Large Firm

Proskauer Will Pay Same Year-End Bonuses to Associates as Cravath

After news that Cravath Swaine & Moore will pay year-end bonuses of between $7,500 and $37,500 to its associates, Proskauer Rose has announced that the same range will apply to associates there. However, there’s one small difference: At Cravath, bonuses will be paid Dec. 9. At Proskauer, associates won’t get…

Dec 5, 2011 9:05 PM CST

Santa or Scrooge: How Do BigLaw Firms Determine Associate Bonuses?

Podcast Transcript: This podcast is produced by the ABA Journal. We bring you the latest legal news every day from around the Web. Visit us online at ABAJournal.com. Stephanie Francis Ward: 2011 has been a crazy year, money-wise. Many big firms made substantial profits in the past 12 months, but…

Dec 5, 2011 2:30 PM CST

After Faltering Profits and Lawyer Reductions, O’Melveny Sees Bright Future with New Chairman

A storied law firm with a 126-year history has struggled a bit in recent years, seeing its profits and attorney roster shrink—although revenue per lawyer at O’Melveny & Myers is up substantially and the firm says it is now on track for its best year ever. Now, in little more…

Dec 2, 2011 6:20 PM CST

Milbank and Skadden Match Cravath’s ‘Lackluster’ Bonuses of Up to $37,500

Two law firms are matching the bonuses announced recently by Cravath Swaine & Moore. The firms are Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the Am Law Daily reports. The bonuses ranging from $7,500 to $37,500 are “nearly identical” to Cravath’s bonuses in 2009 and…

Dec 1, 2011 12:33 PM CST

Appeals Court Nixes Investor Suit Over Dechert Opinion Letter re $50M Dreier Loan Deal

An investment group that had sought damages from Dechert concerning a fraudulent $50 million loan promoted by the former managing partner of Dreier is out of luck. Reversing a trial court’s denial of a motion to dismiss the Fortress Investment Group suit against Dechert, a New York appeals court today…

Nov 29, 2011 9:11 PM CST

American Airlines Files for Bankruptcy; Weil Gotshal Is Lead Counsel

American Airlines is the last major airline to seek bankruptcy protection with the filing of Chapter 11 papers today in Manhattan. The filing by the AMR Corp. and its U.S. subsidiaries, including American Airlines and American Eagle, follows failed attempts to win labor concessions, report Bloomberg News and the New…

Nov 29, 2011 12:40 PM CST

Cravath Bonuses Signal Lackluster Year for M&A Work, WSJ Says

While they are more than some ordinary workers make annually, the year-end bonuses for associates just announced by Cravath Swaine & Moore show that mergers and acquisition work isn’t booming, according to the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). The bonuses, which will range from $7,500 to $37,500 when they are…

Nov 29, 2011 12:34 AM CST

Cravath Announces Year-End Bonuses of $7,500 to $37,500

Cravath Swaine & Moore has announced its associate bonuses for 2011. They range from $7,500, for the Class of 2010, to $37,500, for the Class of 2004, the firm announced in a memo today. There is no billable hour requirement and “virtually all” associates will get the listed lockstep amount…

Nov 28, 2011 10:30 PM CST

In Apparent Trend, Associates Increasingly Leave BigLaw to Become Small Firm Entrepreneurs

In an apparent trend likely spurred by the bad economy, an increasing number of associates leaving or forced out of BigLaw are starting their own law firms. One duo who left Proskauer Rose in 2009 formed their own firm and are now making more money than they earned at the…

Nov 28, 2011 2:06 PM CST

Partners of Australia’s Mallesons OK Game-Changing Combination with China’s Largest Law Firm

Partners of one of Australia’s top law firms voted today to approve a merger-like combination with the biggest law firm in China. Partners of King & Wood are expected to vote tomorrow on the potential tie-up with 170-partner Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Legal Week reports. If approved, the melding of the…

Nov 23, 2011 8:05 PM CST

BigLaw Firm’s Innovative Buddy Program Helps Lawyers Stay Connected During Maternity Leave

A major law firm in Canada has developed an innovative buddy program to help women lawyers stay connected to their careers while they are on maternity leave. Partner Tara Piurko of McCarthy Tétrault, for example, regularly met with her buddy attorney, along with her baby, for lunch, reports the Globe…

Nov 19, 2011 1:47 AM CST

Around the Blawgosphere: BigLaw, Small-Firm Symbiosis; Living Wills for the Living Dead?

On Rejection and BigLaw’s Rejected Cases Matt Brown, who practices criminal defense at a two-lawyer firm in Tempe, Ariz., put up a post Monday at Tempe Criminal Defense about the experience of having a client leave him “before the real battle started” for another lawyer. While he thinks his now…

Nov 18, 2011 2:49 PM CST

Add $1M More to Funds Ex-Counsel of Crowell & Moring Is Accused of Taking from Client Trust Accounts

Another lawsuit has been filed against Crowell & Moring, accusing the firm of failing to exercise proper control over a former counsel who allegedly stole from multiple real estate client trust accounts. Douglas Arntsen, 33, is accused in a New York state-court lawsuit of embezzling $1 million or more from…

Nov 17, 2011 11:32 PM CST

More Women Than Men Make Partner at Wachtell; King & Spalding; Cleary Gottlieb

Corrected: It’s old news that women attorneys often find it harder to make partner, especially at BigLaw firms, than male counterparts. But three major firms have created a new ending for that once-sad story this year, the Careerist reports. Women actually outnumber men among the class of new partners at…

Nov 17, 2011 12:34 AM CST

Former BigLaw IP Partner Gets 1 Year in $389K Billing Fraud re Autistic Son’s Expenses

A former life sciences practice leader at Morrison & Foerster has been sentenced to one year in a $389,000 billing fraud concerning medical and educational expenses for his autistic son. The county jail sentence for Jonathan Dickstein, 44, who agreed to pay $260,000 in restitution, disappointed prosecutors, reports the Bay…

Nov 16, 2011 1:23 AM CST