After over a decade under O’Neill’s stewardship, Chadbourne & Parke boasts a wide range of new international offices and clientele.  From Mexico City to Kazakhstan, O’Neill oversaw growth, often through the absorption of law firms and offices facing internal troubles.  He will remain with the firm as a partner and continue to focus on international expansion

Chadbourne & Parke LLP, an international law firm headquartered in New York City, provides a full range of legal services, including mergers and acquisitions, securities, project finance, private funds, corporate finance, and venture capital. The firm has offices in New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Mexico City, São Paulo, London, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Kyiv, Almaty, Dubai and Beijing.

• Morning Roundup
• Chadbourne Adds Partner in D.C. Office
• Holland & Knight Nixes Billable Hours Tracking in Public Policy & Regulation Group
• Van Ness Feldman and GordonDerr Announce Merger
• Morgan Lewis Adds Seasoned Attorney Margaret Gatti to Antitrust Practice

In the press release at the firm’s website, Jones Day’s Managing Partner, Stephen J. Brogan, a graduate of Boston College and Notre Dame Law School, was quoted as saying: “We are privileged to have many strong client relationships in Boston and throughout New England. The Boston area is a leading center of new technology and continues to foster new business development and entrepreneurial spirit that is now bringing these companies to new markets around the globe. Our Boston Office will include some of our finest next generation talent, lawyers with distinguished academic and professional careers, who will be able to serve New England based clients backed up by the highest levels of legal capacity that the Firm has built up around the world. We look forward to more effectively serving our existing clients through a formal Boston presence, and becoming full participants in the vibrant business and cultural life of Boston and the region.”

Traci L. Lovitt, formerly an Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General and law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, will serve as the Partner-in-Charge of the Boston Office.

Jones Day’s Boston Office will offer a full range of legal services, as well as Jones Day’s one firm worldwide access to its lawyers around the globe. The Firm expects there will be close to 20 lawyers in the office by the end of the first quarter in 2011. Among the first partners to join Ms. Lovitt in Boston will be Eileen Falvey and Lynn Coe. The Firmwide head of Jones Day’s Trial Practice, Thomas (Tim) Cullen, Jr., will divide his time between Boston and Washington.

Jones Day is a global law firm with over 2,500 lawyers, including more than 400 in Europe and 200 in Asia. With the openings in São Paulo and Boston, Jones Day will have 34 offices throughout the world.

• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Opens Office in Hong Kong
• Schiff Hardin Adds Three Laterals from Foley & Lardner
• Jones Day Becomes Latest to Enter Brazil
• Why It’s Not A Good Idea To Go To Law School Straight Away
• Legal Hiring in Q1 Bright for Legal Industry

In the press release at the firm’s site, Managing Partner Marianne D. Short was quoted as saying: “We are delighted to welcome this talented group of lawyers into the Dorsey partnership. Like the Firm as a whole, they have proven their ability to provide excellent, innovative and cost-effective legal services to our clients, and they share our commitment to our clients, our communities and each other. Our clients, and the Firm itself, will benefit far into the future from the skills, energy and leadership these new partners will provide.”

The new partners include John Danos, who joins the Public Finance practice in the Des Moines office. Partners joining the Minneapolis office are Christopher Bellini, who joins the Corporate practice, Kristina Carlson, who joins the Trial practice, Jennifer Hanson, who joins the Public Finance practice, Peter Nelson, who joins the Finance & Restructuring practice, and Katina Peterson, who joins the Tax, Trusts & Estates practice. Benjamin Kotter joins the Finance and Restructuring practice in the Salt Lake City office, and the two partners who join the Seattle office are Shawn Larsen-Bright, and Douglas Stewart, both in the trial practice. Frederick Jauss joins the Regulatory Affairs practice in the Washington, D.C. office.

