Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, the New York law firm, announced bonuses for salaried lawyers ranging from $7,500 to $30,000, based on experience, according to bloomberg.

Cravath’s announcement opens the bonus season among large New York law firms. The bonuses are less than half of what the most junior associates received last year, when bonuses were between $17,500 and $30,000.

“It’s the junior associates who really took a haircut this year,” said New York-based legal consultant Bruce MacEwen. “I think Cravath is reflecting the attitude that, frankly, junior associates aren’t worth as much. They don’t have experience. They don’t know what they are doing. It’s nothing personal.”

In the last two years, the biggest law firms in cities including New York, Chicago and Boston began paying first-year attorneys $160,000, according to a survey released July 30 by The National Association for Law Placement Inc.

Salaries for first-year attorneys peaked in 2009 and are likely to decrease “for the foreseeable future,” according to the NALP survey.

Law firms are scrambling to cut costs as demand for legal services drops and corporations pressure law firms to reduce their fees. Many of the largest U.S. law firms fired junior attorneys and staff this year, and firms such as Nixon Peabody LLP, Baker & McKenzie LLP and Chadbourne & Parke LLP cut attorney salaries.

Source

A federal jury has convicted two disbarred lawyers accused of scamming their clients out of millions of dollars in a diet-drug settlement.

It was the second trial for William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham. A federal jury in Covington last year was unable to reach a verdict for Gallion and Cunningham but acquitted a third defendant.

Prosecutors charged Gallion and Cunningham with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and eight counts of wire fraud, claiming they bilked some 440 clients who claimed they had been hurt by the diet drug fen-phen.

The case has earned attention both for the allegations of attorney misconduct and the complicated assets of the defendants, which include a 20 percent share of the thoroughbred Curlin being held in a trust.

Source

Recruiters and law firm leaders say the recent dissolution of several prominent law firms has flooded the lateral market with good attorneys in need of employment, and uncertain financial futures at a number of firms have prodded some well-established attorneys to consider their options elsewhere.

With more talent suddenly available — at bargain prices in certain cases — some firms are taking advantage of the down economy to bolster their partner ranks.

At the same time, firm leaders say they are being choosier than ever about whom they bring on board because they have more options, and because the slow economy demands that they be cautious in their decisions.

More here.

For LB readers of a certain generation who cherish their bootleg recordings of Grateful Dead concerts, it’s time to light a candle for the passing of the lawyer who made them possible. Hal Kant, the longtime attorney for the famous hippie band, whose stationery was inscribed “legally dead,” now is. He died Sunday in Reno, Nev., from pancreatic cancer at age 77, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and was eulogized in the WSJ’s Remembrances section Saturday. While many bands fiercely fought the taping of their shows — the Doobie Brothers appeared on two episodes of the ’70s sitcom “What’s Happening!!” to teach the character Rerun a lesson in the vagaries of illegal bootlegging — Kant gave the legal nod for the Dead’s legions of Deadheads to make their own not-for-profit tapes and pass them around. It was recording industry heresy.

But that doesn’t mean unlicensed Dead paraphernalia got a pass. Kant, a top card player, spent much time suing rogue vendors on behalf of the band. After Kant notified Ben & Jerry’s that he would sue when the ice cream company named one of its flavors Cherry Garcia, ice cream wizard Ben Cohen sent a note to Jerry Garcia suggesting, “Let’s not deal with these idiot lawyers.” In response, Kant threatened a defamation suit. But the ice cream company’s lawyer flew to L.A. to find Kant in a good mood and amenable to a settlement. He had just won the Pot-Limit Omaha in the 1987 World Series of Poker.Source

If the subprime mortgage mess, in its early incarnations, didn’t provide enough full-time employment for lawyers, now law firms have the Bailout Bill.

The Law Blog’s Ashby Jones reports today that the legislation comes at an opportune time for law firms, which have been mired, like financial institutions, in their own downturn. “People are hoping this becomes the Full Employment Act for lawyers,” says law-firm marketing and organizational consultant Peter Zeughauser.

In addition to elite firms with New York roots and longstanding banking ties, such as S&C, firms in other pockets around the country, reports Jones, are digging into the bill and gearing up for what they hope will be a nice bump by advising clients on the bill’s nitty-gritty or preparing documents to gain U.S. Treasury assistance.

