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Associate Bonus Watch: Yes, Sullivan Has Matched

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stack of bills cash money.jpgWe have it on very, very good authority that Sullivan & Cromwell has issued associate bonuses that match the market. So consider the rumor from earlier today to be verified.
The only caveat from our source: at the most senior levels, the S&C bonuses do not “top out,” like those at Cravath. As explained by this Greedy NY post:

[A]t S&C there can be a high degree of variability at the highest associate levels, particularly (from what I’ve heard) for those who are told, “you didn’t make it this year, but we hope you’ll stick around and try again.”

But this is just a footnote, relevant only to the most senior of associates. The upshot is that S&C has matched.
So the fat lady has probably sung. At this point, it’s unlikely that anyone will go above market. If any firm was going to top the market, S&C was a good candidate. From a different Sullivan source, who opined yesterday:

I highly doubt we’ll be doubling [as ridiculously rumored by Ritalin Edge]. But I think the general feeling (despite our salary raise) is that there will be mutiny if they match last year’s bonuses. This is especially true given Goldman’s record year and our record M&A year.

Mutiny? Sullivan & Cromwell associates, sharpen those pitchforks. It’s time to storm the barricades at 125 Broad Street.
Update: Actually, nix that. The S&C folk are perfectly pleased with their holiday haul:

I think everyone is happy with our bonuses. Any grumblings I heard a few months ago about how great our year is have been replaced with elation at how big our bonuses are.

Boring boilerplate from the S&C bonus memo(s), after the jump.

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The Breyer-Fried Discussion: Some Highlights (Part 2)

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Stephen Breyer and Charles Fried.JPGThis is a continuation of our prior post about an event we recently attended at Georgetown Law School, “On Liberty: A conversation between Justice Stephen Breyer and Professor Charles Fried.” For more background about the event, click here.
For the conclusion to our write-up, keep on reading. We bring you a “true confession” from Justice Breyer, as well as Professor Fried’s interesting views on gay marriage.
(Before returning to Harvard Law School, Professor Fried was a justice on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the state’s highest court. But he was back in academia when they decided the gay marriage case, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.)
Our coverage continues, after the jump.

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Associate Bonus Watch: Has S&C Matched?

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stack of bills cash money.jpgThe latest word on the street (per Greedy NY): Sullivan & Cromwell has matched the market with respect to associate bonuses. We are investigating.
Update (10:54 AM): We’ve left messages with S&C’s spokesperson and with H. Rodgin Cohen, the firm chairman. We’ll let you know when we hear back from them.
Update (12:14 PM): Consider this CONFIRMED. More details, plus the boilerplate of the bonus memo(s), are available here.
S&C Matched [Infirmation / Greedy NY]

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Morning Docket: 12.13.06

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* On second thought… do not pass “Go,” do not collect 200 (million) dollars. [Associated Press; Washington Post]
* Cindy Sheehan, anti-war mother extraordinaire, has been convicted of trespassing at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. There might have been nobody home, though. [MSNBC]
* Sen. John McCain takes a stand against online smut (and solidifies his social conservative street cred while he’s at it). [CNET via Drudge Report]
* Texas may allow blind hunting. That’s not a joke. [MSNBC]
* Violence against judges: not just an American problem. [Associated Press]

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Pick Your Poison: Janet Jackson’s Exposed Breast, or a Horny Manatee

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horny manatee horny manatee horny manatee horny manatee horny manatee Above the Law.jpgNear the top of the NYT “Most E-Mailed Articles” list sits a piece entitled So This Manatee Walks Into the Internet. And, oddly enough, there’s a legal angle to the story:

At the end of [a recent] skit [on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"], in a line Mr. O’Brien insists was ad-libbed, he mentioned… www.hornymanatee.com.

There was only one problem: as of the taping of that show, no such site existed. Which presented an immediate quandary for NBC: If a viewer were somehow to acquire the license to use that Internet domain name, then put something inappropriate on the site, the network could potentially be held liable for appearing to promote it.

In a pre-emptive strike inspired as much by the regulations of the Federal Communications Commission as by the laws of comedy, NBC bought the license to hornymanatee.com, for $159, after the taping of the Dec. 4 show but before it was broadcast.

