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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: The Latest Announcements

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100 dollar bill Abovethelaw Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGIt’s the Friday before a major holiday — and firms are scrambling to get their pay raise announcements out the door. It’s a nice way to send your bedraggled and overworked hardworking associates into a three-day weekend (assuming they don’t need to come in on Monday).
We’re about to sign off for the weekend, and we won’t be back until Wednesday. (Billy Merck, who has filled our shoes in the past, will be your guest editor on Tuesday.)
Before we go, here are the latest salary announcements that we’ve confirmed:

1. McDermott Will & Emery

2. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (Hat Tip: Lateral Link)

But the Manatt “raise” has a catch. Its effective date? January 1, 2008.
HA. That’s kind of funny, in a sick sort of way — provided you’re not at Manatt.
Memos appear after the jump. And we’re out the door. Have a great holiday weekend!
Update (2:50 PM): We’ve verified the Pillsbury Winthrop raise news. Memo below.
Update (3:25 PM): Jeez, you’re going to make us miss our flight to Las Vegas. Memo from the D.C. office of Winston & Strawn, added after the jump.

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A Hypothetical for Next Year’s Crim Law Final Exam

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dog crap dog poo dog poop dog feces Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgHere’s a development that has Colorado prosecutors saying “oh crap” — quite literally. From the Rocky Mountain News:

A former Democratic Party activist who left dog feces on the doorstep of U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave’s Greeley office during last year’s 4th Congressional District campaign was found not guilty Wednesday of criminal use of a noxious substance.

So what happened? Did the prosecution fail to establish the element of noxiousness?

Ensz’s lawyers never denied that their client left a Musgrave campaign brochure full of feces at the front door of the congresswoman’s office. But they argued that Ensz was making a statement protected by free speech – the poop was a symbol of what she thought of Musgrave’s politics.

“Her only intention of going over there was to make a political statement that Marilyn Musgrave’s politics stink,” attorney Shannon D. Lyons said after the verdict.

Is feces flinging the flag burning of the future?
Woman acquitted of illegal poop use [Rocky Mountain News]

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Clerkship Bonus Watch: Paul Weiss and Cahill Gordon

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Okay, commenters, break it up. There’s no need to come to blows over the propriety of discussing clerkship bonuses in a salary post.
Here at ATL, there’s enough cyberspace for everyone. We’re putting an end to the turf wars, by giving you a new, dedicated thread for talking about clerkship bonuses.
We’ll kick things off with some news. First, a reader alerted us to a change made to Cahill Gordon’s website:

Sign-on Bonuses: The firm pays sign-on bonuses of $50,000 to judicial clerks and $15,000 to LL.M. (tax) graduates when they start at the firm.

Second, from a law clerk tipster, about Paul Weiss:

I’m clerking for two years. Paul Weiss just notified me, by phone, that they will be giving $70K bonuses to all two-year clerks. Hurray!

Congratulations, law clerks! Your Memorial Day holiday weekend is off to a good start.
Compensation & Benefits [Cahill Gordon & Reindel]

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Gannett House Smackdown: Internecine Warfare at the Harvard Law Review (Part 1)

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Harvard Law Review Andrew Crespo Above the Law blog.jpgAs promised, here’s the first installment in our series about infighting at America’s top law journal: the Harvard Law Review. Some HLR editors are unhappy with the Review’s new fearless leader, president Andrew Crespo, and have been expressing their concerns.
We’ve been leaked a number of HLR internal emails that some of you may find amusingly ridiculous. But we should warn you that they’re not for everyone. If you don’t share our appreciation for tempests in teapots, you may have a “So what?” reaction.
But if you do enjoy the hilarity of petty law school squabbles, then check out the emails — after the jump.

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Sidley Austin, Arnold & Porter, Brown Rudnick

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100 dollar bill Abovethelaw Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGIt’s a busy morning, right before the big Memorial Day holiday weekend. There’s breaking news of associate pay raises from Sidley Austin, Arnold & Porter (hi James Sandman!!!), and Brown Rudnick.
The Sidley Austin memo appears after the jump. The raise to the $160K scale covers Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington. It’s retroactive to May 1.
The Arnold & Porter news was reported by The BLT: Blog of Legal Times. If you have the A&P memo, please email it to us.
We learned of the Brown Rudnick raise by email. We don’t have the memo, but our source sent us a salary table, which also appears below the fold.
Discuss.

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Monica Goodling: They Like Her, They Really Like Her

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Monica Goodling 4 Monica M Goodling sexy pose Above the Law blog.jpgThose of you who read our extensive liveblogging of Monica Goodling’s testimony on Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee know how deeply impressed we were.
Goodling was poised, intelligent, and articulate. She showed flashes of wit, as well as consistent honesty and forthrightness. She looked like a million bucks.
On a scale of 0 to 10, we’d score Monica Goodling’s performance on Capitol Hill as a 9.3. It wasn’t a perfect 10; Rep. Artur Davis landed a few punches in the eleventh round. But Monica “Hurts So” Goodling ultimately emerged victorious from the boxing ring of the Rayburn House Office Building, with barely a glove laid on her.
We weren’t alone in our assessment. Distinguished legal commentators, including law professors like Orin Kerr and Adam Gershowitz, also raved over La Goodling’s star turn.
And this morning, via Howard Bashman, we come across more praise of Goodling, from an unlikely source. Check out this great online essay (registration required), by Eve Fairbanks of The New Republic — no bastion of conservatism.
Discussion continues after the jump.

