Mayer Brown
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Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Women's Issues
Of Biglaw, Nazis, and Princes
Some of the week's big events in review. -
Biglaw, Layoffs, Money, Partner Issues
Is Being A Partner The Worst Job In Biglaw?
It's hard out here for a partner. A fascinating New Republic article goes behind the scenes at one major law firm. - Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Arent Fox, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Education / Schools, Family Law, In-House Counsel, Law Professors, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Pro Bono, Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities Law, Student Loans
Morning Docket: 07.22.13
* Though she be but little, she is fierce! Under Mary Jo White’s guidance, the Securities and Exchange Committee is now cracking down on financial fraud with a vengeance. [DealBook / New York Times]
* When a Biglaw firm’s chairman skeptically says, “Uh, OK, I mean, maybe,” with regard to a future increased demand for legal work, you know things are bad. We’ll have more on this later today. [New Republic]
* With Detroit’s downfall, vultures are swooping in left and right to snag clients. Firms retained thus far include Weil Gosthal, Arent Fox, Kirkland & Ellis, Winston & Strawn, and Sidley Austin. [Reuters]
* “I’m not a 100% sure this is legal.” Two law professors have come up with a revolutionary way for law students to finance legal education that sounds like it just might work. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* Normally when Biglaw firms and legal departments go to court over contested litigation, something’s gone wrong, but this summer, they’re trying to do some good in the world. [National Law Journal]
* Soon, it’ll be known as Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School, but even with a new name, you’re still going to be Cooley, and there’s no recovery from that. [Lansing State Journal]
* In Greenwich, Connecticut, the fact that people buy homes where they want their kids to go to school isn’t a “complicated concept.” The schools’ racial diversity, on the other hand, is. [New York Times]
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Barack Obama, Basketball, Constitutional Law, Election Law, Football, Google / Search Engines, Non-Sequiturs, Politics, SCOTUS, Sports, Supreme Court, Video games
Non-Sequiturs: 07.09.13
* Ed O’Bannon asks the NCAA to agree in writing not to retaliate against any current athlete that joins his lawsuit against the organization. How sad is it that a non-profit organization committed to helping students needs to be reminded not to retaliate against students? In other news, NCAA Football 14 (affiliate link) came out today. [USA Today] * More SCOTUS Term analysis. Tom Goldstein, Adam Liptak, and Jess Bravin have been invited to explain to the Heritage Foundation what an awesome term it had. [Heritage] * The Shelby County decision completely lacks any foundation for the argument that the Voting Rights Act violates the Constitution. Yeah, but besides that… [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * What is wrong with soccer fans? Referee stabs player and then ends up like Ned Stark. [Legal Juice] * Mayer Brown reports that Mexican leaders are lining up behind energy sector reform. [Breaking Energy] * Ever wonder about the extent of Internet censorship around the world? Here’s a handy chart showing how Google is censored in various countries around the world. [io9] * Obama caves to Republican requests to suspend law. Republicans label Obama tyrannical for suspending that law. Bravo. [Wall Street Journal] -
UVA Law, Weddings
Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Cuts Like a Knife
June is a great month to get married. Check out these impressive lawyer couples. -
3rd Circuit, Biglaw, Books, Fashion, Federal Judges, Judicial Nominations, Money, Movies, New Jersey, Non-Sequiturs, U.S. Attorneys Offices, Women's Issues
Non-Sequiturs: 04.09.13
* Congratulations to Judge Patty Shwartz on her confirmation to the Third Circuit. She will be sorely missed in the District Court — especially by Judge Hochberg. [People for the American Way] * And congrats to another alum of my former office, Michael Martinez, who just joined Mayer Brown as a litigation partner. [Mayer Brown] * “Sometimes the women partners make jokes about men. He forces himself to laugh at the jokes like he doesn’t care, and in the beginning he didn’t care….” [Ms. JD] * Speaking of objectification, you’ve waited years for this: “The Cast of 12 Angry Men in Order of Hotness.” [The Awl] * Uganda hates gays, and now they hate miniskirts. God only knows what they’d do to gays in miniskirts. [WSJ Law Blog] * Two things our readers love: compensation porn and rankings. Which universities pay the highest faculty salaries? [TaxProf Blog] * Another Yale Law School graduate turned writer: congrats to Steph Cha, whose new novel, Follow Her Home (affiliate link), just got a favorable review in the Los Angeles Times. [Los Angeles Times] -
Biglaw, General Counsel, In-House Counsel, Partner Issues, Rankings
Who's Got the Best Biglaw Brand in the Business?
