The Houston Press has written an exposé on the kind of lawyer that makes drunk Texans proud. DWI specialist Tyler Flood is revealed in all his glory as the Press discusses why he is so skilled at helping drunk drivers in their time of need:

“Listen, most of the people we get off are intoxicated. But that’s the justice system,” [Tyler Flood] says. “I’ve always thought people would be very concerned if they knew what we were doing.”

Really? You think people would be concerned by your practice of setting drunk drivers free to careen down the streets of your city? Who would have a problem with that?

More from Flood after the jump.

Congratulations to everyone who passed the New York bar exam. To those who did not pass, we wish you good luck if and when you take it again.

As we noted last night, results were scheduled to be made available to exam takers today and to the general public tomorrow. But it seems that the NY bar exam results are already available to all, courtesy of Buffalo Business First. To see whether your law school friends (or enemies) passed (or failed), click here and use the alphabetical dropdown menu.

The next big state set to release its bar exam results: Texas.

[T]he official day for Texas Bar results to come out is tomorrow, but historically (wtf that means) the bar results have come out the Thursday before, which is today.

I realize telling you this probably will result in the more visits to the site and it crashing, but oh well. Law examiners should just state a specific time that results will be posted and stick to that.

Since our last bar exam thread has about 450 comments (and counting), we thought a new open thread might be in order. Here you go. Enjoy.

Names Of People Who Passed NYS Bar Exam [Buffalo Business Journal]

Earlier: New York Bar Exam Results Will Be Posted Tomorrow, New Jersey Goes Up Next Week

We wanted to give people an opportunity to reminisce about John O’Quinn, the legendary personal injury attorney, who apparently died this morning in a car accident. The Houston Chronicle reports:

Prominent Houston attorney John O’Quinn was one of two men who died this morning when their SUV slammed into a large tree on Allen Parkway after the driver apparently lost control, police said. …

It wasn’t immediately clear whether O’Quinn or the other, still-unidentified victim was driving.

O’Quinn is a huge name in Texas and around the country. He made his mark in PI work:

O’Quinn, who made his fortune largely in personal injury cases, most notably in successful breast implant cases in the early 1990s, was a local philantrhopist. He gave money to the Harris County Children’s Assessment Center, the Houston Council on Alcohol and Drugs and various Texas Medical Center institutions including St. Luke’s Hospital, which has a tower bearing his name.

R.I.P., John O’Quinn.

Attorney O’Quinn killed in car wreck [Houston Chronicle]

Earlier: Lawyer of the Day: John O’Quinn

Deal work isn’t just about substance. Style points will help you go far, at least according to Jim Woolery of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. In an interview he gave to the Dallas Morning News (gavel bang: ABA Journal), Woolery explains that his success is due in part to his ability to look like a New Yorker but talk like a Texan:

“They like me in Texas because I’m from this fancy New York law firm, but I talk Texan,” says the 40-year-old partner of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. “When [Dallas attorney] Phil Smith from McKool Smith tells me, ‘Things are going to get Westerned,’ I know he means things are going to get sideways or upside down.”

My friends, this is why it is important to have diversity in the partnership ranks. Sometimes you need a guy like Woolery to make that special Love Connection.

Just how much has Woolery’s western charm been worth to Cravath?

A battle went down the other day on a basketball court at Gregory Gym on the University of Texas - Austin campus. It’s a battle that has been fought across time and generations. It pitted a freshman defensive back from the Texas Longhorns (ranked #2 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll) and a UT law student (ranked #15 in the latest U.S. News law school rankings). Who hasn’t been a part of a strong kid v. smart kid fight?

The football player is freshman Kenny Vaccaro. The law student is Jonathon Fuhrman. The Austin-American Statesman takes it from here:

Fuhrman, who is identified as a UT student, told police Vaccaro and his friends were throwing basketballs at him. The affidavit said Fuhrman threw a basketball back at Vaccaro, hitting him in the head.

Fuhrman said Vaccaro then punched him in the face. The affidavit stated that Fuhrman, when he was interviewed by police, had blood coming from a cut lip.

