Lowenstein Sandler is the first New Jersey firm to raise first-year salaries to $140,000. The 250-lawyer firm also reported that its New York associates’ pay might be even higher. The second highest-paying NJ firm is Flaster Greenberg, with a starting salary of $130,000. Lowenstein’s raise may put pressure on other NJ firms that have remained at the $125,000 level like Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross, Gibbons and McCarter & English. Raymond Thek, the chair of the recruiting committee at Lowenstein, expressed that the raise was the firm’s way of remaining the market leader and being able to recruit the best new associates possible.
Source: www.law.com

Considering the difference in cost of living between California and New York, some have begun to wonder whether the West coast (and elsewhere) matching of the NY market rate is fair for NY associates. Starting in May many big CA firms raised first-year salaries from $145,000 to $160,000; some firms in Boston and Chicago have made the same move. Those firms justify the raises by emphasizing their national status – they want all of their associates to receive the same pay no matter where they are in the country. However, when it comes down to it, there are vast differences in cost of living across the U.S. The $160,000 NY salary is actually equal to $205,631 in L.A., and $278,573 in Chicago.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Reed Smith Richards Butler snagged Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s London restructuring team last week. Cross-border restructuring partner Jeff Drew and associate Nuala Barratt were recruited by Reed Smith in anticipation of an increase in restructuring work. With at least 20 restructuring attorneys in New York, Akin Gump has no plans to replace the two lost in London.
Source: www.thelawyer.com

Shannon Lowry Nagle has joined O’Melveny & Myers as a bankruptcy partner. She is the fifth partner to join O’Melveny from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, after a four-partner group joined at the beginning of May. Nagle’s practice focuses on representing creditors in bankruptcy proceedings; she has also worked on Chapter 11 cases in automotive, retail, airline and telecommunications industries.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Christopher Paci has joined DLA Piper as a partner in its New York office. The capital markets attorney was previously a partner at King & Spalding. Paci’s practice focuses on representing investment banks as well as issuers in a range of capital markets transactions. Roger Meltzer, DLA’a global corporate and finance chair, was responsible for recruiting Paci and expects more new hires in the near future.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges gained a new partner in New York. Robert S. Loigman joined the firm from Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman, where he was also a partner. Loigman specializes in hedge funds and securities litigation, and has represented the liquidators of failed hedge funds as well as investors in funds. He also has handled major insurance and employment law matters.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Alan Pomerantz has joined Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe as a partner in New York. He joins the real estate practice from a private equity real estate investment company, ERE Advisors LLC. Before serving as the Co-CEO and President of ERE, Pomerantz was a partner and head of the real estate practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He has worked with many big-name global private equity investors, investment banks, financial institutions, and real estate developers in large and complex transactions. Orrick’s New York office is the firm’s largest, with over 200 lawyers known for their work in global finance transactions, U.S. litigation, and international dispute resolution. The firm has 18 offices worldwide.
Source: www.lawfuel.com

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo welcomes Len Nannarone to the corporate practice in its Boston office. Nannarone is a private equity attorney, and was previously a partner at Greenberg Traurig and an in-house counsel to Intel Capital. Joining Nannarone at Mintz Levin is Matthew McMurdo, also formerly of Greenberg Traurig; McMurdo joins as Of Counsel in the New York office. McMurdo works primarily on general corporate and securities law. Mintz Levin’s Corporate Practice closed more than 200 transactions valuing more than $13.5 billion in 2006.
Source: www.home.businesswire.com

Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced today the hiring of Caitlin Halligan in New York. Halligan will join as the head of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group. Formerly, Halligan was the Solicitor General of New York State for over five years. As the Solicitor General, she managed 45 appellate lawyers and coordinated the legal positions of the entire Attorney General’s office. Weil Gotshal is an international firm with over 1,100 attorneys.
Source: www.pr-inside.com

With the addition of two lateral hires, Dickstein Shapiro is ready to launch a New York bankruptcy practice. Partner Arnold Gulkowitz and counsel Brian E. Goldberg both join from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe’s NY branch. Gulkowitz’s practice focuses on representing creditors’ committees and financial institutions in domestic and overseas bankruptcy proceedings. D.C.-based Dickstein Shapiro is one of many firms that has recently bolstered its restructuring practice.
Source: www.law.com