Sidley Austin

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: January 28 and February 4

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch NYT wedding announcements Above the Law.jpgWe’re behind by a few weeks in Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, but catching up won’t be that hard. For the weekends of January 28 and February 4, only two couples involving a lawyer made the New York Times wedding pages — one for each week.
So each of these couples wins as Couple of the Week, securing a default judgment in their favor. The two prevailing couples are:
1. Joy Chang, William Schaaf (January 28)
2. Jordan Chattman, Joseph Shumofsky (February 4)
We must still rate and review these newlyweds, however, so they can participate in the Couple of the Month contest. In case you’re interested, our write-ups and scores appear after the jump.

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Skaddenfreude: The Sidley Austin Memo

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Below is the Sidley Austin memo — sent us to by one source, verified by a second.
MEMORANDUM
TO: All U.S. Associates
FROM: The Management Committee
RE: Associate Salaries
We value highly our associates and your contributions to the Firm’s continued success. We also recognize the need to remain competitive with market conditions in order to recruit and retain the talent required to serve our clients. Accordingly, we are announcing increases in our standard salaries as follows, effective January 1, 2007.
Associates in our domestic offices other than New York will receive increases bringing standard salaries to the following levels:
Class of 2006 – $145,000
Class of 2005 – $155,000
Class of 2004 – $170,000
Class of 2003 – $190,000
Class of 2002 – $210,000
Class of 2001 – $225,000
Class of 2000 – $240,000
For New York associates standard salaries are as follows:
Class of 2006 – $160,000
Class of 2005 – $170,000
Class of 2004 – $185,000
Class of 2003 – $210,000
Class of 2002 – $230,000
Class of 2001 – $250,000
Class of 2000 – $265,000
Class of 1999 – $280,000
The differential between New York and offices other than New York is a reflection of market and cost-of-living factors.
As we have done in the past, we will address, on an individual basis, compensation for Counsel and associates in class years more senior than those listed above.
With your continued dedication and effort, we look forward to another strong year.

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Musical Chairs: 01.08.06

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musical chairs 2 Above the Law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFLots of interesting moves, both actual and rumored, to report upon today.
Possible promotion:
* Elena Kagan, the popular (and hot) dean of Harvard Law School, is being considered for the presidency of Harvard University.
In government:
* New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is on a hiring spree (just like his successor as AG, Andrew Cuomo). Lloyd Constantine, who currently heads a 40-lawyer firm, will serve as a senior advisor to Spitzer. Debra Bachrach, a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, will direct the state’s Medicaid program. Joseph Baker, bureau chief for health care under AG Spitzer, will take over as deputy secretary for health and human services.
“You’re Fired”:
* Former Apple in-house lawyer Wendy Howell was discreetly discharged, late last year, for her role in the options backdating fiasco.
Reunited and it feels so good:
* Structured finance lawyers William Cullen, Janet Barbiere and Bola Oloko, to Thacher Proffitt & Wood, from Sidley & Austin. The trio left Thacher Proffitt together in 1997 (back when Barbiere and Oloko were still associates; they were recently promoted to partnership at Sidley).
Other lateral moves:
* Bankruptcy lawyer Steven Wilamowsky, to Bingham McCutchen, from Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Headhunters at Harvard May Pick a Woman [New York Times]
NY Bankruptcy Partner Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]
NY Trio Returns to Firm They Left in the ’90s [NYLawyer.com]
Spitzer Taps Three NY Lawyers to Fill Key Positions [NYLawyer.com]
Apple Quietly Canned Lawyer Who Backdated [The Recorder via Law.com]

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Associate Bonus Watch: The Sidley Grinch Who Stole Christmas?

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stack of bills cash money.jpgWe can’t take credit for the title of this post. Here’s an excerpt from an email we received with the subject heading, “Sidley Grinch”:

Sidley matched in New York, but the great story for them is the big f*** you they sent to associates in other offices. Not only did Sidley give associates in non-NY offices nearly half the bonus money, but they made sure everyone knows that they received less. And they try to make it seem like they were so generous last year that there was no reason to increase bonuses this year (don’t buy the “we just got started at 20k” b.s.).

The best part is that associates in the New York office had a lower hours requirement, too. Non-NY associates were strictly cut out of the bonus trough if they didn’t make 2,000 hours. New York associates could get a bonus if they worked 1,800. A great Christmas gift.

The memo, after the jump.

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Legal Fee Voyeurism: Merger Mania Moolah

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pile of cash or money Above the Law Legal Blog.JPGToday is a banner day for mergers-and-acquisitions lawyers. Our big brother takes note of Blackstone Group’s gigantic proposed buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust, the nation’s largest office-building owner and manager, for roughly $36 billion ($20 billion plus $16 billion in assumed debt).
And that’s not the only deal. The WSJ Law Blog ticks off three more billion-dollar transactions: Bank of America acquiring U.S. Trust, Freeport-McMoRan acquiring Phelps Dodge, and Evraz Group acquiring Oregon Steel Mills.
Biglaw shops are involved in all of these transactions. The lucky law firms: Sidley Austin, Simpson Thacher, Cleary Gottlieb, Howard Rice, Wachtell Lipton, Davis Polk, Debevoise & Plimpton, Covington & Burling, and Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt (of Oregon).
Okay, “lucky” may not be the right term for people who have probably been pulling one all-nighter after another over the past few weeks (or months). But let’s look on the bright side: the fees from these deals will be delicious. And they’re likely to mean very good associate bonuses for 2006.
How delicious? This is where you come in. For this latest edition of Legal Fee Voyeurism, we’d like to ask you for any information, rumors, or quasi-informed speculation about the fees that firms will be earning on these deals. And, of course, we’re always interested in the related subject of associate bonus scuttlebutt.
Please send any such tips our way, by email. Thanks!
The Biggest LBO Ever: Does The Blackstone REIT Deal Mark the Beginning of the End of Public Companies? [DealBreaker]
M&A Mania: Good for the Lawyers! [WSJ Law Blog]

