If you’re not already a member of Lateral Link, you can sign up through their website. Membership, which is free and confidential, allows you to learn about new legal opportunities as they become available. Successfully placed candidates receive a $10,000 placement bonus.
Positions: In-House Counsel – Real Estate, In-House Counsel – Corporate
Location: Newton, Massachusetts
Position Descriptions:
Corporate: Seeking a transactional attorney with four or more years of large law firm experience. Corporate, securities, finance/project finance or energy experience is a plus but not a requirement. Public company experience and SarbOx also a plus but not a requirement. The candidate must be comfortable working in a relatively unstructured environment and will be expected to handle day-to-day tasks while reporting to GC on larger issues. This person will work primarily with the GC and the finance team. The candidate must be able to work in a fast-paced environment and be able to handle multiple demands and transactions. The Company is growing quickly and it is a very dynamic workplace; the ideal candidate must be able to accommodate change relatively quickly.
Real Estate: Seeking candidate with four or more years of transactional real estate experience. The ideal candidate has experience with lenders and equity investors, can identify and resolve title issues, and can review real estate documents (including project leases, easements, crossing agreements, commercial leases). This candidate would be responsible for working with developers on land acquisitions for Company projects and would work with the GC, Assistant GC and the finance team on resolving issues and getting projects financed. The candidate must be able to work in a fast-paced environment and be able to handle multiple demands and transactions. The Company is growing quickly and it is a very dynamic workplace; therefore the ideal candidate must be able to accommodate change relatively quickly. The candidate needs to have good communication and interpersonal skills, as they will be dealing with rural landowners and employees inside the company.
Company Description: This privately held company is a leader in wind power production, with more than 40 wind farms in development across the country. Based in Newton, Massachusetts, the company is focused on wind farm development, ownership and operation. The company builds primarily in the Northeast, West and Hawaii, and is already producing nearly 100 MW of energy through three operational wind farms. The company is currently developing more than 3,500 MW of wind power projects in several markets through various subsidiary companies. The company is managed and supported by a team of more than 100 talented and dedicated individuals committed to the company’s environment.
For more information, see job # 7661 and job # 7662 on Lateral Link.
Earlier: Prior Job of the Week listings (scroll down)
Latest Stories
Municipal court is not exactly the pinnacle of judicial office. But we think that Colleen Hartl, until recently a (rather attractive) municipal court judge in Washington state, is still a worthy Judge of the Day. From the AP:
A Federal Way [that's a WA city name] Municipal Court judge has resigned after hosting a holiday party at which she claimed to be having an affair with a public defender who routinely appeared in her court.
Judge Colleen Hartl quit Dec. 19, less than a week after telling her guests — including five court employees — that she had sex with public defender Sean Cecil and displaying a text message in which he complimented how she looked in “tight jeans,” Michael Morgan, the court’s presiding judge, said Wednesday.
So she’s proud about how good her butt looks in tight jeans. What’s so wrong with that?
Even after admitting the affair at the Friday night party, Hartl showed up for work the next Monday morning and presided over several cases handled by Cecil, Morgan said. At lunchtime that day, Morgan — who attended the party but left before Hartl’s admission — was advised of the relationship by a court staff member who witnessed the statement. Morgan suggested that Hartl not sit on any cases that afternoon, and she resigned two days later.
Judge Hartl, we like your style.
Update: More here from Federal Way News.
Federal Way judge quits; talked of affair with lawyer [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
Affair with lawyer linked to judge’s resignation [Federal Way News]
* The surest way to avoid being wiretapped: Don’t pay your Wait for the FBI not to pay its phone bill. [Washington Post]
* In this gloomy economy, at least someone is still shopping. B of A picks up Countrywide Financial — and maybe its lawsuits, too. [Bank of America (press release) via WSJ Law Blog]
* Contentious sentencing for Jose Padilla. [Christian Science Monitor via How Appealing]
* Canada to the gays: we don’t want your orgrans. But your fashion and cooking tips are still welcome. [Toronto Star via A Stitch in Haste]
* Earlier this week, our former boss did battle with She Who Must Not Be Named. He won this round, but it may just be the beginning.[How Appealing]
P.S. A correction / addendum to yesterday’s Morning Docket, which mentioned that the DOJ is looking at how independent monitoring contracts are awarded. According to the Department, “[t]hese discussions were not prompted by United States Attorney Chris Christie’s selection of Attorney General John Ashcroft as a monitor. There is no inquiry into that selection.”
