White & Case
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Biglaw, Mergers and Acquisitions
Evaluating Global M&A: A Bad Year... Except For One Firm
How are we going to afford all those raises? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 10.06.16
* Rudy Giuliani will be taking a “voluntary leave of absence” from Greenberg Traurig thanks to his activities related to Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency. Is Giuliani’s move truly voluntary, or was the prominent partner forced to take a break as Election 2016 draws closer and the race for the White House becomes even more heated? We’ll have more on this development later today. [Observer]
* In 196 deals with a total volume of $379.6 billion, White & Case is ranked No. 1 on Bloomberg’s M&A charts for global deals in the first three quarters of 2016. The firm surpassed the likes of SullCrom (No. 2), Wachtell Lipton (No. 3), Davis Polk (No. 4), and Skadden (No. 5). This time last year, Skadden was leading the pack. [Big Law Business]
* In one of the first cases related to race that SCOTUS grappled with this Term, some say it appeared as though the justices may side with a black death row inmate in search of a new sentence because his own lawyer used an expert witness at trial who testified that the man was more likely to be dangerous in the future because of his race. [Reuters]
* Government lawyers continue to flock to Biglaw firms, and this time, the lateral hire is a “true patriot, who believes in service to the nation as a calling.” WilmerHale welcomes Alejandro Mayorkas, a former U.S. Attorney who has worked for the the past three years as No. 2 at the Department of Homeland Security. Congratulations! [WSJ Law Blog]
* “I just hope that when people think the rules don’t apply to them, they will think twice before they abuse their power.” Thanks to a California law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, it is now a felony punishable by up to three years in prison for state prosecutors to tamper with evidence or hide exculpatory material from the defense. [Los Angeles Times]
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Biglaw, Minority Issues, Rankings
The Best Law Firms For Diversity (2017)
Congratulations to these fine firms -- especially those with top scores on multiple surveys.
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Biglaw, Rankings
The Global 20 Law Firms Revealed (2016)
Congratulations to all the firms on the list! -
Associate Salaries, Biglaw, Money
Another Biglaw Firm Joins The Ranks Of MoneyLaw... For Some Of Its Associates
It's not all good news for associates at this firm. -
Associate Salaries, Biglaw, Money
What Firms Miss The 'MoneyLaw' Cut?
Now comes everyone's favorite part of the salary wars: the airing of grievances. -
Biglaw, Minority Issues, Partner Issues, Rankings
Corroding Pipelines Prevent Partnership For Many Minority Lawyers
Here's the picture painted by new diversity rankings from Am Law. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.29.16
* Given the fact that Senate Republicans have remained firm in their opposition to Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland receiving a confirmation hearing, it seems all the more likely that the vacancy left on the high court by the late Justice Antonin Scalia will remain unfilled until after Election 2016. [Bloomberg Politics]
* But is someone having a change of heart? “I would have to admit it’s a gamble.” Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, claims that while he hasn’t second-guessed his decision not to hold confirmation hearings for Judge Garland, that it’s anyone’s guess as to who Donald Trump would choose to fill the position if elected as president. [Huffington Post]
* “He said that I had to keep my attorney happy.” A Texas lawyer who was accused of trading sex with court-appointed clients for performing legal work was recently indicted on 18 counts of sexual assault and 17 counts of compelling prostitution. He faces up to 20 years in prison. We may have more on these allegations of misconduct later. [KSAT]
* As we mentioned previously, Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District Court for the District of Columbia will be taking senior status on May 18, but we didn’t know that she was chosen by Chief Judge John Roberts to take over as the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court the next day. Congrats! [National Law Journal]
* Biglaw gets in on the green rush: Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has partnered with Americans for Safe Access Foundation, a medical marijuana advocacy group, to update a series of manuals on state medical marijuana laws. In the future, Orrick attorneys will man a hotline for medical marijuana patients in need of legal advice. [Am Law Daily]
* James Hurlock, former two-decade chairman of White & Case, RIP. [Big Law Business]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.23.16
* International Biglaw firms in Brussels are “just trying to soldier on” in the wake of the terror attacks that rocked the city yesterday morning. A White & Case secretary was on the metro train that was bombed, but she managed to escape from the wreckage unscathed. All lawyers and staff members have been accounted for and are alive and well. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* Singer Kesha has appealed the decision of a judge who declined to void her contract with Sony Music, a record label where she claims she’d be forced to work with a producer who allegedly raped her. This time, her lawyer, Mark Geragos, has likened the pop star’s situation to slavery. Hmm… let’s see how well that goes over for her in court. [Reuters]
* “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.” For the first time since Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, the Supreme Court issued a 4-4 split decision along ideological lines. That very sentence could have a huge impact on some of the high court’s more significant cases for a year or more if Merrick Garland isn’t confirmed. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Professor Melissa Murray of UC Berkeley Law has been tapped to stand in as the school’s interim dean in the wake of Sujit Choudhry’s resignation following the news that he’d been named as a defendant in a sexual harassment suit. Law students chose Murray as their “overwhelming choice” for dean in a poll. [L.A. Now / Los Angeles Times]
* Since the GRE is regarded as an easier test than the LSAT, and at least one school will no longer require it for admission, some pre-law students may be wondering whether they should bother to take the LSAT at all. Don’t be silly. Much like the word “fetch,” the GRE isn’t going to happen. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.18.15
* Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the lateral raids of lawyers from competing law firms. Wilson Elser just poached 11 litigators from Lewis Brisbois, including the firm’s regional managing partner, who now holds the same title at his new firm. Ride ’em, cowboy! [Houston Business Journal]
* “I think almost 50 years of paying for those crimes is enough.” Winston Moseley, the man convicted of killing Kitty Genovese in an infamous case that came to define the meaning of bystander apathy, was recently denied parole for the eighteenth time. [AP]
* We love an underdog story: On the topic of lateral moves, it seems like Greenberg Traurig has a habit of “cherry picking” top talent from higher-ranked law firms like Davis Polk, White & Case, and McDermott Will & Emery. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* When it comes to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s in-house judges, Chairman Mary Jo White says that while its court system could be “modernize[d],” it’s still a fair process — for the SEC. The house usually wins in these proceedings. [WSJ Law Blog]
* How old is too old to be a judge? Pennsylvania voters are going to be asked this question next year when a referendum on a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution to raise the judicial retirement age from 70 to 75 hits the ballot box. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 10.09.15
* Bob McCulloch, the prosecutor who handled (mishandled?) the Michael Brown / Darren Wilson case in Ferguson, Missouri, was recently named as “Prosecutor of the Year” by the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. This probably wasn’t a good idea. [Slate]
* American Apparel filed for bankruptcy, and rather than Biglaw firms representing the embattled clothier, they’re trying to snatch up fees. Skadden, White & Case, and Paul Hastings are each owed quite the pretty penny. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]
* Which law school dean was just named as senior counsel at Dentons, the largest law firm in the world? That would be Nicholas Allard of Brooklyn Law School. Perhaps this law dean’s academic cash flow wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
* “Unless the industry cleans itself up, we can expect more lawsuits like this in the future.” In an interesting turn of events, the marijuana industry is now seeing its first product liability suit. A protip for growers: No one wants to smoke fungicide. [Los Angeles Times]
* Just when you thought patent trolls couldn’t get any worse, they started to harass members of the fashion industry. Copyright trolls (i.e., Stephen Doniger and Scott Alan Burroughs) are suing over textile prints left and right, and that’s so last season. [Fortune]
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Biglaw, Minority Issues, Munger Tolles & Olson, Partner Issues, Rankings, White & Case
The Top 10 Firms Where Minorities Succeed In Making Partner
The legal profession has a long way to go when it comes to diversity and inclusion, according to columnist Renwei Chung, but some firms are doing a great job of positively distinguishing themselves in these areas. -
Biglaw, Minority Issues, Rankings
The Best Law Firms For Diversity (2016)
Which firms fared well in three big surveys of diversity within Biglaw?
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
Associate Bonus Watch: More Market Matches
More firms match the market -- yay! -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Another Day, Another Simpson Match
Congrats to this firm's associates, but on another note, where is all the bonus news? Show us the money! -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.02.14
* White & Case just named its youngest partner ever — in fact, he’s the youngest partner out of every international Biglaw firm in London. Joshua Siaw is just 30 years old, and he’ll be rolling around in money with the best of them. [Forbes]
* OMG, you guys, due to precipitous drops in applications, it’s a buyers market out there for law students, and the New York Times is ON IT! Thanks for shedding light on this new info no one’s heard about before. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Quack quack: Justices Antonin Scalia and Elena Kagan are heading to the Mississippi delta to exercise their Second Amendment rights and go duck hunting. They’ll also be making a stop at Ole Miss Law to discuss constitutional issues. [National Law Journal]
* Concordia School of Law will not be accredited by the American Bar Association before its first class graduates, meaning that no one in the class of 2015 will be able to take the bar exam this summer. Gah, what a gigantic waste of money. [KIVI FOX9]
* If you go to law school, you may be able to start a career in government when you graduate. You can look forward to all sorts of exciting experiences, from a smaller paycheck than your classmates to no paycheck at all. [U.S. News & World Report]
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Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Intellectual Property, Labor / Employment, Litigators, Rankings, Reader Polls, Tax Law
Over- And Underrated Biglaw Practice Groups
According to the ATL Insider Survey, these practice groups deserve more (or less) acclaim. -
Biglaw, Eric Holder, Google / Search Engines, Law Schools, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Technology, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Morning Docket: 09.26.14
* Solicitor General Don Verrilli may be a frontrunner to replace Eric Holder as attorney general, but the competition seems to be stiff. Kamala Harris, anyone? [USA Today]
* FBI Director James Comey is annoyed by Apple and Google marketing their encryption prowess for privacy’s sake — it’ll “allow people to place themselves beyond the law.” [WSJ Law Blog]
* White & Case just hopped aboard the onshore outsourcing train with its announcement that it would open a services center in Tampa, Florida. The move will create about 100 jobs, but we’d love to know how many it’s negating. [Tampa Bay Times]
* Slater & Gordon, the world’s first publicly traded law firm, has been on an “acquisition spree” in England. Earlier this month, it picked up patent practice, and now it’s in talks with a litigation shop. [Am Law Daily]
* “Law school is a major gamble,” and people are more informed, but that somehow isn’t stopping people from applying. This is a great article to read if you’re still considering going all in. [New York Observer]
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Career Alternatives, Food, Quote of the Day
You Can Do Anything With A Law Degree -- Like Sell Cake Pops!
Because baking is better than lawyering. -
Benchslaps, Biglaw, Family Law
Biglaw Yells And Defies Court Orders In Family Law Case, Receives Stern Benchslap
When you balk at giving a straight answer to "how much does your client want?" then a benchslap is only a matter of time.