We’ve covered in these pages the many challenges faced by standalone intellectual property firms. One of them is competition from Biglaw shops seeking to scoop up top talent in the IP field.

Yesterday morning, Robert C. Sullivan Jr., president and managing principal of Darby & Darby, sent around an internal email announcing the departure of two prominent partners, Joseph Robinson (pictured) and Robert Shaffer. Robinson and Shaffer, who specialize in patent litigation, counseling and procurement, are joining the New York office of McDermott Will & Emery.

It’s not happy news for Darby, which a tipster describes as “one of the last IP boutiques of any meaningful size, [but] gasping for breath as it is.” Robinson, a biotech expert and noted patent litigator, is said to have been one of the firm’s top-grossing partners, “probably to the tune of about $4 million.” Darby is holding a town hall meeting to discuss the defections.

A source issues this warning to Robinson’s new colleagues at MWE:

[Robinson] is a control freak who wields the power he gets from high earnings with an iron fist…. He is a significant reason for the many partner and practice group defections at Darby in the past few years, and now he’s gone too. McDermott will love the revenue, hate the attitude.

In Robinson’s defense, does he sound all that different from many top partners or successful litigators?

Robert Sullivan’s email announcing the departures, after the jump.

Last week we wrote about the move of prominent D.C. lawyers Lanny Davis and Eileen O’Connor from Orrick to McDermott Will & Emery. Am Law Daily described the jump as follows: “Lanny Davis, a longtime Washington, D.C., lawyer who supported Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid and was a fraternity brother of George W. Bush, is taking his unique practice from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to McDermott, Will & Emery.”

It’s not the case, however, that the entire practice moved. As noted by one commenter, the rest of the legal strategic and crisis management practice remained with Orrick. Consistent with this, an Orrick spokesperson issued the following statement to ATL:

We wish Lanny and Eileen well, but Orrick’s law, policy, media, and crisis management practice remains vibrant and strong with continuing plans for expansion and will keep delivering its unique blend of legal, public relations and government affairs counsel to our clients around the world.

Remaining at Orrick are partners Adam Goldberg, who was co-chair of the practice with Davis, and Joshua Galper. Goldberg and Galper will head the practice going forward. In addition, the associates who work in and with the law, policy and media group are staying at Orrick.

As for clients, it’s not yet clear which ones will stay with Orrick and which will move to McDermott. “Thankfully, this is a practice where we’ve always had plenty of work, so that’s not an issue,” Galper said. (We’d guess, however, that certain clients closely tied to Davis — like CEAL, the Honduras business group supporting the coup in that country — will travel with him.)

Get to know Messrs. Galper and Goldberg, and read more about Orrick’s very interesting and unusual practice area, after the jump.

Last week we participated in a panel discussion at Georgetown Law that was skillfully moderated by Eileen O’Connor, the Emmy-nominated journalist turned high-powered lawyer. After the talk, we tried to play the “name game” with O’Connor regarding colleagues of hers over at Orrick. But O’Connor seemed strangely uneasy about Orrick, and she quickly changed the subject.

Could this have been why? From Am Law Daily:

Lanny Davis, a longtime Washington, D.C., lawyer who supported Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid and was a fraternity brother of George W. Bush, is taking his unique practice from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to McDermott, Will & Emery.

Davis, who previously moved to Orrick in 2003 from Patton Boggs, will bring counsel Eileen O’Connor, a former ABC News and CNN reporter, with him.

Beltway dwellers know that Lanny Davis is a big deal. He served as White House Special Counsel during the Clinton Administration, but he has friends on both sides of the aisle. As Bobby Burchfield, cohead of McDermott’s Washington office, told Zach Lowe of Am Law Daily, “Lanny is the only person I know who considers both Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush good friends.”

In addition to practicing law, Davis writes for the Washington Times and for The Hill. In one recent column, he scolded bloggers for inadequate fact-checking. If anything in this post is inaccurate, Mr. Davis, please email us and we’ll fix it ASAP.

Press release after the jump. Good luck to Davis and O’Connor in their new professional home.

