Over the past eight months, Los Angeles has become the hotspot for mid-size East Coast firms looking to expand. Seven firms have opened or expanded offices in LA: Duane Morris; Dreier; Goodwin Procter; Hunton & Williams; McGuireWoods; Steptoe & Johnson LLP; and Venable. Several of these firms have recruited large numbers of attorneys from prominent local firms; Goodwin Proctor, for example, acquired real estate partners from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in Century City. The recent activity seems to be the beginning of a trend – lawyers in the west are considering their options and are much more willing to move than some others.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
New York firm, Milberg Weiss & Bershad, promoted four associates to partners this week. Neil Fraser, Matthew Kuppilas and Christopher Polaszek have joined the partnership in the firm’s NY headquarters, while new partner Sabrina Kim is based in Los Angeles. The firm also promoted two associates to of counsel.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
In response to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s salary increase implemented this week, several firms have matched their first year pay rate of $160,000. Miami’s Greenberg Traurig reported that first-year, mid-level, and senior associates’ salaries in its 330-lawyer New York office would be increased. Litigation boutique Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges also plans to increase salaries in both its Los Angeles headquarters and its 85-lawyer New York office. New York firms Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Shearman & Sterling and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson also announced associate pay raises yesterday. Some firms like O’Melveny & Myers, on the other hand, matched NY salaries, but didn’t apply them in all offices; first years in their CA office will receive $145,000. Morrison & Foerster also will match in New York, but keep its CA starting pay at $135,000.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
New York firm Dreier Stein & Kahan recently opened a Los Angeles affiliate firm focusing on entertainment law. The 100-lawyer litigation boutique, headed by litigator Marc S. Dreier, has opened several affiliate firms specializing in areas like trusts and estates, labor law and lobbying. For the LA firm, Dreier recruited around 40 lawyers from the litigation and transactional practices of Los Angeles’ Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
New York’s Dewey Ballantine and San Francisco’s Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe canceled a merger that would have resulted in a 1,500-lawyer firm. Morton A. Pierce, chairman of Dewey Ballantine, stated that the two firms were not able to overcome differences about a number of key issues, keeping them from completing the merger. Orrick chairman Ralph Baxter did not provide details and emphasized that the merger had never been a done deal. The recent departure of a number of partners from Dewey might have affected the merger discussions, though Pierce denies that as being the cause.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
