Fox Rothschild is saying “no” to first-year salary raises, keeping its starting salary at $125,000. The firm felt that raising salaries would be a disservice to its clients, partners, and ultimately its associates too, who would be working more to earn a higher salary. Other Philadelphia firms feel differently, however, and have announced pay raises – some retroactive to January and others effective in September. Pepper Hamilton, Dechert, Morgan Lewis, and Drinker Biddle & Reath have all bumped starting salaries to $145,000. Other firms such as Saul Ewing, DLA Piper, and Blank Rome increased pay in Philly to $135,000.
Source: www.law.com

Bingham McCutchen has added employment law partner, Walter Stella, to its San Francisco office. Joining from Shook, Hardy & Bacon, Stella brings 15 years of experience in employment litigation and counseling. There are 50 attorneys in Bingham’s labor and employment group. The San Francisco-based firm has 13 offices worldwide and over 800 lawyers.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Atlanta-based Ford & Harrison has done away with the billable hour for first-year associates. The 190-lawyer labor and employment firm has implemented a program that focuses on having associates spend their time observing depositions and and witness interviews and attending hearings and litigation strategy meetings. Having no billable hour requirement could be a draw for law students, despite the fact that the firm only pays first-years $125,000 in its larger offices. The firm hopes that the new program will enable new associates to handle more important matters more quickly, and it also eliminates the challenge of determining which hours billed by associates are valuable enough to bill.
Source: www.law.com

Crowell & Moring added corporate partner, Bryan Brewer, to its D.C. office. Formerly working for Nixon Peabody, Brewer focuses on public securities, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and export controls. He brings with him between 25 and 30 clients, and said that he was interested in Crowell because he wanted to be a part of a local large corporate practice. Since 2001, when Crowell started a serious effort to increase its corporate group, the practice has grown by 40 lawyers. Sources say that the group could grow to 80 or more attorneys in the next six to eight years.
Source: www.bizjournals.com

Magic cicle firm, Clifford Chance, has recruited three litigation partners from Sidley Austin to join its Washington, D.C. office. Juan Morillo, Stephen Nickelsburg and Steven Coltreau are white-collar and criminal defense attorneys who also have extensive experience in civil practice. In addition to the trio, Clifford Chance added another partner, Wendy Wysong. Wysong was previously a senior lawyer with the US government’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
Source: www.news.crippssears.com