Proskauer Rose

Proskauer Rose and Mintz Levin Kick Off ‘Deferment Extension’ Season

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proskauer rose logo.JPGDo you remember the class of 2009? You know, the kids who should be gearing up to start work in a couple of weeks but are instead sitting around, waiting to get out of purgatory? Don’t look now, but a couple of firms have decided to extend the deferral period for these people, and that can’t be a good thing.
Proskauer Rose’s New York office kicked off the round of deferment extensions last week. A tipster from Proskauer in Los Angeles reported the news:

Proskauer just told incoming L.A. associates that [incoming associates] in New York are getting their start dates pushed back again. It’s all the way back to November now. They told us [in L.A.] before they told New York because they didn’t want us to “hear it on Above the Law first.” [Sheesh.]

The letters have now gone out to all the incoming New York associates informing them of the news. The new start date is November 2, 2010.
Proskauer had already pushed back the class of 2009 to March 2010. But Proskauer has also told the class of 2010 that the earliest they will be able to start is “fall” 2010.
So can we assume that rising 2Ls considering interviewing with Proskauer won’t be able to start until late 2012? For that matter, are incoming Proskauer associates confident that they will ever be able to start at the firm? We reached out to Proskauer, but the firm did not respond to our request for comment.
After the jump, Mintz Levin joins the deferment extension party.

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Morning Docket 08.18.09

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John Yoo Philadelphia.JPG* It sounds like very few protesters greeted John Yoo at Berkeley Law School. Only four were tenacious enough to get arrested. [Associated Press]
* Fen-phen lawyers sentenced to 20 and 25 years, respectively. The judge wants their sentences to deter other lawyers tempted to steal from settlement funds. [Bloomberg]
* Proskauer Rose probably likes this headline. [New York Daily News]
* Nino leads one to believe that empathy is not an important quality in a judge. [New York Times via Daily Beast]
* The 5th Circuit agrees with a Texas school district that has banned “shirts with words.” Are shirts with numbers okay? [Courthouse News Service]
* Michael Jackson’s children have lawyered up. [CNN]
* Nationwide salary cut watch: LA County judges. [Los Angeles Times]
* Why has there been no litigation surge in the recession? [National Law Journal]

Blind Item Follow-Up: A Revised List of Suspects

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pink slip layoff notice Above the Law blog.jpgWe’ve provided extensive coverage of a recent Biglaw blind item, concerning an unidentified law firm in Manhattan planning multiple rounds of layoffs for later this year. If you’re tired of this little parlor game, then stop reading here.
But if you enjoy rampant speculation, surf over to Law Shucks, which has crunched the numbers again and generated a new list of likely layoff lairs. Some of the commenters on our last thread may be gratified to see their nominees on the updated list.
At this point, the law firm mentioned in the original Washington Post article should have the decency to come forward and ‘fess up. Is it fair to let your fellow firms sit under a cloud of suspicion?
Revisiting the Candidates for Impending Layoffs [Law Shucks]
Earlier:Blind Item: Layoffs To Come At ‘A Law Firm in Manhattan’
Blind Item Follow-Up: A New York Firm That Fits The Bill?
Blind Item Follow-Up: Morgan Lewis Also Denies Layoffs

Blind Item Follow-Up: Morgan Lewis Also Denies Layoffs
(Plus a look at the Five O’Clock Club’s law firm clients.)

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pink slip layoff notice Above the Law blog.jpgBased on a Washington Post article profiling the Five O’Clock Club, an outplacement and career coaching company, we constructed a Biglaw blind item:

Which New York law firm, having already completed two rounds of layoffs, has hired the Five O’Clock Club to help it carry out additional layoffs (in August, October, and November)?

After we ran the item, several firms came forward to declare they’re not the firm in question. And now they’re joined by one more: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
A spokesperson for Morgan Lewis contacted ATL to say that it isn’t the firm with layoffs in the works. In fact, Morgan Lewis claims that it shouldn’t even be on the shortlist of contenders.
Read why — and check out the list of the Five O’Clock Club’s clients, including some very prestigious law firms that haven’t publicly admitted to layoffs — after the jump.

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(Plus a look at the Five O’Clock Club’s law firm clients.)”

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 7.26: Dolores!

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champagne glasses small.jpg
This couple definitely merits an honorable mention this week. They met a year ago in Vegas and turned a 24-hour hookup into a NYT wedding announcement featuring seersucker, a 6-year age difference, and a JD from Widener. It’s certainly one of the more colorful lawyer wedding announcements we’ve seen in a while (although we concede the bar is fairly low).
We even managed to find a picture for you, seersucker and all. They look like they know how to party, don’t they?
On to our finalists, who are more prestigious — but admittedly a bit less colorful:

1. Dolores DiBella and David Schmid
2. Susanna Cowen and Ross McSweeney
3. Kara Burke and Matthew King

Check out these couples’ photos and qualifications, after the jump.

