Our Vault 100 series is winding down. We hope that the insiders have enjoyed the opportunity to brag (or to vent) about their firms. And that the curious have appreciated insights into life at various firms in the top 100.

Here is the next bunch up for discussion (with their prestige scores in parentheses):

81. Crowell & Moring LLP (4.763)
82. Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP (4.754)
83. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP (4.735)
84. Arent Fox PLLC (4.726)
85. McGuireWoods LLP (4.697)
86. Venable LLP (4.676)
87. Dorsey & Whitney LLP (4.575)
88. Dickstein Shapiro LLP (4.554)
89. Baker & Hostetler (4.531)
90. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P (4.503)

Are the following statements true or false?

Okay, you know the drill.

Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads - 2009

Two venerable institutions are working on re-branding.

In this new promo video, Venable wants to clarify that its name starts with a "V."

From their marketing firm's website comes this insight into the new image:

Working with Greenfield/Belser, we sought to create a visual identity for our firm that best represented our firm’s personality:

* proud but not boastful
* self-assured but not cocky
* confident and competent but not arrogant
* decisive and resolute but flexible and adaptable
* enduring, built for the long haul but evolving with changing needs

We also sought to reinforce to existing clients and convey to prospective clients, the attributes that we are known for (in the view of our clients):

* a firm that gets what’s really important to me
* the best of both worlds, quality and excellence at a fair price
* real human beings, not robots
* genuine interest in me, my business and my concerns
* they tackle our problems like they’re their own
* they’re confident, determined, authentic, resolute, innovative and respected

Our New Brand

V is the first letter in the word “Venerable,” and “Victory,”and “Vision,” and…Venable. We have made very minor modifications to our logo. But we will now also incorporate a strong visual element throughout our materials – The Venable “V.” “V” is a powerful letter and we want to own it. It is strong and unique.

Very vinteresting.

The second re-branding campaign has been discussed before in these pages. Berkeley has issued a press release clarifying their name. An excerpt:

Names

* Our official name is the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. With external audiences, we will use our official name in full or in one of two abbreviated forms: UC Berkeley School of Law or Berkeley Law.
* We will continue to use the name Boalt Hall with alumni and with the internal law school community.

Approved
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
UC Berkeley School of Law
Berkeley Law
Boalt Hall (within the “family”)

Discouraged
Berkeley School of Law
Berkeley Law School
Boalt Hall School of Law (or other permutations)

Please notice the Boalt logo at the top of the press release page. Mixed messages... we're confused...

Berkeley paid a public relations firm $25,000 to come up with the brilliant new moniker, UC Berkeley School of Law. We wonder why they didn't take ATL readers' (free) advice and call it the White Guys With Asian Girls School of Law.

Some good news from a tipster over at Venable:

You can finally remove D.C.'s Weirdest Law Firm from your List of Shame. (Does the List even exist now, or is it being revamped for $190K?)

A memo was just issued announcing that first-year salaries at Venable will be raised to $160,000 effective July 2008. Sure, we're a tad bit behind the times, but at least we finally came through. The firm also mistakenly upped first-years' salaries for the pay period that ended this week, but in a move that shows their infinite generosity, they decided the first-years could keep this "bonus" money, with the next paychecks going back to the $145K level (until July 2008).

Memo after the jump.

Earlier: Venable: DC's Weirdest Law Firm?

What's up with Venable? Strange things seem to be afoot over there. From last Friday's Washington Post:

He's back!!! Or is it possible Michael Jackson has been quietly lurking in our region ever since his early-a.m. Smithsonian tour last week?

The sometimes-reclusive, sometimes-exhibitionist performer was spotted Wednesday evening in the downtown law offices of Venable LLP. One spy said he looked exactly like -- well, himself: black sunglasses, black jacket, white shirt, black pants, white socks, black loafers, a pair of oversize bodyguards.

For those lucky enough to glimpse Jackson, his appearance explained a memo the firm had just put out, warning staffers not to gawk at clients.

We'd love to see that memo (which we hear was actually just an email). As for what Venable is doing for the King of Pop, we think they represent him in some IP matters. Maybe he'll sue our uncle for unlicensed use of "Thriller"?

Update: Roger Friedman of Fox News reports that "Jackson was in the law offices of Venable LLP to give a deposition in the $30 million lawsuit brought by his former manager, Dieter Wiesner."

More Venable eccentricity, after the jump.

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.

Supreme Court Scions:

* Janet Rehnquist, daughter of the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, is leaving Venable to start her own health care law practice. She will be based out of the Washington offices of Arent Fox.

Rehnquist previously served as Inspector General of the Health and Human Services Department, before she resigned amid controversy. It was rumored that Chief Justice Rehnquist was upset over how his daughter's departure from HHS was handled.

Janet Rehnquist isn't the only SCOTUS spawn with a successful legal career. Her brother, James Rehnquist, is a litigation partner at Goodwin Procter and a former federal prosecutor. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's daughter, Jane Ginsburg, is a law professor at Columbia. And one of Justice Antonin Scalia's sons, Eugene Scalia, is a partner at high-powered Gibson Dunn, a former Solicitor of the Department of Labor -- and an ERISA hottie.

Damage Control:

* Jon Hoak, former general counsel to NCR, joins HP as its chief ethics and compliance officer.

Lateral Moves:

* Hedge fund lawyer Bruce Kahne, to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, from Seward & Kissel.

* Corporate and securities lawyer Daniel Raglan, to Greenberg Traurig, from Sullivan & Cromwell (where he was an associate).

* Public finance lawyers Pauline Schneider and Darrin Glymph, to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (DC), from Hunton & Williams. (Schneider, a former D.C. bar president, comes in as a partner; Glymph joins as counsel.)

NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Supreme Daughter Hangs Out Her Own Shingle and More DC Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
H-P Hires Former NCR General Counsel As Chief Ethics Officer [WSJ Law Blog]

Lateral Moves:

* Global trade lawyers Duane Layton, Sydney Mintzer and Jeffrey Lowe, to Mayer Brown, from Miller & Chevalier.

* Bankruptcy lawyer Stephen Gallagher, to Venable LLP, from LeClair Ryan PC.

* Intellectual property litigator Daniel McCloskey, to Greenberg Traurig (of counsel), from Dechert.

Internal Promotions:

* Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal: Kara Baysinger has been named lateral acquisition partner.

(When we read this item, we scratched our head and thought, "Lateral acquisition partner -- huh?" The firm's press release explains: "Baysinger, who joined the firm eight years ago, will lead a lateral hiring program designed to help Sonnenschein achieve its aggressive growth targets.")

Sharing a Class-Action Fee at Akin Gump [Washington Post]
Left-Coast Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
Sonnenschein Creates Two New Management Roles [Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal]