* California lawyer Ryan Kent has accused Dahn Yoga of being a cult and filed a class action suit against the Brain Wave Vibrators. [San Francisco Chronicle]

* Ross Mitchell spent just $38,000 on his online law degree and became his own first client. He won his lawsuit to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. [Boston Herald]

* Richard Posner is bearish on newspapers and bullish on draconian copyright protection for online news. Permission to link? [The Becker-Posner Blog]

* Is 12 years enough for Bernie? [Am Law Daily]

* Law school is great preparation for doing something other than law. [Legal Intelligencer]

* Musical chairs: Morgan Lewis taps gas from Baker Botts. [Am Law Daily]

Wait, there are people out there who want banking lawyers? Really? This is excellent news!

Morgan Lewis & Bockius announced today that it has acquired eleven people: five partners and six associates, from Bingham McCutchen's Boston office. But the real shocker is that all of the lawyers are from Bingham's Banking and Leveraged Finance Group:

Morgan Lewis today announced the addition of five partners and six associates from Bingham McCutchen's Banking and Leveraged Finance Group--including a former co-chair of the practice--to its Business and Finance Practice, resident in the firm's Boston office. Partners Robert A.J. Barry, Jonathan K. Bernstein, Sula R. Fiszman, Matthew F. Furlong, and Sandra J. Vrejan, will focus their practice on corporate finance, as well as restructuring. Their experience across a broad range of industries--including retail, manufacturing, food and beverage, energy, media, communications and sports--add to the depth of knowledge Morgan Lewis offers clients as they face today's rapidly changing economic conditions. In addition, their arrival significantly increases the firm's presence in Boston.

Isn't it great to live in a world where law firms need corporate finance lawyers?

"Particularly in light of the difficult credit markets faced by both our lender and borrower clients, there is an ever-increasing need for us to be able to provide additional top-flight financing expertise across a multitude of industries" said Firm Chair Francis M. Milone. "This expansion reflects our continued commitment to providing clients with the kind of counsel they need to execute credit transactions in any business environment."

It seems right to focus on "any" business environment, considering that the politicians seem to be making it up as they go along.

A statement from Bingham and the the Morgan Lewis press release after the jump.

* Harvard 3L Juan Valdivieso talks about his plans for his Morgan Lewis $60K deferral stipend. [Boston Globe]

* Copyright attorney Jo Oliver on the impact the Pirate Bay ruling will have on the legal war on piracy. She has no sympathy for "Internet freedom fighters." [Reuters]

* ... Meanwhile, the Pirate Bay folks are appealing the ruling against them alleging that the judge was biased. He's a card-wielding member of two pro-copyright organizations. [CNet]

* O'Melveny & Myers partner Alejandro Mayorkas has been tapped to be the director of DHS's Citizenship and Immigration Services. [Chicago Sun-Times]

* We don't really know what the point of Twitter is, but it's probably not to issue death threats. Oklahoma man arrested for tweeting about turning the April 15 Tea Party into a blood bath. [Threat Level/Wired]

* Sex, Second Life, and virtual law. [San Franciso Chronicle]

* PSA: Wash your hands frequently, folks. [New York Times]

Today's evidence that the Biglaw paradigm is crumbling comes from the clients of Morgan Lewis & Bockius. The ABA Journal reports:

Among the sea changes is a reluctance by a number of clients, or even an outright ban, as far having first-year associates work on their matters, says [Morgan Lewis Chairman Francis] Milone in a wide-ranging interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"It's a trend," he tells the newspaper. "We literally have some clients who are telling us they do not want us to put brand-new associates on their matters."

On the one hand, you can take that comment with heavy dose of cynicism. It's exactly the kind of thing a managing partner would say if he was laying the groundwork for an associate salary cut. For a more full example of how to cut salaries by making associates feel generally useless, check out Womble Carlyle.

After the jump, we see there are even more reasons to be skeptical about chairman Milone's motives.

* Obama plans to begin pushing for an immigration bill this year. [Reuters]

* Need a job? Meet Katherine Wu, an executive at NBC universal who calls herself a "networking evangelist." [The New York Times]

* The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. because of last year's allegations that he may have been one of the candidates willing to buy the Illinois Senate seat. Please go on a media blitz, Jesse, please! (I just like writing "Blago" in my posts) [The Washington Post]

* The City of Detroit's former top lawyer sued the city, claiming that she was illegally demoted for calling the 36th District Court a "ghetto court." [The Detroit Free Press]

For those of you that have read the comments on the Morgan Lewis layoff post, you already know that MLB is mandating a deferral program for all of its incoming first year associates. We wanted to dedicate a separate post to discuss this plan, as it is very different from what we've seen from Latham & Watkins or Orrick.

