The carnage continues
 

In today's legal, Wolf Block announced that they are "culling" around 10 equity partners. So much for the brass ring.

I would post a link but subscription is required. Anyone have one who can summarize the article in more detail?

Wolf Block
 

You can still get the brass ring - you're just not allowed to keep it unless you continue to kiss ass.

It's unfortunate, though. I always thought Wolf Block kind of rejected the big-firm mentality. I mean, their PPP sucks, where do they get off acting like a big firm?

Wolf Block
 

Who wants a brass ring coated in shit?

Lawyers Unionize
 

Interesting article on Law.com about the unionization of lawyers at a firm that gives new (or maybe its really old) meaning to the word "sweatshop."

http://www.law.com/jsp/printerfriend...=1048518259019
(Spree: Lawyers unionize - nothing prurient, but may scare the bejeezus out of your boss if he catches you looking)

I know there is at least one firm like this in the Baltimore area - I think in Towson - but the name slips my mind.

Has anyone here actually worked in a place like this?

whoever wrote your board motto didn't pay very much attention in geography class.

the most common and usual division on the east coast goes new england (maine, new hampshire, vermont, massachusetts, road island, and connecticut), mid atlantic (new york, new jersey, pennsylanvia, maryland, delaware, district of columbia, west virginia, virginia), southeast (north and south carolina, geogria, florida).

the most usual variation is to move virginia into the southeast and sometimes west virginia as well which makes no sense because although west virginia has much in common with western pennsylvania, it has nothing in common with georgia. thus west virginia usually remains in the mid-atlantic. another relatively common grouping is to group west virginia, kentucky, ohio, indiana, and michigan together as the eastern part of the midwest

of course, the odds of anyone asking a question or commenting on the west virginia leagal market are pretty low so i can see why the issue never came up.

ms. geography timmy diplomat

I like the geography thing. Actually that was the only reason I looked at this board (since I live in TX now, not much mid atlantic news to report). At some point I considered adding a snarky Virginia comment in reply, but never did so.

n(who wants the boards to be run by a bunch of push-overs?)cs

interestingly enough on the old midatlantic board the map of the midatlantic which served as the board picture included virginia and west virginia and the board message only listed nj, pa, and de. that never made any sense to me.

ms. naughty diplomat

I am suggesting you are not a push-over and the abrupt message on the main page about discussions of only certain states is an affirmative statement to those who might not know it...

N(either that or you are now a push-over who has succombed to the iron will of a non-midatlantic dweller and therefore left the message intact)cs

I leave for a couple of days and suddenly MidAtlantic gets traffic. I understand.

As leagleaze mentioned, the current configuration mirrors the old one. As you may have noticed in your wanderings of the board, New York and DC have their own boards, so are not included (similarly, FL and TX are not include in the southern board). Northern Virginia had its own board back in the day, but it never had any posts, so most Nova questions go to the DC board. Southern Virginia questions land on the southern board, as I think everyone would agree is appropriate. West Virginia has no attorneys who can access the internet. :D

The Reality of Loans
 

I'm deciding between going to Temple with a half-scholarship or George Washington with $9000 a year in grants. I'm most interested in IP (not patent), government, or appellate work. I have no idea where I want to be when I graduate (either NY, Philly or DC) but know I don't want to spend the entirety of my life in Philly. I'm also going to be 31 when I graduate and don't know if I'll want to marry myself to BigLaw.
What are my monthly loan payments going to be like with either choice? And if I go to GW, is it possible to find jobs outside of BigLaw that'll pay the bills? Can I leave Philly with a Temple degree?

The difference in tuition is $6000/yr at Temple compared to $21,000/yr at GW, by the way. And Philly is a much cheaper town than DC. Thanks for your input though! I know GW is the better school, I'm just wondering if it's good enough to justifiy the cost ...

The Reality of Loans
 

I'm really not qualified to speak of Temple, except to note that I've never actually met a Temple Law grad, so that may speak to how many manage to move south on I-95 (my practice leads me to contacts with both Baltimore and DC).

As to GW, however, I know some things. It is certainly known for its IP program and is a nationally well regarded school. It has also had recent physical renovations that make it a much better place to spend three years. On the other hand, at GW IP = Patent. I don't think it is especially better than many other schools for soft IP. While the soft IP profs are great (TM is particular), the course offerings aren't particularly diverse, so there may be little advantage to a GW degree in that respect, except that when most lawyers between DC and NY hear "GW" they think "IP" (and not necessarily just "patent").

