Faegre & Benson

Law Firm Merger Mania: Faegre & Benson and Baker & Daniels Make It Official

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Back in August, the law firms of Faegre & Benson and Baker & Daniels confirmed that they were engaged in merger talks. Today the firms announced that their partnerships have voted in favor of the combination.

The merger will take effect on January 1, 2012, and the new entity will be known as Faegre Baker Daniels. The website will be located at faegrebd.com (which right now is occupied by a GoDaddy.com placeholder page).

What will the new firm look like?

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Non-Sequiturs: 07.20.10

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Aaron Biber Gray Plant Mooty.jpg* Century Regional Detention Facility is sentenced to Lindsay Lohan. Watch out, she looks a little menacing in her mug shot. [People]

* Fellow legal blogger and prominent immigration lawyer Lavi Soloway opines on the intersection of immigration reform, evangelicals, and same-sex marriage. [Politico]

* Why BP oil leak victims might want to look to Faegre & Benson for help. [Forbes]

* This would take all of the fun out of intra-firm email. [Lifehacker]

* Gawker jumps on the you’re-stupid-for-pursuing-a-law-degree bandwagon. [Gawker]

* Advice for lawyers who decide to make a career shift into private investigation, from lawyer-turned-investigator Philip Segal. [Charles Griffin]

* Were you thinking that the lawyer in the Non-Sequiturs photo today looks a little like a pedophile? [Bad Lawyer]

* No hooters allowed on this South Carolina island at night. [Lowering the Bar]

Misadventures in Trademark Law: Faegre & Benson Helps Pigs Fight Unicorns

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No, this isn’t about a lawsuit arising out of the writing of Animal Farm II: Sharks on Retainer — but who knows, my original thought for a post title might be subject to trademark infringement.

More on that later; for now, let’s turn our attention to this delicious product offered by ThinkGeek (which went on sale April 1, 2010):

As a connoisseur of unicorn delicacies, I was annoyed when the ThinkGeek people exposed this product to the general pubic. We’ve already got the Care Bears on our ass; we certainly don’t need PETA getting wind of this tasty treat.

But who knew that this entirely fictional April Fool’s joke would come to the attention of the National Pork Board and their legal representatives at Faegre & Benson…

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Faegre & Benson Layoff Update: Firm Denies, Associates Disagree

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Faegre and Benson logo.JPGYesterday, we reported on Thanksgiving week layoffs at Faegre & Benson. Our sources reported that between six and ten people were let go from just before the holiday.
The firm responded after our post went up. Faegre & Benson spokespeople denied that the firm laid anybody off:

Faegre & Benson did not lay off any associates last week. We did, as announced to Above the Law at the time, reduce our lawyer headcount in February 2009.

But associates we’ve spoken with still claim that they were, in fact, laid off last week.
Notes from our sources after the jump.

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Nationwide Layoff Watch: Faegre & Benson Gobbled Up Some Associates for Thanksgiving

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Faegre and Benson logo.JPGI really didn’t think any firm would lay people off last week. I figured the coming turkey holocaust would spare the jobs of any associates Biglaw wanted to devour. I was wrong. A tipster reports:

There was another round of layoffs at Faegre & Benson last week. The partners decided to send six to ten associates off with little to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, unless you consider two or three months severance something to get excited about. Corporate, IP and Real Estate associates were laid off.

As if winter in Minnesota isn’t bad enough already, now these six to ten associates have to put chains on their tires and go hunting for jobs.
Still, this brings up the age old (since 2007) question: is it better to get fired right before the holidays or right after the holidays?
Pros and cons after the jump.

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Nationwide Salary Cut Watch: Don’t Forget About Faegre & Benson

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Salary Cuts.jpgWe’ve been doing a lot of coverage on Dorsey & Whitney. The firm canceled its 2010 summer program and only had a 56% offer rate to its 2009 summers.
But we don’t want to forget about another Minneapolis powerhouse firm, Faegre & Benson. Earlier this month, we learned that the firm had decided to cut the starting salaries for its new associates. Faegre & Benson has confirmed to Above the Law that the new starting salary for its Minneapolis associates will be $110,000. That’s down a little less than ten percent from the firm’s previous starting salary of $120K.
One upper Midwestern tipster had hoped Faegre was taking advantage of the troubles at Dorsey & Whitney to surge past them in the Minneapolis market:

Faegre is the largest law firm in Minneapolis, and the general vibe is that it has surpassed Dorsey & Whitney in this market in terms of prestige and quality. So it’s sad to see Faegre take a step back. Especially since Faegre claimed that its layoffs earlier this year solved all its financial troubles. Will other Minneapolis firms follow suit to $110K???