Dorsey & Whitney LLP is a large law firm, with close to 700 lawyers and 850 staff located in 19 offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Its headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

• Morning Roundup
• Dorsey & Whitney Adds Leading PRC Practitioner as Partner in Shanghai Office
• Goodwin Partner Joins Jenner & Block
• New Leadership at Chadbourne & Parke
• Jones Day Announces Plans for New Office in Boston

The institute was made possible through an initial $675,000 grant over six years from Crowell & Moring in memory of Eldon “Took” Crowell, the firm’s first chairman and long-time leader who passed away in May. Mr. Crowell, a devoted humanitarian and champion of pro bono legal services, was named one of the “Greatest Washington Visionaries in the last 30 years” by Legal Times. The institute will provide more than 10,000 hours of direct pro bono representation to youth in the community each year by attorney-supervised law students through three legal clinics, as well as advocate for policy reforms that will contribute to systemic change.

The Took Crowell Institute builds on the long-term work already underway at the law school’s Juvenile and Special Education Law Clinic by providing three innovative legal clinics and law reform advocacy designed to help at-risk youth become educated and productive members of society.

A reception and induction ceremony is planned for Tuesday, November 30, at 5:00 p.m. at the UDC School of Law campus. Featured speakers include Vincent Gray, District of Columbia’s Mayor-elect, among other dignitaries.

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with nearly 500 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity.

• Morning Roundup
• Law School Bubble Close to Bursting?
• Law Schools Cause Tuition Increases, not ABA
• Holland & Knight Nixes Billable Hours Tracking in Public Policy & Regulation Group
• Law Student Debt to Double by 2020

Walmart’

The company’s initiative makes Walmart has become the 100th signatory to the national Corporate Pro Bono Challenge(SM), a voluntary benchmark developed and administered by Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a partnership project of the Pro Bono Institute (PBI) and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), designed to encourage and promote pro bono service with in-house lawyers and legal departments.

In addition, the Walmart legal department and the Walmart Foundation announced today they will make a $115,000 donation to Legal Aid of Arkansas and the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission. The grant will help the Commission continue its efforts to address key issues raised by low-income clients, including family law, consumer practice, financial, housing, and employment matters.

In a press release, Jeff Gearhart, executive vice president and general counsel of Walmart  was quoted as saying: “Our pro bono effort is a natural extension of our company’s overall belief in being a good corporate citizen. Helping to ensure that access to legal services is a reality for all of our citizens, regardless of their ability to pay, is consistent with Walmart’s commitment to making a difference in the communities that we serve.”

The Walmart Foundation funds initiatives focused on education, workforce development, economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, and health and wellness.

• Morning Roundup
• Saul Ewing Hires Buchanan Ingersoll Team
• United Law Group Hiring 70
• Associates Have to Make Do With Fewer Staffers
• Law Firms Continue to Squeeze Associates with Salary and Bonuses

Nixon Peabody

The alliance provides Nixon Peabody with its second office in Asia, joining its Shanghai operation that opened in 2008.

“By 2020, China will be the largest single market for legal services worldwide. Our clients are there and we need to be there,” said Richard F. Langan, Jr., CEO and managing partner of Nixon Peabody LLP. “Lawyers from across our firm are already working closely with Cheng Wong Lam & Partners on current client matters. With our new Hong Kong office, we are expanding our capabilities to handle the most sophisticated inbound and outbound transactions across Asia.”

Cheng Wong Lam & Partners provides a full range of legal solutions in Hong Kong and advises clients on matters including inbound and outbound investments, transactions, and legal disputes involving Mainland China. It was named by Asia Legal Business as a finalist for boutique law firm of the year in 2010.

“China has replaced Japan as the world’s second-largest economy and, accordingly, clients’ needs continue to evolve,” said Cheng Hoo, founding partner of Cheng Wong Lam & Partners. “For more than 170 years, Hong Kong has acted as a major bridge between Mainland China and foreign businesses, corporations, and investors. We are pleased to align ourselves with Nixon Peabody, a firm which shares our commitment to providing extraordinary client service.”

David Cheng, chair of Nixon Peabody’s China practice and a Hong Kong native, will split hit time between Nixon Peabody’s Hong Kong and Shanghai offices.

Nixon Peabody has 700 attorneys collaborating across major practice areas in 17 cities across the U.S. and in European and Asian commercial centers.

• Morning Roundup
• Hammonds Hong Kong Office Rejects Merger of Hammonds and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Opens Office in Hong Kong
• Merger of King & Wood and Mallesons Stephens Jaques Creates Largest Law Firm in Asia
• DLA Piper Adds Pair of Attorneys to Beijing Office

According to a new study conducted by the University of Maine Center, a relatively high percentage of elderly residents of Maine will require legal intervention at some point in their lives….

