Vinson & Elkins

Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 51-60 (2009)

By

comparing.jpgWe’re entering the second half of the Vault 100. This is part of a series of open threads to discuss the firms considered to be the profession’s most prestigious. Because we know you love prestige. And the opportunity for “TTT” accusations. [FN1]
Here’s the next bunch of firms, with prestige scores in parentheses:

51. Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP (5.851)
52. Dechert LLP (5.838)
53. Vinson & Elkins LLP (5.822)
54. Goodwin Procter LLP (5.815)
55. Jenner & Block LLP (5.778)
56. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP (5.728)
57. Alston & Bird LLP (5.715)
58. Fish & Richardson P.C. (5.706)
59. Cooley Godward LLP (5.692)
60. Irell & Manella LLP (5.635)

doughboy.jpgVault notes that attorneys at Pillsbury are treated to “freshly baked cookies.” But they also have to put up with being referred to as “Pillsburians” by Vault.
Compare, contrast, discuss… and if you’re at Pillsbury, have a chocolate chip cookie for us.
Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads – 2009
[FN1] We periodically get e-mails asking for the definition of “TTT,” which appears so often in comment threads. As the uninitiated have surely gathered, it’s a derogatory term. Likely originating on AutoAdmit, it stands for “third tier toilet.” For more, see Urban Dictionary.

Sign up for the Above the Law newsletter

Subscribe to our free daily email and get breaking news, commentary, and opinions on law firms, lawyers, law schools, lawsuits, judges, and more.

Associate Bonus Watch: A Pre-Holiday Round-Up

By

associate bonus watch 2007 law firm Above the Law blog.jpgLet’s send you into the holiday weekend with some associate bonus news. Here are some law firm bonus announcements that haven’t been previously covered in these pages.
(Firms that previously announced their bonuses, but are being sneaky about the exact amounts and/or the percentage of associates getting them, will be addressed separately. This post is for completely new announcements.)
Some of this news is incomplete. If you can provide more details, please email us. Thanks.
1. Akin Gump (New York): Year-end bonuses, and special bonuses to “those associates and counsel who have performed in accordance with the Firm’s expectations regarding productivity, quality of work and Firm citizenship.” Plus “discretionary merit bonuses” to associates and counsel “who performed in a truly exceptional manner.”
One source at the firm characterizes it as follows:

Full match in NY, with extra bonuses in certain cases (generally to billers over 2400). There has never been an hours requirement, so if past practice is any indicator, anyone not being fired will get it.

Full memo, after the jump.
2. Akin Gump (outside New York): Each associate is allowed to make the case to the firm for a big bonus. A source tells us that this practice of asking associates to write up memos to justify their bonuses started a few years ago. “I wonder how this plays into the current bonus climate, or if anyone else has to do this.”
3. Hogan & Hartson (outside New York): The 2007 bonus memo appears after the jump.
4. Hogan & Hartson (New York): We’ve confirmed the fact that Hogan announced bonuses in New York. It was described to us as a market match. But we haven’t seen a memo or the fine print of the announcement, so we can’t confirm that.
Update: The bonus memo for Hogan & Hartson’s New York office appears after the jump.
5. Vinson & Elkins (New York): “V&E matched the New York market bonus (including this year’s special bonus) for its New York associates, to be paid on January 15, 2008. No memo yet, a voicemail.”
6. Sheppard Mullin: Details after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Associate Bonus Watch: A Pre-Holiday Round-Up”

A Friendly Reminder: The BAR/BRI Proof of Claim Deadline Is Monday!

By

BarBri bar bri bar exam review course prep course Above the Law Above the Law ATL.jpgAttention young lawyers. We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this important announcement:

If you purchased a bar review course from BAR/BRI anywhere in the United States anytime from August, 1997 through July 31, 2006 (the “Class”), you may be affected by a settlement of a class action lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California called Rodriguez, et. al v. West Publishing Corp., d/b/a BAR/BRI, and Kaplan, Inc., Case No. CV-05-3222 R (MCx).

Okay, you already knew about that — and we wrote about it before too. But here’s the important part: the deadline for filing a Proof of Claim is this coming Monday, September 17, 2007. So if you chucked that form into a big “to deal with later” pile, just like we did, you need to fish it out over the weekend.
More discussion, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “A Friendly Reminder: The BAR/BRI Proof of Claim Deadline Is Monday!”

Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 61-65

By

one atlantic center 1201 west peachtree street atlanta alston bird Above the Law blog.jpgThere’s a lot going on this morning, including the resignation of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general and the Michael Vick plea hearing. But none of this will prevent fall recruiting from going forward, full speed ahead. So let’s continue with our open threads on Vault 100 law firms.
Here are the Biglaw shops to talk about this morning. Two of them — Alston & Bird and Bingham & McCutchen — are, along with Nixon Peabody, on Fortune’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For.

