Sullivan & Cromwell

Biglaw’s Last Hope For Better Bonuses Just Let Associates Down

Maybe next year this firm will stop following the leader?

Biglaw Partner In Hot Water After Twitter Outburst Inspired By Kavanaugh Hearing

Cursing out women isn't a great idea when you're supposed to be a professional.

Morning Docket: 04.23.18

* Because there is never a moment without drama in this administration, AG Jeff Sessions has told White House counsel Don McGahn that he's probably going to have to quit if President Trump fires Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein. [Washington Post] * Meanwhile, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short says the president "has no intention of firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and special counsel Robert Mueller." Hmm... we'll just wait right here until those firings don't happen. *insert Jeopardy music here* [CBS News] * "[T]here is no human being, on the planet, with more knowledge about federal criminal law than Michael Dreeben, and no one with more expertise than him." Meet Michael Dreeben, special counsel Robert Mueller's Supreme Court closer. He's argued more than 100 SCOTUS cases, and is a force to be reckoned with. [ABC News] * Hiring for the law school class of 2017 is "up," with 75.3 percent of graduates employed in full-time, long-term jobs that require law degrees or are considered “JD advantage” positions -- but you probably shouldn't get too excited about that. The only reason the percentage of those employed is higher this year is because the class was 6 percent smaller. In reality, entry-level hiring has decreased. [ABA Journal] * Which Biglaw firm did Wells Fargo turn to ahead of being hit with record fines that turned into a $1B settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency? That would be Sullivan & Cromwell, which "always [tries] to play absolutely straight with the regulators." [American Lawyer] * Riley Safer, a spinoff of Schiff Hardin, just elected its first managing partner, and she may be the first black woman to lead a national law firm. Congratulations to Patricia Brown Holmes as she leads the legal profession in the future. [American Lawyer]

That Awkward Moment When Your Twin Brother Is A U.S. Citizen At Birth, But You’re Not… And Your Parents Sue The U.S. Government Over It

Deporting an 18-month-old baby doesn't further America’s national security interests.

Opening Up Sullivan & Cromwell’s Bonus Black Box

This is what S&C associates think about their bonuses

Diversity Initiatives Fail To Make Minority Partners: But Still Work Out Well For White Women

The pattern of white women benefiting from affirmative-action, continues.

Morning Docket: 06.19.17

* Hot on the heels of the news that Amazon would be purchasing Whole Foods, legal nerds wanted to know which firms would be handling the $13.7B transaction. SullCrom is representing Amazon and Wachtell is representing Whole Foods in Bezos's bid to sell asparagus water on Prime. [Texas Lawyer] * Governor Andrew Cuomo has nominated Appellate Division Justice Paul Feinman to replace the late Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam on the New York Court of Appeals. If confirmed, Feinman will be first the first openly gay judge to be seated on the bench of New York's highest court. Congrats! [Journal News] * But her his emails! The state of Indiana will be paying "small-town firm" McNeely Stephenson $100K to handle a backlog of public records requests having to do with the contents of then Governor Mike Pence's private AOL account from which he conducted state business over email. [Chicago Tribune] * Shortly after a mistrial was declared in Bill Cosby's sexual assault case, his spokesman had some sarcastic remarks to share with those who represented the comedians accusers: "For all those attorneys who conspired -- like Gloria Allred -- tell them to go back to law school and take another class." [FOX News Insider] * Legal documents related to the dissolution of annoying jingle firm Cellino & Barnes are currently under seal, but several media outlets are trying to convince a judge to unseal the records because the "litigation over the dissolution of [the firm] is an issue of local and national importance." [New York Daily News] * "They’ve been great at dodging this. But they know they’re not going to be able to dodge it for much longer." New York City may finally do away with its nearly century-old ban on dancing in restaurants, bars, and clubs thanks to a proposed a bill seeking the repeal of the city's 1926 "Cabaret Law." [New York Post]

The Biglaw Firms That Said No To Trump

Guess which big firms had no interest in representing the president...

