On Jan. 17, San Francisco’s Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold opened in Houston with the arrival of four new attorneys. Carrie Weitinger, Julia Adams, and associate Monica Fendler are leaving Houston’s Westmoreland Hall to join the new office; former Germer Gertz associate Shannon Thorne is also coming aboard. Sedgwick’s TX managing partner reported that the firm wanted to open an office in Houston because the city is one of the country’s major litigation centers. Opened in 2001, Dallas was the firm’s first Texas office, and Austin was second in 2006. In total, Sedgwick has 370 attorneys in 13 offices worldwide.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Houston’s Susman Godfrey leads the pack for year-end associate bonuses, paying its associates double or more what high-performers at many large Texas firms could earn. At the 85-lawyer litigation boutique, 2006 bonuses for its partnership-track associates ranged $60,000 to $120,000. In comparison, for many big TX firms, $65,000 was the maximum bonus for their senior and top performing associates in 2006. Though the bonuses varied between firms, most agreed that for an associate to earn the maximum amount, he/she would have to be a great worker, have put in a large number of hours, and have made an overall contribution to the firm (eg pro bono work or business development).
Source: www.law.com

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius opened a Houston office on Jan. 2 with the arrival of five new lawyers from litigation boutique Edwards, Burns & Krider. Brady Edwards, one of the five, commented that the team at Edwards Burns did a lot of products liability and toxic tort work, which was sometimes hard to do at a small firm, so they took the opportunity to move to 1,353-lawyer Morgan Lewis. Morgan Lewis first came to Texas in 2004, when it opened an office in Dallas. The firm was founded in Philadelphia, has 22 offices with the new Houston addition.

Time Warner VP and Assocaite General Counsel Dennis P. Duffy has taken a job with Baker Botts’ Houston office. He will join the firm’s 30 lawyer Labor & Employment practice group as a partner, with the expectation of heading the group shortly.
Source: Texas Lawyer

Three more major Texas firms have announced raises for associates at all experience levels. Dallas firm Winstead, Sechrest & Minick has bumped first-years to $135,00 with a $5,000 potential bonus and Houston-based Fulbright & Jaworski’s first-years will earn $140,000. Baker & McKenzie will pay associates in Dallas and Houston $140,000 with a $10,000 potential bonus for the first year. Source: www.law.com

Houston-based firm Vinson and Elkins will raise salaries for all associate levels in Texas. In order to remain competitive both in-state and nationally, V&E will now pay its first-years $135,000. Source: Texas Lawyer