JD Journal » Morrison & Foerster

Howrey Takes Another Big Hit

joshua — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:31:58 +0000

17 construction lawyers have jumped ship as the disintegration of Howrey continues. 15 lawyers, led by partner and construction practice co-chair John Heisse, have moved to Pillsbury. The moves are spread out over four office. The other co-chair, Andrew Ness, moved to Jones Day in San Francisco along with one other partner. Jones Day picked up another seven construction partners from Howrey last month.

The lights haven’t gone out yet, but recent reports indicate that there is a rather rotund woman warming up her vocal chords. Morrison & Foerster also picked up a Howrey attorney yesterday, and in the last several days Paul Hastings, Sheppard Mullin and Kirkland & Ellis have all been destination firms for Howrey lawyers making a clean escape.

Skadden to Shutter its Office in San Francisco

marvins — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:04:52 +0000

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, a prominent law firm based in New York City, announced that it will close its San Francisco office. The office will be merged with Skadden’s Palo Alto office. The firm first entered the Silicon Valley and San Francisco during the dot.com bubble days. Lawyers who have been watching Skadden’s progress through the years are saying that the consolidation of Skadden’s Palo Alto and San Francisco offices is not that surprising anymore since talks about it have been circulating the industry for years.

San Francisco legal recruiter, Gary Davis, said that he was not surprised by Skadden’s announcement because this decision was strategic and beneficial to the overall welfare of the firm, given that the San Francisco office is relatively small and the Palo Alto office has a promising market. He also interpreted the move to mean that Skadden has a new strategy wherein the firm will just concentrate in the growth of one office. “It would be much more surprising to hear that an indigenous firm like Morrison & Foerster announced it was closing here or in Silicon Valley. Out-of-state firms usually need a compelling reason to keep two offices open in a small geographic location, like a client or partner request.”

The new office will be led by Kenton King, the Palo Alto corporate partner. It s website also named six other partners, three counsel and 17 associates, all of whom are litigators.

Ropes & Gray Dubbed ‘Best Firm to Work For’ by Vault.com

joshua — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:03:51 +0000

Vault.com has ranked Ropes & Gray as the “Best Firm to Work For” for the second year in a row. In revealing the rankings, Vault.com said, “Ropes & Gray manages…to combine a high level practice with a collegial and respectful culture.

The “quality of life” rankings were determined using a formula that weighed several categories, including satisfaction, hours, associate/partner relations, diversity, formal training, informal training, pro bono and business outlook.

Ropes & Gray was also No. 1 for hours, firm culture and informal training.

Here is the list of Top 10 firms:

1. Ropes & Gray

2. Williams & Connolly

3. Morrison & Foerster

4. Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto

5. Shook, Hardy & Bacon

6. Hughes, Hubbard & Reed

7. Jones Day

8. Davis Polk & Wardwell

9. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

10. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

With over 1,000 attorneys, Ropes & Gray is a global law firm with offices in Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Tokyo, and Washington, DC.

Marketing Heavyweights Set for Harvard Club Forum

joshua — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:55:36 +0000

The chief marketing officers of DLA Piper, Greenberg Traurig and Morrison & Foerster are slated to serve as co-chairs of a law firm marketing and business development forum to be held at the Harvard Club in New York City on March 11 and 12.

Sponsored by The American Lawyer, roundtable discussion is dubbed the “Law Firm Marketing & Business Development Leadership Forum: Next Level Legal Marketing for 2010 and Beyond. According to a press release, the forum will offer a wide variety of panel discussion sessions featuring leading law firm marketers, industry marketing consultants and law firm managing partners.

The three CMO’s slated to attend are Joe Calve of Morrison & Foerster, Jolene M. Overbeck of DLA Piper and Bob Robertson of Greenberg Traurig.