Here's how Morgan Lewis characterizes its deferral plan:

Today, we are taking a number of steps to adjust our workforce in light of changed economic circumstances. Among other things, we have decided to defer the start dates for new associates so that incoming entry-level associates will start with us in October 2010. We will offer each affected individual the opportunity to work in a public interest organization between October 2009 and his or her start date, and will pay each a $5,000 monthly stipend.

Unlike Latham or Orrick, this plan is not optional. All incoming first years have to take this plan. Because the plan is mandatory, MLB is in the position where they will have no 2009 first year attorneys. But the firm will save at least $100K on every first year associate they hired.

I say "at least" because obviously not every associate will receive the $60,000 that is contemplated in this memo. The memo clearly states that the monthly stipend will be paid only to associates who secure work at a public interest organization, and even then on a month to month basis. Latham, in contrast, will be giving $75K to incoming first years up-front. (We do assume that the deferral plan includes a "bar stipend" which would bring MLB's total package closer in line to Latham and Orrick. The memo doesn't say that specifically though, so we are making an assumption.)

It's not out of the realm of possibility that some people won't be able to secure a public interest job by October 2009 (there is not an infinite supply of public interest work). If you don't get a job until January, you're not getting a stipend until January, allowing the firm to save even more money.

After the jump, we see that Morgan Lewis expects the tough times to continue right through 2010.

This one even caught us by surprise. We had received some indication that Morgan Lewis was finished with its layoffs, but apparently the reductions earlier this year were just the beginning. A firm wide memo announced the sad news to MLB employees a short while ago.

Unfortunately, we have reached the point where we believe that the greatest good for the greatest number of our colleagues will be achieved by eliminating some positions and bringing our overall numbers more in line with the realities of the present economic environment and what we believe will be the expectations of our clients in the future. Therefore, we will be informing today a number of our attorneys and members of our staff throughout the firm that their employment will end. We expect to inform those of you who are being affected by this decision as early as possible today, at which time we will also discuss with you certain available termination benefits.

The memo goes on to list the damage: 55 attorneys and 161 staffers. The memo makes no mention of the severance package that is going to be offered to the ex-MLB people.

It is not going to be a happy Monday.

Read the full memo after the jump.

We have been waiting a long time to get a look at the Morgan Lewis & Bockius bonus structure. The firm announced way back on October 30th that it would be delaying their bonus decision until the market settles.

Since then, the firm has found time to institute a salary freeze and fire maybe as many as 50 associates.

Now that the bonus information is finally in, the results are somewhat anticlimactic. Individual memos are out at Half-Skadden levels.

But the real news from MLB is contained in this little memo that went out on Friday night:

Most of counsel and associates have had discussions by now with respect to annual evaluations, so this is a good time to remind lawyers of our policy with respect to taking late time-recording into account when we determine bonus amounts. For the year just ended, there were 55 lawyers whose bonuses were affected by their unexcused late time entries. The impact was larger for repeat offenders.

Ouch. I supposed this is a "good time" to remind lawyers about how late time keeping can affect the year end bonus. Let's hope that Morgan Lewis also reminded people at the much, much better time -- which would have been before people lost money for being tardy with accounting.

Tipsters weigh in and the full Morgan Lewis email after the jump.

We are now receiving reports that Morgan, Lewis & Bockius fired a large number of associates. A firm spokesperson tells us:

Attorneys depart law firms for any number of reasons. The number leaving this year is consistent with prior year departures. It is inappropriate for us to comment on individual personnel decisions. However, reports of a firm wide layoff are incorrect.

But tipsters at the firm have gotten a different impression about what is happening at Morgan Lewis:

I believe the total number will be around 50 attorneys. I do not know the number of staff members but I did see at least two secretaries crying on the way out.

Other tipsters also say that 50 or so associates and an undetermined number of staffers will be let go. Then again, our sources also suggest that the 50 have been concentrated in the corporate department, so maybe the layoffs aren't "firm wide."

