Lately it seems there's been a lot of law-firm merger activity. The statistics bear this out, although there's disagreement as to degree. From a piece by Leigh Jones in the National Law Journal:

Law firms didn't slow down their march to the altar in the second quarter of 2008, but just how many mergers occurred depends on whom you ask. Altman Weil announced a sharp increase in merger activity during the second quarter. It pegged law firm mergers at 26, compared with 18 in the first quarter.

At the same time, competitor Hildebrandt International announced steady merger activity, with a total of 14, compared with 12 mergers in the first quarter of 2008.

There has also been a steady increase in rumors about law firm mergers. Some of them will turn out to be true, some not. The fact that some gossip won't pan out doesn't make it any less interesting. Lawyers need some way to pass the time, and speculating about their competitors -- or themselves -- is as good a way as any.

Here's an excerpt from a recent profile of our media idol, former Us Weekly and Star editrix Bonnie Fuller, from the New York Times:

Ms. Fuller knows the dyad of funny / hurtful, having run cover articles about people getting divorced, pregnant and tossed into rehab. Sometimes those stories were true.

"There have been a lot of false pregnancies and laugh-out-loud groaners," says Simon Dumenco, a longtime analyst of the magazine industry who writes a column for Advertising Age. "What she has done is gotten at a kind of essential truth that is less about the specifics of the gossip. This endless speculation and estimation about the lives of these people has become the stuff of culture."

In that last sentence, replace "these people" with "these law firms," and that's ATL for you. A lot of what we write in these pages may turn out to be inaccurate, but we're getting at "a kind of essential truth that is less about the specifics of the gossip."

So, with that caveat in mind, are you interested in hearing the latest law-firm merger gossip? Read more -- about rumored deals involving Baker & McKenzie, Heller Ehrman, Nixon Peabody, Pillsbury Winthrop, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, and Harris & Moure (who?) -- after the jump.

Yesterday we wrote about possible layoffs at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. We've acquired a few more details, as well as information that might explain why some commenters who claim to be at PWSP haven't heard about them yet. We'll pass it along later; if you can add to our knowledge, please email us.

In the meantime, here's an intriguing rumor making the rounds that might explain upheaval at Pillsbury:

Have you heard anything about Nixon Peabody merging with Pillsbury Winthrop? I have heard this from several different associates [at NP] over the past few weeks. It certainly would seem to jive with the new chairman's strategic initiative rolled out last month which hopes to double Nixon's size over the next few years.

More about that initiative, from a second Nixon Peabody source:

[A] few weeks ago there was a firm-wide videoconference with the new managing partner Dick Langan. He said the goal was to double the size of the firm within five years; we all left saying the only possible way to go from 700 attorneys to 1500 in that short amount of time was a merger. He talked a lot about increasing our international presence, and specifically mentioned Paris and also South America.

So even if it doesn't get with Pillsbury Winthrop, a merger involving Nixon Peabody wouldn't be that surprising.

Read more, below the fold.

In today's National Law Journal, Leigh Jones has a most interesting article about the impact of legal gossip blogs (ahem) on law firms. It begins:

Many of the nation's most renowned law firms have felt the public relations wallop delivered by law gossip blogs, those online tabloids that can turn an interoffice memo into a virtual billboard of bad news for partners or associates.

Whether the topic is layoffs or love affairs, it seems that no subject is too edgy for sites such as Above the Law, Greedy Associates, AutoAdmit and a few others that dig up the legal profession's dirt. The immediacy -- and, at times, the brutality -- of the media form is presenting a challenge for firms that are wary of their private matters entering the public domain.

True enough. But blogs can also be a medium for getting positive news out -- e.g., associate pay raises, record partner profits, pro bono work, and charitable contributions -- which firms are only now realizing.

Here's an interesting comment from a firm leader one might expect to be less than enthusiastic about blogging:

Gossip blogs have created an immediacy of information and a quick way to share comments, compared with newspapers and magazines, said Rodgin Cohen, chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell. But the rule for law firms to follow has remained the same over time: "With any widely disseminated message, you have to ask if you're prepared to see it in a publication," he said.

New York-based Sullivan & Cromwell was highlighted for months on law blogs after former associate Aaron Charney filed a lawsuit in January 2007 alleging that he was subjected to sexual orientation harassment and retaliation by the firm. The case settled last year.

