Associates

Curtis Mallet-Prevost Memo to Troops: No Chest Hair or Club Wear

For those who might be in doubt, Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle has sent an internal memo to the New York-based international law firm’s United States attorneys and paralegals, reminding them that a traditional standard of dress continues to apply even on summer business casual days. But the memo itself…

Jun 1, 2009 3:50 PM CDT

McDermott Cuts Pay for Summer Associates to $135K

First-year associates at McDermott Will & Emery are still being paid a $160,000 annual salary. But the firm is paying less to summer associates this year, who will be compensated according to a prorated $135,000 annual salary, reports Above the Law, based on information from an unidentified law firm spokesperson.…

May 29, 2009 4:41 PM CDT

Midsize Law Firms Beat Bigger Counterparts by Keeping Revenue Flat

Bigger isn’t always better. The top 100 law firms saw an average revenue decline of 1.2 percent last year, compared to flat numbers for law firms in the second hundred, the American Lawyer reports. The publication sees the percentages as something of a vindication for the somewhat smaller firms that…

May 29, 2009 11:58 AM CDT

Eckert Seamans’ ‘Growth Spurt’ Now Includes 5 Lawyers from Ballard Spahr

Pittsburgh-based Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott has hired 38 lateral lawyers this year, bringing on five labor lawyers from Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll in its latest acquisition. “Despite an economy in which many large firms are shedding attorneys, Eckert Seamans has been on a bit of a growth spurt,”…

May 29, 2009 11:32 AM CDT

How In-House Counsel ‘Value’ Challenge is Changing One Law Firm

Some law firm leaders are eying a potential paradigm shift in major-firm legal practice with dread. Others are stepping forward to embrace it. Among the latter group is Gregg Melinson, the national marketing partner of Drinker Biddle & Reath. After the Association of Corporate Counsel issued its Value Challenge in…

May 29, 2009 12:46 AM CDT

Buying ‘Options’ on Associates Is a Bet Economy Will Improve

Law firms that are deferring start dates for incoming first-year associates but paying them substantial sums during the interim months are essentially buying options on these associates, points out an article in Human Resources Executive. Does that make sense financially? Yes, if you expect the economy to improve significantly, so…

May 28, 2009 7:42 PM CDT

2009’s Toll: More Than 10,000 Law Firm Layoffs and Lower Pay Trend

The pace of law firm layoffs may be slowing, but the numbers continue to grow, hitting more than 10,000 this month for the year of 2009 alone. At the end of last week, 3,881 lawyers and 6,282 staffers had been laid off since the beginning of the year by major…

May 28, 2009 3:43 PM CDT

What New Lawyers Need to Know: Business Emphasis Not a ‘Torture System’

Law graduates need a better understanding of law firm economics, better writing skills. more practical experience and more management training, according to a survey of practice chairs, hiring partners and recruiters. Every single survey respondent said law schools should offer workshops or seminars in “Business 101,” survey authors Katy Montgomery…

May 28, 2009 1:45 PM CDT

Mayer Brown Summer Associate May Have Swine Flu

An unidentified summer associate in the Chicago office of Mayer Brown may have swine flu, and another is showing possible symptoms of the H1N1 virus, although this has not yet been confirmed, reports Above the Law. The law blog provides a copy of an internal law firm memo circulated in…

May 27, 2009 11:15 PM CDT

Associate Pay Depends on Practice Area at Post & Schell

Some practice areas are clearly more lucrative than others. So if an intellectual property associate, for instance, is being billed out at a higher rate than a law school classmate down the hall at the same firm who does insurance defense work, shouldn’t the IP attorney make a higher salary?…

May 27, 2009 9:11 PM CDT

Ex-Sidley Associate Pens Tell-All Memoir of China Sexcapades

A former associate at the Beijing office of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood has written a steamy memoir about his sexcapades, wild parties and pot-smoking in a new book called China High. Taking the pen name ZZ, the author writes of Beijing’s “commerce, conflict and concupiscence,” Bloomberg reports. He worked…

May 27, 2009 2:28 PM CDT

‘Fendi Crush’ was Highlight of Sotomayor’s IP Practice

Practicing intellectual property law at Pavia & Harcourt in the 1980s and 1990s offered U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor an early opportunity to demonstrate her legal eagle potential. Representing the manufacturer of luxury Fendi handbags, the firm successfully litigated against manufacturers and sellers of counterfeit items for this major…

May 26, 2009 11:13 PM CDT

Ropes & Gray Layoffs Are Standard ‘Up or Out’ Associate Reviews, Firm Says

Ropes & Gray has confirmed that it is letting go what a legal tabloid tallies as a group of about 30 associates, including at least two first-years. However, the law firm says they are being terminated as part of a standard associate review, not for economic reasons, reports Above the…

May 22, 2009 9:56 PM CDT

No Longer a ‘Prep School,’ Ballard Spahr Plans New Pay Model After Earlier Layoffs

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll has learned some lessons from a disappointing period in which profits per equity partner plummeted from about $545,000, in 2007, to $415,000, in 2008. Among them: It was time to stop running the Philadelphia-based national law firm like a “prep school” and do some housecleaning…

May 22, 2009 8:21 PM CDT

Panelists Trade Barbs at Debate on Work Ethic of Millennial Generation

Are members of the Millennial generation self-entitled and lazy? Or are they energetic, aware and forging a new path so they won’t have to sacrifice their families for a career? The Wall Street Journal Law Blog highlights the debate—and the conflicts—that emerged at a panel discussion last month at InsideCounsel…

May 22, 2009 1:35 PM CDT