Thursday, January 28, 2010 2:15 PM - By Kashmir Hill
Earlier this month, former Bush White House attorney John Michael Farren allegedly attacked his wife, after she told him she wanted a divorce. Farren pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, first-degree strangulation, and assault last week.
The alleged attack — with a flashlight — was a brutal one. Mary Margaret Farren, who is also a lawyer, was hospitalized with a broken jaw, fractures to the face, and lacerations to the back of her head. She’s counsel in the energy regulation and litigation practice group in Skadden’s D.C. office, but claims that she has not been able to work since the attack.
An experienced litigator, she’s decided to sue. The Danbury News Times reports that she filed a $30 million lawsuit in Connecticut last week.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 1:47 PM - By Kashmir Hill
In November, Gregory Craig announced that he was leaving the White House for private practice. President Obama’s personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, was named as the new White House counsel.
In his resignation letter, Craig said that he would return to private practice “as of January 3, 2010.” At the time, we speculated that he might return to Williams & Connolly, the firm that had employed him since law school graduation. But today, W&C made it known to its associates that Craig would not be returning as a partner there.
Instead, he’ll be going to Skadden Arps. From an email sent out by Williams & Connolly senior partner Brendan Sullivan:
Greg Craig will not return to W&C as a litigator. Instead he has been invited to join Skadden to head a group which will focus on advising clients in need of public policy analysis.
Full email after the jump.
Update: Also after the jump, WSJ Law Blog sheds light on why Craig chose Skadden.
Saturday, January 23, 2010 2:10 PM - By Kashmir Hill
Loren Friedman earned Lawyer of the Day honors here back in 2008, when the then-Curtis Mallet associate was busted for doctoring his law school grades from the University of Chicago, by changing Cs into Bs and As.
Almost two years after the ethics complaint against Friedman was filed, the Illinois Review Board has rendered its verdict. (We’re a little late in bringing you the news; the Legal Profession Blog noted the judgment last week.)
Good news for the unethical. Fudging your grades will get you gigs at Skadden Arps and Sidley Austin, but won’t get you disbarred. At least not in Illinois. Instead, the Board proposed an 18-month suspension, reduced from the three year sentence previously recommended.
UPDATE / CLARIFICATION: As noted by a commenter, Friedman won’t automatically be reinstated after 18 months. Rather, because the suspension is 18 months “and until further order of the court” (UFO), he will have to “satisfy his obligation of establishing his character and fitness before resuming practice.”
No big deal. Friedman has other things to occupy his time these days….
On Wednesday, we commended the firm of Paul Hastings for moving so quickly to support Haiti earthquake relief efforts. Since then, a number of other top law firms have pledged their support to this worthy cause.
(Okay, Rush Limbaugh questions the worthiness of the cause. But we suspect that Limbaugh’s position — like that of Pat Robertson, who blames the earthquake on Haiti’s supposed pact with the devil — is a minority view.)
The WSJ Law Blog and Am Law Daily have gathered information about what various law firms are doing to help Haiti. We’ve combined their reports with information we’ve received from our own sources, to create a more comprehensive list.
In addition to being one of the world’s most successful law firms, Skadden is also a public-spirited one. The firm just donated $100,000 to Haiti relief efforts, for example. (More on that later.)
The Skadden Fellowship Foundation, described as “a legal Peace Corps” by The Los Angeles Times, was established in 1988 to commemorate the firm’s 40th anniversary, in recognition of the dire need for greater funding for graduating law students who wish to devote their professional lives to providing legal services to the poor (including the working poor), the elderly, the homeless and the disabled, as well as those deprived of their civil or human rights. The aim of the foundation is to give Fellows the freedom to pursue public interest work; thus, the Fellows create their own projects at public interest organizations with at least two lawyers on staff before they apply.
Fellowships are awarded for two years. Skadden provides each Fellow with a salary and pays all fringe benefits to which an employee of the sponsoring organization would be entitled. For those Fellows not covered by a law school low income protection plan, the firm will pay a Fellow’s law school debt service for the tuition part of the loan for the duration of the fellowship. The 2010 class of Fellows brings to 591 the number of academically outstanding law school graduates and judicial clerks the firm has funded to work full-time for legal and advocacy organizations.
The 2010 class of Skadden Fellows was just announced. Congratulations to the 27 winners, selected from 20 different law schools. (Yale had four, Berkeley had three, and Stanford and Fordham had two each.)
Check out their names, law schools, and sponsoring organizations — maybe you know some of them? — after the jump.
