Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Huge Smiles At A Huge Law Firm
One of the world's five largest firms announces its bonuses.
* Duncan Lloyd, the Philadelphia assistant city solicitor who spray-painted “F*ck Trump” on a building while wearing an ascot and holding a glass of wine, will be able to keep his job after completing 40 hours of community service. We’re sure many Americans feel that he has already completed his community service through his actions. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
* Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who took a leave of absence from Greenberg Traurig to support Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump through the end of the election, has removed his name from consideration for any position in President-elect Trump’s administration (but only after reportedly being offered three other positions that he didn’t want). He’ll now be returning to his law firm. [ABC News]
* The struggling European and Middle East arm of King & Wood Mallesons has received “a number of indicative purchase offers” from other law firms. Biglaw behemoth Dentons is rumored to be a potential merger partner for firm’s EUME branch, with DLA Piper and Greenberg Traurig ready to make lateral offers to partners. [Big Law Business]
* Just because your law school isn’t one of the best in the nation, it doesn’t mean that you can’t dream big. Case in point: The most recent winners of the prestigious Skadden public interest fellowships has been announced, and two of them will graduate from CUNY School of Law. We’ll have more on the new Skadden Fellows later. [Skadden]
* Dislike? A woman who wanted to serve her estranged husband with divorce papers via Facebook has been denied by a judge who noted that the social networking profile had been inactive for two-plus years, writing that to allow service would be “akin to the Court permitting service by nail and mail to a building that no longer exists.” [WSJ Law Blog]
* “The ballot-selfie prohibition is like ‘burn[ing down] the house to roast the pig.'” Just in time for Election 2016, the First Circuit has struck down New Hampshire’s ballot selfie ban as unconstitutional, citing the fact that it curtailed voters’ free speech, and on top of that, the state was unable to identify any complaints of vote buying or intimidation. [POLITICO]
* Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who instructed probate judges to adhere to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, even after the Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling, says the ethics charges he faces are “ridiculous” since he never “encourage[d] anyone to defy a federal court or state court order.” [WSJ Law Blog]
* Wiley Rein lost two practice group leaders to DLA Piper this week. The firm, known for its media, telecom, government contracts, and IP practices, no longer has partners in charge of its telecom group or its wireless group, but it claims these departures were anticipated, and the practice groups were merged ahead of time. [Big Law Business]
* Cha-ching! The Caesars bankruptcy is ending, which means the “fee frenzy” for lawyers who were working on the case is about to dry up as well. Nine law firms have been involved in the case since the company first filed for bankruptcy in January 2015, and hundreds of millions of dollars of legal fees have already been assessed. [Am Law Daily]
* Many jurisdictions adopted the Uniform Bar Exam for the July 2016 administration of the bar exam, and it seems like it may have had the opposite effect on test-takers than what was intended. Graduates of this law school saw their bar exam passage rate drop by 13 percent since last year. We’ll have more on this later today. [Albequerque Journal]
* The clerk who allegedly took a turn at judging has been fired. [Chicago Tribune]
* DLA Piper partner Joseph Finnerty was fined and resigned from a public position after fundraising fiasco. [Law360]
* The ABA Journal’s 2016 Legal Rebels revealed! This is like the Vogue September issue, except for nerdy lawyers. [ABA Journal]
* The ABA is taking a tough line with a couple of law schools, but is this show of force still too late to save its accreditation status? [Inside Higher Ed]
* Oh look, Chris Brown’s in the news again! [ABC News]
* Paul, Weiss is investigating the alleged culture of sexual harassment at Fox News and they’re facing a lot of skepticism. [Law.com]
* One client is drawing a firm line with law firms: alternative fee arrangements or else. [Corporate Counsel]
Simon Levine, Global Co-CEO and International Managing Partner
University of Cambridge, BA and MA
Frank W. Ryan, Global Co-CEO, Global Co-Chair, Americas Chair
Syracuse University, JD
Jackie K. Park, Co-US Managing Partner
Northwestern University School of Law, JD
Richard Chesley, Co-US Managing Partner, Managing Partner of the Americas
University of Cincinnati College of Law, JD
