Capital Contributions

A suspension is in the cards.

LeClairRyan has seen a lot of partners leave recently.

* In case you haven’t been keeping score like we have, these are the firms that recently raised salaries: Jackson Walker. Where are the rest? If you’re worried you’ve missed any of our coverage on pay raises, check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law]

* “[I]t’s stunning that it takes a court decision for federal employees to be held accountable to the law.” Perhaps someone should tell Hillary Clinton about this, but according to the D.C. Circuit, federal officials may not use private email accounts to avoid having their documents and messages fall under public records laws. [The Hill]

* Steven Davis, the former chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf, owes quite the pretty penny to Citibank in the form of an unpaid loan. Davis was ordered by Judge Nancy Bannon to pay nearly $400K to the bank to cover what was once his capital contribution to the firm before it flopped under his leadership. [New York Law Journal via ABA Journal]

* Thanks to a string of victories in fending off complaints about its controversial practices, it’s highly unlikely that the Securities and Exchange Commission will stop using its system of in-house administrative law judges any time soon. The SEC is very reluctant to give up its perceived “home court” advantage. [DealBook / New York Times]

* If you’re thinking of applying to law school with a criminal record, you probably don’t need to worry too much about whether you’ll be accepted. From murderers to bank robbers, plenty of ex-cons have gone to law school before you, and many of them are successful in their non-criminal careers. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* Riding high after his victory in New Hampshire, Donald Trump settled his $500 million lawsuit against Univision for the network dropping his beauty pageants. Ay dios mio, this must be some sort of a YUGE GRANDE ploy to win the Hispanic vote. [USA Today]

* Dickstein Shapiro lawyers must be feeling pretty good about themselves right now. Their mass lateral move to Blank Rome isn’t a merger, it’s an “asset acquisition.” You see that? You’re all “assets”! Remember that next time a partner makes you cry. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* The ABA is considering toughening bar passage requirements for law school accreditation. Under the plan, schools would have to prove that 75 percent of graduates who took an exam within two years of graduation passed. Good luck! [ABA Journal]

* Uh-oh! Are partners at large law firms getting screwed? Biglaw firms are asking for bigger capital contributions (30-35 percent of earnings on average), and holding on to that money for longer periods of time when those partners leave. [Am Law Daily]

* Minnesota Law has been hit pretty hard by the law school crisis, with losses expected to hit $16.1 million by 2018. When the school’s soon-to-be ex-Dean first started in 2008, “everything was good,” but now, it’s a huge sh*tshow. [Twin Cities Pioneer Press]

* The New York Times editorial board believes SCOTUS justices “already have all the evidence they need to join the rest of the civilized world and end the death penalty once and for all” — and they may get the chance to do so this Term (but won’t). [New York Times]

* A Texas lawyer has filed the first “birther” lawsuit against Republican candidate Ted Cruz, seeking a declaratory judgment that the Canadian-born senator isn’t eligible to run for president. The filing is a pretty entertaining read in that it’s completely insane. [KHOU 11 News]

* Just when ex-Dewey & LeBoeuf chair Steven Davis thought his legal troubles were over, Citibank swooped in to slap him with a suit seeking repayment of a $400,000 loan for his capital contribution to the failed firm. [New York Law Journal via ABA Journal]

* The U.S. Copyright Office has formed an academic partnership with George Mason University School of Law. We bet students and law school administrators alike are probably hoping it’ll turn into an employment partnership as well. [IP Watchdog]

* Lower-ranked law schools ought to thank their lucky stars that U.S. News “ranking competition” exists, because if not for fear they’d sink in the rankings, higher-ranked schools would’ve enrolled students typically bound for unranked schools. [Forbes]

* Not only has Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s first bid to get a new trial been rejected, but in what’s been called a “symbolic gesture,” the convicted Boston Marathon bomber has now been ordered to pay more than $101 million in restitution to his victims. [Boston Globe]

Partner departures, staff layoffs, and an office closing, oh my.

Lateral candidates, look before you leap.

Is your firm financially sound? A noted law firm consultant explains "the myth of partner capital."

Which firm is revamping its capital structure, and what is it doing?

* Growth was “steady” for New York’s top firms, with Latham & Watkins and Skadden Arps leading the pack in terms of gross revenue — which wasn’t surprising, considering their Am Law 100 gross revenue ranking. [New York Law Journal]

* Dewey know when we’ll be able to stop using this pun? Hmm, at this rate, probably never. Steve Otillar and Citi recently settled their dueling suits over the ex-D&L partner’s capital contribution loan to the failed firm. [Am Law Daily]

* Cahill Gordon was supposed to investigate the Rutgers basketball scandal, but the firm cited a conflict of interest, so Skadden Arps stepped in. [Insert the joke of your choice here. I don’t like or watch this sport.] [Reuters]

* Surely you’ve heard about Justice Orie Melvin’s sentence by now. As it turns out, shaming a judge like you’d shame your dog online might not be enforceable… which is too bad. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

* When we last spoke about “controversial” commencement speakers, we didn’t bring up the fact that Nancy Pelosi would be pulling double duty at UC Davis and Baltimore. Thoughts? [National Law Journal]

* She’s got a death wish: the aggravation phase of the Jodi Arias trial was postponed at the last minute yesterday, and some think it’s because of the interview she gave after the verdict was announced. [CNN]

A former Howrey partner alleges fraud by a major bank.

It seems that Peter Kalis's hold on power at K&L Gates remains strong. Meanwhile, here's some information about partner capital contributions at the firm.

Peter Kalis, chairman and global managing partner of K&L Gates, issues a forceful response to speculation in the media about the state of the firm.

What's going on at K&L Gates? Reports have surfaced of significant partner departures.

Which major law firm might follow in the footsteps of Dewey and LeBoeuf? Let's discuss....

* Dewey know if Citibank is planning to sue other former D&L partners over their capital contribution loans? According to one court document filed by Luskin Stern & Eisler, the bank’s counsel, the fun has just gotten started. [Am Law Daily]

* Unlike the voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina, the Department of Justice has approved New Hampshire’s law of the same ilk. Apparently hippies from the “Live Free or Die” state are incapable of discrimination against minorities. [CNN]

* Arizona, on the other hand, can discriminate against minorities all the live long day — for now. A federal judge ruled that the “show me your papers” provision of S.B. 1070, the state’s strict immigration law, may be enforced. [Bloomberg]

* The latest argument raised in the case over the Mongolian Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton is that the bones are actually a “Frankenstein model based on several creatures.” This movie is getting boring. [WSJ Law Blog]

* “[T]he state of New York doesn’t get to be a dance critic.” We’re sure that any man would gladly tell the New York Court of Appeals that lap dancing is a form of art, but should it enjoy a tax exemption? [Associated Press]

A former Dewey partner alleges that the firm and Citibank worked together to improve the firm's cash position at the expense of individual partners.