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Job of the Week

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Here’s the latest Job of the Week from Lateral Link, ATL’s career partner:

Title: Attorney In Charge Of Firmwide Private Equity Knowledge Management

Location: Chicago

Description: This position is a combination business and legal position at a top international law firm, with no billable hours and no client development expectations. The position is full-time, affording the attorney holding the position the ability to remain deeply involved in private equity law with a more regular and predictable schedule than most private equity attorneys experience.

The attorney would have responsibilities in a number of areas related to the firm’s highly regarded private equity practice — precedent, training, publications and knowledge development, among other things. This firm offers a highly competitive salary and bonus eligibility, which is expected to be comparable to the salary and bonus eligibility of an attorney at a similar level of experience. This position is ideal for a private equity attorney seeking to scale back their practice and increase their role in business development, marketing and management.

More details, after the jump.

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A Colbert Report for Legal Geeks

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Jeffrey Toobin Colbert Report Jeff Toobin Stephen Colbert Above the Law blog.jpgLast night’s Colbert Report was a bonanza for law nerds. The featured guest was Jeffrey Toobin, who spoke about his new book, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. Toobin and Colbert had a relaxed and easy rapport, and their conversation was highly entertaining — perhaps the best CR appearance since Neal Katyal. You can check out Stephen Colbert’s interview of Jeff Toobin by clicking here.
Before turning to the SCOTUS, they discussed the most recent legal troubles of O.J. Simpson. As you may recall, Toobin was one of the lead correspondents on the original O.J. trial, as well as the author of a bestselling book about it, The Run of His Life. Toobin summarized the defense strategy in the armed robbery case against Simpson as follows: “If it’s his s***, you must acquit.”
But that’s not all! There was a special shout-out to Bingham McCutchen, during the ThreatDown.
More details, plus a video clip, after the jump.

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The Eyes of the Law: At the Kennedy Center

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Kennedy Center Performing Arts Washington DC Above the Law blog.jpgIf you enjoy spotting legal celebrities, then the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, here in Washington, DC, is where it’s at. Check out these latest Eyes of the Law sightings:

“On Sunday, it was the symphony opening at the Kennedy Center. I walked in with Justice Alito, and Justice Ginsburg came a bit later. And Vernon Jordan.”

“There were also non-legal celebrities in attendance: Steven Schwarzman, Alphonso Jackson, Tom Friedman, and Nancy Brinker, the former head of the Komen Foundation and the new U.S. Chief of Protocol.”

Non-lawyers — who cares about them? Unless, say, they are legal media celebrities:

“On Monday, at the opera, I spotted Nina Totenberg. She wore a nice blue suit and had full metal makeup and hair.”

“She stood in line for her drink in the lobby along with everyone else and did not push to the front or demand that others get her drink for her. Apparently this is very out of character for her.”

If you spot a legal celeb out and about, please let us know, by email. Cell phone pictures and even TMZ-style video are always welcome. Thanks.

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Morning Docket: 09.21.07

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* A criminal action. [AP via How Appealing]
* Another criminal action: as expected, Mel Weiss indicted. [DealBook]
* 3 years of probationizzle. [BBC]
* Can’t go to Yale? No worries if Yale’s your name and O.J.’s your client. [CNN]
* Been duped into seeking asylum? Blame Canada. [New York Times]
* Ten Commandents display in Kentucky courthouse OK. [Jurist]

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Year-End Bonus Watch: Los Angeles

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Hollywood sign Los Angeles LA City of Angels Above the Law blog.jpgAs we announced earlier today, we’re doing a series of open threads on year-end bonuses. We’re organizing them by city, since bonuses tend to vary by legal market.
This post — which some of you have been eagerly anticipating, judging from the attempts to hijack the New York thread — is about LOS ANGELES. Please discuss bonus policies at L.A. law firms in the comments. Thanks.
Earlier: Year-bonus open thread for New York.

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Non-Sequiturs: 09.20.07

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* A synopsis of the Jena 6 controversy, and Glenn Reynolds’s thoughts on it. [Instapundit; Instapundit]
* We’re relieved to learn we’re alone in finding the “Don’t Tase Me” guy “slightly annoying.” [Wonkette]
* Should law professors impose mandatory attendance policies? [Concurring Opinions]
* Humorless lawyer who can’t handle being parodied in video game = Lawsuit of the Day. [PrawfsBlawg]
* White Judge With Asian Guy = Judge of the Day. Especially when she berates him for crying in court as he describes why he fled from China. [New York Times]

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Here’s One Way To Escape from Biglaw

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Bachelor The Bachelor Lawyer Attorney Above the Law Blog.jpgLawyers have a pretty decent track record as reality show contestants. We went to law school with Yul Kwon, winner of Survivor: Cook Islands. So maybe this idea isn’t as dubious as it might seem:

An alert reader sent us along his very own invitation to be on The Bachelor. ‘”Apparently they are randomly spamming New York lawyers,” says our spy, who works at a top-ten firm. Casting directors are looking for someone “who is successful, good-looking, has an out-going personality, is ready to settle down, is around 6 ft tall and, usually, is between 27 to 36 years of age.” Guess you’re shit outta luck, shorties!