The DOJ’s full statement appears after the jump.
Tonight’s ATL / Lateral Link survey explores the complex interplay between billable hours, pro bono, and sweet, sweet bonuses.
[Update: This survey is now closed. Read some of the results after the jump.]
Also, a quick note about this month’s who’s your favorite blawg other than ATL survey, which is still open. So far, the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog is way out in front. We’re also very gratified that so many of you answered “What do you mean ‘Other Than Above The Law’???”, making us your second choice for second-favorite blog after… ourselves.
A tip of the hat and bang of the gavel to taxgirl, TaxProf Blog, Balkinization and Ms. JD for their successful write-in campaigns. You’re all in the survey now.
Continue reading “Featured Job Survey: Billables, Pro Bono and Bonuses”
- Bad Ideas, Blogging, Drudge Report, Law Professors, Law Schools, Movies, Non-Sequiturs, Politics, Tax Law
Non-Sequiturs: 01.10.08
By David Lat* Actually, Judge Lamberth, calling a presidential candidate as “a European socialist” constitutes an endorsement — at least at most American law schools. [AP via WSJ Law Blog]
* News you can use: under the “Free File” program, opening tomorrow, the IRS and its private-sector partners will provide free tax preparation and electronic filing services to qualifying taxpayers (AGI of $54,000 or less — sorry, Biglaw denizens). [TaxProf Blog]
* The law school essay question: an unrecognized art form? [PrawfsBlawg]
* Practice pointer: don’t “recreate” correspondence to use as evidence in your case. Dramatic reenactments belong on television, not in court. [Feminist Law Professors]
* We just got called “the Matt Drudge of the legal world.” Our thanks to Neil Squillante for making our day. Now where did we put our animated siren GIF? [TechnoLawyer]
Nationwide Layoff Watch: The Latest Cadwalader News
(And a Request for Layoff News from Other Firms)
By
David Lat
We’re stepping away for a bit. Before we go, we wanted to provide you with the latest Cadwalader layoff news, verified by sources at the firm:
1. The 35 associates who were laid off were given 3 months severance, medical/dental through this year, bonuses (if they met the hours requirements), and outsourcing services.
2. The laid-off associates were in Capital Markets and Global Finance.
3. About 20 to 25 associates in the affected departments were moved to non-affected departments (including more than half of the first-year associates in Global Finance).
4. Six first-year Global Finance associates were permanently moved to Litigation (but these were the associates who had already been on document review since arriving in September).
5. Regular and special bonuses will be paid to all associates consistent with CWT’s competitors. An official announcement is forthcoming; look for it in the next few days.
As for the rumors about layoffs at other firms that have been flying around, we’re looking into them. We don’t have anything concrete and confirmed just yet.
We need your help. If you have firsthand information (we have enough secondhand stuff already) — i.e., you are at a firm that you know is doing layoffs — please email us (especially once you get home from work, and don’t have to worry about your email being monitored). Thanks.
UPDATE: Earlier today, CWT sent out an email of reassurance to 2007 summer associates who accepted offers. We reprint the email after the jump.
If you’re an associate at Dewey & LeBoeuf, leave your brown shirt at home tomorrow. Just bring a $5 donation — sure, you can afford it, your bonuses were good — and participate in Denim Day!
It’s for a good cause. And it beats the pants (hehe) off Hot Cocoa Day at Skadden.