Congratulations to NBC on its latest acquisition. If you develop any comedic material inspired by the meme of the horny manatee, please email it to conan AT hornymanatee DOT com.
So This Manatee Walks Into the Internet [New York Times]
HornyManatee.com [official site]

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Non-Sequiturs: 12.12.06

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Traffic the Movie Above the Law.jpg* Fear not, you can continue the inexplicable and somewhat cheap practice of wearing buttons of your slain loved one when attending the trial of the accused perpetrator. [The Buck Stops Here]
* Think of the occasional theft as a write-off, which of course is moot since you’re not paying taxes anyway. And then rent Traffic, you clueless surburban kid. Disclaimer: I attended a suburban high school (but I never inhaled). [Sui Generis]
* Illinois wants to make it even easier for you to get out of jury duty. [Concurring Opinions]
* The choice of law school over medical school has its roots in our rather iffy math skills; but this is Yale Law, where the career center’s number-heavy cheat-sheet on the whole billable hours thing assumes (correctly) YLS students are the s**t all-around. [Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style]
* We think that this four-year-old’s parents may have tried explaining the birds and the bees using such technical terms as “special hug.” We’re hoping that he did not use sound effects during the alleged, er, breast nuzzling. [Waco Tribune]
* An additional bullet-point to add to my disturbingly endless “Why Video Games Creep the Hell Out of Me” list. [San Francisco Chronicle]

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Associate Bonus Watch: Tuesday Open Comment Thread

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stack of bills cash money.jpgAs was the case last night, we must take leave of our computer for a little while. (Our plans involve members of the Elect, so this is an excused absence.)
There has been some bonus news today (Paul Weiss), even if not as much as yesterday (Cravath and Cadwalader). But the day isn’t over yet, and more news might break later this afternoon or evening.
Same drill as before. If any interesting bonus news surfaces while we’re gone, please mention it in the comments to this post (and include a link to your source — e.g., Infirmation, Greedy Associates, AutoAdmit.com).
We’ll look into any such tips after we return. Thank you in advance for your help.
Finally, if you’re looking for amusement or distraction while we’re gone, check out our comprehensive collection of fun or interesting links, gathered from all around the blawgosphere. After clicking through and reading all of these posts, you’ll be completely caught up on two weeks’ worth of legal blogging!
Earlier: Supplemental Non-Sequiturs: 12.12.06

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Associate Bonus Watch: The Paul Weiss Memo

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stack of bills cash money.jpgConsider the Paul Weiss rumor from earlier this afternoon CONFIRMED.
1. We’ve spoken on the phone with Madelaine Miller, communications manager for Paul Weiss. She confirmed that the firm just announced bonuses ranging from $30,000 for the class of 2006 to $65,000 for the most senior classes.
2. We have the Paul Weiss memo, which includes both 2006 bonus and 2007 base salary information. Check it out, after the jump.

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Supplemental Non-Sequiturs: 12.12.06

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potpourri Above the Law.jpgHere’s a delightful potpourri of fun and interesting links. We planned to write about these items in more depth, but just never got around to it. So now we’re just going to air them in these pages.
We’ve been saving them up for a while, so some are a bit dated (although some are new). They’re all well worth your time and interest. There are a lot of links here, so we’ve organized them by category.
Legal Practice and Profession:
* This doesn’t seem right to us, at least not with respect to the biggest of the Biglaw firms. It’s not how Sullivan & Cromwell is going to lose Goldman Sachs as a client. [WSJ Law Blog]
* If you’re good at it, you can make tons of money as a plaintiffs’ lawyer — all while standing up for “the little guy.” So why doesn’t plaintiffs’ work attract more graduates of top law schools? We’re not the only folks asking this question. [Empirical Legal Studies]
* Also, we didn’t know that the plaintiffs’ bar had an elite club for the 100 top practitioners. Aren’t they supposed to be anti-elitist? [Inner Circle of Advocates via ELS Blog]
* The latest success story at JD Bliss: Canadian condo lawyer turned television star. And she’s a hottie, too. [JD Bliss Blog]
* More proof of the legal profession’s incestuous character. [WSJ Law Blog]
* We keep you updated on legal hottie developments. Now, check out some hot doctors. [Nasty, Brutish & Short]
Legal Academia:
* We can’t say we’re surprised to hear about politics getting dragged into the law school accreditation process (which really ought to be too boring to be controversial). [Volokh Conspiracy via Instapundit]
* Are “young” law school professors too old? Or do we actually pay too much attention to youthful legal geniuses, a la Noah Feldman, Tim Wu, and Neal Katyal? [MoneyLaw; Concurring Opinions]
* We bet very few law professors live in this town. [Southern Appeal]
Mainstream Media (MSM):
* Heh. We guessed that Jan Crawford Greenburg posed just two of the audience questions at last week’s Nino-Breyer Smackdown. But even that number may have been too generous. [Prettier Than Napoleon]
* Best name for a newspaper EVER. Finally, people who have a more awkward time at cocktail parties than we do. [Flower Mound Messenger via How Appealing]
Blogs, Bloggers, Blogging:
* Don’t get us wrong: we love you, blog commenters. That said, some of you are nasty, crazy, or both. [Althouse]
* We’re warning you: DO NOT CLICK THROUGH THIS LINK. [QuizLaw]
* Thank you, Professor Althouse, for making us feel better for our rather idiosyncratic approach to selecting subjects to write about. [Althouse]
* Blog readers, make your voices heard. Who should take second place behind the Volokh Conspiracy? [How Appealing]
* Althouse: a juggernaut of the blawgosphere. Seven million visitors can’t be wrong! [Althouse]

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Congratulations to the Newest Class of Skadden Fellows!