Calve joined MoFo as CMO in February. Previously CMO at Proskauer Rose, Calve oversees marketing and business development efforts at MoFo. Overbeck was named global chief marketing officer at DLA Piper in 2007. Previously CMO at Latham & Watkins, Overbeck oversees all aspects of DLA Piper’s marketing and business development efforts worldwide. Robertson has been CMO at Greenberg Traurig since 2009. He previously served as director of business development at Haynes & Boone.

The complete conference agenda and registration details are available at www.americanlawyer.com/business.

Dewey & LeBoeuf Opens Eyes With $125 Million Bond Offering

joshua — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:52:55 +0000

In what it describes as “a rare action by a U.S. law firm,” Bloomberg is reporting that Dewey & LeBoeuf has raised $125 million in a bond offering to refinance its existing bank debt.

It remains unclear what such a moves signals, but therehas been plenty of speculation. As noted by Bloomberg, which broke the story, law firms generally receive capital from bank loans and partners’ contributions. Looking to outside investors doesn’t occur often.

Bloomberg reports this is the first law firm private placement since the credit crunch and its one of just a few ever. Stephen Gillers, a legal-ethics professor at New York University, notes firms cannot sell shares to raise capital because it is illegal for non-lawyers to have ownership in a law firm. But, “law firms can borrow money,” Gillers said. “As long as it’s debt, it’s OK.”

Keith Wetmore, chairman of Morrison & Foerster sees the move as a positive sign. He notes MoFo issued bonds in 2001 and 2002 because of debt incurred by office build-outs, and the firm would consider it again in the future. “You need a pretty good balance sheet to interest institutional investors.” he said. “Not every law firm is going to have that.”

According to Wetmore, through private placements firms are able to borrow for 10 to 15 years with private placements rather than the typical three to five years with banks.

Dewey & LeBoeuf underwent a round of layoffs earlier this month when 30 administrative staff members were let go at the firm’s offices in Los Angeles, New York City and Washington D.C. The firm also saw an 11.3 percent fall in gross revenue in 2010, though profits per partner and revenue per lawyer were up.

Dewey & LeBoeuf was founded in 1909 and is based in New York City. The firm has over 1,200 attorneys with 25 offices across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Justice Department Under Attack

joshua — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:27:04 +0000

A group calling itself “Keep America Safe” has been running an ad attacking Attorney General Eric Holder for refusing to name Justice Department appointees who represented detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The ad, seen below, is charged with high octane rhetoric.

Fox News has since “outed” the DoJ lawyers who worked on detainee cases. We aren’t going to repeat the names here, but we will tell you that the lawyers worked at liberal subversive law firms like Covington & Burling, Venable, Morrison & Foerster, WilmerHale, Debevoise & Plimpton, Sidley Austin, and O’Melveny & Myers. In fact, according to ABC News, 34 out of the 50 largest US Firms have represented or filed amicus briefs on behalf of detainees.

The right of the accused to legal representation and the requirement of lawyers to zealously advocate for their clients are hallmarks of our legal system. To impugn the integrity or patriotism of lawyers who do so is repugnant to the rule of law.

“Keep America Safe”, which was formed in part by Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has no apparent problem with JAG Corps officers defending detainees or the JAG Corps officers who, sitting in judgement, released several. I’m left to believe that this is nothing more than a smear attack on the Attorney General’s office, and by extension, the President. It’s shameful that they would do so by attacking the integrity of some of America’s top lawyers.