“We’ve never had an attorney be ‘The Bachelor’ so we are definitely looking to go that route,” the e-mail admits. The producers seem to know a little bit about the law profession — specifically, that good catches are harder to find than you’d think. So they’re casting their net wide and offering $5,000 reward to anyone who finds an attorney who could make the show.

If you get cast on the show, please mention that you read about it on ATL — we’d be happy to collect the five grand.

But though they know a bit about lawyers, it’s clearly not enough. Here’s the last line of the e-mail: “Please DO NOT forward to the press. We try to make this part of the process as private as possible.” Silly casting agents! Don’t you know that 50 percent of all law firms’ billable hours are spent forwarding private e-mails?

So, so true. Please continue to forward us private emails, early and often.
Update: A reader forwarded us the original email, which appears after the jump.
‘The Bachelor’ Casting for New York Lawyers [New York Magazine]

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More Details About the Sullivan & Cromwell Senior Associate Bonuses

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H Rodgin Cohen full size headshot Sullivan Cromwell.jpgYesterday we broke the news of Sullivan & Cromwell’s new bonus program for its most senior associates. To read the memo from firm chairman H. Rodgin Cohen, click here.
Now we have more details, thanks to the WSJ Law Blog (which has a nice shout-out to us) and the New York Law Journal.
Some ballpark numbers, from the NYLJ:

A Sullivan & Cromwell partner who asked to remain unnamed said Wednesday that the supplemental bonuses would probably range from around $15,000 for fifth-years to around $30,000 for eighth-years.

With the supplemental bonus, the most senior associates at Sullivan & Cromwell can expect to earn total compensation of around $400,000, based on the current top base salary of $310,000 and last year’s $60,000 year-end bonus.

The WSJ Law Blog scored an interview with Rodge Cohen, who explained: “Retention is clearly an objective… 95% of the associates we lose we’re sorry to see go.”
Five percent = Aaron Charney + Gera Grinberg.
But will a little extra cash make a big difference in retention? Law firm consultant Peter Zeughauser has his doubts.
The WSJ also asked Rodgin Cohen about a subject near and dear to all of your hearts: possible increases in base salaries. Cohen said that the subject won’t be discussed for another month or so.
More discussion, plus a reader poll, after the jump.

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Fall Recruiting Crazy Rumor Watch: Let Tier Two Grads Eat Tastykake

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lunch callback girl red hat Above the Law blog.jpgWe regularly receive all kinds of wacky gossip related to the fall recruiting process. Some of these rumors are true, and some of them aren’t.
We found this rumor, about the Chicago office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, quite amusing:

“I heard from a friend there that during summer associate callbacks, only students from ‘good schools’ get lunch. E.g., Harvard, Northwestern, University of Chicago.”

“Students from Illinois, DePaul, etc. must starve. You should look into this.”

Loyola (of Chicago) 2Ls: What say you?
We looked into this rumor. Alas, it appears to be untrue.
More after the jump.

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Law Firm Merger Mania: White & Case to Acquire Moore & Van Allen?

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White Case LLP Above the Law blog.JPGHere’s some law firm merger scuttlebutt that’s making the rounds:

Rumor is that White & Case is acquiring Moore & Van Allen, a native Charlotte firm with a national syndicated finance practice. Any truth to this?

We reached out to both firms for comment. A White & Case spokesperson issued this statement:

“We do not respond to inquiries of this kind.”

Should we take that as a “yes”?
If we hear back from Moore & Van Allen, we’ll let you know. If you have any info, please email us. Thanks.

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Year-End Bonus Watch: New York

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Wachtell Lipton Rosen Katz CBS building Abovethelaw Above the Law Blog.jpgAs you’ve made clear to us, through comments and via email, you’re dying to talk about year-end bonuses. For example:

– If your firm has a bonus policy that’s spelled out in advance, what are the general terms?

– If it’s a bonus based on billable hours, what are the cutoffs?

– If your firm doesn’t have a bonus policy, what are you expecting (or hoping) to receive this year as a bonus?

Here’s an open thread for discussion of bonuses at law firms in New York. We’ll roll out posts for other major legal markets over the next week or two.
We might compile bonus information in a more organized fashion at a later point in time. But for now, this will have to do. Have at it!
Update (1:10 PM): Originally this post was oriented around firms (alphabetically), but we’ve decided it makes more sense to organize by city. As this commenter correctly notes, “bonus policies vary more along market lines than firm lines.”

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Michael Mukasey’s Former Clerks: They Like Him, They Really Like Him

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Michael Mukasey Chief Judge Michael B Mukasey SDNY Above the Law blog.jpgAre you trying to remember whether any of your law school classmates or colleagues clerked for former judge Michael Mukasey (S.D.N.Y.), President Bush’s nominee to replace Alberto Gonzales as attorney general?
Well, you’re in luck. Every single one of Judge Mukasey’s former law clerks signed a glowing letter of recommendation for the judge, in which they praise him as a jurist and mentor and urge his speedy confirmation as AG. Their letter was transmitted to the Senate last night.
You can check out the letter, including the list of signatories, after the jump.

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