For appellate work, this really just devolves to the straight reputation of the school; it's not really a specialty that certain schools are better known for (except maybe Harvard and Yale). An appellate-only practice is really a pretty rare thing anyway.

For government work, if by that you mean working for the government, by all means go to the cheapest school possible. GW's expense will make it almost impossible to enter government service for an extended period of time, at least right out of law school. If you mean private practice working in government contracts, GW is quite possibly the best school in the country, although it still might not pay for itself.

GW has great professors and gives a great education. But damn it's expensive.

Just some things to think about.

Dechert
 

Any comments on the general atmosphere at Dechert-- either Philadelphia or Princeton?

moved to main thread by baltassoc 4/28

Dechert
 

I know people who are happy and people who are miserable. It really depends on the group.

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K&L gets diverse
 

I always liked K&L.

Kirkpatrick and Lockhart hires a diversity consultant


(edited to note that registration is required to access the above article. Leagl)

Philadelphia Firms
 

For those with a subscription (or access to today's Legal) there is an interesting article about Philadelphia firms' expanion beyond the Philadelphia market. It's worth a read.

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Mid-Atlantic Salary Ranges
 

Salary information has been made available by the Affiliates for salaries nationwide. www.affiliates.com. If you want your own report please visit their site. Otherwise, be sure to think about rewarding them for their hard work in producing such useful information.

I have included the information for all the Mid-Atlantic cities I could spot in the list, but if you think others should be added, let me know.

For Baltimore the salary information for 2003 is reported as follows:

Senior Associates (4-9+ years)
Large Firm ranges $115,150 - $168,805
Mid sized ranges $79,625-$132,545
Small-Mid ranges $64,680-$108,780
Small ranges $50,960 - $101,185

Mid-Level Associates (1-3 years)
Large $92,120 - $120,540
Mid sized $60,760 -$92,855
Small-Mid $48,265 -$73,745
Small $41,895-$62,720

First Year Associates
Large $82,075 -$108,045
Mid sized $56,105-$82,075
Small-Mid $44,590-$62,475
Small $39,445-$55,615


For Paramas, NJ (why Paramas? - why not Paramas?) the salary information for 2003 is reported as follows:

Senior Associates (4-9+ years)
Large Firm ranges $145,700-$213,590
Mid sized ranges $100,750-$167,710
Small-Mid ranges $81,840-$137,640
Small ranges $64,480-$128,030

Mid-Level Associates (1-3 years)
Large $116,560-$152,520
Mid sized $76,880-$117,490
Small-Mid $61,070-$93,310
Small $53,010-$79,360

First Year Associates
Large $103,850-$136,710
Mid sized $70,990-$103,850
Small-Mid $56,420-$79,050
Small $49,910-$70,370


For Philadelphia the salary information for 2003 is reported as follows:

Senior Associates (4-9+ years)
Large Firm ranges $117,500-$172,250
Mid sized ranges $81,250-$135,250
Small-Mid ranges $66,000-$111,000
Small ranges $52,000-$103,250

Mid-Level Associates (1-3 years)
Large $94,000-$123,000
Mid sized $62,000-$94,750
Small-Mid $49,250-$75,250
Small $42,750-$64,000

First Year Associates
Large $83,750-$110,250
Mid sized $57,250-$83,750
Small-Mid $45,500-$63,750
Small $40,250-$56,750


For Pittsburgh the salary information for 2003 is reported as follows:

Senior Associates (4-9+ years)
Large Firm ranges $111,390-$163,293
Mid sized ranges $77,025-$128,217
Small-Mid ranges $62,568-$105,228
Small ranges $49,296-$97,881

Mid-Level Associates (1-3 years)
Large $89,112-$116,604
Mid sized $58,776-$89,823
Small-Mid $46,689-$71,337
Small $40,527-$60,672

First Year Associates
Large $79,395-$104,517
Mid sized $54,273-$79,395
Small-Mid $43,134-$60,435
Small $38,157-$53,799



For Wilmington the salary information for 2003 is reported as follows:

Senior Associates (4-9+ years)
Large Firm ranges $116,325-$170,528
Mid sized ranges $80,438-$133,898
Small-Mid ranges $65,340-$109,890
Small ranges $51,480-$102,218

Mid-Level Associates (1-3 years)
Large $93,060-$121,770
Mid sized $61,380-$93,803
Small-Mid $48,758-$74,498
Small $42,323-$63,360

First Year Associates
Large $82,913-$109,148
Mid sized $56,678-$82,913
Small-Mid $45,045-$63,113
Small $39,848-$56,183

New Raises in Baltimore?
 