Morning Roundup

sara — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:53:12 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Wednesday, March 3, and here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s news…

Revenue is down at Winston & Strawn…

DLA Piper forms an alliance with a Brazilian law firm…

Former Arnold & Porter chairman Michael Sohn joins Davis Polk…

A former secretary sues Drinker Biddle over a pay dispute…

Ex Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo hires prominent D.C. lawyer Brendan Sullivan…

New research finds that U.S. News and World Report Law School rankings have an adverse impact on diversity efforts…

Irell & Manella wins an unanimous decision on behalf of Novellus Systems…

Fulbright & Jaworski names James K. Dixon their new executive director…

Wilkinson Barker Knauer scoops up Morrison & Foerster’s communication law group…

Patton Boggs partner Rodney E. Slater will advise Toyota on quality and safety issues…

Wilkinson Barker Takes MoFo’s Communications Group

joshua — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:38:02 +0000

Wilkinson Barker Knauer, a Washington D.C.-based communications and technology law firm, has scooped up the communications law group from Morrison & Foerster. Joining Wilkinson Barker as partners are Cheryl A. Tritt, Charles H. Kennedy and Jennifer L. Kostyu. Joining as of counsel are Frank W. Krogh and Phuong N. Pham.

Additionally, it was announced that William F. Maher will become a partner in the firm in April. Wilkinson Barker now has 47 attorneys in its communications and technology law practice, according to a press release.

Tritt and Maher are both former bureau chief’s at the Federal Communications Commission. Tritt served as chief of the common carrier bureau while Maher was chief of the wireline competition bureau.

Wilkinson is a boutique firm with a practice centered around communications and technology law. In February the firm added 6 new attorneys, including former Chaiman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission Frank Gifford, and opened an office in Denver.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:33:56 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Thursday, February 25, and here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s news…

Morrison Foerster added a lateral in New York…

A former US Attorney joined up with Locke Lord…

Marc Daniel joined Arnold & Porter in Washington DC…

Latham & Watkins added one in Hong Kong…

Revenues dipped slightly while profits stayed flat at Arent Fox…

And speaking of Arent Fox, the firm picked up a lateral from Jones Day…

Jenner Block had a good year in 2009…

Jones Day picked up another California lateral…

Covington & Burling grow in Beijing…

Three Google executives have been convicted in absentia by an Italian court for privacy violations…

And Morgan Stanley’s chief legal officer has stepped down…

Morrison Foerster Adds Partner in New York Office

joshua — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:34:00 +0000

Spencer Klein has joined the corporate practice of Morrison & Foerster as a partner in its New York office. Klein, who was previously with O’Melveny & Myers, will co-head MoFo’s mergers and acquisitions practice.

In addition to M&A issues, Klein’s practice also focuses on high-profile corporate governance matters. He is also a frequent advisor for U.S. and multinational companies across multiple industries.

Keith Wetmore, chairman of Morrison & Foerster, explained the addition in a press release.

“A core element of our strategy is the continued growth and development of our corporate and capital markets practices, particularly in New York,” Wetmore said. “The addition of Spencer advances our ambitions for corporate practice growth…and represents an important expansion of our strong M&A capabilities across the firm.”

Morrison & Foerster is a global firm with over 1,000 lawyers in technology and financial centers in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:02:05 +0000

Good Morning everyone! Today is Monday, February 22, and here’s a look back at Friday’s news…

Celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels is suing WC&C for defamation…

A former Toyota lawyer claims the company destroyed evidence about rollovers…

Blank Rome posted increased revenues and profits last year….

The federal government and big tobacco are moving their fight to the Supreme Court…

A fomer US Attorney joined Sidley Austin…

A Washington Post article has people talking about Justice Obama…

Defense attorney for the suspect in the University of Alabama shootings says his client is legally insane…

Texas Governor Rick Perry is suing the EPA on behalf of his state…

Google gets hit with a class action law suit over privacy problems with Google Buzz…

Circulation for major Law Reviews is way down….

Paul Hastings had a drop in revenue and a drop in profits last year…

MoFo restores first year salaries to $160k…

and Dechert saw a drop in revenues and profits for 2009…

Morrison & Foerster Raise First-Year Salaries Back to $160,000

sara — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:23:18 +0000

Morrison & Foerster will return first year salaries to $160,000 after lowering them late last year. The firm lowered starting salaries to $145,000 beginning last October outside of New York and Asia. In a memo to associates on Tuesday Chairman Keith Wetmore said, “Although a great deal of uncertainty continues regarding how the economy will perform in 2010, we, like our most successful competitors, remain in demand. We are planning conservatively for 2010. However, if 2009 is a predictor, 2010 will provide opportunity despite its challenges.”

