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Reed Smith cutting associates’ salaries 10%
Firm News |
2009/05/22 16:01
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The Reed Smith law firm said it will cut salaries for all U.S. associates by 10 percent across the board, effective July 1.
In an internal memo that was originally leaked to the Web site Abovethelaw.com Wednesday afternoon, managing partner Gregory Jordan said the firm had already adopted changes to its business plan because of the recession, changing client demands, and the competitive landscape in the legal industry. Among other things, Jordan said it has meant lower compensation levels for partners, though he did not specify by how much. A spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh-based firm, which has about 280 employees in Philadelphia, confirmed the authenticity of the memo. Jordan said the firm will set the salaries for the incoming class of first-year associates in the United States at a later date, but they will be at least 10 percent lower than the current levels. Jordan said the firm will freeze associates’ salaries in its European and Middle Eastern offices, and will set the starting salary for newly qualified associates in the United Kingdom about 10 percent lower than the current level. Asian operations are not affected by the action. |
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Manhattan Law Firm Relocates HQ After 50 Years
Press Releases |
2009/05/21 16:01
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Herzfeld & Rubin P.C. is relocating its headquarters to 125 Broad St. in New York's Financial District, after a 50-year stint at 40 Wall St.
Mack-Cali, which owns roughly 40 percent of the 40-story office tower, signed the global law firm to a 20-year, 56,322-square-foot lease. The new deal brings the REIT's 525,000-square-foot portion of the 1.3 million-square-foot high-rise to full occupancy. Mark Shapses, Joseph Messina and Jason Schwartzenberg with Studley represented Herzfeld & Rubin. The law firm joins prominent tenants such as Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), both of which own their space. Herzfeld & Rubin's 64,736-square-foot lease at 40 Wall St., which encompasses floors 50 through 56, is up at the end of this year. The new space offers comparable size, but on less than two floors. The new deal brings a nearly four-year search to an end. "We were hired in 2005 to find a more cost-effective, efficient occupancy solution for the firm, and periodically went out into the market looking for space," said Shapses. "The market went through extraordinary price and availability changes in that period. The right situation with the right economics hadn’t surfaced until now." Schwartzenberg noted that the space hadn't even hit the market yet. "We knew it would soon be vacated so we moved quickly to secure it." Mack-Cali will cover 100 percent of the modifications Herzfeld & Rubin requires. The concession package also includes free rent and furnishings. |
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Former Sen. Stevens paid lawyers at least $1M
Headline News |
2009/05/15 17:04
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New financial disclosures show that former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens spent at least $1 million on legal bills defending himself against charges that he failed to report gifts as required.
A report filed this week with the Senate shows that Stevens owes between $1 million and $5 million to the Washington law firm Williams and Connolly for defending him in his corruption trial last year.A jury found the longtime Republican lawmaker guilty in October on seven counts of lying on financial disclosure forms about gifts, including renovations that doubled the size of his home in Girdwood, Alaska. A judge dismissed the case in April, saying prosecutors withheld evidence that might have been favorable to Stevens at trial. The disclosures filed this week are the same type of annual reports used against Stevens in his corruption case. The forms, which cover 2008, show that Stevens also owes $50,000 to $100,000 to another Washington law firm, Utrecht and Phillips. |
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Students who paid to attend inauguration sue
Legal News |
2009/05/14 17:04
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A lawsuit was filed in federal court Wednesday on behalf of more than 15,000 students who paid thousands to attend President Barack Obama's inauguration but reportedly were left out in the cold.
The lawsuit filed in Washington says Vienna, Va.-based Envision EMI promised middle, high school and college students across the country special access to the inauguration, parade and a black tie inaugural ball on Jan. 20.
But the lawsuit, filed by attorneys of two students, says once the students got to Washington, they had no tickets for the inauguration or parade. And the balls they attended were not official events connected to the inauguration. Envision, a for-profit company that reportedly brought in $40 million from the inaugural sales, has said it would refund students $1 million. But the lawsuit says that would only reimburse each attendee about $65. The students were charged $2,380 to $2,620 and also had to pay for travel to Washington, formal wear for the ball and in some cases extra meals not included in the base cost. "These kids took odd jobs and raised funds from family, friends and strangers in order to participate in the defendants' inaugural youth conference to eyewitness a truly historical event," said Bernard DiMuro of DiMuroGinsberg PC, which filed the lawsuit jointly with another law firm, Hausfeld LLP. "Instead all they saw was the inside of a bus or were dropped off near the Washington Monument to fend for themselves." |
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Study Predicts 5 Percent Growth in Legal Spending
Legal News |
2009/05/07 17:48
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A decline in legal spending by large companies is about to be reversed, according to a new survey of Fortune 1000 companies.
