Proskauer Rose

Associate Benefits Watch: Proskauer to iPads

By

It feels a little bit weird to talk (and bitch) about the high-end lifestyle enjoyed Biglaw associates on Veterans Day. We’re all very thankful for the people who risk their lives to keep us safe, secure, and free.

Okay, random moment of conscience over. Where are the goddamn bonuses?

The first Biglaw bonus memo still hasn’t dropped — when it does, please email us at tips@abovethelaw.com or text us at 646-820-TIPS, ASAP — but we do have associate benefits news. Yesterday, Proskauer Rose told its associates that they would all be getting a free iPad and a desktop PC. Or a free laptop with a docking station. And candy floss. And free Rock Band 3 peripherals.

Okay, I made the last two items up, but you get the point. We don’t know what Proskauer’s cash bonus will be, but we do know that Proskauer associates won’t have to spend it on fancy gadgets…

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Associate Benefits Watch: Proskauer to iPads”

49 Comments

Things Are Looking Up: More Summer Associate Classes Get 100% Offer News

By

Pop the Biglaw Bubbly

We feel like we’re taking magic Biglaw pills today and having hallucinatory flashbacks to 2006. The good news has been rolling in. Just today, we covered raises at Sheppard Mullin, and a 100% offer rate for D.C. summer associates at Latham & Watkins.

And over at Am Law Daily, Zach Lowe predicts good things for 2011. There will be more summer associate spots to go around next year, law school kiddies:

On-campus interviewing starts in two weeks at some schools, and early indications are that hiring at premier law firms will jump–in some cases by a lot–after plummeting this summer, according to sources at law schools and firms.

Cravath, Skadden, and Ropes & Gray, among others, plan to hire more warm bodies next summer than this one. This summer was dismal, after all, in terms of summer associate hiring, as demonstrated by these charts from the National Law Journal and Am Law Daily.

The upside of hiring fewer summer associates, though, is an increase in the likelihood of all of them getting hired. We’ve had more reports of 100% offer rates from a few firms today, along with fun ways of spreading the good news. Eyewitness accounts, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Things Are Looking Up: More Summer Associate Classes Get 100% Offer News”

47 Comments

Lawyerly Lairs: Proskauer Prospers Through Property

By

A few blocks west and south of Orrick’s nice new offices, another law firm is planning to make a move: Proskauer Rose, currently on Broadway between 47th and 48th Streets. Proskauer’s move even made the New York Times:

A prominent law firm is expected to sign a lease next week for a new home in the vacant 40-story tower called 11 Times Square, ending months of speculation about the deal and providing another sign that the commercial real estate market may have hit bottom. The developer of the 1.1-million-square-foot glass tower, which is nearing completion at the southeast corner of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, is also negotiating with several companies who want to build an aquarium filled with sharks, rays and penguins….

Sharks and penguins. So Weil and Cleary are moving into the building too?

According to the Times, the Proskauer name might be displayed at the entrance to the tower, and possibly at the top, too. Given the high-traffic location of the building — in the heart of Times Square, across the street from Port Authority — it’s a nice bit of free publicity.

In addition to getting to brand the building, there are many other reasons — tens of millions of reasons, in fact — behind Proskauer’s move….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Lawyerly Lairs: Proskauer Prospers Through Property”

8 Comments

The Proskauer-to-Cadwalader Litigation Defections: Another Perspective

By

Cadwalader Wickersham Taft new logo CWT AboveTheLaw blog.jpgEarlier this month, we broke the news of three prominent Proskauer partners — Louis Solomon, Hal Shaftel, and Colin Underwood — jumping ship to Cadwalader. In addition, Michael Lazaroff, who has been senior counsel at Proskauer, will join Cadwalader as special counsel (as noted in the New York Law Journal).

In its press release, Cadwalader touted their arrival as a coup. And that’s generally how the news was covered (which is so often the case with law firm moves).

But covering every move by partners from Firm A to Firm B as a triumph for Firm B, the receiving firm, isn’t always accurate. Sometimes Firm A is perfectly happy to see lawyers leave. Sometimes firms even squeeze out departing partners — a trend that has been on the upswing during the recession.

With respect to the Proskauer-to-Cadwalader moves, is there perhaps more to this than meets the eye?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “The Proskauer-to-Cadwalader Litigation Defections: Another Perspective”

16 Comments

Skaddenfreude: An Amendment

By

100 dollar bill Above the Law Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGIn light of the recent debut of Skaddenfreude, ATL’s column chronicling attorney compensation, it’s a neat coincidence that the New York Times has an entire article discussing compensation for first-year associates at major law firms.

We’ll get to that article in just a second. First, though, a brief amendment to our prior Skaddenfreude request. We received this thoughtful email from a reader:

is it too late to add a line for hours billed? that would add more of an element of schadenfreude too, don’t you think? this is more like freudenskadden — feeling sick about how much more money they make.

Good point. We stand corrected! So yes, in your Skaddenfreude submissions — we’ve received a bunch already, thanks, keep ‘em coming — please include your annual billable hours (either an estimate of this year’s or last year’s actual).

If you’re not a law firm attorney, feel free to include an estimate of how many hours you work in a year. If you’re a legal academic, throw in some bragging about how you make six-figures, or close to it, for only nine months of work.

Okay, that’s the Skaddenfreude amendment. Now, on to discussion of the Times piece — after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Skaddenfreude: An Amendment”

1 Comment
Page 5 of 512345