I’m not sure that Dorsey & Whitney people would agree with the tipster’s “general vibe.” Regardless, rolling back to $110K for 2010 is something no offered Dorsey & Whitney summers would take in a heartbeat.
Read the full Faegre & Benson memo about its salary cuts, after the jump.

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Nationwide Start Date Round-up: More Firms Join The List

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start dates being pushed back to 2010 2011.jpgMany law school graduates are preparing for an endless summer. Endless in that they won’t be starting work until well into the winter. At this point, the majority of firms are starting 2009 graduates in January 2010. There are some outliers though — some firms are starting new associates as early as September 2009, and some are offering them start dates as late as January 2011.

Here are a few of the latest additions to the deferred start dates list from the past week:

  • Foley & Lardner pushed its start date back from September 8, 2009 to February 1, 2010, offering a $10,000 stipend. “The firm did it to protect incoming associates from swine flu,” one of our Foley sources joked.
  • Paul Hastings has deferred all incoming first-year associates from October 2009 start date to January 19, 2010. They’re providing a $10k stipend, optional health insurance coverage starting in October and an optional $5k salary advance to cover required loan payments in the interim.
  • A tipster tells us: “Faegre & Benson (Minneapolis) just called their incoming associates to let them know that some get to start at the beginning of October and some don’t get to start until January. The unlucky ones who are deferred until January are mostly Real Estate and Corporate types. $7500 stipends. Earlier they said ‘at least October, 2009.’”
  • Andrews Kurth has pushed back starting dates to January 2010. Per a firm statement, “The firm will pay each of the new associates in the class a deferral stipend of $10,000; the stipend is not a salary advance or a loan and is not expected to be repaid after starting employment. The firm will also honor its commitment to pay the bar and moving expenses for this class. ”

    After the jump, we’ve got a new round-up of start dates at firms nationwide, sorted two ways: alphabetically by firm name and chronologically by start date (per popular demand).

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    Nationwide Layoff Watch: Faegre & Benson (67 Staff)

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    Faegre and Benson logo.JPGNot satisfied with just oil spills and attorney spills, Faegre & Benson has aimed its tanker at staff. Yesterday, the firm sent out the dreaded email:

    With regret, we will reduce by 58 the number of Legal Administrative Assistants, Administrative Department Staff, and Paralegals in our U.S. offices. Tomorrow will be the last day at the firm for the individuals impacted by this decision.

    The email also references a Sophie’s Choice buyout previously made to staff, which was accepted by nine:

    An additional nine members of our staff accepted the Voluntary Separation Package offered earlier in the month. Their last day will be Friday, February 27.

    If severance for all terminated staff is the same, it thus appears that staff who chose the buyout and got an extra week’s pay chose wisely.

    But go go gadget, attorney skills: the question is, will staff that chose to voluntarily separate be eligible for unemployment? That depends on the state. Let’s hope that those nine staff checked the books in Minnesota prior to making their choice.

    The full email, after the jump.

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    Nationwide Layoff Watch: Faegre & Benson Proves We’re Talking About Layoffs All Across the Nation

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    Faegre and Benson logo.JPGWhat, you thought you’d be safe from layoffs if you worked in Minnesota? Unfortunately, nobody is safe, at least not today.

    We are now able to confirm that Faegre & Benson, one of the most prestigious firms in Minnesota, has informed 29 attorneys that they will be let go. Here is the statement that chairman Tom Morgan released to Above the Law:

    We are practicing law in the same challenging economic environment in which our clients are doing business. Like many firms across the country, we are aligning our resources with the anticipated demand for our services and are doing so in a thoughtful and measured manner.

    Earlier this month, we offered a voluntary separation package to certain non-lawyer staff. Yesterday, we announced that in the coming months we will be reducing our number of lawyers by 29. We have now met with each of those lawyers.

    Remember that earlier this week, Hogan & Hartson offered a buyout package to non-lawyer staff. I wonder if people will think again about taking it, given today’s news.

    Never heard of Faegre & Benson? You should have. After the jump we explain why.

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