JD Journal » Slate

Dechert Duo Join Skadden

sara — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:41:45 +0000

Dechert partners James Elacqua and Andrew Thomases have left the firm to join Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Silicon Valley. James Elacqua won a $57 million verdict in August for his client Medtronic Inc. against AGA Medical Corp., and then scored a settlement with W.L Gore & Associates Inc. later in the same month. Thomases has worked with Elacqua for a long period of time and developed an International Trade Commission practice.

Skadden is a New York City based firm with 2,000 lawyers in offices around the world including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Toronto, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney.

Former Bush Lawyer John Farren Sued By Wife for Attack

sara — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:16:26 +0000

Mary Margaret Farren filed a lawsuit last week in Connecticut trial court against her husband, John Michael Farren. Farren, a former deputy general counsel to George W. Bush, has been charged with attempted murder, first degree strangulation and assault after he allegedly attacked his wife with a flashlight and choked her until she passed out. Mary Farren spent time in Norwalk Hospital with a broken jaw and nose, lacerations to her face and head and another separate injury to the back of her head. It is reported that Mary Farren asked her husband for a divorce before he attacked her.

Mary Farren has filed a $30 million lawsuit against John Farren, alleging that the attack against her has left her unable to work. She is an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. In an affidavit that accompanied her suit Mary Farren said, “Given the community in which we live, and the station of living to which we are accustomed, and our plans for the future and the education of our children, the defendant’s obligations to support his children and me are substantial”. Local family attorney Wayne Effron is representing Mary Farren in the civil suit and divorce case. Timothy Moynahan of Moynahan & Minnella is representing John Farren.

Skadden to do early summer offers, en masse

joshua — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:46:47 +0000

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, LLP, has announced its intent to make all of its offers to law students for summer of 2010 on September 22nd of this year. This goes against the grain of many other law firms, who have been holding off making staffing decisions until later in the year when they can better assess their needs.

Skadden is a global firm headquartered in New York City with offices in twenty-four cities around the world. Core areas of practice include mergers and acquisitions, litigation, bankruptcy, tax, and securities law.

Skadden Slashing 2010 Summer Class Size by Half

Erik Even — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:15:54 +0000

Skadden will hold its Summer associates program in 2010, but with less than half as many associates than in 2009.

The firm had 225 summers this year, but will only have about 100 in 2010. No 2010 offers will be rescinded — if more than 100 associates accept their offers, they all will participate.

As for the 2009 Summer class, whose start dates were deferred to 2011 in May, Skadden will offer jobs to 95%.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, founded in 1948, is a prominent law firm based in New York City. With over 2,000 attorneys, it is one of the largest and highest-grossing law firms in the world. Forbes magazine called Skadden “Wall Street’s most powerful law firm.”

Skadden Warns Summers: You Will Be Deferred to 2011

Erik Even — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:13:27 +0000

The 2009 Summer Associate Program at Skadden has begun. And the 3Ls have been warned that, if they get an offer to join Skadden, they won’t be starting in 2010 — they will be deferred to 2011.

There are no further details on 2011 deferrals, as those decisions, such as precise start dates and stipends, have most likely not been made, and will not be for some time.

Do you have any additional details? Send us a confidential tip!

Confirmed: Skadden Gets O’Melveny’s Beisner & Team [UPDATE]

Erik Even — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:00:10 +0000

Blawgs are reporting that Skadden has lured over prominent attorney John Beisner and two others from O’Melveny & Myers.

Beisner is the chair of O’Melveny’s Class Actions, Mass Torts, and Aggregated Litigation Practice. He will bring with him Jessica Miller and Steve Harburg.

Apparently Beisner is a major player at O’Melveny & Myers, and his loss would be a serious blow to the firm.

If you can confirm this news or provide details, please send us a confidential tip!

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

UPDATE

Skadden has confirmed that Beisner, Miller and Harburg have joined the firm.

Skadden Creates New Practice in Hong Kong

Erik Even — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:07:20 +0000

Skadden is sending three London lawyers to Hong Kong, plus bringing on a new lawyer, to handle cases related to the credit crunch.