Severance information and other Morgan Lewis notes after the jump.

Thanks to the power of "the internet," I'm able to remind you that in October the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius informed associates:

As in past years, base compensation adjustments will continue to be effective as of January 1 and will be reflected in your January paycheck.

In fact, I reminded you just last week that Morgan Lewis previously stated:

As in past years, base compensation adjustments will continue to be effective as of January 1 and will be reflected in your January paycheck.

But yesterday, Morgan Lewis decided:

We have taken a number of steps to manage our business conservatively. One of these is a decision to maintain of counsel and associate base salaries for 2009 at the same levels as those individual lawyers were paid for 2008.

In response to the question "how do you feel about this," a morning tipster said:

I feel like I hate these lying f****** s***eat*** f***s.

Agent Kujan, meet Keyser Soze.

Read the full MLB memo after the jump.

Back in October, we reported that Morgan Lewis & Bockius was one of the first firms to say anything about associate bonuses. The firm said it wasn't going to make a decision about associate bonuses until sometime in January of 2009, but at least they said something.

Notably, at the time the firm also reported:

As in past years, base compensation adjustments will continue to be effective as of January 1 and will be reflected in your January paycheck.

We now know that the announcement was a much bigger deal than it seemed at the time.

Morgan Lewis has still not announced what they plan to do with 2008 bonuses, but the firm has announced that 2009 bonuses decisions will be made on a different basis. Instead of a 2000 hour requirement in effect for 2008, in 2009 associates will not be required to reach 2000 hours.

But on the other hand, hitting 2000 hours will no longer "guarantee" a full bonus.

Read the firm's specific wording after the jump.

On Friday, while much of the Thelen news was still focused on Nixon Peabody feasting on Thelen refugees, we heard an interesting tip from people at Morgan Lewis:

I hear we have acquired all or most of Thelen's corporate practice? I haven't seen any official announcements but I hear that a couple floors below me is total chaos.

Mmmm ... chaos.

Today we've gotten a (sadly) less chaotic number of new hires:

Morgan Lewis's New York office picked up 17 attorneys from Thelen. An email was sent Friday.

But are they heavy hitters?

I am aware of a larger group that consists of the really big hitters at Thelen in the construction group. Dekker, Buoncristiani, Heisse et al with huge books of business for core clients like Bechtel. Pillsbury has extended an offer to all these people, included Counsel and associates for a total of about 45 attorneys for mainly the SF Office [Some in DC and NY]

Strangely, MLB has rebuffed repeated requests to confirm or deny how many Thelen people they are bringing on (if any).

But once again, Thelen-East attorneys seem to be doing a lot better than their West Coast brethren. On the flip side, this weekend in NYC was cold and miserable while I'm sure the Sun once again bestowed its light and grace upon Californians. So they have that going for them.

Earlier: Nixon Peabody Picks Up 90 Thelen Attorneys (This is Different From a Merger How?)
Associate Bonus Watch: Morgan Lewis Pushes Back Bonus Decisions

A central theme running through this week's bonus speculation was that bonus decisions would be made much later this year than last year. As first reported here, Cravath kicked off the bonus season last year on October 29th, 2007. But in 2006, Milbank didn't get the ball rolling until December 8th.

The first solid information that bonus decisions could be made a lot later this season came in today from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. MLB associates were notified that bonuses would not be paid before the holidays via a firm wide email.

Read the email after the jump.

In the interest of completeness, here are a few quick postscripts to stories that we previously covered in these pages, but didn't get around to mentioning during the craziness of last week. They come from the National Law Journal and/or the WSJ Law Blog.

1. Judge Robert Somma: The cross-dressing former bankruptcy judge (at right), who resigned from the bench after a drunk driving arrest, has joined the bankruptcy practice of Posternak Blankstein & Lund, a midsize firm based in Boston, as senior counsel. [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]

2. American Justice School of Law: This defunct Kentucky law school, which in 2007 was hit with a class action filed by some of its students, has filed for bankruptcy. [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]

3. L'Affaire Kozinski: The panel of federal judges from the Third Circuit investigating Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (at right) has retained Robert Heim, head of litigation at Dechert, to oversee the probe (which will be staffed by lawyers from Dechert and Morgan Lewis & Bockius). [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]

4. University of Michigan's Wolverine Scholars Program: Sarah Zearfoss, dean of admissions at UM Law, has defended the program against allegations that it's an attempt to game the U.S. News rankings. She pointed out that the program is small, likely to result in the admission of just five to ten students (out of a class of 360), and that very few UM undergrads (about 200) would even be eligible for it. [WSJ Law Blog]

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

In last month's ATL / Lateral Link survey we asked you which holidays you worked on, or expected to work on, during 2007. About half of you reported that you had worked on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Last week, we asked you how you fared this year. Did you take the day off to honor a champion of civil rights, or did you make it a "day on"?

