LeBoeuf Lamb

Non-Sequiturs: 09.26.07

By David Lat

* 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]

Dewey & LeBoeuf: More on the Merger

By David Lat

Please accept our apologies. After breaking the story on Friday afternoon, we kinda dropped the ball on the merger of Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf Lamb.
We’ll write more about this transaction later. Sadly, we have to head offline for a bit. But in the meantime, here’s an open thread for people to discuss the merger.
We’ll get the ball rolling with a press-release-type statement that was sent to DB interviewees:

After receiving a callback from Dewey, the recruiting department sent me and all similarly-situated recruits the heads up: The new firm, to be dubbed “Dewey & LeBoeuf,” is set to roll out, “subject to approval by the partners in both firms.”

Below is the email that I was sent. I apologize if you’ve already been notified.

The email, from Dewey Ballantine partner Henry Ricardo, appears after the jump.

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Law Firm Merger Mania: Dewey LeBoeuf? (You Heard It Here First)

By David Lat

People in the offices of both Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf Lamb have been gossiping about a possible merger between their firms.
Here’s some circumstantial evidence in support of the rumors. If you go to Whois.Net and enter the domain name DeweyLeBoeuf.com, you get this info:
Dewey Ballantine 2 LeBoeuf Lamb Greene MacRae Above the Law blog.jpg
We have a call and an email in to Michael Groll. We’ll let you know if and when we hear back from him.
Update: Might this be a practical joke, as one commenter suggests? Quite possibly. That’s why we’ve reached out to Mr. Groll for comment.
Further Update (4:45 PM): No, this is the real deal. About an hour after our post went up, the WSJ Law Blog chimed in with this write-up: “LeBoeuf Lamb and Dewey Ballantine are in merger talks, with an announcement of a deal expected as early as Monday, according to people familiar with the situation.”
Further Further Update (8/25/07): The New York Times has an article on the merger talks here.
More discussion, plus links, after the jump.

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Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 51-55

By David Lat

eighty pine street 80 pine street Cahill Gordon Reindel Above the Law blog.jpgSadly, the music-loving law firm of Nixon Peabody is not on this afternoon’s list of five Vault 100 firms to talk about. And don’t hold your breath — we won’t reach NP until we hit the 70′s.
Here are the firms that are on the table:

51. Jenner & Block LLP (5.940)
52. LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP (5.925)
53. Allen & Overy LLP (5.922)
54. DLA Piper (5.913)
55. Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (5.913)

We note the presence of Cahill Gordon on this list. Even though Cahill routinely lands near the top of the profits per partner rankings of the American Lawyer — in 2006, they were #6, with PPP of $2.575 million — the firm’s prestige seems to lag behind its profits. Any thoughts on why?
Please chatter away about these five firms in the comments. Thanks.
The Vault Top 100 Law Firms [Vault]
Earlier: Vault 1-5; Vault 6-10; Vault 11-15; Vault 16-20; Vault 21-25; Vault 26-30; Vault 31-35; Vault 36-40; Vault 41-45; Vault 46-50

Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Arent Fox, Seyfarth Shaw, LeBoeuf Lamb

By David Lat

100 dollar bill Abovethelaw Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGWe have a few associate pay raise developments to report this morning. Some of these items were announced some time ago, but they haven’t written about in these pages until now. Here they are:
1. Arent Fox: The firm now pays a starting salary of $160,000 in New York, D.C., and California, according to the firm website, which a tipster pointed out to us. (But that $20,000 clerkship bonus is pretty chintzy.)
2. Seyfarth Shaw: The firm, which dragged its feet on the last pay raise, has no current plans to raise again. From a Chicago associate:

“Our executive committee recently had a meeting and it was decided that salaries would not be raised to 160K for offices outside of New York. Chicago will continue to be behind market. I’m not so sure about the Boston, D.C. and L.A. offices, but if Chicago is not bumping, those offices are most likely staying behind as well. Maybe you should do one of those Baker & McKenzie and Greenberg Traurig bar charts on Monday morning for Seyfarth Chicago. As much as this firm is trying to be a major Chi-town player, it isn’t paying like one. We are pretty bummed.”

3. LeBoeuf Lamb: The firm has raised to the $160K scale in its Houston office. Memo after the jump.

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: A Few More Memos

By David Lat

100 dollar bill Abovethelaw Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGA quick reminder: We want your memos. We hear rumors of associate pay raises at particular firms all the time, but we generally don’t treat the news as official until we see a memorandum (assuming there is one). Please send them to us by email.
We reprint below two memos that arrived in our inbox not too long ago. First, there’s a memo from LeBoeuf Lamb, placing their associates in Hartford — recently covered here — on the $160K scale.
Second, there’s a memo from Foley & Lardner. It has raised its starting salary to $160,000, but not effective until September 2007, and it’s not following the standard $160K scale all the way up the ladder. Our source wrote:

Attached is the memo Foley & Lardner circulated today regarding adjustments to compensation. This was circulated a day after a separate memo from management announcing the increases and advising that management would review compensation prior to the beginning of the next fiscal year and would consider making modifications to amounts and structures at that time.

