Recent Headlines from Above the Law
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Biglaw
Top 50 Biglaw Firm Announces Year-End Bonuses To Delight Associates
Plus up to 20% more -- if associates bill enough. -
Biglaw
Thought It Was A Drought? This Biglaw Firm Has Green Coming In
With rainmakers like these, you better carry your corporate-branded umbrella. -
Biglaw
Top 50 Biglaw Firm Handing Out Year-End And Special Bonuses
There's also extra money on the table -- but only if you billed a ton of hours. -
Biglaw
Arnold & Porter Tries To 'Slip' One Past The Goalie, Gets Benchslapped For Its Efforts
Well, it could have been worse. -
'Finally': Associates Thrilled Top 50 Biglaw Firm Raised Salaries, Even Though It Took Longer Than Expected
Another one bites the dust. -
Biglaw
Top 50 Biglaw Firm Makes Its First Appearance In The Special Bonus Wars
Associates are FINALLY getting special bonuses. -
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Biglaw
Biglaw Firm Gives Out Year-End Bonuses, Remains Conspicuously Silent On Any Special Bonuses
Tipsters say it negatively impacts recruiting. -
Biglaw
Federal Judge Bashes The DOJ And Calls Out Biglaw As Too Expensive In The Same Case
There's something for everyone in this case. -
Biglaw
Biglaw Firm Takes Harsh Stance On Productivity This Year
Bill your hours or you won't be considered for a bonus. -
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Biglaw
Biglaw Bonus Pool Includes A 20 Percent Bump For High Billers
Money can be a great motivator for associate productivity. -
Health Care / Medicine
Celgene To Sell Psoriasis Drug To Amgen For $13.4B, Clearing Key Hurdle To BMS Deal
Sullivan & Cromwell, Kirkland & Ellis, Arnold & Porter, Wachtell, and Baker Botts all have their hands on this deal. -
Biglaw
Relieved Associates Finally Get Raises, But No Summer Bonuses
Anxiety was rising, but the firm finally announced raises. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.27.18
* Barbara Jones, a former federal judge who now serves as a partner at Bracewell (a firm where Rudy Giuliani was once a name partner), has been appointed as a special master in Michael Cohen’s case to decide which materials that were seized from his office are protected by attorney-client privilege and which materials can be reviewed by prosecutors. [New York Post]
* This just got really interesting: The anonymous Proskauer partner who is suing the firm in a $50 million gender bias case has come forward and revealed her name. Jane Doe is better known as Connie Bertram, head of the firm’s labor and employment practice in D.C. and co-head of the firm’s whistleblowing and retaliation group. [American Lawyer]
* Veteran Supreme Court advocate Lisa Blatt of Arnold & Porter received a rare honor at the high court earlier this week during oral arguments in Trump v. Hawaii when Justice Stephen Breyer mentioned her as the author of an amicus brief. This almost never happens. Congratulations on a job well done! [National Law Journal]
* The Stanford Law Class of 1998 has the special sauce for producing female deans at top law schools. Kimberly Yuracko of Northwestern, Kerry Abrams of Duke, and Gillian Lester of Columbia all graduated in the same year. [The Recorder]
* Cooley Law School is back in compliance with ABA accreditation standards. Apparently the school is now admitting candidates who appear capable of finishing law school and gaining admission to a state bar (even though recent bar exam pass-rate statistics seem to strongly disagree with that assessment). [ABA Journal]
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Biglaw
Biglaw Firm Announces Almost 150 Buyouts Across The Country
Associates are getting concerned about the firm's financial health. -
Biglaw
Biglaw Firm Boots Merger Partner Off Its New Branding
Check out the new brand, same as the old brand. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 02.05.18
* “I’d like to see in the Constitution a statement that men and women are people of equal citizenship stature. I’d like to see an equal rights amendment in our Constitution.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is all in favor of amending the Constitution to benefit women. Are you? [Washington Post]
* Kashyap Patel, the “primary author” of the House Intelligence Committee’s secret memo, is no stranger to controversy. You may remember when he dropped out of this bachelor auction due to an issue with his license to practice or from this “Order on Ineptitude” after he was berated by a federal judge. [New York Times]
* Duke Law has a brand new dean, and she’ll be starting her job come July 1. Congratulations to Kerry Abrams — “one of the brightest stars in legal education” — on becoming one of the handful of women to lead one of America’s top law schools. [Duke Today]
* The DOJ wants former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s suit against special counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein to be tossed, arguing that its only purpose is to “interfere with [his] ongoing criminal prosecution.” Yep, that was the whole point. [CNN]
* Ouch! One Am Law 100 Firm is experiencing that awkward moment when management decides to completely scrub the name of the firm’s major merger partner from all of its branding, just one year after the combination was consummated. [American Lawyer]
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Biglaw, Perks / Fringe Benefits
Which Firms Are Doing Right By Their Staff?
Biglaw firms don't necessarily offer staff the same benefits as attorneys. Kudos to those that do. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.04.17
Even conservatives are concerned about the damage that invoking the nuclear option for Judge Gorsuch’s SCOTUS nomination will do.
* “This is going to haunt the Senate, it’s going to change the judiciary, and it’s so unnecessary.” Senate Democrats have secured the votes to filibuster Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination, all but ensuring that Senate Republicans will invoke the nuclear option, and even conservatives are concerned about the damage it will do. [New York Times]
* It turns out that the Wallace Global Fund tried hire another Biglaw firm to replace Morgan Lewis & Bockius prior to kicking the firm to the curb over its representation of President Donald Trump. Apparently Arnold & Porter “would have been perfect,” but that firm represents Trump too, so it was a “deal killer.” [Big Law Business]
* “It’s like a marriage but infinitely complex. In the beginning, it was appealing, but as you went along you see the synergies are not there.” Following a short romance, it looks like Crowell & Moring and Herrick Feinstein are breaking off their engagement before wasting their time getting married and going through a messy divorce. [New York Post]
* You give
lovelegal ethics a bad name: Remember Tara Lenich, the ADA who was accused of forging judges’ signatures to wiretap a love interest and a coworker in a “love triangle gone wrong”? She pleaded guilty to two charges of illegal wiretapping, and could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]* If you’re a prospective law student with a learning disability or attention disorder, you may be worried about keeping up with the rigors of legal study. Don’t let it get you down. Request an accommodation, but make sure you do so before it’s too late or you may screw yourself out of getting the help you need. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]