Some firms are turning to new marketing initiatives to pick up clients. Akin Gump, K&L Gates and Chadbourne are assembling “working groups” of litigators, legislative experts, restructuring and deal lawyers, and issuing statements on the bill. Also, Akin Gump chairman Bruce McLean thinks white-collar work is on the way. “If the government’s going to buy up assets from a bank, it’s probably also going to look into whether or not there was criminal activity,” he says. Source

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Cogs at Big Firms often whine about the long hours and heavy workloads. But some of the most stressful days at Biglaw are days when you have absolutely … nothing … to … do.

This reaction may sound strange, but when you are expected to bill as many hours as physically possible, every minute you sit in your office without billable work feels like an eternity and causes severe anxiety.

Drive, determination, fear, abuse and insurmountable workloads are what fuel us. We need the adrenaline rush caused by impossible deadlines and more work than we can handle in order to motivate ourselves to plod through the tedium. As Cogs, our jobs, salaries and entire existence are based upon billing as many hours as our exhausted minds and broken-down bodies will allow.

When the economy puts a screeching halt to the mergers, acquisitions and real estate financing projects on which we have been billing 15 hours a day, we must still show up and sit at our desks and look busy to avoid being another "smartsized" casualty. We Cogs must put in our face time — just in case our Big Firm lucks up and scores some work in this madness: "Cog No. 451! Thank goodness you are here. The client is going belly-up and needs some quick research on what happens when the global credit markets crash. Quick — hop on Lexis!" Read More

By day, Dan Griffin conducts preliminary hearings, interviews police officers and prepares drug cases as a prosecutor for the Cook County State Attorney’s Office in Chicago.

At 6:30 p.m., he sheds his suit and tie, dons jeans and a hard hat and heads to his night job, doing construction for Great Lakes Heating and Plumbing, where he toils until about 1:30 a.m.

On weekends, you’ll find Griffin bartending and refereeing children’s basketball games.

Griffin’s schedule may be grueling, but the 27-year-old says it’s necessary to pay off his $70,000 law school loan, save up for a house and simply make ends meet as the cost of living skyrockets. He is desperately hoping a law school student loan forgiveness bill he’s been hearing about for years takes effect some time soon so he can quit one of his part-time jobs — and maybe have a social life.

"I never thought I’d be working this hard as a lawyer," said Griffin. "I love my job, but the guys I work with on construction, who are union, make more than I do as a lawyer. It’s pretty ridiculous."

Griffin is part of a growing group of prosecutors and assistant public defenders who are moonlighting to make ends meet.

Government lawyers have, traditionally, turned to teaching at their law school, tutoring or even doing a few wills or real estate closings on the side to supplement their income. That is, the ones who don’t flee after a few years for lucrative private practices. Full Story

The revelations on Monday that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant and that Palin’s husband, Todd, was once arrested for drunk driving, are raising questions about how thoroughly Sen. John McCain’s lawyers — led by O’Melveny & Myers Chairman Arthur "A.B." Culvahouse Jr. –vetted the current Alaska governor.

But several Washington, D.C., lawyers contacted by The Am Law Daily say that McCain didn’t do Culvahouse any favors by giving his team a tight time frame in which to conduct such a complicated process.

"Google and LexisNexis searches make these things a lot easier than they used to be," says one Beltway lawyer, who appraised vice presidential picks in past elections. "But you would think they would have gone through all the clips surrounding [Palin], and they would have gone out and interviewed people, particularly in the Alaska Legislature, which it sounds like they might not have done."

Another D.C. lawyer at a prominent Am Law 100 firm — all individuals contacted for this story requested and received anonymity in return for information on the vetting process — says McCain’s attorneys may have felt they needed less time to vet Palin because of her relatively small legislative record.

Read Further.

Richard Wilner has carved out an unusual practice for himself.

A founding partner of Wilner & O’Reilly in Irvine, Calif., Wilner has represented Allan "Apl" Pineda of the Black Eyed Peas and Filipino professional boxer Manny Pacquiao in immigration cases.

In recent years Wilner has seen his practice grow due to the rising popularity of mixed martial arts (MMA). On Saturday, July 26, the second-largest MMA organization, Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC), held its second series of network-televised bouts from Stockton, Calif.

The Am Law Daily caught up with Wilner — who serves as outside counsel to EliteXC — to chat about his practice, the growth of MMA and even stepping into the ring himself.Read More

At some point, almost every child hears the phrase, "If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all." Usually, the admonishment is reserved for children who insult their siblings or who complain about an "evil" teacher who assigned "too much homework." But during the 2008 election season, the question becomes whether this admonition applies to lawyers in their comments about judges. Full Story