We’re now into the back half of the brand new Vault law firm rankings. Just like last year, we worry about a proliferation of “TTT” accusations in the comment threads. But such terms of art can miss the positives of many of the firms in this section of the Vault rankings. Here’s the list:

51. Fulbright & Jaworski
52. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
53. Morgan Lewis & Bockius
54. McDermott Will & Emery
55. Alston & Bird
56. Bingham McCutchen
57. Fish & Richardson
58. Dechert
59. Greenberg Traurig
60. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft

We have already extensively talked about the Morgan Lewis situation. Let’s move on to other firms after the jump.

This afternoon, we told you about a summer associate from Harvard Law School who has already been fired from his firm. After the story went up, the HLS 2L called Above the Law to “set the record straight.” He has a different version of what went on during his brief stay at McDermott, Will & Emery.

According to the former summer associate, who asked that we maintain his anonymity (so please don’t name him in the comments), he was let go because his work visa hadn’t yet come through. As many of you know, non-citizens need to have a work visa in order to work — and get paid — in America.

But according to the HLS 2L, his work authorization papers were delayed because MWE didn’t tell him he’d be able to start working as a summer associate until late February. In case you’re wondering, you cannot apply for a work visa until you know when you will actually be working (in terms of specific dates). The HLS 2L did apply for the work visa in late February, but he’s still waiting for the papers to come through.

As the HLS 2L put it:

I was never officially a summer at McDermott, so I really wasn’t fired.

More details about the HLS 2L’s “heated conversation” with a MWE partner, after the jump.

It has been a tough two weeks for employees at McDermott Will & Emery. First the firm cut the salaries of summer associates. Then MWE fired 72 people.

Today, word came down to all associates and non-attorney personnel that the firm is also cutting benefits. A firm-wide memo explained:

The Firm has evaluated its employee benefit plans and is making changes effective July 1, 2009.

We began our evaluation late last year in response to the deteriorating economy and the fact that changes to employee benefits plans were occurring throughout corporate America. After a thorough review by our benefits consultants, we were informed that our plans were above market and that specific changes, if implemented, would bring our plans more in line with the market.

Right. Who wants to pay an “above market” benefit package?

Remember, McDermott is the firm that canceled aspects of its coffee service. At the point where the firm is looking to save nickels and dimes on coffee, it shouldn’t be surprising that it has found a way to save some money on more important employee benefits.

A tipster reports that the top line changes to MWE’s benefit structure include an increase in some premiums and deductibles, as well as a reduction in the percentage of pharmaceutical costs that are covered by the firm’s health plan. Suddenly, the nationwide health care debate expected to take place in Congress this summer just became much more important to employees at McDermott.

In fairness, MWE isn’t the first firm to go down this path. Last month, Kirkland & Ellis made similar changes to its health care coverage for associates.

Read the full memo after the jump.

Last Friday, we reported that McDermott Will & Emery had cut the salaries of summer associates. At the time, we said:

Good luck, summers — and good luck MWE junior associates. We hope the writing isn’t on the wall.

Unfortunately, the words of the prophets were written on the subway walls and tenement halls. And we’re not talking about salary cuts.

Above the Law is now able to confirm the the firm has laid off 72 people: 25 associates and 47 staff. The firm wide memo just went out:

I want all of you to know that today we are conducting a reduction in force that will affect 25 attorneys and 47 staff members. This difficult decision results from a careful review of the current and projected needs of our clients. While we are seeing signs of recovery in some practice areas, demand for transactional-related services continues to lag. As we ride out this difficult business cycle, I want to remind you that we remain a strong Firm. Our international asset base of talent and clients and our strong balance sheet will position us well when the economy rebounds.

More details after the jump.

McDermott Will & Emery is still on the $160K scale for first year associates. Summer associates arriving at MWE might have expected to be paid on the same scale throughout the summer.

But they would have been wrong.

Above the Law has been able to confirm that McDermott summers are being paid on a $135K scale, instead of $160K. A McDermott spokesperson had this to say about the cuts:

McDermott’s Summer Associates will be paid at the rate of $135,000 this year. We advised this year’s class of incoming Summer Associates that their compensation would be determined in the spring of 2009. The information regarding compensation for the summer was shared with all of the Summer Associates at the Firm upon arrival, as we have done in years past.

Sources that we spoke with didn’t feel that the salary cut was properly communicated. One tipster reports:

I’m subletting an apartment based on a $160,000 salary. The salary cut isn’t going to break me, but it would have been nice to know before I signed the papers.

Another tipster had a response that makes those of us at ATL happier:

I am now 15% more likely to tip ATL about any crap I see [at MWE] this summer.

