In recent days, Thompson Hine LLP, a leading national law firm, announced that Deborah Z. Read has been elected as the firm’s managing partner, making her one of only a few major law firms with a woman at the top.

Read will succeed David J. Hooker on May 1, 2012. Hooker has served as managing partner since 1997, and will continue to be an active partner in the firm.

Read has been an integral part of building the firm and setting its strategic priorities. As managing partner she will utilize her leadership experience within the firm as a member of its Executive Committee for the last eleven years.

In addition, Read, for the past six years, has served as Thompson Hine’s firmwide hiring partner. In this capacity, she oversaw all group and individual lawyer hiring and created a unique hiring and integration program. As a result of these efforts, the firm was listed as one of the top four firms with fewer than 500 lawyers for lateral partner satisfaction and integration in a survey conducted by leading consulting group Major, Lindsey & Africa. During Read’s tenure as hiring partner, the firm’s lateral partner program increased in size by 49 percent.

Read’s management experience extends to all areas of the firm. She served as chair of the firm’s Tax, Benefits and Planning practice and its Lawyer Personnel Committee, a firmwide committee then responsible for compensation and career development for all non-partner lawyers. In addition, she worked to ensure implementation of the firm’s first parental leave policy, which is non-gender-specific, and in the 1990s, when technology supporting offsite work was less prevalent, she established an onsite Saturday childcare program for firm lawyers and staff. She was also involved in the formation of Thompson Hine’s Spotlight on Women® program, the firms award-winning national women’s initiative.

Read was quoted as saying: “It’s an honor to take on the role of managing partner. We have a very talented group of lawyers with whom I am privileged to work. I look forward to building on the firms strong foundation of client service and developing ways that we can continue to innovate how we deliver our services to provide the maximum value for our clients. Thompson Hine is an excellent firm with a long history, and we will continue to add lawyers that complement our existing expertise and enhance our geographic presence.”

Read has received numerous, prestigious awards, including the 2010 Northeast Ohio ATHENA award, presented annually by ATHENA International to people who assist women in realizing their leadership potential, show excellence in their business or profession, and have devoted time and energy to their communities. She is also the recipient of the 2006 YWCA Career Women of Achievement award, the 2006 Rainmakers Award (Northern Ohio Live), the 2001 Kaleidoscope Magazine Woman Who Gives Back award and the1988 United WayVolunteer of the Year award.

Read concentrates her practice on corporate structure and restructuring for nonprofit organizations, and tax and corporate planning for nonprofit organizations, foundations and health care organizations. She advises leading foundations and nonprofit organizations. Read also serves as a volunteer adviser to a variety of charities and organizations that make up Business Volunteers Unlimited, providing them with guidance and evaluation of their legal issues. Read is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

Read’s has long been dedicated to serving the community. Organizations to which she has contributed include United Way Services, the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, and the Health and Caring for All Vision Council, among others.

Established in 1911, Thompson Hine is a business law firm dedicated to providing superior client service.

• Ruden McClosky Names its New Managing Partner
• Morning Roundup
• Cadwalader Profits per Partner Increase By 28%
• Taylor Wessings Managing Partner, Michael Frawley, To Step Down in August ’09
• Edwin Coe Hires Four New Partners

Diversity figures decreased in 2009 and 2010 but most law firms are working on getting diversity back. However, while diversity at most law firms is beginning to increase after the decline from the past two years, Philadelphia is still having trouble doing so.

A study on law firms shows that diversity in Philadelphia law firms is still continuing to decrease even in 2011. In 2010, the percent of minority attorneys at law firms was about 8.92 percent and for 2011, that percentage has decreased to about 8.23 percent. While this is a  small decline, several years ago, the percentage of minority attorneys at law firms in Philadelphia was at a mere 6.5 percent.

In general, the presence of minorities at law firms in the United States is about 12.7 percent, which makes it obvious that Philadelphia is still behind when compared to other cities. Philadelphia is one of the only cities of the United States legal market with such a low percentage of minorities. The other city that also has a low minority rate is Boston but they are still ahead of Philadelphia at 9.19 percent.

Minorities account for 31.94 percent of Philadelphia interns. However, with such a high number of minority interns, one would probably question why the actual number of minority attorneys at these law firms in Philadelphia is so low. What the studies show is that while Philadelphia is allowing minority lawyers to start their internship in Philadelphia, they are not sticking around to actually end up as an attorney in a law firm.

While Philadelphia is not doing so well with increasing the percentage of minority attorneys in law firms around the area, they do seem to be doing better with gender diversity. In fact, about 32.61 percent of women attorneys work in law firms in Philadelphia in 2011. While that number has declined from 32.69 in 2010, it is still considerably high.

The number of female partners at law firms in Philadelphia is at about 19.2 percent. The national average for female partners at law firms in the United States is at 19.54. This proves that Philadelphia is still behind, even with female partners, but they are close to reaching the national average percentage. The percentage of minority women lawyers in the United States is at a national average of 6.23 percent. In Philadelphia, the number of minority women is 4.59 percent.

