We hope there aren't too many of you in the office on this federal holiday, but for those ATL readers who are toiling away, here's a Labor Day edition of LEWW to ease the pain.

This Last week's superlative couples:

1.) Elizabeth Holland and David Franklin
2.) Lara Ballard and Gigi Sohn
3.) Allison Caldwell and Matthew Frisbee

More about these fabulous pairs, after the jump.

A few of the more prominent moves within this noble profession:

From government to private sector:

* Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton is joining Royal Dutch Shell, as general counsel for its "unconventional resources division" (e.g., extracting oil from "oil shale" and "extra heavy oil" -- don't ask us, we don't know).

(A WSJ Law Blog commenter sniffs: "One would think that she could have secured a more lucrative and high profile job, given her resume." We agree somewhat on the "high profile" part, but don't know enough about the filthy lucre associated with this gig.)

* Former assistant U.S. attorney Mauro Wolfe, with whom we used to work, to Dickstein Shapiro. He will be a partner in the firm's securities practice, in the New York office.

* Mark Paoletta and Andrew Snowdon, to the D.C. office of Dickstein Shapiro (as partner and of counsel, respectively). Paoletta previously served as served as Chief Counsel for Oversight and Investigations on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Snowdon previously served as a lawyer on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. They join the government law & strategy practice.

Within government:

* The United States Attorney for Connecticut, Kevin O'Connor, has been named associate deputy attorney general at the Justice Department. His DOJ work will focus on violent crime, gangs, and guns. O'Connor plans to retain his post as U.S. Attorney for at least six months.

Lateral moves:

* M&A lawyer Michael Aiello, to Weil Gotshal, from Dewey Ballantine (as previously noted).

* Finance lawyer Philip Haber, to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, from Nixon Peabody.

New partners:

* Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft: Seven new partners. Names here (PDF).

* LeBoeuf Lamb: Five new partners. Names here.

* Patterson Belknap: White-collar defense lawyer Daniel Ruzumna, promoted from counsel to partner. Ruzumna served for six years as an AUSA in the legendary Southern District of New York. His final post in the S.D.N.Y. was Acting Chief of the Major Crimes Unit.

The voluminous links are collected after the jump.

We summarized the past week in non-bonus news back in this post. Now, we provide a recap of last week in Biglaw and associate bonus news:

* In merger news, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and Preston Gates & Ellis are combining to form "K&L Gates."

* Meanwhile, the Dewey-Orrick merger will be delayed in its consummation.

* As for law firm associate bonuses, it was actually a pretty unexciting week, despite the flurry of announcements. With the obvious exception of Wachtell Lipton, every firm that announced essentially matched the market bonuses (as set during the prior week by Milbank).

* For the archives of our complete bonus coverage, click here, then scroll down. For bonus information about a specific firm, go to our firm-by-firm linkwrap, after the jump.

As helpfully noted by a commenter, the news is now official. As previously rumored, the law firms of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham and Preston Gates & Ellis are getting hitched. The merger will be effective January 1, 2007.

According to the official press release, the new entity will be called "Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP," but the firm will be BRANDED as "K&L Gates." Because these days it's all about the branding, kids.

We'll have more to say later. For now, we provide you with the press release announcing the merger, kindly sent to us by a law firm publicist. It's rather lengthy, and it reads like a geography lesson mashed up with a management consultant's PowerPoint presentation.

(Now we feel like real journalists. We're getting blast emails from PR folk!)

Check it out, after the jump.

Supreme Court Scions:

* Janet Rehnquist, daughter of the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, is leaving Venable to start her own health care law practice. She will be based out of the Washington offices of Arent Fox.

Rehnquist previously served as Inspector General of the Health and Human Services Department, before she resigned amid controversy. It was rumored that Chief Justice Rehnquist was upset over how his daughter's departure from HHS was handled.

Janet Rehnquist isn't the only SCOTUS spawn with a successful legal career. Her brother, James Rehnquist, is a litigation partner at Goodwin Procter and a former federal prosecutor. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's daughter, Jane Ginsburg, is a law professor at Columbia. And one of Justice Antonin Scalia's sons, Eugene Scalia, is a partner at high-powered Gibson Dunn, a former Solicitor of the Department of Labor -- and an ERISA hottie.

Damage Control:

* Jon Hoak, former general counsel to NCR, joins HP as its chief ethics and compliance officer.

Lateral Moves:

* Hedge fund lawyer Bruce Kahne, to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, from Seward & Kissel.

* Corporate and securities lawyer Daniel Raglan, to Greenberg Traurig, from Sullivan & Cromwell (where he was an associate).