These are rankings that Biglaw attorneys should care about, since firm survival depends on branding. -
10th Circuit, Benchslaps, Biglaw, Confirmations, Constitutional Law, Guns / Firearms, McCarter & English, Mergers and Acquisitions, Minority Issues, Money, Morning Docket, Musical Chairs, Politics, Racism, SCOTUS, Securities and Exchange Commission, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 02.26.13
* Our own Elie Mystal isn’t the only one who’s capable of fanning the flames of race baiting — it seems that Supreme Court justices can do it, too! We’ll probably have more on Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s benchslap later today. [The Two-Way / NPR]
* Patience is obviously one of this judge’s virtues, because this took a looooong time. After waiting more than a year for people to put their petty political pandering aside, the Senate confirmed Robert Bacharach to the Tenth Circuit. [Blog of Legal Times]
* Mary Jo White, the nominee to lead the SEC, will probably face her confirmation hearing in March. Her legal wranglings at Debevoise may be of interest to some, but really, who cares? She’s so cute and tiny! [Reuters]
* Mayer Brown and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year: gross revenue is up overall at most Biglaw firms, but not this one. In 2012, Mayer Brown’s revenue dipped 3.7 percent for a six-year low. [Am Law Daily]
* Kirkland & Ellis, now the fifth-largest Biglaw firm in the nation, is leading the market in terms of top dollar merger-and-acquisition deals. Now, if only the firm could get some bananas. [Crain’s Chicago Business]
* Orderly liquidation authority may be a legitimate exercise of power under the Bankruptcy Clause, but as far as these states are concerned, it’s just another reason to hate the Dodd-Frank Act. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Remember Peggy Ableman, the judge who ordered lawyers to attend a course on remedial civility in their “jammies”? She’s now at McCarter & English, so mind your manners. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* An “astronomically stupid” legal loophole? Unpossible! Gun trusts are seeing the limelight because Chris Dorner claims he used one to purchase his paraphernalia without a background check. [New York Times]
- Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Zach Warren from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the potential and the pitfalls. -
B for Beauty, Biglaw, Crime, Election Law, Federal Judges, Guns / Firearms, Hotties, Jeffrey Toobin, Law Firm Mergers, Law Schools, Money, Non-Sequiturs, Videos, YouTube
Non-Sequiturs: 01.14.13
* “Without the formation of character, the rest is futile.” An Article III judge’s take on the law school crisis. [Simple Justice] * Because nobody likes sloppy seconds, the merger talks between Pillsbury Winthrop and Dickstein Shapiro are now off the table. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * David Tresch, an ex-Biglaw CIO, was indicted […] -
Biglaw, Rankings, White & Case
Which U.S. Firms Ranked in the Asia 50, the Largest Law Firms in the Asia-Pacific Region?