After the jump, the McDermott spokespeople explain the reason for the cuts.

* McDermott, Will & Emery will have two kings ruling the castle. Chicago-based Jeffrey Stone and New York-based Peter Sacripanti have been elected to be joint chairmen of the firm. Joint managing partners are not the norm, but these two have a nice good cop/bad cop look about them. [Chicago Tribune]

* Even if you followed Lat’s posts last week, there is some new information in this overview of the themes and presentations at the 2009 NALP conference. There was one presentation (on recruiting) done partially in Second Life, for example. Maybe firms should send virtual goodie baskets to incoming associates this year to cut down on costs. Oh, and for the record, we thought we were the blog everyone loves to love. [Law.com]

* The Associated Press says it will get aggressive in pursuing legal action against web aggregators using its content without permission and compensation. [New York Times]

* Dissection of the prosecutorial mistakes in the (soon to be thrown out) conviction of former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens. [New York Times]

* Weil Gotshal stands to make mad cash if GM goes belly up. (Sidenote: the WSJ Law Blog reports on Weil’s “fingerprints [being] all over the Detroit bankruptcy situation.”) [Bloomberg]

* If you thought animal court appearances only happened in India, you were wrong. An African grey parrot has been subpoenaed in a Palm Beach County court. [United Press International]

* State court budgets are hurting and so the courts are doing the equivalent of searching for all the change hiding between the cushions of the couch, by getting serious about collecting on fees and fines. [New York Times]

Today, McDermott Will & Emery completed its “2008 compensation cycle.” There is (shockingly) some good news for associates at the firm.

According to a firm wide memo:

In recognition of strong performance, the Committee approved 2008 bonuses that are in keeping with the Firm’s merit-based approach to total compensation and that in many cases exceeded the market.

According to sources we’ve spoken with over the past few weeks, this is largely true. While MWE’s bonuses were nominally half-Skadden, high performers and top billers report that they received substantially more money than that. One tipster reports:

Pretty much everyone to whom I talked was pleasantly surprised. We pretty much expected them to go with the Cravath scale, but they actually went above by a bit. [For first years] the class the median was $21,250, the average was $22,266, and the high was $40,000.

It gets progressively better up the scale, with some 4th years reporting that they received as much as $60,000 in bonus.

We understand that these figures include the $10,000 bonus advance MWE associates received in December.

Of course, stub-first years didn’t receive any bonus. But given the fact that McDermott recently laid off 60 associates, the stub-first years that are left have to be pretty happy to still have a job.

But there is some bad news too. Details after the jump.

Given the crazy layoffs news today, a law firm cutting back on perks might seem like small beans. But with many perks, it’s not about the particular thing being offered (or taken away) it’s about what the perk says about the firm, its culture, and in some cases its financial health.

It looks like McDermott Will & Emery is taking away coffee in its Chicago office. Here’s the email from the head of the firm’s Chicago office:

These are difficult times for our business and legal communities. We, like all law firms, are looking at expenses that can be pared without diminishing the quality of the legal services that we provide to our clients.

Effective immediately, we are suspending our coffee services in the 45th floor lobby. We will, of course, continue to provide coffee and drink carts for client meetings. We will also continue to have the Flavia coffee service available on each of our attorney floors and will provide coffee to our clients in our 44th floor reception area.

We are also suspending, effective immediately, our evening food services. Lou and Walt are working on alternatives and will present those alternatives to you in the very near term..

If you have any questions, please call me.

George

Fair enough.

But after the jump, we see that other MWE partners were not all that happy with cutback.

I hope you weren’t planning on a “snow day,” because it is still raining law men.

McDermott Will & Emery just announced that they have laid off 60 associates and 89 staffers. A firm-wide memo just went out to MWE employees:

Our Firm performed well in 2008 and remains strong as we move into 2009. However, we are not immune to the continued deterioration in market conditions. The business of our clients has slowed and this has affected our own levels of activity, particularly in the transactional area. In response, the Firm is implementing today a reduction in force of 60 attorneys and 89 staff personnel. This decision was tremendously difficult given the high caliber of our people and the many strong, collegial relationships that exist within the Firm.

The open communication from McDermott is appreciated. In December, we reported that the firm laid off around 20 people on the down low.

