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Denver Firms Face Salary Pressure from National Players |
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Friday, 18 May 2007 |
Denver firms are feeling pressure to raise starting salaries as national firms with Denver offices apply firmwide raises. Cooley Godward Kronish, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Morrison & Foer ster and Hogan & Hartson are four such firms that have raised first-year pay to $160,000 in all U.S. offices. In comparison, the largest local firms such as Holme Roberts & Owen and Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck pay between $105,000 and $110,000; out-of-state firms pay around $120,000. In thousands of dollars in debt, many recent grads seek out high-paying jobs to pay off their loans; local firms know this, hence the pressure to bump up salaries and remain competitive. However, local Denver firms have certain perks such as fewer billable hours requirements and a faster track to partnership, that for some outweigh the astronomical salaries at national firms.
Source: www.denverpost.com |
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DLA Piper Snags Two Reed Smith Corporate Partners |
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Friday, 18 May 2007 |
DLA Piper recruited two corporate and securities partners from Reed Smith, San Francisco. Dale Freeman represents public and private companies primarily in the life sciences industry, in corporate matters such as M&A deals and IPOs. Garth Osterman represents investors and companies, especially emphasizing M&A deals, divestiture transactions, and project finance. The partners were drawn to DLA for its strong emerging companies and venture capital practice, as well as its global reach.
Source: www.law.com |
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Connecticut Firm Launches White-Collar Practice |
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Friday, 18 May 2007 |
Connecticut firm Pullman & Comley has launched a white-collar criminal defense group with a hire from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney, Alex Hernandez, will head the new four-attorney practice. This area of work is growing, and sources say that Hernandez will have ample opportunity to expand the practice. Corporate litigator, Thomas F. Maxwell, is one of the attorneys that will join the new group; lawyer from other disciplines will also be involved with the white-collar team.
Source: www.law.com |
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Are Atlanta Firms Next to Raise D.C. Salaries? |
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Friday, 18 May 2007 |
As starting salaries in the D.C. offices of many NY, CA, and national firms have already been bumped up to $160,000, all eyes are now on Atlanta-based firms, and many wonder whether they will make the same move. So far none have budged, but in the spirit of competition, there is a possibility of some action. Many Atlanta firms such as Alston & Bird and King & Spalding already made raises at the start of the year, bringing Atlanta pay to $130,000 and D.C. pay to $145,000. Other Atlanta firms with D.C. offices like Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, Powell Goldstein, Troutman Sanders and McKenna Long & Aldridge have not commented on the issue yet.
Source: www.nylawyer.com |
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Curtis, Mallet-Prevost Opens in Turkey |
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Friday, 18 May 2007 |
Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle has opened doors in Istanbul, Turkey. The office will operate under the name Curtis Mallet-Prevost Danismanlik Ltd., and will be headed by Ali R. Gursel. Gursel's practice focuses on international financings and cross-border corporate transactions; he joined the firm in 1997.
Source: www.nylawyer.com |
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Davis Wright Acquires IP Shop |
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Thursday, 17 May 2007 |
Davis Wright Tremaine has acquired three-lawyer San Francisco IP boutique Parsons Hsue & de Runtz. Partners James Hsue and K. Alison de Runtz, and counsel Gerald Parsons bring copyright and trademark prosecution skills to the six-member San Fran IP litigation practice. The Parsons Hsue lawyers were encouraged to join Davis Wright by partner and former collegue Robert Gex. Hsue and de Runtz are looking forward to having the support of a large firm behind them for financial and recruiting reasons.
Source: www.law.com |
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Duane Morris Considers UK Merger |
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Thursday, 17 May 2007 |
Duane Morris has begun merger discussions with several London firms. The Philadelphia firm's London office currently has eight partners, but the firm wants to expand to 200 lawyers through a merger. Firm chairman, Sheldon Bonovitz, reported that the ideal merger candidate will have corporate strength, international capability, and a compatible culture. Duane Morris has also opened offices in Singapore, Vietnam, and Baltimore in the past six months.
