Brian Smith no longer has to wear a suit to work.
A few weeks ago, I was drinking an Old Cuban with my roommate at my favorite bar, Grand Tavern. We were sitting on the back patio, when a group of men across from us started talking loudly about Above the Law. My ears perked up, and I began wondering if I might overhear something like this or this.
Fortunately for the gentlemen across the bar, I didn’t hear anything scandalous. Fortunately for me, I did hear them mention Brian Smith, a former associate at Nixon Peabody, who opened the doors to his new business, Huckleberry Bicycles, last Friday in San Francisco.
I met up with Smith last week, and we spoke about how he became a part of our growing club of lawyers not practicing law….
Continue reading “Former Nixon Peabody Associate Opens San Francisco Bike Shop”
Hold up. How could I be a baby daddy? I haven't hit puberty.
* Sorry, Obama, but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is alive, well, and doesn’t plan on retiring any time soon. No more Supreme Court appointments for you, buddy boy. [The Oval / USA Today]
* Judge William Adams will not face charges over the beating of his daughter, Hillary Adams, due to the statute of limitations. At least he’ll still have public scrutiny and embarrassment. [Houston Chronicle]
* The Third Circuit has tossed out a $550K fine against CBS for the second time, because really, who wouldn’t want to see a fleeting nipple image belonging to Janet Jackson. [Legal Intelligencer]
* A former Nixon Peabody attorney got probation instead prison for false statements charges, and might even get her law license back. Did she get points for being pretty? [Blog of Legal Times]
* And speaking of being pretty, this lawsuit claims that favoring employees’ diversity over hotness at Panera Bread will allegedly earn you a spot on the unemployment line. [Washington Post]
* Occupy Wall Street protesters better hope that their lawyers aren’t planning to scrawl their pleadings on the bottoms of pizza boxes, because they’re going to trial. [Bloomberg]
* Did Justin Bieber’s alleged baby mama deflower the teen pop star? You better beliebe it! She claims in court documents that their reported encounter was his first time. [New York Post]
A few years ago, the law firm of Nixon Peabody came up with a catchy jingle to celebrate its own fabulosity. You can listen to the song here, in case you’ve never heard it. The chorus went as follows: “Everyone’s a winner at Nixon Peabody!”
Alas, a recent lawsuit filed against Nixon Peabody by a former partner at the firm, David Tamman, does not put the firm in a very winning light. Instead, it just makes everyone look bad.
The allegations are seamy. What does Tamman allege?
Continue reading “Lawsuit of the Day: Everyone’s A Loser in Tamman v. Nixon Peabody”
During 2011, Paul Hastings has been picking up partners. We previously mentioned their acquiring two prominent leveraged finance lawyers, Michael Michetti and Rich Farley, from Cahill Gordon. Additional hires, including Michael Baker from Shearman & Sterling and Steven Park from Finnegan Henderson, are listed on the PH website.
Like any large firm, however, Paul Hastings loses partners too. We’ve just learned of two partners who are ankling PH for Nixon Peabody.
Let’s find out who they are, get the backstory on their departures, and also obtain the 411 on some PH staff layoffs….
Continue reading “Two Partners Leave Paul Hastings for Nixon Peabody
(Plus Paul Hastings staff layoffs.)“
You know associates are pissed when they end their emails to Above the Law with lines like this one, from a message we received last night:
NO ONE SHOULD COME HERE. EVERYONE HERE SHOULD LEAVE.
Jacob Riis photographs associates at one Biglaw firm
That’s what happens when you tell your associates that they’re going to get paid significantly below market and like it.
Several firms have not yet announced spring bonuses, and associates at these firms are annoyed. But there are only a handful of Biglaw firms that cut associate salaries back during the recession and have not yet brought their people back to market-level base compensation.
One of the firms that is lagging behind the rest of the market had an “all associates” conference call yesterday, during which management tried to explain why associates were being underpaid and undervalued by the firm.
