As you can see from the time of our first post of the day, we’ve been in front of our computer for about twelve hours. Our eyes hurt. And we’re hungry.
We need to stand up. Maybe we’ll be really daring and leave our apartment.
Hence this open comment thread. Some of the biggest Biglaws — Cravath, Sullivan & Cromwell, Paul Weiss — have already announced their bonuses. But if Skadden comes along and blows the top off the bonus market while we’re gone, please post it in the comments (along with a link to your source).
We’ll follow up when we return. Thanks.
P.S. We realize this is unlikely. First, Skadden will probably do what everybody else has done, and match the market bonuses (as set last week by Milbank). Second, based on the buzz over at Greedy NY, it seems that a Skadden announcement will probably come tomorrow.
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of bonuses (scroll down)
Paul Weiss
- Admin, Biglaw, Blogging, Bonuses, Cravath, Milbank Tweed, Money, Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps, Sullivan & Cromwell
Associate Bonus Watch: Wednesday Open Comment Thread
By David LatConsider 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.
Continue reading “Associate Bonus Watch: The Paul Weiss Memo”
That’s the latest rumor. We’re checking with our Paul Weiss sources (and waiting for a memo).
Update (1:12 PM): This is looking pretty solid. No memo yet, and one of our Paul Weiss sources reports not hearing anything yet. But two other Paul Weiss sources confirm that the firm has matched. One of the two confirming sources explains why our first source might not have heard anything:
They have a junior partner on each floor come around and tell you, to make it “more personal.”
So this might explain why associates are getting the news at different times. It all depends upon when your particular junior partner gets around to dropping by your office.
Update (3:28 PM): Officially CONFIRMED, by Madelaine Miller, Paul Weiss’s communications manager. And we have the memo, too. Click here.
Paul Weiss matches… [Infirmation / Greedy NY]
When You’ve Broken Over Five (5) Staplers By Throwing Them at Paralegals, It’s Time To Get Help
By David LatOur big brother brings to our attention an interesting article, from New York magazine, about urban professionals and burnout. And no article on the subject would be complete without a discussion of Biglaw attorneys:
An epidemic of malaise among bankers and lawyers is far more likely to inspire jokes—Wouldn’t it be nicer if it were terminal?—than concern and rafts of psychological studies. (And the few studies out there are funny, if inadvertently. In a special “burnout” issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology six years ago, the essay on lawyers was most notable for the “Select References and Recommended Reading” that followed—four of eight were about masochism.)
Not surprising in the least — although where are the sadism articles?
[C]onsider lawyers for a moment: According to the New York Bar Association, turnover rates among mid-level associates in this city’s law firms is 36 percent. The whole system is predicated on burnout. Why even bother treating associates well?
Sad but true. We’re reminded of one of our all-time favorite reader comments, in a thread discussing whether Paul Weiss is a gay-friendly firm. Here’s the comment:
Paul Weiss isn’t a magnet for gays, but it is a great place to get f*cked in the ass no matter what your sexual orientation is.
At least you get great sushi while grabbing your proverbial ankles.
Can’t Get No Satisfaction [New York Magazine via DealBreaker]
Law firm recruiting season is winding down, but we remain interested in your job interview horror stories. To read prior stories, click here, then scroll down.
(Note: The “horror” in “interview horror stories” is loosely defined. Stories that are somewhat embarrassing or mildly amusing will suffice.)
Most of our interview horror stories involve interviewees saying or doing stupid things, during their Biglaw interview or at lunch. But sometimes it’s the interviewers who are boneheaded.
This story has been making the rounds at East Coast law schools:
A young woman goes in for an on-campus interview with a large law firm. Her interviewer is an elderly partner at a very conservative, white-shoe kind of place.
The interview is going smoothly. But then the interviewer starts complaining about promising female associates who get married, have kids, and leave the firm.
Such comments are highly improper and/or illegal. There are a number of ways to deal with them, in appropriate yet subtle fashion. But our interviewee decides to tackle this problem head-on:
“You don’t need to worry about that happening with me. I’m a lesbian.”
The stuffy old partner is at a complete loss for words. He’s probably never met a lesbian in his life.
There’s a long, awkward pause. Finally, the partner breaks the silence:
“Have you thought about Paul Weiss?”
Illegal / Improper Job Interview Questions [Cornell Law School]
Top 10 Lesbian Cars for 2006 [About.com]
Earlier: Prior Interview Horror Stories (scroll down)
- Arnold & Porter, Cleary Gottlieb, Court of Federal Claims, Delissa Ridgway, Federal Judges, Fried Frank, Harold Baer, Holland & Knight, Janet Bond Arterton, Marna Tucker, Maryanne Trump Barry, Paul Weiss, Romance and Dating, Weddings
Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: August 27, 2006
By David LatAnother summer weekend, another raft of attorney weddings. Plenty of fodder for this week’s edition of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, in which we review selected lawyer nuptials from the New York Times wedding announcements — and assign numerical scores to each couple. We rate them in three to four categories: on their résumés, their families, their couple balance, and their beauty (if pictured).
Today four couples are vying for the coveted title of highest-flying legal eagles:
1. Cecily Baskir, John Freedman
2. Arminda Bepko, Victor Suthammanont
So which couple will prevail? Find out, after the jump.
(In blogspeak, “after the jump” means “click on that ‘continue reading’ link below.” So go ahead, what are you waiting for? Click away!)
Continue reading “Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: August 27, 2006″
- Akin Gump, Cadwalader, David Brooks, Hotties, Mary Tobler, Max Minzner, New York Times, Paul Weiss, S.D.N.Y., State Judges, Weddings, Yale Law School
Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: July 30, 2006
By David LatIf you’re like us, you read the New York Times wedding announcements religiously every week. It’s one of the most addictive forms of résumé porn. Consider the trenchant analysis of David Brooks:
The wedding page is a weekly obsession for thousands of Times readers and aspiring Victor Hugos. Unabashedly elitist, secretive (believe me, I’ve tried to get information out of the page’s editors), and therefore totally honest, the “mergers and acquisitions page” — as many of its devotees call it — has always provided an accurate look at an important chunk of the American ruling class. And over the years it has reflected the transformation of the American establishment….
[As the WASP elite has declined,] a new elite has coalesced, and it is found — as much as anywhere — on the wedding page of the New York Times. Whereas the old establishment was based on birth and breeding, this new establishment rests on education and career.
And what educations! What careers! Reading the Times wedding page and secretly comparing yourself to all the featured brides and grooms is a recipe for depression.
Well, we’re here to help. Each week we’ll read the Times wedding page, so you don’t have to. We’ll pick out selected marriages involving members of the legal profession and offer colorful commentary on them. Think of it as like the Veiled Conceit blog, but centered on lawyers.
We’ll score each couple in three to four categories: (1) their résumés; (2) their families; (3) couple balance (how well-matched they are); and (4) beauty (but only if there’s a picture of the happy couple). We’ll average these scores to produce an overall score. The couple with the highest overall score is the winner for that week!
The inaugural installment appears after the jump.
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