Wolf Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen is the latest firm to jump onto the pay raise band-wagon. Starting salaries in Philadelphia and Cherry Hill went from $125,000 to $135,000. First-years in New York and Roseland, NJ get a $15,000 increase to $145,000 and $115,000, respectively. The salary increase are not equal for more advanced associates, however. Duane Morris, Blank Rome and DLA Piper have also raised associate salaries in Philadelphia to $135,000. Morgan Lewis & Bockius and Dechert topped that with starting rates of $145,000 in Philly.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Corporate Partners Join Dewey
Two corporate lawyers from Reed Smith will join Dewey Ballantine’s New York office. John J. Altorelli and Jeffrey A. Potash will join the firm’s Structured Finance Group as partners. Altorelli’s practices focuses on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, reorganizations, private placements and public offerings of securities. Potash has a uniquely diverse coporate practice and a wide variety of experience including in-house counsel and executive positions with public and private companies.
Source: www.lawfuel.com
Former NY Governor Focuses on Energy at Chadbourne & Parke
New York’s former Republican governor, George E. Pataki, has joined Chadbourne & Parke as a counsel. He will focus on environmental issues, paticularly renewable energy, and will be joined by his former chief of staff, John Cahill, who will also become counsel at the firm. Pataki was governor for 12 years before stepping down this year; he was a strong supporter of renewable energy while in office, and was drawn to the firm because of their experience in the area. New York firm, Chadbourne & Parke, has 400 lawyers.
Source: www.law.com
Buchanan Loses Bankruptcy Team to Greenberg
A four-lawyer bankruptcy team has left Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney’s Princeton, NJ, office for Greenberg Traurig’s Florham Park branch. Partners Louis de Lucia, Thomas Halm Jr., and Alan Brody were joined by associate Alyson Fielder and some clients. The team gives Greenberg’s NJ office a financial restructuring and insolvency practice. This acquisition is one of several the firm has made by recruiting attorneys with portable books of business; in February 2006, the firm recruited a five-lawyer employment and labor group at Bressler, Amery & Ross in Florham Park, and in November, a five-lawyer intellectual property practice from McCarter & English joined the firm. Greenberg has 1,334 attorneys and was ranked No. 12 on the 2006 Am Law 100 list.
Source: www.law.com
Covington Hires Two Partners
Washington-based Covington & Burling recently made two lateral partner hires, expanding its litigation team. David Bayless, joining the San Francisco office, is a securities litigation partner from Morrison & Foerster. In D.C., Michael Schlanger rejoins the firm from Sonnenschein after a 30-year absence. Covington has just under 500 attorneys and actually rarely does lateral hiring; last year only six new partners joined the firm.
Source: www.thelawyer.com
King & Spalding Adds Two in Houston
International firm, King & Spalding, announced the hiring of two new partners for its Houston office. Todd Mattingly joins the intellectual property practice from Haynes & Boone, and Steven D. Rubin joins the firm’s corporate group from Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Mattingly focuses on IP matters involving electrical and mechanical engineering, while Rubin deals in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, restructurings and other financing transactions. Including these two new additions, the Houston office has acquired 11 new partners over the last 18 months. In total, the firm’s Houston office has over 100 attorneys.
Source: www.marketwire.com
Women-Owned Firm Opens Chicago Office
New York-based firm Schoeman, Updike & Kaufman is set to open a new office in Chicago, which will be headed by Stephanie Scharf, formerly a partner at Jenner & Block and the former president of the National Association of Women Lawyers. The opening makes the firm the first women-owned firm to have offices in New York and Chicago, and one of only a handfull to have offices in two major metropolitan areas. The firm emphasizes alternative fee arrangements for corporate clients, flexible work time for its lawyers, and teaming with other firms in order to gain representation on large matters.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Boston Salaries Vary Firm-by-Firm
First-year salaries in Boston vary widely between firms matching the NY rate of $160,000, and those who only raised to $145,000. Fish & Richardson; Proskauer Rose; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges are a few of the firms offering $160,000. These firms view their payrate as a means of staying competitive – a tool for both recruiting and retention. Other firms like Bingham McCutchen; Boston’s Choate, Hall & Stewart, Goodwin Procter, and Ropes & Gray; DLA Piper; McDermott, Will & Emery; Nixon Peabody; and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr opted for $145,000.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
DLA Piper Adds Tax Advisory Partner in Hong Kong
DLA Piper has hired Patrice Marceau for its tax advisory practice. Marceau joins the Hong Kong office as a partner. Before joining DLA Piper, he was a part of HSBC’s wealth and tax advisory group. Marceau has experience advising on local, regional and international tax issues for corporations and banks, tax planning for individuals and representing clients in tax litigation matters.
Source: www.asianinvestor.net
Crowell & Moring Expand International Arbitration Practice
Crowell & Moring announced last week the addition of Arif Hyder Ali as partner and associate Baiju Simal Vasani. The former Fulbright & Jaworski attorneys are joining the firm’s International Arbitration Practice in the Washington, DC office. Arif Hyder Ali has represented parties in international commercial and public investment arbitrations involving thermal, nuclear and hydro power plants, oil and gas pipeline construction and concession-related matters, project finance and development agreements, patents and trademarks, and foreign investment. Vasani has worked on arbitrations in Angola, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and Nigeria.
Source: www.prnewswire.co.uk.com