After the jump, the invitation to the Denim Day Associate Happy Hour. Very snazzy — props to the paralegal or ALS person who was tasked with preparing it.
Continue reading “A Cheery Counterweight to Layoff Talk: Denim Day at Dewey & LeBoeuf!”
When law firms reject job applicants, they tend to do so in pretty straightforward fashion. Maybe you get a bare bones letter thanking you for your interest and your time. Sometimes mistakes happen — see, e.g., here and here — but they are rare, since the rejection process is so simple.
It looks like the military does things a little differently. From a tipster:
Check out this letter from the Army. Evidently I was a tad unqualified — although the depth and detail of this letter was a little over the top.
The reader is left with any number of questions. How does the successful candidate wear his hair? What brand of toothpaste does he use? Favorite color? Pastimes? Favorite sports team?
Check out the letter, posted below the fold (i.e., click on the “Continue reading” link).
Continue reading “Now This Is What We Call A Rejection Letter
(Or: Uncle Sam Does NOT Want You)”
Congratulations to former judge Roger Wall, who’s getting a belated holiday gift. From the Springfield News-Leader:
After three indictments and nearly three years, a former Douglas County judge will not stand trial on child pornography charges, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. That’s because repeated delays on the part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office violated Roger Wall’s right to a speedy trial.
In a stinging order dismissing the case, U.S. District Court Judge Richard E. Dorr called the government’s handling of the case “disappointing” and “out of control.” And unlike Dorr’s dismissal of the same charges against Wall in September, Tuesday’s ruling was “with prejudice,” meaning attorneys may not refile charges.
So that’s the end of that. What was Judge Wall accused of?
The case against Wall began in early 2005, when the government alleged the man was in possession of three tapes showing, among other things, a female minor having sex with her boyfriend. Acting on an anonymous tip, federal agents had seized envelopes containing the videos from an Ava woman’s residence. Wall was alleged to have given the items to the woman for safe keeping.
It’s especially troubling when a judge stands accused of such offenses, since they have no excuse for such behavior. If they have a weakness for youthful flesh, they ought to just stick to their clerks.
Earlier: Former judge will not face trial in porn case
Remember Stephen Dunne, the aspiring attorney who brought suit after failing the Massachusetts bar exam, blaming it on a question about gay marriage? Well, he’s sorry. From the Boston Herald:
Stephen Dunne said he was “embarrassed” for being an “instrument of bigotry and prejudice,” in a letter to the editor and interview in the Jan. 3 edition of Bay Windows, a Boston newspaper serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered readers.
“By filing a misguided federal lawsuit . . . in respect to the legitimacy of same-sex marriage, I have regrettably perpetuated intolerance and animosity towards my fellow Americans,” Dunne said in his letter. “My religiously based discrimination of gay people was callous and diametrically opposed to America’s core principles of freedom and equality.”
Dunne filed a federal lawsuit in June against the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners and Supreme Judicial Court, seeking to prohibit the gay marriage question from being used to compute his bar exam score and from being included on future exams. He argued that answering the “patently offensive and morally repugnant” question, which involved a married lesbian couple who was divorcing, would imply his support of gay marriage and parenting, in violation of his Irish Catholic beliefs and First Amendment rights. He also challenged the constitutionality of the SJC’s 2003 ruling under which Massachusetts became the nation’s first state to legalize same-sex marriage.
So what brought about his change of heart? Does Stephen Dunne have a boyfriend now?
P.S. Speaking of matters gay, we thank Professor Ann Althouse for linking to our personal blog in this post, about Senatrix Clinton as a gay icon.
Update: Additional discussion, including a link to a Q-and-A with Steve Dunne, over at Legal Blog Watch.
Failed bar exam-taker apologizes to gays [Boston Herald]
Law Grad to Gays: ‘I Apologize’ [Legal Blog Watch]
“Hillary Clinton As A Gay Icon.” [Althouse]
In our earlier post about the layoffs at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, we praised the firm for its candor. Those of you who weren’t already in the profession when the last bubble burst may not recall that many firms, instead of being honest about dismissing associates for economic reasons, tried to cast them as performance-based. Firms should be commended for not taking that path.