The study by market research firm BTI Consulting says large companies will increase legal spending on outside counsel nearly 5 percent over the next six months, according to a press release. The top areas for growth in legal spending will be in the areas of regulatory compliance (up 5.8 percent), bankruptcy (up 2.6 percent), securities and finance (up 2.1 percent), and employment (up .7 percent), an executive summary says (PDF). The projected increase in spending follows a significant drop in legal spending last year and in the first six months of 2009. When the expected increase is taken into account, overall legal spending is expected to decline just 1.4 percent for the year. In a press release, Michael Rynowecer, president of BTI Consulting, calls the findings “a big ray of sunshine in what has been a very stormy environment.” He cautions, however, that some law firms won’t benefit from the increase in spending. “Rather than a wholesale recovery, we are seeing a shift of resources to specific firms and practices that are well-positioned,” he said in the press release. “Large companies are sharing this renewed spending with a smaller group of law firms than just six months ago. Those firms caught unaware or unprepared for this shift will continue to face significant challenges and not reap the benefits of this increased spending.” The study is based on 370 interviews with corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies that average $19.4 million in outside counsel spending. |
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Demjanjuk appeals German court decision
Legal Watch |
2009/05/07 17:46
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Suspected Nazi guard John Demjanjuk's attorney says he has appealed a Berlin court ruling that stymied an attempt to stop his client's deportation from the United States.
Lawyer Ulrich Busch told The Associated Press late Thursday he is asking for the German government to retract its agreement to take Demjanjuk on humanitarian grounds.
He says it might take two weeks for the appeal filed with a Berlin administrative court to be ruled upon. And he says even if the ruling is in Demjanjuk's favor, American authorities still could deport him. Demjanjuk (dem-YAHN'-yuk) is wanted in Germany on an arrest warrant accusing him of being an accessory to 29,000 murders at the Nazis' Sobibor death camp in occupied Poland. He denies the charges. |
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Nixon Peabody Cuts First Year Associates Pay
Firm News |
2009/04/29 16:11
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Nixon Peabody LLP has shaved $15,000 off of salaries for its first year associates in an effort to reduce expenses, the law firm confirmed this week.
In a memo to staff, firm managing partner and CEO Richard F. Langan said first year salaries will be reduced to $145,000, down from $160,000, for firm associates. The firm also has made performance-based salary cuts for current associates and has introduced a new bonus structure.
Up until this year big law firms have felt pressure to keep first-year associate salaries level with those at competitor firms.
Nixon Peabody, which has about 170 lawyers in Boston and a total of 720 lawyers, is the first major Boston firm to announce such a pay reduction, but is among several national law firms that have recently made the decision to reduce first year salaries.
Other firms that have cut first-year salaries in recent weeks include Robinson & Cole LLP, which has 200 lawyers nationally and 50 in Massachusetts, and McKenna Long & Aldridge, a Washington, D.C., firm.
Langan said in his memo, “Nixon Peabody LLP has taken measures over the past several months to review its cost of doing business while keeping its commitment to providing extraordinary client service. To maintain staffing levels in the best interest of our clients, we have decided to reduce starting compensation levels for incoming associates and summer associates to $145,000 in major financial centers with related reductions in associate compensation throughout the firm’s U.S. operations.”
The “major financial” centers the memo refers to reportedly include Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and California, according to Abovethelaw.com. Other regions will see smaller pay decreases, corresponding to lower salary levels.
Langan’s memo continued, “Additionally, we have made downward adjustments to the base pay of our current associates based on their individual performance and contribution to our firm. Along with this change in compensation, associates will be eligible for a new bonus program, based on the firm’s financial performance, which will reward top performing associates who make extraordinary contributions to the firm. With our new bonus program and strong firm culture, we expect to attract and retain the best and brightest talent for many years to come. Through this innovative approach to associate compensation, along with a wide range of innovative pricing arrangements to meet the varied needs of our clients, we are able to continue to provide our clients with the highest level of service and lower cost practical solutions in order to meet their business needs in this challenging economic climate. We appreciate our associates’ understanding and commitment to our firm and its future.” |
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