A survey by law school admissions consulting firm Veritas Prep showed 81% of law school applicants would still apply even if a significant number of graduates were unable to find jobs in their desired field…

The University of California, Irvine School of Law will provide scholarships of at least one-third of tuition to each member of its next class of students…

John Frankenheimer of Loeb & Loeb will be stepping down as the firm’s  co-chair…

Lawyers for SAP AG, a German software company, requested that a federal judge issue a gag order during a forthcoming trial for an intellectual property theft case…

Sam Baxter of McKool Smith has been named by The Best Lawyers in America the 2011 Dallas Intellectual Property “Lawyer of the Year…

Whistle-blower website Wikileaks published classified documents related to the Iraqi war last Friday…

• Wikileaks.org Releases Second Round Of Classified Iraqi War Documents
• UC Irvine School of Law to Again Offer Tuition Help
• District Judge Issues Gag Order At SAP’s Request
• Sam Baxter of McKool Smith Named Dallas Intellectual Property “Lawyer of the Year”
• Low-Income Elderly In Maine In Need Of Legal Services

The study, which was commissioned by Legal Services for the Elderly and the Maine Office of Elder Services, found that anywhere from 45 to 86 percent of low-income Maine residents in their 60s will need a lawyer at some point.

The study also suggests that the demand for legal services will likely outweigh the supply available to them.

The study hopes to direct the resources to those citizens who require it the most.

• Morning Roundup
• Littler Heads To The South Of The Border With Accusations of 24 Mexican Lawyers
• A Seyforth Lawyer Helps To Secure Citizenship For A Former Suburban Slave
• Maine Law Firms Grabbing Clients from Corporate Firms
• Reema Bajaj, Attorney Facing Prostitution Charges, Has Trial Set for March

Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, P.C expanded into Columbus, Ohio,via a merger with Golian McCaffrey, LLC…

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey once again achieved a 100-percent rating in the 2011 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), published annually by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation…

Steve Leifer will lead the environmental team at Baker Botts…

Jones Walker announced the addition of nine assoicates to the firm…

Phillips & Cohen was selected for National Law Journal’s “Hot List” for whistleblower work…

• Jones Walker Announces Addition of Nine Associates to Firm
• Steve Leifer Will Lead Environmental Team at Baker Botts
• Phillips & Cohen Selected for National Law Journal’s “Hot List” for Whistleblower Work
• Jones Walker Adds Ten New Attorneys
• Verizon Pays $93.5 Million to Settle Whistleblower Lawsuit

Laura F. Ashley and Lauren E. Courtney are associates in the firm’s Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group, and practice from the firm’s New Orleans office.

Ronald D. P. Bruckmann is an associate in the firm’s Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group, and practices from the firm’s Miami office.

Ricardo X. Carlo is an associate in the firm’s Tax & Estates Practice Group, and practices from the firm’s New Orleans office. His practice will focus primarily on employee benefits and executive compensation.

Brooke L. Longon and Raechelle M. Munna are associates in the firm’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group, and practice from the firm’s New Orleans office.

Mia S. Mitchell is an associate in the firm’s Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group and practices from the firm’s New Orleans office.

Caroline H. Parenton is an associate in the firm’s Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group, and practices from the firm’s Baton Rouge office.

Charles E. Reeves, Jr. is an associate in the firm’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group and practices from the firm’s Baton Rouge office.

Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre L.L.P. provides a comprehensive range of legal services to a national and international corporate client base in highly regulated industries through offices in Alabama, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

• Morning Roundup
• Jones Walker Adds Ten New Attorneys
• Morning Roundup
• Jones Walker Re-Elects William H. Hines as Managing Partner
• Phillips & Cohen Selected for National Law Journal’s “Hot List” for Whistleblower Work

For four times in seven years, Phillips & Cohen has been named to the National Law Journal’s highly selective “Hot List” for its work on whistleblower cases. The law firm is the nation’s most successful law firm representing whistleblowers.

