Labor Day is behind us. You know what that means: no wearing white, no gin and tonics, and no qualms about sending summer associate stories to ATL. If you have an SA story to share that we haven't previously covered, please email us.

This latest tale, posted below, puts the "MoFo" in Morrison & Foerster. These kiddies are badass. As always, please don't name or provide additional identifying information about them. Thanks.

***********************
This summer MoFo hosted a firm-wide retreat in Napa, first-class all the way -- every attendee stayed in a private one-bedroom condo at the host resort, people got spa treatments, went on wine tastings, open bar every night, etc. Once the bar closed, the real troopers would head over to someone's condo for an after party. The firm covered minibar tabs, so people would stop by their own places and stock up on drinks to bring along. Nothing out of the ordinary, as far as big firm summer blow-outs go.

The only problem with the trip was the tremendous size of the resort. The condos were scattered all across a large compound. Some rooms were miles away from others. The resort provided shuttle service, but often (especially late at night) the shuttles were slow in coming. Very slow. It was definitely a nuisance.

A couple of days into the retreat, two or three summers apparently got sick of waiting for a shuttle to take them to their far off condos at the end of the evening's after party festivities. One of them was sick and vomiting or something, so they had a sense of urgency. In a haze of drunken entitlement (or perhaps a twisted sense of altruism: their friend was sick!), these summers decided to "borrow" a car from the resort's valet to drive home.

They busted into the valet key box and swiped the keys to an Audi A6 -- first-class all the way! -- got into the car, and started it up. Luckily for them, before they could get it into gear and get moving, a recruiter got wind of the operation and came RUNNING AND SCREAMING out of the after party. She got them out of the car; the keys were returned to their rightful place.

But the plans of drunken MoFos are not so easily foiled. Undeterred, they RETURNED to the valet box once the recruiter was out of their way, stole the keys AGAIN, and started up the car once more. This time a MoFo PARTNER saw the situation, ran over to the car, and put a stop to the ill-fated scheme.

***********************
What happened to the summers in question? We don't know for certain, but we're guessing they got no-offered. While creative problem-solving and taking the initiative are usually desirable qualities for lawyers to possess, stealing cars and driving drunk raise character and fitness issues.

In connection with on-campus interviewing season, we're giving you a chance to assess the firms that made this year's Vault 100 list of most prestigious law firms. The previous open threads listed firms in groups of five, but to up the pace, we'll list them by ten from here on out. Here's the next group, with prestige scores in parentheses:

21. O'Melveny & Myers LLP (6.815)
22. Clifford Chance LLP (6.772)
23. Jones Day (6.763)
24. Morrison & Foerster LLP (6.657)
25. Hogan & Hartson LLP (6.579)
26. Linklaters (6.574)
27. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy (6.512)
28. Ropes & Gray LLP (6.501)
29. Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP (6.494)
30. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (6.481)

We note Magic Circle firm Linklaters making a big leap from the high 30s in the 2008 list to #26 this year -- perhaps because its "notable perks" include group retreats to Europe, a drinks trolley, and an on-site doctor and dentist.

Compare. Contrast. Discuss. Thanks.

Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads - 2009

There's been a lot of good news lately over at Morrison & Foerster. E.g., bigger bonuses; enhanced parental leave.

But if you're hoping to work for the widely admired firm in Orange County, you're out of luck. The firm is closing its Orange County office as of June 30, 2008. The closing was announced last week by firm chairman Keith Wetmore, via email.

For those of you who follow MoFo's fortunes, the closing shouldn't come as a huge surprise. Back in February, we reported on how the firm was essentially dissolving its summer program in Orange County. (To its credit, the firm offered incoming OC summer associates the chance to work in another office for the summer or financial support for pro bono work.)

Update: More here from The Recorder, which reports that the MoFo-OC closing was triggered in part by "the departure of its office leader and another partner to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips."

The email announcing the Orange County closing, after the jump.

A reader recently prodded us about the new bonus policy of Morrison & Foerster:

Love your site. However, I am very disappointed that there has not been a post on the recent MoFo bonus announcement. I don't work at MoFo, but I heard from a friend over a week ago that they raised their bonuses. I saw a little bit about this in the comments, but there was never an official post. As you well know, public dissemination of this information is extremely important because it puts pressure on other firms to raise their bonuses. Please, for the financial benefit of all associates, do a post on the MoFo bonus increase.