There is word that Miles & Stockbridge has raised starting salaries to $102k in Baltimore, which would be setting a new benchmark for Baltimore regional firms.

Can anyone confirm?

McGuireWoods & Ballard
 

McGuireWoods (which is only one word, god forbid you ever have to do a search on Martindale and spell it as two words, 'cause you're never going to find it) just named a new managing partner for the Baltimore office.

http://www.bizjournals.com/industrie...re_story5.html

(spree: article. free registration may be required)

In other news, Ballard named some new partners:

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/...0/daily18.html

(spree: same deal)

Baltimore Salary increase
 

According to a memo circulated a week ago, it's true that Miles is raising associates' salaries $7,000 (and in some cases more) effective September 1, 2003. The starting salaries for the incoming associates this Fall will be $102,000.

Eastwick Rose
 

According to an e-mail sent out today, Baltimore mid-sized firm Eastwick Rose Wright & Levine is breaking up as of the end of the month and is trying to sell their stuff. You can bid on the stuff here:

http://www.quicktopic.com/22/D/f2KHCiDBzYjm7.html

Wow, sad. I was reading somewhere where the recently-dissolved Arter& Hadden was founded circa 1848. Wow. What happens to summers/new associates?

Duane Morris Pittsburgh Office
 

Rumor has it that Duane Morris is about to open an office in the 'Burgh -- and that partners from as many as three Pittsburgh law firms/offices will be leaving to start that office. Any scoop on what those firms might be? And any insight into why in the world DM thinks Pittsburgh, which has one decent size firm in Chapter 11 and another one that's just laid off a bunch of folks, needs another law firm in town?

Duane Morris Pittsburgh Office
 

that's a firm that I don't quite understand. they have expanded quite a bit over the past few years, economy be damned, and their ppp has been pretty flat, if I am not mistaken. Not sure what to make of this news.

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More on Duane Morris
 

It looks like Jeff Blumenthal has been hearing the same rumors. Here's a headline from today's Legal Intelligencer:

Sources: Duane Morris Set
To Start Office In Pittsburgh
The Legal Intelligencer
Duane Morris is poised to open a Pittsburgh office by plucking two partners from Pepper Hamilton while aggressively pursuing partners from Steel City firms, according to several sources familiar with the situation.

Of course, I'm too cheap to have a subscription -- can someone who does post the entire article? Thanks in advance.

Must I Do Everything Around Here?
 

Never mind -- I got the article from another source. Here it is; discuss:

Sources: Duane Morris Set To Start Office in Pittsburgh

By Jeff Blumenthal
The Legal Intelligencer

Duane Morris is poised to open a Pittsburgh office by plucking two partners from Pepper Hamilton while aggressively pursuing partners from Steel City firms, according to several sources familiar with the situation.

Sheldon Bonovitz, Duane Morris' chairman, declined comment when asked about the story. But several sources, including Pepper Hamilton management, confirmed the departure from the Pittsburgh office of partners George Medved and James Hollihan, and of counsel David Scotti. Medved, one of the founding partners of Pepper's Pittsburgh office, is a commercial litigator. Hollihan is an employment litigator, and Scotti focuses on construction litigation. Several sources said another Pepper Hamilton partner might also make the move.

The names of any other possible defectors were not known, though several sources said Duane Morris has hired a legal recruiter and has focused on trying to lure attorneys from firms such as Buchanan Ingersoll, Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and Reed Smith. The Pittsburgh office could be opened as early as next month, sources said.

Reed Smith officials said that none of its lawyers would be leaving for Duane Morris while Buchanan Ingersoll management added that no one had resigned from its firm. Sources say the Duane Morris office will open some time next month in the U.S. Steel Tower, one of Pittsburgh's most prominent office buildings that houses law firms such as Eckert Seamans and DKW Law Group.
Medved confirmed that he is "transitioning out of Pepper Hamilton" but said that the situation is in a state of flux so he could not comment any further at this juncture.