Phillips & Cohen is one of the few to handle whistleblower cases exclusively. The firm’s whistleblower cases have recovered more than $6.89 billion in civil settlements and related criminal fines and earned its whistleblower clients more than $730 million in rewards under federal and state government whistleblower reward programs.

Phillips & Cohen is at the forefront in representing whistleblowers in claims involving tax law and securities law violations brought under the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower reward programs.

Law firms were chosen for the “Hot List” based on cases that produced substantial verdicts or settlements between the summers of 2009 and 2010. “Our conclusions are subjective, but show the plaintiffs’ bar at its best,” the National Law Journal said in its Oct. 4 issue. Phillips & Cohen was the only law firm on the list singled out for its work on whistleblower cases.

Examples of cases Phillips & Cohen have handled include the qui tam case against Pfizer, which alleged “off-label” marketing of the prescription painkiller Bextra. That case resulted in Pfizer paying $1.8 billion in 2009 to settle the whistleblower case and paying a related criminal fine. It was the nation’s largest healthcare fraud recovery. Phillips & Cohen’s client received rewards from the federal government and states, totaling more than $71 million.

Phillips & Cohen, which has offices in Washington, DC, and San Francisco, represents whistleblowers nationwide.

• Morning Roundup
• Verizon Pays $93.5 Million to Settle Whistleblower Lawsuit
• Three Veteran Venture Capital Attorneys Join LeClairRyan’s San Francisco Office
• Meckler Bulger Tilson Marick & Pearson LLP Opens Office in San Francisco
• New Leadership at Chadbourne & Parke

An indictment announced Monday charges that Wisler, while a partner, made regular payments from 2004 through 2006 to Sen. Wayne Bryant, D-Camden, in return for Bryant’s influence in the Legislature.

Bryant, who left office in 2008 upon his conviction of unrelated bribery and fraud charges and is serving a four-year sentence, is charged with 20 counts of mail fraud, and one count each of accepting bribery and extortion for his alleged role in the arrangement with Wisler.

Wisler is charged with a total of 37 counts of mail and wire fraud, as well as one count of offering a bribe.

Wisler and Bryant could each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted and up to 10 if convicted of bribery alone. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of the money supposedly paid to Bryant.

Wisler’s attorney, Michael Critchley of Critchley, Kinum & Vazquez in Roseland, said in a statement that Wisler “vehemently denies the allegations.” According to the article, Critchley was quoted as saying: “Eric never solicited, received or expected to receive any inappropriate consideration from Wayne Bryant in his role as a public official. The relationship with Wayne Bryant’s law firm was solely in the context of providing potential legal services and not in any way associated with Wayne Bryant’s role as a public official.”

Authorities say Wisler, as lead counsel to Brownfields redeveloper EnCap Golf Holdings and parent company Cherokee Investment Partners of Raleigh, N.C., used client money to pay $8,000 in monthly fees to Bryant’s law firm, Zeller & Bryant in Camden. The payments supposedly were for legal work on EnCap’s Meadowlands redevelopment project.

However, the indictment states the payments were in reality consideration for Bryant using his office to help secure millions for Wisler’s clients through legislation and other advantages, and that Wisler corresponded regularly with Bryant and other political insiders on requests for legislative action and inaction and even helped write proposed legislation.

• Morning Roundup
• Jones Day Announces Plans for New Office in Boston
• Nixon Peabody Sets Up Shop in Hong Kong
• Katten Moves Up Start Dates For Six Incoming Associates
• Atlantic City Fires Municipal Lawyers, Hires Outside Firms

The informal poll was conducted earlier this week by the New York State Bar Association at a meeting of managing partners from large, mid-size and boutique lawn firms under the auspices of the Association’s Task Force on the Future of the Legal Profession.

Survey highlights include:

• All managing partners who were polled confirmed that their firms had experimented with something other than the billable hours system. Six of the 21 respondents (almost 30%) said their firms “regularly” used alternate billing methods.
• 11 of the managing partners also said that clients complain about having to pay for the work of first- or second-year associates. Two additional respondents said that clients refuse to pay for such services.
• 18 of the 21 managing partners said that their firms expected attorneys to respond to non-emergency emails and phone calls on weekends and holidays.
• The vast majority (18 of 21) indicated that their firms offer flex policies including reduced hours, job sharing and flex times. Not surprisingly, more women attorneys took advantage of flex time than their male counterparts.
• 66% of the managing partners said their firms hired fewer attorneys in 2010 when compared to more typical years.
• However, the outlook for 2011 was that a little more than half expected to hire the same number of associates as in 2010.
• 11 of the 21 managing partners said they anticipated demand for legal services to remain flat in 2011; while 8 believed workload would increase modestly.

