Saul Ewing has lost two partners to other firms recently. Suzanne Mayes left the firm after nearly 16 years to co-lead Cozen O’Connor’s public and project finance group. Domenic Pacitti left to rejoin his old firm, Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg & Ellers, as a partner in the bankruptcy practice. Mayes was attracted to Cozen because of the firm’s committment to growing the public finance practice and because of the opportunity for management there. Her practice is primarily based in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and she mainly works with state and county agencies. Pacitti was a partner at Klehr Harrison from 1998 to 2001, when he was recruited by Saul Ewing. He kept in touch with his former collegues, and in mid-May decided to rejoin his old firm. Pacitti works out of both the Wilmington, DE and Philadelphia offices, and focuses his representation on the debtor side of restructuring deals.
Source: www.law.com

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis has combined its two D.C. offices into one at 1601 K St. NW, the former home of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham. The 190,000 square foot office will house more than 200 lawyers and government affairs professionals. In the nation’s capital, the firm is known for its work in financial services, including an investment management practice and a mortgage banking and consumer credit group. The merger between Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and Preston Gates & Ellis created one of the largest public policy and lobbying practices in the U.S.
Source: www.news.moneycentral.msn.com

Morgan Lewis & Bockius is the latest to raise associate salaries to the $160,000 scale in California. Bingham McCutchen and Reed Smith are still holding out, and are likely to be the only other firms that might make the increase. Those two firms have profits high enough that could handle the raise, whereas lower profit firms like Littler Mendelson and Sedgwick probably will not match the rate. Thelen Reid and Townsend are two firms that could go either way with the raise.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

A seven-attorney team from Alhadeff & Solar (A&S) has joined Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney in California. The A&S lawyers will add to Buchanan’s existing San Diego, Del Mar office, as well as adding an office in downtown San Diego and one in Temecula. The two name partners, Sam Alhadeff and Keith Solar, lead the team which includes two senior attorneys, three associates, and eight staff members. In the San Diego market, where Solar is based, A&S was known for handling business law, litigation, and water law matters. Solar is well-known for his work in water rights and the tuna industry. A&S’s practice in Temecula focused primarily on land-use and environmental law. Alhadeff’s work here deals with real estate development, entitlement, and conservation.
Source: www.earthtimes.org

Where do New Jersey firms fit in the first-year associate salary increase race? In what follows are some of the highlights:
Latham & Watkins (Newark) and Drinker Biddle (Florham Park) top things out at $145,000. Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll (Voorhees); Flaster/Greenberg (Cherry Hill); and Proskauer Rose (Newark) are competitive at $130,000. Starting salary at McCarter & English (Newark); Lowenstein Sandler (Roseland); Gibbons (Newark); Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross (Newark); and Fox Rothschild (Princeton and Atlantic City) is $125,000.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Besides hiking up salaries, some law firms are coming up with other ways to improve retention and recruitment. These special perks are becoming increasingly more important in this market where lateral defections are commonplace and associate attrition is close to 80 percent by the time lawyers are in their fifth year of practice. Nixon Peabody started a matching contributions 401(k) plan for associates who have been with the firm for two years, something most firms only do for partners and administrative staff. DLA Piper implemented a program that reimburses its lawyers $2,000 for purchasing ($1,500 for leasing) a hybrid car. This program is all a part of the firm’s global sustainability initiative which began in January. Other firms like Alston & Bird offer services targeted at mothers like childcare, nursing rooms, or parking spaces for expecting mothers.
Source: www.law.com