JD Journal

Pepsi off the (1.2 Billion Dollar) Hook

joshua — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:25:35 +0000

At the end of last month I blogged about a legal comedy of errors that ended with a default judgement being entered against softdrink maker PepsiCo. If you somehow missed the original story, our take on it can be found here.

If any of you own shares in Pepsi, you can breathe easier… for now at least. A judge in Wisconsin has vacated the summary judgement, giving PepsiCo a chance to argue the case on its merits. No court dates have been set as of yet.

Cleary Gottlieb Follows Cravath on Bonuses

joshua — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:49:21 +0000

Cleary Gottlieb Gottlieb has confirmed their bonus schedule for this year, which falls right in line with Cravath. Cravath was the first major law firm to announce its year end bonuses. The bar was set so low by Cravath that it’s no great feat for other firms to meet it. Gottlieb

Like Cravath, bonuses at Cleary Gottlieb this year will range from $7500 for first year associates up to a cap of $30,000 for the most senior associates. Of course it could always be worse… at least there are no pink slips attached to the checks.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has 12 offices and 900 attorney spread around the world. It is headquartered in New York City, which also houses its largest office.

Greenberg Traurig Picks up Five from Ballard Spahr

joshua — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:21:11 +0000

A five person environmental law practice group has moved from Ballard Spahr to Greeberg Traurig in Philladelphia. The Philladelphia office, which opened in 1997, now has fifteen attorneys that once practiced at Ballard Spahr. David Mandlebaum, who had been the practice group leader at Ballard Spahr, said that Greenberg Traurig’s geographical footprint was better suited to an environmental practice.

Greenberg Traurig LLP is an international, full-service law firm with more than 1,800 attorneys and governmental affairs professionals in the US, Europe and Asia.

23 New Partners at Latham & Watkins

joshua — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:08:27 +0000

Latham & Watkins & Watkins promoted 23 of its associates to partner this week. With twelve promotions coming in corporate law and five more in finance, this could be viewed as a sign of optimism about the economic recovery. In addition, 13 associates were promoted to of counsel. & Watkins

Although this years class is smaller than the 30 promoted last year, it’s one of the largest classes we’ve seen so far this year. Only Kirkland & Ellis, who promoted 51 to partner in October, has had a larger partner class so far this year.

Latham & Watkins LLP is one of the largest law firms in the world, employing around 1,500 attorneys in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm was started in Los Angeles in 1934 and has extensive California roots, but its largest office is now in New York City.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:45:55 +0000

Good Morning everyone! Today is Friday, November 6, and here’s a look back at the last few days.

Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan opened its 13th office…

Goodwin Procter laid off 21 of its second year associates…

Hogan & Hartson picked up a former government regulator…

Dickstein Shapiro laid off more attorneys and staff…

and same sex marriage has been defeated at the polls in Maine…

Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan Announce Nashville Office

todd — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:34:10 +0000

Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP revealed today that they will be opening an office in Nashville, bringing in Nashville attorneys Natasha L. Blackshear and Dennis Nunez.

This will become the 13^th office nationwide for the firm, which is well known for being one of the country’s largest minority-owned law firms.

“I am pleased to join forces with such a respected minority-owned law firm,” said Blackshear. “Gonzalez Saggio & Harland brings the considerable resources of a nationwide law firm to bear on public and corporate finance matters in Nashville, Memphis and across the state of Tennessee.”

Blackshear worked as a venture capitalist at Council Ventures LP for five years and as a senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Corporate Valuation Consulting division.

Registered patent attorney Dennis Nunez brings four years of experience in intellectual property law to the firm. Nunez graduated with honors from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, specializing in intellectual property law.

Goodwin Procter Says So Long To Second Year Associates

todd — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:19:53 +0000

21 second-year associates from Goodwin Procter’s Business Law practice group have been laid off. Most of the layoffs came out of their Boston Office.

The firm sent out a memo to employees stating that actions they had taken in response to the “slow economic recovery” were not enough and they claimed that the firm was at “overcapacity” in regards to their current workload.

The firm had already cut incoming classes and, according to the memo, they hoped that the market would pick up as this class transitioned from first years to second years.

According to reports, men and women were crying in the halls in response to the news.

