Posts on ‘November 20th, 2009’

Big Law is governed by many unspoken social rules, says The Snark, and what is acceptable behavior often depends on where you fall in the Big Law hierarchy. The Snark, no anthropologist, nevertheless attempts to provide some meaningful guidance on the basic power structure and how it plays out in specific situations. A good rule of thumb is that Power Partners at the top can do whatever they want. The rest just need to pay attention and follow the example of those who have survived and are upwardly mobile.

The economy isn’t giving us a lot to cheer about this holiday season … and it could get worse. This year, it appears more companies are saying no to an annual tradition: the office holiday party. But attorney Kelly Phillips Erb notes that not only are holiday office parties a good way to say thank you to employees — they may also bring tax benefits to the firm as well as employees. Phillips Erb discusses some of the things to keep in mind if law firms want to take advantage of those benefits.

The New York Court of Appeals affirmed on Thursday the recognition of same-sex marriages by a county executive and a state agency, but by a bare 4-3 margin declined to extend full New York recognition to such marriages contracted in other states and countries where they are legal. The dissenting judges wrote that the ruling would “permit an unworkable pattern of conflicting … directives.”

Voting 59 to 39, the U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed David Hamilton’s nomination to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The nomination had stalled for five months amid criticism from Republican lawmakers about Hamilton’s pro bono work for the Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Earlier this week, the Republican caucus fell short of maintaining a filibuster.

As partners at Lovells and Hogan & Hartson met this week to discuss their planned trans-Atlantic merger in depth, more details emerged concerning the structure of the deal, which would see the two firms integrate governance and remuneration but maintain separate profit pools. The merged Hogan Lovells would bring the two firms’ compensation structures into closer alignment, with Lovells implementing a structure similar to Hogan’s merit-based model for partner pay.

After doubling the bonus figures set by Cravath, Swaine & Moore last year, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom will this year match Cravath (and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton) by giving out a bonus that represents a sharp cut for younger associates.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that it has secured nearly $2 billion from lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions in the last year. Given the importance being placed on these cases, a 9th Circuit decision this week should take on greater significance, especially for parties that end up settling but don’t admit to any wrongdoing. The circuit ruled the act does not preclude a settling defendant from seeking recovery and bringing claims against a third party for its alleged violations.

Habush Habush & Rottier is one of Wisconsin’s largest law firms, but search for iterations of “Habush” and “Rottier” and a sponsored link for Cannon & Dunphy attorneys often shows up. The practice of paying for keywords on search engines to boost one company’s link over a rival’s has occasionally prompted a rival to claim trademark infringement, but Habush is trying a new angle. In a suit filed Thursday, Habush accuses its competitor of violating privacy laws.

During the third quarter of this year, gross revenue among law firms industrywide fell by 6.9 percent and net income by 6.1 percent, according to a new survey by Wells Fargo Corp.’s Wachovia Legal Specialty Group. “What that tells you is there is going to be a lot more riding on the fourth quarter,” said Jeff Grossman, national managing director at Wachovia. The survey was of 131 firms nationally, 50 percent coming from the Am Law 100 and with at least 10 in each region of the country.

Some of London’s leading law firms are considering outsourcing legal work as increasing numbers of firms look to cut costs by using external providers. Linklaters, SJ Berwin, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and CMS Cameron McKenna are among the eight. Camerons and SJ Berwin have yet to identify which areas they would like to outsource, while Linklaters is considering sending some document review, due diligence, contract development and legal research functions to an outside provider.