Associates Are Once Again in Demand in Silicon Valley

Cooley and Wilson Sonsini have bumped up associate salaries, restoring pay lost in the recession -- and things are booming for corporate, litigation, licensing and patent prosecution attorneys. Says one recruiter, "The demand is just extraordinary right now."

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In the Cloud -- Risks & Opportunity

Kozinski and 1st Amendment

Goin’ Gaga Over Google Apps

Spring Bonuses Pop Up at V&E, Akin Gump

Texas Lawyer

Following a market move by large New York City firms, both Vinson & Elkins and Akin Gump will pay spring bonuses in May to associates and counsel who received 2010 year-end bonuses. Neither Texas firm has paid spring bonuses before.

9th Circuit Backs Prosecutors in Trade Secret Case

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The Recorder

A split 9th Circuit has sided with prosecutors who want to use the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to go after an executive recruiter accused of acquiring information from a work computer to start a competing business.

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• Merger Helps Archer & Greiner Break the 200-Lawyer Mark :: New Jersey Law Journal

• NIH Stem Cell Injunction Vacated by D.C. Circuit :: The National Law Journal

• DLA Picks Up 10 Calif. Lawyers After Absorbing Boutique :: The American Lawyer

• Federal Circuit: Cease-and-Desist Letter Alone No Basis for Declaratory Judgment Jurisdiction :: The National Law Journal

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• Judge Rules Foreclosure Attorney, Company May Be Held Liable for Alleged Labor Violations :: Daily Business Review
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Law.com Blog Network

In Written Responses, SG Nominee Tells Senate He'd Resign If Asked to Play Politics

The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times | April 29, 2011

Donald Verrilli, the Obama administration's nominee to be the next solicitor general, has told Senate Republicans unequivocally that he would resign if either the president or the attorney general ordered him to take a stance "based on partisan political considerations or other illegitimate reasons."

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  How Appealing

 

More Stories From the Web

Other Voices from the Legal Web

After watching profits per partner sink 4.3 percent in 2008 and revive only 0.3 percent in 2009, Am Law 100 firms finally posted a healthy increase—8.4 percent—in 2010. But much of that gain is attributable to firms’ aggressive cost-control measures, especially in the area of headcount, which dropped 2.7 percent over 2009. As a result, growth in revenue per lawyer—the most reliable measure of the overall financial health of law firms—was more tepid, 4.4 percent

Overview: Back in Black

Gross Revenue

Revenue Per Lawyer

The NLJ 250, The National Law Journal's annual survey of the nation's largest law firms, shows that Big Law continued to shed lawyers at a brisk clip in 2010. Nearly 2,900 fewer lawyers worked for the 250 top firms last year. That's in addition to the approximately 6,600 attorneys who departed in 2009. In the 34 years The NLJ has been surveying large firms to gather headcount numbers, there have never been multiyear declines of this magnitude.

THE 2011 NLJ 250

Branch Offices

Gains & Losses

Largest U.S. Law Offices

While no one would confuse the level of corporate work in 2010 for the heyday of 2007, last year's slow economic recovery was reflected in our latest Corporate Scorecard rankings. Equities work, spurred mostly by large Chinese and Brazilian offerings, rebounded late in the year, and M&A and private equity work picked up too.

Only bankruptcy -- the most countercyclical of the specialties covered here -- showed a decrease in activity, as the size of top emergences dwarfed that of top filings.

Equities: Back in the Running

Mergers and Acquisitions: Signs of Spring

Private Equity: Bigger Is Better

As Congress considers deep cuts in legal assistance to the poor, The National Law Journal examines the impact of legal aid programs on the clients they serve and the political issues surrounding the present funding crisis. As these stories demonstrate, the need is great, and cases run the gamut — from domestic violence to home foreclosures to medical claims. In all, a common theme emerges: Legal aid, for these clients, was their only hope.

On the brink of ruin, a rescue

Speaking their language

Abuse victim stands up for her rights

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