What some people find strange about the statistical information is that, the number of students who graduate from law school is usually at an equal percentage. This means about 50 percent of women would graduate along with about 50 percent of men. While the number of graduates is split almost equally amongst men and women, women still have less partner jobs at law firms compared to men. Law firms across the country are trying to hire more women as partners, but many are finding it difficult to interview qualified candidates.

• Goodwin Procter Has 17 New Partners
• Morning Roundup
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Has Impressive 2011
• Law Firm of Akin Gump Has Second Defamation Lawsuit Filed Against It
• Ultra-Orthodox Claims Women as a Problem, but Perhaps it is the Men With an Issue

While some lawyers may be experiencing layoffs, one law firm has just elected 17 new partners on their payroll. These lawyers were carefully chosen because of their experience and expertise in law. Goodwin Procter was noted saying the following about the new hirers. “We look forward to the many contributions this next generation of talent will bring to Goodwin.”

The following lawyers were elected into Goodwin Procter:

Gina M. Atwood has experience in liability cases with both private and public companies. She has major knowledge in class action suits and litigation. Goodwin Procter is excited to add her to the team. Next on the board is Mitzi Chang who specialized in investment banking and has a lot of experience in media and technology.

Michael S. DeVincenzo and Amber R. Dolman were also welcome on board thanks to their experience in the financial aspect of law. Brian A. Fairchild, Michael T. Jones, & E. Kelsey Lemaster are all high qualified individuals that have been added to the Goodwin Procter team. These individuals were chosen for their practice in law but also brought individuality to the legal table. Goodwin Procter is proud to have all the above mentioned on their team.

Matthew G. Lindenbaum, Arthur R. McGivern, and Brian C. McPeake are several other lawyers who are new to the Goodwin Procter payroll. Most of these lawyers have experience in a wide variety of public and private law practices.

Nicholas K. Mitrokostas, Steven A. Moore, Matthew G. Pohlman, Daniel P. Roeser, Jeremiah J. Sullivan, Craig C. Todaro, and last but not least William J. Trach  were the final lawyers nominated to serve as new partners to the Goodwin Procter law firm.

Why has this law firm hired so many individuals? Goodwin Procter is a well-known law firm and they have offices all over the world. Here is a better explanation of what Goodwin Procter does and how they serve the public in a legal manner:

“Goodwin Procter LLP is one of the nation’s leading law firms, with offices in Boston, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The firm provides corporate law and litigation services, with a focus on matters involving real estate, REITs and real estate capital markets; private equity; technology companies; financial services; intellectual property; products liability and mass torts; and securities litigation and white collar defense.”

Many law firms look to Goodwin Procter as a “role model” in the field of law. All of these new lawyer additions will only make this law firm more known worldwide. Each lawyer that was elected into Goodwin Procter was elected for their specific skill and experience. Also, each lawyer came from different areas of expertise but will contribute to the law firm as a whole.

• Philadelphia Law Firms Lack Diversity
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup

In recent days, the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP announced that five bank finance and high yield partners have joined its existing New York acquisition finance practice.

The partners include Ronan M. Wicks and Patrick J. Flanagan, formerly partners at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP in New York, Bruce Czachor, formerly a partner at Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York, Julian S.H. Chung, formerly a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York, and Jason D. White, head of the leveraged and high grade finance and credit restructuring practices in the Americas for the legal department of Barclays Capital. 

The partners have joined Orrick’s acquisition finance practice group; Ronan Wicks will serve as global co-head.

Wicks, Flanagan, Czachor, Chung and White regularly represent a cross section of major investment banks in sophisticated financing and restructuring transactions involving financial sponsors, leveraged corporates and investment grade companies. Clients have included Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, and Bank of America.

Orrick’s client base of financial institutions accounts for over one-third of the firm’s total revenues.  With the addition of these partners, the firm has added significant acquisition finance capability to its leading financial institution practices in the areas of project finance, infrastructure finance, structured finance, public finance, capital markets, tax, and litigation. 

Ralph Baxter, Chairman and CEO of Orrick was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “We are delighted to assemble this team of leading practitioners in the area of acquisition finance. This move adds another strong dimension to our representation of major investment banks and financial institutions, both in New York and globally.”

Ralph Baxter has held the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP since 1990. Under his leadership, the firm has become known as an innovator, and has expanded, diversified and extended its geographic reach, as well as launched a variety of transformative initiatives, including the firm’s new talent and pricing models.

Recognized as one of America’s “100 Most Influential Lawyers” by The National Law Journal, Baxter speaks frequently on business leadership and the evolution of the legal profession. He is the founder of the Law Firm Leaders Forum, one of the most significant gatherings of law firm leaders annually examining critical issues facing the legal profession. 

A leading global law firm with offices spanning the United States, Europe and Asia, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has over 1,200 lawyers across 23 offices and 8 countries, and offers practices of the highest quality, including a mix of transactional, litigation and regulatory expertise. 