The Pittsburgh addition, which would become Duane Morris' 21st office, follows the firm's growth pattern of the past five years: Opening offices in large cities by adding lateral groups and not through large mergers. The only difference here is that rather than using lawyers from one firm as the core and building out with more lateral additions, Duane Morris might start its Pittsburgh office with lawyers from more than one firm.
"I think people out here are wondering how you are going to get two or three sets of partners from different firms to co-exist under one roof," one Pittsburgh-based legal recruiter said. "The normal course is to start with one group and then find people that fit with that group."

Pepper Hamilton executive partner Robert Heideck confirmed the departures but said that the 33-attorney Pittsburgh office was just as strong as ever. The office still has 10 partners, including three in the corporate department, two each in real estate and tax, and one each in commercial litigation, labor and employment, and intellectual property. Among the partners is Chuck Greenberg, a corporate partner who also practices sports law. Greenberg represented Mario Lemieux in his purchase of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team and recently started a sports management ancillary business for Pepper Hamilton along with former executive partner Jim Murray.

Medved was one of the original partners to open the Pittsburgh office in June 1995, coming from DKW. He was the office's managing partner until recently. The new managing partner is labor and employment lawyer Richard Thomas.
"We have critical mass already, and we are seeking to grow that office," Heideck said. "We're committed to the Pittsburgh market, and there are a lot of good opportunities for expansion."
A 1978 graduate of University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Medved handles a wide range of commercial litigation, including antitrust, securities, intellectual property, derivative action, creditors' rights, construction, class action, product liability, employment and contract and Uniform Commercial Code cases.
Hollihan is a 1980 Duquesne University School of Law graduate. He advises and defends corporations in employment litigation claims on the grounds of sex, age, race, gender and disability discrimination as well as on sexual harassment, wrongful discharge and breach of express and implied employment contracts. He also counsels clients on traditional labor issues.

Duane Morris' Pittsburgh office comes on the heels of it opening a new office in San Diego last month by taking six lawyers from California-based Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps. The firm also added five Luce Forward lawyers to its already existing New York office. Last week, Duane Morris announced that it added three bankruptcy partners and two associates from Luce Forward to its San Diego office. Bonovitz said the firm will be looking to expand San Diego even further by adding lawyers in the areas of corporate, energy and intellectual property. He added that he believes the firm can service all of Southern California from San Diego.

Duane Morris becomes the latest in a long line of Philadelphia law firms to enter the Pittsburgh market. Pepper Hamilton and Morgan Lewis are among the 25 largest Pittsburgh law offices while Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis is close to that level, according to PaLaw 2002: Annual Report on the Legal Profession. Fox Rothschild opened a Pittsburgh office in the past year and several litigation boutiques now have satellites there.
Duane Morris also has 17 lawyers in its Harrisburg office and six in Allentown.

Date Received: July 22, 2003

In other news...
 

The Legal today had an article about Schnader reducing its San Francisco office to a "skelleton crew." I have 2 reactions: 1) who knew Schnader had a San Fran office? 2) this should surprise nobody, as that firm has been bleeding partners as wella s associates, at least in this market.

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Schnader SF
 

"Skeleton crew"? Having just seen "Pirates of the Caribbean," that image conjures up a pretty amusing picture. My reaction was the same as yours -- who knew they were in SF? Schnader's office here in the 'Burgh seems to be holding up fairly well -- a few departures, but also a few recent arrivals -- but in light of the problems elsewhere, I keep wondering when Schnader is going to join some of other recently departed firms in the Great BigLaw Beyond (although once SF is closed, it'll be down to five East Coast offices -- four, really, if you count Cherry Hill as pasrt of the Philly office -- and maybe that'll be focused enough to let the firm recover).

P.S. What's the deal with the Philly firms going with one name? "Dechert", "Schnader" -- soon it'll be "Morgan," "Drinker", "Duane" (OK, that makes the firm sound like your cousin from West Virginia, so maybe not), etc. Once that happens, I predict that Dechert will jump ahead of the pack once again by changing its name to "D" -- or maybe an unpronounceable glyph.

Schnader SF
 

The law firm formerly known as Dechert, Price and Rhoades (sp)?

