Phoenix-based Lewis & Roca is merging with Nevada firm Beckley Singleton. The firm will continue keep the name Lewis & Roca, and will be one of the largest in Nevada, with 57 attorneys practicing in the state and 200 attorneys firm wide. Fifteen shareholders of Beckley Singleton will join Lewis and Roca as partners, two attorneys will join as of counsel, and the remaining 17 attorneys will be associates. Lewis & Roca has offices in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Holland & Knight Criminal Defense Team Joins Nixon Peabody
Six government investigations and white-collar criminal defense lawyers from Holland & Knight have joined Nixon Peabody in its Boston office. Mark D. Seltzer and Brian French join Nixon as partners. Four associates, Lisa Lent, Averi Price, Sean Riley and Shannon Schultz, also made the move.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Patent Attorneys Are Hot Property
Patent attorneys are in strong demand across the country. With patent applications having more than tripled over the past two decades (reaching over 440,000 last year), and patent lawyers making up only about 3 percent of the nation’s 1.1 million active attorneys, the competition between firms to recruit them is fierce. The field is especially demanding because it requires scientific or technical expertise along with a law degree, making the patent lawyers out there hot commodities. First-year associates at large firms can expect a 10 percent to 15 percent premium over base pay of about $160,000. An IP partner at a top firm typically is hired at $700,000 or $800,000, even $1 million a year, even with a small book of business.
Source: www.baltimoresun.com
Thelen Reid Raises Salaries, Offers Two-Tier Scale
Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner is the last major California firm to announce a pay raise as a part of the recent wave of increases. Rather than establishing a starting salary of $160,000 across the board, Thelen Reid created a two-tier pay structure that pays associates that work 2,000 hours a year $160,000, and pays those that work less $145,000. The two-tier scale will be effective on July 1 in California, Washington, D.C., and New Jersey. This structure allows more flexibility for those associates who balance life/work issues, putting less pressure on them to perform up to a $160,000 standard. The associates can move between the two tiers without falling off the partner track – twice a year they can move into the 2,000-hour tier, and they can move back into the less-than-2,000-hour option once. Fenwick & West has a similar system, letting associates choose between a 1,800 or 1,950-hour pay scale.
Source: www.law.com
Sedgwick Detert Recruits Real Estate Team
Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold picked up six real estate lawyers from the now dissolved Woo & Associates. The lawyers, who specialize in representing landlords, will join Sedgwick’s San Francisco office. Sedgwick’s real estate practice already included litigation and transactional services for a wide range of commercial real estate owners, developers, managers, lessees and professionals.
Source: www.charlotte.bizjournals.com
Kirkland Ellis Faces Departures in L.A.
Kirkland & Ellis’s L.A. office has faced a number of departures over the past six months, bringing the 115-lawyer office down to about 90. About half of those attorneys who left were partners, some of whom are moving on to a new stage in their career. Now the number of partners and associates are about equal, creating a slight sense of imbalance. The L.A. office is strong in civil litigation, IP, bankruptcy, and corporate law, and firm sources report confidence in the office’s future growth.
Source: www.law.com
East Coast Firms New L.A. Offices Thrive
Several firms that entered the L.A. market last year are celebrating a successful first year. Despite the competitive lateral market, these firms have managed to significantly increase their headcounts. Goodwin Procter, had a particularly good year in California, opening two offices in L.A. and others in San Diego, Silicon Valley, and San Francisco. Steptoe & Johnson has grown their Century City office to 22 lawyers, finding success in recruiting in West L.A. Whereas Steptoe has grown using a lateral-by-lateral approach, Venable has built its L.A. office by combining two local 10-lawyer boutiques.
Source: www.law.com
Bingham McCutchen Merges with Tokyo Firm
Bingham McCutchen has merged with Tokyo insolvency firm, New Tokyo International Law Office. The merger will put the number of Japanese lawyers in the office to 50. In January of this year, Bingham merged with another Tokyo firm, Sakai & Mimura.
Source: www.thelawyer.com
MoFo Losses Antitrust Lawyer to Holme Roberts & Owen
Jesse Markham Jr. is leaving Morrison Foerster to join Holme Roberts & Owen in San Francisco as the antitrust team co-chair. At MoFo, Markham was the co-chair of the antitrust group for three years. His reasons for the move included lower billing rates and an opportunity to grow HRO’s practice. With the new addition, Denver-based HFO will have 19 lawyers in its San Fran office. Markham aims to establish one of the “go-to” antitrust practices in the country, but some say that will be difficult without a larger group of lawyers and in a firm that isn’t known for its antitrust work.
Source: www.law.com
Wilson Sonsini Prepares to Close Salt Lake City Shop
Wilson Sonsini will be closing its Salt Lake City office within the next two months. The 13-lawyer office opened in 2001. The Silicon Valley firm decided to close the office in order to bring partner Robert O’Connor back to the San Francisco office where he will help organize and manage the clean-tech practice. Corporate partner Mark Bonham will stay in Salt Lake, joining local firm Ray Quinney & Nebeker, along with four associates.
Source: www.law.com
