As soon as they install a ray-gun on the iPhone, it will become the one true tool. It's really not all that surprising that the people at the Apple App Store have come up with a way to virtually experience the overbooked Presidential inauguration with touch screen comfort:

The free 2009 Presidential Inauguration Guide landing screen features an inauguration countdown, as well as the distance the user is from the steps of the Capitol building, where the event takes place.

The application also provides information about metro service and parking garage locations, a Zagat guide of local restaurants, a list of free nearby Wi-Fi zones, and information about the afterparties that are sure to keep Washington abuzz all night.

Tool use > natural selection.

What is surprising about this latest application is that it was developed (in part) by a law firm:

The application's developers, law firm Patton Boggs and public-relations firm Qorvis Communications, call it "THE guide to the inauguration," though the two firms are only the latest to develop an App Store download that caters to the excitement surrounding the inauguration.

Is Patton Boggs making any money off of this free application? In this market, you can't have too many revenue streams.

iPhone app navigates Obama inauguration [CNet]
Inauguration Prep [WNYC]

The Vault 100 march continues! In this series of open threads, we list the firms, and you all discuss their upsides and downsides. We'll be wrapping this puppy up this week.

Here are the next ten (with prestige scores in parentheses):

71. Nixon Peabody LLP (5.218)
72. Hunton & Williams LLP (5.208)
73. Perkins Coie LLP (5.119)
74. Reed Smith LLP (5.057)
75. Patton Boggs LLP (5.050)
76. Chadbourne & Parke LLP (4.997)
77. Bryan Cave LLP (4.969)
78. Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP (4.967)
79. Howrey LLP (4.926)
80. Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP (4.910)

Usually, we have fun with the "notable perks" chosen by Vault. But as we move down the list, the perks are becoming distinctly less notable -- e.g., gym membership discounts, free parking, and "good views." Oh well.

You know what to do! Have at it in the comments.

Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads - 2009

These days we spend a lot of our time chasing down rumors of attorney and staff layoffs at large law firms. It's a sign of the times.

Over at Adam Smith, Esq., lawyer and law-firm consultant Bruce MacEwen has compiled a helpful tally of acknowledged layoffs by major law firms. But note his caveat, which we also adopt: "I have not been able to include firms that have implemented stealth layoffs or, inhumanely, dismissed associates for "performance" reasons when that was actually not the case."

Many of the layoff rumors we hear turn out to be false, some of them comically so (like the one about a firm that supposedly laid off 40 associates, but has actually had just three depart, voluntarily, year to date). But some gossip turns out to have a certain amount of truth to it.

We recently heard that D.C.-based powerhouse Patton Boggs, known for its leading lobbying and administrative / regulatory practices, laid off four associates in its Dallas office. We reached out to the firm for comment.

A spokesperson for the firm, Rebecca Carr, stated that "eight to nine" associates were "let go" firm-wide. She didn't provide a precise breakdown in terms of offices of practice areas of the affected associates (so we're not sure about that Dallas number). She resisted characterizing these personnel changes as "layoffs" per se, chalking them up to "a combination of factors."

"For the past eight years, we have done mid-year evaluations of associates," Ms. Carr explained. "We evaluate them and determine whether or not there's a good fit. This year the state of the economy is somewhat soft, which made us take a harder look when conducting our evaluations."

"We made decisions to let go associates where we didn't feel we'd have enough work to keep them employed here," she said. "It's not a reflection on their work at all or on them. It's just that we have to take a harder look this year."

"Given the state of the economy, we don't have the luxury of carrying folks who aren't going to make it here, whom we don't think are going to be a good long-term fit," Ms. Carr added. "Patton Boggs is having a very good year. But the economy is soft, and we have to tread carefully in a soft economic climate."

Finally, in response to questions from us, she stated that no cuts have been made to staff ranks or to lawyers more senior than associates (like partners or of counsel).

We thank Ms. Carr for the information, and we commend Patton Boggs for its candor. We suspect that many other Biglaw shops, due to tough economic times, are ratcheting up standards when it comes to performance reviews. Most of these firms chalk up the subsequent dismissals as purely due to performance issues. But if they were going to be more honest, they'd admit (as Patton has) that the definition of "good performance" changes when the economy is weak.

If you have layoff information -- not rumor, which we hear a lot of, but hard info -- that hasn't been previously reported in these pages, please email us (subject line: "Nationwide Layoff Watch"). Thanks.

Update: More info about the Patton Boggs layoffs appears over at Tex Parte.

A Modest Suggestion re Associate Layoffs [Adam Smith, Esq.]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of layoffs (scroll down)

Andrew Bruck takes a question at Wednesday's press conference.