Let’s just say that not everyone felt like a winner…
Continue reading “Biglaw Firm Warns Associates They’ll Be ‘Disappointed’ With Comp”
We received over 1,300 responses to this week’s Career Center survey on whether you made MLK Day “A Day On, Not A Day Off” — for your employer. The majority of respondents, 66 percent, reported working on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Not surprisingly, the top reason for putting in extra billable hours was that people just had work that needed to get done, even though no one specifically asked them to work. But it likely also had something to do with the fact that 32% of respondents who worked said their firm does not recognize MLK Day as an official firm holiday. Instead, some of these firms consider it a “floating holiday,” meaning that attorneys can either choose to take a day off on MLK Day or on another floating holiday.
What were some other reasons given for working on MLK Day?
Continue reading “Career Center Survey Results: A Working Holiday”
Yesterday we reported on a change in management at Nixon Peabody. We understand that some people at Nixon hope that the shift at the top will be followed by a return to Nixon Peabody’s old law firm culture.
But maybe NP people will have to get ready to assimilate into an entirely different culture? A well-placed tipster reports that some Locke Lord partners were told that the firm is exploring a possible merger with Nixon Peabody.
Locke Lord denies the rumor, while Nixon Peabody won’t comment. But our sources have been right before, especially when it comes to potential mergers…
Continue reading “Law Firm Merger Mania: Would a Nixon Peabody/Locke Lord Merger Make Sense?”
Nixon Peabody has suffered a series of partner defections over the last year. Last month, we reported that a number of partners at Nixon were preparing for a mass exodus from the firm.
According to our Nixon Peabody sources, the disgruntled partners wanted one thing: managing partner Richard Langan’s head on a plate. From our original story: “Our sources have also offered up a lot of speculation about why these partners want out, and the message is that they feel like Langan is ‘ruining’ the culture of the firm.”
Apparently, these partners are getting their wish. Richard Langan is out as managing partner. Taking his place is Andrew Glincher, who has been the managing partner of Nixon’s Boston office.
So did the mutinous partners win? According to a Nixon spokesperson, Langan’s ouster is all part of Nixon’s regularly scheduled programming…
Continue reading “Nixon Peabody Management Shuffle”
We know that most Biglaw shops couldn’t care less about mass associate departures. As exhibit A, I present this year’s bonus news.
But partner defections are another matter entirely — especially if a number of partners leave all at once, or if a thriving practice group jumps ship all at the same time. According to Above the Law sources, this is the situation Nixon Peabody could be facing in the days and weeks ahead. Multiple sources have told Above the Law to expect a significant exodus of Nixon Peabody partners and that the defections could start as early as this week.
We’ve been told that these defections will happen unless the disgruntled partners receive significant concessions from Nixon Peabody managing partner Richard Langan. And apparently some partners will not be satisfied with anything less than Langan’s outright removal…
Continue reading “Is Nixon Peabody Facing a Mutiny? Significant Partner Defections Could Happen”
With fall recruiting gearing up, and the lateral market warming up, we continue our annual series of open threads about the law firms featured in the Vault prestige rankings. These threads provide ATL readers with a forum to discuss the different firms and their various strengths and weaknesses.
The end of the Vault 100 is in sight. We’re covering the firms in batches of 20 now. Here are the firms ranked #61 to #80, which will provide today’s discussion fodder:
61. Greenberg Traurig, LLP
62. Holland & Knight LLP
63. Fish & Richardson P.C.
64. Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
65. Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
66. Foley & Lardner LLP
67. Perkins Coie LLP
68. Nixon Peabody LLP
69. Patton Boggs LLP
70. Kaye Scholer LLP
71. Hunton & Williams LLP
72. Reed Smith LLP
73. Steptoe & Johnson LLP
74. Chadbourne & Parke LLP
75. Howrey LLP
76. Bryan Cave LLP
77. Lovells (US) [now part of Hogan Lovells]
78. Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
79. Crowell & Moring LLP
80. Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
This is a very eclectic group, including a few New York-centric firms, some D.C.-dominated places, and a bunch of national and even international giants.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these shops….
Continue reading “Fall Recruiting Open Threads: Vault 61 – 80 (2011)”
It must be a slow news week over in mainstream media land. Earlier this week, the New York Times did a survey piece about American salary cuts that tangentially touched on lawyer salaries — old news for people on top of the legal market, but probably new to a more general audience.