Guys at my high school used to throw basketballs at future legal scholars all of the time. Then they would make love to all the women and be treated like gods. But now they all have multiple out-of-wedlock children and/or priors, while the future legal scholars enjoy prosperous careers and fulfilling romantic relationships. It was no big deal.

Will Vaccaro get punished for this? I’ll share some painful childhood memories, after the jump.

As a New Yorker, people often tell me that Austin is “the oasis of Texas.” I think they mean that Austin is a culturally progressive blue city in middle of a red state.

I hope they don’t mean that Austin is a great place to practice law.

On Friday, Fish & Richardson announced plans to close its Austin office. This marks the second major law firm to get out of Austin this summer. Weil Gotshal has already announced plans to close its Austin office.

The Austin Business Journal described the importance of Fish & Richardson to the local legal market:

Fish, which opened its Austin office in 2005, currently has 28 attorneys and a total staff of approximately 68 locally. A spokeswoman in the firm’s Boston headquarters confirmed the firm will close the office on Dec. 31.

According to Austin Business Journal research, Fish & Richardson is the 16th largest law firm operating in the city, ranked by number of attorneys. Fish reported firmwide revenue of $420 million in 2008. Some of the firm’s clients include Microsoft Corp., Google and Freescale Semiconductor Inc.

Are Austinites ready to make the move to “regular Texas”?

During on-campus interviewing this year, the power is clearly with the recruiters. There are going to be a lot more law students looking for summer internships than employers looking for fresh talent.

We all know this. But do recruiters have to be so damn happy about it? Here’s one report from a 2L at University of Texas School of Law, in Austin:

I am walking up the stairs to get to my OCI appointment. I overhear some interviewers from various firms talking to each other as I hold the door for them and their heavy bags of firm-branded crap.

One lady says to another, “Did you get a lot more applicants from UT this year?” Lady 2 says, “No, it was the usual number for us.” Lady 1 replies, “I had 200 applicants from UT alone for the 15 total spots we will fill this year.” Lady 2 says, “I think it’s gonna be a great year for employers!” They all laugh.

Yes, it’s the sweet sweet tears of law students that make employers strong and profitable. What could be funnier than that?

After the jump, our tipster has some advice for OCI season.

Well, at least one lawyer thinks he has this whole Biglaw thing figured out. And he’s happy to share his wisdom with new associates. Writing at the Texas Lawyer, Jason Braun has some harsh advice for young lawyers:

When I became a lawyer, a partner gave me what I now realize was great advice: “Don’t think like an associate,” she told me. “Think like a partner.” I wisely nodded my head. “Of course,” I solemnly replied, hoping she would not notice my confusion….

New associates love being lawyers — or at least should — and hopefully their first and foremost goal is to become a great lawyer. Over the past few years, several tenets have helped me on the way to that goal. Some I learned quickly; others I learned through trial and error.

Oh boy. When you start out declaring what new associates should love in life, you can see where Braun is going.

Check after the jump for more reasons why giving yourself completely to the Biglaw experience is the only way to go.

If it wasn’t for places like Texas, we wouldn’t have lawyers like Nelson Skinner.

Regulators, mount up!

Every time you open a law school, somewhere a kitten dies.

The University of North Texas is pushing to open a new, mean green law school:

Dallas will be home to the state’s next public law school under a bill that won tentative House approval today.

Budget woes mean funding for the law school remains uncertain, at least for the next two years. At that point, officials could come back to the Legislature again for funding, or seek tuition revenue bonds instead. But for now, the budget the Legislature is poised to approve does not include the $40 million needed to establish the school.

Still, North Texas lawmakers said simply getting approval for the University of North Texas Law School — which already passed the Senate — is a great achievement. This is the third legislative session in which they’ve pushed for it.

This seems like a good time to mention that there are 200 accredited law schools already pumping out J.D.s like rabbits on fertility drugs. Compare that — as some commenters did last night — with the 130 or so accredited medical schools. In terms of exclusivity, the legal profession is on the beach at Bethpage Black, while everybody else is enjoying an excellent tee time at Winged Foot.

It’s not even like North Texas needed a law school. More details after the jump.

