Associates

BigLaw firm represents one of its associates in $50M suit over subway station injury

Williams & Connolly is representing one of its associates in a suit that claims he is unable to work as a lawyer because he was injured by a falling metal pole at a subway station. The associate, Kevin LoVecchio, says he was injured in August 2015 at a subway station…

Dec 13, 2016 3:55 PM CST

36 law firms join ‘hackathon alliance’ to test gender parity programs

Thirty-six law firms have agreed to test one or more pilot programs developed as a result of a Women in Law Hackathon last summer in which teams competed to develop solutions to the gender gap in law firms. The law firms will be participating in six pilot programs, including an…

Dec 9, 2016 7:00 AM CST

Average 401(k) savings top $1M in plans at these two law firms

Lawyers in BigLaw are apparently stashing lots of money in their 401(k) plans. Individual average account balances are $2.1 million at Cravath and $1.1 million at O’Melveny in 401(k) plans for select groups of individuals, Bloomberg Big Law Business reports. That Cravath plan has 133 participants and the O’Melveny plan…

Dec 1, 2016 11:08 AM CST

Bonus season begins with Cravath announcement; which firms fall in line?

Updated: Cravath, Swaine & Moore raised the bar when it began paying first-year associates $180,000 this summer, but its bonus announcement on Monday will sound familiar. Cravath will pay year-end bonuses ranging from $15,000 to $100,000, the same as last year. Above the Law broke the news and published the…

Nov 30, 2016 8:10 AM CST

How can law firms remove barriers to women in the profession?

Partners, law firm associates and in-house counsel gathered at Mayer Brown’s New York office Thursday to confront issues of gender inequity in BigLaw and brainstorm ways to move the needle. The discussion comes at a time when the state of diversity in the profession is sobering at best and dismal…

Oct 21, 2016 6:00 PM CDT

New lawyers get an assist on their student loan debt from their firms

Not many first-year associates would have the courage to march up to their firm’s chief operating officer and boldly ask for help with their student loans.

Oct 1, 2016 2:30 AM CDT

Federal judge says it’s ‘outrageous’ that BigLaw firm sent associate to court

Updated: A federal judge in Brooklyn said last week it was “outrageous, irresponsible and insulting” that Kirkland & Ellis sent an associate—and no partner—to represent Facebook at a court hearing. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis told Kirkland associate Aulden Burcher-DuPont last Thursday that the law firm should “scrounge up a…

Sep 26, 2016 8:15 AM CDT

BigLaw could retain more women by hiring from lower-ranked schools, research suggests

Female graduates of law schools ranked in the top 10 are more likely to make an early exit from BigLaw than female grads of lower-tier schools. After their first three to five years in BigLaw, women from top 10 law schools leave their firms at a much higher rate than…

Sep 21, 2016 9:47 AM CDT

Davis Polk announces recruiting effort aimed at women who left the firm to raise children

As an attempt to increase diversity, Davis Polk & Wardwell recently started a program that recruits women who left the firm to raise their children. The offering, which the firm calls “Davis Polk Revisited,” targets lawyers who practiced there for at least three years, and have been gone for two…

Sep 15, 2016 10:30 AM CDT

Law firm uses speed-dating approach to law student interviews

A New York law firm is taking an alternative approach to on-campus interviews. Herrick Feinstein recently invited about 50 law students to a cocktail party and interviewed them in a process that has similarities to speed dating, Law.com (sub. req.) reports in a column by Vivia Chen of the Careerist.…

Sep 1, 2016 9:00 AM CDT

Which law firms have the happiest midlevel associates?

Midlevel associates at Paul Hastings gave their firm the highest satisfaction rating among the nation’s top 200 law firms, according to a survey released this week. Paul Hastings earned its No. 1 ranking with an average score of 4.76 on a one-to-five scale from its midlevel associates, the American Lawyer…

Aug 31, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Law firms offer unlimited vacation, paid ‘global experience’ in bid to lure associates

Law firms hoping to lure top law graduates with $180,000 starting salaries are also providing more generous benefits. Benefits include unlimited paid vacation, student loan assistance, increased parental leave, and career and family coaching, Bloomberg Big Law Business reports. “The war for talent is intensifying,” observes Siobhan Handley, the chief…

Aug 18, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

How law firms compete for fewer students in on-campus interviews

Competition among law firms is heating up as they chase fewer students in on-campus interviews. Law school enrollment dropped from 52,488 in 2010-2011 to 37,058 in 2015-2016, Law.com (sub. req.) reports. Meanwhile, law schools are seeing the same or slightly more law firms participating in on-campus interviews, Law.com reports in…

Aug 10, 2016 8:55 AM CDT

After loss of DC rainmaker, Cadwalader cancels summer associate program in the city

Cadwalader has decided to cancel its summer associate program in Washington, D.C., after losing four antitrust partners, including rainmaker Charles “Rick” Rule, the managing partner of the D.C. office. Cadwalader is telling students who had signed up for on-campus interviews that it decided to cancel summer 2017 program, Above the…

Aug 8, 2016 3:08 PM CDT

In a BigLaw first, Orrick will pay new associates an extra $100 a month toward student loans

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe announced on Friday that it will give a boost to new associates with student debt by paying them an extra $100 a month towards principal. The new perk, scheduled to start in September, will be paid until the new associates are eligible for their first bonus,…

Jul 15, 2016 9:54 AM CDT