Our tipsters report that some first years were caught in this latest force reduction.

We’ve already reported that McDermott has instituted a salary freeze (slurpee). The firm indicated that it would reconsidere the salary decision in March. I’ll open the line at 12-to-1 against March bringing better salary news.

Read the full firm memo (and see a screenshot) after the jump. If you just got laid off from McDermott, but are up to date on your taxes, you might consider sending your resume to Obama. I hear that he has some openings.

As we noted in yesterday’s Morning Docket, even the New York Times has taken note of the salary freeze trend at law firms. The Times reached out to Above The Law’s own David Lat for the story:

Although many associates are angry about the freezes, others are relieved, said David Lat, founding editor of AboveTheLaw.com, a blog about law firms and the profession.

“There is this sense that firms didn’t act prudently during the boom and now they are getting religion, and that it’s better late than never,” Mr. Lat said. “Many associates we have spoken to think the freeze probably saved jobs.”

At the beginning of the month, we did a round-up of firms that have frozen 2009 salary rates at 2008 levels. That list was 16 firms long. Since then, quite a few other firms have announced freezes. Due to frequent requests, we’re updating the round-up list since the number of firms with freezes (that we know of) has more than doubled, to 33 32. Check out the as-comprehensive-as-we-can-make-it list, after the jump.

Recently announced salary freezes include “solid ice freezes” at Blank Rome and Townsend and Townsend and Crew; and “Slurpee freezes” at Bingham McCutchen, Fish & Richardson, and Texan firm Andrews Kurth.

Memorandums, as well as a new list of all firms with “solid ice” and “Slurpee” freezes, after the jump.

The new year is shaping up to be a cold one. As we noted in our 2008 Year in Review series, one of the biggest stories heading into 2009 has been that of the salary freeze. Rather than instituting lock-step raises for associates entering a new class year, a number of firms have informed associates that their salaries will remain at 2008 levels.

There have been two types of freezes: the “Solid Ice freeze”—with salaries frozen through all of 2009—and the “Slurpee freeze”—where firms are sticking with 2008 levels for now, but promise to revisit the decision later in the year.

Many an ATL reader has requested a round-up, and we aim to please. So find your pleasure, after the jump. Some of the firms have been reported on before, and some are new.

If you know of other frozen firms, send us an e-mail at tips@abovethelaw.com with the subject, “Salary Freeze: FIRM NAME.” Also, if your firm has raised salaries as expected, feel free to send us the news, with the subject “Salary Raise: FIRM NAME.” While freezes are news, raises as expected aren’t, so we will not be covering firm by firm, but we may do a round-up.

Find the list of the sixteen firms that have frozen, after the jump.

McDermott Will & Emery has already announced that associates will be eligible for their bonus “advances” that they were already promised. We reported that MWE associates can expect $10K to $20K now, while the final numbers will be released in March. At the time we said:

The other wrinkle here is that MWE is leaving the door open on what their “final” bonus package will look like. They could match last year’s market, or not. There is a lot of time to read the market between now and March.

Having already announced this good news, it was a little weird yesterday when McDermott announced the same news again. The same numbers, the same plan, the same “final decision in March” language. Did MWE management simply forget that they had said all of this before?

Not quite. Buried in the third paragraph of this “new” announcement was the line:

In addition to the final bonus determinations, Associate base salaries for 2009 will be determined and announced in March at the conclusion of the 2008 compensation process. Until then, current base salaries will remain in effect

No raises until March (if at all)? Is MWE really hurting or just really, really cheap?

After the jump, the freezing future.

Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of rumbling over at McDermott Will & Emery. One tipster succinctly explained what many MWE associates are seeing:

[T]here is literally no work … nothing at work for a few weeks. Apparently everyone is waiting for the axe to fall. You should watch MWE like a hawk.

More like a buzzard. We’ve been circling over McDermott for days, waiting for something to fall. So far, we’ve not yet been able to speak with a single MWE associate who will stipulate that they have been laid off. But sources both inside and outside MWE claim that a number of stealth layoffs have taken place at the firm over the past month.

The number many tipsters are coming up with is 20.

Now, that number seems high to us. A major firm like McDermott usually can’t keep 20 people silent for all that long. However, when we approached the firm with our information, they would neither confirm nor deny the reports about firm-wide layoffs. A spokesperson for MWE only had this to say:

As a matter of policy we do not publicly discuss personnel matters.