The Texas firm Thompson & Knight has laid off 42 people: 17 associates, 25 staff. The firm’s managing partner, Peter J. Riley, had this to say to Texas Lawyer:

“It’s no fun,” Riley says. All of the lawyers are associates — only two of them are first years — who practiced in real estate or other business-related areas that require bank money to operate. “It was mostly mid-level associates in business areas. And I’d say it was a one-third real estate and two-thirds more corporate general business,” Riley says. “These are good lawyers. It’s like a rifle shot went through all our law firms, and the financing groups just stopped. We are doing transactions, but man, it’s nothing like it was.”

Wow. Mr. Riley sounds pretty broken up.

The firm also pushed back start dates on its incoming first year associates until January 2010.

Good luck, recently terminated Texans. I’ll tip a Lone Star in your honor.

Thompson & Knight lays off lawyers, staff firmwide [Tex Parte Blog]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of law firm layoffs

In March, we reported on layoffs at the mid-sized Texas firm, Gardere Wynne Sewell. Since everything is quieter in Texas, the firm confirmed the layoffs but declined to mention how many people were let go.

Today, Above the Law has learned that Gardere Wynne has also cut associate salaries. And the firm is not shy about it. Managing partner Steve Good provided Above the Law with this statement about the salary cuts:

As most law firms are recognizing, starting salaries for new associates that begin at $160,000 just do not make sense in the current economic environment, and probably did not make sense even before the downturn. Many clients, both ours and those of other law firms, have been upset with these salary levels and as a result have asked law firms to not use first or even second-year lawyers on their matters. That reaction is not healthy for the law firm, the client or the associate and the associate’s future development. We think that the changes that we are implementing are necessary to bring some economic rationality back to our associate compensation program, particularly in a state like Texas, where there is no state income tax and the cost of housing is among the lowest in the nation. Notwithstanding that, large law firms in Texas have been paying first-year associates the same base compensation as an associate living in Manhattan, and $20,000 more than a first-year associate in Atlanta, where the cost of living is similar - it simply makes no sense and we decided to stop.

Effective May 1st, the Gardere will reduce first year salaries to $145,000 and second year salaries to $150,000.

Clients are upset about the high price of junior attorneys? That’s great, junior attorneys have long been upset at clients that dump work on people at 4:00 p.m. on Friday and expect it to be turned around by first thing Monday morning. Surely, a middle ground will soon be forged where clients pay less and attorneys enjoy the fruit of nights and weekends. I’m holding my breath.

But for a firm like Gardere, it is hard to argue with the raw economics of the situation. If clients want this, and there are no reasonable options for attorneys to lateral away, than firms will pay what the market will bear. Unless something really interesting happens when salary cutting firms go out to recruit this fall, more firms could look to cut salaries.

Read the full Gardere statement after the jump.

It appears that the out-of-state tuition at the University of Texas School of Law could be on the rise. The school’s website lists that the proposed non-resident tuition for the 2009 - 2010 academic year is $43,858. That is over a 10% increase from last year.

Is UT riding the wave of this year’s strong showing in the U.S. News law school rankings? Perhaps. But don’t blame the UT administration for the hike. UT is a public institution. As such, if you remember your middle school civics class, the school has very little control over its own tuition. A UT-Law spokesperson explains the situation:

Last year (March, 2008), the Regents set tuition at the University of Texas for the 2008-2009 academic year (this year) and the 2009-2010 academic year (next year). This year’s tuition for new, non-resident students was $39,642. The amount the Regents approved last year for tuition next year for new, non-resident students, $43,858, is a 10.6% increase over this year. The amount listed on our website for 2009-2010 is correct.

The Texas legislature is currently considering a number of tuition bills, some of which could affect the tuition charged next year, but we don’t have any idea how these deliberations will come out as of now.

After the jump, let’s take a deeper look at how Texas plans to make money off of law students.

I wanted to circle back to a very interesting piece on AmLaw Daily yesterday. Their article on what Texas law firms are doing during this economic downturn confirms suspicions I’ve had for a little while:

At a time when law firms are more openly announcing and discussing layoff decisions, one group of firms is being particularly mum about job cuts — the Texans….