Chambers & Partners ranks Orrick’s lawyers and its practices among the world’s finest.  The 2011 Chambers Global profiles Orrick’s strengths across 37 practice areas and 11 markets, and names 60 Orrick lawyers as leading practitioners worldwide.  Law 360 recently named Orrick among its “Global 20,” a list of the most successful firms as measured by US and international expansion and results achieved for clients.  As well, The Financial Times includes Orrick on its list of the most innovative U.S.-origin law firms, recognizing the firm’s finance and litigation work.

• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe Adds Pair of Expert Financial Services Regulatory Attorneys in London Office
• Merger of King & Wood and Mallesons Stephens Jaques Creates Largest Law Firm in Asia
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• NY AG Sues BofA, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase over Mortgage Fraud

Cherian leaves Howrey for rival firm, Hogan Lovells, and joining him will be partners Constance Ramos, Sarah Jalali, John Hamann, and hiring partner at Howrey’s Scott Wales. On top of the loss of partners, Cherian also takes $10 million worth of business with him.

Hogan & Lovells was formed in May 2010, when Washington-based firm Hogan & Hartson merged with the London-based Lovells. With revenues of around $1.8 billion, there are nearly 2,500 lawyers at Hogan Lovells.

Howrey lost its other IP rainmaker last month, when Henry Bunsow left to join Dewey LeBeouf.

• Winston & Strawn Continues Expansion of IP Litigation Practice With Addition of Two Partners
• Jones Day Adds Six Partners to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Offices
• Morning Roundup
• Jones Day Adds Three Partners and Three Registered Patent Agents in Southern Calfornia
• Morning Roundup

Winston & Strawn LLP added two partners to its Los Angeles office…

Veteran trademark attorney Monica Riva Talley joined Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox…

Houston’s Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Anaipakos Law Firm was named an “awesome opponent” in a survey conducted by BTI Consulting Group…

• Winston & Strawn LLP Adds Two Partners to Los Angeles Office
• Veteran Trademark Attorney Joins Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox
• Houston’s AZA Law Firm Named as Formidable Opponent in National Corporate Counsel Survey
• Prominent Litigator Caryn Jacobs Joins Winston & Strawn as Partner
• Duane Morris Adds Pair of Attorneys on West Coast

The move significantly expands its M&A, securities, private equity, and finance capabilities on the West Coast. Levin joins from O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where he was a partner in and former co-chair of the firm’s M&A/Private Equity practices. Loui joins from Mayer Brown LLP, where he was a partner in its banking and finance department, and the Los Angeles Finance practice leader.

The two men, who each have well established practices in Southern California, bring a rare combination of experience representing public and private companies in acquisitions and divestitures, securities offerings, and corporate finance transactions, including securitizations, structured and acquisition finance matters, and capital raises for emerging companies.

Levin has represented numerous Fortune 500 companies as well as private companies in their acquisitions and business dispositions, and has advised many prominent investment banking firms.

Loui’s representation of lenders and issuers includes acquisition financings of up to $3.7 billion, and structured financings and other securitizations in transactions valued up to $6 billion, including some of the first securitizations of non-performing loans and life settlements.

In today’s press release at PR Newswire, Laura Petroff, managing partner of the Los Angeles office, was quoted as saying: “We are extremely pleased to welcome Jim and Warren to our office. Their reputation and proven deal-making abilities, along with their uncommon blend of experience, will allow our office to grow strategically in ways that complement our existing corporate presence in California and the firm’s global capabilities.”

Winston & Strawn LLP is an international law firm with more than 900 attorneys among 14 offices in Beijing, Charlotte, Chicago, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Newark, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C.

• Morning Roundup
• Prominent Litigator Caryn Jacobs Joins Winston & Strawn as Partner
• Duane Morris Adds Pair of Attorneys on West Coast
• Three Partners at O’Melveny & Myers Move Into Leadership Roles
• Morning Roundup

Dinsmore & Shohl added two new partners in its Columbus, Ohio office…

Grant & Eisenhofer added three attorneys to its antitrust practice…

Sidley Austin’s Thomas Cole was honored by the National Association of Corporate Directors…

Steptoe & Johnson opened an office, and acquired the energy practice group from Culbertson, Weiss, Schetroma and Schug…

• Columbus Office of Dinsmore & Shohl to Add Two New Partners
• Leading Securities Law Firm Grant & Eisenhofer Adds Three to Antitrust Practice
• Morning Roundup
• Steptoe & Johnson Nabs Energy Team for New Office
• Morning Roundup

Founded in 1908 in Cincinatti, Ohio, Dinsmore & Shohl is becoming more and more influential in the state.  Now, with 48 lawyers, the firm is the tenth largest in Central Ohio and second largest in Dayton.  With 450 attorneys overall, branches can also be found in Kentuky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia as well.