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Proskauer Rose Defers Current Summers to 2011

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proskauer rose logo.JPGProskauer Rose has joined the growing list of firms to defer current summer associates to 2011. But unlike other firms on that list, the Proskauer deferral pushes the 2010 class to “fall” 2011. Other firms have at least told their summer associates that they could start in January 2011.
Proskauer has already deferred its incoming class of new associates to March 2010, and the firm only gave those new hires a $20,000 stipend for their trouble. And the firm has asked incoming associates to voluntarily defer until January 2011 with a $60,000 stipend. Maybe participation in the voluntary deferral program by the class of 2009 has been so great that the firm felt it had to involuntarily defer its current summers to the fall of 2011?
But at this point, it doesn’t appear that Proskauer is offering any kind of deferral stipend to the class of 2010, and that has some summers grumbling.
Some summer reactions after the jump.

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Morning Docket 04.16.09

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yankees above the law.jpg* The NYCLU is suing the NYPD to protect Yankees fans’ right to hate America. [Gothamist and New York Law Journal]

* Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan is resigning this weekend. Among those gunning for his job are two Foley Hoag partners: Michael B. Keating and Martin Murphy. That’s a little awkward when it comes to intra-firm politics, no? [Boston Globe]

* Former ATL ‘Lawyer’ of the Day Howard Kieffer was back in the courtroom this week, being convicted of mail fraud and making false statements. [Associated Press]

* Easter’s celebration of resurrection has inspired Eliot Spitzer. He’s contemplating another run for Attorney General. [New York Post]

* Earlier this week, a judge ruled that law firms need to make it clear that they are representing the company and not individual employees during the course of their investigations– Irell & Manella was on the short end of that ruling. Stanford Group’s former CIO was likely following that case closely. She has filed a malpractice and conspiracy complaint against Proskauer Rose and others for the same practices. [Courthouse News Service]

* More on the monster $55.1 million Lehman bill submitted in Manhattan bankruptcy court by Weil Gotshal. In addition to over 100,000 billable hours over four months, the bill includes “$200,000 for business meals, $439,000 for computerized and “other” research, [and] $115,000 on local transportation and $287,000 on duplicating charges.” Sigh. Just when Americans were starting to hate bankers more than lawyers. [Wall Street Journal (subscription)]

The Latest and Greatest Nationwide Start Date Round-up

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Last month, we brought you Open Thread: Nationwide Start Date Round-up. After a flood of tips in response to that, we brought you an Expanded Nationwide Start Date Round-up. After that post, we got another deluge of tips. So now we bring you the latest and greatest round-up: more firms, more 2010 start dates, more pro bono deferral opportunities, more great taste, less calories…. whoops, wrong post.

Proskauer Rose announced start dates yesterday. Incoming associates have got some time to kill and some money to spend, says a tipster:

Proskauer [is] pushing their new associates back to March 2010. They’re offering a $20K stipend, or the option to get a public interest job, start Jan. 2011 and get a $60K stipend. They’re also still honoring a $10K salary advance they had previously offered.

Most firms, like Proskauer, have offered baby associates deferral stipends when pushing back start dates. However, a few disgruntled 3Ls have written to ATL saying that stipends are not forthcoming at their firms. Here are reports from tipsters:

Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell not offering any stipends [not even salary advances] to deferred Class of 2009 associates. Deferred Associates are still receiving their graduation bonuses ($1500), I guess that’s supposed to carry them through until January 2010.

You guys got to say something about the fact that Shearman, unlike most of the other firms, isn’t paying any kind of a stipend to those it is deferring until January ’10.

King & Spalding, all offices, has been pushed to January 19, 2010. Incoming associates were informed in late March. No stipend, and the salary advance is also not an option anymore.

Goldberg Kohn gave their incoming associates a $7500 bar stipend (which was reduced from the originally promised $8,000); they paid for Bar Exam fees; and they gave them a hand wave goodbye. As for their reported “pushing back start dates”, Goldberg Kohn has told their incoming associates that their start date was INDEFINITELY deferred. They said that March 2010 was a possibility but that the date was arbitrary and they are making no promises at all….They have offered no deferral stipend.

We would like to note that Shearman is paying a $65,000 stipend to those deferred to September 2010.

We wanted to call this post “The Final Round-up,” but that seemed overly optimistic. Check out the newest additions to the nationwide start date watch, after the jump. This time around, we’ve included firms (that we know of) that have not yet announced start dates.

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Nationwide Layoff Watch: Proskauer Rose Lays Off 23 Attorneys

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proskauer rose logo.JPGI really thought we were going to make it through the whole day without any fresh layoff stories. I really did. We were so close.