“It’s an interesting market where, unlike New York and the West Coast, not everybody’s being candid,” says Andrews Kurth managing partner Robert Jewell.

I’m not an expert on Texas culture, but I honestly can’t understand what benefit Texas firms get from hiding their layoffs in this manner. Why would they be more comfortable with the rumors and anonymous sourcing about the extent of their layoffs, as opposed to simply telling the truth?

Are they yella’? Because it seems to me that the forthright and honorable thing to do would involve standing up and admitting the extent to which they’ve had to cut back.

After the jump, AmLaw reports that there might be a little class warfare at play as well.

This is a very common story about school sanctioned gladiatorial combat among high school boys. The Guardian reports:

Some schools have counsellors to settle disputes between students. But South Oak Cliff high school in Dallas preferred another, more direct method: bare-knuckle fighting inside a steel cage.

According to a 2008 report obtained by the Dallas Morning News, staff at the school sanctioned the use of “the cage” - a section of the boys’ changing room barricaded by wire mesh and steel lockers - to settle disputes and bring unruly students under control.

I fondly remember the day I bludgeoned Vespin the Trapper Master to death with my graphing calculator. Nobody makes weapons of woe like Texas Instruments. Unfortunately, I went to high school on Long Island, so our Colosseum was in the basement of a Genovese drug store. Would that I was born a citizen of Texas. There I could have received the full adulation of the mob:

Frank Hammond, a counsellor at the school who was dismissed and has since filed a whistle-blower lawsuit, said: “It was gladiator-style entertainment for the staff. They were taking these boys downstairs to fight. And it was sanctioned by the principal and security.”

The (ex) principal weighs in after the jump.

The news keeps flying (galloping?) in from Texas. And of course, the news insists on being bad.

A couple of days ago, we received a tip that Winstead has canceled its 2009 summer associate program. We’ve now been able to confirm that information through multiple sources.

One bright note is that our sources tell us that the firm is offering $5,000 in “severance” for the 2Ls who no longer have a place to work for the summer. That should buy some nice interview clothes when they hit the 3L recruiting circuit next fall.

The firm declined to comment for this story.

The news puts Winstead on the short list of firms that have canceled their 2009 summer entirely. But Winstead is also on the layoff list, which has a lot more company. The Texas Lawyer Layoffs at Winstead [Tex Parte Blog]">reported:

Winstead is laying off lawyers for economic reasons, according to two partners who request anonymity. Shannon Tipton, a spokeswoman for Winstead, confirms the layoffs, but she says management at the firm declines to discuss the number of lawyers being asked to leave.

Our sources didn’t have the overall number of cuts either. But we understand that associates, staff, and even partners were part of the reductions. Sources report that three partners are leaving, though we are not sure if that was by mutual consent or not at this point.

Texas, you are being “messed” with! I think we’re about to see if the clever moniker is an idle threat or a solemn promise.

We’ll update you with additional information if the firm decides to comment.

Layoffs at Winstead [Tex Parte Blog]

Earlier: Luce Forward: Rescinds 3L Offers, Cancels 2009 Summer Program
Prior ATL coverage of law firm layoffs

Not many people outside of Texas have heard of Gardere Wynne Sewell. It’s a mid-sized firm with about 300 attorneys based in Dallas.

And, it is undergoing a round of layoffs. It’s a bad day to work in Texas.

Just how many layoffs is a little bit unclear. Our sources tell us that 60 people have been let go from the firm: 20 attorneys and 40 staff. We’ve received these numbers from multiple independent sources.

But the firm is denying the numbers. In a statement obtained by Above the Law, a firm spokesperson says:

To protect the privacy of the people impacted, we do not plan to release any details regarding the practice areas or number of people involved; however, we are aware that there are reports that the number of people affected were 20 attorneys and 40 staff. Those numbers are incorrect, and the number of people involved in both categories was substantially less. We regret the loss of these talented people who have made valuable contributions to our firm.

I’m not entirely sure how reporting the actual number of cuts impacts the privacy of those who have been fired. It’s not like we asked the firm to list the names, addresses, and DNA profiles of those who have been laid off.