London’s Paul Mitchard will head the practice; and the firm has brought on an attorney formerly with Hong Kong’ s Pinsent Masons. The group will work with Asian firms under investigation for financial malpractice.

Skadden now has 54 lawyers in the Special Administrative Region.

Skadden Freezes Salaries for Counsel

Erik Even — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:51:59 +0000

New York’s Skadden has announced it will not raise salaries for counsel in 2009. Associates will not be affected.

The firm still intends to offer discretionary, merit-based bonuses.

Skadden is offering all its associates, about 1,300 worldwide, the option of taking one-third of their base pay not to work for a year.

The firm in March laid off an undisclosed number of staff attorneys and 50 support staffers. It has also launched a litigation program for its deferred incoming associates.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, founded in 1948, is a prominent law firm based in New York City. With over 2,000 attorneys, it is one of the largest and highest-grossing law firms in the world. Forbes magazine called Skadden “Wall Street’s most powerful law firm.”

Incoming Skadden Associates Get Litigation Rotation

Erik Even — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:36:15 +0000

Skadden, which on Friday laid off an undisclosed number of staff attorneys and 50 support staffers, is introducing a litigation program for its incoming class.

From the memo:

… To address this issue, the relative underutilization of first year corporate associates, and with the firm belief that first year legal work should serve to set the groundwork for a set of skills that all lawyers need, we are introducing a litigation component to the program. In addition this will assist our litigation departments with their staffing needs.

Our first year program will now include a six month litigation component in which you will work under the direct supervision of lawyers from the general litigation, white collar, intellectual property/patent, antitrust and/or mass torts groups… In order to implement this program fairly, all corporate associates will participate in the litigation component. One group will rotate into litigation in early April while the others will proceed to their previously scheduled “second” corporate rotation. In October, the groups will switch and those who were in the litigation rotation will be rotated to their other corporate rotation and those who have completed their second corporate rotation will rotate into the litigation rotation. We anticipate final assignments will occur in May 2010.

We will offer litigation training at the start of each rotation…

Income Based Repayment to Aid Law Grads

Erik Even — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:18:08 +0000

From Slate via Legal Geekery, a new way for law students to pay off their loan debt:

Most people know about the plan where you’d work for 10 years at for the govt or a non-profit and they’ll forgive all your federal debt.

But this presents a new alternative called IBR — Income Based Repayment.

The first program won’t be up and running until July 2009, but it could certainly benefit many underpaid and overdebted do-gooders. The Department of Education essentially caps the percentage of your discretionary income you are expected to pay toward your student loan debt.

Via Slate & Legal Geekery Blog.

Pohl Ankles Skadden for Business Side

Erik Even — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:11:47 +0000

Timothy Pohl will leave Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom to become a managing director in the restructuring group at financial services firm Lazard. Pohl was one of three co-heads of Skadden’s corporate restructuring group.

Last spring Skadden promoted the 42-year-old Pohl to become one of three co-heads of Skadden’s 100-lawyer corporate restructuring group, along with John “Jack” Butler, Jr., and J. Gregory Milmoe.

The firm ranked first in the Am Law 100 with gross revenues of $2.17 billion and profits per equity partner of $2.28 million.

Pohl’s departure is a blow to the firm, as it comes at a time when bankruptcy and restructuring work is at a premium.

“Tim is a spectacular lawyer and a wonderful human being and while we wish him well, we will miss him enormously,” Milmoe says. “We’re not losing a partner but gaining a client.”

Milmoe says Skadden isn’t immune to losing top talent to the business side, noting that former restructuring partner David Kurtz left for a managing director position at Lazard in 2002. Pohl will now join Kurtz, who coheads Lazard’s restructuring group, with both working out of Chicago.

Lazard is the parent company of Lazard Group LLC, a global, independent investment bank with approximately 2,400 employees in 41 cities across 24 countries throughout Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, Central and South America.

Via The AmLaw Daily.