Of the managing partners who responded, six were from firms of 25 lawyers or less; three were from firms of 26-100 attorneys; six managed firms of 101-250 lawyers; and six were in firms of over 250 lawyers.

“One thing was clear from yesterday’s dynamic and lively discussion – whether from firms large or small, they all agreed that the profession is ready for permanent, positive changes that will allow us to better serve the modern client while shaping a profession that is satisfying to today’s lawyers and appealing to future lawyers,” said State Bar President Stephen P. Younger in a press release..

“Significantly, there was consensus around the table on many issues. Clients want fixed and predictable costs, and lawyers are willing to try alternative billing methods, such as value billing, because this leads to increased efficiency, better trained lawyers and greater opportunity to achieve work-life balance,” Younger added.

The Association’s Task Force was established in June 2010 by Younger to study and recommend ways to create a roadmap for the future use of technology in the profession, to improve legal education and training, to establish proper work/life balance for attorneys, and to analyze the billing structure in law firms.

• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Jones Walker Announces Addition of Nine Associates to Firm
• Proskauer Rose GC Steven Krane Dies of Heart Attack
• Recruitment Levels Get Back to Normal at Clifford Chance

Best Lawyers, established in 1983, is universally known as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers ratings are based on exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of attorneys cast more than two million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas.

Winstead is among the largest business law firms in Texas. The firm’s attorneys and consultants serve as trusted advisors to mid-market and large businesses, providing a core range of legal services that are critical to their operation and success. From its well-known reputation in real estate and financial services to its corporate and high-stakes litigation practice, Winstead delivers practical knowledge and responsive service. Winstead has offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and The Woodlands, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina and Washington, D.C

• Winstead Expands Real Estate Development & Investments Practice Group
• The Best Lawyers in America Gives Jones Walker High Rankings for Fourth Year in Row
• 48 Winstead PC Attorneys Selected as Texas Super Lawyers
• Morning Roundup
• Winstead Names New Lateral Hiring Boss

Jones Walker has 10 top-ranked practices in the state of Louisiana, and 13 top-ranked practice areas in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La. and Mobile, Ala. markets, based on the number of listed attorneys.

In today’s press release at PR Newswire, Managing Partner William H. Hines was quoted as saying: “The 2011 Best Lawyers practice area and attorney rankings are a testament to our ability to provide clients with exceptional legal services across a wide range of practices. These rankings also reflect our strength and depth across the Gulf South, as well as our growth in new markets.”

73 Jones Walker attorneys are included in The Best Lawyers in America® 2011.

Best Lawyers, established in 1983, is universally known as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers ratings are based on exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of attorneys cast more than two million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas.

Since the firm’s inception in 1937, Jones Walker has grown over the past several decades in size and scope to become one of the largest law firms in the Gulf South. With nearly 300 attorneys in Alabama, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, the firm serves local, regional, national, and international business interests in a wide range of markets and industries.

• Morning Roundup
• The Best Lawyers in America Features 58 Attorneys from Winstead
• Morning Roundup
• Jones Walker Earns High Marks from ‘Best Lawyers’
• Cohen & Grigsby Attorney Honored by ‘Best Lawyers’

Stuart Mass joins as partner, and brings with him Of Counsel Noah Shapiro and Associate Siobhan Green. All three were previously with Paul Hastings in New York.

In the press release at the firm’s website, Steven Koch, a real estate finance partner among the seven joining Haynes and Boone in its first round of expansion was quoted as saying: “As our group grows and the economy improves, the opportunities for our clients and the practice will likewise grow. Stuart, Noah and Siobhan serve truly blue-chip leasing clients, so it is an exciting opportunity for Haynes and Boone.”

Stuart Mass devotes his practice to commercial real estate leasing transactions. He is routinely involved in several of the largest New York City leasing transactions each year, representing major landlords, and premier tenants.