Today, the Boston Globe is getting in on the lawyer pay action. Its report focuses on the move towards merit-based associate compensation that’s been happening for at least a year:
Boston’s top law firms are dramatically changing how they pay young lawyers, adapting to a changing market by adopting Wall Street-style compensation systems that rely on performance bonuses for large shares of annual earnings.
Major law firms have traditionally hired junior lawyers at six-figure salaries and awarded annual increases based on the number of years at the firm, a system known as “lockstep.’’ But several of Boston’s largest and best-known firms are telling associates that they no longer can count on automatic raises. Instead, they will receive salaries and bonuses based on how partners assess their performance.
Wall Street-style compensation, is it? Well then, I guess we should expect bonuses in Boston this year to be all over the map, instead of in strict lockstep with what peer firms end up paying…
Continue reading “In Boston, Merit-Based Compensation Could Be Taking Hold”
Nixon Peabody was a winner in Signature Flight Support Corp. v. Landow Aviation, a dispute between two aviation companies at the Washington Dulles airport. Nixon landed a victory for Signature Flight, and filed a motion for Landow to pay attorneys’ fees in the case.
Landow thought Nixon’s fees were sky-high and opposed the motion, resulting in a review of Nixon’s bills by Judge James Cacheris (E.D. Va.). Judge Cacheris buzzed Nixon’s bills. From the National Law Journal:
U.S. District Judge James Cacheris of the Eastern District of Virginia determined that Nixon Peabody’s $1.57 million in fees was too high and slashed about $440,000 off that amount, awarding $1.13 million….
In his July 30 decision, Cacheris found that the number of hours Nixon Peabody expended on the case demonstrated a “lack of billing judgment exercised by plaintiff’s counsel” and “overall excessiveness of plaintiff’s fee request.”
Less than half a million slashed? Pocket change — though that was on top of $205,102.50 that Nixon says it had already excluded from the bill.
Reading the opinion offers lots of fun Skaddenfreude, perhaps particularly for attorneys laid off by Nixon Peabody early last year. Partner Louis Dolan got knocked by the court for spending hundreds of billable hours at the end of 2008 doing work better suited for a junior associate…
Continue reading “Nixon Peabody Partner Gets Chastised by a Federal Judge for Work Hoarding”
Nixon Peabody is one of the firms that has moved towards a merit-based pay structure. The firm also cut starting salaries down to $145K a year ago. So you’d think that any information on a Nixon Peabody salary raise would be greeted favorably.
Not so much. A tipster tells us:
I can confirm that I received a raise. I can confirm that it sucks. Anything else?
Oh boy, that doesn’t sound good. Is anybody feeling like a winner at Nixon Peabody?
Continue reading “Nixon Peabody: This is What Salary Raises Look Like Without Lockstep”
Thanks to all of you who sent along good wishes after the birth of Baby Lin. It’s been a busy two months, but we’re emerging from the vicious beatdown that is new parenthood. (By which we mean that we’re sleeping in luxurious two-hour stretches and showering almost daily.)
We’ve been keeping up with the NYT weddings, but as usual the November and December offerings were relatively weak, which gives us a good excuse to eliminate the dreary matches (e.g., Fordham-marries-Fordham; Cardozo 1L, no picture; U. Penn., blah, blah) and bring you each month’s top three. And if ATL management accuses of slacking off, we’re totally playing the mommy card.
We’ll be back soon with December’s couples and our 2009 Couple of the Year reader poll.
Here are your November couples:
1. Mia Feldbaum and Mark McGoldrick
2. Lisa Rockefeller and Edward Sebelius
3. Stephen Davis and Jeffrey Busch
Read more about these newlyweds, after the jump.
Continue reading “Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Sweet November”
Before Christmas, we highlighted one law firm holiday card that we particularly enjoyed (from Haynes and Boone). We also invited readers to email us with other holiday cards we might enjoy. We stated that, if we received sufficient submissions, we might even hold a contest.
Lo and behold, we did receive enough entrants. So we are happy to hold Above the Law’s first holiday card contest.
Check out the nominees and vote — you’re stuck in the office between Christmas and New Year’s, and you’re bored — after the jump.
Continue reading “ATL Contest: Holiday Card Coolness”
Dear law firms:
It is December 15th. Christmas is ten days away. January 4th is a mere 20 days away.
