Closeted BigLaw househusbands? Some ambivalence about changing gender roles

What’s all the fuss about househusbands? The number of women in finance with stay-at-home spouses has increased almost tenfold since 1980, the New York Times reported on Sunday. But the arrangement isn’t really new, according to the American Lawyer’s Careerist blogger, who also wrote an article in Time. “I’ve been…

Dec 11, 2013 3:02 PM CST

More BigLaw firms announce bonuses that follow Cravath scale

Cravath, Swaine & Moore set the standard when it announced associate bonuses last Monday. A handful of BigLaw firms followed with bonus announcements last week, and they appear to be following Cravath’s lead, for the most part, Above the Law has reported in a series of posts. Cravath is paying…

Dec 9, 2013 2:05 PM CST

BigLaw partner charged in sexual assault case

A longtime real estate partner at the Chicago headquarters of Sidley Austin has been charged with criminal sexual assault and is on leave from the firm. Stanley B. Stallworth, 50, is accused along with his 22-year-old nephew of sexually assaulting at his home on Thanksgiving an 18-year-old man his nephew…

Dec 6, 2013 11:50 PM CST

BigLaw firm opts for smaller office space in ‘realistic reset’ of real-estate spending

Nixon Peabody is giving up some square footage as it moves to new office space in Washington, D.C The law firm is downsizing its space by about 30 percent in the move about four blocks north, the Washington Post reports. D.C. managing partner Jeff Lesk told the newspaper that real…

Dec 5, 2013 7:42 PM CST

What do the 2013 bonuses tell us about the legal market? (video)

David Lat and Elie Mystal from Above the Law talk with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia about 2013 bonuses for lawyers at Cravath and Skadden, as well as some recent and noteworthy breakdowns in merger talks among several large law firms. Related article: ABAJournal.com: “Cravath to pay bonuses of $10K to…

Dec 5, 2013 4:07 PM CST

Marijuana products company is headed by former BigLaw partner

A company that makes equipment used to grow marijuana has a couple BigLaw connections. The public company, GrowLife, is headed by former Jenner & Block partner Sterling Scott, and it has hired Crowell & Moring for regulatory and M&A advice, the Am Law Daily reports. Several other companies serving the…

Dec 5, 2013 12:53 PM CST

Cravath to pay bonuses of $10K to $60K, the same as last year

The BigLaw firm to which others look for a lead on how high bonuses for associates should be has spoken. After a noteworthy upswing in 2012—following years in which the legal economy was faltering—Cravath, Swaine & Moore is paying exactly the same amount in 2013, between $10,000 and $60,000, the…

Dec 2, 2013 10:49 PM CST

Former ABA and Bingham leader with a ‘life-affirming bounce’ dies at 80

John J. “Jack” Curtin Jr., a longtime leader of the law firm now known as Bingham McCutchen, died last week in a senior living community in the Boston area. He was 80 years old. In addition to making a name for himself in corporate practice, Curtin was a former president…

Dec 2, 2013 10:14 PM CST

‘Astronomically generous’ pay for former Dewey CFO, executive director alleged in clawback suit

The bankruptcy trustee for Dewey & LeBoeuf is seeking the return of $21.8 million in “astronomically generous” pay from two former leaders of the failed firm. The suit filed on Wednesday targets Dewey’s former executive director Stephen DiCarmine and former chief financial officer Joel Sanders, report the Wall Street Journal…

Dec 2, 2013 3:54 PM CST

Hearsay: December 2013

Dec 1, 2013 10:10 AM CST

McKenna partners nix Dentons megamerger

Management at both Dentons and McKenna Long & Aldridge had recommended to partners that the two law firms merge. But partners at McKenna balked at the plan when it was put to a vote, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.) reports. Although 75 percent had approved the potential…

Nov 26, 2013 8:20 PM CST

Top UK law firm plans to use alumni as contract consultants, hopes to expand program globally

A top London-based international law firm is launching a new program that uses alumni with high-level skills to supplement the firm’s own attorneys during periods of high demand. The Allen & Overy alumni operate as self-employed contract workers in an arrangement that offers them more flexibility and autonomy in their…

Nov 25, 2013 11:55 PM CST

Orrick and Pillsbury end merger talks

Two major law firms that confirmed last month they were seriously talking about a merger have ended the discussions. The problem was a conflict of interest between government agencies represented by the public finance practice group of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and clients represented by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in…

Nov 25, 2013 7:15 PM CST

Baker & Hostetler to acquire 68-attorney intellectual property boutique

Baker & Hostetler plans to acquire a 68-attorney Philadelphia-based intellectual property boutique, subject to a partner vote by both firms. A letter of intent has been signed by BakerHostetler and Woodcock Washburn, and the merger is expected to take place Jan. 1, according to a Friday law firm press release.…

Nov 22, 2013 6:15 PM CST

Banned from Russia, Baker & McKenzie lawyer finds new landing spot in London

Refused entry to Russia when he tried to return to his Baker & McKenzie office there in May after a business trip, a senior counsel has found a new landing spot. After a stint in the megafirm’s Washington, D.C., office, Tom Firestone has transferred to its London office, Legal Week…

Nov 20, 2013 10:38 PM CST