We got our hands on the Morrison & Foerster bonus announcement. The changes are a little complex; our tipster summarized:

MoFo always announces its bonus policy prospectively, early in the year, so folks can set their expectations. We've recently done so for 2008, and it has some changes over 2007. The changes are regarded as a move to an "LA model" of bonus compensation -- significant $$$ available once you make 1,950 hours, plus significant $$$ available for increased hours or favorable merit review, topping out at something like $135k. The changes also move away from hours-based bonuses (though we still have those), to a system that depends more heavily on the results of individual evaluations.

Everyone should see an increase over last year's bonuses, typically $10-$30k more. Nice to see an advance commitment of this kind given the current economy.

The transmittal email and full memo, including a table of bonus ranges, appears after the jump.

This rumor, about the Orange County office of Morrison & Foerster, has been making the rounds:

"A couple of my classmates are now scrambling for new summer jobs after MoFo OC told them to start looking elsewhere, because the office basically has no work and they're already moving lawyers to other offices. They just got told this week. MoFo didn't even offer to accommodate them in other offices."

Unwelcome to the OC, bitch?

As it turns out, however, much of the rumor is incorrect. We reached out to the firm, and heard back from no less an authority than Keith Wetmore, the firm's handsome (and openly gay) chairman:

By virtue of some internal redeployments within the firm, our OC office has declined in size and scope of practice over the past six months, to a point where we did not feel we could offer summer associates a full summer experience or appropriate assurances of permanent offers in that office. For example, we are exiting the corporate practice there so can no longer offer corporate experience to summer associates. There is no shortage of work for the lawyers who remain -- one the biggest cases in the firm has historically been, and continues to be, staffed from that office.

We offered all the summer associates positions in a number of our other offices across the globe or split summers between Orange County and those other offices. We have also offered them financial support should they want to work in pro bono for the summer. Understandably, some of them have chosen to consider other firms for the summer before they make a final decision.

We thank Mr. Wetmore and MoFo for this information. We especially appreciated the promptness of their response (within an hour of our original inquiry).

Before the New Year, associates in the New York office of Morrison & Foerster received their bonus news. Now it's time for their colleagues outside of NYC to collect their cash.

In addition to the firm's "standard productivity bonuses under the published 2007 compensation program," MoFo is paying out (1) "a one-time bonus" (it sounds "special" to us), ranging from $10,000 - $20,000, to associates and certain of counsel who met or exceeded their hours requirements, and (2) merit bonuses, for "exemplary lawyering and exceptional teamwork," ranging from $15,000 - $30,000.

Full memo, after the jump.

Or a richness of embarrassment. Today we're going to name not one, but seven Lawyers of the Day.

Our first Lawyer of the Day is Mark Mersel (formerly of Morrison & Foerster, now at Bryan Cave). In case you missed the shout-out in Morning Docket, here's a bit more, from the WSJ Law Blog:

It's a litigator's worst dream -- costing your client serious money by missing a filing deadline.

That nightmare was a reality for MoFo, which appears to have cost its client Toshiba America $1 million when it was one-minute late -- 1 minute! -- in filing a motion for attorneys fees.

For the exciting details -- which involve a courier zooming through traffic on a motorcycle, and an unfortunately timed train -- read the full post.

The other six Lawyers of the Day are no strangers to these pages. Let's call them the Qualcomm Six. From the Recorder:

Six attorneys in the Qualcomm Inc. discovery fiasco were sanctioned Monday for "monumental" discovery violations and referred to the State Bar of California for possible discipline.

Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder attorneys James Batchelder, Adam Bier, Kevin Leung, Christian Mammen and Lee Patch, and Heller Ehrman's Stanley Young were sanctioned and harshly criticized by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major in a 42-page order. The ruling follows a patent infringement trial Qualcomm had brought against Broadcom Corp.

The attorneys "assisted Qualcomm in committing this incredible discovery violation by intentionally hiding or recklessly ignoring relevant documents, ignoring or rejecting numerous warning signs that Qualcomm's document search was inadequate, and blindly accepting Qualcomm's unsupported assurances that its document search was adequate," Major wrote.

