Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has recruited Baker & McKenzie Shanghai partner Thomas Man. Man, a Chinese native, will join the firm’s Beijing office and focus his practice on representing foreign companies in foreign direct investments, M&A transactions and real estate investment in China. He is the sixth partner that Orrick has added to its China offices in the past six months.
Source: www.thelawyer.com
Tad Decker has announced his return to Cozen O’Connor as CEO. In 2004 Decker was appointed to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, and he was reappointed to a three-year term the following year. Decker will be taking the place of Patrick O’Connor, who will step down as president and CEO of the firm. His first goal is to redo the firm’s strategic plan, and he also plans to expand the firm in Philadelphia and nationally. Decker acknowledges that he is limited by his age (61) in this role, and plans to revisit the position every few years, ensuring that he will be succeeded by a suitable candidate.
Source: www.law.com
DLA Piper has opened a new office in Munich. This office will focus on technology, media and commercial areas of practice and will be run by managing partner Thomas Jansen. DLA Piper already has offices in Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg and intends, to continue expanding within Germany over the next 18 months. The firm chose to open this fourth office in Munich because the region was not represented adequately by the three existing offices.
Source: www.law.com
Continuing a trend among Chicago law firms, both Baker & McKenzie and Jenner & Block have raised their first-year base salaries to $160,000. These increases follow those made by other Chicago firms such as Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, and DLA Piper. The Chicago pay hikes are part of a national trend started in New York and California and are due in large part to increased competition among firms for top law school graduates.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Vincent J. Pisano, formerly of Kirkland & Ellis, has moved to Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker as a capital markets partner. Previous to working at Kirkland & Ellis, Mr. Pisano worked for Skaden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and transferred to Kirkland & ELlis in 2003. Mr. Pisano specializes in representing major underwriters such as Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Houston-based law firm Yetter & Warden LLP has opened an office in Austin which will have six or seven attorneys. The Austin office will focus on a national apellate practice and major clients include American Airlines, General Electric, Levi Strauss & Co., and Southwest Airlines. Greg Coleman, previously of Weil Gotshal & Manges’s national appellate practice in Austin, will head the new office.
Source:www.news.moneycentral.msn.com
Dallas-based Winstead has announced it will not be joining the other Texas firms that raised associate salaries. The new salary scale is effective today at Vinson & Elkins, the firm that started the move to $160,000 for 1st-years, and $170,000 for 2nd years. Winstead will continue to pay a starting base salary of $135,000, and will instead offer a merit-based bonus of up to $25,000. Denis Braham, chairman and chief executive officer of the firm, commented on the decision saying that Winstead would prefer to reward individual associates based on their contributions. He feels that bonuses will keep the firm competitive, attracting associates with a long-term view and who want to be rewarded for hard work.
Source: www.law.com
The New York managing partner of King & Spalding has left to join WilmerHale. Michael O’Brien will focus on M&A and private equity with WilmerHale. At King & Spalding, O’Brien served on the firmwide operating committee since 2003, and last year he lead the firm in representing Caremark Rx Inc. in its $26 billion merger with CVS Corp. IP attorney Robert Perry will take over as the managing partner of King & Spalding’s 120-lawyer NY office.
Source: www.law.com
Philip Olsen has joined the Boston office of McCarter & English as a partner. The state and local tax attorney was formerly a senior counsel with Holland & Knight. He has represented clients in major tax controversies in numerous state administrative boards and superior courts, as well as state appeals and supreme courts. McCarter & English’s 400 attorneys are based in Baltimore, Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Stamford, and Wilmington.
Source: www.boston.dbusinessnews.com