Management also referenced in the memo “exploring alternative career paths for associates,” but provided no additional information as to what that means.

Sounds a tad Orwellian to us. “Alternative career paths” = flipping burgers in the Foley cafeteria? But maybe we’re just being paranoid.
If you’re interested, you can check out the memos after the jump.

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: More Chicago News

By David Lat

Chicago Sears Tower Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgTwo items pertaining to associate pay raises in Chicago:

1. LeBoeuf Lamb just announced that its Chicago office will be on the $160K pay scale. The firm’s presence in the Windy City isn’t huge, but the move does confirm that the market rate for Chi-town really is $160K. Memo after the jump.

2. Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal: To the commenter who keeps on asking if this memo is confirmed, the answer is yes. A source at the firm has verified it for us.

But you didn’t need us to tell you that. Just pick up the June 5 issue of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (subscription):

Although a law firm chairman says double pay hikes for associates in 2007 harm those associates, more major law firms in Chicago have jumped on the bandwagon to raise starting pay to $160,000.

“My strong view is this is not good for associates at all,” said Elliott I. Portnoy of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal LLP.

Portnoy compared the new pay raises to a poker game. Some of the nation’s top firms “up the ante” on pay “and want to see who stays in the game.”

Nevertheless, Portnoy announced Tuesday that Sonnenschein will raise the salary for first-year associates to $160,000 in its Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., offices.

It’s not as vociferous as Sandman’s Rant, but at least we get to call it Portnoy’s Complaint.
The LeBoeuf Lamb and Sonnenschein memos appear after the jump.

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: LeBoeuf Lamb Raises in California

By David Lat

LeBoeuf Lamb 2 small La Bouche Above the Law Blog.jpgThe crew over at La Bouche LeBoeuf Lamb, who recently showed some love to law clerks, just raised salaries in their California offices.
They’re now on the $160K scale. The raise is retroactive to May 1, 2007.
Memo appears after the jump.
(If your firm recently raised associate base salaries and/or clerkship bonuses, and hasn’t been covered already in these pages, please email us to let us know. Thanks.)

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La Bouche LeBoeuf Lamb to Law Clerks: ‘Be My Lover’

By David Lat

LeBoeuf Lamb La Bouche Above the Law Blog.jpgHere are the members of the “$50K/$70K Club” — the elite law firms that pay clerkship bonuses of $50,000, for one year of clerking, or $70,000, for two years:
1. Cravath, Swaine & Moore
2. LeBoeuf Lamb
3. Skadden Arps
4. Sullivan & Cromwell
5. Weil Gotshal & Manges
One of these things is not like the others…
Yes, that’s right: LeBoeuf Lamb, while certainly a prestigious firm, historically hasn’t been regarded as “in the same league” with the others.
But perhaps that will change, given the firm’s intent to go after top legal talent, as expressed through their clerkship bonuses. And see also their website:

We actively recruit associates who have completed judicial clerkships and reward them with clerkship bonuses and advanced standing. Effective fall 2007, LeBoeuf Lamb lawyers who join the firm immediately after completing law school and a qualifying judicial clerkship receive $50,000 if they have participated in a one-year clerkship or $70,000 if they have participated in a two-year clerkship. Candidates are encouraged to ask for more details about our clerkship bonus program during the interview process.

LeBoeuf Lamb, ATL salutes you! We wish you the best of luck in your law clerk recruiting efforts.
Associates: Compensation and Benefits [LeBoeuf Lamb]
La Bouche [Wikipedia]

Musical Chairs: 04.17.07

By David Lat

musical chairs 2 Above the Law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFSome notable moves within the legal profession:
Government to Private Sector:
* Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, to LeBoeuf Lamb in DC. Last November, Steele lost his bid to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate.
* Michele Hirshman, who served as Eliot Spitzer’s top deputy at the Attorney General’s office before he became Governor, is joining Paul Weiss, as a litigation partner. Described by the New York Times as “very smart, very tough and rather short,” she sounds perfectly diva-licious.
Lateral Moves:
* Antitrust superstar Charles “Rick” Rule, to Cadwalader, from Fried Frank. This truly IS like musical chairs: Cadwalader, Rule’s new home, recently lost its antitrust group to Skadden.
* Celebrated criminal defense lawyer Abbe Lowell — who did an excellent job defending Hamlet against murder charges — is moving from Chadbourne & Parke to McDermott Will & Emery.
* Mark Holscher and Jeffrey Sinek are joining the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis. They’re coming from O’Melveny & Myers and Thelen Reid, respectively. From the Law Blog:

Holscher and Sinek are best friends. They were roommates when they served as federal prosecutors in Los Angeles. Holscher, 44, served as an assistant U.S. Attorney from 1989-1995; Sinek, 46, served from 1989 to 1994. Sinek was the best man at Holscher’s wedding; Holscher was a groomsman in Sinek’s. Both graduated from Boalt Hall law school. Holscher told the Law Blog they’ve always wanted to work together.

