Charles “Rick” Rule, formerly the chair of the antitrust practice at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Rule will chair Cadwalader’s antitrust practice in Washington and will continue to work in the transactional area. Prior to working at Fried Frank, Rule headed the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division under Pres. Reagan and represented Microsoft against the government during its 1990s antitrust battle. Rule’s hiring is a boost for Cadwalader, which lost the previous antitrust chair Steven Sunshine and two partners to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in January. The firm is one of the top for profits per partner and is known for its agressive lateral hiring.
Source: www.law.com

Kirkland & Ellis has begun to build its West Coast white-collar criminal defense practice with two recent hires. Mark Holscher, joining from O’Melveny & Myers, will head the white-collar practice in LA. Holscher has represented Wen Ho Lee and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. Partner Jeffrey Sinek of Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner will also join Holscher in LA. Kirkland already has white-collar criminal defense lawyers in Chicago and on the East Coast; the firm hopes to expand the West Coast practice by hiring some California-based former federal prosecutors.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

As the baby boomer generation grays over the next few years, hundreds of thousands of lawyers will face a possible career transition. An estimated 250,000 are expected to start retiring by 2011. Though some may retire by choice, many more will likely be forced out of their firms by mandatory retirement policies. What will these individuals do with themselves? Some may work pro bono, others may move to smaller firms, and yet others will leave the firm but continue to check in with former clients. Firms vary as well, on how they implement their retirement policies. They may, for instance, be more lenient with top-producers than they are with less profitable attorneys.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

The 2007 new partner classes at some of the largest U.S. firms varied widely, with some increasing and others decreasing; however, this year’s partner classes among the top 20 firms made up about the same percentage of the firm’s total partner population as last year. Concerning the actual number of new partners, the overall trend was an increase, as 5.1 percent more associates or counsels were promoted to partner compared to 2006. Though these changes are rather small, experts speculate that bigger changes are occuring in regards to the expansion of nonequity partner classes rather than equity partnership. This strategy keeps profits per partner high, and most firms are quiet about their specific breakdown of equity vs. nonequity promotions. The two firms with the biggest percentage gain of partners this year are White & Case (NY) and Weil, Gotshal & Manges (NY), with a 48 and 66.7 percent gain respectively.
Source: www.law.com

One of the ten largest Twin Cities firms, Rider Bennett, announced that it will shut down on May 31. According to a notice posted on their website, firm leadership has concluded that with its current structure, the firm cannot compete in today’s market. Founded in 1960, the firm has 91 lawyers and 101 other professionals. Most of the attorneys will probably continue their practice at other existing or newly formed firms.
Source: www.law.com

The fashion industry is becoming a hot practice area in need of style-savvy attorneys. Though law enforcement and customs are cracking down on trademark violations in the fashion industry, counterfeiters are still finding more sophisticated ways to get around the law. M&A work is also heating up, as banks and private equity are looking to invest, apparel companies are taking over smaller companies, and non-apparel companies are using fashion labels to expand their brands. Though few firms have practices dedicated solely to apparel, things are starting to change as the demand for expertise increases. Moreover, as the work becomes more corporate, firms with strong M&A practices are getting deals as well.
Source: www.nylawyer.com