainstay of Debevoise's practice. They're long-running and lucrative, since no company in deep doo-doo wants to look like it's skimping on self-scrutiny. See, e.g., Siemens (aka Debevoise cash cow).

But how much cash will they get to keep? Discussion of a new tax proposal that will disproportionately affect partners at large law firms, after the jump.

The law firms and lawyers that come across the best in these pages are those that don't take ATL too seriously. This site is a good-natured legal tabloid, and the best way to react to it is with a smile or a laugh -- not a meltdown or a witch hunt.

This is something that Debevoise & Plimpton understands:

At the annual firm dinner, held last night at the Pierre Hotel, a firm video was presented. It's the associates' chance to put together a send-up of the firm, somewhat in "Law Revue" fashion. The centerpiece of this year's film was "Good Morning, Debevoise", to the tune of "Good Morning, Baltimore" (from "Hairspray: the Musical"). Also notable was the "preview" for "Investigation," scenes from an internal investigation frighteningly similar to one Debevoise is currently undertaking in Germany.

Thought you'd like to know that in the video, there was a reference to ATL reporting on associate benefits. E.g., helicopter rides home from work to outer boroughs. The partnership caves, then has to cut costs elsewhere. Very funny.

Sounds delightful. Any chance of that video making it on to YouTube? Showing that it has a sense of humor can only help a firm in the recruiting process (although Debevoise already does very well for itself).

Biglaw is becoming kinder and gentler. The number of large law firms enhancing their parental leave policies continues to grow. The latest to join the club: Debevoise & Plimpton.

From a (male) tipster:

18 weeks. Not bad. Of course, since I'm unlikely to give birth to a child anytime soon, I'll have to be satisfied with 10 weeks.

Also, what's with this "primary childcare giver" business? Of the new parents I've known, the first few months seemed like one needed at least two primary childcare givers, if not more. Eh, I doubt D&P will be sending auditors into associates' homes to check who bills the most hours with the baby.

The email announcing Debevoise's policy, plus a list of firms that have recently enhanced their parental leave policies, after the jump.

We've been having technical difficulties, perhaps due to heavy site traffic. We are going to lunch.

But before we leave, here's the bonus announcement of Debevoise & Plimpton. Its authenticity has been confirmed by multiple sources.

In a nutshell, the firm has adopted Cravath's bifurcated bonus model, with year-end and "special" bonuses. The numbers are the same as Cravath's, except for the most senior associates, who get $5K more at Debevoise.

You can check out the D&P memo after the jump.

Update: The WSJ Law Blog had the news first. See here.

We're bored (and so are you). We're just passing time until another major law firm announces year-end bonuses, in the wake of Monday's Cravath announcement.

In today's New York Times, Ellen Rosen has this interesting article on law firm bonuses:

Cravath, Swaine & Moore has raised the salary bar for law firm associates in Manhattan.

The firm has announced that it will award a special one-time bonus for associates in addition to the traditional year-end bonus that the firm, like most others, already pays. All but the newest associates will receive $10,000 to $50,000, depending on seniority, which was first reported by Abovethelaw.com.

Thanks for the shout-out, Ellen!

What about other law firms? Read more, after the jump.

Last week, we mentioned in passing the news that the former U.K. Attorney-General, Lord Peter Goldsmith, QC, is joining Debevoise & Plimpton. Lord Goldsmith will head up Debevoise's European litigation practice.

The Times of London reported the news here, and the WSJ Law Blog posted on the move here. But both write-ups omitted the most notable part of Lord Goldsmith's resume (as mentioned by a WSJ commenter):

On 17 February 2007, the Mail on Sunday reported that Goldsmith, who is married, had been having an affair with Kim Hollis, Britain’s first Asian QC.

Good stuff. And more dirty details, after the jump.

That seems to be the theme of this very interesting article, by Ben Hallman and Aruna Viswanatha, in the current issue of the American Lawyer. It echoes the problems we discussed back in this post, concerning the $70 million malpractice suit filed against Cadwalader, in connection with the firm's mortgage-backed securities practice.

Here's an excerpt from the American Lawyer piece:

Even scarier for Debevoise, and for all firms with big private equity practices, was the fact that no new deals were popping up to take the place of those that were stuck. Those fears are shared by lawyers who work on mortgage-backed securities, a market that has completely shut down.

The fears are well justified for both groups, and for any lawyer whose business is linked to the availability of easy credit. In June there were nearly $100 billion worth of private-label mortgage securitization issuances. The next month, they were half that. "There's always an element of cyclicality," says Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison structured finance partner Jordan Yarett, "but the implosion of credit is somewhat shocking."

Indeed. More depressing discussion, after the jump.

