Large Firm

Nonequity Partners a ‘Mishmash’ Group; Average Pay Ranges from $1.53M to $100K

The average pay for nonequity partners at 168 of America’s top law firms is about $406,000, but the figure doesn’t tell the whole story. The nonequity partner population is “becoming more and more of a mishmash,” the American Lawyer reports, and that means wide differences in average pay for this…

Nov 6, 2012 2:01 PM CST

BigLaw Donates Legal Services, Blood and Money to Help Hurricane Sandy Victims

Large law firms are helping Hurricane Sandy victims with donations, pro bono services, blood drives and office space. Among the firms offering pro bono assistance is Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, the Am Law Daily reports. Lawyers there are counseling storm victims on insurance issues and helping them seek…

Nov 6, 2012 12:42 PM CST

Altman Weil Survey Says Corporate Legal Budgets Cut As Most CLOs Negotiate for Lower Law Firm Bills

A new Altman Weil survey of corporate legal spending isn’t happy news for law firms. For the first time in three years, more in-house legal departments are reducing, rather than increasing, their spending on law firm services, the Phildelphia Business Journal and Reuters report. Almost 40 percent of those responding…

Nov 5, 2012 11:15 PM CST

2 IP Leaders Leap to Cooley from Chadbourne & Parke

Cooley announced Monday that two leading partners of Chadbourne & Parke, including the chair of the New York law firm’s intellectual property department, have joined its office in the Big Apple. Walter Hanchuk, who served as Chadbourne’s IP chief, will now head the IP department in Cooley’s New York office.…

Nov 5, 2012 7:33 PM CST

Around the Blawgosphere: Legal Bloggers on the Hurricane Sandy Aftermath

Hurricane Sandy has had a tremendous impact on the week’s events for those who were caught in its path or worried from afar about loved ones living in affected areas. Updates about the storm also dominated the news feeds of the rest of the nation. This week, we’re focusing on…

Nov 2, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Transportation, Internet and Phone Problems Plague Manhattan Law Firms

Manhattan law firms reopening after Hurricane Sandy are grappling with spotty phone and Internet service, cold offices and employees who are finding the commute to work beset with difficulty. At Bingham McCutchen, one employee from Staten Island was on a bus for five hours trying to make it to work,…

Nov 2, 2012 12:14 PM CDT

NYC BigLaw Firms Open, But Lack Lights, Heat, Phones; Downed Trees, Long Lines for Gas Slow Commute

Updated: Not only getting to the office but accomplishing ordinary work there presented unusual obstacles Wednesday for many attorneys in the New York metropolitan area, in the wake of severe storm damage done by Hurricane Sandy. Although BigLaw firms that had closed earlier in the week are now open, it…

Nov 1, 2012 1:45 PM CDT

Orrick Announces Mitchell Zuklie, its Corporate Business Chief, as Chair Ralph Baxter’s Successor

Corrected: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has tapped the youngest of four vying partners to succeed chairman Ralph Baxter, the firm announced Tuesday. Mitchell Zuklie, 43, head of Orrick’s global corporate business unit and managing partner of the firm’s Silicon Valley office, will start a 15-month transition process under Baxter’s tutelage…

Oct 30, 2012 9:25 PM CDT

BigLaw Clamors for Lawyers with Tech Transactions Expertise

Recruiters are seeing increased demand for technology transactions lawyers who have expertise in M&A and the ability to value patent assets. Many national law firms that once shunned tech transaction work as too routine and too conflict-ridden are now clamoring for tech transaction partners, the Recorder reports. Among the firms…

Oct 30, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

As Hurricane Sandy Sweeps In, Courts and Law Firms Close Down in DC, NJ and NY

Updated: As what is expected to be an epic storm sweeps into the East Coast from Florida to Canada and could hit the Northeast especially hard, courts and law firms both large and small joined numerous other establishments—including the U.S. Supreme Court—on Monday in announcing that their operations would be…

Oct 29, 2012 7:45 PM CDT

Top 10 UK Law Firms Rake In Nearly Half of BigLaw Revenue, Could Gain Even More via Foreign Growth

The top 10 law firms in the United Kingdom bring in almost half of the income earned by the country’s 100 largest legal shops, and could get an even bigger share of the pie through international expansion. Already, the top 10 bring in around 40 percent of their revenue from…

Oct 29, 2012 4:05 PM CDT

Retaliation Claim Allowed in ‘Macho Culture’ Suit by Fired Dechert Associate

A former Dechert associate who maintains he was fired partly because of the firm’s macho culture will be allowed to proceed with a retaliation claim. Ariel Ayanna claims the firm retaliated against him, for taking leave to care for his children and mentally ill wife, in violation of the Family…

Oct 19, 2012 1:55 PM CDT

Ex-Crowell Associate Tells Sentencing Judge He Is ‘Consumed with Remorse’

After a tearful apology, a former Crowell & Moring associate was sentenced Wednesday to four to 12 years in prison for stealing $10.7 million from clients. Douglas Arntsen, 34, said he was “consumed with remorse,” the New York Law Journal reports. He had entered a guilty plea earlier this month…

Oct 18, 2012 2:15 PM CDT

Covington Appeals Law Firm’s Disqualification in Major Minn. Enviro Case Against Ex-Client 3M

Covington & Burling has filed an appeal of a Minnesota judge’s determination that the law firm is conflicted out of representing the state against 3M Co. in a major environmental case. In its Tuesday filing (PDF) in the state court of appeals, the firm adopts an argument made by its…

Oct 17, 2012 7:50 PM CDT

Squire Sanders to Open an Office in Sydney

Squire Sanders has announced that it will open an office in Sydney on Nov. 1. The news of the firm’s latest growth in the Asia-Pacific region follows announcements earlier this month that it had opened another office in Seoul, Korea, and had expanded in Saudi Arabia. Campbell Davidson, a mergers…

Oct 17, 2012 6:20 PM CDT