Lawyer Pay

Top Broadcom Lawyer Charged up to $850 an Hour

The top lawyer for Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr charged up to $850 an hour for his work representing Broadcom Corp. in a patent dispute with a rival semiconductor maker. The rate, while substantial, is still below that charged by some top law firm partners: $1,000 an hour. Details…

Sep 10, 2007 2:11 PM CDT

‘Retired’ Partners Rehired at Other Firms

In the last decade or two, requiring law firm partners to retire at a certain age has become a common practice. But now the tide seems to be turning on that trend. The median age of lawyers is increasing, and, although more than half of the nation’s larger law firms…

Sep 5, 2007 10:57 PM CDT

Sonnenschein Faces $9 M Suit by Ex-Lawyer

A $9 million pay dispute between Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and a former partner may soon be scheduled for trial. Douglas Rosenthal contends Sonnenschein owes him the money for big successes in two cases, Legal Times reports in a story reprinted by New York Lawyer. Rosenthal claims the law firm…

Sep 5, 2007 12:20 PM CDT

FL Lawyer to Plead in Corruption Case

A Florida lawyer whose job as Broward Sheriff made him one of the most powerful political figures in the Miami area has resigned and reportedly plans to plead guilty to federal corruption charges. Sources said Ken Jenne, 60, decided yesterday to plead guilty to tax evasion “and mail-fraud conspiracy charges…

Sep 4, 2007 4:27 PM CDT

$200 K Pay for Big-Firm Midlevel Associates

Third-year associates working at the 200 largest law firms take home median pay of $200,000, but a lot of them need the cash to help pay off large student loans. American Lawyer reports that 81 percent of midlevel associates at Am Law 200 firms owe money for student loans, and…

Aug 30, 2007 10:38 AM CDT

Big London Firms Take a Breather

A slowing international mergers and acquisitions market is expected to trim the phenomenal profits recently being made by major London-based law firms. All five of the city’s so-called Magic Circle firms recently announced profit increases of at least 20 percent last year (the figure exceeded 30 percent at Allen &…

Aug 27, 2007 10:47 PM CDT

Partner Pay Secret at Some Firms

A handful of big law firms keep partner pay a secret in an effort to keep a lid on lawyer jealousy and reduce rancor. Cesar Alvarez, head of Greenberg Traurig, told Legal Times the firm has refused to reveal partner pay since it was formed in 1967. Partners who don’t…

Aug 23, 2007 12:43 PM CDT

Big TX Firms Pay Grads $160 K But Balk at Raises for All

Two more Texas firms have joined the move to raise starting pay for first-year associate attorneys to a top-of-the-market $160,000. They are: Dallas-based Gardere Wynne Sewell, which has 282 lawyers, and Jackson Walker, with 315, according to a New York Lawyer (reg. req.) article that reprints a Texas Lawyer story.…

Aug 22, 2007 9:19 PM CDT

Top Lawyers Bill $1,000 an Hour

Lawyers at some of New York’s top firms are billing $1,000 an hour. The move was a reluctant one for some law firms, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. “We have viewed $1,000 an hour as a possible vomit point for clients,” a partner at one New York firm…

Aug 22, 2007 3:53 PM CDT

Philly Firm Won’t Hike Associate Pay

One big Philadelphia law firm has decided to buck the trend by refusing to increase salaries for first-year associates. Fox Rothschild will continue to pay new associates $125,000, the Legal Intelligencer reports. Administrative partner Mark Silow said the firm would rather spend the money on salary increases for more senior-level…

Aug 22, 2007 11:12 AM CDT

New Norm: Sending Legal Work Abroad

Once upon a time, U.S.-based corporations routinely hired American law firms to do virtually all of their legal work. But today, using cheap foreign lawyers—or even American lawyers in lower-paid parts of the country—to do routine tasks such as document review and conducting due diligence on merger partners is becoming…

Aug 21, 2007 3:31 PM CDT

Mega-Firm’s Mega-Profit: $1 M-Plus PPP

Impressive profits for the 2007 fiscal year have been announced by one of the world’s largest law firms, Chicago-based Baker & McKenzie. Its gross was $1.83 billion, up from $1.52 billion the previous fiscal year. A 22 percent gain for the first time boosted profits per partner into seven figures,…

Aug 16, 2007 8:23 PM CDT

Hard Job Hunt, $40-$70 K, for ‘07 Grads

Competition for graduates of the nation’s biggest and best-known law schools has driven starting salaries at some major firms well over $150,000 and prompted whispers of a once-unthinkable $200,000 at some point in the foreseeable future. But legal job-market reality is much different for the vast majority of those with…

Aug 15, 2007 7:19 PM CDT

Alec Scott, Esq: ‘Why I Escaped the Law’

It isn’t just many American lawyers who feel overworked and dispirited. Their Canadian counterparts increasingly feel the same way, according to an article in next month’s issue of Toronto Life magazine. Author Alec Scott, a lawyer who is now a journalist, says that getting fired from a big Toronto firm…

Aug 13, 2007 11:09 PM CDT

$15 K Hike for All Troutman Associates

Troutman Sanders is raising pay by $15,000 a year for all 185 associates in its offices in Atlanta, Washington, Virginia and North Carolina. With the increase, starting salaries for Troutman associates will be $145,000. The move, which takes effect in January, will cost the firm about $2.8 million, according to…

Aug 10, 2007 12:08 PM CDT