It looks like there are 21 young lawyers in need of a good Legal Authority.

Former FERC Enforcement Director Joins Hogan & Hartson Energy Practice in Washington, D.C.

aostler — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:51:35 +0000

Today Hogan & Hartson LLP publicly stated that Susan J. Court has become part of their Washington, D.C. office. She will join the energy practice group as a partner.

Court was formerly the Director of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Enforcement, or FERC. While at FERC, she was in charge of 170 lawyers, accountants, auditors, economists, and other staff in charge of keeping to the Federal energy laws and rules. She was also key in helping set up NERC guidelines and rules.

Court also served on FERC’s natural gas counsel in a senior position during its restructuring of the regulation of natural gas. She is also involved continually in international energy issues; she recently spoke in Argentina at the 24th World Gas Conference and will be attending the 25th World Gas Conference in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia in 2012.

Director of the firm, Kevin Lipson, voiced that she will be well received by Hogan & Hartson. He stated, “We are very fortunate to have Susan join us. Her knowledge of the industry and regulatory environment in which our clients operate is unparalleled. She will be a great asset to our firm and the firm’s clients.”

More Layoffs at Dickstein Shapiro

joshua — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:35:05 +0000

In a firm wide memo sent out today, Dickstein Shapiroannounced that three percent of its associates and ten percent of its staff would be laid off. Affected personnel will be notified later today. The firm did not hide behind performance reviews or make excuses for the layoffs; the memo made it very clear that this is a purely economic decision and that they regret having to let go of talented hard working attorneys and staff. Mention was also made of a comprehensive compensation package that will include salary and medical coverage continuation, but was short on specifics.

Dickstein Shapiro LLP, founded in 1953, is a multi-service law firm with more than 400 attorneys in Washington, DC, New York, and Los Angeles.

Gay Marriage Defeated in Maine

joshua — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:24:32 +0000

Yesterday, voters in Maine cast ballots on Proposition 1. Proposition 1 was a “voter veto” bill, which means it was written to strike down a law passed by the legislature that would have allowed gay marriage within the state. The final tally was 53-47 in favor of striking down the law. Because this has the same effect as a veto, the legislature can override it in their next session if they choose to do so.

Five states currently allow same sex marriages, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut, but all five are the result of legislative or court decisions. Gay marriage has been denied in each of the 31 states where the decision has been left to popular vote.

Wednesday Roundup

joshua — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:10:07 +0000

Good morning everyone! Getting the day started early this morning with today’s look back at yesterday’s news.

Eckert Seamans snags four lawyers from Troutman Sanders and opens an office in Virginia.

Scott Rothstein is back in Florida. We will continue to update this story as it develops…

Winston & Strawn defers the already deferred….

and law blog abovethelaw.com has been sued…

Eckert Seamans Opens Virgina Office and Picks up 4 from Troutman Sanders

joshua — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:59:52 +0000

Former Troutman Sanderspartner Matthew Kirsner has joined up with Eckert Seamansand will head up a new office for the firm in Richmond, Virginia. Three other Troutman Sanders attorneys have joined Eckert Seamans in the firm’s Washington DC office. All four attorneys have practices concentrated on electric utility, telecommunications and other regulated industry work.

In addition to Kirsner, the three attorneys joining the DC office as members are Charles Zdebski, Raymond Kowalski and Eric Schwalb. At Troutman Sanders, Zdebski was a partner, Kowalski was of counsel and Schwalb was a senior associate.

More Details in Rothstein Story - UPDATED

joshua — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:21:49 +0000

For our original article on the story, click here. Scott Rothstein, founding partner of the Florida firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, remains incommunicado after taking off last week. He is believed to be in Morocco, and his attorney has said he would return today. The firm has hired a former US attorney to investigate allegations that Rothstein did something improper with an investment vehicle, and has asked the Florida court to dissolve the firm, putting its assets in the hands of a receiver.

Now we have more details on the alleged misconduct of Rothstein. Rothstein is reported to have set up a side business selling shares in settlements. Investors would buy out structured settlements from clients at a discount and in turn receive payments as the structured settlements resolved over time. The problem is that Rothstein may have been selling shares in fictitious settlements and is alleged to have disappeared with anywhere from $200 to $300 million.

