Thanks to the worsening economy, law firms don't have enough work for the lawyers already on their payrolls. Some firms have decided to save money by having incoming first-year associates start later than originally planned. What's the point of bringing new kids on board, at starting salaries of $160,000 each, if you don't have enough work to give them?

The latest Biglaw shop to push back start dates: K&L Gates. The original firm-wide start date was September 15; the new start date is October 20.

We contacted K&L Gates for comment. The firm's director of recruiting, Roz Pitts, explained that the change was made not for any economic reason, but due to "crazy scheduling." She explained that the firm's partner retreat in Phoenix is taking place in early October, and they didn't want the first-years to start work only to have the entire partnership disappear a few weeks later. She added that the firm stands by all its offers -- i.e., no offers have been rescinded -- and that all incoming associates will be notified of the start date change by today. (Some offices started notifying associates on Friday, which is when we learned of this change.)

But even if K&L Gates were making this change for economic reasons, would there be any shame in that? Other prominent law firms have already announced postponed start dates:

1. Pillsbury Winthrop: start dates pushed back, possibly as far back as January 2009 (the firm told the Wall Street Journal that it "is staggering start dates over several months").

2. Thacher Proffitt & Wood: the start date for non-litigation first-years has been pushed back to October 20.

3. Thelen Reid: start dates for first-year associates pushed back from September 2008 to January 2009.

Do you know of a Biglaw shop that has announced it's pushing back start dates? If so, feel free to drop us a line. Thanks.

P.S. When it comes to start dates, maybe there's no way to please everyone. Back in February, some Sidley Austin associates complained about excessively early start dates.

What's the hot new trend in Biglaw? Two-track systems for associates. They're regarded as a sensible way for law firms to address the twin challenges of (1) higher associate salaries and (2) associate attrition (often due to a frustration with long hours).

Here's word of the latest law firm to join the party, from NYLawyer.com (reg. req'd):

Chapman and Cutler, a Chicago-based firm with three offices and about 220 attorneys, has joined the parade of firms boosting first-year associate pay to $160,000, but the firm is taking a new path once associates reach their second year.

Second-year associates can opt for one of two compensation tracks at the firm under a new system that took effect last month, said Rick Cosgrove, who is chief executive partner at the firm. They can choose to work fewer hours at a lower pay level or more hours at a higher salary level, he said.

Cosgrove declined to specify the hours required and related pay rates under the new pay program for competitive reasons.

If you have info on the Chapman and Cutler scale that you'd be willing to share, please email us. According to a poster at Greedy Chicago:

The higher track is essentially Biglaw market, so long as you hit 2000 billables/year. The lower track is compressed to about $5k-$10k/year, depending on class year, and you need to hit 1850.

Other firms with two-track systems (click on each firm's name for a memo and/or details): Hogan & Hartson, Wiley Rein, Fenwick & West, and Thelen (formerly Thelen Reid, and FYI, "Thelen" rhymes with "wheelin'"; see here).

Do you have an opinion about this two-tiered approach? If so, vote in our reader polls, after the jump.

* She was listed in the NYT wedding announcements as an HLS magna grad -- and would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids! [Jossip] [FN1]

* Don't dress up in a giant pink bunny suit and hang out by a bank, unless you want to get yo'self tasered. [FourthAmendment.com]

* Thelen kicks O'Melveny's ass -- in dodgeball. [Legal Pad]

* Not worth a separate post, but here's a link, plus a comment: "Dickie C is taking the reigns while GW gets poked in the anus. What's funny about this is how the media reports this as news. As if Dick isn't always in control." [AFP]

[FN1] In response to an email we received: our tagline is tongue-in-cheek. We have no reason to doubt the Times's explanation that the magna mistake resulted from "an editing error," and not any attempt at deception by the bride.

(Jeez, people, you need to lighten up a bit...)

If you care only about associate compensation in major legal markets, stop reading now; do not sully your eyes with this post. But if you have an interest in what associates make outside the biggest cities, keep reading.

Yesterday we covered Denver, to kick off what one commenter described as "Mid-Market Salary Mania." Today we shine the spotlight on Hartford -- aka "New England's Rising Star" -- and Connecticut more generally.

From the Connecticut Law Tribune (subscription):

In the wake of a flurry of first-year salary hikes, two more national firms recently announced pay raises in their Hartford, Conn., branch offices. Their compensation philosophies are starkly different, however.

