We have to step away from the computer for a while for a dental appointment. We’d rather be covering associate pay raise developments than undergoing a root canal, but we sadly don’t have much choice in the matter.
Please mention the latest associate base salary news in the comments to this post. We’ll check them out when we get back. Thanks.
P.S. Here’s the Dewey memo from yesterday:
Earlier: Previous announcements of law firm associate salary increases (scroll down through “Skaddenfreude” archives)
Dewey Ballantine
Consider the rumors about Dewey Ballantine and Fried Frank joining in the associate pay raise fun to be confirmed. We’ve been in touch with multiple sources at both shops.
We’re working on getting a copy of the DB memo. Here is the text of the Fried Frank announcement (which reportedly went out by email at 2:11 PM today):
FRIED FRANK
To: All DC and New York Associates and Special Counsel
cc: All Partners
From: Valerie Jacob, Justin Spendlove
We are pleased to announce an increase to the associate base salary scale as follows:
Class Year Adjusted Base Salary
2006 $160,000
2005 $170,000
2004 $185,000
2003 $210,000
2002 $230,000
2001 $250,000
2000 $265,000
1999 $280,000
1998 $290,000
This increase is retroactive to January 1, 2007, and will be reflected in the February 9, 2007 payroll. Bonuses for 2007 will be determined at year-end, as usual.
Base salaries and bonuses for Special Counsel will be determined on an individual basis in the Spring, as usual.
The Firm’s continued success depends upon the support and contribution of all our associates. We are very appreciative of the efforts and hard work of all our attorneys during this fiscal year and we look forward to continued success next year.
******************************
As several of you noted in the comments, news of a pay raise sounds even sweeter when it comes from a man named “Justin Spendlove.”
Earlier: Previous announcements of law firm associate salary increases (scroll down through “Skaddenfreude” archives)
- Aaron Charney, Barry Ostrager, Biglaw, Charles "Cully" Stimson, Civil Rights, Department of Justice, Dewey Ballantine, Dewy Orifice, Football, Litigatrix, Marjorie Rendell, Money, Music, New Orleans, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Rudeness, Shanetta Cutlar, Sports, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Sullivan & Cromwell, Week in Review
ATL Week in Review: January 15 – 19
By David Lat* Last Tuesday, a civil action captioned Aaron Brett Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP was filed in New York Supreme Court — and the world of Biglaw has never been the same ever since. Click here to access the complete archives of our Aaron Charney coverage.
* Of course, Sullivan & Cromwell partners aren’t the only bosses who are jerks challenging (allegedly).
* Don’t forget the Divine Miss C, Shanetta Cutlar, whose delicious reign continues over at the Justice Department’s Special Litigation Section.
Compared to Aaron Charney and Shanetta Cutlar, other topics pale by comparison. But here are other highlights from the past week in legal news:
* Charles “Cully” Stimson apologizes for ranking on Gitmo lawyers.
* In New Orleans, trials get rescheduled for football.
* Barry Ostrager of Simpson Thacher, the renowned business litigator, has poor bathroom manners (or aim).
* The justices of the Michigan Supreme Court just can’t stop squabbling.
* Now we know the real reason — or rather, the 25 million reasons — that the Dewey Ballantine / Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe merger was scuttled.
* Third Circuit Judge Marjorie Rendell, who also serves as the First Lady of Pennsylvania, sings a duet with Jon Bon Jovi. We don’t know whether to be delighted or frightened.
- Asians, Blogging, Crime, Dewey Ballantine, Education / Schools, Free Speech, Job Searches, Kids, Non-Sequiturs, Old People, Politics, Racism, Rank Stupidity, Romance and Dating, Sex
Non-Sequiturs: 1.19.07
By Stella Q* Too soon, Daily Princetonian, too soon. And what’s more, you budding SNL-writers are so completely unfunny that you might consider law school instead. Dewey Ballantine would probably hire you. [IvyGate Blog]
* Retiree sick of junk mail claims that (literal) poo-slinging is constitutionally protected. [AP via Forbes]
* If only Jason were just a tad younger, they’d be just another couple of happy, teenage parents. [Sheboygan Press]
* But we’ll always have YouTube. [ValleyWag]
* Want to do more than just blog? Ernie is looking for a freelance legal researcher. Sounds like a great gig if you like that kind of thing. (I obviously don’t, or I wouldn’t be putting this out for all of you to see.) [Ernie the Attorney]
- Akin Gump, Biglaw, Dewey Ballantine, Dorsey & Whitney, Eliot Spitzer, LeBoeuf Lamb, Musical Chairs, State Judges
Musical Chairs: 01.17.07
By David LatOn the Way Out:
* The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California (San Francisco), Kevin Ryan, is stepping down. He cited “personal and professional reasons” for his departure.