Morrison & Foerster was founded in 1883 and has over 1,000 attorneys. Headquartered in San Francisco, the firm has 16 offices in various locations throughout the world.

Senate Confirms Ronald Machen & Others

sara — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:44:51 +0000

The Senate confirmed Ronald Machen as U.S. Attorney for D.C. on Thursday. Machen was a partner at WilmerHale. He was assistant attorney in DC from 1997 to 2001. Machen faced no opposition and was confirmed without a formal vote.

Andre Birotte Jr., former inspector general of the Los Angeles Police Department was confirmed as the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California

Sharon Bowen, a partner in Latham & Watkins’ New York office, was confirmed as a director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

Ketanji Brown, of counsel to Morrison & Foerster’s Washington office was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Richard Hartunian, an assistant U.S. Attorney, was confirmed as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York.

Morning Roundup

sara — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:44:23 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Friday, February 5, and here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s headlines.

Tycko & Zavareei filed a class action suit against Fifth Third Bank…

Pillsbury gave raises (sort of) and bonuses…

Gardere Wynne added four attorneys to their roster…

Morrison & Foerster hired Joe Calve as their Chief Marketing Officer…

Danna McKitrick attorney Ruth Binger was named a Top Small Business Lawyer by the St. Louis Small Business Monthly…

Revenues and profits were up at Bingham McCutchen…

Thor Hearne, a former national election counsel in the Bush administration, joined Arent Fox…

Littler Mendelson welcomed 4 new shareholders to the firm…

Neil Upton joined Greenberg Traurig to head its UK Energy Practice…

The former director of Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality joined Foley & Lardner…

Mintz Levin gave incoming associates the option to defer their starting employment date…

Alston & Bird hired a contractor to explore the construction of a new office building…

MoFo Hires Joe Calve as CMO

joshua — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:37:07 +0000

Morrison & Foerster, whose new web pageembraces the acronym “MoFo”, has hired Joe Calve as Chief Marketing Officer. Calve waspreviously the CMO for Proskauer Rose. During his tenure with Proskauer Rose, the firm was ranked #1 by Marketing the Law Firm Magazine three years running. Calve has also served as Director of Business Development at White & Case.

Morrison & Foerster LLP has more than 1,000 lawyers in 19 offices. The firm was founded in San Francisco in 1883.

Lambda Legal Sues Office of Personnel Management

sara — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:12:21 +0000

On January 20 Lambda legal filed a suit against the federal government in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit requests that an order directing the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to obey prior rulings by Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski be enforced. In his ruling Judge Kozinski awarded spousal health insurance benefits to Ninth Circuit attorney Karen Golinski.

Golinski’s wife Amy Cunninghis was denied spousal health insurance through Golinski’s employer, the Office of Personnel Management. Kozinski ruled in January 2009 that this denial was illegal discrimination and ordered the Administrative Office of the U.S. courts to submit Golinski’s health benefits election form to her insurance company. The Office of Personnel Management refused to comply with Kozinski’s order.

The lawsuit filed on Wednesday requests that the federal court order the Office of Personnel Management to rescind its instruction to Golinski’s insurer so that her spouse can receive health insurance coverage. Lambda Legal’s Jennifer C. Pizer represents Golinski along with James McGuire and Rita Lin of Morrison & Foerster LLP.