With more than 50 years experience between the two, adding Freiburger and Moehring can only be a boon to the firm.  Managing partner of the Columbus office of Dinsmore & Shohl, Don Leach, says, “We are thrilled to have two such high quality and well established attorneys joining us.”

Since 1972, Freiburger has gained much experience working on environmental law, including with the Ohio EPA.  He has also   Conversely, Moehring has focused on business matters and real estate with clients from California, Florida, Las Vegas, New York, and others.

Leach says, “We continue to be excited about the opportunities in Columbus, and adding Chuck and Boyd is a huge step in continuing our growth here.”

• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Dinsmore & Shohl Welcomes New Partner Michael DiSanto to Corporate Department
• Dinsmore & Shohl Welcomes Former Deputy General Counsel for EPA Mary Ann Poirier

According to the survey, 94.5 percent of all law firms now offer alternative fee arrangements (AFA). But that’s not all. That number reaches 100 percent if counting only firms with 150 or more lawyers.

The majority of firms offering AFA’s said the arrangement came at the request of clients and were not a proactive strategy.  Additionally, half of all firms say their fee arrangements are less profitable than hourly billing.

“We’re seeing some systemization, especially in larger firms, but there is a long way to go before alternative fee programs are business-focused and profit-driven rather than being seen as concessions to clients,” said Altman Weil principal Tom Clay said.

According to the survey, partnership in U.S. law firms is now harder to attain and will remain. Nearly 40 percent of firms made fewer partnership offers in 2009, and 50 percent indicated that they will or might do so in 2010.

Over a quarter of all law firms reported de-equitizing partners in 2009 and 37 percent will or might do so this year.

An additional 14 percent extended the partnership track last year and 20 percent will or might do so in 2010.  The majority of firms expect each of these trends to be permanent going forward.

“This is a key element in the changing equation of law firm finance,” Clay explained.  “Firms will maintain their profits per partner, in large part, by managing the number of partners they admit.”

The short term outlook for associates is even more daunting. Sixty four percent of firms reported shrinking their summer programs in 2009 and 54 percent anticipate doing the same in 2010. Just over half of all firms reduced or discontinued hiring first year associates last year and 38 percent will do the same this year.

To perhaps help fill that staffing hole, firms are increasingly using contract lawyers. The study reports 39 percent of firms used contract lawyers in ’09 and more than half, 53 percent, will or might do so in ’10.

Despite the difficult economy, slightly more firms had revenue gains than losses in 2009.  Forty-six percent of firms reported increases in gross revenue; 44 percent reported decreases; and, 10 percent had no change from the prior year.

Revenue per lawyer was also up in 47 percent of law firms in 2009. Profits per equity partner (PPEP) increased in 56 percent of firms.

PPEP increases were driven by cuts in overhead costs in 69 percent of law firms which were primarily cuts of personnel.  Forty two percent of firms cut costs by more than 4 percent and an additional 27 percent cut costs by 1 percent to 4 percent.

Law firms raised their standard hourly billing rates in 2010.  The median increase was 3 percent. The survey notes that is closely aligned with the 2010 U.S. rate of inflation, currently reported at 2.2 percent.

• Morning Roundup
• Altman Weil Foresees Increase in Law Firm Mergers
• Study Indicates Billing Rates to Rise This Year
• Cravath Confirms: No Partners to be Named in 2009
• Two Thirds of Law Firms Expect Lower 2009 Revenues; 51% to Terminate Staff

Southeast Michigan law firms log thousands of non-billable hours over health care reform…

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens nears retirement…

The National Law Journal releases it’s annual Appellate Hot List…

Jackson Lewis adds two partners to its Denver office…

Massachusetts enacts a law requiring businesses to have a written security plan in place for handling client’s personal data…

Littler Mendelson opens a new office in Lexington, Kentucky…

A new initiative slated to appear on California ballots in November seeks to delay a law from 2006 enacting greenhouse gas emission cuts…

David W. Ogden rejoins WilmerHale after working at the Justice Department for a year…

Toyota may face enormous civil penalties for failing to report defects in their brakes within the required period of time…

• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup

Day Pitney add two attorneys to their Trusts and Estates practice…

Thompson Hine bolsters it’s practice with the addition of two partners to its IP practice group…

Justice Breyer defends references to foreign law in Supreme Court decisions…

The Justice Department has filed a claim against Kellog, Brown and Root alleging unjust enrichment and breach of contract…

• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup

Founded in 1822, Ashurst is an international law firm with practices focusing in mergers and acquisitions, corporate and structured finance, investment funds, antitrust, energy, intellectual property and several other areas. The firm has approximately 800 attorneys and 15 offices globally.

• India Considers Opening Nation to Foreign Law Firms
• Election of Deborah Read at Thompson Hine as Managing Partner Puts Her in Small Circle of Women at Top of Major Law Firms
• Merger of King & Wood and Mallesons Stephens Jaques Creates Largest Law Firm in Asia
• Wal-Mart in Compliance with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?
• Philadelphia Law Firms Lack Diversity

Seventy-year-old Brown McCarroll has historically focused on litigation as a core practice area. Its 2003 merger with business law firm Hilgers & Watkins added a corporate and transactional practice. The firm has offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston and El Paso.