Thursday, January 7, 2010 4:24 PM - By Kashmir Hill
A former Bush lawyer has been charged with attempted murder after strangling and beating his wife, a counsel at Skadden Arps.
John Michael Farren, 57, served as deputy counsel to the president under Fred Fielding in the most recent Bush administration, as general counsel at Xerox, and as Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade under President George H.W. Bush. Since leaving the White House, the UConn law grad returned to Connecticut.
Last night, he made the news there when he allegedly attempted to kill his wife. From the Greenwich Time:
John Michael Farren, 57, of New Canaan, was charged with attempted murder and first-degree strangulation after police received a panic alarm from his home shortly after 10 p.m.
Farren was arraigned in state Superior Court in Norwalk Thursday. He appeared in court with a large bandage on the right side of his neck and has been placed on suicide watch.
According to CBS News, his wife is Mary Margaret Farren, an energy regulation and litigation counsel in Skadden’s D.C. office.
Friday, December 11, 2009 3:16 PM - By Kashmir Hill
Last month, we spent a week in D.C. doing reporting for “Why Lawyers Make So Much Money,” a piece we — used literally in this case, as it’s bylined by Kash and Lat — wrote for Washingtonian Magazine. We managed to find our way into the office of Robert Bennett, newly arrived at Hogan & Hartson from Skadden Arps. He gave us a tour of his memorabilia, though was miffed when he couldn’t find a photo from a fishing trip with Sandra Day O’Connor. (If you’ve read our piece, this story is a familiar one.)
The book offers a retrospective on Bennett’s star-studded legal career, which includes stints as special counsel to the Senate during the Keating Five investigation; as defense attorney for Bill Clinton, Caspar Weingberger, and Judith Miller; and as a partner at Skadden Arps for twenty years, working on white collar crime cases.
A friend told us a story about D.C. power player autobiographies. When they come out, everyone rushes to the book store to get the book… then immediately flips to the index to see if they’re mentioned, and never opens the book again. This friend claims a journalist once put a piece of paper in the middle of a stack of books at the bookstore with his name and number and a message that said, “I don’t think people actually read these. Call me if you did.” Supposedly, his phone never rang.
Well, we did read Bennett’s book. It came out in 2008, so it’s already gone through a round of reviews, but we found it interesting to read in light of his unexpected move from Skadden to Hogan this year. From the tone of the book, one would have thought he was staying at Skadden forever.
We bring you some of the most interesting tidbits and words of wisdom from one of the greats in the legal field, after the jump.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 12:53 PM - By Kashmir Hill
In parsing the fate of law school students, there’s no point in talking about the 3Ls. Their chances of success in the job hunt are about as bright as Obama’s prospects of winning the war in Afghanistan. In other words, abandon hope all ye who enter here.
The 1Ls can actually pray the economy will improve. And unlike the poor 3Ls, they knew what they were getting into when they enrolled this fall.
But what about the 2Ls? They have a year and a half more to stay in the law school bunker. Is that long enough for the economy to pick up and for firms to open their wallets doors to draw them close to the Biglaw bosom? Many 2Ls report that their dance cards for the summer are empty.
But there may be hope for current 2Ls without summer suitors, reports Zach Lowe at AmLaw Daily. Some firms are coming back for another round:
[A] small number of those 2Ls stand to benefit from an added mini-round of recruiting, which law school officials and firm recruiters attribute to the cautious stance some firms took the first time around in August and September. The reason, according to about a dozen sources we interviewed: Firms shooting for smaller class sizes limited their offers to the best of the best in the class of 2010. The students in that group found themselves with several offers to choose from, leaving firms short of the already smaller-than-usual targets they’d set. Now those firms are going back to top law schools and asking about candidates who have not yet secured a gig for summer 2010, according to career services deans at law schools, law firm recruiters, and industry groups.
Which firms are still looking? What are they looking for? And, if Adolf Hitler was a 2L, what would he do?
Friday, November 20, 2009 9:01 AM - By Elie Mystal
* Reaction to Full-Cravath’s (f.k.a. Skadden) bonus continues to ripple through the blogosphere. [ABA Journal]
* Details continue to leak out about a merger between Hogan & Hartson and Lovells. Apparently, Ho-Love will retain separate profit pools for the two sets of partners. [The BLT: Blog of the Legal Times]
* Junior Gotti is so close to a mistrial he can feel it. [Daily News]
* Nic Cage got ruined during the financial crisis, according to his estranged business manager. [Courthouse News Service]
* Oprah Winfrey will end her popular talk show in 2011. Notice how I wrote that blurb without using the words “queen,” or “throne.” You’re welcome. [ABC]
With Skadden and Cravath on the same page, the rest of this bonus season might be devoid of any real drama. Associates will take their $7,500 and up and like it.