Rothstein has been a major contributor to Republican politics in Florida. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a member of the state legislature who was the biggest benefactor of Rothstein’s donations, said today that she would be returning any political donations from Rothstein.

The firm’s website, rra-law.com is currently blank, and the pages linking to Rothstein are now inactive.

UPDATE:

Rothstein is back in Miami and police have surrounded his firm.

Winston & Strawn Pushes Back Start Dates for Deferred Associates

joshua — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:16:31 +0000

Winston & Strawn’s class of 2009 associates were deferred back in April, and were scheduled to begin mid January of 2010. Now the firm has pushed those start dates back again. The class is being divided into three groups starting at different times. The lucky ones will begin in February, and the rest will either start at the beginning of June or the beginning of October, 2010. Keep in mind that these are lawyers who graduated in June of 2009, some of whom will now have to wait 16 months to begin work.

All of Winston & Strawn’s deferrals began receiving health benefits from the company in September of this year and will draw a stipend until they begin working. The stipend for those deferred past February will be $3300 per month, less deductions for the associate contributions to their health care plan.

Bloggers Beware! ATL Gets Sued

joshua — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:07:41 +0000

The blawg site abovethelaw.com has been sued by a Florida law professor, acting pro se. Although ATL is refraining from comment out of respect for the judicial system, you can find a juicy analysis of the case and why its unlikely to survive a motion to dismiss here.

Here’s a quick rundown of the background of the case: In September of 2007 Donald Marvin Jones, a Florida law professor, was arrested for solicitation after allegedly offering an undercover officer twenty dollars for sex. ATL reported on the case with great glee, including a photo montage of Jones provided to them by a third party, a picture of Jones taken from the University of Miami website, and a copy of the police incident report. The case against Jones was later dismissed, and expunged from the record.

Now Jones is suing ATL. The complaint brings forth three claims: 1) false light; 2) invasion of privacy; 3) and copyright infringement.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:18:22 +0000

Good morning everyone! Here’s another quick look at yesterday’s news.

Sidley Austin has already announced the deferral of the class of 2010…

Cravath has kicked off the bonus season for this year…

SJ Berwin opens an office in Shanghai…

and Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler is dissolving and one of its partners is being investigated…

The Rothstein story may have some legs, so check back later today to see if there are any updates!

New Round of Deferrals at Sidley Austin

joshua — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:40:47 +0000

Sidley Austin has announced its plans for the class of 2010. Some of the associates will be starting in January of 2011, with the remainder being deferred until January 2012. Yes, that’s a year and a half after graduation. All associates from the class of 2010 will receive health insurance from the firm beginning in June of 2010 and associates deferred until 2011 will draw a stipend beginning in January of 2010.

Presumably, setting fire to things in the meantime will not help.

Bonus Season has Begun!

joshua — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:13:24 +0000

Cravath Swaine & Moore has officially kicked off this years bonus season. It should come as no surprise that bonuses are lower than last year. The class of 2008 will get a $7500 bonus, and the class of 2002 caps out the bonuses at $30,000.

On the one hand, these are low. On the other hand, everyone receiving a bonus still has a job, which in today’s legal economy is a bit of a bonus in and of itself. What remains to be seen is how other big firms will react. Will this trigger a race to the bottom with other firms using Cravath’s low bonus rates as an excuse or will other firms pay out bonuses more in keeping with their own bottom line? Either way, we’ll keep you posted!

SJ Berwin Expands into Shanghai

joshua — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:16:48 +0000

SJ Berwin’s 12th office and 2nd office in East Asia has opened in Shanghai. The Shanghai office will focus on Mergers and Acquisitions, Real Estate, and other core practice areas. This is SJ Berwin’s 3rd expansion this year. In April, the firm opened an office in Dubai and in Marchit launched an office in Hong Kong focused on its China and East Asia practice.

Founded in 1982, SJ Berwin is a pan-European firm with offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.

Something Amiss at Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler

joshua — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:45:54 +0000

When a prominent law firm hires an ex US attorney to investigate one of its own partners, something has gone terribly awry. That’s the situation in Florida where founding partner Scott Rothstein, currently believed to be in Morocco, is being investigated by former US Attorney Kendall Coffey at the firm’s request. The allegations involve an investment scheme gone bad.