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Summer Associate of the Day: Victoria Bechtold Kush

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Victoria Kush Victoria Bechtold Kush Miss Pennsylvania Above the Law blog.jpgLike ATL’s most recent Summer Associate of the Day, our latest honoree is also a hottie. And that’s not a matter of opinion; it’s a certified fact.
On the heels of yesterday’s Miss Connecticut International turned litigatrix, we learn of another beauty pageant winner who has turned in her tiara for a stack of BNA looseleafs. From a tipster:

This summer, the Miami office of Shook, Hardy, & Bacon is graced by the presence of a former Miss Pennsylvania, Victoria Bechtold Kush. She is currently a law student at Florida International University School of Law.

Check out her website. Needless to say, she is a bit of a distraction!

Very impressive. And Victoria Kush isn’t just beautiful; she’s also brainy. From her bio:

Victoria pursued her undergraduate degree at Duquesne University, in Pittsburgh, PA, where she obtained a B.S. degree in Business – Information Technology. As a member of the Honors College, she graduated as Valedictorian after completing her degree in 3 years while maintaining a cumulative 4.0 GPA.

WOW. So we’ll ask what you’re all thinking, but are too polite to say out loud: What the heck is she doing at FIU Law?
More after the jump.

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Musical Chairs: McGuireWoods Fires Eliot Disner

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Eliot Disner Elliot Disner Elliott Disner Eliot G Disner McGuireWoods McGuire Woods Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgAs you may recall (from yesterday’s Morning Docket), Eliot Disner is the McGuireWoods partner who criticized the settlement negotiated by his firm in an antitrust class action against Bar/Bri, the giant bar exam prep company.
Actually, make that “former McGuireWoods partner.” From today’s New York Law Journal:

Mr. Disner, who was a partner in the Los Angeles office of McGuireWoods, said the firm fired him May 23. “I was terminated because [McGuireWoods] said that my work on the BAR/BRI case had hurt the [firm's] reputation,” he said. His concerns about the proposed settlement with West Publishing Corp., which offers BAR/BRI bar review courses nationwide, surfaced in an objection to the class settlement that was filed last week by three lead plaintiffs (NYLJ, May 21)….

A hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Manuel Real on whether the $49 million settlement will become final is scheduled for June 18. Mr. Disner’s brief, which was not supported by McGuireWoods, argues that the firm ought to press for at least $400 million from West Publishing, as well as for the breakup of BAR/BRI.

We titled an earlier post about the settlement You Are Probably $125 Richer Right Now. But if Eliot Disner is right, maybe another zero belongs on the end of that figure.
Study questions: Is the Bar/Bri settlement fair? Or has Bar/Bri screwed us yet again?
Law Firm Fires Partner Who Questioned BAR/BRI Settlement [New York Law Journal]
Bar/Bri Class-Action Objector is Fired [WSJ Law Blog]
The Intrigue Grows in Bar/Bri Class-Action [WSJ Law Blog]
Lawyer Who Sued BAR/BRI Now Questions the Settlement [American Lawyer]

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Morning Docket: 05.25.07

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Regent Law School Regent University School of Law Above the Law blog.JPG* Former Montana State football player accused of leading drug ring. [SI]
* Ken Lay’s widow seeks to keep money after husband’s death resulted in vacated conviction. [MSNBC]
* Father of Cardinals pitcher in fatal car accident files suit. [SI]
* Paternity suit against Paul McCartney dropped. [CNN]
* Goodling’s Regent University School of Law, where she was in the top 10.5% of the class, scrutinized. [WSJ Law Blog]

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Mintz Levin

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Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky Popeo Above the Law blog.jpgWe’re a little tardy with this memo. It was issued on Wednesday, but we didn’t receive it until late yesterday.
Anyway, better late than never. The Mintz Levin pay raise announcement appears below the fold.

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Non-Sequiturs: 05.24.07

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Miss Connecticut International Above the Law blog.jpg* It is my calling to keep people’s self-esteem in check when out of wack with reality. And to yet again point out the dangers of using MySpace if you’re over 21 or not a musician. I am also in a pissy mood today. [Gawker]
* The recent approval of a pill that stops menstruation has sparked much non-legal discussion on legal blogs, but I really just wanted to show you these funny stuffed tampons. [Law and Letters]
* Kids do the darndest things! A child-director, a lawsuit — and, of course, Kevin Bacon. [UPI]
* Claims of anorexia are just code for “Damn, she looks good!” and subsequent lawsuits code for “We need some free press” and “Don’t hate me because I’m hot.” But Keira, in life as in Star Wars, you remain the mere handmaiden to the Queen of Naboo. [Yahoo! News]
* If my boss asked me if he had a chance of eatin’ good in my neighborhood, I’d file a complaint as well. Unless he were hot, in which case I’d tell him to wait until after my wax. [Rockford Registrar Star]
* Old mothers, teen mothers, gay mothers… Just keep them out of high schools, please. End of PSA. [New York Times]

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Mayer Brown Raises

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Mayer Brown Rowe Maw equity partners fired Above the Law blog.jpgThe associate pay raise memo for the D.C. office of Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, authenticated for us by a source at the firm, appears after the jump.
We have no reason to doubt the authenticity of the memos, posted in the comments, that appear to be from Mayer Brown’s offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. So it would seem that the firm has raised to the $160K scale in Washington, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
But if you can confirm them for us, please do so by email. Thanks.
(You don’t have to email us from your work account. A message from your personal, non-work email account — but disclosing your real name, so we can look you up on the firm website — is sufficient confirmation.)
P.S. Hopefully the firm won’t have to drop the ax on more deadweight partners to pay for these raises.
Update: The Mayer Chicago memo has been authenticated. We have posted it after the jump.
Further Update: The Mayer L.A. memo is legit. It’s also posted after the jump.

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