Document production sucks -- or, to put it more nicely, it's a thankless task. It's time-intensive, mind-numbingly boring, and a general pain in the a**. If you do it right, you're just doing your job; but if you screw it up, consider yourself screwed. Monumentally.

Six Lawyers in Qualcomm Case Sanctioned for 'Monumental' Discovery Violations [The Recorder via Law.com]
Judge rebukes Qualcomm, its attorneys [San Diego Union-Tribune via Blogonaut]
A Litigator's Nightmare: Late Filing Costs Client $1 Million [WSJ Law Blog]

Okay, folks, you know what to do. Here are the next five law firms up for discussion (in Vault 100 order, with prestige scores in parentheses):

21. Arnold & Porter LLP (7.012)
22. Jones Day (6.932)
23. Morrison & Foerster LLP (6.898)
24. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy (6.752)
25. Clifford Chance LLP (6.747)

The virgin territory of the comments is yearning for your touch.

The Vault Top 100 Law Firms [Vault]

Earlier: Vault 1-5; Vault 6-10; Vault 11-15; Vault 16-20

We're back. It's Monday. We don't like Mondays. We're feeling sluggish today.

So we'll take the path of least resistance, and start a thread about an ATL staple: clerkship bonuses. We have some good news about two new (and non-New York) firms.

First, the rumor about O'Melveny & Myers can be treated as confirmed. We received lots of emails about OMM. Here are two:

"O'Melveny and Myers has raised their federal clerkship bonus to 50k. District Court and Appellate. Not sure about second year bonus of 70k."

"O'Melveny and Myers just raised their clerkship bonus from 35k to 50k. As far as I know, they're the first non-NY based firm (aside from Susman) to go to 50k. And it's straight 50k -- it doesn't include a bar stipend like that Latham nonsense."

Second -- from just one source, so let us know if it's erroneous -- we hear that Morrison & Foerster has joined the $50K Club:

"Noticed the clerkship bonus list of shame (7/02/07). A co-clerk of mine is joining MoFo this fall and the clerkship bonus is listed as 50K (nationwide) in the documents he has received."

If you have clerkship bonus information not previously reported on ATL, please email us (subject line: "Clerkship Bonus"). Thanks.

As we reported on Friday, Morrison & Foerster recently announced a firm-wide increase in associate base salaries. But the MoFo raise came with a catch: a modification to the firm's bonus structure (for associates outside New York).

Here's the relevant language from the MoFo memo, which we recently got our grubby little hands on:

This increase in base compensation [for non-NYC offices] will, however, replace the contribution bonus that was otherwise payable for those who finished the year in good standing with 1950 billable/pro bono/firm legal service hours. For any associate otherwise eligible for that contribution bonus who ends the year making less than he or she would have under the former base compensation plus contribution bonus model, the firm will make up the shortfall in January of 2008. Additional details about the elimination of the 2007 contribution bonus will be posted on the Professional Development portal next week.

One source who sent this to us stated:

If you could use this memo to get your hands on other memos, particularly regarding what's happening with bonuses, that would be quite helpful. I'm especially curious about Orrick's alleged bonus structure, as reported in the comments section of your post, "West Coast Pay Raise Watch: MoFo sees Orrick's San Francisco and Raises it a Sacramento." Thanks.

So if you have a memo (or memos) explaining bonus structures at places like Orrick and O'Melveny, which recently raised associate salaries, please send 'em our way. It would be helpful to compare how they stack up with Morrison & Foerster.

For those of you who are curious, the complete MoFo memo appears after the jump.

As noted by several commenters, and as this article in Monday's Recorder will report, Morrison & Foerster has announced a firm-wide increase in associate base salaries. This follows on the heels of pay raise news from two other California-based (or California-originating) firms, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and O'Melveny & Myers.

Here's the new MoFo pay scale:

1 - $160,000 (2006)
2 - $170,000 (2005)
3 - $185,000 (2004)
4 - $210,000 (2003)
5 - $230,000 (2002)
6 - $250,000 (2001)
7 - $265,000 (2000)
8 - $280,000 (1999)

As reflected in the base salary table above, all of MoFo's offices are now on what might be called a "New York" or "$160K" pay scale. The same is true of O'Melveny, but not of Orrick (which raised starting salaries in its Sacramento and Pacific Northwest offices, but not all the way to $160,000 -- just to $145,000).