Alexandra Korry small Alexandra D Korry Above the Law blog.jpgSuch ambiguously gay commentary led an anonymous reader to quip: “Hope that Alexandra Korry doesn’t read about this…”
On The Move: Charles “Rick” Rule [Antitrust Review]
Kirkland Beefs Up West Coast White-Collar Practice [WSJ Law Blog]
Abbe Lowell to Join McDermott from Chadbourne [WSJ Law Blog]
Former Maryland Pol Michael Steele Joins LeBoeuf Lamb [WSJ Law Blog]
Spitzer’s Longtime No. 2 Michele Hirshman to Join Paul Weiss [WSJ Law Blog]

Skaddenfreude: The LeBoeuf Lamb Memo

By David Lat

We have a number of associate base salary memos in the queue for publication (including some from last week, when tech problems frustrated publication). Rest assured, we will get around to posting them. (Considering that nobody is doing anything particularly exciting — e.g., besting Simpson Thacher — the time pressures for publication aren’t great.)
But for those of you who like your news to be breaking, here’s a memo that’s still warm from the photocopier. One of you already posted it in the comments. But for the record, and for those of you who only read the ATL main page, the LeBoeuf Lamb pay raise announcement is reprinted below.
LeBoeuf Lamb Greene MacRae associate base salary pay raise memo LeBouef Lamb Green McRae.JPG
Note that LeBoeuf will be paying New York salaries to its DC associates (as indicated in the addressee line for the memo). Note also that this memo is with all the horn-tooting enthusiasm of a press release, perhaps in the anticipation that it would get leaked outside the firm:

Musical Chairs: 01.17.07

By David Lat

musical chairs 2 Above the Law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFOn 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]

Musical Chairs: 01.02.07

By David Lat

musical chairs 2 Above the Law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFA 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.

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Associate Bonus Watch: Debevoise and LeBoeuf Match

By David Lat

stack of bills cash money.jpgWe 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.

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Musical Chairs: 11.08.06

By David Lat

Musical Chairs Above the Law Legal Blog Above the Law Legal Tabloid Above the Law Legal Gossip Site.GIFPersonnel changes are everywhere today — and not just on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon. Some notable moves within the legal profession:
Lateral Moves:
* Private equity and M&A lawyer Dennis Barsky, to Jones Day, from Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
* Corporate lawyer Jonathan Stapleton and investment-funds lawyer Margaret Paradis, to Baker & McKenzie (NY), from Arnold & Porter and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, respectively.
* Insurance and financial services lawyer Chiu-Ti Jansen, to Sidley Austin, from LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae.
Government to Private Sector:
* Marc Agnifilo, former head of the violent and organized crime unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey, is joining Brafman and Associates. Yes, that Brafman — renowned criminal defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman, Diddy-defending attorney to the stars.
(Disclosure: Marc Agnifilo is a former colleague of ours, as well as a tremendously experienced and exceptionally talented lawyer. He has a fantastic sense of humor. And he’s the nephew of celebrated writer Don DeLillo.)
Firm Adds Two NY Corporate Partners [NYLawyer.com]
NY Private Equity Partner Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]
NY Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
Baker & McKenzie LLP Announces Ambitious New Strategy and Leadership Team in New York [Baker & McKenzie]

Musical Chairs: 09.07.06

By David Lat

musical chairs above the law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFA few moves to report today:
Lateral Moves:
* Antitrust attorney Jeffrey Brennan, to Dechert (DC), from the FTC (where he was Associate Director of the Bureau of Competition and Assistant Director of the Bureau’s Health Care Services and Products Division).
* Capital markets lawyer Rachel Coan, to Morrison & Foerster (NY), from LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae.
* White-collar and securities litigator Stephen Ascher, to Jenner & Block (NY), from Kronish Lieb.
On The Move [Antitrust Review]
Federal Trade Commission Associate Director Jeffrey W. Brennan Joins Dechert LLP [Dechert]
NY Capital Markets Partner Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]
NY Partner Leaves Merging Firm [NYLawyer.com]