“Biglaw firms’ thoughts on the return to the office in our post pandemic world continue to evolve. While some firms have simply canceled previously scheduled reopenings without announcing a future target date, with the promise of offering 30 days’ notice if a new date should be chosen, others have,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“The latest firm to do so is Ropes & Gray, a firm ranked at No. 11 on the most recent Am Law 100, with $2,192,810,000 gross revenue in 2020. Right now, Ropes is still within Phase 1 of its reopening plan permissive office use, and had most recently planned to move to Phase 2, a broader reopening for all personnel, on October 18.”

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“If you’re working in-house and dealing with bet-the-company litigation, you want the very best litigators in the world to be on your side. You want a firm with litigators so strong that opponents gasp in fear at the very mention of its name. You want a firm that is known internationally for going for,” reports Staci Zaretsky in their Above The Law.

“But how can you ensure that you’ve picked the right firm? BTI Consulting Group just made it a little easier with the release of its annual ranking of the firms most likely to trigger dread in opposing counsel, as determined by a poll of in-house counsel. After reviewing all responses, BTI named the Fearsome Foursome, the most-feared litigation.”

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“Los Angeles-based midsize law firm Michelman & Robinson announced Tuesday a new associate salary scale starting at $230,000, outpacing Big Law’s latest pay rate for first years. The salary bumps taking effect in 2022 will award salary by “level” rather than class year at Michelman & Robinson,” reports Chinekwu Osakwe in their Reuters.

“The starting point of the new scale at 70-plus-lawyer Michelman & Robinson sits $25,000 higher than the current prevailing first-year salary at many of the nation’s largest law firms. Firm co-founder Sanford Michelman said the new salary scale was developed by a task force, but was subject to his final approval. The response by the associates.”

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“Biglaw has a talent problem. It’s not that more recent law school graduates aren’t capable of doing the work that the industry demands of them, it’s that they are unwilling or at least, less willing to put themselves through the ringer of Biglaw for the benefits that Biglaw is currently willing to give them,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above The Law.

“Earlier this year, Major, Lindsey & Africa and Above the Law reported on a survey that detailed what priorities are most important for millennial lawyers, and money is only top for ~17 percent of respondents. And ~29 percent said they would trade compensation for more time off, plus ~ 25 percent said a they’d swap money for a more flexible.”

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“The Illinois Supreme Court has suspended two former BigLaw associates who were accused of inflating the time that they spent on cases. John Paul Paleczny, a Chicago lawyer who is a former associate at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, got the tougher suspension. He is suspended for one year,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal.

“According to an online summary at the website of the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission. Paleczny was accused in a June ethics complaint of recording more than 2,000 annual hours on a closed pro bono case, earning a $12,000 bonus as a result. He agreed to the suspension, which takes effect Oct. 14.”

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“Billing is a huge part of working at a Biglaw firm. As an associate, your life is divided into tenths of an hour, and if you don’t meet your hourly requirements by year end, you can expect to be penalized accordingly. Everyone else may be getting enormous bonuses but not you. No, you’ll be lucky if you,” reports Staci Zaretsky in their Above The Law.

“This harsh reality is why some lawyers overbill their clients. If they get caught, the punishment can be even worse than going without a bonus. John P. Paleczny and Stephanie A. Gerstetter, now former associates at Lewis Brisbois and Reed Smith, respectively, learned this lesson the hard way. As reported by the ABA Journal, both Illinois.”

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“One by one, firms both small and large have been forced to revise their return-to-office plans due to COVID-19’s hyper-contagious Delta variant. Many firms that once hoped to host reopenings en masse post-Labor Day found themselves rolling those plans back to an October date. Now with October,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Loeb & Loeb, ranked 99th in the most recent Am Law 100, with $385,271,000 gross revenue in 2020, is the latest firm to follow this model. The firm’s original reopening plan was quite accomodating for associates and staff, recognizing that flexibility is key to work/life balance. The firm planned to begin the second phase of its return.”

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“It’s been a few months since Davis Polk blew the lid off associate salaries, and while many firms raised pay in some form or fashion, a great number of them adopted lockstep scales across the country. Some elite firms took their time and are just now getting around to it. For example back in june,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Greenberg Traurig which brought in $1,730,230,000 gross revenue in 2020, placing it at No. 16 in the most recent Am Law 100 ranking reportedly raised salaries for associates in New York but left other offices hanging. Now, at least one other GT office has joined in the monetary madness that brought associates some joy during the pandemic.”

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“It wasn’t that long ago that we told you about the Baker McKenzie partner who, ahem, moved on from the mega Biglaw firm following bullying allegations. The allegations against Morne van der Merwe, the onetime managing partner of the firm’s Johannesburg office, included current and former,” reports Ben Maiden in Above The Law.

“As reported by Jamie Hamilton at Roll on Friday, two other members of the Baker McKenzie leadership team are out. Wildu du Plessis, the now-former head of Baker McKenzie’s Global Africa Practice, and Bruce Schubach, the soon-to-be-former Director of Africa Operations, are on their way out the door. Du Plessis, Schubach.”

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“The morning air is getting brisk and summer officially ends in two days. Another thing that’s ending is Biglaw firms hopes and dreams of getting associates and staff back into their offices before the new year begins. Thanks to the continued assault of the coronavirus crisis, many of the nation’s most,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Prestigious law firms have delayed their reopenings numerous times. But how many postponements does it take for a firm to realize that it may not be safe or wise to reopen in full in 2021? For Holland & Knight a firm that brought in $1,044,337,000 gross revenue in 2020 and recently completed a merger with Thompson & Knight the third time.”