But what do I know, I’m not from Texas. For me, privacy is achieved when I can turn up the television loud enough to obscure the sounds of love making emanating from my neighbor’s apartment.

Even so, some tipsters strenuously disagree that the number of Gardere Wynne layoffs is anything other than what we are reporting. A tipster emerged after Gardere Wynne issued the above statement, specifically to point out:

It is an absolute lie…. the firm laid off approximately 20 lawyers, many at the partnership level. The layoffs began on Monday March 2, 2009…. They shouldn’t be allowed to fire people and then pretend that all is well at their firm.

Whether or not we are talking about 60 people or “substantially less,” I think it’s safe to say that Texas is no longer immune from the global economic meltdown.

Read the full Gardere Wynne statement after the jump.

Well, it appears Texas is starting to feel the burn of the global economic recession. And that is not good news at all. We received word from Baker Botts today that the firm has decided to fire attorneys. This is from a firm wide email that just went out:

We initially hoped that by imposing a hiring freeze last year, we would be able through attrition to match staffing levels to the business environment. The recession has been so deep and long lasti ng, however, that we regrettably have also had to reduce our lawyer and staff levels through selective layoffs, particularly in those areas most impacted by the reduction in demand. This has been a painful process for all of us involved. The individuals affected by these reductions are our colleagues and friends, and they have performed admirably for the Firm and our clients over the years.

The memo does not contain the overall number of people the firm will be letting go. Our sources tell us that the cuts will affect “around 30” attorneys. We don’t have any information on how deep the staff cuts will be. There is also no word on how these layoffs will affect incoming first years.

But don’t get us wrong, just because layoffs are coming to Texas, doesn’t mean that Texas isn’t maintaining its Texas sized sense of pride:

Back in 1933, when the Great Depression was at its peak, many who worked at the Firm feared what the year had in store for them. In January of that year, then-Managing Partner Walter Walne wrote a memo to partners dedicated to that topic. The closing paragraph of that memo is timely, relevant and speaks eloquently across the decades about who and what we are at Baker Botts:

“With the character and ability possessed by each person in the organization; the splendid spirit of cohesive team work that we know exists; the inspiration that comes from the efforts and lives of those who have gone before; the idealism which our creed and our traditions instill, we face the new year resolutely and with the assurance that in our hands the standard of this institution will not be lowered and that our forward steps will not falter.”

We date our Firm’s origins back nearly 170 years, to just after Houston was founded and when Texas was still a nation, not a state. We have been through the U.S. Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression and countless recessions, and together, we will get through this.

Update (4:19): We are now getting reports that Baker Botts is offering a three month severance package, but associates have to pack up and leave by tomorrow night. It looks like most associates were prepared for the news when the arrived to work this morning. According to a tipster:

When I go to work this morning and noticed that we were losing our free parking, I knew we were in or a long day.

Read the full statement after the jump.

The outlook for Texas based law firms is … bright? Texas Lawyer today reports that most top Texas firms are paying associates 2008 bonuses on par with what they received in 2007:

Lawyers with most of the firms say the 2008 associate bonuses are similar, or at the same level, as the bonuses the firms paid to their associates for 2007.

Vinson & Elkins is one of the firms that could be paying Texas associates a bigger bonus than New York associates.

In fact, Texas lawyers seem positive about the future of the Texas market:

[T. Michael] Wilson’s prediction for 2009 echoes that of the other managing partners. “We are guardedly optimistic,” he says. “Who knows what the next six months will bring in terms of the economy and the practice of law?”

That’s a lot different than what is coming out of New York. Remember this nugget from the Cravath bonus memo:

Given the uncertainty of the economy and the business climate going forward, we will not be able to address the issue of whether there will be any year-end bonuses in 2009 until this time next year. However, associates should be prepared for the likelihood that the economy and the Firm’s financial performance next year will not show a significant improvement over this year and they may receive significantly reduced or no year-end bonuses next year.

Better bonuses, lower cost of living, and great barbeque … Texas is looking very competitive isn’t it?

2008 Associate Bonuses at Large Firms in Texas on Par With 2007 [Texas Lawyer]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of associate bonuses