• Staff Cuts at Wilson Sonsini
• Sonnenschein Abandons Lockstep and Cuts Staff
• Layoffs at Schulte Roth
• New Round of Salary Cuts at Allen Matkins
• Morning Roundup

Gross revenue dropped 10% while net icome increased 1.38% to $147 million. The firm reported gross revenue of $456.5 million for 2009. In 2008 the firm announced the layoffs of 131 associates. In early 2009 a further 25 lawyers received layoffs and in July 2009 34 lawyers were offered a one-year sabbatical. Cadwalader reported 457 lawyers at the end of August 2009, down 12.6% from a year earlier when they had 523.

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft was founded in New York City in 1792 and is one of the worlds leading financial law firms. Its practice includes the areas of capital markets, bankruptcy, real estate, insurance and income tax. It has offices located in New York, London, Washington, D.C., Charlotte and Beijing.

• Election of Deborah Read at Thompson Hine as Managing Partner Puts Her in Small Circle of Women at Top of Major Law Firms
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Adds Five Partners to NY Acquisition Finance Practice
• Stroock & Stroock & Lavan Adds Two Partners
• Morning Roundup
• Orrick to Change Profit Reporting

While Cravath has always carried the reputation of being hard to break into partnership, there has yet to be a year where not one associate has made partner. There have been rumors that the firm was hit harder than other firms during the economic crisis, as Cravath did suffer a 24 percent drop in its profits per partner for 2008.

Cravath’s deputy presiding partner, Allen Parker, denies that this decision has been influenced by the economic crisis, but rather attributes it to the fact that no one has met the firm’s standards. There are reports that only a handfull of attorneys from the class of 2002 are left with the firm and that the superstars all got out several years ago.

• Clifford Chance Partners with a Former Banker
• Cravath Swain’s Forrest Leaves Firm for Department of Justice
• Morning Roundup
• Winston & Strawn LLP Adds Two Partners to Los Angeles Office
• Columbus Office of Dinsmore & Shohl to Add Two New Partners

Former Cooley management committee member and M&A practice honcho Richard Climan is moving to Dewey’s Palo Alto, California office. He will serve on Dewey’s executive committee, and work to expand its global M&A practice.

He is joined by Keith Flaum, who has represented eBay and Adobe, and Eric Reifschneider, Cooley’s tech transactions chief.

It is unclear if the team will bring along any associates.

Dewey & LeBoeuf is a white shoe law firm formed in 2007 by the merger of Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. The firm has 24 offices in 14 countries.

• GSI Commerce Being Purchased by eBay for $2.4 Billion
• Morning Roundup
• Four Partners Leave Cooley
• Morning News Roundup for Thursday
• Dewey & LeBoeuf Hires 4 for Corporate Group

Robert C. Reynolds, Jr. is an outsourcing lawyer who co-founded Alston & Bird’s energy infrastructure team. He received his JD from the Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was an editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and elected to the Order of the Coif. He is admitted to practice law in Georgia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He will work from both Atlanta and Seyfarth’s Washington DC office.

Shawn K. Baldwin, who joins in Atlanta, focuses on strategic corporate transactions. He got his JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is admitted to the Georgia Bar.

S. Joel Cartee, who also joins in Atlanta, handles complex global transactions and matters relayed to the Kyoto Protocol. He is a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia. He received his JD from the University of Alabama School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in Georgia.

Chicago’s Seyfarth Shaw LLP is a full-service law firm founded in 1945. It has ten offices.

• Seyfarth Shaw Hires for Atlanta Office
• BuckleySandler Adds More Lawyers
• McKool Smith Hires 5 Lawyers in New York City
• Gibson Dunn Launches New FDA Practice
• Morning Roundup

Clifford Chance will defer this year’s promotions process until the firm completes its restructuring this Summer, which is likely to cut the firm’s partnership up to 15%.

Allen & Overy is delaying its partner promotions until at least the beginning of May, when the firm will have completed its global restructuring. The firm expects to see 47 partners, or 9%, ousted by the end of the financial year.

Clifford Chance LLP is the largest law firm in the world, both by number of lawyers and revenue. It is a prestigious international practice with its principal office at Canary Wharf in London.

Founded in 1930, Allen & Overy has approximately 5,500 staff and 31 offices worldwide.

• Allen & Overy Appoints Employee Reps for Redundancy
• Allen & Overy to Fire 10 Hong Kong Lawyers
• Morning Roundup
• Clifford Chance Leads Rough Year for U.K. Firms
• Allen & Overy Lays Off 47 Partners, 200 Associates, 200 Staff

Joyce Cowan, Kathleen McDermott, John Rah, Albert Shay, and Howard Young are joining Sonnenschein’s Washington office, while Reece Hirsch is joining the firm in San Francisco.