Every now and then, we leave our apartment. We did so on Wednesday, to attend the press conference of Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession, where the organization unveiled its law firm diversity rankings (accessible here; Los Angles Times article here).

It was quite informative. For those of you who might be interested -- and we're guessing there are a number of you, judging from the robust commentary on our earlier post -- read more, after the jump.

Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures we'll be seeing here in D.C. later this week, summer is over. But that doesn't mean our inbox is closed to stories of summer associate scandal.

Check out this great pair of controversies, from the summer program of Washington powerhouse Patton Boggs:

There have been rumors flying around Patton Boggs about major drama in this year's summer associate class that I thought I'd pass along. Some of the summers got upset because:

(1) At the summer associate golf outing, one of the associates wore a Confederate flag hat while playing 18 holes with the summers. The hat apparently went unnoticed by everyone except the summer associates, who (rightfully) felt uncomfortable telling a lawyer at the firm that his hat may be in poor taste. Best part: apparently he shared a golf cart with one of the black summers!

(2) Apparently a very high-level partner at Patton Boggs was disappointed to learn that a beauty queen winner/current law student was not offered a position as a summer associate. When he learned that the firm had instead hired a (gasp!) gay summer associate, he allegedly said, in front of others at the firm, "You know the recruiting department is screwed up when they're rejecting beauty queens but hiring homosexuals."

We contacted Patton Boggs for comment. A firm spokesperson provided this statement:

"The firm takes these types of matters seriously. When we hear of things of this nature, we investigate and take appropriate action as necessary."

If you're at Patton Boggs and can enlighten us further about these events -- or if you're at another firm, and have summer associate stories you're now at liberty to share with us, given the passage of time -- please email us. Thanks.

We received this information from a tipster last night, and a firm spokesperson confirmed it for us this morning. Here it is:

Patton Boggs just raised starting salaries to 160,000 for first years for 1950 billable hours. This is a 50 hour bump and a $15,000 bump. They also introduced a new 1800 billable track that is full-time, but paid on a lower scale (obviously).

No memo yet. The full scale closely approximates the Hogan & Hartson scale and caps out at $280,000. Still a 100 hour/year pro bono requirement.

So does anyone know what the DC List of Shame now looks like? Feel free to post it in the comments.

Also, are you aware of any recent pay raise news that we haven't covered in these pages? If so, please email us. Thanks.

This farewell email was sent out last month by a librarian who left Patton Boggs, the prominent D.C. law firm.

It pretty much speaks for itself. We would just note that Patton Boggs, as one of the biggest lobbying shops in Washington, is chock-full of both lawyers and ex-politicians.

From: [redacted]
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 5:35 PM
To: *Everyone (DC); *Everyone 2445 M Street
Subject: Good-Bye Patton Boggs

After 8.5 years, today was my last day at Patton Boggs LLP.

Everyone knows what I think about the Law(yers) and politic(ian)s, so I won't dwell onit [sic].

Farewell to everyone as I doubt we'll meet again in this life or the next.

Good-bye Patton Boggs.

Our tipster reported her fear that the embittered ex-exployee might go postal: "I came to work the following day using the side entrance because, well, I didn't want to take any chances...."

The NYT has served up a relatively weak batch of candidates this week. That's okay with us; we needed to be brought down to earth after the heights of last week's eminence-fest.

Still, a warning: There's not an Ivy League degree to be found in this column, so those of you who are nauseated by the couplings of mere Duke-UVA grads may want to avert your eyes and ponder what a cesspool the Times has become.

Here are the finalists:

1. Jill Isaacs and Kurt Perhach

2. Jennifer DeLeonardo and Adam Frey

3. Liza Burnett and Stephen Fefferman

Read more about these couples, after the jump.

Lateral Moves:

* Litigator DeMaurice Smith, to Patton Boggs, from Latham & Watkins (DC).

When asked about the move, Eric Bernthal, managing partner of Latham's D.C. office, said that Smith's practice "will probably fit a little better over there.”

(Meow? Or just a matter-of-fact statement relating to areas of specialization, client conflicts, etc.? We hope the former.)

Legal Academia:

* The three-year contract of Bill Piatt, currently serving as Dean of St. Mary's University School of Law, won't be renewed when it expires at the end of this academic year.

Randomness:

* We received a press release about three new partners being named at "growing international firm Ogier." Because Ogier has no U.S. offices -- it operates mainly out of the Cayman Islands and Jersey (no, not THAT Jersey) -- we have no idea why this was sent to us.

But since we like it when publicists send us stuff -- press releases are fine, party invites even better -- we reprint some excerpts, with a few comments, after the jump.

High-Profile Litigator Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Law School Decides Not to Renew Dean's Contract [NYLawyer.com]