"I accept that publicity is a good disinfectant," Cohen said.

Indeed (as Justice Louis Brandeis famously observed). Speaking of S&C gossip, does anyone have updates on Carlos Spinelli-Noseda?

More discussion, after the jump.

According to the non-theme-song song (mp3) of Nixon Peabody, the firm is "the best to work with" and "the best to work for." At NP, "it's all about the team, it's all about respect, it all revolves around integrity."

And top of the line ingredients. From the Washington Post:

Big-time lawyers are pros at waiting for judges' tough decisions, but yesterday afternoon at Nixon Peabody in the District, some may have posted fewer billable hours until results of the firm's 19th annual cook-off were handed down.

The competition pits men against women, which could lead to actionable territory and dangerous stereotyping. Yet, it has helped build camaraderie among all departments, firm employees say, pointing to Nixon Peabody's ranking among Fortune magazine Top 100 Best Companies to Work For, three years running.

Wow, they really milk that honor for all it's worth! Kudos to NP's public relations department for placing this puff piece in the Post. The firm's PR operation has come a long way from the days when they threatened bloggers over leaked musical homages (and generated unflattering publicity for themselves).

More discussion, after the jump.

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.

Congratulations to this quintet of five law firms, which just made Fortune magazine's annual list of the 100 Best Companies To Work For (listed below in rank order):

19. Arnold & Porter: "Staffers get 12 weeks paid maternity leave and profit sharing of 7.5% of salary. The less you make, the less you pay for health-insurance premiums."

Actually, a correction: 18 weeks (as of January 1, 2008).

31. Alston & Bird: "Both the legal and nonlegal staff get super benefits, including 90 days of paid maternity leave, coverage of fertility treatments, and concierge services."

Concierge services? Fabulous. Atlantans, stop yer whining!

41. Bingham McCutchen: "They're proud of their elite grads: 72 from nearby Harvard Law, 24 from Yale, and 20 from Stanford. They all start at $160,000 a year."

55. Perkins Coie: "They value fun at this law firm. At 2007's Lawyerpalooza battle of the bands, the Perkins Coie rock & rollers brought down the house (and took home the top prize)."

See also Nixon Peabody: "Fun is not prohibited here." Speaking of which...

66. Nixon Peabody: "The law firm excels on policies for GLBT employees (a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign); it targets 3% of billable hours annually for pro bono work."

Please send us any theme songs that are composed to commemorate these honors. Thank you.

100 Best Companies To Work For (2008) [Fortune]

Earlier: Bingham McCutchen: Land of the Amazons?

At least it's a better way to spend the firm's money than a theme song (mp3). From The Recorder:

Nixon Peabody has appointed a chief sustainability officer, hoping not only to reduce the firm's environmental impact, but to increase its impact on clients. Carolyn Kaplan, a counsel in the firm's energy and environmental practice, will spend at least a quarter of her time in the new position.

So what exactly will Ms. Kaplan do in this new gig? Send around annoying firm-wide emails telling people to recycle those reams of useless Westlaw print-outs? Tell associates to turn off the lights when they leave their offices (even if it will tip off the partners to their departures)?

Kaplan said the position has two aspects: looking internally at ways to reduce the firm's production of CO2, or its carbon footprint, and determining how attorneys can use the firm's experience to better understand clients dealing with environmental regulation and related issues. Both of those could make the firm greener in the financial sense, too, she said.

More after the jump.

Okay, not in the centerfold -- we wish. But as we recently mentioned, this fine website is featured in the December 2007 issue of Playboy magazine (p. 61). It's far more thrilling than a shout-out in the New York Times or the Washington Post.

A reader kindly sent the mention our way; it appears to the right. In case you're curious about what surrounded the item, check out more of the page, after the jump.

Speaking of playboys, check out this article -- an oldie, but a goodie -- about Germany's answer to Hugh Hefner. From Spiegel Online:

Aging German playboy Rolf Eden has rarely taken no for an answer. And he's not about to start. He has filed charges against a 19-year-old for refusing to sleep with him. The complaint? Ageism....

the 77-year-old Eden has filed suit against a 19-year-old Berlin woman for the following reason: Despite a night on the town with Eden, which ended back at his place, she refused to have sex with him, saying the he was too old for her.

