Sedgwick Detert’s New Houston Office

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

On Jan. 17, San Francisco’s Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold opened in Houston with the arrival of four new attorneys. Carrie Weitinger, Julia Adams, and associate Monica Fendler are leaving Houston’s Westmoreland Hall to join the new office; former Germer Gertz associate Shannon Thorne is also coming aboard. Sedgwick’s TX managing partner reported that the firm wanted to open an office in Houston because the city is one of the country’s major litigation centers. Opened in 2001, Dallas was the firm’s first Texas office, and Austin was second in 2006. In total, Sedgwick has 370 attorneys in 13 offices worldwide.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Tags:  Sedgwick LLP | Houston

King & Spalding Opens in Dubai

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Atlanta-based firm, King & Spalding, opened an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this week. Philip Weems, head of the firm’s international energy practice, moved from the firm’s 105-lawyer Houston office to Dubai to oversee the office. Besides Weems, three King & Spalding partners and three associates from Baker Botts’ Middle East outpost will staff the new office. King & Spalding’s Dubai office will focus on Islamic finance and energy, and has room for as many as 17 attorneys at the new office.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Tags:  King & Spalding LLP | Dubai

Increased Salary at Simpson

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

New York firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has raised first-year associate base salaries to $160,000. This increase comes soon after the hike, occuring less than a year ago, which raised first-year salaries from $125,000 to $145,000. Because firms compete for the same group of top law school grads, there is great pressure to match each other in pay for junior associates. Salaries vary more widely when it comes to senior level associates.
Source: www.law.com

Tags:  Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP | New York

Ballard Spahr Adds Two Partners

Monday, January 22, 2007

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll recently gained a new partner in both its Washington, D.C. and Phoenix offices. Michael Vincent Hodge, the director of D.C.’s revenue bond program, joined the firm’s public finance department and will also work in real estate. Until joining Ballard, Hodge was also the CEO for planning and economic development with the district’s deputy mayor’s office. In Phoenix, John DiTullio joined the team as the head of that office’s zoning and land use practice. Previously a shareholder at Gallagher & Kennedy, DiTullio is also a certified city planner.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Tags:  Ballard Spahr LLP | Phoenix

Salary Increases in NY and CA

Monday, January 22, 2007

About a year ago, LA firm Irell & Manella was the first California firm to raise associate salaries to $145,000, starting a trend that quickly spread. The CA raises were in response to the raises that first occured in New York. While some firms like Latham & Watkins held firm to their $135,000 starting salary, other smaller LA firms like Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges matched the NY salaries in their California offices. Associates wait with anticipation for the time when the salary increases become widespread.
Source: www.law.com

Tags:  New York

Big Bonuses in TX

Friday, January 19, 2007

Houston’s Susman Godfrey leads the pack for year-end associate bonuses, paying its associates double or more what high-performers at many large Texas firms could earn. At the 85-lawyer litigation boutique, 2006 bonuses for its partnership-track associates ranged $60,000 to $120,000. In comparison, for many big TX firms, $65,000 was the maximum bonus for their senior and top performing associates in 2006. Though the bonuses varied between firms, most agreed that for an associate to earn the maximum amount, he/she would have to be a great worker, have put in a large number of hours, and have made an overall contribution to the firm (eg pro bono work or business development).
Source: www.law.com

Tags:  Houston

Reed Smith Names Woman to Management Team

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Colleen Davies, a partner in the Oakland, CA office of Reed Smith, was recently chosen to head the firm’s 625-lawyer litigation team. This a first for the firm – Davies is the first woman to be a part of the senior management team. Though Reed Davis increased its female partnership by 50 percent (making 18 percent of the partners women) from 2002 to 2005, the firm still has progress to make. According to a study by Harvard Law graduates, the firm ranked 73 out of 105 for best large law firms for women.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Tags:  Reed Smith LLP

Thelen Reid Hires Five

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

After its December merger, Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner is using the increased budget to add five new attorneys to its technology & outsourcing practice group. All five were lateral hires, and were the firms most recent additions after the merger between California-firm Thelen Reid & Priest and New York-based Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner. The technology practice now has 37 attorneys, 30 of them located in NY, and three of the new five joined the Hartford office. The Hartford office now has 41 lawyers, a dramatic increase from the numbers at opening in 1994.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Tags:  New York

Duane Morris’ Arrival in Asia

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Duane Morris opened a six-attorney office in Singapore. New York partner Eduardo Ramos-Gomez will be the managing partner in Singapore, along with five new partners from various international firms. Ramos-Gomez was the Mexican ambassador to Singapore from 1998 to 2001. The new office, now open after a year of planning, will focus on corporate finance, project finance, energy, cross-border transactions, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and telecommunications. Duane Morris also has plans to open two offices in Vietnam (located in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) in the spring of 2007.
Source: www.law.com

Tags:  Duane Morris LLP | Singapore

Williams Mullen & Maupin Taylor Plan to Merge

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Virginia-based Williams Mullen is planning a merger with 53-lawyer North Carolina firm Maupin Taylor. The merger will allow Williams Mullen to expand its regulatory and cross-border transaction work. The new firm will keep the name Williams Mullen, although North Carolina offices will use the name Williams Mullen Maupin Taylor during a transition period. The D.C. and Tysons Corner, Va., offices are not hiring attorneys immediately, but new hires are likely in the next few years.
Source: www.law.com

Tags:  Williams Mullen