A new, 360 attorney entity will form as of October 1 when Fox Rothschild merges with Grotta, Glassman & Hoffman. The combined firm will have offices in Philadelphia, Princeton, Atlantic City, Pittsburgh, Wilmington, West Palm Beach, New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Los Angleles.
Source: www.law.com

Hunton & Williams, the 850 attorney firm based in Richmond, Virginia, is opening its 18th overall office in Los Angeles. The firm will enter the market with the recruitment of 8 lawyers from dissipating L.A. boutique O’Donnell & Mortimer. The office’s initial practice will concentrate on product liability, environmental law and intellectual property.
Source: www.law.com

New York-based Dewey Ballantine and San Francisco-based Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe are currently engaged in merger talks. While still in the preliminary stages, the potential combination would result in a 1,200 lawyer entity. In New York City, Dewey currently employs 300 attorneys and Orrick has 200, and a combined force of 500 lawyers would be one of the largest in the city.
Source: www.law.com

Hunton & Williams has opened its 18th office in Los Angeles, California. Five litigation partners from local boutique O’Donnell & Mortimer will seed the new office. 10 current Hunton & Williams lawyers will join from other offices to aide in the job. The firm will focus initially on IP and environmental litigation.
Source: www.legalweek.com

In a move to become a full-service firm with a national presence, Silicon Valley-based Cooley Godward will merge with New York’s Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman. Effective October 1st, the new entity will be known as Cooley Godward Kronish and employ 550 attorneys firmwide.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

In an annual survey conducted by Vault.com, New York’s Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz placed number one as the most prestigious law firm in the country. The rest of the top ten was dominated by major NY firms.

1 Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz New York, NY
2 Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP New York, NY
3 Sullivan & Cromwell LLP New York, NY
4 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP New York, NY
5 Davis Polk & Wardwell New York, NY
6 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP New York, NY
7 Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP New York, NY
8 Latham & Watkins LLP Los Angeles, CA
9 Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP New York, NY
10 Kirkland & Ellis LLP Chicago, IL

(From Vault.com’s 100 Most Prestigious Firms)

In a move to expand its national presence, Washington, D.C.-based firm Venable LLP has opened a new office in L.A. throught the aqcuisition of two boutiques: Gorry Meyer & Rudd L.L.P. and Whitwell Jacoby Emhoff LLP. The move brings twenty attorneys to Venable, with a total of approximately 500 firm-wide. Venable has offices in Washington, New York, Maryland, and Virginia.
Source: www.law.com

In a move contrary to the current trend, Pillsbury Winthrop is set to close its Century City, California office. Citing the office as “redundant,” Pillsbury will consolidate the attorneys and staff to its downtown L.A. location. The move comes at a time when many other firms are opening new offices in Century City in order to reduce the time their employees spend commuting.
Source: www.law.com

Washington D.C. firm Steptoe & Johnson will open a new office in Century City. The office will be seeded with four partners acquired from Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan, with plans to quickly expand to 20 attorneys and a long-term number between 40 and 50. The practice will focus on insurance, tax and commercial litigation, including intellectual property. Steptoe currently has a 20 attorney downtown L.A. office, along with locations in New York, Phoenix, Brussels, Washington, and London.
Source:www.law.com

LA firms Greenberg Glusker FieldsClaman & Machtinger and Christensen, Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil & Shapiro have raised their first-year associate pay. Greenber Glusker’s associates will now earn $135,000 their first year, while Christensen’s raise was undisclosed. The move comes late in comparison to most others, but the firms insist it is to meet the market and bears no relation to the current wiretapping investigations.

Source:www.law.com

LA firms Greenberg Glusker FieldsClaman & Machtinger and
Christensen, Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil & Shapiro have raised their
first-year associate pay. Greenber Glusker's associates will now earn
$135,000 their first year, while Christensen's raise was undisclosed.
The move comes late in comparison to most others, but the firms insist
it is to meet the market and bears no relation to the current
wiretapping investigations.

New York Lawyer