"That was shattering. No woman has ever said that to me before," Eden told the tabloid. "I was crushed." He has filed charges with the prosecutors' office, he said. "After all, there are laws against discrimination."

Partners whose advances have been rejected by summer associates surely agree.

German Playboy, 77, Sues for Sex [Spiegel Online]

Earlier: Not Everyone's A Winner at Nixon Peabody

We enjoy keeping track of law firm screw-ups during the recruiting process. See, e.g., here and here.

But not everything that's embarrassing is accidental; some tackiness is intentional. From a tipster:

"A friend of mine was recently rejected by Nixon Peabody. They broke the news by sending her the attached notice printed on an envelope-sized piece of cardboard."

(Thumbnail image; click to enlarge.)

Makes sense to us. Why waste perfectly good letterhead on personalized rejection letters? Save the money for your theme song (mp3).

P.S. Speaking of the Nixon Peabody theme song controversy, we hear there's a shout-out to it (and Above the Law) in the December 2007 issue of Playboy (p. 61).

Now, we haven't seen this for ourselves, 'cause Playboy isn't our cup of tea, you see. But if somebody would like to send us a scan of the relevant page, we'd be most grateful.

ATL has been mentioned in such publications as the New York Times and the Washington Post (which dubbed it "a must-read legal blog"). But an appearance in Playboy? This is our proudest moment.

Earlier: Public Humiliation, Courtesy of Your Friends at Wilson Sonsini
Fall Recruiting Snafu Watch: You Know They Really Don't Want You When...

A law firm for which we have special affection here at ATL, Nixon Peabody, has raised starting salaries to $160,000 in its Washington office. Cue the theme song!

Oddly enough, this change isn't reflected in the firm's NALP form, which lists them at $145,000. But Nixon Peabody is advising recruits that it now pays $160K in DC (and perhaps it has raised in other offices, although we've only heard about Washington).

In case you're curious, the firm's email to recruits appears after the jump.

* Who, Exactly, Is A Journalist? [Concurring Opinions]

* Law Student May Have Shot At Textbook With Assault Rifle [JournalGazette]

* Nixon Peabody Links Up With Boutique for London Launch -- Everyone's A Winner! [Law.com]

* Man gets life in 'Curious George' killing [CNN]

* "I'm not a morning person." Child Abuse Excuse Riles Judge [New York Times]

* Courts and the Law: Justice's Blind Trust [CQ Weekly]

* Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama: When They Were Young [New York Magazine]

* The Carnival of the Capitalists #211 includes law blogs this week.

Are you concerned about diversity (or the lack thereof) at America's top law firms? Have you been wishing for a handy resource that would rank the Biglaw shops by their performance on diversity metrics, as well as other measures, such as billable hours and pro bono work?

Well, you're in luck. Later today, Building a Better Legal Profession will be issuing just such a report. Here's a blurb for their upcoming press conference:

Over one-third of all large law firms in Manhattan don't have a single African-American partner. Nearly half of all large law firms in Washington, D.C. don't have a single Hispanic partner. One firm doesn't have a single LGBT partner or associate in either office. On October 10, find out who.

Building a Better Legal Profession, a national grassroots coalition of law students, will release its first report on the status of the legal profession. The groundbreaking study compares the largest law firms in each of the top six legal markets (New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago, Northern California, and Southern California) by various metrics. The report ranks firms by billable hours, pro bono participation, and demographic diversity (percentages of partners and associates who are female, African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and LGBT).

On hand at the press conference will be statements of support from Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center, and Prof. Deborah Rhode, former chair of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession. Media: Please contact Andrew Bruck or Prof. Michele Landis Dauber for more information and sample rankings.

To get a sense of the rankings, click here (PDF), for a report card showing how D.C.'s top law firms stack up on diversity, or here (PDF), for the New York law firm diversity rankings.

The leading firm for diversity in Washington (with an overall grade of B+; almost all the firms earn C's or worse): Nixon Peabody! Remember, they hired lots of minorities to sing their theme song (mp3).

For those of you here in D.C., consider attending today's press conference (we'll be there):

Wednesday, October 10, 2007 -- 12:30 p.m.
National Press Club
13th floor, Zenger Room
529 14th St. NW
Washington, DC

Very exciting. Congratulations and thanks to Building a Better Legal Profession!