61. Alston & Bird LLP (5.742)
62. Heller Ehrman LLP (5.690)
63. Vinson & Elkins LLP (5.676)
64. Bingham McCutchen LLP (5.641)
65. Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP (5.635)

As you may recall, we wrote about Bingham McCutchen recently. Our post triggered some additional tips, which appear after the jump.
Please discuss these five firms in the comments. Thanks.
The Vault Top 100 Law Firms [Vault]
Earlier: Vault 1-5; Vault 6-10; Vault 11-15; Vault 16-20; Vault 21-25; Vault 26-30; Vault 31-35; Vault 36-40; Vault 41-45; Vault 46-50; Vault 51-55; Vault 56-60

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 61-65″

Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Texans Fill Their Ten Gallon Hats With Cash

By

ten gallon hat cash money Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgFollowing closely on news of the Vinson & Elkins raise, Andrews Kurth has also raised salaries for first- and second-year associates, to $160,000 and $170,000, respectively. As explained in the memo, the firm is “still working on the details of the compensation structure for other associate classes.” Here’s an article from the Texas Lawyer.
What about other Texas firms? Here’s what we’ve been hearing:

Baker Botts: They should raise later this week or early next week. Prior to the V&E announcement, a Baker source speculated: “[T]hey seem to be waiting on V and E. I think they might be trying to leapfrog them, hoping V and E lowballs.”

Akin Gump: “They had an associates’ committee meeting [yesterday] and said there were working out a few details, but they would be raising in their Texas offices sooner rather than later. Who knows what any of that means.”

The Andrews Kurth memo, in the form of an email from managing partner Robert Jewell, appears after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Texans Fill Their Ten Gallon Hats With Cash”

Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Is Texas Biglaw Raising — Finally?

By

Vinson Elkins LLP logo Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgWord on the street is that Vinson & Elkins has raised salaries for its Texas and Washington associates. But we haven’t confirmed it directly with someone at V&E. If you can confirm this rumor, please email us.
Update (11:08 AM): That was fast; thanks! It’s confirmed: V&E has raised associate salaries for first- and second-year associates.
Things are more complicated for more senior classes. Basically they’re adopting a deferred compensation system, dependent upon hitting an hours target (2000 “Firm Credit Hours”).
For all the gory details, check out the memo, which is posted after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Is Texas Biglaw Raising — Finally?”

The Eyes of the Law: AGAG at V&E

By

Alberto Gonzales 3 Alberto R Gonzales Attorney General Above the Law blog.jpgTime for an installment of ATL’s legal celebrity sightings column, The Eyes of the Law. This one is especially juicy.
We hear that last week, embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was sighted in the Houston office of Vinson & Elkins — the firm where he was once a partner. His presence was not kept a secret, since he walked right past the offices of several summer associates.
Was AGAG just paying a friendly visit to some of his former partners? Or could his drop-by signify that he might be resigning as Attorney General and returning to his former stomping grounds (a la Harriet Miers, who returned to Locke Liddell after stepping down as White House Counsel)?
If you think we’re getting carried away, we’d like to remind you: office visits can be very revealing. Remember when a bunch of Weil Gotshal bankruptcy partners defected to Cadwalader back in March? A week before their move was announced, the ex-Weil partners were sighted in the Cadwalader offices, on an evening tour led by CWT chairman Robert Link and bankruptcy chairman Bruce Zirinsky.
If you have any scuttlebutt to add about Gonzales and V&E, please email us. Thanks.
Update: According to this comment, “He was there for the funeral of a former partner — Rush Record.” This explanation sounds plausible to us, since Mr. Record did pass away last week.

Skaddenfreude: The List of Shame Shrinks To Nine

By

100 dollar bill Above the Law Above the Law law firm salary legal blog legal tabloid Above the Law.JPGTwo more firms drop off the LIST OF SHAME. First, we received this information about Nixon Peabody, on Friday afternoon:

Email came out today, but i do not yet have access to scan it. NYC was bumped to 160, Boston/Wash/CA bumped to 145, Long Island bumped to 115.

Second, over the weekend, Vinson & Elkins announced:

Vinson & Elkins New York matches market. V&E DC adjusts salary in DC for fourth through eighth year associates. Texas offices stay the same. No memo. A voicemail on Sunday.

Sorry, Texans: It’s looking like BigTex is staying put, at least of now. But hey, look on the bright side: in light of your low cost of living and state taxes (or lack thereof), you make out like bandits.
Now that V&E, Dickstein Shapiro, and Hunton & Williams have matched, here’s the latest, official LIST OF SHAME (ranked by Vault 100 placement; AmLaw 100 placement indicated parenthetically):
43. Baker & McKenzie (3)
50. Fulbright & Jaworski (36)
77. Bryan Cave (56)
82. Reed Smith (33)
83. Dorsey & Whitney (68)
86. McGuireWoods (65)
90. Baker & Hostetler (73)
92. Mintz Levin (91)
100. Seyfarth Shaw (66)
Yes, this list is New York-centric (because we have to draw the line somewhere; NYC generally leads the charge on pay raises, and we can’t write about every legal market under the sun). Please feel free to discuss other cities in the comments to this post.
As always, if you see any errors in this list, please email us (with supporting documentation, if any). Thanks.

Musical Chairs: 01.11.06 (postscript)

By

Oops, we left out new partner news from the MC post that we just published. And since half of you probably just made partner at Jones Day, that’s not a good thing.
Here’s the news:
* Jones Day: Forty-five (45!!!) new partners. Names here.
* Kaye Scholer: Four new partners. Names here.
* Stroock & Stroock & Lavan: Three new partners. Names here.
* Vinson & Elkins: Fourteen new partners. Names here.
NY Associates Making Partner, Counsel [NYLawyer.com]
Jones Day Names 45 New Partners [Jones Day]
Kaye Scholer Announces New Partners and Counsel [Kaye Scholer]
Stroock Names New Partners and Special Counsel [Stroock & Stroock & Lavan]
Vinson & Elkins Names 14 New Partners [Vinson & Elkins]