* Elie here: Remember yesterday when I said that it was a prick move by the cop to issue that ticket on the mother of that comatose 13-year-old girl, and then all those commenters said the cops had no choice because issuing the ticket was an important matter in terms of the civil liability of the driver? Yeah, well, I stand by my initial analysis that the cop was a jerkhat. [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]
* We were unimpressed by Holland & Knight giving iPads to its associates — and we’re not alone. [South Florida Lawyers]
* The merger talks between Reed Smith and Thompson & Knight are apparently off (assuming this isn’t another case of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton). [Am Law Daily]
* How can lawyers dress to impress in 2011? [Lawyerist]
* So let me get this straight, it’s not okay for me to drink Four Loko and drive, but it’s okay for my car to do it? What’s up with that? [Alt Transport]
* Were passports biased against gays? Well, now they won’t be. [Huffington Post]
* If you’ve been following along with the most important news of today — which is obviously that the study showing that a crying woman is a total buzzkill — here’s an important counterpoint. Crying might be nature’s way of saying: “Stop beating on your wife you freaking a**hole. [Newsweek]
* Orrick and Akin aren’t the only two who are talking. The firms of Reed Smith and Thompson & Knight are also in merger discussions. [Am Law Daily]
* A “cite-checking battle” actually sounds… kinda fun. [Laws for Attorneys]
* There’s a motion for leave to amend the complaint in the Robert Wone civil case. [Who Murdered Robert Wone?]
* Why your job is making you depressed. Maybe because it sucks? [CNN]
* Women of Biglaw: think you have it bad? Your sisters on Wall Street may be even worse off. [The Careerist]
* Speaking of women in the legal profession, nominations are now being accepted for InsideCounsel’s Transformative Leadership Awards, which “honor women general counsel and law firm partners who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in corporate law.” [SuperConference]
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
We can confirm the rumor that Thompson & Knight has raised first- and second-year associate salaries. Management recently circulated a press release to associates, along with this brief intro:
“This press release will go out shortly. We will elicit your thoughts on the more senior associate structure.”
The press release — which isn’t on the firm website yet, but should be soon — appears after the jump.
Update: The Texas Lawyer has an article about the raises available here.
Continue reading “Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Thompson & Knight”
