Hunton & Williams has raised starting salaries in Charlotte, NC to $145,000. National firms Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; Dechert; and Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw are also reported to have increased to $145,000 or plan to next year. Until now, first-year associates at Hunton’s 43-lawyer Charlotte office were making only $117,5000, making the increase a 23 per cent raise. The firm’s Raleigh, Richmond, DC, LA, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Norfolk, and Knoxville offices also now have a starting pay of $145,000. The NY office also increased to match the market rate of $160,000.
Source: www.charlotte.bizjournals.com
Drinker, Biddle & Reath Expands in DC
Drinker, Biddle & Reath LLP expanded its Washington D.C. office by 33,000 square feet, now occupying 93,171 square feet of space in the Southern Railway Building. The firm has a 10 year lease at the building which was constructed in 1928 and renovated in 1988.
Source: www.costar.com
Ropes & Gray Relocates in Boston
Ropes & Gray is moving its Boston office from One International Place to the Prudential Tower. The firm will occupy 15 floors of the 52-floor building, increasing its space from 350,000 square feet to 400,000 square feet. Ropes & Gray also recently moved its New York office to a new location in Midtown NYC. The firm expects these new offices will better accommodate their expected growth over the next years.
Source: www.boston.com
Dewey Adds One in Frankfurt
Dewey Ballantine’s Frankfurt office has a new addition. The firm acquired capital markets partner, Matthias von Oppen, from White & Case. Von Oppen was at White & Case for seven years, and his clients include Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and HVB. In the wake of Dewey’s failed merger with Orrick, the firm lost a number of of key partners. With hires such as von Oppen, the firm hopes to rebuild.
Source: www.thelawyer.com
Ohio firm Gains IP Senior Counsel
Ohio firm, Ulmer & Berne LLP, recently added Eric M. Robbins to its Cincinnati office as a Senior Counsel in the firm’s Intellectual Property & Technology Group. Robbins comes to the firm from Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, and deals with the securement, ownership, licensing, and enforcement of patents, trademarks and copyrights. Ulmer & Berne was established in 1908, and is one of Ohio’s largest firms. With four offices across the Midwest, it is also one of the region’s fastest growing firms.
Source: www.home.businesswire.com
Arent Fox Hires Higher Education Partner
National law firm, Arent Fox, has hired Dennis H. Blumer as a partner in its higher education practice. Blumer joins the firm’s Washington D.C. office after 12 years of service as vice president and general counsel at The George Washington University. Prior to his work at GW, Blumer was the executive assistant to the president of the University of Maryland, College Park. He has been a part of the higher education legal community for 40 years. Besides its D.C. branch, Arent Fox also has offices in NY and LA; the firm has over 300 attorneys.
Source: www.prnewswire.com
New Partner in Perkins Coie’s Menlo Park Office
Perkins Coie announced that David Frazee joined the firm’s Menlo Park, CA office. As a partner in the firm’s Business group, Frazee will focus on helping companies develop comprehensive corporate, business, and intellectual property strategies. Perkins Coie has over 600 attorneys in 15 offices in the U.S. and China. In 2007 it was named by Fortune Magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For”.
Source: www.home.businesswire.com
Firms in NY Expand and Seek New Offices
There has been a recent flourish of activity for firms in New York; NY-based and non-NY-based firms alike are growing and consequently are seeking new office spaces. Small to mid-size non-NY firms such as Duane Morris, Hodgson Russ, Seyfarth Shaw, and Covington & Burling all found new homes in NY last year. The trend has been that these firms in particular are moving to the West Side. Expanding NY firms have also sought new spaces; these firms do not have much of a preference between the East and Wide Side, as long as they remain in Midtown. Indeed location and efficiency rather than price are the main concerns of these firms. They wanted spaces accessible to clients and recruits, and they also wanted offices with newer features and that could be adaptable to fit their needs.
Source: www.law.com
Dewey Discusses Merger with Italian Boutique
Despite a failed merger with Orrick Herrington & Suttcliffe, Dewey Ballantine is again in merger talks, this time with Italian boutique Galgano. Dewey’s interest in the 35-lawyer firm lies primarily in founder Francesco Galgano and his son Federico Galgano, who would lend expertise in litigation as well as an Italian legal perspective. Galgano, in exchange, could benefit from Dewey’s extended network and deal flow. Though nothing has been formally decided, sources report that a deal could be made within the next few weeks.
Source: www.thelawyer.com
Womble Carlyle Opens in Baltimore with New Additions
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice announced today that former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and a group of his top advisers are joining the firm. Ehrlich, along with David B. Hamilton, formerly of Baltimore’s Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, will will open Womble Carlyle’s new Baltimore office. The new office is the firm’s eleventh, and will open Feb. 26. Founded in 1876, the firm has offices in 6 states and DC and has about 550 attorneys.
Source: www.home.business.wire.com