But we do have some criticism for the firm as well. While we appreciate the firm sending us the news, it was not very classy to share the layoffs with the media before doing so internally. It’s not appropriate for associates to first learn about layoffs at their firm through a blog. As one tipster told us:
“Associates here at CWT are a little in shock right now since the firm has neglected to inform us of the layoffs through an intra-firm email.”
Now, in the firm’s defense, it appears that perhaps they want to provide such news in person. But even if they notify the affected associates individually and in person, they could at least have sent around a firm-wide email mentioning the overall action.
Some other random things we’ve been hearing, from different sources:
1. “As I write this to you, CWT laying off associates one by one… A friend of a friend just got the ax. It sounds dreadful there….”
2. “If you get laid off, no bonus. MEAN…”
3. The entire Corporate department is meeting today at 5:30 p.m.
4. “I bet most partners weren’t even told [about the layoffs]. That’s how it worked with the bonus announcement [recall the number-free bonus memo]. Most partners found out at the same time we did.”
5. “Nobody knows who the 35 are — whether they’re coming from NY or another office — or even what department.”
6. “I don’t think litigation is going to be affected by this. We have people from Global Finance down here doing doc review for us.”
There’s also lots of good stuff in the comments to our prior post. But we can’t vouch for the comments to the same extent that we can vouch for the information above (sent to us by trusted sources whose identities are known to us).
Update / Correction: Speaking of the comments, we have confirmed the truth of this comment:
No, you DO get a bonus, IF you made your hours. But the amount of that bonus is not known….
This is a big story, and we’ll be covering it extensively (so if you don’t find it interesting, you might want to take the day off from ATL — we have more traffic right now than our poor servers can handle). Expect an update later today.
If you’re at CWT and have firsthand information to share, please email us. If you’re afraid of your email being tracked, you can also reach us via Facebook message or AIM (our screen name is in our Facebook profile). Thanks.
Just half an hour ago, based on information we gleaned from various sources, we asked: “Is today Layoff Day at Cadwalader?” The answer would appear to be: YES.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has confirmed to us that it will be laying off 35 attorneys. Please see the statement below, which we just received from Hill & Knowlton, the powerhouse public relations firm. When a law firm hires an outside PR / crisis management shop, you know they have something big on their hands (e.g., Sullivan & Cromwell during the Aaron Charney case, when it hired Sard Verbinnen).
Update: We commend Cadwalader for its candor about these associate layoffs. They’re being open about these dismissals as being economic in nature; they don’t try to claim they are “performance based.” To the contrary, the firm praises the affected lawyers for their contributions.
Also, note that CWT is trying to get in front of the bad news and manage it, instead of letting it come out in dribs and drabs, Chinese water torture style. As noted, they’ve hired an outside PR firm. At the same time that they emailed the statement to us, they appear to have reached out to mainstream media sources as well (e.g., the WSJ Law Blog, which posted the statement two minutes before we did).
STATEMENT OF CADWALADER, WICKERSHAM & TAFT
Unexpected and persistent volatility continues to disrupt sectors of the financial markets; and is affecting the capital markets, many of our clients, and certain practices within our firm.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft is responding to these market developments with a number of initiatives: Targeted personnel reductions will affect 35 lawyers in our US offices. Other strategies involve continued practice diversification, practice enhancements, and strategic redeployment of certain persons.
These actions affect some talented lawyers who have made significant contributions to the firm. The firm’s partners and Management Committee have put a great deal of effort into mitigating the impact of the business environment on the firm, making today’s announcement even more difficult.
Our objective is as it always has been: to provide superlative client service, and astute legal counsel. We remain committed to those goals and the long-term strength and success of our firm.
Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Is Today ‘Layoff Day’ at Cadwalader?
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