With respect to the MoFo news, there's a catch (which the Recorder fails to mention). As noted by this comment:

MOFO eliminated the "contribution bonus" payable upon hitting 1950 [hours]. More or less took the 1950 bonus, which almost everyone earns, plus a few grand more and spread that over a 12 month period. NY lawyers still get bonuses like all other NY attorneys.

Or this one (from commenter "Screwed"):

MoFo announced that it's matching OMM and Orrick, but then anounced that it's rescinding its previously-announced hours-based bonus that kicks in at 1950 hours. The salary increase, pro-rated over 8 months, is essentially of equal value as the now-rescinded bonus. In other words, the only real difference for people meeting their minimum hours requirement is that they get that portion of their bonus up-front. Is OMM or Orrick also playing the "give with one hand while taking with the other" move to "increase" salaries?

Your responses to this question are welcome in the comments.

More Calif. Firms Follow Orrick's Move to $160K Associate Pay [The Recorder]

The interesting comment thread to our recent post about the Seyfarth Shaw memo -- aka "We're on the List of Shame, and We're Telling You We're Not Going" -- reminded us of something we meant to link to earlier.

It's an article, from this month's ABA Journal, reporting the results of a survey of young lawyers. The survey focused on the trade-off between compensation and billable hours -- in other words, money versus lifestyle. Here's a summary of the results:

[I]f associates were given an opportunity to work—and earn—a little bit less, would they?

Yes, say an overwhelming number of young lawyers who participated in an unscientific online survey conducted by the ABA Journal in November. Respondents identified themselves as associates.

Of the 2,377 respondents who answered all or part of the survey, 84.2 percent indicated they would be willing to earn less money in exchange for lower billable-hour requirements.

A sizable minority of associates are looking for a big workload cut—31.9 percent of respondents favored a 20 percent reduction in billable hours. That was followed by a 10 percent cut in hours (chosen by 27.8 percent of respondents), a 15 percent cut (14.3 percent), a 25 percent reduction (13.5 percent) and a 5 percent cut (4.3 percent).

Heck, who wouldn't want to work less? But the survey respondents were willing to put their money where their mouths are:

A majority of respondents—no matter how much less they wanted to work—were willing to accept a pay cut equal to the percentage reduction in their workload. (Though 15.1 percent of those looking for a 20 percent cut in billable hours would be willing to sacrifice 25 percent or 30 percent of their pay for less time at work.)

Could we see a significant rise in either true lifestyle firms, or lifestyle tracks at Biglaw firms -- where associates work (and earn) less than the average Biglaw lawyer? It's doubtful:

[P]artners and consultants say no to the idea, for the most part.

“I don’t think this would work if you want to have a very successful firm,” says Carl A. Leonard, former chairman of Morrison & Foerster. “The world has always been competitive, and it just gets more so.”

These sentiments are echoed by Paul Irving, chairman of Manatt Phelps & Phillips:

[L]owering billable-hour requirements for all his associates, [Irving] says, would not work. The firm has a starting annual salary of $145,000 and a billable-hours requirement of 2,000 hours a year.

“Our experience is that, for the most part, the people we recruit are looking for top compensation and a highly engaging work experience."

Referring to billing 2,000+ hours, on things like document review or due diligence, as a "highly engaging work experience"? That takes the prize for our "Euphemism of the Day."

(And that's no mean feat. The Seyfarth Shaw memo is FULL of great doublespeak.)

The Ultimate Time-Money Trade-off [ABA Journal]

Earlier: Skaddenfreude: Seyfarth Shaw Makes Itself At Home on the List of Shame

California may be the Golden State -- but not when it comes to the handcuffs placed on Biglaw associates.