Rothstein’s lawyer says that Rothstein has not fled the country but has gone away to clear his head and will be back at the end of the week. The firm is open for business today but there is some speculation that it will not survive.

UPDATE: Stuart Rosenfeldt, co founder of the firm, has asked the court to dissolve the firm and and appoint a receiver to handle the firm’s finances.

John O’Quinn, Prominent Texas Lawyer, Dead at 68

joshua — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:06:18 +0000

John O’Quinn, one of the country’s most successful trial lawyers and classic car collectors, died yesterday when the SUV he was driving lost control and hit a tree. Also killed was Johnny Lee Cutliff, an employee at his firm that frequently worked as O’Quinn’s assistant.

O’Quinn was revered as a litigator and reviled by the corporations he sued. He was the lawyer behind the $17.3 billion settlement between the tobacco companies and the state of Texas and the $1 billion dollar verdict against Wyeth for the diet drug fen-phen. His philanthropic work includes causes like the Children’s Museum, Feed the Hungry, and Women’s Center, Children’s Assessment Center (to prevent child abuse) and the University of Houston, and is capped off by the The John M. O’Quinn Foundation, established in 1986, which focuses on helping children, public education and the environment.

He was also well known for his love of sports cars and classic cars, amassing a collection of over 800 vehicles. His reputation included a penchant for driving fast and was cited in the 90’s for a dui and later for evading arrest after an officer attempted to stop him for a suspected illegal U-Turn.

He was a giant man both personally and professionally and his footsteps will not easily be filled.

Scary Days at Drinker Biddle

joshua — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:23:31 +0000

Drinker Biddle managed to avoid deferring its incoming associates this year by cutting salaries, as we reported back in May. Apparently that wasn’t enough, as sources are reporting more than twenty associates were laid off yesterday. So far, it appears litigators are safe, with most cuts coming from tax and corporate practice groups. As we get more detailed information, we’ll keep you posted. If you have information for us, remember that tips are always anonymous and can be submitted here.

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP was founded in Philadelphia in 1849. The firm has more than 650 attorneys in 12 offices in the US. Its largest offices are in Philadelphia, Chicago, Florham Park, New Jersey, and Washington, DC.

Halloween Roundup

joshua — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:01:59 +0000

Good morning everyone! It’s October 30th and here’s your look back at yesterday’s news.

Jones Day gets one of its partners back…

Kaye Scholer is not extending its deferrals, sort of…

Foley Hoag tests the limits of corporate spin…

and we’re one step closer to the largest ever merger between a US and a UK law firm…

Tomorrow night is all hallowed evening, better known as Halloween. Here is the History Channel’s writeup on the history of the holiday.

Former Jones Day Partner Rejoins Firm After a Stint at DoJ

joshua — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:31:11 +0000

For the past eight years, Gregory Katsas has held high level posts at the Justice Department. Mr. Katsas served as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from June 2008 to January 2009. Between 2001 and 2008, Mr. Katsas also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General, and Acting Associate Attorney General. Prior to that, he was an issues and appeals partner with Jones Day, and today the firm announced that he is rejoining Jones Day as a partner in the same practice group. Read the full press release here.

Jones Day is an international law firm headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1893 by Judge Edwin J. Blandin and William Lowe Rice. Jones Day is the 8th largest law firm in the world by revenue. It is currently the second largest law firm in the United States, with approximately 2,400 lawyers and gross annual revenue in excess of $1.5 billion.

Incoming Associate Class Split, Half Will do Pro Bono Work at Reduced Salary

joshua — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:47:35 +0000

Incoming associates at Kaye Scholer will all start in January, right on (deferred) schedule. The only thing is, half of them will be paid $100,000 less per year than their colleagues. The class was divided based partially on practice group preference and to a certain extent, arbitrarily. Instead of extending the deferrals for half the class, Kaye Scholer is putting them to work in the pro bono department and paying them $60,000 per year plus benefits. This mirrors the stipends being paid by several other firms, who are turning the deferred associates out on the street to do public service law.

Is this an improvement? Tell us what you think.