We received just under 1,300 responses, and 44% of you reported that you took the day off. Associates in New York, Los Angeles and Boston were most likely to celebrate the holiday, while associates in Chicago, Atlanta, the Bay Area, and Texas were most likely to be working. (Respondents in the Bay Area were also most likely to work over Christmas and New Year's. Is it time for them to get New York bonuses?)

How did it break down on a firm by firm basis? DLA Piper, Milbank, Sidley & Austin, Dechert, Hunton & Williams, Jones Day, Latham, Mayer Brown, McDermott, Hughes Hubbard, McGuire Woods, Morgan Lewis, Nixon Peabody, Paul Hastings, and Sullivan & Cromwell each had multiple happy associates who reported that they had taken the day off. Kirkland & Ellis, Baker Botts, Dewey & LeBoeuf, O'Melveny & Myers, Weil, and Winston & Strawn each had mixed responses. Associates at Skadden, however, uniformly reported that they had worked the holiday, as Martin Luther King Jr. day is a "floating" holiday for the firm.

Of those who spent the day at the office, about 54% reported that they weren't actually asked to work the holiday, but had things they needed to get done. About a quarter reported that their offices were open. Another quarter said that partners told them to work on the holiday. About 8% were asked to work by clients. A surprising number of respondents wrote in that other associates had told them to work on the holiday.

A little over a third of respondents who worked on the holiday thought that the work did not justify the sacrifice.

Last month, Morgan Lewis & Bockius issued a bonus non-announcement -- a placeholder memo, indicating that bonus news would be forthcoming.

Perhaps MLB associates have reason to be optimistic. The firm must be saving some money, since it's making associates pay their own way on the ski trip of Business and Finance Practice Group. Our tipster observes: "[T]his is yet another reflection of Morgan Lewis' caring attitude."

When law firms hold "destination events" -- e.g., the Boies Schiller firm meeting in Jamaica, the Kirkland & Ellis retreat at the Hotel Hershey, and other retreats mentioned here -- they often pay for their associates to attend. But there's no rule holding that they must do so, especially if attendance is voluntary (which is the case here).

And hey -- at least the firm has negotiated a special ML&B discount!

(ML&B ski trip memo, after the jump.)

Where have all the bonus announcements gone? Have firms stopped issuing them? Or have you stopped sending them to us? For information about the many ways you can submit bonus memos to us, see here.

In the meantime, we bring you another bonus non-announcement, similar to those previously issued by Kirkland & Ellis and McDermott Will & Emery. This one is from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

Check it out, after the jump.

We regularly receive all kinds of wacky gossip related to the fall recruiting process. Some of these rumors are true, and some of them aren't.

We found this rumor, about the Chicago office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, quite amusing:

"I heard from a friend there that during summer associate callbacks, only students from 'good schools' get lunch. E.g., Harvard, Northwestern, University of Chicago."

"Students from Illinois, DePaul, etc. must starve. You should look into this."

Loyola (of Chicago) 2Ls: What say you?

We looked into this rumor. Alas, it appears to be untrue.

More after the jump.

The latest post in our series on perks / fringe benefits isn't a "perk" per se. But it is, like true perks, a non-monetary factor that some people may take into account when choosing between law firms.

The topic: eco-friendliness, or how "green" a law firm is. From a tipster:

I think you should do a feature on which law firms are promoting eco-friendly office environments / business practices. With the country's increased environmental awareness, I think it could help both law students and attorneys decide where to work. Here are two examples:

1. Arnold & Porter: Details of their "green office" policy appear here.

2. Morgan Lewis & Bockius: They described their "program to promote an eco-friendly workplace" in a recent memo (reprinted after the jump).

We offer commentary on that memo after the jump.

Getting Law Firms to Boot Up to Green [Legal Technology News]