King & Spalding responded to Alston & Bird’s pay raise by making the same $15,000 increase to first-year associate salaries. Effective Jan. 1, 2008, the starting pay will be $145,000, but the firm made no similar announcements regarding senior associates’ pay. A firm spokesperson reported that K&S will “continue to evaluate” the pay structure for other levels of associates. Recruiters have ventured the guess that the firm quickly matched only the first-year salary rather than all levels in order to remain competitive during summer associate recruiting rush.
Source: www.law.com

DLA Piper has recruited two corporate and securities partners from Greenberg Traurig to join its Silicon Valley office. Both attorneys have strong business relationships with Vietnam and China. Khoa Do was a partner and the chair of GT’s Silicon Valley corporate and securities practice. Do’s practice focuses on advising technology companies on corporate formation and governance, venture capital financings, public offerings, M&A and public company reporting. Michael Reagan works in venture capital and M&A; he is fluent in Lao and Thai.
Source: www.thelawyer.com

Frost Brown Todd has opened a new office in West Virginia. This is its ninth office, and its first in WV. The firm’s other offices are located in in Cincinnati, Middletown, and Columbus, OH; Florence, Lexington and Louisville, KY; New Albany, IN; and Nashville, TN. James D. McQueen Jr. will serve as the Administrative Member-in-Charge, and Amanda Davis will be a staff attorney. Both lawyers were formerly with McQueen & Murphy LC. McQueen specializes in insurance bad faith, coverage, and fraud, professional liability and licensure (ethics), and fire and explosion cases.
Source: www.wvrecord.com

Recruiting pages are an important feature on law firm websites, but not all are created equal. Based on a Law.com review of the AmLaw 100 sites, Howrey’s “Bootcamp” site outshone the rest. It provides detailed information, interactive features, and videos of Bootcamp alumnus. Video is an especially effective tool on the websites, though few firms use it. Among those that do are White & Case, Ropes & Gray, and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel. Other unique features include Akin Gump’s “A Moment in Time” which shows the firm’s lawyers’ activities across the globe at a paticular instant in time. Alumni searches, photo albums, and testimonials are other effective tools used by firms with top-notch recruiting sites.
Source: www.law.com