Lawyer Pay

Some Kaye Scholer 1st-Years to Earn $60K to Do Firm’s Pro Bono Work

There’s good news and bad news for incoming first-year associates at Kaye Scholer. Some will do the firm’s usual corporate work at what is presumably a six-figure standard starting salary. But the rest of the class will be assigned to do the firm’s pro bono work at an annual salary…

Oct 29, 2009 10:47 PM CDT

Heller Creditors Seek $150M from Partners of Failed Law Firm

Contending that Heller Ehrman, in effect, fraudulently conveyed $150 million to partners after the law firm had become insolvent, creditors are seeking full reimbursement from the former partners of the now-defunct firm. In a confidential brief prepared for a mediation hearing tomorrow in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District…

Oct 29, 2009 5:08 PM CDT

Cost-Cutting Law Firms Are ‘Lean and Mean and Ready to Profit,’ Consultant Says

A survey of South Florida law firms shows a year of retrenchment, but 2010 could be better, according to one legal consultant. Altman Weil principal Bill Brennan told the Daily Business Review that law firms have cut costs and are now looking for ways to increase revenue, a good sign…

Oct 29, 2009 1:08 PM CDT

Lawyer’s $900/Hour Arbitration Fee Angers Transit Board Members

After casting the swing vote in an arbitration that upped the ante on New York City transit worker pay by 11.3 percent over three years, a Weil Gotshal & Manges lawyer has added insult to injury as far as Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members are concerned. John Zuccotti charged the…

Oct 28, 2009 9:25 PM CDT

Once High-Rolling Vegas Law Firms Now Watch Their Wallets

Dealing with the worst legal economy they have seen in nearly four decades of practice, senior partners at law firms in Las Vegas are cutting costs wherever they can. At Jones Vargas, that has meant partner pay cuts, rescinded job offers to a couple of incoming associates and one attorney…

Oct 27, 2009 5:58 PM CDT

Some Allen Matkins Associates Will See Another Salary Cut

Allen Matkins is laying off fewer than 10 associates and cutting pay for others in slow practice areas. Law firm executive director Mike Palmer told the Recorder that the pay cuts range from 15 percent to 30 percent, and primarily affect associates in the slow practice areas of real estate…

Oct 27, 2009 12:21 PM CDT

DLA Piper and Several Major UK Firms Cut Partner Payouts

An American law firm—DLA Piper—is among several law firms identified in a British publication that are holding back or reducing partner profit distributions. DLA Piper continues to pay monthly distributions, but held back its quarterly distribution in August, Legal Week reports. The law firm pays quarterly distributions to partners only…

Oct 22, 2009 4:18 PM CDT

In-House Counsel Defrauded Bank of $12M, Court Finds

A former deputy head of the legal department defrauded the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi out of some $12 million (7.4 million in British pounds, at the current exchange rate) by conning colleagues into signing off on large investments in a friend’s Indonesian airline, London’s Southwark Crown Court decided yesterday. Kate Johns,…

Oct 21, 2009 11:15 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Lament: Pressure to Review 80 Docs an Hour, for $23 an Hour

A contract lawyer’s complaint about a directive to review 80 documents an hour is raising questions about whether quantity sacrifices quality. The lawyer, who was being paid about $23 an hour for the document review project, told the blog Temporary Attorney that the directive was in this e-mail: “Please pick…

Oct 21, 2009 1:52 PM CDT

Bank Battles Law Firm Over Ex-Lawyer’s Right to Millions in Contingent Fees

Can a former lawyer collect contingency fees for work he did while he was still a member of the bar? That is the central question in an Arkansas case that pits a bank that loaned ex-attorney Gene Cauley $13.9 million against his now-former law partners in a battle over millions…

Oct 19, 2009 11:07 PM CDT

MoFo Cuts Starting Pay to $145K, Except in NYC & Asia

How low can BigLaw associate salaries go? Morrison & Foerster is still figuring that out, but says in a written statement provided to Above the Law that, at least for now, starting pay for first-years will be cut to $145,000. Less than a month earlier, the firm had reportedly planned…

Oct 19, 2009 9:41 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Nixes Lawyer’s $14M Age Suit Despite ‘Younger & Cheaper’ Note

Even though his employment file at Moser Patterson & Sheridan contained a note “older & better paid/younger & cheaper,” attorney John Kelly’s age discrimination suit against the New Jersey law firm was properly dismissed on summary judgment, a federal appeals court has ruled. Kelly was 52 when he was fired…

Oct 15, 2009 9:10 PM CDT

Justices Who Make About $200K Debate Enhanced Fee of $700K

Are good lawyers entitled to more money for exceptional results? Former Solicitor General Paul Clement answered in the affirmative in U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments yesterday. He argued that lawyers for Children’s Rights Inc. and the Atlanta law firm Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore deserve the $4.5 million in extra fees…

Oct 15, 2009 1:06 PM CDT

Top Partner Billing Rate in South Florida Is $765 an Hour

Even the top partners at South Florida law firms don’t bill the $1,000 an hour charged by some lawyers in New York. South Florida partners typically charge $400 to $500 an hour, while hourly rates for associates in the region generally range from $140 to $460, according to the Daily…

Oct 14, 2009 5:33 PM CDT

In-House Pay Hikes Tamped Down in Legal Cost-Cutting Efforts

Corporate legal departments are intent on cutting costs and are using a variety of strategies to get the job done, a new survey finds. Lauren Chung, director of the Hildebrandt survey, told the ABA Journal that the frugal approach extends to compensation for in-house lawyers. “Do I think that lawyers…

Oct 14, 2009 3:52 PM CDT