Morning Docket: 05.17.17

* "I hope you can let this go." Former FBI director James Comey was writing memos detailing his conversations with Donald Trump to document what he believed were the president's improper attempts to influence the Michael Flynn investigation. Comey, a damn good lawyer, likely knew that an FBI agent's notes are admissible in court as credible evidence. [New York Times] * The Securities and Exchange Commission just got a Biglaw-style facelift: SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, formerly of Sullivan & Cromwell, has asked Willkie Farr partner Robert Stebbins to serve as his general counsel and SullCrom associate Sean Memon to serve as his deputy chief of staff. [Big Law Business] * Rolling your eyes and calling a federal judge's ruling on an objection "f*cking bullsh*t" will certainly do you absolutely no favors in Judge Amy St. Eve's courtroom. In fact, it just might get you suspended from practice for three months and barred from being a lead trial attorney for a year. [Chicago Tribune] * "I'm an attorney in a capital case!" In videos introduced into evidence during Dylann Roof's mental competency hearings, the convicted killer said his attorneys were "evil," "the spawn of hell," and "liars," and only wanted to keep them while representing himself "so I can abuse them." [Post and Courier] * Drake Law School has entered into an agreement with three historically black colleges and universities to increase its diversity. Entering students will be guaranteed a scholarship to cover at least half of their tuition. Drake's first-time bar pass rate in Iowa was 82 percent in July 2016. [Iowa Public Radio]

Morning Docket: 05.04.17

* Harvard Law wants students to defer admission. Tuition deferral program still a no go apparently. [New York Times / Dealbook] * Trump signing executive order to let the IRS choose when to enforce the Johnson amendment. I'm old enough to remember when conservatives had a meltdown over exaggerated allegations of IRS selective enforcement. Now it's actually going to be legal and I doubt I'll hear anything about it. [CBS News] * Want to know how much a Sullivan & Cromwell partner takes home? Thankfully Donald Trump can tell us. [National Law Journal] * Alabama enacts law allowing adoption agencies to reject gay couples. Alabama has one of the worst economies in America, but this was the issue that they really needed to address. Roll Tide. [Alabama] * ABA President Linda Klein testifies on behalf of Legal Services Corporation. funding. Question: Is the ABA President job more or less difficult today? One could say "more" because she has to devote considerable energy to fighting a hostile government. Or you could say "less" because the most difficult argument she has to make is, "please don't be monsters." [ABA Journal] * FAMU fired its dean. [Orlando Sentinel] * New trend in litigation finance: buying portfolios of cases instead of investing in individual matters. We've reached the fund stage people! [Law.com] * Former Guinea mining minister convicted of taking bribes. How did they know? Perhaps they thought he was a Dickensian throwback when he kept saying "Guinea" all the time. [Law360]

SEC Pick Jay Clayton Promises To Do His Job

What else would you expect from a Goldman(ish) guy?

Non-Sequiturs: 03.16.17

* What does the future hold for the U.S. Supreme Court? Analysts (including yours truly) opine. [Bloomberg BNA via Storify] * Another prediction of ours has come to pass: congrats to Sullivan & Cromwell partner Brent McIntosh on his nomination as general counsel for the Treasury Department. [Corporate Counsel] * Is it time to break up the Ninth Circuit (as President Trump recently called for)? Professors John Eastman and Brian Fitzpatrick say yay; Judges Sidney Thomas, Carlos Bea, and Alex Kozinski say nay. [House Judiciary Committee] * Anthony Kronman: from dean of Yale Law School to "born-again pagan" (affiliate link). [New Yorker via How Appealing] * Looking for smart, timely takes on the Trump Administration, from an all-star cast of law professors and legal experts? There's a site for that. [Take Care] * Guess who: "Cat-loving judge makes case that has nothing to do with cats all about cats." [Chicago Tribune] * Professor Orin Kerr chats with Professor Barry Friedman about Friedman's latest book, Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission (affiliate link). [Volokh Conspiracy] * The current SCOTUS Term isn't super-sexy -- but there are a few interesting cases on the docket, as Adam Feldman points out. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Attention 2Ls & 3Ls, here's a cool contest -- with $100K in scholarships as prizes! [PR Newswire (press release)]

A Peek Inside Sullivan & Cromwell Partner Pay

A financial disclosure form gives us hints about the wealth of S&C partners.

SEC Chairman-Designate Pretty Much Gonna Take His First Year On The Job Off

Clayton acknowledges it all makes for some pretty bad optics.

Morning Docket: 03.09.17

* S&C may be Trump's second favorite law firm, but don't count your chickens on SEC nominee Jay Clayton yet -- the Office of Government and Ethics has flagged some potential conflicts of interest. [Law360] * Law schools often discriminate against women by undercompensating positions that skew female. Sure this is important, but is it as egregious an act of discrimination as not valuing originalist scholarship? [Law.com] * Three firms admit to overbilling for temp and staff attorneys. [Am Law Daily] * Ninth Circuit says Dodd-Frank provides broad whistleblower protection, which sets up an intriguing circuit split for the roughly three weeks Dodd-Frank remains a law. [National Law Journal] * Key cybertrends of 2017. [Legaltech News] * Fried Frank has its best year ever while the rest of you experienced 2016 as a runaway train of sadness. [Am Law Daily] * Robot lawyer assisting refugees, making it official that even cyborgs have more of a heart than some politicians. [BBC News]