Source: www.thelawyer.com |
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Dewey Adds Orrick Partner to Beijing Office |
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Thursday, 17 May 2007 |
Dewey Ballantine has recruited corporate partner Hugh Scogin from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Scogin will become the second partner in Dewey's five-lawyer Beijing office, which opened in 2004. After the failed merger between Dewey and Orrick in January, Dewey has been on a hiring spree. Just in the past two weeks, the firm has hired five lateral partners.
Source: www.thelawyer.com |
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TX Laterals Find New Homes |
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Thursday, 17 May 2007 |
Lawyers across the Lone Star State are making career moves. The Dallas office of Thompson & Knight has gained two new real estate and banking partners, and three associates. Ben Tobor left Bracewell & Giuliani to join Greenberg Traurig in Houston as an IP shareholder. Stacy Blakeley has joined Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold in Dallas as a commercial litigation associate. In Austin, Sarah Duncan has joined Locke, Liddell & Sapp as of counsel in the appellate section.
Source: www.nylawyer.com |
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Former NY Solicitor General Joins Weil Gotshal |
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Thursday, 17 May 2007 |
Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced today the hiring of Caitlin Halligan in New York. Halligan will join as the head of the firm's Appellate Practice Group. Formerly, Halligan was the Solicitor General of New York State for over five years. As the Solicitor General, she managed 45 appellate lawyers and coordinated the legal positions of the entire Attorney General's office. Weil Gotshal is an international firm with over 1,100 attorneys.
Source: www.pr-inside.com |
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Philly Firm Hangley Aronchick Raises to $135,000 |
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
Philadelphia-based firm Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin has announced that it has raised its starting salary from $125,000 to $135,000, effective July 1. 44-lawyer Hangley Aronchick is the first Philly firm with less than 50 attorneys to pay $135,000 to first-year associates. Concerning the raise, firm leaders have remarked that they are just trying to stay competitive with the market. Firms such as Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll; Duane Morris; Blank Rome; Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen; and DLA Piper have already raised to $135,000. Other firms like Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Dechert; Drinker Biddle & Reath; and Pepper Hamilton are up to $145,000 in Philly. Many corporate clients are speaking out against the outbreak of associate raises. Because they are the ones that will mostly pay for these increases, many clients feel that they should be a part of the discussions.
Source: www.law.com |
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Tomlinson Zisko Closes Doors |
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
Silicon Valley boutique Tomlinson Zisko is shutting its doors for good; the firm has been downsizing for several years and shrunk from 20 lawyers in 2002 to only five this year. Founding partners Timothy Tomlinson and William Zisko are moving their corporate and securities practices to Greenberg Traurig's Silicon Valley office. Former Tomlinson attorney, Heather Meeker, helped launch the Greenberg office in 2004, and recruited Tomlinson and Zisko to the 1,600-lawyer firm. With the new additions, Greenberg's Silicon Valley office will now have 15 corporate lawyers and 43 attorneys total. Real estate partner James Janz is going a different direction, joining Sideman & Bancroft in San Francisco. Three other Tomlinson attorneys also joined Sideman - coporate and IP partner Polly Dinkel, counsel Kelly McCarthy, and real estate partner Susan Taylor.
Source: www.law.com |
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Bryan Cave Opens in Milan; Looks to Expand Throughout Europe |
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
Bryan Cave has begun its venture into mainland Europe by opening an office in Milan. The firm recruited a four-partner team from the Milan branch of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, led by corporate partners Fulvio Pastore-Alinante and Paolo Barozzi. Also joining the office will be former Ashurst tax chief Stefano Serbini. Bryan Cave expects the office to grow to about 15 attorneys by the end of the year. The firm also has its sights set on other European locations such as Germany, France and Iberia.
Source: www.legalweek.com |
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Dickstein Shapiro Hires Bankruptcy Pair for NY Practice Launch |
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
With the addition of two lateral hires, Dickstein Shapiro is ready to launch a New York bankruptcy practice. Partner Arnold Gulkowitz and counsel Brian E. Goldberg both join from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe's NY branch. Gulkowitz's practice focuses on representing creditors' committees and financial institutions in domestic and overseas bankruptcy proceedings. D.C.-based Dickstein Shapiro is one of many firms that has recently bolstered its restructuring practice.
