Discussion of Firms and Life in SF/SV

[donkey]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...625EST0476.DTL

German accused of killing and eating Internet acquaintance goes on trial for murder

A computer expert accused of killing, dismembering and eating another man who allegedly agreed to the arrangement over the Internet went on trial for murder Wednesday at a court in central Germany.
...

Prosecutors say the killing was carried out with the victim's consent. But they classified it as murder, not -- as the defense argues would be appropriate -- a form of mercy killing, arguing that the evidence indicated it was carried out at the suspect's initiative.

...

Police tracked down and arrested Meiwes in December last year after a student in Austria alerted them to an advertisement the suspect allegedly placed on the Internet seeking a man willing to be killed and eaten.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
I figured that cell-phone technology is at a point where the phones are all essentially the same (save for features like cameras, etc.). But if someone knows more about this, I'd be curious.

I have been told, but have no independent knowledge, that AT&T phones require manufacturers to to use a higher wattage. I can't remember whether it was 2 watts as opposed to 1 watt or 1 watt compared to 1/2 watt. The reason that the person did not choose ATT was higher possibility of radiation but in the middle of nowhere that means better signal strength and less call droppage. If I get independent verification of this fact, I will post it.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

SF law firm hired to squash cool local bar. Read all about it.

[AngryMulletMan]

Am I the only one here who doesn't particularly care about cell phones? I've had a bunch of them and haven't been particularly enamored with any particular phone since my StarTac and I'd still be using that except the idiots at Motorhella stopped making the batteries for it.

So when I bought my latest high tech multi-colored lighted blinky thing with ten thousand rings and downloadable everything, I just bought the phone that all of the guys at the Verizon store had, thinking they got a discount, could get the trickest one and probably knew the difference between a good phone and a sucky phone. I think it's made by Qualcomm and it's pretty good. I get lost quite a bit and am always calling for directions, so it's somewhat important to get good reception, which I do except in my living room. So in my area Verizon service with a Qualcomm phone seems pretty good.

That said, I'm not at all fond of the overuse of cell phones and the constant yapping that goes on everywhere. Lots of days at the office my cell phone is ringing while I'm on the landline and simultaneously emailing somebody. And this makes me a better lawyer how? I call people back with speed inversely proportional to how much they annoy me. You can't even buy vegetables at the farmer's market without some jerk yapping on a cell phone. Am I a geezer because I long for the days when people didn't have to phone home for organic vegetable approval?

And those Crackberries, don't even get me started on that.

AM(unless my firm is going to buy me a new assortment of handbags to tote that Crackberry around in, they better stop expecting that I'll take advantage of their "generous offer" to provide one)M

[Skeks in the city]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch

Perhaps you think wineries won't pay big firm rates -- but I've seen enough wineries hire big-ticket lawyers and firms, and in any event my guess is that Reed Smith has lower rates than some of the big firms in SF.

Wineries will pay big firm rates. Gallo, for example, uses Orrick a fair amount.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Skeks in the city
Originally posted by Sidd Finch



Wineries will pay big firm rates. Gallo, for example, uses Orrick a fair amount.

Kendall Jackson --> Latham

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by Skeks in the city
Wineries will pay big firm rates. Gallo, for example, uses Orrick a fair amount.

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
Kendall Jackson --> Latham

And yet, when KJ sued Gallo in a bet-a-not-inconsiderable-portion-of-the-business trade dress dispute, each tried the case with litigation boutique firms much tinier than those listed above. No idea whether chintziness was a factor, but I doubt it.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
And yet, when KJ sued Gallo in a bet-a-not-inconsiderable-portion-of-the-business trade dress dispute, each tried the case with litigation boutique firms much tinier than those listed above. No idea whether chintziness was a factor, but I doubt it.

If I'm not mistaken, KJ was represented by Fred Furth. Gallo was represented by Joe Cotchett. Given those lawyers' enormous monetary success in contingency matters, I highly doubt that anyone hiring them on an hourly basis, as Gallo certainly was and KJ almost certainly was, ever does so to save money.

I saw the trial teams for that case a few times (I had another case before Vaughn Walker at the time, and when 30 lawyers walk in the courtroom and start pulling out bottles of wine, you notice). While I'm not certain, it seems likely that one or both parties had other, larger law firms also working on the case, given the number of bodies involved.

I've seen Cotchett on defense side in a number of other cases too. Given the clients involved, it was not a cost-based decision. And in those cases, too, Cotchett was supported by a team of lawyers from big firms (including Cooley, Orrick, Skadden, and Latham) as counsel for the same or related clients.

So, yes, I doubt chintziness was a factor. Gallo and KJ both wanted bsds for lead trial counsel.

Morgan Lewis is looking like the knacker for SV law firms . . .