Sonnenschein has 18 lawyers in its FDA and health care regulation practice.

Philadelphia-based Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is a law firm that was founded as Morgan & Lewis in 1873. It has 1,400 lawyers in 22 offices worldwide.

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP is an international law firm with 700 lawyers and other professionals in the United States and Europe. Founded in Chicago in 1906, it has 14 offices in the US and Europe.

• Morgan Lewis & Bockius Adds More Sonnenschein Lawyers
• Seyfarth Shaw Poaches Team from Sonnenschein
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Dewey & LeBoeuf Snags Cooley Lawyers

The firm is in consultation with 75 staff, including partners, fee earners and support staff across its offices in Leeds and London, and its Newcastle upon Tyne HQ.

Watson Burton employs a total of 272.

Training and recruitment are unaffected, with five trainee solicitors joining the firm this September.

At the end of last year Watson Burton launched its first redundancy consultation, which resulted in 10 job losses.

Watson Burton was founded in 1811.

• Wragge & Co Targeting 85 for Redundancy
• Blake Lapthorn Redundancy Targets 33
• Update: DLA Piper Lays Off 24 Lawyers, 100 Staff
• CMS Cameron McKenna to Cut 80, Reduce Pay
• Shoosmiths Targets 69 for Redundancy

Some partners have seen their compensation reduced by as much as 80%. The salary reductions are meant to encourage less productive partners to seek employment elsewhere.

The affected partners include some who have been practicing for 25 years or more.

The more fortunate are now taking home $25,000 a month, standard for partners. Lower-tier partners have seen more drastic reductions, with monthly pay of as little as $10,000 — less than the starting salary for a 2008 incoming first-year.

Dewey has shut offices in Jacksonville, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Hartford, Connecticut.

Dewey & LeBoeuf is a white shoe law firm formed in 2007 by the merger of Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. The firm has 24 offices in 14 countries.

• Dewey & LeBoeuf Snags Cooley Lawyers
• Florida County Lawyers Protest Salary Cuts
• ATL: Dewey & LeBoeuf Making “Performance Related” Cuts
• Dewey & LeBoeuf Partner Named RNC Chair
• Two Mergers and Acquisitions Partners Hired by Clifford Chance from Dewey & LeBoeuf

Each representative will consult with staff and communicate on their behalf for each practice area and major business unit. The practice groups that will each have a representative are: banking; corporate; international capital markets; litigation; tax and real estate; and private client and employee benefits.

Business services; business development and communications; central and risk management; know-how; library, central education and training; finance; human resources; and IT will each have one representative appointed to oversee the consultation, while legal PAs will have two.

A&O is required by UK law to appoint employee representatives to communicate with staff during the redundancy consultation.

The firm will cut support staff and fee earner numbers by 9%, with a further 47 partners set to depart the firm. Around 200 jobs are expected to go in the UK, roughly half of the job cuts globally.

Five partners in A&O’s London leveraged finance team were notified that they would be affected by the partnership restructuring.

Founded in 1930, Allen & Overy has approximately 5,500 staff and 31 offices worldwide. It is part of the Magic Circle of London-based law firms.

• Allen & Overy Lays Off 47 Partners, 200 Associates, 200 Staff
• London Firms Delay Partner Promotions
• Allen & Overy to Cut 30% of Trainees
• Clifford Chance to Cut 115 Staffers
• Update: Allen & Overy to Cut 450 Jobs

The departures led to the firm breaking a loan covenant and having its accounts frozen, which precipitated its collapse.

The document also shows who Heller’s creditors could target as they seek to be paid through Heller’s bankruptcy. Creditors can try to reclaim payments dating back as far as four years.

Thomas Willoughby of Felderstein Fitzgerald Willoughby & Pascuzzi, who represents the creditors, says he will be looking at any payments that were made when the estate was insolvent, or distributions that “led to it being insolvent.”

The majority of the distributions, $5.3 million, went to 13 lawyers who received all of their capital because of a “change of status or termination.” The highest distribution went to senior of counsel Douglas Schwab, who received $920,000. Schwab retired in 2008 and was at Heller for more than 35 years.

Dissolution committee member Paul Sugarman and received $513,000.

Some partners collected 25% of their investment in the firm, and 40 of them collectively left behind $8 million in capital. Lawrence Hobel is out the most cash, with $573,000 left behind.

To accumulate capital, Heller would withhold between 7 and 8.5% per year of each partner’s profits, and withholdings would stop after a maximum was reached. A partner reaching 65 and retiring or switching to senior status received all capital back.

Firms often take years to pay back capital contributions to partners who leave for other firms. In Heller’s case in 2008, partners were paid 25% of their capital upon departure, with the expectation that 25% a year would be distributed over the following three years. By June 1, however, the policy changed and partners who moved were told they would not begin to be paid until 2009.