(Does this mean that ATL favorite Eumi Choi might be placed in charge of the office for a while, even if only in an acting capacity? We hope so.)
Judicial Promotion:
* In New York, Brooklyn Civil Term Administrative Justice Theodore T. Jones Jr. has been nominated by Attorney General Governor Eliot Spitzer to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.
Lateral Moves:
* Over in London, Camille Abousleiman and Louise Roman Bernstein, described by the WSJ Law Blog as “capital-markets stars,” are leaving the troubled Dewey Ballantine for LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae.
* Litigator Kristan Peters, to Dorsey & Whitney, from Fulbright & Jaworski.
New Partners:
* Akin Gump: Eighteen new partners. Names here.
* Dow Lohnes: M&A and corporate lawyer Matthew Block (described to us as “a hard worker” and “a great guy”).
Spitzer Names Jones to Court of Appeals [New York Law Journal via Law.com]
NY Lawyers Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Dow Lohnes Announces New Partner Matthew Block [Dow Lohnes]
Ryan Will Leave His Job In San Francisco [WSJ Law Blog]
Dewey Defections Across the Pond [WSJ Law Blog]
After the much ballyhooed merger between Dewey Ballantine and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe fell apart, many theories were bandied about as to why the deal disintegrated. See, e.g., here.
Now, from a British legal publication, The Lawyer, we get this fascinating report:
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe chairman Ralph Baxter demanded a guaranteed $25m (£12.92m) payout over five years, had the proposed merger with Dewey Ballantine gone through, The Lawyer can reveal.
Orrick’s management drafted an employment agreement for Baxter and Dewey chairman Mort Pierce to sign, which would have committed both partners to the newly merged firm for five years.
Pierce is understood to have refused to sign, prompted by the dissatisfaction of a number of Dewey partners with the terms of the agreement.
The significant remuneration for a non-fee-earning chairman is thought to have contributed to Dewey’s decision to walk away from the merger with Orrick.
Pierce is known to be the highest earner at Dewey, earning an extra $3m (£1.54m) in one year in bonuses alone. But he is also the highest biller, averaging more than 3,000 chargeable hours a year.
Balking at Ralph Baxter’s rich demand is understandable. But in hindsight, one can’t help wonder whether Dewey shouldn’t have just bent over and grabbed its proverbial socks. The DB partners who have walked out the door in the past few weeks probably took with them books of business totalling well over Baxter’s concededly greedy demand.
But the $25 million wasn’t the end of it. Check this out:
For Dewey, the combination of Baxter’s personal demands, which also included unlimited first-class air travel for himself and at least one family member, and the perceived imbalance in terms of post-merger management were the final straw in scuppering a deal that could have produced a $1bn (£514.5m)-turnover firm, which could have been in the global top 10.
Quips an amused tipster: “I laughed when I saw Baxter’s personal demand of unlimited first class travel for him + 1.
Seriously, does he think he’s Gnarls Barkley or what?”
Revealed: Baxter killed Dewey-Orrick merger [TheLawyer.com]
- 1st Circuit, Biglaw, Blogging, Book Deals, Books, D.C. Circuit, David Levi, Dewey Ballantine, Dewy Orifice, Drugs, Duke Law School, Federal Judges, Harriet Miers, Jan Crawford Greenburg, John Beerbower, John Paul Stevens, Law Firm Mergers, Law Professors, Linda Greenhouse, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Parties, Pictures, Real Estate, Saira Rao, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Week in Review, White House Counsel, William Rehnquist
ATL Week in Review: January 1-5
By David LatLast week was short, thanks to the New Year’s holiday; but it sure was busy. Here are some highlights from a very momentous week:
* No more jokes about Harriet Miers: the ill-fated ex-SCOTUS nominee has resigned as White House counsel. Speculation about her successor abounds.
