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Four Partners move From Paul Hastings to Haynes & Boone

joshua — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:16:11 +0000

Four real estate partners in New York, including Steven Koch, the head of Paul Hastings real estate practice, have moved to Haynes & Boone. Bob Grados, Ken Friedman and Walter Schleimer round out the group.

There is some controversy surrounding the move, with Paul Hastings confirming that Grados, Friedman and Schleimer have left the firm but saying nothing about Koch, while Haynes & Boone have confirmed all four. Koch’s biostill appears on Paul Hastings roster but the other three have been removed, and none are listed yet at Haynes & Boone. This morning abovethelaw reported rumors that the four partners were asked to leave Paul Hastings, but now it appears they left voluntarily.

We will keep you posted as we learn more.

DLA Piper Abandons Lockstep

joshua — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:40:19 +0000

DLA Piperhas joined the lockstep march away from lockstep compensation. In a memo today, the firm outlined its new associate compensation package. In broad terms, it looks familiar. The overall structure resembles the plan published recently by Orrick, a three tier system with levels within the tiers. Unlike Orrick’s plan, however, DLA Piper associates will have 15% of their pay withheld each year and will have to earn it back by achieving what amounts to a certain grade on their performance review. True, the grades are numerical, not alphabetical, but the descriptions are reminiscent of grade descriptions commonly found in law school. What’s more, DLA Piper outlined the percentage of associates they expect to make each grade, leading AboveTheLaw to refer to it as a grading curve. You can also see a copy of the memo at ATL. It’s not clear that it is a curve, however, since there’s no indication that the expected percentage of associates at each grade level is fixed.

Wednesday Roundup

joshua — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:10:07 +0000

Good morning everyone! Getting the day started early this morning with today’s look back at yesterday’s news.

Eckert Seamans snags four lawyers from Troutman Sanders and opens an office in Virginia.

Scott Rothstein is back in Florida. We will continue to update this story as it develops…

Winston & Strawn defers the already deferred….

and law blog abovethelaw.com has been sued…

Bloggers Beware! ATL Gets Sued

joshua — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:07:41 +0000

The blawg site abovethelaw.com has been sued by a Florida law professor, acting pro se. Although ATL is refraining from comment out of respect for the judicial system, you can find a juicy analysis of the case and why its unlikely to survive a motion to dismiss here.

Here’s a quick rundown of the background of the case: In September of 2007 Donald Marvin Jones, a Florida law professor, was arrested for solicitation after allegedly offering an undercover officer twenty dollars for sex. ATL reported on the case with great glee, including a photo montage of Jones provided to them by a third party, a picture of Jones taken from the University of Miami website, and a copy of the police incident report. The case against Jones was later dismissed, and expunged from the record.

Now Jones is suing ATL. The complaint brings forth three claims: 1) false light; 2) invasion of privacy; 3) and copyright infringement.