Source: www.law.com |
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ERISA Litigators Join Jones Day |
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
Jones Day welcomes well-known ERISA litigators Evan Miller and Steven Sacher to its Washington, D.C. office. Miller joins from Hogan & Hartson, where he provided benefits counsel and litigated on behalf of companies in fiduciary audits and other benefit-related investigations. Sacher comes from Kilpatrick Stockton; he primarily works on complex fiduciary responsibility matters under ERISA, counseling clients and representing them in the federal courts and before government regulators and Congressional committees. Jones Day's benefits litigation practice is known for successfully representing clients in virtually every type of ERISA and other employee benefit plan dispute.
Source: www.home.businesswire.com |
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NJ Firms Boast Competitive Salaries; Gain New Hires |
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Tuesday, 15 May 2007 |
New Jersey firms are stepping up to the plate in terms of hiring and first-year salary raises. A sample of 21 firms shows that starting salaries in the fall will range between $90,000 and $130,000. Firms such as Flaster Greenberg felt pressure from the Philadelphia and New York markets to raise salaries; even though they can't match those rates, the NJ firms still fight for the same talent and want to remain competitive. Most big NJ firms choose to keep their salaries at reasonable levels, and instead reward associates with merit bonuses. These firms also have "quality of life" going for them. They offer the chance to gain responsibility and make partner, whereas associates in NY often only last with a firm for a couple years. New Jersey firms are clearly doing something right, as the number of first year hires increased by 19% compared to last year.
Source: www.law.com |
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Wilson Sonsini Ups Starting Salary |
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Tuesday, 15 May 2007 |
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has increased first-year associate salaries in California to $160,000. The Silicon Valley firm is not, however, applying that rate to its Seattle or Salt Lake City offices. Additionally, the associates receiving the raise will not benefit from the quarterly bonus program. Other firms that already made the raise include Orrick; O'Melveny; MoFo; Latham and Gibson; Paul, Hastings; Winston & Strawn; Akin Gump; and Cooley Godward Kronish.
Source: www.nylawyer.com |
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Sheppard Mullin Launched Climate Change Group |
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Tuesday, 15 May 2007 |
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton has launched a Global Climate Change practice headed by partners Randolph Visser and M. Elizabeth McDaniel. This practice group will counsel and advocate for clients impacted by climate change regulation. Visser is a part of the Construction, Environmental, Real Estate and Land Use Litigation practice group in the firm's Los Angeles office. He focuses on environmental compliance, government contracts counseling and environmental enforcement defense and administrative and judicial litigation. McDaniel is a member of the same practice group, but works in the San Francisco office. She is a litigator, and specializes in environmental and real estate issues and California's Proposition 65. Along with Visser and McDaneil, partners Polly Towill and Stephen J. O'Neil will head the litigation side of the practice. The new practice group will operate out of most of Sheppard Mullin's offices, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., San Diego and Shanghai.
Source: www.marketwire.com |
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Lateral IP Partner Joins Thompson & Knight |
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Tuesday, 15 May 2007 |
Thompson & Knight has hired IP expert, John Driscoll, as a partner in its New York office. Driscoll specializes in businesses with IP assets, and he advises them in issues such as trademark prosecution and protection, copyright issues, licensing, sourcing, retail operations, employment, and trade matters. He also has experience in corporate and securities transactions, cross-border M&A, hedge funds, and international business transactions. Thompson & Knight has about 420 attorneys in offices around the world.
Source: www.usprwire.com |
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With Salary Raises Comes Fewer Bonuses |
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Monday, 14 May 2007 |
Heller Ehrman has raised first-year associate salaries in California to $160,000. However, like Morrison & Foerster, Heller has also eliminated one level of bonuses. MoFo did away with the 1950-hour bonus, and at Heller its the 2000-hour bonus.
Source: www.nylawyer.com |
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