Law Students Building A Better Legal Profession [official website]
Diversity Report Card: D.C. [PDF]
Report on Big Law Firms [National Press Club]

The Human Rights Campaign has some answers. HRC, which is the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, recently released its annual list of Best Places to Work. And law firms were prominently represented:

[T]he Human Rights Campaign Foundation released a report showing that numerous large U.S. law firms are providing important benefits and protections for their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) attorneys and staff. In this year’s report, which is part of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s broader Corporate Equality Index, 30 law firms earned the top rating of 100 percent. 80 law firms earned scores of 80 percent or above.

You can see the list of top firms by clicking here (PDF; scroll down to page 48). Alas, no 100 percent rating for Sullivan & Cromwell, of Charney v. S&C fame -- despite their generous gifts of Kiehl's products at LGBT job fairs.

But our friends at Nixon Peabody earned a perfect score. Will they commission a theme song to celebrate? Like "Everyone Loves Gay People at Nixon Peabody"?

Correction: In an earlier version of this post, we linked to (and reprinted info from) this page on the HRC website. But an HRC rep has informed us that the page hasn't been updated from last year, and still reflects scores from the 2007 report.

HRC Corporate Equality Index -- 2008 [Human Rights Campaign (PDF)]

Yesterday we were away from the blogosphere. We had several meetings to attend in the morning. Then, in the afternoon, we did a webcast for ABC News. We spoke with Mary Fulginiti, the former AUSA who now covers legal affairs for ABC News, about L'Affaire Nixon Peabody:

(The last time we did a webcast for ABC News, some of you opined that we looked too shiny. And you were right. So this time around, we stopped at the make-up department before entering the studio. Thanks for the constructive criticism!)

Law Firm Celebrates 'Fortune' With Odd Song [ABC News]

Earlier: Still More on Summer Associates

Congratulations to Nixon Peabody. All of the "winners" at that venerable law firm are winners once again. VH1's Best Week Ever just named the firm's non-theme-song song its Favorite Jam of Summer '07!

We kid you not. See here:

“Everyone’s a Winner at Nixon Peabody” is officially our Favorite Jam of Summer 07! The type of tune that makes you want to get out the Bartles & James, brush n’ braid your long gray hair, tear off your stirrup pants and miniature horse cardigan, and make out with your 77-year-old husband on a nude beach somewhere in Pueto Vallarta.

You can read the full post here. Once again, congrats to NP!

Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s Never Too Late for a Hot Summer Jam, Courtesy of Blood-Sucking Law Firm [Best Week Ever]

Right now some of you are probably thinking: "Enough already about Alberto Gonzales and Michael Vick! Isn't there anything else you can write about?"

Of course. Let's go back to the story of Nixon Peabody, and its ridiculous law firm theme song!

(In preemptive response to those of you who are sick and tired of this story: relax. It's on its last legs. But if the New York Times writes about us, of course we're going to acknowledge it. Capice?)

For those of you were on vacation last week -- and we know many of you were, based on all the "Out of Office AutoReply" messages we received -- you missed a fun story here at ATL.

But don't worry. If you don't have time to read our voluminous coverage of the Nixon Peabody theme song, here are some cheat sheets.

You can read this New York Times story, by Michael de la Merced, which nicely summarizes the saga. Or this post, by Peter Lattman, over at the WSJ Law Blog.

Best of all, for those of you who can watch videos -- some of you can't, 'cause you don't have a private office -- check out this awesome video. It appeared over the weekend, but we're reposting it, because many of you don't visit ATL on the weekend (and it would be a shame for you to miss it).

Unauthorized Enjoyment of Song Irks Law Firm [New York Times]
Everyone’s a Winner at Nixon Peabody! [WSJ Law Blog]
Re: Nixon Peabody [YouTube]

Please see the short parody video posted below. Is this a casebook-ready example of "fair use," or what?

To ChurchHatesTucker, who produced the video: You are a genius and a god.

(Please note that we had no hand in making this video. ChurchHatesTucker acted sua sponte, after reading this Techdirt story.)

Update: Blawg Review, quoting from Nixon Peabody's own Copyright & Internet Law Glossary, explains why the video is fair use over here.