Additional tipsters weigh in after the jump.

We’ve gotten the first hard numbers of the 2008 bonus season, in part. McDermott Will & Emery has announced that they will pay their associates the bonus advance they were expecting. A firm-wide email announced the relatively positive news:

December Bonus Advances: As we have previously communicated, the following payments will be made in mid-December to Associates who are on target to receive a bonus: (a) $10,000 for Associates in the class of 2006 or 2007, (b) $15,000 for Associates in the class of 2004 or 2005 and (c) $20,000 for Associates in all other classes. The determination of whether an Associate is on target for a bonus will be made by the ACC using the CPAs and the general evaluation criteria already described in prior presentations and communications by the Compensation Committee. For some Associates, the December payment may be the only bonus the Associate receives. The bonus determined by the ACC to be paid in March, 2009 will be reduced by any advance received in December.

That’s good news to the attorneys that are on target to make their hours. That’s almost everybody, right? Many people have pointed out that bonuses might be depressed this year, not because firms will be offering less money, but because many associates are struggling to make their hours.

The other wrinkle here is that MWE is leaving the door open on what their “final” bonus package will look like. They could match last year’s market, or not. There is a lot of time to read the market between now and March.

Still, $10K - $20K just in time for holiday shopping is a good thing for those on track. And if you’re low on hours, this you at least know for sure that there is at least some money available to you if you can make up the hours in the fourth quarter.

Congrats and good luck, MWE associates.

Read the full memo after the jump.

Last week, we attended OutLaws: A Discussion With Out Lawyers, held at the LGBT Community Center here in New York. The event featured “out lawyers sharing different perspectives and stories — how they got to where they are professionally, as well as what went right, what didn’t, how they’d approach things differently today, and the specific challenges they faced as an LGBT person.”

The panel was moderated by Lisa Linsky, a litigation partner at McDermott Will & Emery. She was joined by Michael Colosi, general counsel for Kenneth Cole; Phylliss Delgreco, associate general counsel and senior vice president at Citigroup; and Roberta Kaplan, a litigation partner at Paul Weiss.

The freewheeling discussion was quite enlightening. You can read about it after the jump.

We’re back with another installment in our series of open threads on the Vault 100. This is an opportunity for insiders to sound off on their firms for the benefit of wannabe potential first-year and lateral associates.

Here are the next ten on the Vault list, with prestige scores in parentheses:

41. Baker Botts LLP (6.096)
42. King & Spalding LLP (6.066)
43. DLA Piper (6.039)
44. Baker & McKenzie (5.982)
45. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (5.976)
46. Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP (5.974)
47. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (5.941)
48. Dewey & LeBoeuf (5.924)
49. Fulbright & Jaworski LLP (5.906)
50. McDermott, Will & Emery (5.892)

The most interesting set of “notable perks” in this bunch can be found at Boies Schiller. On the upside, there is an annual trip to Jamaica for attorneys and their families — in December, no less — but on the downside, it’s a “sweatshop run by a genius.” This makes us think of David Boies as the legal profession’s Santa Claus — who likes to take the elves to Montego Bay.

We invite the curious to ask questions about these firms, and for those in-the-know to take pity.

Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads - 2009

Last week’s ATL / Lateral Link survey asked, “If you knew then what you know today, would you still choose to join your current firm?”

We received 540 responses, and, overall 68% of you said yes. But the gruntlement (i.e., satisfaction) varied quite a bit from market to market:

  • Atlanta - 50%
  • Boston - 74%
  • Bay Area - 79%
  • Chicago - 70%
  • Dallas - 80%
  • Houston - 82%
  • Los Angeles - 71%
  • New York - 71%
  • Philadelphia - 75%
  • Washington, DC - 68%

Apparently, “everything is bigger in Texas” includes job satisfaction, and the Bay Area is close behind, followed by Philadelphia. Meanwhile, firms in Boston have managed to produce slightly happier associates than firms in New York, notwithstanding the city’s often lamented bagels and challenging pizza scene — a challenge Chicago offices, hampered by quiche deep dish pizza, have been unable to surmount. Washington, DC lags a bit behind, and Atlanta clearly needs a hug.

Associates at a few firms were particularly likely to say they’d make the same choice today. Find out which firms have especially happy campers, after the jump.