I bring this up because some of you seem to be having trouble with the Gregorian calendar. Some of you have incoming associates that are set to start at your firm on January 4th or soon thereafter. These incoming associates have already been deferred by your firm.
Perhaps you have the desire to defer these people again? Sorry, but you missed your chance. It’s too late. You should have deferred them (again) sooner. To do so now is just cruel. A lot of these people have signed leases, bought plane tickets, and truncated holiday plans — as you would expect of good employees.
Evidently calendar mastery is not something that can be taught on the fly. So just take my word for it. It is too late to defer January starters again. It’s time to suck it up, clear out some office space, and get your pro bono partner on the ball. Trust me.
Your friend,
Common sense and basic decency.
The above message came too late to help incoming Nixon Peabody associates, but maybe we can teach other firms that mistreating incoming associates is wrong.
Details after the jump.
Continue reading “Nixon Peabody Deferral Extension: Can Somebody Check A Calendar?”
Back in February, Nixon Peabody laid off 56 employees. The firm was public about its decision to lay off people at the time.
But sources report that over the past few months Nixon has been conducting additional layoffs — only this time the firm is being very stealthy about the departures. Multiple sources state that the firm casts these reductions as performance-based, but the performance issues are simply low hours during the recession. One tipster puts it like this:
[S]tealth layoffs of associates are happening in a number of different including San Francisco … and D.C. A number of second and third years (since we have no first years yet) have been told to pack their bags. They are being called performance-based though the associates who have been let go have low hours because of lack of work. … Associates are terrified to report to work [lest] they get a call from human resources.
We also have reports of stealth layoffs in New York. And still other tipsters tell us that junior partners are being forced out as well.
This time, Nixon Peabody declined to comment about the layoffs.
But after the jump, we have information that might explain why Nixon is going the stealth route with these cuts.
Continue reading “Nationwide (Stealth) Layoff Watch: Nixon Peabody”
As we get back to the Vault rankings, we encounter more firms that have engaged in stealth layoffs. And a firm that conducts mass transit layoffs.
To refresh your memory, here’s the next group:
61. Cooley Godward
62. Pillsbury
63. Sonnenschein
64. Cahill
65. Holland & Knight
66. K&L Gates
67. Nixon Peabody
68. Foley & Lardner
69. Kaye Scholer
70. Steptoe & Johnson
The penalty for having a partner announce layoffs on a train was six spots according to Vault. There have been other Pillsbury cutbacks. But the Acela incident happened when associates had Vault surveys sitting on their desks.
After the jump, let’s take a look at some of the other firms in this group.
Continue reading “Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 61 – 70 (2010)”
The National Law Journal reports that some firms are hiring lawyers — including associates — in Chicago. The ABA Journal summarizes the good news:
Three law firms are moving into new offices in Chicago and seeking to fill the space with new lawyers.
The firms getting new digs are Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Nixon Peabody; and Cozen O’Connor, the National Law Journal reports.
Happy Friday indeed.
According to the NLJ, despite all the hits the Chicago legal market has taken during this recession, the city is in an expansionary mood:
While law firm expansion has slowed in Chicago during the recession, particularly compared to the accelerated growth in the prior five years, many national firms that set up shop in the city since 2000 are still looking to add lawyers. Efforts to recruit partners with business has been a constant, but firms in the past month have started to look for associates in certain practice areas, including finance, banking, litigation and bankruptcy, said Amy McCormack, who leads the Chicago recruiting firm McCormack Schreiber.
Does that include Kirkland & Ellis? Let’s take a look inside (its new offices), after the jump.
Continue reading “Chicago Is Hiring? Lawyers?”
When we reported on the salary cuts at Nixon Peabody, we mentioned that the firm would allow associates to make up some of the money come bonus time. Here’s how the firm explained the opportunity:
With our new levels of base pay in place, we will be introducing a bonus program that offers the potential of up to 30% of base pay based on firm and individual performance. We believe this innovative pay structure will reward our highest performing associates while lowering total compensation for those who perform at lower levels.
We’ve gotten a look at Nixon’s proposed “up to 30%” bonus structure. This hasn’t been finalized, but here is what is going around the office:
Let’s break this down, after the jump.
Continue reading “Nixon Peabody’s Proposed Bonus Structure”