Tuesday Roundup

joshua — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:45:41 +0000

Good morning everyone! Here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s stories…

Morrison & Foerster lowers salaries for California associates…

Schulte Roth nabs five securities lawyers from Mayer Brown…

Six lawyers jump from Anderson Kill to Offit Kurman…

The DoJ has an Office of Vaccine Litigation? Yes, and it is hiring…

Skadden Arps picks up former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt…

Morrison & Foerster Lower Incoming Associate Salaries in California

joshua — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:05:38 +0000

Morrison & Foerster is lowering the starting pay of its associates to $145,000 in California, while associates in New York and Asia will continue to receive the same pay. The firm is the first Big Law firm to lower California rates, which are generally the same as New York rates with associates in other offices receiving less. Firm Chairman Keith Wetmore noted that this is actually a return to the historical practice of major law firms paying associates in New York more than in other cities, in part due to higher billing rates.

Other firms have dropped salaries for first year associates this year, but they’ve kept New York and LA parallel.

K&L Gates Brings on Partners

Erik Even — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:39:32 +0000

Charles D. Holland joins K&L Gates from Morrison & Foerster as a partner in the Palo Alto office. He focuses on intellectual property matters. He has extensive experience in patent prosecution, portfolio review and strategic advice, ex-parte and inter-partes reexaminations, interferences, non-infringement and invalidy analyses and opinions, due diligence reviews for companies and investors, pre-litigation and litigation analyses and assistance, and design-around analyses and advice.

His JD is from the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Vincent Pisano joins from Paul Hastings as a partner in New York. He focuses on securities and mergers & acquisitions matters. He has significant experience representing corporations and investment banks in their public and private offerings, US & international transactions, initial public offerings, high yield debt offerings, special product development and leveraged buyout and other acquisition financings.

He is a graduate of the St. John’s University School of Law.

K&L Gates LLP is a US law firm with over 1700 attorneys worldwide, and is ranked as the 10th largest law firm in the world.

50 Best Law Firms for Women Announced

Erik Even — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:33:38 +0000

Working Mother Magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers have announced their 2009 Best Law Firms for Women.

The accolade is awarded based on attention to work-life and women’s issues, and the increased use of part-time and other family-friendly policies.

Firms with at least 50 lawyers were eligible to apply, and the application included detailed questions about issues that are important to the retention and promotion of female lawyers. The winning firms were selected based on their workforce profile, family-friendly benefits and policies, flexibility, leadership, compensation, advancement and retention of women, among other criteria utilizing 2008 data.

The 50 firms chosen are not ranked in any order, but include:

Alston & Bird
Andrews Kurth
Arent Fox
Bass Berry Sims
Chapman and Cutler
Covington & Burling
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Debevoise & Plimpton
Dorsey & Whitney
Drinker Biddle
Foley Hoag
Folger Levin & Kahn
Fox Rothschild
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz
Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
Frost Brown Todd
Gibbons PC
Goodwin Procter
Gray Plant Mooty
Hanson Bridgett
Hardy & Bacon
Holland and Hart
Honigman Miller Schwartz & Cohn
Ice Miller
Jenner & Block
Katten Muchin Rosenman Cornish LLP
Latham & Watkins
Lindquist & Vennum
Littler Mendelson
Lowenstein Sandler
Manatt Phelps & Phillips
McGuireWoods
Miller & Chevalier
Morrison & Foerster
Munger Tolles & Olson
Neal Gerber & Eisenberg
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Perkins Coie
Pillsbury Winthrop
Quarles & Brady
Shook
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Smith Moore Leatherwood
Steptoe & Johnson
Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox
Vinson & Elkins
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Huh. The list of firms not included might be shorter.

Obama Nominates 3 to District Court Bench

Erik Even — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:25:49 +0000

In more Obamanomination news, the President has nominated three California lawyers to the United States District Court bench.

Edward Chen has been nominated for the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Chen currently serves as a US Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California. He was a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, Northern California Chapter. His law degree is from the UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law.

Dolly Gee has been nominated to the US District Court for the Central District of California. She is a managing partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Schwartz Steinsapir, where she practices labor and employment litigation. She received her JD from the UCLA School of Law.