Skadden’s move here isn’t all that surprising. Last year, the firm doubled the Cravath payment. While that generated a lot of positive press for the firm, evidently good cheer isn’t something that shows up on the partners’ bottom line.
And you know that Cravath has to be happy about this. Now the firm won’t have to look like it paid low bonuses two years in a row.
We should expect the rest of the top firms to fall in line. Now the question turns to firms that are not in the position of Cravath, Skadden, and Cleary. Will they fall into line with the big boys, or might they go even lower?
Then again, how much lower can this bar really go?
After the jump, check out the memo senior associates got from Skadden about their Cravath bonus.
There’s nothing scary about this Halloween edition of the Legal Eagle Wedding Watch. Our featured newlyweds include two Skadden associates, a SCOTUS clerk, and a famous heiress / model / entrepreneur.
Reed E. Hundt, who served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 1993 to 1997, will be joining Skadden Arps. He most recently served as a senior advisor on information industries to McKinsey & Company, the elite consulting firm. (For a more detailed description of Reed Hundt’s illustrious career — Yale College ‘69, Yale Law School ‘74, partnership at Latham & Watkins, etc. — see the biography on his personal website.)
Hundt made the announcement this morning at the YLS alumni reunion, where he was serving on a panel on the regulatory process. Professor Thomas Merrill, moderator of the panel, introduced Hundt as a senior adviser to McKinsey. Hundt interjected to note that he’s moving to Skadden — and joked that this was a good opportunity to plug his new practice. He didn’t specify which office he’ll be based out of, but we’re assuming D.C.
It doesn’t seem that the move was public before this morning (at least based on Google News, a search of the Skadden website, and a search of Law.com). But it is now.
Commenters often complain that we feature too many Biglaw associates in this space — uninspiring young people who’ve drifted through college and law school and are now drones at soulless firms. We’re delighted that this week, Biglaw associates make up only one-third of our couples. Rounding out the field are a soulless-drone partner and a former associate who abandoned Biglaw for the classic refuge of the disillusioned JD: law teaching. Enjoy this foray into the unexpected!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 3:53 PM - By Elie Mystal
Tuesday and Wednesday, offers went out to people who want to participate in Skadden’s summer program. We haven’t heard any solid numbers yet, but so far it appears that prospective summers are satisfied with the results.
No news is good news regarding Skadden. In August, Skadden announced that it would be cutting its summer hiring in half. This morning, Bloomberg News reminded everybody that Skadden will be trying to keep its summer numbers down:
The stark reality of the legal marketplace was illustrated by yesterday’s 2010 job offers by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, the highest-grossing U.S. law firm. It projected a 50 percent cut in summer hiring, said Howard Ellin, the recruiting partner for Skadden. The firm hired 225 students this summer and plans to hire less than half that for summer 2010.
But just because Skadden plans to reduce hiring does not mean the firm intends to reduce its offer rate. If the firm planned this right — and based on the NALP forms it looks like it has — Skadden could have simply invited fewer people to be part of its 2010 summer program. Skadden could still give a robust offer rate to the summers that did commit to the firm.
Hopefully, everything will work out for prospective Skadden summers.
After the jump, Bloomberg has some interesting data on how this year’s fall recruiting is going at a couple of top law schools.
Monday, September 21, 2009 3:37 PM - By Laurie Lin
Supreme Court clerks continue to flood the NYT wedding pages this month, creating grim LEWW odds for mere-mortal Cornell grads and Skadden associates. Like Troy playing Florida or North Texas playing Alabama, these folks are welcome to suit up, but the only question is how bad their whuppin’ is going to hurt.
Here are your three finalist couples for the week:
Sources at Skadden report that Robert S. Bennett, the legendary litigator, will be leaving Skadden for Hogan & Hartson. Skadden partners were informed yesterday; Skadden associates are being told right now.
Bob Bennett is one of the most famous trial lawyers in the world. His client list reads like a CNN promo: Enron, Bill Clinton, Judith Miller, Caspar Weinberger! That’s right, I kicked that list with the Cold War winning, Contra-loving SecDef.
Carl Rauh will also join Bennett at Hogan. Rauh has worked with Bennett on many of his high-profile cases, so that’s of little surprise.
