Winston & Strawn has hired two new partners from Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw for its Chicago office. James J. Junewicz and Delilah B. Flaum have joined the firm’s corporate and litigation practices, respectively. Junewicz was formerly an assistant general counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission and is recognized for his expertise in Corporate/M&A law. His practice focuses on securities and M&A transactions, and he also advises boards of directors on fiduciary and corporate governance issues. Flaum handles complex commercial and class action litigation, health care regulatory compliance, and government relations matters. She previously was a regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Source: www.home.businesswire.com

Saul Ewing is the latest of the Philadelphia firms to increase its starting pay. The firm increased its first-year associate salary from $125,000 to $135,000, effective September 1. The raise will apply to all offices except for Harrisburg, which will go from $115,000 to $125,000. Saul Ewing follows Pepper Hamilton and Drinker Biddle & Reath, who also recently announced a Sep. 1 increase to $145,000.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Consulting firm Edge International surveyed law firm leaders to find out who of their peers they most admire. There were 62 respondents, and 13 percent of them chose Robert Dell, the head of Latham & Watkins. Behind Dell were Goodwin Procter’s chair and managing partner Regina Pisa and DLA Piper’s Joint Chief Executive Officer Lee Miller, who each got 6.5 percent of the vote. Respondents explained their choices by identifying desirable characteristics for a law firm leader such as commitment to change, an ambitious agenda, longevity, maintaining core values and the ability to get people aligned. About a dozen of those polled actually responded that they did not know enough about other firm leaders to answer, but the number of responses shows that recognition of top managers is increasing.
Source: www.law.com

2006 was a profitable year for AmLaw 100 firms; the majority of these top-grossing firms reported profits per equity partner of $1 million or more. The average revenue per lawyer went up 7.3 percent last year compared to 2005, and average gross revenue increased by 11.4 percent. These firms are attaining such profit per partner levels through various means. Contingency fees and simply more work (especially litigation, transactions, and real estate) were big contributors. Some firms also reduced the number of their equity partners. Chadbourne & Parke and Holland & Knight, for example, both reduced their partnership numbers by about 10 percent and then ended the year spikes in their profits per partner and equity partners.
Source: www.law.com

Florida firm Akerman Senterfitt has named its first-ever firm president. The firm nominated its chief operating shareholder and M&A partner, Robert Zinn, to be in charge of the firm’s day-to-day operations. The 500-lawyer firm functions like a corporation rather than a partnership, hence the presence of shareholders and a president rather than partners and a mangaging partner. In 2006, Akerman recorded the second highest revenue among Florida firms.
Source: www.thelawyer.com

Dewey Ballantine welcomes three lateral partners to its London office. Lee Parker will work to develop the firm’s English law practice, along with being a senior partner in the capital markets group. He comes from Global Legal Search, a partner placement agency. Carlo Kostka joins from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he was a partner in the U.S. securities law group. Kostka will be a capital markets partner with Dewey and will provide valuable Italian connections and Italian language skills to the firm. Litigation partner Alastair Crawford also leaves Freshfields for Dewey, where he will work to develop the firm’s global arbitration practice.
Source: www.lawfuel.com