• Heller Ehrman Files for Bankruptcy; Remaining Employees May Not Be Paid
• Heller Ehrman Buried in Lawsuits; May Be Forced Into Bankruptcy
• Former Heller Employees Sue Partners
• Law Firm Accuses Suge Knight Of “Gangster-Style” Business
• A Big Bankruptcy Start For 2012

The firm eliminated 19 associates and partners.

Last month the firm hired five bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers from DLA Piper. But it also dismissed some attorneys as a result of poor annual performance reviews.

The firm declined to release its 2008 results.

• Three More Leave Nixon Peabody for DLA Piper
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Revenue Decreases at DLA Piper
• Jackson Lewis Opening in Baltimore with 4 from DLA Piper

Under the new structure, which will begin next year, partners will have a percentage of their pay set by an 11-member compensation committee. The committee will examine how well partners refer business to each other, and will also weigh involvement in associate mentoring and training, and whether partners soon to retire are transferring clients to the next generation of lawyers at the firm.

It is not a complete change. Nearly 85% of partners’ compensation will still be based on billables. But it does mark a major change for the firm, which says it wants to encourage partners across practices to cross-sell services to clients.

The changes will apply to the firm’s 119 equity partners; they will not affect the vast majority of the firm’s 111 non-equity partners. The firm has a total of 518 lawyers.

The firm has been working on a review of both the compensation system and firm objectives for roughly two years, and the internal process concluded with a partner vote in December to adopt the new system. More than 90 percent of equity partners voted for the change.

Patton Boggs is a full service law firm with more than 600 lawyers and professionals in nine locations in the United States and the Middle East.

• Update: Hogan & Hartson Reduces Pay for Certain First-Year Associates
• Election of Deborah Read at Thompson Hine as Managing Partner Puts Her in Small Circle of Women at Top of Major Law Firms
• Holland & Knight Nixes Billable Hours Tracking in Public Policy & Regulation Group
• Philadelphia Law Firms Lack Diversity
• Goodwin Procter Has 17 New Partners

Gross, who will start work at Wiley Rein on March 16th, spent the past eight years as the senior official responsible for representing the US on global telecommunications issues.

Gross earned his JD from Columbia University Law School in 1979.

Wiley Rein LLP is a Washington, DC law firm founded in 1983 under the name Wiley, Johnson and Rein.

• Hans Smit Dies at 84
• Election of Deborah Read at Thompson Hine as Managing Partner Puts Her in Small Circle of Women at Top of Major Law Firms
• Philadelphia Law Firms Lack Diversity
• Winston & Strawn Continues Expansion of IP Litigation Practice With Addition of Two Partners
• Goodwin Procter Has 17 New Partners

The retired federal judge from New York will handle corporate investigations for the firm.

Mukasey left his post as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer last month after spending more than a year in Washington. Bipartisan groups of lawmakers praised him for helping to improve morale at a department that had been demoralized by hiring scandals under his predecessor, Alberto R. Gonzales.

As a federal judge, Mukasey developed expertise in terrorism, overseeing the trial of Omar Abdel Rahman, also known as the Blind Sheik.

Mukasey said that the looks forward to working with lawyers at Debevoise, where he expects to work on behalf of corporate boards and oversee companies that have run afoul of the law as an independent monitor.

• Cravath Confirms: No Partners to be Named in 2009
• Election of Deborah Read at Thompson Hine as Managing Partner Puts Her in Small Circle of Women at Top of Major Law Firms
• Philadelphia Law Firms Lack Diversity
• Goodwin Procter Has 17 New Partners
• Prominent Litigation Attorney and Former DOJ Assistant AG Joins WilmerHale

Two of Marwil’s bankruptcy partners, Mark Thomas and Paul Possinger, will follow him to Proskauer Rose.

The hop to Proskauer is the third time the three attorneys have changed firms in seven years.

The group spent five years at Jenner & Block, and have also worked together at Katten Muchin Rosenman.

Marwil specializes in distressed hedge funds.

New York-based Proskauer has five partners in its bankruptcy and restructuring practice.

• Morning Roundup
• Winston & Strawn LLP Adds Two Partners to Los Angeles Office
• Morning Roundup
• Law Firm Hirings, Firings and Promotions
• Morning Roundup

Steggerda, who will practice in the firm’s Washington office, will focus on investigations, civil litigation, government enforcement actions and other matters relating to national security and doing business with the US government.

Steggerda serves as vice chairman of the DC Metro Chapter of Operation Homefront, a nationally recognized charitable organization serving military families in need.

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP has twelve offices across the USA, Europe and Asia. It was created in 2004 through the merger of the Boston’s Hale and Dorr and the Washington-based firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, and employs more than 1,100 attorneys worldwide. As of 2008, it was the 23rd largest law firm in the world in terms of revenue. In 2007, the National Law Journal ranked the firm as the 22nd largest in the United States by number of attorneys.