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Skadden Fellowship Skadden Fellows Above the Law.JPGRight now a heated debate is raging in last night’s open comment thread. The subject: public interest law, and the people who practice it. The debate is aptly summarized by this comment:

This comment thread is a microcosm of the unhappy lawyers out there. The big firm lawyers comfort themselves by telling themselves that public interest lawyers are incompetent, self-righteous, don’t make enough money, and sit around smoking pot and complaining about how little respect they get.

The public interest lawyers comfort themselves by telling themselves that big firm lawyers are egotistical, immoral, don’t do real work, and have sacrificed “real life” for money on the assumption that either they can just purchase love, friends and happiness, or that cocaine is an acceptable substitute.

For those of you who do follow public interest, here’s some important news: announcement of the 2007 Skadden Fellows!!!

These extremely prestigious fellowships, funded by Skadden Arps, are awarded to 25 outstanding individuals each year (selected from hundreds of applicants). The fellows spend one year — or two, if renewed — working on a project of their own design, at public interest organizations around the country. For more details, plus the history of the program, see here.

miriam lederer.JPGSkadden fellows don’t make a ton; the class of 2006 fellows earned a salary of $46,000. As one ATL correspondent bitterly notes, “They will make almost as much per year as those stupid third-year associates will get as a ‘bonus.’” But then again, from the perspective of the lucky organizations who get the help of fully-funded fellows, it’s found money.

The list of 2007 fellows is available here. One of the new fellows is Georgetown Law 3L Miriam Lederer (pictured at right), whom we had the pleasure of meeting at the recent Breyer-Fried event. A tipster described Miriam as a “raven-haired beauty,” and we concur in that assessment.

Congratulations, Skadden Fellows!

List of 2007 Skadden Fellows [Skadden Fellowship Foundation]
About the Foundation [Skadden Fellowship Foundation]

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A Borat Litigation Update

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Borat Above the Law Legal Blog Law Gossip Borat.JPGIt’s only a matter of time before BNA starts publishing a Borat Law Reporter. There have been a few developments in this area since we last checked in.
First, a victory for the defendants:

Two college fraternity buddies shown guzzling alcohol and making racist remarks in the “Borat” movie have lost their bid for a court order to cut the scene they claim has tarnished their reputations….

At the time the suit was filed, a judge denied the pair’s request for a temporary restraining order that would remove footage of them from the film, but the plaintiffs were given a another chance to seek an injunction at a hearing last week.

The South Carolina college students lost again when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Biderman ruled they had failed to show a reasonable probability of success on the merits of their case or that money damages alone would be insufficient to resolve their claims.

Second, another lawsuit, based on Borat footage that didn’t make the movie (but was shown on TV):

A South Carolina man has sued Ristorante Divino, claiming that it allowed a “Borat” film crew to film him while using the restaurant’s bathroom. The man also is suing Sasha Baron Cohen, the actor who played Borat, who he said made comments about his genitals. Comedy Central also is named in the lawsuit for showing the clip, which was not included in the movie.

This might be one of the more meritorious Borat lawsuits. The plaintiff is somewhat sympathetic, at least if the Althouse commenters are a representative bunch. And it’s not clear if he signed a release, as did the frat boys.
Borat has made a ton of money — over $225 million in worldwide grosses. Maybe 20th Century Fox should take some of that loot and use it to set up a Borat Litigation Trust?
L.A. judge sides with “Borat” against frat boys [Reuters]
S.C. man sues Columbia restaurant over ‘Borat’ movie [The State via Althouse]
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Borat (scroll down)

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The Breyer-Fried Discussion: Some Highlights (Part 1)

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Stephen Breyer and Charles Fried.JPGAs we mentioned earlier, on Friday we headed downtown to Georgetown Law School for “On Liberty: A conversation between Justice Stephen Breyer and Professor Charles Fried,” of Harvard Law School. We were invited to this event by Georgetown Law Professor Neal Katyal (whom we thank for his hospitality).
Yesterday we shared with you our photos from the event. Now, the first half of our write-up — after the jump.

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