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“Which Biglaw firms are most beloved by general counsel for their superior client service? If that seems like it was a steep hill to climb during the pandemic, that’s because it was. The BTI Consulting Group set to find out which firms handled the task with ease with its latest ranking, the Client Service,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“In case you’re unfamiliar with this ranking, it measures the top 30 law firms corporate counsel identify as delivering the very best in terms of client service. To compile the ranking, BTI Consulting spoke with almost 250 legal decision-makers who were asked to name firms that excelled in 17 different client-service-related activities, seven.”

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“It’s now mid-September, and some first are just getting around to raising associate salaries. Sure, this trend started back in June, but when it comes to compensation increases for attorneys, the general mood is that it’s better late than never,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“The latest firm to increase associate salaries is Robins Kaplan, a national trial firm that brought in $191,065,000 gross revenue in 2020, placing it at No. 158 in the most recent Am Law 200 ranking. The Minnesota-based firm was also recently named by Vault as one of the top firms in the Midwest (#25) and as one of the best firms for formal training overall (#21).”

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“Hour by hour, as billable time ticks away, Biglaw leaders have an important decision to make. Will they further postpone their planned office reopenings due to the hyper-contagious Delta variant of COVID-19? By all accounts, it’s looking more and more like the answer is a resounding yes But just,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Perkins Coie, for example, has its sights set on a January 2022 reopening. Attorneys and staff were originally supposed to return to the office on October 4. Instead, the top 50 Am Law firm will join the small handful of other firms that will forgo office life for all of 2021. These firms include Cahill, Cooley, Sanford Heisler, and Willkie.”

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“Diversity continues to be a difficult concept for law firms to wrap their arms around, and to do so during a pandemic seemed all but impossible, but somehow, someway, they did it. More than 100 firms were able to deliver on their commitment to diversity during the worst of times, all thanks to,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Back in 2017, the Diversity Lab came up with the idea to hold Biglaw firms accountable for their diversity goals by employing a program modeled after the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview a minority candidate for head coach or general manager vacancies. Here, the Mansfield rule named for Arabella Mansfield, the first.”

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“In the latest episode of The Jabot podcast, I speak with Lindsay Cameron, author of the new thriller, Just One Look. The action in the book takes place against a backdrop of the most boring of legal work document review and the juxtaposition really works to heighten the stakes. I chat with Lindsay,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above The Law.

“Her law degree as a great tool that opens up a lot of doors and opportunities. We also chat about her pivot to writing from her career in law. We discuss Lindsay’s process of writing her second novel and how different it is from the process of her first book. Lindsay also shares her advice for lawyers and legal professionals who are looking to.”

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“COVID-19’s Delta variant has really changed what the legal landscape will look like this fall. Dozens of large law firms were hoping for a safe reopening of their offices, but now their proposed restart dates are being pushed back and vaccine mandates are on the table at firms across the country to stop,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Some firms have taken longer than others to make a move on the vaccination front. It was just last week that Dentons, the world’s largest law firm,` decided to announce a mandatory vaccination policy for all U.S. employees. Now, it looks like another Biglaw heavyweight has officially opted in for vaccination for all employees.”

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“Yesterday, Fenwick announced they’re opening a new Washington office, their sixth in the U.S., and that location will a focus on the antitrust and trade needs of their clients. At the office’s launch, partners Thomas Ensign formerly of Freshfields and Melissa Duffy formerly of Dechert will be joining,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above The Law.

“Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom earlier this month. Ensign works with technology and life sciences clients and works on pre-merger notification requirements in U.S. and international jurisdictions. Duffy’s practice focuses on international trade matters, including those related to trade controls and national security requirements for.”

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“According to a Wells Fargo Private Bank survey, associates at the 50 largest firms are on pace to bill how many hours this year — a notable increase over last year’s billables?” reports Kathryn Rubinoin Above the Law.

“Revenue grew 16.5% in the first six months of the year at the 50 largest U.S. law firms compared to the same period in 2020, the survey showed. Net income rose 38% at the firms compared with last year. The firms’ associates are on pace to bill 1,817 hours on average this year; up nearly 10% from 1,652 hours a year ago, Joe Mendola, managing director in Wells Fargo’s legal specialty group, said in an interview.”

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“Given the overlap between accounting and law services, it makes sense for the Big 4 to get in on the legal services action. We’ve always called the Big 4 the Walmart of professional services firms, but you can’t find a law practice at any of them in the U.S. The closest you would find is Deloitte’s new,” reports Jason Bramwell in Going Concern.

“Which works with in house legal offices to streamline functions that track client contracts, invoices, eDiscovery, and other core functions, according to Bloomberg Law. EY’s legal managed services unit also focuses on helping large and medium-sized in-house legal departments streamline and automate their legal services,”

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“Law firms continue to reverse course and change their plans when it comes to the reopening of their offices across thanks to the emergence of the COVID-19’s Delta variant. Vaccination mandates now seem to be the way of the future, and one by one, law firms are joining in to protect their employees,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law.

“The latest firm to issue a vaccine requirement is Greenberg Traurig, the first Florida based Biglaw firm to announce such a measure. With Florida continuing to set COVID-19 case records and state government staunchly against mask mandates and other rational restrictions and safety measures, it’s no wonder that GT announced this new policy.”

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