• Carl Nichols Joins WilmerHale
• “Legendary” White Collar Crime Attorney Joins WilmerHale’s London Office
• WilmerHale Helps in Effort to Pass Landmark Peace Corps Reform Legislation
• Prominent Litigation Attorney and Former DOJ Assistant AG Joins WilmerHale
• Interior Department Assistant Secretary and Chief of Staff Thomas Strickland Joins WilmerHale as Partner

Sean Pak and Dave Nelson were both patent litigators at Latham.

ATL quotes a tipster:

This is on top of the NY IP partners all leaving last year. Expect several associates to follow. Right now LW has no IP practice in NY, and soon to have no substantial IP practice in Chicago. Rats leaving the sinking ship?

Quinn Emanuel confirmed that Pak and Nelson have joined the firm.

Via ATL.

• Morning Roundup
• McKool Smith Hires 5 Lawyers in New York City
• Partners Come and Go at O’Melveny
• Latham & Watkins Adds Six Partners to IP Practice
• Morning Roundup

Kenneth L. Wainstein, former homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush, has joined O’Melveny in Washington.

Asperger, an assistant US attorney in Los Angeles from 1983 to 1993, joins LA’s Quinn Emanuel as a partner, and will be co-chairman of the firm’s white-collar group. He was at O’Melveny for 15 years.

Wainstein, who served as US attorney for DC from 2004 to 2006, is joining O’Melveny’s Washington office as a partner in the white-collar defense & corporate investigations group.

Last year, Wainstein was named homeland security adviser, coordinating the nation’s counterterrorism, homeland security, infrastructure protection and disaster response and recovery efforts.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP is the 19th largest law firm in the world. It employs 1200 attorneys in 14 offices worldwide.

• Former DHS Secretary Chertoff Joins Covington & Burling
• O’Melveny & Myers Sees Revenues, Profits Drop
• ATL: IP Partners Ankle Latham & Watkins
• Chief of Criminal Division for U.S. Attorney’s Office Set to Join Munger, Tolles & Olson
• Morning Roundup

From Above the Law:

Akin lost 17 percent of its partners to competitors, small firms, in-house positions, and government jobs. Some of those defections were anticipated–fallout from strategic shifts in the firm’s practice groups and management structure. But others were a surprise…

While losing 59 partners hasn’t been easy, [Bruce] McLean, who has been Akin’s chairman for the past 16 years, expects that the slimmed-down practice areas will pay off. In 2007 the firm saw profits per partner fall nearly 7 percent to slightly more than $1.2 million, putting it sixtieth on The Am Law 200 partner profit charts.

But in early January he predicted that profits per partner grew as much as 10 percent in 2008 as a result of the shake-up, “What we are seeing is a slimmed-down firm generating more profits,” says McLean. At least, that’s the plan.

Via ATL via AmLaw and The BLT.

• Study: Lateral Partners Moving “Downstream”
• Judge: Defunct Firm Can Sue Lowenstein Sandler Over Defections
• Akin Gump Wins Big in Lobbying Revenues
• Did Lawyer Defections Kill Firm?
• Venable Partner Recalls Landing in Hudson River

Edwin Coe has hired Teacher Stern IP partner Simon Miles, Royds Solicitors Litigation partner Vivien Davies, Fasken Martineau’s former head of employment Ruth Hickling and David Goepel, previously of counsel at Withers. All four will come on as partner.

Christopher Berry, senior partner at Edwin Coe, claims they made the hires in the IP and private client practices to establish a route for succession ahead of partner retirements.

Chief executive Tim Nash said that the practices were “specific areas where the firm has identified opportunities for growth.”

Coe’s David Greene just recently won an instruction from a group of Madoff investors looking into possible action against intermediary banks HSBC, UBS, and Barclays regarding advice they gave in relation to Madoff’s $50 billion.

• Election of Deborah Read at Thompson Hine as Managing Partner Puts Her in Small Circle of Women at Top of Major Law Firms
• Morning Roundup
• Morning Roundup
• Clifford Chance To Deepen Bankruptcy Practice Group
• Cadwalader Profits per Partner Increase By 28%

The 65-year-old corporate partner works in the Baltimore office, and teaches at Cornell and Northwestern.

From the interview:

TAL: When did you realize on that flight that things had gone horribly wrong?

Hanks: About 90 seconds after takeoff there was this kind of small explosion or loud crack or snap — it seemed like a single sound — and then some smoke began to come into the aircraft.

TAL: I’d imagine that was a bit disconcerting.

Hanks: Right. That caused me to turn on the air above my seat. [The smoke] dissipated but more worrisome was the fact that there was no sound at all, which I knew meant that the engines had shut down.

Read the whole interview.

• Recruiting Firms Rank Harvard Number One Law School in the Country
• Partners Deserting Akin Gump
• Witnesses Rescue Atkins Family Following Plane Crash
• Election of Deborah Read at Thompson Hine as Managing Partner Puts Her in Small Circle of Women at Top of Major Law Firms
• Philadelphia Law Firms Lack Diversity