Mr. Shapiro and Ms. Green focus on all aspects of commercial leasing transactions. As part of Mr. Mass’s client team they regularly represent the same top-tier clients.

Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm, providing a full spectrum of legal services. With almost 550 attorneys, Haynes and Boone is ranked among the largest law firms in the nation by The National Law Journal.

• Morning Roundup
• Haynes and Boone Bolsters Real Estate Practice
• Haynes and Boone Adds Two Partners to New York Office
• Morning Roundup
• Paul Hastings Adds Biotech Litigation Team

Founded in 1904 as Duane, Morris, Heckscher & Roberts, Duane Morris LLP employs more than 700 lawyers in 23 offices in the United States, London, Singapore and Vietnam. In addition to legal services, Duane Morris has independent affiliates employing approximately 100 professionals engaged in other disciplines.

• Morning Roundup
• DLA Piper Adds Pair of Attorneys to Beijing Office
• Venable Adds Five Attorneys to Energy Practice Group
• DLA Piper Announces Launch of New International Securities Group, Along With New Partner
• Former Linklaters Managing Partner Tony Angel to Join DLA Piper as Co-Global Chairman?

Sidley Austin

Following his election April 7, Levi was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy during a ceremony at The Eisenhower Executive Office Building.  He will continue as a partner at Sidley Austin during his tenure as LSC board chair, according to a press release.

“John has a long and distinguished career of service to the legal profession and advocacy on behalf of the community and those in need of legal services,” said Thomas A. Cole, chair of the firm’s executive committee. “On behalf of the entire firm, I congratulate John on this well-deserved achievement.”

Levi was nominated to the 11-member board of directors last August by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate.

Levi has played a key role in many of Sidley’s pro bono programs, including its corporate partnership with Chicago public school Gerald Delgado Kanoon Magnet Elementary School.

Levi practices in Sidley’s labor, employment and immigration practice. He represents a wide range of professional and financial services firms and corporations in employment and labor matters.

LSC operates as an independent non-profit corporation that promotes “equal access to justice” and provides grants for civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. Approximately $420 million in grants is provided annually and go to 136 nonprofit legal services programs around the country.

• Sidley Austin Gets New Practice Co-Head
• Sidley Austin’s Cole Honored by NACD
• Sidley Austin Names Albrecht New Asia Pacific Boss
• SEC Veteran Brigagliano Joins Sidley Austin
• Morning Roundup

The news comes on the heels of a report this week that 26 percent of law firms in the U.S. planned to expand in the second quarter of 2010. Overall in the U.S., 36,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were shed in February. The unemployment rate managed to hold steady at 9.7 percent.

• 800 Legal Jobs Go Bye-Bye In July … But Still Reflect An Improvement
• 2,000 Jobs Lost in September for the Legal Sector
• February A Rough Month For The Legal Industry
• Morning Roundup
• Report Shows Legal Sector Again Shedding Jobs

New York’s Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has offices in Washington DC, Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing. Milbank is a global law firm, with approximately 550 lawyers, who provide a full range of financial and business legal services to many of the world’s leading financial, industrial and commercial enterprises, as well as governments, institutions and individuals.

• Morning Roundup
• Milbank Falls In Line On Bonuses
• More Bonuses
• Morning Roundup
• Bonus Season has Begun

Foley & Lardner LLP is an international general practice law firm started in 1842 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It employs 1,000 attorneys, and is the 24th largest firm in the United States

• Morning Roundup
• Prominent Life Sciences Patent Attorney Joins Foley & Lardner
• Former Director of Michigan DEQ Joins Foley & Lardner LLP
• Nixon Peabody Managing Partner Moves to Foley & Lardner
• Staff Layoffs at Brown McCarroll

The hires come in the areas of litigation and intellectual property, but are spread across all of the firm’s offices.

• Attorney from Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP Hired by Pittsburgh Pirates
• Jones Day Announces Plans for New Office in Boston
• Nixon Peabody Sets Up Shop in Hong Kong
• Former Law Firm Partner Eric Wisler Charged with Bribing State Senator Wayne Bryant
• Morning Roundup

In New York demand for legal work fell 9.5%; and in Washington DC and London, law work fell over 12%.