On the West Coast, the handcuffs are silver rather than golden. We previously posted the compensation memo for Morrison & Foerster's New York office. Now, for comparison purposes, here's the memo for the firm's associates beyond the Big Apple:

-----Original Message-----
From: Wetmore, Keith C.
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 3:05 PM
To: LIST/Non-Partner Atty/SF; LIST/Non-Partner Atty/PA; LIST/Non-Partner Atty/SA; LIST/Non-Partner Atty/WC; LIST/Non-Partner Atty/LA; LIST/Non-Partner Atty/OC; LIST/Non-Partner Atty/SD; LIST/Non-Partner Atty/DN; LIST/Non-Partner Atty/DC; LIST/Non-Partner Atty/VA

Cc: LIST/Partner/SF; LIST/Partner/PA; LIST/Partner/SA; LIST/Partner/WC; LIST/Partner/LA; LIST/Partner/OC; LIST/Partner/SD; LIST/Partner/DN; LIST/Partner/DC; LIST/Partner/VA; List/Patent/Agt/All; Office Managing Partners-US; Directors of Administration-US; Herman, Janet Stone (PA); Moser, Cheryl L.; Nashelsky, Larren M.; Reed, Pamela J.; White, Anna Erickson

Subject: 2007 Associate Compensation Announcement

I am pleased to announce our 2007 compensation for associates located in our DC, Denver, Los Angeles, Northern Virginia, Orange County, Palo Alto, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Walnut Creek offices. Base compensation increases will be implemented for each class as noted below:

Class of 2006 – $145,000
Class of 2005 - $155,000
Class of 2004 - $170,000
Class of 2003 - $190,000
Class of 2002 - $210,000
Class of 2001 - $230,000
Class of 2000 - $245,000

These adjustments to base compensation will be reflected in your February 15 paycheck retroactive to January 1, 2007. If you are not in one of the class years noted above, or you are Of Counsel or a Patent Agent, we will be following up with you separately in the next few weeks. The 2007 bonus schedule will be finalized and distributed in the near future.

On behalf of the Firm, thank you for your part in making 2006 a great year for the Firm and for your hard work and commitment to the Firm and its clients as we look to the future.

Keith

Keith C. Wetmore | Chair
Morrison & Foerster LLP

Earlier: Skaddenfreude: Morrison & Foerster (New York only)

We have confirmed this Morrison & Foerster memo with sources at the firm. So you can take it as 100 percent reliable.

Please note that it pertains only to the New York office. MoFo has historically paid its NYC associates more than their counterparts in other cities, which some non-Gothamites have grumbled about. But that's probably not about to change -- especially when New York newbies pull down $160K...

From: Wetmore, Keith C.
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 5:21 PM
To: LIST/Non-Partner Atty/NY
Cc: LIST/Partner/NY
Subject: 2007 New York Associate Compensation

I am pleased to announce the 2007 compensation structure for associates in our New York office. Associates eligible to receive an increase to their base compensation as a result of progressing to the next salary class will see the increase reflected in their February 15 paycheck retroactive to January 1, 2007. These step increases will be based on the following schedule:

Class of 2006 – $160,000
Class of 2005 - $170,000
Class of 2004 - $185,000
Class of 2003 - $210,000
Class of 2002 - $230,000
Class of 2001 - $250,000
Class of 2000 - $265,000
Class of 1999 - $280,000
Class of 1998 - $290,000

We will be determining compensation for of counsel on a separate basis and will send individual compensation messages in the next few weeks.

On behalf of the Firm, thank you for your part in making 2006 a great year for the Firm and for your hard work and commitment to the Firm and its clients as we look to the future.

Keith

Nothing 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.

The latest news is that Morrison & Foerster's New York office has matched the market bonuses. We've checked with our MoFo sources, and this is accurate.

So consider it CONFIRMED. Specific numbers, after the jump.

Earlier today, a reader made this comment:

"Why don't you just call up all the firms now, instead of waiting for the rumors to appear one by one, so we can get this over with?"

Not a bad idea, given the "Chinese water torture" aspect to tracking bonuses. The only rub is that not all firms have necessarily decided on what they'll be paying -- at least in theory. Rumor is that the Cravath memo wasn't issued until after the Cravath partnership met. So it's (theoretically) possible that some firm might pay out above-market bonuses.

But as a practical matter, yes, it's true: Everybody is probably just going to match market.

In light of all the parallel conduct, maybe there's an antitrust issue here. But whether you can even get discovery on it depends upon the ruling in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, currently pending in the Supreme Court.

Is "Associate Bonus Watch" less suspenseful than a Hitchcock film? Yes. Is the bonus-tracking game effectively over? Pretty much.

But ABW has been great for our traffic. And who knows, maybe there will be a surprise or two. So we'll keep following the "news," even if it consists of every other firm falling into line, until all the top Biglaw shops have announced.

A 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]