The San Diego legal market has become saturated with lawyers and firms over the past 10-15 years, making the competition fierce for the limited number of clients. Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps and what was then Gray Cary Ames & Frye were the first two firms in the city, but in the 1980s some L.A. firms started setting up shop in the city. Tech-focused San Francisco firms arrived in the early 90s, taking advantage of the booming life sciences industry. Most recently, Boston firms such as Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo and Goodwin Procter are staking their claim in the southern CA market. Some people say that these new arrivals will not have what it takes to compete against the well-established firms, though others argue that with some agressive lateral recruiting, these firms will be able to grow their San Diego offices into a real player in the market.

Source: www.law.com

Several firms in Sacramento, CA have jumped onto the pay raise bandwagon. Seyfarth Shaw increased first-year pay from $121,000 to $135,000, while Weintraub Genshlea Chediak bumped up pay to $100,000 and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP raised starting salaries to $145,000. Morrison & Foerster pays new lawyers $160,000, which is said to be the best pay in town.

Source: www.bizjournals.com

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is the latest large California-based firm to raise salaries. Its San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego offices will have the $160,000 starting salary, and Sacramento first-years will earn $145,000. LA-based Munger, Tolles & Olson also raised first-year pay to $160,000, and San Francisco’s Shartsis Friese went up to $165,000. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips announced that on Jan. 1 it would also match the $160,000 rate.

DLA Piper has raised starting salaries in its Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices to $160,000. Sacramento first-years will get $145,000. Earlier in the year the firm raised salaries for CA intellectual property associates to $160,000 but left all other associates at $145,000. The firm assured associates that the raise will not mean higher billing rates, an increase benchmark hours requirements, or a reduction in bonus pay.

Source: www.law.com

Houston and Dallas-based Locke, Liddell & Sapp, and Chicago-based Lord, Bissell & Brook are finalizing plans to merge and form a 700-lawyer firm named Locke, Lord, Bissell & Liddell. After the merger is approved by partners, the deal is expected to close by August 1. Jerry Clements, the Austin, TX-based managing partner of Locke Liddell will head a nine-member executive committee. Locke Liddell is the larger firm, with 399 lawyers compared to Lord Bissell’s 300. However, Lord Bissell’s location cover more area, with offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, CA, and London. The two firms have worked together in the past on banking regulatory matters and as co-counsel or counsel for co-defendants on litigation or arbitration related to reinsurance disputes.

Source: www.law.com

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton has announced that first-year associates in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. will now earn $160,000. However, the L.A.-based firm is upping the hours-based bonus requirement from 2,000 to 2,100 hours. According to the firm managing partner, in 2007 the extra cost will come out of partner profits rather than increased rates. Seyfarth Shaw also raised its San Francisco and L.A. starting salaries to $145,000.

Source: www.law.com

Chicago firm Seyfarth Shaw has raised starting salaries in Sacramento from $121,000 to $135,000, retroactive to April 1. Seyfarth has 18 lawyers in this office. In an attempt to stay competitive in the market, Sacramento firm Weintraub Genshlea Chediak also raised first-year salaries in March from $90,000 to $100,000. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is paying $145,000, and Morrison & Foerster is at $160,000 in the California city.

Source: www.sacramento.bizjournals.com