Alston & Bird has raised Atlanta first year associates’ salaries from $130,000 to $145,000, matching the firm’s pay in its Charlotte office. The raises will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2008. Alston’s pay raise matches the rate set by Hunton & Williams back in February; the firm raised its starting salary to $145,000 in all offices except for New York. This raise reaches $190,000 for seventh-year associates, and many mid-level associates have voiced complaints that their raises are not equal to those of the first-year associates. To compare, Hunton’s Charlotte pay scale tops at $240,000 for seventh-years.
Source: www.law.com

Fox & Rothschild has done it again – less than a month after its merger with Roseland, NJ’s Goldman & Kramer, the firm has announced another merger. The latest acquisition is Pottstown, PA firm Binder Kalis & Proctor. The three-attorney outfit specialized in corporate matters, municipal law, real estate and estate planning. Founded in 1941, it was the oldest continuously existing firm in the area. This merger is Fox & Rothschild’s seventh since 2005, with most of the expansion taking place in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Continuing a trend among Chicago law firms, both Baker & McKenzie and Jenner & Block have raised their first-year base salaries to $160,000. These increases follow those made by other Chicago firms such as Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, and DLA Piper. The Chicago pay hikes are part of a national trend started in New York and California and are due in large part to increased competition among firms for top law school graduates.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

The New York managing partner of King & Spalding has left to join WilmerHale. Michael O’Brien will focus on M&A and private equity with WilmerHale. At King & Spalding, O’Brien served on the firmwide operating committee since 2003, and last year he lead the firm in representing Caremark Rx Inc. in its $26 billion merger with CVS Corp. IP attorney Robert Perry will take over as the managing partner of King & Spalding’s 120-lawyer NY office.
Source: www.law.com

Philip Olsen has joined the Boston office of McCarter & English as a partner. The state and local tax attorney was formerly a senior counsel with Holland & Knight. He has represented clients in major tax controversies in numerous state administrative boards and superior courts, as well as state appeals and supreme courts. McCarter & English’s 400 attorneys are based in Baltimore, Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Stamford, and Wilmington.
Source: www.boston.dbusinessnews.com

O’Melveny & Myers has moved a key player from its Tokyo office to Hong Kong. Partner Gregory Puff was handpicked to head the M&A practice in Hong Kong, with hopes that he will help the firm become a strong force in the Asian corporate market. Puff is experienced in cross-border corporate finance transactions; he will continue to handle his work in Tokyo despite the transfer to Hong Kong. O’Melveny’s Asian offices are located in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai.
Source: www.thelawyer.com

Arnold & Porter has recruited international corporate lawyer, Juan Manuel Trujillo, to be a partner in the New York office. Trujillo specializes in corporate transactional work, including project, structured, and cross-border finance, as well as restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, commercial arbitration, joint ventures and investment projects throughout Latin America and other emerging markets. His arrival strengthens the firm’s Latin American practice, which has been steadily expanding all year. Trujillo’s work history includes serving as the lead counsel in the sale of the largest mining company in Bolivia and Argentina, and also overseeing the debt restructuring of one of the largest commercial groups in Chile.
Source: www.lawfuel.com

Alston & Bird has recruited Kris Manzano from Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. She joins the firm as a partner in its Charlotte office, strengthening its corporate and securities practice. Manzano’s practice focuses on alternative investment products. She has experience handling private investment funds, investment adviser registration and compliance, foreign offerings, and private offerings of equity and debt securities. Alston & Bird has over 750 attorneys in offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, New York, the Research Triangle and Washington, D.C.
Source: www.charlotte.dbusinessnews.com

Sullivan & Cromwell has lost long-time partner Henry Christensen. The private client partner is leaving for McDermott Will & Emery after 37 years with Sullivan & Cromwell. Christensen will head the Chicago firm’s New York and international private client group, focusing on international estate planning. There are about 40 attorneys in McDermott’s private client practice, but until this recent hire it has lacked a New York and international presence.
Source: www.legalweek.com

Dreier recruited a five-lawyer intellectual property group from Greenberg Traurig. Albert L. Jacobs, the former national head of Greenberg’s IP practice, Daniel A. Ladow, the former head of Greenberg’s New York IP litigation group, and Gerald F. Diebner will become partners at Dreier. Elizabeth S. Lapadula joins as of counsel, and one associate is also making the jump. This team specializes in patent litigation, especially in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical areas. Last year Dreier also added four IP attorneys from Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner.
Source: www.nylaywer.com