Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe

Tweet of the Day: John Quinn on Trial
(And a bit about the Barbie / Bratz case.)

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It’s not clear why John Quinn — founding partner of litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel, and one of the country’s leading business litigators — doesn’t have more followers on Twitter. Right now he’s up to 475. He’s definitely worth following; you can follow him here.

You’ll be exposed to some interesting tweets — like this one, from over the weekend:

isaac larian, mga owner+adverse party in “bratz” case, showed up at my trial this week; claimed witness was being signaled from audience!

Bizarre — especially since the trial that Larian attended has nothing to do with the ongoing Barbie / Bratz litigation (in which Quinn represents Barbie maker Mattel against Isaac Larian’s company, Bratz maker MGA). The trial that Larian randomly appeared at is in the case of Bren v. Bren, a child support action brought against billionaire Donald Bren, Quinn’s client.

So what was this strange tweet about? We checked in with John Quinn, in between his weekend workout and witness-prep sessions….

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(And a bit about the Barbie / Bratz case.)”

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Non-Sequiturs: 08.18.10

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* We know you love rankings. Here are the top 25 national universities and liberal arts colleges, according to the 2011 U.S. News college rankings. [TaxProf Blog]

* CHECK YOU ETHICS? In the seemingly endless Barbie/Bratz litigation, lawyers from Orrick, which now represents Bratz maker MGA, have accused Mattel lawyers from Quinn Emanuel of participating in an elaborate corporate espionage scheme. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Give her a gold-plated gavel: Wisconsin Law professor Victoria Nourse, nominated to the Seventh Circuit, has a net worth of almost $20 million. [The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times]

* Do you hate parking boots? So does this guy — and his taking a stand against them might bring about legal change in the U.K. [AltTransport]

* That one count of conviction against Blagojevich? Give the credit for it to Justice Scalia. [American Spectator]

* Corporette asks her readers: What is your best interview advice? [Corporette]

* Danielle Chiesi, a central figure in the Galleon Group insider trading case, knows how to get what she wants. [Dealbreaker]

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Fall Recruiting Open Threads: Vault 31 – 40 (2011)

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We’ve gotten away from plowing through the latest Vault Rankings, but fear not. Your firm is coming up soon.

We’ve been through the top 30 firms. But now we’re getting into a group of firms that really utilized the cost-cutting measures of salary cuts and layoffs to weather the recession of 2009. Did these guys take a big prestige hit? Not really. Here’s the next batch of firms:

31. Mayer Brown
32. Milbank
33. Paul Hastings
34. Akin Gump
35. Allen & Overy
36. Fried Frank
37. Irell & Manella
38. Freshfields
39. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
40. Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Just off the top of my head, does anybody else think that Irell is coming in a little low?

Anyway, let’s get into these firms…

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From Playboy to Biglaw: New Orrick CFO Has A Bitchin’ Resume

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Let’s be honest: although we strive to bring you the inside scoop about major law firms around the country, we don’t usually report on new law firm Chief Financial Officers. But the new CFO at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Linda Havard, is special. Check out her prior experience, from Orrick’s press release announcing the new hire:

Most recently, Linda served for 13 years as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Playboy Enterprises, Inc. in Chicago where she oversaw all areas of finance and technology including accounting, treasury, tax, insurance, strategic planning, M&A, internal audit and corporate development. Approximately 40 percent of Playboy’s revenue came from outside of the U.S., where the company had significant business operations in the UK and Latin America, and licensing operations in Europe and Asia. The company also completed a number of acquisitions during her tenure, as well as public and private equity and debt offerings. Linda led all areas of due diligence, negotiation, execution, and subsequent integration of major global transactions.

I’m going to go out and limb and say that after 13 years at Playboy, Havard is more then ready to handle any sexism Biglaw might have to dish out…

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ATL Movie Night: Advise & Dissent

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A tale of three nominees (left to right): John Roberts, Harriet Miers and Samuel Alito.


Last night I headed across town to NYU Law School for a screening of Advise & Dissent, a new documentary about the Supreme Court confirmation process. Here’s a brief description of the film:

ADVISE & DISSENT is the first documentary to go behind the lines and into the trenches of the judicial confirmation wars. SCOTUSblog has called it “a fascinating, balanced insider look,” and Politico named it “a must see.” Timely and timeless, the film illuminates the collision of politics and justice.

Last night’s showing of the movie was followed by a conversation, featuring the following participants:

A report about the movie screening and the panel discussion, after the jump.

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Orrick Will Abandon Publishing Profits Per Partner Next Year

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Are profits per partner the appropriate metric to measure law firm success? It’s been a long time since firms seriously looked at the question. I didn’t know my Skadden from my Sullivan back when American Lawyer founder Steve Brill first started shining a light on the black box of top American law firms back in 1987.