* Crazy pro se lawsuit against Google, seeking $5 billion in damages, touches upon the war on terror and a Burton snowboard. And no, it wasn't filed by Jonathan Lee Riches. [TechDirt]

* A misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals? Guess he wasn't that good. [Denver Channel]

* Law professors get their academic gowns in a wad over the gender divide in faculty hiring. [TaxProf Blog]

* Dewey LeBoeuf? Already done it. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Debevoise & Plimpton lords it over the competition. [Times of London]

We have to step away for a bit. But we'll leave you with some food for thought (and argument): a piece we just wrote for the New York Observer, timed to coincide with fall interview season, about New York law firms. Here's a brief excerpt:

"[J]ust as certain sleeve cuts are all the rage at Fashion Week, some law firms are “hot”—and some are not. Having interviewed with firms exactly 10 years ago, I was curious: Who is this fall’s “It” Firm?"

We expect that many of you will disagree with our conclusions, condemn us as ill-informed or biased (or both), etc. That's okay. Our point is to provoke. We'd like to become for the law firm world what Michael Riedel is to theatre: "Post columnist Michael Riedel's gleeful skewering of Broadway's shows and personages has made him a must read—and a must-hate—on the Great White Way."

You can read the full column over here. It's the first in what's going to be a semimonthly column we'll be writing for the Observer on New York lawyers and law firms. Enjoy (we think).

Polish Those Portfolios! Legal Eaglets Seek Their Nests [New York Observer]

Since our last two threads on Vault 100 law firms have generated healthy (and generally enlightening) discussion, we'll continue to move on down the list.

Please pose questions about or share insights into these five law firms (in Vault 100 order, with prestige scores in parentheses):

11. Kirkland & Ellis LLP (7.492)
12. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (7.468)
13. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (7.444)
14. Shearman & Sterling LLP (7.240)
15. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (7.237)

Please discuss them in the comments. Thanks.

The Vault Top 100 Law Firms [Vault]

Earlier: Vault 1-5; Vault 6-10

Good news for clerks with offers from Debevoise & Plimpton: the bonus is no longer flat. Debevoise is joining the $70K Club for two-year clerks.

The announcement email appears after the jump.

If you're a current clerk with an offer from Debevoise & Plimpton, good news. The firm has bumped up its clerkship bonus to $50,000 -- which is fast becoming the new Biglaw standard.

There's a small catch that may affect a few of you. Unlike some other firms, like Weil Gotshal and Cravath, the Debevoise bonus appears to be "flat." It does not increase for multiple clerkships or years of clerking.

In case you're curious, the Debevoise email appears after the jump.

Of course they do. Debevoise & Plimpton paid generous bonuses in 2006. And they went along with the latest pay raises, with scarcely any hesitation.

So we can't help wondering:

Why do some of their associates still have roommates?

Then again, this roommate situation isn't the typical set-up of two post-college kids throwing up a sheetrock wall in a 500-square-foot one bedroom. It's an amazing apartment on Lower Broadway, a sprawling loft with high ceilings and great furniture -- courtesy of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," on which Berman once appeared (even though he's actually gay).

Jeff Berman went into this roommate arrangement not knowing for certain whether it would work out. Per the New York Times:

For Mr. Berman, a young lawyer who had met Ms. [Lauren] Reece — then Billy — at a bar in Chelsea two years before, moving in with a transsexual required a leap of faith. He was worried that a host of changes, physical as well as psychological, would make the perky Ms. Reece “a bit unstable.”

As it turns out, domestic tranquillity reigns. The two roommates could pass for a suburban couple: Mr. Berman, 26, in workout pants and a T-shirt, Ms. Reece, 28, in a pink cardigan and pearl necklace.

Aww... Isn't that cute?

But look, even if Lauren Reece has turned out to be a total head case, Jeffrey Berman might still have wanted to move in. Why? As everyone knows, space-deprived Manhattanites are sluts for square footage. Who wouldn't room with someone "a bit unstable" -- heck, aren't we all -- in exchange for 1,400 square feet and 14-foot ceilings?

Hell, we'd move in with a transsexual PROSTITUTE if he/she had a pad that fabulous. Give us earplugs and some hand sanitizer, and we're good to go.

Update: Yes, this post has been tweaked slightly since its original incarnation.

In the Right Place at the Right Time [New York Times]
Jeffrey C. Berman [Debevoise & Plimpton]

We've been providing salary news updates in the comments because, due to technical difficulties, it's more reliable than trying to do so here on the main page. For your reference, here are links to the latest announcements:

1. Allen & Overy: Confirmed. Memo is here.

2. Debevoise & Plimpton: Confirmed. Memo is here.

3. McKee Nelson: Confirmed. Memo is here.

(We will spare you the details of the boring debate over whether they should be considered a DC firm with a very large New York office, which is the obvious preference of McKee Nelson's media relations people, or a firm that's roughly split between the two cities. How many D.C. associates can dance on the head of a pin?)