Richard Seeborg has been nominated to the US District Court for the Northern District of California. He is currently a US Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California, and previously worked at Morrison & Foerester, in both Palo Alto and San Francisco, where he was an equity partner. Seeborg also served as an Assistant US Attorney in San Jose, California. His JD is from the Columbia University School of Law.

The 94 United States district courts are the general trial courts of the US federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty.

Howard Rice Decimates Associate Salaries

Erik Even — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:11:42 +0000

San Francisco, California’s Howard Rice cut all associate salaries by 10% last month.

Incoming associate salaries were cut from $160,000 to $145,000. Fourth-years now make $170,000, and seventh-years make $225,000.

The firm says it is just bringing its salaries into line with competitors like Morrison & Foerster, DLA Piper and O’Melveny & Myers.

Howard Rice froze its billing rates 18 months ago.

Founded in 1954, Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin employs almost 100 lawyers.

Morrison & Foerster Expands Outsourcing Team

Erik Even — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:20:37 +0000

Morrison & Foerster has hired two outsourcing experts from Alston & Bird.

Christopher Ford and Scott Stevenson advised the state of Georgia in a $1.7 billion contract to outsource information technology services for various state agencies.

The two join Morrison & Foerster’s Washington, DC office. Ford joins as a partner, and Stevenson as of counsel.

In May, the firm deferred incoming associates; and in February slashed bonuses and froze salaries.

Morrison & Foerster LLP has more than 1,000 lawyers in 19 offices. The firm was founded in San Francisco in 1883.

Morrison & Foerster Defers Start Dates

Erik Even — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:34:31 +0000

Morrison & Foerster has informed 40% of its incoming associate class that their start date has been pushed to April 2010. The remainder will start in November 2009.

Those deferred will get $5,000 per month plus a bar stipend, and reimbursement of health care premia.

Also, new associates can opt to join at an even later date than April 2010, if they do public interest work. Those who take this option will get a $15,000 bonus when they eventually join the firm.

Morrison & Foerster LLP has more than 1,000 lawyers in 19 offices. The firm was founded in San Francisco in 1883.

March 9th Worst Day for Law Firm Layoffs So Far

Erik Even — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:32:48 +0000

Despite the fact that February 12th is still known as Black Thursday and generally considered the worst day for law firm layoffs since the economic meltdown began, the truth is it’s only the third worst day to date.

Yesterday, March 9th, had the largest number of single day layoffs: White & Case announced 400 layoffs (although the victims have yet to be informed), Morgan Lewis cut 216 and K&L Gates cut 121.

Total: 737.

January 29 was the second worst: Linklaters (270), Morrison & Foerster (201), Ropes & Gray (106), Fish & Richardson (70) and Clifford Chance (5).

Total: 652.

And the widely lamented Black Thursday: Holland & Knight (243); DLA Piper (180); Goodwin Procter (74); Bryan Cave (58); Epstein Becker (53); Dechert (19); and Cadwalader (16).

Total: 643.

McIntosh Joins Allen Matkins

Erik Even — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:07:53 +0000

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP announced the expansion of its corporate practice group with the addition of Daniel McIntosh as chair of the firm’s corporate practice group in the firm’s Los Angeles and Century City offices.

He joins Allen Matkins as the former co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Los Angeles Entertainment and Technology Group. He has represented William Morris Agency for more than 20 years, including most recently in the sale of WMA’s three office buildings and the long term lease of its new world headquarters in Beverly Hills. Other clients include Lucasfilm, Ltd., Lucasfilm Foundation and Content Partners, LLC.

McIntosh is past president of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. He also serves on the board of directors of the ABA Museum of Law, of which he is the current vice president, and is a past member of the boards of directors of Public Counsel and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Before joining Morrison & Foerster, he was a partner with Kaplan Livingston, a preeminent Beverly Hills entertainment law firm. McIntosh received his J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law and his A.B., cum laude, from the University of California, Berkeley.