* No more jokes about the Dewy Orifice: the ill-fated merger between Dewey Ballantine and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has been called off.
* Turns out that Chief Justice Rehnquist was a painkiller junkie. Once, while suffering withdrawal symptoms, he tried to bust out of a hospital in his PJs.
* Chief Judge David Levi, of the Eastern District of California, will be the new Dean of Duke Law School.
* All About Jan? Just as the aging Margo Channing’s reign over Broadway was threatened by the comely Eve Harrington, the aging Linda Greenhouse’s reign over One First Street is being threatened by the comely Jan Crawford Greenburg.
* Who knew? Law professors and legal bloggers sure know how to party! Photos of drunken legal academics available here and here.
* Cravath partner John Beerbower has enjoyed some amazing apartments over the years. Cravath partnership + Wealthy wife = $20 million, Park Avenue pad.
* Who’s your favorite First Circuit judge? Cast your vote here.
* If you’re a right-winger hoping that Justice Stevens will step down soon, don’t hold your breath.
* Today’s D.C. Circuit: Despite the occasional catfight, it’s not as bitchy as it used to be. Sigh.
* Oppressed law clerks, your Devil Wears Prada is on its way. Coming soon to a bookstore near you: Chambermaid, by former Third Circuit clerk Saira Rao.
Why did the merger between Dewey Ballantine and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe die on the vine?
Traditional theory: Dewey’s loss of key partners, such as M&A stars Michael Aiello and Jack Bodner, made it a much less attractive merger partner. Why buy a cow after the milk has dried up? See here.
Revisionist theory: It was that godawful nickname, “Dewy Orifice” — a clear sign that the gods did not look favorably upon this union. See here.
We got our hands on the email that went around at Dewey Ballantine this afternoon, announcing the death of this combination. You can check it out after the jump.
Continue reading “The Closing of the Dewy Orifice: The Announcement Email”
Via the WSJ Law Blog, here’s the text of the two firms’ joint statement:
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Dewey Ballantine LLP have jointly decided to end merger discussions. Both firms are successful, global firms that saw great potential in a combination. However, a combination of this size and scope posed significant challenges. While both firms tried their best to work through these challenges, we were unable to bring the merger to completion. No one issue led us to this point, and each firm leaves this process with great respect for the leaders and partners of the other.
This is very bad news for Dewey. Uncertainty in the wake of the merger caused several of their top partners, including leading M&A lawyers, to leave for other firms. So Dewey is now worse off than it was before the announcement of the merger — and now without a merger partner.
At first we thought: Orrick is like a Lothario who seduced Dewey, gave her a loathsome disease, and then dumped her.
But then a Dewey tipster told us:
The word is that Orrick is unhappy with the M&A partners who have left. Mort [Pierce] asked [Ralph] Baxter to come up with a counter proposal, but Baxter [didn't produce an adequate alternative].
So now we think: Orrick is like a Lothario who seduced Dewey, gave her a loathsome disease, and then dumped her. When Dewey asked Orrick, “Why are you dumping me?”, Orrick responded: “Why would I want you? You’re damaged goods. And you have a loathsome disease!”
Earlier: Prior coverage of the Dewey-Orrick merger (scroll down)
The planned merger between Dewey Ballantine and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has been called off. Last month, the troubled transaction was indefinitely postponed — not a good sign.
Given the unfortunate nickname that was bestowed upon the new entity, the disintegration of this deal may be just as well.
We hear that an internal email just went around at Dewey. If so, can someone please forward it to us — or post its text in the comments?
If you have tips or further details about the scuttling of this deal, please email us.
Update (12:45 PM): Orrick chairman Ralph Baxter Jr. has confirmed the news to the WSJ Law Blog.
P.S. No, we couldn’t bring ourselves to make a joke about “withdrawal from the Dewy Orifice.”
Dewey, Orrick Merger Is Off [WSJ Law Blog]
Earlier: Prior coverage of the Dewey-Orrick merger (scroll down)
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