Kramer Levin

Biglaw Perk Watch: Associate Client Fees

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100 dollar bill Above the Law Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGHere’s an interesting (and potentially lucrative) Biglaw benefit, which was recently brought to our attention:

How about a Biglaw perk watch thread on associate client fees? For example, at Kramer Levin, if an associate brings a new client to the firm, he or she gets 7 percent of all fees collected from that client.

The rule applies even if the associate isn’t involved in the matter. So, for example, a litigator who brings in a corporate client would still get the percentage.

We have heard of such arrangements, although we think they tend to be more common among midsize and smaller firms, as opposed to the biggest of Biglaw shops. But even if you don’t share in the fees, it obviously helps your partnership chances if you have the power to bring in a major client (e.g., because your mom is the CEO or GC of a Fortune 500 company).
If you have thoughts or information to share, please do so in the comments. Thanks.

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Associate Bonus Watch: Kramer Levin Announces
(Bonuses Subject to ‘Merit’ and Hours Threshold)

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associate bonus watch 2007 law firm Above the Law blog.jpgA day without bonus announcements is like a day without sunshine. And for a while it looked like today was going to be one dark day — perhaps fitting, given the stock market tumble.
But Kramer Levin has come to the rescue. Check out their bonus memo, after the jump.

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(Bonuses Subject to ‘Merit’ and Hours Threshold)”

Wachtell and Wikipedia: Not So Perfect Together?

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Wachtell Lipton Rosen Katz WLRK Above the Law blog.jpgOver on AutoAdmit (via Concurring Opinions), folks have been talking about Wikiscanner. This neat application allows you to see recent edits to Wikipedia and who made them, in terms of the editor’s IP address (which often reveals their employer).

As Professor Dave Hoffman notes at Concurring Opinions, law firm lawyers seem to love playing with Wikipedia. A tipster is more specific:

Apparently members of Vault 15 law firms have been making, umm, questionable edits to wikipedia. For example:

– Vandalizing Ann Coulter’s page
– Shameless self-promotion
– Editing articles on BDSM (WTF?)
– Hiding links to Skull and Bones
– Taking shots at Noam Chomsky
– Taking shots at other firms

Eric Turkewitz, over at the NY Personal Injury Law Blog, zeroes in on edits made from computers at Wachtell Lipton (where we once worked). He accuses the firm of “duplicity,” since someone at WLRK is making (flattering) edits to the firm’s page, even though the firm claims it doesn’t engage in advertising or marketing.

But what if the edits were made not by Wachtell firm management, but by a mere associate? Would that be as problematic? Should Wachtell, or any other law firm, prohibit firm employees from touching up firm write-ups in Wikipedia (at least from law firm computers)?

With respect to the Wachtell Wikipedia edits, we have some interesting speculation. Check it out, after the jump.

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 8.5.07: From Russia with Love

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LEWW logo.jpgBefore we begin, a nod to one of the best wedding write-ups we’ve seen in a while, and for once (just once) we’re not being the least bit tongue-in-cheek. Joanne Handler and John Rau III didn’t make our final three this week, even though John has a law degree, but . . . wow. They are 50-year-olds (very attractive 50-year-olds) who dated for a year in college and then broke up when he transferred to another school. John married someone else, but Joanne stayed single, still pining for John:

“I never forgot about him, because he was the love of my life,” Ms. Handler said. “For 30 years, I was never in love with anyone else. I had long-term boyfriends, but I could never get married because I could never love anyone the way I loved John Rau.”

But this three-hanky chick flick has a happy ending. The spinster librarian (really!) received a call from the recently divorced John in 2005:

“I was shaking with joy when John called,” Ms. Handler said. “For 30 years, I knew that we were meant for each other, that he was the perfect man for me. I knew I was right.”
So did Mr. Rau.

Beautiful. [And now we'll pause while everybody Googles their college crush -- and their spouse's.]
But back to what this column is really about: raw, choking prestige.
Here are our three finalist couples (all lawyer-lawyer pairings):

1. Nicole Lipman and Michael Ellis
2. Alison Sclater and Wells Dixon
3. Sofia Yakren and Boris Bershteyn

More about these couples, after the jump.

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Clerkship Bonus Watch: Kramer Levin

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Kramer Levin Naftalis Frankel LLP logo Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgFirms continue to raise their clerkship bonuses, although the pace of announcements seems to be slowing.
Here’s the latest addition to the $50K/$70K Club:

“Kramer Levin increased its clerkship bonus to $50,000 for one year and $70,000 for two years. The info is on their NALP page.”

Indeed it is. You can access the firm’s form by running a search on this page.
And if you’re looking for a continually updated compilation of clerkship bonus information, we refer you to this list, over at the Law Clerk Addict blog. Very helpful!
P.S. Random factoid about Kramer Levin: it’s the former Biglaw home of the WSJ Law Blog’s Peter Lattman, who practiced litigation there for two years in the 1990s.
Vault 100 clerkship salary bonus chart [Law Clerk Addict Blog]

Skaddenfreude: The Kramer Levin Memo

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100 dollar bill Above the Law Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGWe have a bit of a backlog of law firm associate pay raise announcements. We’ll be clearing that backlog over the course of the day today, as well as publishing any new memos and emails that we receive (interspersed with our non-compensation coverage).
Here is the Kramer Levin email announcing increases in base salaries for its associates, which went out on Friday afternoon:
Kramer Levin Naftalis Frankel associate base salary pay raise memorandum memo.JPG
Earlier: Previous announcements of law firm associate salary increases (scroll down through “Skaddenfreude” archives)