Morrison & Foerster Slashes Bonuses, Freezes Salaries

Erik Even — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:45:09 +0000

Morrison & Foerster has frozen associate salaries, and revised its associate discretionary bonuses to as low as $6,000 for 2008.

All 2008 bonuses will be paid on February 27th, but “evaluation-based bonuses” are being revised. Hours-based bonuses for everyone, and discretionary bonuses for New York-based associates, will stay the same.

The discretionary bonus structure announced in May ranged between $25,000 and $80,000. The revised structure for 2008 ranges between $6,000 and $62,000.

The firm is also freezing associate salaries for 2009. But associates living in New York could receive what would have been their 2009 raise as a bonus sometime in 2010.

Morrison & Foerster LLP has more than 1,000 lawyers in 19 offices. The firm was founded in San Francisco in 1883.

Morrison & Foerster Cuts 53 Lawyers, 148 Staff

Erik Even — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:15:05 +0000

Frisco’s Morrison & Foerster is downsizing. A memo was sent out today:

Morrison & Foerster has reduced its legal and non-legal staffing in its U.S. offices to align our firm with client needs in this extraordinary economic downturn. We notified 53 attorneys and 148 staff of the termination of their employment. These decisions are exceedingly painful, but necessary to assure that we address the current economic challenge from a position of financial conservatism and strength. Notwithstanding the difficult steps we are taking today, the state of the firm is strong and we are confident about our future. Our deep bench of legal talent, geographic and practice diversity and healthy balance sheet continue to serve us well and enable the firm to compete effectively. We remain committed to serving our clients efficiently while investing strategically in the development of the firm.

Those affected are eligible for severance pay and health care benefits. We deeply appreciate the dedicated and valuable contributions these individuals have brought to our clients and the Firm.

Morrison & Foerster LLP has more than 1,000 lawyers in 19 offices in the US and East Asia. The firm was founded in San Francisco in 1883. Its lawyers have experience in a wide range of areas, including corporate, finance and financial services, life sciences and technology, land use and environmental law, litigation, and mergers and acquisitions.

Goodwin Procter Expands Financial Group

Erik Even — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:43:05 +0000

Boston’s Goodwin Procter today added two nationally-recognized attorneys to its Financial Services Group.

Robert M. Kurucza joins as co-chair, bringing along Marco E. Adelfio. Both are residents of Washington, DC.

The addition of Kurucza and Adelfio will enable Goodwin Procter to provide a more fully integrated suite of services to prominent common clients, and to offer even greater cross-disciplinary expertise to a broad range of financial institutions.

Formerly of Morrison Foerster…

Mr. Kurucza was formerly the Director of the Securities & Corporate Practices Division of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Assistant Director of the Division of Investment Management for the SEC and Chief Counsel to the Pennsylvania Securities Commission. … He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2007 – 2009) as a leader in the fields of banking and mutual funds law….

For the last three years, Mr. Adelfio has been named a Leading Lawyer in Investment Management in the Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers put out by Chamber & Partners Publishing. He is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2007 – 2009) as a leader in the fields of mutual funds law and private funds law.

Via ATL.

Economic Meltdown Means Fewer New Partners in ’09

Erik Even — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:29:03 +0000

From Law.com: new partner candidates may have a tough time next year.

New partner announcements are starting to come in, and things aren’t looking so good. Thirteen Am Law 200 firms in California have announced new partners so far, and eight of those firmwide classes are smaller than last year.

“I anticipate a smaller class this year than last, and it’s a direct response to the decreased demand for legal services in the world,” said Keith Wetmore, chairman of Morrison & Foerster, which hasn’t yet announced its new partner class.

Chicago’s Mayer Brown and McDermott, Will & Emery named 43 and 42 new partners last year, respectively, but both named only 27 this year. Classes are also smaller at Cooley Godward Kronish; Fenwick & West; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Proskauer Rose; Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.