Dechert increased its Hartford starting salaries in mid-February to $145,000 to match those in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Calif., and Washington, D.C....

Meanwhile, Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner bumped its entry-level salaries in late February to $105,000 in Hartford, up from $97,500 the year before. That followed an earlier announcement from the firm that it increased rookie compensation to $160,000 in New York and $145,000 in its California, Washington, D.C., and New Jersey offices -- decisions that closely mirror the maneuverings of other national firms.

But this was back in March. Has there been significant salary movement in Connecticut since then? If not, any thoughts on if and when CT associates will see their base salaries increase?

Please discuss in the comments. Thanks.

Conn. Big-Law Associates in Line for More Money [Connecticut Law Tribune (subscription)]

Some notable moves within the legal profession:

Government to Private Sector:

* Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, to LeBoeuf Lamb in DC. Last November, Steele lost his bid to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate.

* Michele Hirshman, who served as Eliot Spitzer's top deputy at the Attorney General’s office before he became Governor, is joining Paul Weiss, as a litigation partner. Described by the New York Times as "very smart, very tough and rather short," she sounds perfectly diva-licious.

Lateral Moves:

* Antitrust superstar Charles "Rick" Rule, to Cadwalader, from Fried Frank. This truly IS like musical chairs: Cadwalader, Rule's new home, recently lost its antitrust group to Skadden.

* Celebrated criminal defense lawyer Abbe Lowell -- who did an excellent job defending Hamlet against murder charges -- is moving from Chadbourne & Parke to McDermott Will & Emery.

* Mark Holscher and Jeffrey Sinek are joining the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis. They're coming from O’Melveny & Myers and Thelen Reid, respectively. From the Law Blog:

Holscher and Sinek are best friends. They were roommates when they served as federal prosecutors in Los Angeles. Holscher, 44, served as an assistant U.S. Attorney from 1989-1995; Sinek, 46, served from 1989 to 1994. Sinek was the best man at Holscher’s wedding; Holscher was a groomsman in Sinek’s. Both graduated from Boalt Hall law school. Holscher told the Law Blog they’ve always wanted to work together.

Such ambiguously gay commentary led an anonymous reader to quip: "Hope that Alexandra Korry doesn’t read about this…"

On The Move: Charles “Rick” Rule [Antitrust Review]
Kirkland Beefs Up West Coast White-Collar Practice [WSJ Law Blog]
Abbe Lowell to Join McDermott from Chadbourne [WSJ Law Blog]
Former Maryland Pol Michael Steele Joins LeBoeuf Lamb [WSJ Law Blog]
Spitzer’s Longtime No. 2 Michele Hirshman to Join Paul Weiss [WSJ Law Blog]

Back by popular demand: the LIST OF SHAME.

Since the last publication of the list, one week ago, there have been some changes. Baker Botts has matched market in New York, so they are kinda-sorta off the list -- "kinda-sorta" because we don't think they've raised in other offices, including their Texas offices.

(Some of you have bitched about that, in poesy as well as prose.)

Thelen Reid is off the list, as of today. They were so eager to be removed from the LIST OF SHAME that they issued a press release touting their associate pay raises.

So here's the latest list. If you see inaccuracies, please email us (with supporting documentation). Thanks.

40. Baker Botts
43. Baker & McKenzie
50. Fulbright & Jaworski
58. Vinson & Elkins
70. Hunton & Williams
75. Nixon Peabody
77. Bryan Cave
82. Reed Smith
83. Dorsey & Whitney
86. McGuireWoods
90. Baker & Hostetler
91. Thelen Reid
92. Mintz Levin
95. Dickstein Shapiro
98. Kelley Drye
100. Seyfarth Shaw

Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP Increases Associate Salaries [Thelen Reid (press release)]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of associate base salaries (scroll down)

Nothing huge today, like yesterday's news about Harriet Miers's departure; but a few interesting moves. The two most noteworthy ones involve transitions between the public and private sectors:

From politics to private practice:

* Asa Hutchinson has rejoined Venable's Washington office. Hutchinson -- a former Undersecretary of Homeland Security, Republican congressman, and chief of the DEA -- left the firm in March 2006, to run (unsuccessfully) for Arkansas governor.