Musical Chairs: 01.05.07

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musical chairs 2 Above the Law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFNothing huge today, like yesterday’s news about Harriet Miers’s departure; but a few interesting moves. The two most noteworthy ones involve transitions between the public and private sectors:
From politics to private practice:
* Asa Hutchinson has rejoined Venable’s Washington office. Hutchinson — a former Undersecretary of Homeland Security, Republican congressman, and chief of the DEA — left the firm in March 2006, to run (unsuccessfully) for Arkansas governor.
From private sector to government:
* New York’s brand-new Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, snags another former federal prosecutor for his “dream team.” Henry Greenberg is leaving the Albany office of Greenberg Traurig to serve as Cuomo’s counsel.
Law firm news, after the jump.

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Musical Chairs: 12.13.06

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musical chairs 2 Above the Law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFIt has been a while since our last round-up of notable moves within the legal profession. So there’s a lot to report today:
Law Firm to… Prison?
* Former Milberg Weiss name partner Steven Schulman resigned from the firm to pursue “new ventures.” The most important of these “ventures” will surely be fighting federal charges of making illegal payments to plaintiffs in past cases.
Law Firms to In-House:
* Securities lawyer Stephen Cutler is leaving his partnership at WilmerHale to become general counsel of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the banking giant. From a tipster who works in securities law: “This is a big deal.”
Colleagues of Cutler described the JP Morgan gig to the WSJ Law Blog as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. Translation: Who wouldn’t want to make mid- instead of low-seven-figures?
* Another WilmerHale departure: J. Kevin McCarthy is taking over as top lawyer of the Cowen Group, an investment bank.
Government to Private Sector:
* Former New Jersey Chief Justice Deborah Poritz joins the Princeton office of Drinker Biddle & Reath, as of counsel. She stepped down from the New Jersey Supreme Court in October, after reaching the mandatory retirement age.
Government Promotion:
* David Nocenti, current counsel to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, will become counsel to the governor effective January 1.
Academia-Biglaw Alliance:
* Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe, the renowned constitutional scholar and SCOTUS litigator, is entering into a consulting arrangement with Akin Gump.
Akin Gump is developing a Supreme Court practice. Earlier this year, they added young SCOTUS superstar Tom Goldstein to their line-up.
Lateral Moves:
* Securities-enforcement lawyer Chuck Davidow, to Paul Weiss (DC), from WilmerHale.
Another loss for WilmerHale — on top of the previously reported departure of Paul Eckert for the White House Counsel’s Office.
Why are so many partners leaving WilmerHale? A Hillary Clinton administration is still two years away.
* IP lawyer Joseph Gioconda, to DLA Piper (New York), from Kirkland & Ellis.
* Corporate lawyer Eric Lerner, to Kramer Levin, from Katten Muchin Rosenman.
* Tax lawyer Thomas Giegerich, to McDermott Will & Emery (NY), from Dewey Ballantine (about to merge with Orrick to form Dewy Orifice).
New Partners:
* Bryan Cave: Eleven new partners. Names here.
Due to the sheer number of links today, we’ve placed them after the jump.

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Musical Chairs: 10.06.06

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musical chairs above the law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFThe second half of today’s legal professional moves.
Lateral Moves:
* Robin Weisman, to NASDAQ, where she will serve as director of government relations,from Akin Gump, where she was counsel.
New Partners:
* Kirkland & Ellis. A boatload of new partners — fifteen of them, in fact.
Here they are, per the New York Law Journal (middle initials omitted, in a shameless bid for Google traffic from their names):

Colin Adams, restructuring; John Armbruster, corporate; William Brashares, corporate; Iskender Catto, energy; Mukang Cho, real estate; Eric Dittmann, intellectual property; Helena Huang, restructuring; Jordan Malz, intellectual property; Andres Mena, corporate; F. Christopher Mizzo, intellectual property; Young Park, intellectual property; William Sorabella, corporate; Kester Spindler, corporate; Michael Stadnick, intellectual property; Christopher Torrente, corporate.

Are these 15 only New York-based lawyers ? And are they equity or non-equity partners? We know that the brilliant litigatrix Susan Engel (nee Susan Kearns) just made non-equity partner in K&E’s Washington office — en route, surely, to equity partnership if she wants it. But Susan’s name doesn’t appear on this list.)
* Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel: Land use and environmental litigation lawyer Jeffrey Bruan; litigatrix Jennifer Rochon; corporate lawyer Terrence Shen; Douglas Schneller, who specializes in “claims trading and distressed investing advice” (that sounds cool); and litigator Norman Simon.
Earlier: Musical Chairs: John Martin + Otto Obermaier = $$$

Non-Sequiturs: 09.07.06

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crossword puzzle.jpg* That’s interesting: crossword guru Will Shortz is a UVA Law alum. And we love the opening question of this interview — even if it’s not terribly PC. [TJ's Double Play]
* The saucy blog commenter who (unintentionally) got Lee Siegel’s TNR blog taken down: Kramer Levin associate Joseph Schwartz, self-described “reluctant lawyer” and “frustrated” fiction writer. Take a number, Joe. [New York Observer]
* Getting those ankle bracelets removed would be oh-so-liberating. [The Independent via DealBreaker]
* Our ERISA Hotties Contest isn’t the only poll in progress here at Above the Law. Don’t forget to vote for August 2006′s Couple of the Month! [ATL]