4. Schulte Roth & Zabel: Confirmed. Transmittal email for PDF memo is here.

****************************
Paging Biglaw boys: Is the retroactive portion of your pay burning a whole in your pocket? Are you trying to figure out how to spend $1,000 in found money?

Fret not. Have we got an idea for you:

For the High-End Bathroom, Something Unexpected [New York Times]

We received the Debevoise memo by email. The LeBoeuf memo was posted on Infirmation.

(Yawn. Are you as bored as we are? Then take our reader poll about your sex life. Or check out this awesome pro se lawsuit.)

In case they interest you, we reprint the Debevoise and LeBoeuf bonus memos, after the jump.

Today is a banner day for mergers-and-acquisitions lawyers. Our big brother takes note of Blackstone Group's gigantic proposed buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust, the nation’s largest office-building owner and manager, for roughly $36 billion ($20 billion plus $16 billion in assumed debt).

And that's not the only deal. The WSJ Law Blog ticks off three more billion-dollar transactions: Bank of America acquiring U.S. Trust, Freeport-McMoRan acquiring Phelps Dodge, and Evraz Group acquiring Oregon Steel Mills.

Biglaw shops are involved in all of these transactions. The lucky law firms: Sidley Austin, Simpson Thacher, Cleary Gottlieb, Howard Rice, Wachtell Lipton, Davis Polk, Debevoise & Plimpton, Covington & Burling, and Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt (of Oregon).

Okay, "lucky" may not be the right term for people who have probably been pulling one all-nighter after another over the past few weeks (or months). But let's look on the bright side: the fees from these deals will be delicious. And they're likely to mean very good associate bonuses for 2006.

How delicious? This is where you come in. For this latest edition of Legal Fee Voyeurism, we'd like to ask you for any information, rumors, or quasi-informed speculation about the fees that firms will be earning on these deals. And, of course, we're always interested in the related subject of associate bonus scuttlebutt.

Please send any such tips our way, by email. Thanks!

The Biggest LBO Ever: Does The Blackstone REIT Deal Mark the Beginning of the End of Public Companies? [DealBreaker]
M&A Mania: Good for the Lawyers! [WSJ Law Blog]

Hey, there's a new firm on the block -- or maybe it's an old firm? Think of it as a movie remake, a Broadway revival, or the Simon and Garfunkel reunion concert.

Former federal judge John S. Martin (S.D.N.Y.; black-and-white pic), and prominent criminal defense lawyer (and ex-U.S. Attorney) Otto G. Obermaier (color pic) -- who formed a white-collar criminal defense firm back in 1972 -- are reuniting. Martin is leaving Debevoise & Plimpton, where he has been of counsel (and billing out at $1,000 an hour). Obermaier is leaving Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he developed a thriving white-collar practice.

Their new firm, Martin & Obermaier, will rent space from the firm of another superstar lawyer: Robert G. Morvillo, the famed white-collar criminal specialist, who has had many high-profile clients over the years. Martin and Obermaier were once law partners with Morvillo, back in the 1970s.*

Obermaier and Martin aren't exactly spring chickens: Obermaier is 70, and Martin is 71. They're kind of like the Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau of the criminal defense bar -- just not dead.

But they obviously have a wealth of experience and connections. And they intend to focus their practice on private arbitration of commercial disputes, which can be super-lucrative for ex-judges and elder statesmen of the bar. At their former Biglaw homes, Obermaier and Martin's ability to do this kind of work was limited by client conflicts; at their new firm, they will probably have more business than they can handle.

Good luck, gentlemen! Not that you'll need it. ;-)

* Yes, Robert Morvillo represented Martha Stewart. And yes, Martha Stewart was convicted and shipped off to Camp Cupcake. But as the old saying goes, "You can't make chicken salad out of chicken s**t."

Martin & Obermaier Redux [WSJ Law Blog]
Two Old Buddies (and Leading NY Lawyers) Reunite To Launch Small Firm [NYLawyer.com]

Lawyer weddings come, and lawyer weddings go. The weekend of September 16-17, a veritable cornucopia of attorney nuptials, was followed by the weekend of September 23-24 -- not an embarrassment of riches, but just an embarrassment.*

No way are we writing about Cheryl Connolly and Kyle Lewis -- Lewis was wounded in Iraq, so the guy's been through enough. Here are the couples in contention:

1. Elizabeth Kennedy, Nicholas Vitek

2. Cameron Schroeder, Justin Levitt

3. Anne Davis, Charles Wollenhaupt

Who will secure the final berth in the September 2006 Couple of the Month contest? Find out, after the jump.

* Speaking of embarrassments, we realize we are weeks behind in Legal Eagle Wedding Watch ("LEWW"). We're writing about weddings that took place last month; some of these couples are probably divorced by now. See -- we really do need some help around here! If we can find the right writer, we'd even consider outsourcing LEWW.