For as long as most of us can remember, PPP has been the definition of law firm financial success. And despite all of the pressure on the law firm business model over the past couple of years, PPP seems as resilient as ever. We can scream about the billable hour, we can change the nature of associate compensation, but there aren’t a lot of people giving us a better statistic than profits per partner to talk about when it comes to the success of the law firm business model.

That could be changing. This afternoon, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe announced it would not be reporting PPP numbers next year.

What will replace it? We talked to Ralph Baxter, Chairman and CEO of Orrick, about what — if anything — can or should replace our fascination with PPP…

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Lawyerly Lairs: Orrick’s New Digs in New York

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Last summer, we reported that Orrick would be moving into fancy new offices in New York. Earlier this week, the office move took place. From the firm’s press release:

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has moved its New York office to 51 West 52nd Street, the same building that houses CBS headquarters and which is also known as Black Rock. The innovative design of the space reflects Orrick’s progressive culture, integrating technological, environmental and social advantages that enable the firm to better and more efficiently serve its clients.

Non-traditional features for law firms are incorporated throughout the office. Numerous public spaces, transparent glass office fronts and an open floor plan, with low-height components for greater visibility and interaction among staff, contribute to a sense of community. To better connect with other offices and clients, Orrick invested in state-of-the-art telepresence conferencing equipment.

As it turns out, the Orrick offices have a Telepresence Room — not to be confused with the Cryogenic Room, where Ralph Baxter plans to live forever.

So, what do the new Orrick offices look like?

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Musical Chairs: More About Lanny Davis’s Departure from McDermott

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In yesterday’s post about the departure of D.C. power broker Lanny Davis from McDermott Will & Emery, a firm he joined a little over six months ago, we put out a request for more information. That request was promptly answered — by none other than Lanny Davis himself.

The drama lover in us was hoping for an epic tale of office intrigue and power struggle at McDermott Will (and commenters were happy to speculate). As it turns out, however, the parting of Davis and MWE is quite amicable — and far from total. As Davis explained to us, he’s setting up his own shop, but he will continue to work closely with McDermott lawyers, serving McDermott clients. In fact, Davis isn’t even leaving the building (so no office exorcism necessary).

What’s going on here? Information from our chat with Lanny Davis, plus the complete press release mentioned previously by the Washington Post, after the jump.

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Musical Chairs: Lanny Davis Out at McDermott Already?

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Back in October, we wrote about D.C. powerhouse lawyer Lanny Davis moving from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to McDermott Will & Emery. He was joined in his Orrick-to-McDermott move by Eileen O’Connor, the journalist-turned-lawyer who worked with him in his crisis management practice.

Now, just a few months later, it appears that Davis is striking out on his own. From the Washington Post:

Lanny J. Davis, the former White House counsel and longtime Clinton booster, is launching his own eponymous law-and-lobbying shop, according to a draft announcement obtained by The Post. Lanny J. Davis & Associates LLP will provide “a unique combination of traditional legal and litigation services plus media/crisis management, and legislative/public policy strategies to solve U.S. and international client problems,” the announcement says. Davis, a cable television staple who has often run afoul of more liberal Democrats, highlights his avowed centrism as a prime benefit for potential clients….

The new venture means Davis will step down as partner at the global law firm of McDermott Will & Emery, but he says he will continue to write a column for “The Hill” newspaper and contribute to a legal strategies blog that he began last year.

We reached out to McDermott, and a firm spokesperson confirmed that Davis is leaving the firm.

So who else is going with him, and what prompted the move?

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Associate Bonus Watch: Orrick, A Case Study in Merit-Based Bonus Payments

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2009 Associate bonus watch above the law.JPGA number of firms have adopted a merit-based pay structure, and other firms claim they want to. But few firms have thought through how to make a merit-based structure work as much as Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has. And nobody is addressing the new scheme with quite as much transparency.
Orrick sent around its merit-based bonus memo today. If you have gotten used to firms using merit compensation to hide what they are paying their people, prepare to be surprised:

82% of all US associates received a bonus. As previously communicated, we did not apply an hours threshold in determining bonus eligibility.
The following tables provide information about our US 2009 bonus distribution by new talent model role for all US associates.

That’s right, Orrick actually provided a chart showing the general bonus payouts to its associates. This is not entirely new — Latham comes to mind — but it’s certainly nice. Here are the overall numbers:
Orrick 2010 bonus chart 1.jpg
Do you want more transparency? Orrick has you covered.
The firm even provided a bonus comparison chart, so its employees know where they stand.

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