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Musical Chairs: 11.08.06

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Musical Chairs Above the Law Legal Blog Above the Law Legal Tabloid Above the Law Legal Gossip Site.GIFPersonnel changes are everywhere today — and not just on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon. Some notable moves within the legal profession:
Lateral Moves:
* Private equity and M&A lawyer Dennis Barsky, to Jones Day, from Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
* Corporate lawyer Jonathan Stapleton and investment-funds lawyer Margaret Paradis, to Baker & McKenzie (NY), from Arnold & Porter and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, respectively.
* Insurance and financial services lawyer Chiu-Ti Jansen, to Sidley Austin, from LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae.
Government to Private Sector:
* Marc Agnifilo, former head of the violent and organized crime unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey, is joining Brafman and Associates. Yes, that Brafman — renowned criminal defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman, Diddy-defending attorney to the stars.
(Disclosure: Marc Agnifilo is a former colleague of ours, as well as a tremendously experienced and exceptionally talented lawyer. He has a fantastic sense of humor. And he’s the nephew of celebrated writer Don DeLillo.)
Firm Adds Two NY Corporate Partners [NYLawyer.com]
NY Private Equity Partner Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]
NY Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
Baker & McKenzie LLP Announces Ambitious New Strategy and Leadership Team in New York [Baker & McKenzie]

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Musical Chairs: 10.30.06

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musical chairs above the law legal blog above the law legal tabloid above the law legal gossip site.GIFLateral Moves:
Both of today’s moves are in the field of intellectual property law:
* Patent litigator Sandra Bresnick, to Sidley Austin, from Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
* IP transactional lawyer Warren Nachlis, to Jones Day (NY), from Shearman & Sterling.
(Interesting to leave so soon — Nachlis made partner at Shearman only just last year.)
Two NY IP Partners Switch Firms [NYLawyer.com]

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: October 22, 2006

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legal eagle wedding watch david lat above the law legal blog law blog david lat david lat atl.JPGThe Dow is hitting record highs — and after a month of softness, the lawyer wedding market is bouncing back too. In addition to Supreme Court superstar Ted Olson, a number of attorneys got married last weekend. And several of them made it into the wedding pages of the New York Times (although not Olson and Lady Booth; they must not have submitted, because one can’t imagine them not making it in otherwise).
Here are the couples vying for victory this week:

1. Lindsay Anathan, Britt Rogers

2. Lisa Humphrey, Andrew Tauber

3. Alexandra McGinley, Brandon Holder

Evaluations and scores, after the jump.

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Musical Chairs: The Women of NSD

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jessie liu jessie k liu kathryn haun kathryn r haun.JPGLast week we wrote about the A-team of legal talent that Assistant Attorney General Kenneth L. Wainstein is assembling over at the Justice Department’s new National Security Division. Wainstein’s top hires include several members of the Elect, including high-flying legal eagles Brett Gerry (Silberman/Kennedy) and John Demers (O’Scannlain/Scalia).
A press release issued this morning announces Kenneth Wainstein’s other front office hires. And they include two brilliant and beautiful women (whom we have had the pleasure of meeting): Kathryn Haun (left), counsel to the AAG, and Jessie Liu (right), deputy chief of staff.
Those who followed UTR’s Superhotties of the Federal Judiciary contest — which, by the way, we will be reinstituting here at ATL — may recall Haun. She’s the blonde hottie who was photographed wrapping her arms around her former boss, Ninth Circuit judge Alex Kozinski (click here, scroll down). Back then we compared Haun to Naomi Watts; but upon further reflection, we’re thinking Cybill Shepherd.
Don’t let Haun’s dazzling beauty — a beauty that has ensnared multiple male members of the Elect — distract you from her accomplishments. Haun is one of the Elect herself, having clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. She was also an associate at Sidley & Austin, and most recently was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia (a post she is being detailed from to come to the NSD).
Liu, who will be Ken Wainstein’s deputy chief of staff, is similarly high-powered. Her gleaming resume includes Harvard College, Yale Law School, a clerkship with Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King (5th Cir.), and a stint at Jenner & Block. Most recently, Liu was an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, where she acquired a wealth of trial experience.
The luminous Liu and her disturbingly brilliant husband, law professor Michael Abramowicz — see NYT wedding announcement here — have two children. Great job, great husband, great kids. Who says you can’t have it all?*
Congratulations to Katie Haun, Jessie Liu, and Ken Wainstein’s entire team at the NSD!
* But please don’t hate Liu for her charmed life; she’s also one of the nicest and most wonderful human beings you’ll ever meet.
Kenneth L. Wainstein Sworn in As First Assistant Attorney General for National Security Division [DOJ press release]
Earlier: Congratulations to Ken Wainstein!

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