Normally, law firm billing rates grow by about 7% a year. But in the last year, rates grew by less than 3%.

The study also suggests that attorney productivity, measured by billable hours, was down overall by 11.5%.

Unsurprisingly, the “good” news was in bankruptcy, where work is up 13% since Q1 2008.

Hildebrandt, part of Thomson Reuters, does merger consulting, with more than 50 consultants located in the United States and in London.

• 2010 Steel Cage Match: Corporate Clients vs BigLaw
• Survey: Legal Industry May Be ‘Stabilizing’
• Pillsbury Hiring for Trusts & Estates Practice
• Cravath Lawyer: Kill the Billable Hour
• “Avalanche” of Chapter 11 Filings Means Attorney Work for Years to Come

Half will be pushed back to January 2010, the rest to October 2010. At this time, the deferrals are voluntary.

Under what the firm is calling its “Make a Difference” program, the firm will help associates find year-long positions with non-profits, government services, pro bono legal services, and economic development & criminal justice entities.

Associates will get a $60,000 stipend.

Goodwin Procter LLP employs 900 attorneys in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Silicon Valley, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington DC.

• Morrison & Foerster Defers Start Dates
• Dechert Defers Start Dates
• DLA Piper Defers Incoming Associates
• WilmerHale Defers Start Dates, Offers $75,000
• Mintz Levin Defers Start Dates — Again

The decision was blamed on the global economic meltdown.

Founded in 1960, Harney Westwood & Riegels provides the world’s top law firms, financial institutions and corporations with legal services relating to British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Cyprus law.

The firm headquarters is in Road Town, capital of the BVI. The firm also has offices in London, Hong Kong and Anguilla.

• DLA Piper Cuts 22 in Middle East
• Collas Day Lays Off 6 Staff
• Pannone Lays Off 35 Staff, Goes to 4-Day Week
• White & Case Lays Off 31 in Moscow
• Allen & Overy Lays Off 47 Partners, 200 Associates, 200 Staff

Wolf Block’s partners voted to dissolve the 106-year-old law firm on March 23rd. So far, more than half of Wolf Block’s 290 lawyers have found new firms. Wolf Block Chairman Mark Alderman has yet to join with a new firm.

Most of the lawyers joining Duane Morris are litigators, but the group also includes real estate and corporate lawyers.

Founded in 1904 as Duane, Morris, Heckscher & Roberts, Duane Morris LLP employs more than 650 lawyers in 23 offices in the United States, London, Singapore and Vietnam. In addition to legal services, Duane Morris has independent affiliates employing approximately 100 professionals engaged in other disciplines.

• Update: Wolf Block Chairman to Follow Group to Cozen O’Connor
• Update: No Cozen Deal Before Wolf Block Dissolved
• Cozen O’Connor Snags 28 Wolf Block Laywers
• Cozen O’Connor Brings on Lawyers
• Sheppard Mullin Hires 3

As part of the seven year deal, Chris Bull, a former chief operating officer with Clarke, will join the US headquartered legal process outsourcing company as the European chief operating officer.

Simon Beswick, a managing partner with the firm, claims Osbourne Clarke had conducted a 12-month efficiency review which resulted in the conclusion that the profession must focus on core legal services and support services should be outsourced.

Per the deal, Osborne Clarke will outsource all middle office services including IT, shared secretarial services and training facilities.

Beswick said, “For Osborne Clarke, sourcing non-legal expertise from one expert supplier enables a clear focus on our legal activities, with the security of flexible business service support and cost stability. Our clients exist in a tough commercial environment and expect their lawyers to be as focused and cost efficient as they are.”

Integreon intends to establish a UK base in Bristol, hoping to expand rapidly. They also plan to open more offices across Europe as the business recruits new clients.

Integreon already has offices in the US and India.

• Baker & McKenzie Announces Appointment of New Chief Operating Officer to Australia Offices
• New Leadership at Chadbourne & Parke
• Jones Day Announces Plans for New Office in Boston
• Dorsey & Whitney LLP Adds Ten New Partners
• Crowell & Moring LLP & University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law Establish Took Crowell Institute for At-Risk Youth