From private sector to government:

* New York's brand-new Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, snags another former federal prosecutor for his "dream team." Henry Greenberg is leaving the Albany office of Greenberg Traurig to serve as Cuomo's counsel.

Law firm news, after the jump.

From Biglaw to business:

* Another Wachtell Lipton partner is leaving the firm. Corporate partner Mitchell Presser recently left to join Fox Paine. We now hear that WLRK real estate partner Michael Benner may be leaving to become general counsel at real estate giant Tishman Speyer.

New Partners:

* Dorsey & Whitney: Banking lawyer Mark Jutsen.

Lateral Moves:

* Speaking of Dorsey & Whitney, they're closing their San Francisco office. Ten IP lawyers from that office are joining Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

* With the Brown Raysman-Thelen Reid & Priest merger about to become official, two entertainment and IP lawyers are leaving Brown Raysman's L.A. office. Partner Brian Pass and associate Kevin Straw are joining the Century City office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton.

NY Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
As Firm's Outpost Sinks, 10 IP Attorneys Jump Ship [NYLawyer.com]
Firms' Merger Spurs More Exits [NYLawyer.com]

* Meet Aquagirl. She's the Cleary Gottlieb summer associate who had too much to drink, then wound up in the drink.

* But even Aquagirl can land a good job -- in fact, two (a Biglaw gig, and a clerkship) -- after her fifteen minutes of infamy.

* In fact, legal employment is even available to people who make pathetic fools of themselves at their interview lunches.

* Interview Horror Stories: Is the supply inexhaustible? (Click here, scroll down.)

* More law firms get the urge to merge. The latest legal Brangelinas: Dewey/Orrick, Thelen Reid/Brown Raysman, and Pitney Hardin/Day Berry.

* The Ninth Circuit: Why can't they all just get along?

* Speaking of the Ninth Circuit, Judge Kozinski is just as cool as ever. And he photographs well, too. The New Jersey Supreme Court, on the other hand, does not.

* When you aggregate the "Most Favorite Justice" and "Least Favorite Justice" scores, Justice Scalia comes out on top.

* So ATL readers think that Justice Scalia rules (except for those who blame him for judicial incivility). But does anyone want to take a nude cruise with him?

On the heels of the Dewey Ballantine/Orrick announcement, news of another law firm merger:

Partners at Thelen Reid & Priest and New York's Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner voted to combine the two firms Monday, creating a 617-lawyer firm that, based on last year's revenue, would have placed 56th on the Am Law 100 list.

The firm will be called Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner, and will be co-chaired, for 2 1/2 years, by Stephen O'Neal, Thelen's chairman, and Julian Millstein, Brown's co-managing partner.

Number 56? Skadden is hardly quaking in its boots.

The first thing you want to know when you hear about a law firm merger: What are the profits-per-partner at the respective firms?

Here are the numbers, from the WSJ Law Blog's "wedding announcement" (cute):

Thelen Reid, 82 years old, is originally from San Francisco and has 391 lawyers. Its average profits per partner in 2005 were $850,000, according to the most recent American Lawyer survey. The firm has a prominent project finance practice and has a substantial presence in the construction, infrastructure, and energy industries.

Brown Raysman, 27 years old, is from New York. With 226 attorneys, the firm is known for its corporate and technology practices. Last year’s profits per partner at Brown Raysman were $720,000.

But here's the rub: Thelen Reid has a two-tier partnership structure, while Brown Raysman only has one. Ruh-roh...

[Brown Raysman] partners at the combined firm will be slotted into San Francisco-based Thelen's two-tier system of equity and non-equity partners....

Millstein [of Brown Raysman] said some of his colleagues will lose equity status, though he wouldn't say how many. At the same time, he said, some Brown Raysman partners who don't now share in the firm's profits at all will be given some equity in the combined firm.

So some equity partners are going to be "de-equitized," while other non-equity partners will be promoted to equity partner status. Interesting.

The environment over at Brown Raysman must be just delightful right now. Like the Kremlin, right before a big purge.

If you have any dirt about the merger to share with us, please drop us a line.

Partners Bless Thelen Reid-Brown Raysman Merger [The Recorder]
LB Wedding Announcement: Thelen Reid & Brown Raysman [WSJ Law Blog]

Earlier: At Least They're Not Merging With Cheetham & Howe