Sadly, there is an internal memo going around at Proskauer Rose right now. The damage, 23 attorneys. We haven’t gotten our hands on the memo yet, but we understand that the memo makes no mention of any staff cuts.

You’ll remember that back in December, Proskauer laid off 35 associates and 25 staffers. The firm also laid off first years at that time, but that wasn’t in the announcement. Of course, that was back in December when laying off first years looked particularly bad.

No word on whether this round of cuts is also affecting first years.

This second round of cuts shouldn’t be all that surprising. Proskauer profits per partner were down ten percent last year. And we know partnerships don’t like that.

We’ll update you with the full internal memo when we get it.

So close. Maybe tomorrow can be an official “no layoff day?”

Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Proskauer Cuts 60 People

Nationwide Layoff Update: Proskauer Rose

Proskauer Profits Take a Tumble

Proskauer Profits Take a Tumble

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proskauer rose logo.JPGBack in December, we reported that Proskauer Rose laid off 35 associates and 25 staff. We believe that the firm fired first-years as part of the layoffs. Proskauer said it was taking these actions in response to the “worldwide economic crisis.”

Yesterday, AmLaw Daily reported that Proskauer partners also felt the pain of 2008:

Proskauer Rose’s profits per equity partner dropped 10 percent in 2008 to $1.4 million. Revenues increased marginally, by 1 percent, to $634 million in 2008. Revenue per lawyer dipped slightly to $916,000, as did head count: total attorneys went from 685 in 2007 to 692 in 2008.

In this economy, Proskauer chairman Allen Fagin was reluctant to complain about $1.4 million dollars per partner:

Fagin echoes other law firm leaders when commenting on his firm’s performance this past year, saying that, given the challenges, he is satisfied. The results “put us in the vicinity of most of the firms we would consider peers,” he says — the group, according to Fagin, includes Mayer Brown and Latham & Watkins.

Let’s see: Mayer Brown laid off 33 attorneys in November, and Latham is doing Latham things, so it sounds like Proskauer did a pretty good job when picking its “peer firms.”

And there might be more layoffs on the horizon for Proskauer:

Fagin says there is an “ongoing examination” to ensure that staffing levels are right.

In the words of the late, great, Mr. Arnold: “Hang on to your butts.”

THE AM LAW 100: Proskauer’s Profits Fall 10 Percent, Revenues Up Slightly [AmLaw Daily]

Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Update: Proskauer Rose

Pro Bono Awards

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Pro bono awards.JPGEvery year, the National Law Journal names individual people and firms that have done outstanding pro bono work. This year perhaps more than others, it is especially important to recognize those that gave their time to charity. With the economy crumbling, there is a huge need for free legal services.

The NLJ has recognized the work done by Proskauer Rose, Holland & Knight, and Mayer Brown towards resettling Iraqi refugees:

Eric Blinderman, international legal counsel to Proskauer Rose, had gone to Iraq in March 2004 as an associate general counsel for the Coalition Provisional Authority. Later, he served as chief legal counsel and associate deputy to the Regime Crimes Liaison. In 2007, Blinderman’s firm officially became a part of The List: Project to Resettle Iraqi Refugees, a nonprofit organization founded that year to help resettle Iraqis in danger because of their affiliation with the United States. Holland & Knight had already been collaborating with the project, and Mayer Brown signed on this year.

The other big firm winner was Pillsbury Winthrop for its efforts during the election:

Firms nationwide were inspired by the historic 2008 presidential election to devote pro bono time to protecting access to the voting booth. Lawyers went to court in several states on voter access issues, most frequently to prevent a voting reform law, the Help America Vote Act, from becoming a barrier to the ballot. The law required states to match voter rolls with another database, usually the registry of driver licenses, to create a more accurate list of voters.

Read the full list of winners here. And please share your stories about other great pro bono acts in the comments.

2008 NLJ PRO BONO AWARDS [National Law Journal]

Associate Bonus Watch: Proskauer Matches NYC Market, Even in L.A.

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law firm associate bonus watch 2008 biglaw bonuses.jpgSo much for O’Melveny & Myers setting the bonus market for L.A. Proskauer Rose announced their bonuses this afternoon, and they will be paying the Cravath scale across all of their offices.

That’s good news if you’re in Boston, expected news if you’re in New York, and a slightly disappointing confrontation with reality if you’re in Los Angeles.

This bonus news comes less than a month after Proskauer announced layoffs of 35 associates and 25 administrative staff. We even have reports that some Proskauer first-year associates were laid off this month. Against that backdrop, still having a job is hopefully bonus enough for those still at Proskauer.

Proskauer declined to follow OMM’s bonus lead; will they follow Latham’s salary lead? We don’t have any word on the status of Proskauer’s pay raises, but at this point, no news is good news.

Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Proskauer Cuts 60 People

Prior ATL coverage of associate bonuses