But tipsters report that the two will not be taking any other Skadden - D.C. personnel with them.
Bennett started his private practice at Hogan & Hartson. So the move is a bit of a homecoming.
The associates’ meeting is about to kick off. We hope to have official confirmation from the firm and more news after the associates are informed.
The top brass at Hogan are surely excited about the Bennett acquisition — but might he be to blame for their missing out on the opportunity to meet Sex and the City stars?
Skadden has decided to significantly reduce the size of its summer class for 2010. In a charming move, the firm told the media before informing law schools and prospective summer associates. Am Law Daily reports:
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is cutting the size of its 2010 summer associate class by half and adjusting its recruitment strategy by making all of its offers on a single day in late September, according to a copy of a letter the firm will send to prospective summers.
Skadden hired 225 summer associates this year and expects to hire a little more than 100 next year, though the precise figure will depend on offer acceptance rates, says Howard Ellin, Skadden’s recruiting partner.
Good news from the letter: the firm plans to make offers to 95 percent of its 2009 summer associates. Of course, as we previously reported, they won’t be starting at the firm until 2011.
We’ll let you know when Skadden officially releases the memo to the people who are affected by the decision.
Correction: From a Skadden spokesperson:
The letter was sent last week to career services and deans at the law schools where Skadden is interviewing. Some schools already have circulated it to their students. We absolutely did not talk to the media before notifying schools.
By way of explanation, your ATL editors were thrown off by the wording of the Am Law report, which described the letter as one that “the firm will send to prospective summers” (emphasis added).
1. Wachtell 2. Cravath 3. Skadden 4. Sullivan & Cromwell 5. Davis Polk
As we noted yesterday, the only change in the top five is Skadden jumping over S&C. Is that fair? A lot of you opined that Skadden’s prestige score was settled before it starting deferring associates. But surprisingly few of you noted that Skadden paid out bonuses that were double what Cravath, S&C, and DPW paid.
Is twice as much bonus money worth one extra spot in the rankings? Vault’s managing editor, Brian Dalton, suggests that Skadden’s bonus carried some weight:
Skadden had a good year, climbing over Sullivan & Cromwell to take the #3 spot. Among other factors, the notion of ‘half-Skadden’ is a potent one, though not quite enough to carry the firm past Cravath. (Mildly ironic in that Cravath’s bonus decision spawned that meme.)
Truly striking is the reach of the Skadden brand: Third in the Boston regional ranking, second in Chicago, and—taking over from Latham—No. 1 in Northern and Southern California. (Vault’s regional rankings are calculated using only the votes of the survey respondents in the particular region.) By contrast, in its hometown of New York City, Skadden places fifth. (These regional rankings are coming soon to the site.)
After the jump, should any of these firms in the top five move over to make room for somebody else?
We’ve provided extensive coverage of a recent Biglaw blind item, concerning an unidentified law firm in Manhattan planning multiple rounds of layoffs for later this year. If you’re tired of this little parlor game, then stop reading here.
But if you enjoy rampant speculation, surf over to Law Shucks, which has crunched the numbers again and generated a new list of likely layoff lairs. Some of the commenters on our last thread may be gratified to see their nominees on the updated list.
At this point, the law firm mentioned in the original Washington Post article should have the decency to come forward and ‘fess up. Is it fair to let your fellow firms sit under a cloud of suspicion?
Based on a Washington Post article profiling the Five O’Clock Club, an outplacement and career coaching company, we constructed a Biglaw blind item:
Which New York law firm, having already completed two rounds of layoffs, has hired the Five O’Clock Club to help it carry out additional layoffs (in August, October, and November)?
After we ran the item, several firms came forward to declare they’re not the firm in question. And now they’re joined by one more: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
A spokesperson for Morgan Lewis contacted ATL to say that it isn’t the firm with layoffs in the works. In fact, Morgan Lewis claims that it shouldn’t even be on the shortlist of contenders.
Read why — and check out the list of the Five O’Clock Club’s clients, including some very prestigious law firms that haven’t publicly admitted to layoffs — after the jump.
Earlier this month, former Bush White House attorney John Michael Farren allegedly attacked his wife, after she told him she wanted a divorce. Farren pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, first-degree strangulation, and assault last week.
Continue reading "War of the Farrens: Skadden Counsel Files $30 Million Lawsuit Against Her Husband"
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Loren Friedman earned 
On Wednesday, we 
In addition to being one of the world’s most successful law firms, 