Re. Nixon Peabody [YouTube]

Sadly, the humorless crew over at Nixon Peabody has had their fabulous law firm song -- which, mind you, is NOT a theme song -- pulled from YouTube. See here.

Even if it's gone from YouTube, you can still access "Everyone's A Winner" as a plain-vanilla MP3 file. Just click here. We incorporate by reference all of our prior commentary on the song.

This memorable tune will also live on in the blogosphere. Numerous fine websites and blogs picked up on the story of the Nixon Peabody song controversy. Here are a few links:

1. Law Firms, the Blogosphere, and Unexpected Attention [Volokh Conspiracy (Orin Kerr)]

2. That ridiculous Nixon Peabody “theme song” was for real [Daily Intelligencer / New York Magazine]

3. Wow. Big law is so lame. With a capital "L" [Legal Antics (Nicole Black)]

4. Nixon Peabody Throws Fantastic Tantrum: Threatens Blogger Over Leaked Song [Keeping Up With Jonas]

5. Blogger contends posting silly leaked law firm song is fair use [ZDNet (Denise Howell)]

6. Everyone's a Winner (or, Friday Music Blog) [PrawfsBlawg (Liz Glazer)]

7. Sorry, but no one involved is a winner [IPTAblog (Andrew Raff)]

8. Best/Worst Law Firm Song. Ever. [the (non)billable hour (Matt Homann)]

9. OMG...The Worst Song Ever [Two Guitar Heroes and a Cat]

10. Everyone Is A Winner At Nixon Peabody [The Dish Daily]

11. Nobody Is Above the Law [Galley Slaves (Jonathan Last)]

If you know of a link that's missing, feel free to email us, and we can add it. Thanks!

Update: Additional links:

12. Sure, your firm just gave you a $25k raise, but do you have a theme song? [Sophistic Miltonian Serbonian Blog]

13. Law Firm Going Crazy to Keep Its Corporate Song Off the Internet [The Startup Lawyer]

14. Law Firm Freaks Out That Ridiculous Corporate Song Leaked Out To Blogs [Techdirt]

15. Re. Nixon Peabody [YouTube (ChurchHatesTucker)]

Everyone's A Winner at Nixon Peabody (mp3 file)

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Nixon Peabody (scroll down)

Our most recent post about Nixon Peabody -- which has a song, but NOT a theme song -- is about to scroll off the ATL front page. And we couldn't allow that, now could we?

So here's an update. A few brief points:

1. Some of you have described a fabulous video that accompanied "Everyone's A Winner at Nixon Peabody." Sadly, we've never seen this video. If you have a copy, please send it to us.

2. We received the song, from multiple sources, as an MP3 file. It was being widely disseminated by email ("FW: FW: FW:"). As far as we know, it was not sent to us by a disgruntled ex-Winner (contrary to the quasi-paranoid speculation of NP brass).

3. As of now, the song remains on YouTube. It has been viewed almost 14,000 times and garnered several accolades, including #26 - Most Viewed (Entertainment) and #11 - Most Linked (Entertainment).

4. In case the song gets yanked from YouTube, you can now access it directly on ATL, as an MP3 file. Just click here. Enjoy!

5. Some of you have inquired into the identities of the NP representatives with whom we spoke yesterday. These individuals expressly asked not to be identified by name (quelle surprise), and we agreed to that request. But we can tell you that they were in-house reps, not external PR people. One is a firm spokesperson, and one works on the business side of the firm. As far as we know, neither is a lawyer.

We haven't heard more from the firm since yesterday afternoon's phone call. If we do hear from them again, rest assured that we will let you know.

Everyone's A Winner at Nixon Peabody (mp3 file)

* The best argument for immigration reform: qualified (i.e., hot) fashion models are being kept off American runways. [Fashionista]

* What rating does ATL get -- e.g., G, PG, R, etc. -- using this tool? To give you context, NBS is a PG-13. [Nasty, Brutish & Short]

* What blogs does Linda Greenhouse read? [My Times ("Journalist's Picks") via Romenesko]

* What blogs do judges read? [May It Please the Court]

* And what blogs should they read? [Blawg Review]

* Speaking of judges, here's our Judge of the Day -- possibly offensive, and wrong on the law too. [AP via NYT]

* The Weekly Standard's Jonathan Last, on the Nixon Peabody non-theme-song: "Some things you just can't un-hear." [Galley Slaves]