We have been tracking — as have other news outlets, such as the New York Times — which leading law firms offer the perk we’ve nicknamed the gay gross-up. If you’re inclined towards formality, you can call it the “tax offset for domestic partner health benefits.” For an explanation of what this perk is all about, read this prior post.
Since our last round-up, additional prominent law firms have adopted this policy. Let’s check out the latest list….
UPDATE (9/7/11, 12:30 PM): We’ve added to our list since it went up yesterday.
Spring bonus news seemed to slow down last week. But New York firms are still having their feet held to fire of spring payments. On Friday afternoon, Fried Frank announced that it would be joining the spring bonus parade.
Fried Frank will be matching the Cravath scale for spring bonuses.
I hate to bring this up, since Sullivan & Cromwell was nice enough to start the spring bonus trend in the first place. But really S&C, Fried Frank is now paying a bigger bonus than you guys. Isn’t it just about time to step up?
UPDATE: Bonus memos for New York and for D.C. — where spring bonuses are also being paid — after the jump.
* Modesty reared its ugly head after Jersey Shore’s JWoWW discovered that she might not be able to cash in on her naked photos. [New York Law Journal]
* Which is Mayor Bloomberg more pissed about — that some more ice melt could’ve saved a life, or that it could’ve saved $20 million? [Wall Street Journal]
* No more time outs for federal prosecutors behaving badly. Thanks to Eric Holder, they’ll be subject to a much swifter spanking. [USA Today]
* You really can get anything on Groupon, even legal services. What you can’t get is your dignity back after peddling coupons for cash. [ABA Journal]
* A lawsuit that’s sure to balloon into notoriety. If copying Jeff Koons is wrong, then I don’t want to be copyright. [New York Times]
* Failing the bar exam is one thing, but failing to sell your law degree on eBay is quite another. Resume Goddess did both. [Out of the Storm News]
Julie Kamps: her lawsuit against Fried Frank continues.
* Thanks Senate, but gay servicemembers now get to play another waiting game. How long will the certification process take? Don’t ask, because the administration isn’t going to tell. [New York Times; Wall Street Journal; Washington Post]
* This weekend, our oh-so-prominent managing editor will be rockin’ around the Christmas tree with a karaoke mic in hand. Here are some song recs for you, Lat! [National Law Journal]
* What a Masshole. An ex-magistrate forced women to have sex in the courthouse. Karma’s a bitch — better watch your back in the slammer. [Boston Globe]
* 60% 61% of the time, it works every time. Under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court has shown considerable favor for business interests. [New York Times]
* Remember Julie Kamps? Hell hath no fury like a lesbian with a law degree. There’s nothing like showing the partners who’s boss to get you in the holiday spirit. [New York Law Journal]
* A Japanese woman is suing Google for showing her panties on Street View. Don’t they sell used panties in vending machines in Japan? What a puritan. [CNET]
* Joe Miller goes to the Alaska Supreme Court in another attempt to alter reality. Please stop beating this dead horse, Joe. It’s getting pretty sad. [New York Times]
On Friday, the firm of Fried Frank announced associate bonuses. This year’s announcement was just like last year’s, i.e., something of a black box. The firm memo, reprinted below, states that FFHSJ will be paying “year-end bonuses to New York associates in varying amounts up to $40,000″ — but doesn’t say much more than that.
So nobody at Fried Frank really knows how much anyone else is getting. According to one source, though, “the news is that bonuses are generally in line with other firms and are being paid by year end.” In addition, “[r]umor is that bonus structure may not be lock-step and might (heaven forfend) be based in part on performance.”
The full memo appears after the jump. Fried Frank folk, feel free to compare your bonuses in the comments.
And just like that, it’s December. Flurries fill the sky, Wham’s “Last Christmas” saturates the airwaves, and the list of weddings in the New York Times shortens dramatically. Quality tends to decline along with quantity, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised to find plenty of comment-worthy nuptials (and attractive brides!) over the past couple of weeks.
Here are the three weddings that most caught caught our eye:
Check out these couples’ pictures and write-ups, including one jaw-dropping wedding registry — plus a list of all the recent legal eagle weddings — after the jump.
We’ve gotten away from plowing through the latest Vault Rankings, but fear not. Your firm is coming up soon.
We’ve been through the top 30 firms. But now we’re getting into a group of firms that really utilized the cost-cutting measures of salary cuts and layoffs to weather the recession of 2009. Did these guys take a big prestige hit? Not really. Here’s the next batch of firms:
A college graduate without student loan debt is akin to reading a kind quote about Kim Kardashian in a tabloid—it’s rare.
In the past eight years, student loan debt has nearly tripled to a whopping $1.1 trillion, and in the past 10 years, the percentage of 25-year-olds with such debt has risen from 25% to 43%
It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that New York Fed economists warned last month that the burden of student debt could stilt consumer spending by twentysomethings, as well as further hamper the recovery of the housing market and economy.
To get a better idea of what massive student loan debt (we’re talking over $100,000 massive) looks like, we talked to an attorney who graduated with a large student loan debt. We also consulted LearnVest Planning Services CFP® Katie Brewer to see just how their repayment plans stack up.
S. Fischer, 36, Attorney Graduated: 2001
How Much I Borrowed: $100,000
What I Still Owe: $45,000
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Ed. note: The Asia Chronicles column is authored by Kinney Recruiting. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates, counsels and partners in Asia than any other recruiting firm in each of the past six years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com.
Deal flow has clearly picked recently up for most US associates, counsels and partners in Hong Kong/China and Singapore. We are on the phone with a lot of these folks on a daily basis, many of whom we have known for years. Further, the head of our Asia team, Evan Jowers, and Kinney’s founder and president, Robert Kinney, frequently meet in person with leading US partners in Asia to assess their needs and keep on top of the inside scoop at as many firms as possible. The need for legal recruiting help in Asia from experienced recruiters appears to be live and well. In March, Evan and Robert were in Beijing at such meetings, in April, Evan was in Hong Kong, and for half of June Evan will be in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Thus its pretty easy for us to tell when there has been an across-the-market pick up in capital markets and corporate work.
On an average day in Asia when Evan and Robert visit firms, they typically have 5 to 9 meetings a day, mostly with US partners in the market. The reason they have these meetings is not simply because Kinney makes a lot of US attorney placements in Asia and that a particular firm may have openings; instead these are just visits with friends. After years of working together as business partners, the folks at Kinney are actually these peoples’ friends. The firms Kinney work closely with in Asia (which is just about every law firm – call us if you want to know the one firm in the world we will never place anyone with again, ever, and why) look forward to the visits, or at least act like they do. After seven years in the market, many of the client partners are former associate candidates. Also, these US partners see Kinney as a very good source of market information as well, because they know how deep their contacts are in the market and how frequently they are speaking to counterparts at peer firms.
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