Asian markets are new territory for some U.S. firms, but for others, they reign in terms of size and profitability. Which U.S. firms made the Asia 50 rankings? -
Biglaw, Deaths, Drinking, Partner Issues
The Road to Partner Is Long and Full of Danger
You have almost no chance to make partner, but that won't stop people from trying... -
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Billable Hours, Deaths, Federal Judges, Food, FTC, Google / Search Engines, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Privacy, Venable
Morning Docket: 11.19.12
* Billable hours in Biglaw are down 1.5 percent, and 15 percent of U.S. firms are planning to reduce their partnership ranks in early 2013. Thanks to Wells Fargo for bringing us the news of all this holiday cheer! [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Hostess may be winding down its business and liquidating its assets, but Biglaw will always be there to clean up the crumbs. Jones Day, Venable, and Stinson Morrison Hecker obviously think money tastes better than Twinkies. [Am Law Daily]
* How’s that “don’t be evil” thing working out for you? Google’s $22.5M proposed privacy settlement with the FTC over tracking cookies planted on Safari browsers was accepted by a federal judge. [Bloomberg]
* Greenberg Traurig and Hunton & Williams face a $7.2B suit from Allen Stanford’s receiver over a former attorney of both firms’ alleged involvement in the ex-knight’s Ponzi scheme. [Houston Business Journal]
* Perhaps the third time will be the charm: ex-Mayer Brown partner Joseph Collins was convicted, again, for helping Refco steal more than $2B from investors by concealing the company’s fraud. [New York Law Journal]
* H. Warren Knight, founder of alternative dispute resolution company JAMS, RIP. [National Law Journal]
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Biglaw, Money, Technology, White-Collar Crime
Mayer Brown's Former CIO Charged With Defrauding the Firm Out of a Whole Bunch of Money
The former CIO of Mayer Brown could be in a lot of trouble...
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
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Alston & Bird, Biglaw, Cold Offers, Job Searches, Kasowitz Benson, Kramer Levin, No Offers, Summer Associates
Summer Associate Offer Rates (2012): A Round-Up
Which firms are making job offers to 100 percent of their summer associates? A whole lot of them.... -
Election 2012, Fabulosity, Howrey LLP, Lawyerly Lairs, Partner Issues, Politics, Real Estate
Lawyerly Lairs: Capital Homes in the Capital
Lawyers in D.C. do well for themselves. Check out these attorneys' million-dollar mansions.... -
ATL Career Center Survey, Biglaw, Rankings
ATL Survey Update: Shiny Happy Firms
According to our research, which are the happiest Biglaw firms? And the unhappiest? -
Biglaw, Federal Government, Lawyerly Lairs, Money, Partner Issues, Pictures, Politics, Real Estate, Williams & Connolly
Lawyerly Lairs: The Real Homeowners of D.C.
Are we too New York-centric in Lawyerly Lairs, our inside look at the homes (and occasionally offices) of lawyers and law students? Perhaps. It makes sense that we focus on Gotham, since Above the Law is headquartered here. But we realize that other cities and states boast great real estate too. Today we'll check out a few Lawyerly Lairs down in my former home of Washington, D.C. -- including the expensive residences of various partners at prominent law firms.... -
Biglaw, Minority Issues, Racism
What's Going On With Mayer Brown's Title VII Suit?
Back in 2009, we wrote about a Title VII suit that a former associate filed against Mayer Brown. To make a long story short (read our prior posts for the full background), Venus Yvette Springs, an African American woman, alleges that the firm discriminated against her because of her race, and eventually fired her in […] -
2nd Circuit, 9/11, Bar Exams, Depositions, Gloria Allred, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Texas, Travel / Vacation
Morning Docket: 01.10.12
* In trying to resolve the Texas redistricting problem, the Supreme Court has come to a realization: everything really is bigger in that state, including its congressional delegation. [Los Angeles Times] * The Center for Constitutional Rights is suing to get video of the would-be 20th hijacker’s interrogations made public. Too bad no one really […]
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Akin Gump, Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Associate Salaries, Bonuses, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Ho-Love, Money, Partner Profits
Keeping Up With the Cravathians: The Ten Most Generous (or Foolish?) Law Firms
Cravath is among the most profitable firms in the world. We thought it would be interesting to see what the implications of matching Cravath are for those firms with much lower profit margins. Which firms’ partners willingly take the biggest hit by keeping up? Are these firms arguably more “generous”? After the jump, check out those firms that pay the largest percentage of PPP in bonuses....