Schnader SF
 

Or maybe just "The Firm." OK, maybe not, given the whole Grisham "Mafia-front" thing -- although there's actually an irony-challenged plaintiffs' firm here that runs local TV ads, with slick visuals and jazzy music, advertising themselves as "The Firm." And, apparently, they're not alone:

http://www.thefirm.com/
(Spree: Website for "The Firm," an NYC entertainment firm that represents, among others, former Howard Stern sidekick Jackie "The Jokeman" Martling.)

Duane Morris Pittsburgh Office
 

According to this morning's Legal, it's no longer a rumor. DM also managed to convince a Buchanan Ingersoll partner with 30 years' tenure to jump ship. I wonder how the hell they did that?!?

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Duane Morris Pittsburgh Office
 

Well, if you're on this ship, see, and it's taking on water, and kinda listing over to one side, and then this other ship pulls up next to yours, looking very sleek and seaworthy (from a distance), and the crew is beckoning you to climb aboard, well....

Is buchannan doing that poorly?

BI
 

I don't have any inside info regarding how BI's doing; it's just an accumulation of little things over the last couple of years (layoffs, partner de-equitizations and the like, including a recent Pittsburgh layoff; a drop in revenues significant enough to dump BI out of the AmLaw 100 last year; a number of partner defections, to Reed Smith and other places, before this one; the London and Princeton debacles; etc.) A recent BizTimes article noted that BI has renewed its Pittsburgh office lease for another ten years or so (good sign?) but that it has renewed the lease for about 10% LESS space than it now occupies (bad sign?). I'm not sure what's going on, but there seems a drip-drip-drip of not-so-good news that makes you want go, hmmm.

Duane Morris Pittsburgh Office
 

The Pittsburgh Business Journal also has an article on the new Duane Morris office. It may require a free registration.

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/509068

I find the following Medved quote very interesting:

"We were primarily motivated by the fact that Duane provided a better opportunity, national footprint and a focused management with a clearly delineated plan for growth," Mr. Medved said. "They had the deep resources in segmented practice groups to serve my client base. I have clients in Houston and the West Coast. This allows us to have offices in those locations."

I just checked their website; I had no idea Duane had so many offices. Houston? Bangor?!? Have these guys thought out their expansion strategy at all?

Rosenberg Martin ne Proutt
 

Baltimore mid-size firm Rosenberg Proutt (now Rosenberg Martin) has added several new attorneys, including Gerard Martin, formerly of Martin Snyder & Bernstein, which has blown up. I thought Martin was a criminal defense guy, and I don't know of anyone doing that at Rosenberg, but maybe it's a good fit.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore...33.html?f=et52 (free registration may be required)

Two interesting articles
 

From this week's Baltimore Business Journal...

When going solo has its privileges
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/517482


Paying your dues: Associates have to put in their time and money to become partner
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/517483

Two looks at very different aspects of the profession in one area. Flexibility verses stability, except the supposedly stable option is often anything but, as we know.

And one from Philly..
 

Law: New grads' employment rate declines
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/517487

So when you went to law school, did you know that 1 out of 10 law school graduates is still unemployed at the time their student loans start coming due (February after graduation)? :eek:

Also, buried further in the story is this little gem:

"It would be hard to accuse Duane Morris LLP of sitting on its laurels. The Philadelphia firm has been acquiring lawyers like they are going out of style, en route to trying to become a 1,000-lawyer firm. "

Like they are going out of style?:rolleyes:

Morgan v. Brobeck employees
 

There is a very interesting article in today's Legal Intelligencer about the legal battle between former Brobeck employees, who claim that they are entitled to 60 days' severance, and Morgan Lewis, which claims that it is not the successor to Brobeck. My take is that both sides have some valid arguments, though I believe that it is a bit disingenuous for Morgan to argue that the Brobeck collapse was all a big surprise. If memory serves, MLB watched (caused?)Brobeck wither on the vine then cherry picked the choice components.


Morgan Lewis Denies It Has Duty
To Fund Severance Pay
Of Former Brobeck Workers
The Legal Intelligencer
Morgan Lewis & Bockius tried hard Friday to torpedo an effort by former Brobeck Phleger & Harrison employees to hold the firm responsible for providing severance pay after Brobeck collapsed.

Link to full article. (requires subscription)

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Edit: added blurb and link to full story

what firm is this?
 

I saw the following job posted at a recruiter's website: Philadelphia - Major international firm seeks well-credentialed tax associate at any level with state and local experience. Top compensation.

Does anyone know what firm this is?

Thanks in advance.