* Public finance lawyers Pauline Schneider and Darrin Glymph, to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (DC), from Hunton & Williams. (Schneider, a former D.C. bar president, comes in as a partner; Glymph joins as counsel.)

NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Supreme Daughter Hangs Out Her Own Shingle and More DC Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
H-P Hires Former NCR General Counsel As Chief Ethics Officer [WSJ Law Blog]

Oodles of juicy moves today, especially out of and into the federal government. As the leaves change, so do the lawyers.

Government to Private Sector:

* Federal prosecutor John Hueston, a leader of the team that prosecuted Enron execs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, is heading for the greener pastures of Irell & Manella.

All around the country, AUSAs with white-collar criminal experience are leaving U.S. Attorney's Offices -- including our former workplace -- for the more lucrative precincts of private practice. The trend is especially pronounced in the legendary Southern District of New York, as noted by Anna Schneider-Mayerson.

Private Sector to Government:

* Corporate and securities lawyer Michael Halloran, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop, has been appointed to serve as deputy chief of staff and counselor to Christopher Cox, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lateral Moves:

* Broker-dealer compliance specialist Steven Lofchie, to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, from Davis Polk & Wardwell. (In this day and age, compliance is a hot area. We're guessing Lofchie got offered a nice deal.)

* Tax lawyer John Narducci, to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, from White & Case.

* IP lawyer Robert Wasnofski Jr., to Dorsey & Whitney, from Baker Botts.

* M&A lawyer Sandy Feldman, to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, from Torys.

Retirements:

* Plaintiffs' lawyer Alan Schulman, of Bernstein, Litowitz -- and formerly of the indicted Milberg Weiss -- is retiring at the end of the year.

Not Going Anywhere -- Yet:

* Apple CEO Steve Jobs and HP CEO Mark Hurd are sticking around -- despite the problems that their companies face.

NY Practice Leader Leaves One Elite NY Firm for Another [NYLawyer.com]
More NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Milberg Weiss: Merger Talks Break Down; An Alum Retires [WSJ Law Blog]
Enron Prosecutor John Hueston to Join Irell & Manella [WSJ Law Blog]
The Gang That Shot Straight Is Disbanding, For a Profit [New York Observer]

A few job changes that didn't make it into our earlier round-up:

Lateral Moves:

* Litigator Walter Loughlin, to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, from Latham & Watkins.

* Tax lawyer Robert Miller, to Greenberg Traurig, from Intel.

New Partners:

* Fried Frank: Tax lawyer Brian Kniesly and corporate lawyer David Shaw.

Anyone have any good tidbits about these folks? Something cute, amusing, and preferably non-libelous? If so, please email us (subject line: "Musical Chairs").

NY Attorneys on the Move [NYLawyer.com]

Our summary of the most important or interesting moves within the profession. If you have any good gossip about these job changes and the players involved, or forthcoming announcements, please drop us a line (subject line: "Musical Chairs").

Lateral Moves:

* Former federal prosecutor and white-collar criminal defense lawyer Walter Loughlin, to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, from Latham & Watkins.

* Real estate lawyers Raymond Sanseverino, Richard Nardi, and Kenneth Sold, to Loeb & Loeb, from Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner.

* Litigator Keith Miller, to Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, from Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham.

* Corporate lawyer David Dedyo, to Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, from White & Case.

New Partners:

* Alston & Bird: Real estate lawyer William Stefko (from CWCapital LLC).

* Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler: Judge Michael Mukasey, returning to the firm after serving as a federal judge (S.D.N.Y.).

NY Litigation Partner Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]
More NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]

Our summary of the most important or interesting moves within the profession. If you have any good gossip about these job changes and the players involved, or forthcoming announcements, please drop us a line (subject line: "Musical Chairs").

Lateral Partner Moves:

* Private equity lawyer Jane Gryef, to Nixon Peabody, from Latham & Watkins

* Corporate partner Angela M. Santoro Dowd, to Loeb & Loeb, from Golenbock, Eiseman, Assor, Bell & Peskoe.

* Litigator Keith Miller, to Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, from Kirkpatrick & Lockhart.

* Tax partner Dan Kusnetz, to Schulte Roth & Zabel, from Jones Day.

* Employment lawyers Maria Anastas and Aaron Roblan, to Davis Wright Tremaine, from Jackson Lewis.

* Corporate lawyer Lawrence Low, to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, from Preston Gates & Ellis.

New Partners:

* Loeb & Loeb: David P. Ansel and Po Yi.

NY Lawyers Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Left Coast Lawyers Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]