Large Firm

Some law firms aim for best summer associates with early job offers

Some law firms are extending offers for summer associate jobs before on-campus interviews even begin. Several prestigious New York law firms were the first to get a jump start on the hiring season, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. They began making the early offers in 2014, and more…

Mar 10, 2016 6:15 AM CST

These law schools have the highest percentage of grads going straight to BigLaw

Columbia Law School tops a list of law schools with the highest percentage of graduates going straight to jobs in BigLaw. Columbia leads the list for the third year in a row, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports in a story noted by Above the Law. The NLJ created…

Mar 8, 2016 8:58 AM CST

Latham associate and law-office manager are killed when driver crashes car into restaurant

An associate at Latham & Watkins and the office manager of a small law firm were killed on Tuesday when a car crashed into the Sweet Tomatoes pizzeria in Newton, Massachusetts, where they were customers. The associate was 32-year-old Gregory Morin, who worked in the areas of securities litigation and…

Mar 4, 2016 10:24 AM CST

Gender gap in associate promotions and turnover is higher when bosses are conservative, study says

Gender disparities in associate promotions and turnover are greater when male partners in the associates’ practice area are more politically conservative, according to a study of the nation’s largest 200 law firms. One of the study authors, University of Michigan assistant professor Seth Carnahan, spoke about the findings in an…

Mar 3, 2016 10:15 AM CST

Which law firms made Fortune’s list of the best places to work?

Six law firms are on Fortune magazine’s list of the 100 best companies to work for. Fortune cited perks and policies at the six firms such as consensus decision-making, demystified partnership paths, paid sabbaticals, onsite childcare, meals with mentors, writing coaches and birthday beer carts. Five of the law firms…

Mar 3, 2016 9:28 AM CST

Some practice leaders are among partners leaving this BigLaw firm

The latest partners leaving K&L Gates amid declining gross revenues include some practice group leaders. Bloomberg Big Law Business reported on the departures as the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.) reported that gross revenue at K&L Gates dropped 7 percent last year and the overall lawyer head count declined by a…

Mar 3, 2016 8:09 AM CST

Average age of BigLaw partner is about 52; which firms are outliers?

The average age of equity and nonequity partners at the nation’s top 200 law firms was about 52, according to data compiled by the American Lawyer. Only about 2 percent of partners at these firms are millennials—those who are 18 to 35 years old, according to the article (sub. req.),…

Mar 2, 2016 8:09 AM CST

Amid partner turnover, Kirkland reportedly requires longer notice before departure

After losing more than 100 partners in little more than a year, Kirkland & Ellis has reportedly doubled the notice period before equity partners may leave. Equity partners must give 120 days’ notice, up from 60 days, two former Kirkland partners told the Am Law Daily (sub. req.). Nonequity partners,…

Mar 2, 2016 7:25 AM CST

Law firm partner and clerk create a foundation to build schools in Honduras

A village in Honduras got a new school this year thanks to an unlikely alliance between a high-powered lawyer and a firm staff member. The pair, both from Kirkland & Ellis in New York City, created the Foundation for Education in Honduras to build and refurbish schools there. It also supports the students at those schools by ensuring they have everything they need, from textbooks and blackboards to backpacks and sanitary bathrooms.

Mar 1, 2016 3:50 AM CST

10 Questions: This DC lawyer is helping her firm attract US Supreme Court clerks

Beth Heifetz knows what judicial clerks want. As head of the Jones Day issues and appeals practice group and director of judicial clerk recruiting, it’s her job to bring U.S. Supreme Court clerks on board—and she rocks it, writ large. For the past four years, the firm has welcomed more…

Mar 1, 2016 3:20 AM CST

Minority women are disappearing from BigLaw—and here’s why

Occasionally when Jenny Jones walks down the hall of her white-shoe law firm, a chairman emeritus will stop and ask how she's doing and about her work. These moments are a highlight because outside of this intermittent interaction, Jones feels largely ignored by the powers that be.

Mar 1, 2016 12:15 AM CST

Slater and Gordon could be on the brink after reporting huge losses in the second half of 2015

The first law firm to go public may be on the verge of collapse after reporting a loss of nearly $700 million during the second half of 2015. On Monday, the Herald Sun (sub. req.) reported that Australia-based firm Slater and Gordon must present a plan to several banks in…

Feb 29, 2016 12:05 PM CST

Hogan Lovells to open global business services center in Louisville, Kentucky

Hogan Lovells is planning to open a global business services center in Louisville, Kentucky. Only the second such facility in the world for the 2,500-attorney law firm, it will involve an investment of some $8.9 million and is projected to ultimately bring 250 jobs paying an average of $65,000 to…

Feb 26, 2016 3:15 PM CST

Dentons tells ex-Luce Forward partners of $1.9M clawback years after they joined predecessor firm

Ex-partners at now-shuttered Dickstein Shapiro aren’t the only former law firm owners who recently learned they may have lost big bucks. In a letter this month to ex-partners of a law firm acquired in 2012 by a predecessor of Dentons, the megafirm told them partners of Luce Forward Hamilton &…

Feb 26, 2016 6:50 AM CST

Partner announces move to Simpson Thacher, then changes his mind

Vinson & Elkins partner Douglas McWilliams has changed his mind about a planned move to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. A capital markets and M&A partner in Houston, McWilliams announced the lateral move earlier this month, then told Texas Lawbook a week later that he had changed his mind. The Am…

Feb 25, 2016 9:00 AM CST