MORGAN, LEWIS OKS PENNIE PARTNERS

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius voted Wednesday to bring in eight partners from Pennie & Edmonds and expects to hire 15 to 20 Pennie associates in January.

The Pennie group includes the seven remaining partners in the firm's Palo Alto office and one partner, Victor Balancia, from the firm's Washington, D.C., outpost. Morgan, Lewis said it is extending offers to Pennie associates and staff and expects that 15 to 20 additional lawyers and approximately 25 staff will join its Palo Alto ranks in January. The firm also expects a team of lawyers who work with Balancia to join its Washington, D.C., office.

The Pennie partners joining Morgan, Lewis in Silicon Valley are Andrew Gray IV, Thomas Kohler, Michael Lyons, Frank Morris, David Owens, Gary Williams and Andrew Wu. The partners will join Morgan, Lewis on Jan. 1.

Pennie & Edmonds has been looking for a merger partner for about two years and most recently resumed discussions with Jones Day. While individual partners from the New York intellectual property firm have joined Jones Day, the two apparently could not work out a merger deal.

Morgan, Lewis scored a coup in snagging the Palo Alto patent group, one of the most sought after specialties.

"We are very focused on building a substantial presence in technology," said Thomas Kellerman, managing partner of Morgan, Lewis' Palo Alto office. "This is a great way for the firm to get a deep foothold. It's also a great complement to other things we do."

Philadelphia-based Morgan, Lewis opened shop in California when it hired 153 lawyers from Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. Brobeck disbanded in February after its merger discussions with Morgan, Lewis collapsed. Excluding the Pennie hires, Morgan, Lewis now has 220 lawyers in its four California offices.

-- Brenda Sandburg

[Skeks in the city]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me

someone on another board said some SV firms aren't even seeing anything close to the resumes they seek for tech-type lawyers. Everyone who wanted to leave already left, and everyone else with the desired qualifications (think EE/CS/PhD and patents) in the area already has a job.

There's a simple reason for that. SF/SV firms offer GAs a half-ass risk-return. They fire like banks, but only pay like law firms. The number of people employed in the securities industry in NYC dropped 23% from its peak in the boom years. The number of attorneys employed at some SF/SV firms dropped by an EVEN HIGHER PERCENTAGE. If you offer employees a half-ass risk-return, you're recruiting based on geography. That's not good enough.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

The Recorder reports that Fenwick is raising its billing rates 10%:

"Fenwick & West is wasting no time cashing in on the possibility of an economic recovery in Silicon Valley. After two years of holding billable hour rates for partners steady, Fenwick announced to clients last week it is raising rates by 10 percent. Fenwick's decision illustrates a growing optimism among Silicon Valley law firms that a steady increase in corporate work in the autumn means the economy may be on the rebound."

Subscription required to read more.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
The Recorder reports that Fenwick is raising its billing rates 10%:

Haven't read my fish-wrapper in a day or two. Is demand in SV really this positive again?

[c2ed]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Haven't read my fish-wrapper in a day or two. Is demand in SV really this positive again?

I guess so. I know that things have been getting busier, at least. And I can't remember if it was posted here, but I heard that Fenwick is also going back to letting the associates choose if they want to be on the 1950 hours billing track (I believe the partners had mandated at one point that most if not all associates were going to be put on the 1850 or less track for pay because they simply didn't have the work).

Supposedly there are more IPOs that are going to be filed this month than any month since March 2001. Which isn't saying much, but it's a start.

C(happy days are ... sigh, Gavin, hope you can save us)deuced

[OscarCrease]

just out of curiousity, how many of you guys have made partner? i know i remember seeing atticus grinch, cdeuced, sidd and others back on the GA board when my SV firm was imploding and we all surved the infirmation site for news and that was going on 3 years ago now. but i also seem to remember many of the same users during the Gundo raises. So either you were all unusually savvy first years in '99 or some of you should be pretty senior. Has anyone crossed the line?

just curious. no particular reason.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by OscarCrease
just out of curiousity, how many of you guys have made partner? i know i remember seeing atticus grinch, cdeuced, sidd and others back on the GA board when my SV firm was imploding and we all surved the infirmation site for news and that was going on 3 years ago now. but i also seem to remember many of the same users during the Gundo raises. So either you were all unusually savvy first years in '99 or some of you should be pretty senior. Has anyone crossed the line?

just curious. no particular reason.

We're all partners, except for Sidd. True, he did post back in the early years, but at the time he was graduating from high school. An early starter, yes, but for that he can thank his keenly felt sense of destiny in the law. Think a James Stephens type.

Wait, you're not a partner? Who let you on this board, anyway?


Edited to fix, poorly, the joke with the displayed image. Damn digital rights management.