Wake Up Call: Cravath Says No Covid Bonuses for Associates

In today’s column, after losing dozens of partners, Boies Schiller is changing its unpopular compensation system, but some say the move comes too late; a London-listed law firm is laying off 50 lawyers and staff in a Covid-19 cost-cut; video game developer Epic and tech giant Apple are getting Big Law advice for their “legal deathmatch” in California federal court; recent California law grads dealing with Covid’s impact on their fledgling careers are trying to get a court to expand the state’s diploma privilege option, while a similar effort is aimed at avoiding what’s been called a flawed online bar exam failed in Washington; U Penn Law got a $50 million donation; New York Governor Cuomo plans to cut the state court budget by $300 million, in a Covid measure.

• Leading off, Wall Street’s Cravath, Swaine & Moore, the firm that usually sets the standard on year-end bonuses for associates, has decided to join Kirkland & Ellisin skipping the special Covid-19 appreciation bonus-fest that has been going on all month, Above the Law reported. Several firms this month have matched the $7,500 to $40,000 Covid-bonus scale set by Davis Polk, after Cooley started things off early in the month. Cravath’s memo to associates said, “we will be determining 2020 bonuses in the fourth quarter in accordance with our customary timing.” Unlike Kirkland, Cravath’s memo does not promise to take associates’ contribution during the Covid crisis into account when determining year-end bonuses. Among angry Cravath associates commenting anonymously to ATL, one said, “This is insulting to associates and short-sighted by the partners.” (Above the Law)

• After losing dozens of partners, litigation powerhouse Boies Schiller Flexner is implementing a 10-level partner compensation system, in a shift away from the formula-based system it had since the firm started, and which had been unpopular with younger lawyers. (American Lawyer)

• Ince Gordon Dadds, a listed London-based Big Law firm with about 280 lawyers, said in its latest financial disclosure that it has laid off some 50 attorneys and support staff because of economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The firm also said it’s reviewing its office space with a view to making more cuts, and that its dividend payments remain suspended. (Global Legal Post)

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is cutting the state judiciary budget by about $300 million as the pandemic crisis hits the courts, according to a report. (New York Law Journal)

• The NFL’s Tennessee Titans are in the news this week after eight of its players and staff tested positive for Covid-19. Before that news broke, KL Gates did a podcast interview with the team’s new general counsel, Daniel Werly, in which he talked, among other things, about Covid-19’s impact on legal department routines. (JD Supra)

• Summer associates at Big Law firms in the Southeast responding to a recent survey said participating remotely in their pandemic-shortened programs was challenging, but they got to work on “substantive” legal matters. Some said they would have liked to have more food. (Daily Report)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Attorneys for Apple Inc. and Epic Games Inc. told the judge overseeing their antitrust standoff yesterday that they don’t want the case tried before a jury and that they prefer the judge to decide it herself. (Bloomberg News via BLAW)

• The fight between Apple and Epic Games, maker of video game Fortnite, is a “legal deathmatch” happening online, this report says. (The Economist)

• Epic’s attorneys are from Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath and Cravath, while Apple is represented by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. (The Recorder)

• President Trump offered Amy Coney Barrett a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 21, three days after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, according to a Senate questionnaire. (BLAW)

• Wiley Rein’s 15-year lease of a 166,000-square-foot space in a Washington “trophy office building” on M Street starting 2022 is the district’s biggest lease this year, so far. Fried Frank advised building owner Tishman Speyer, a report says. (Commercial Observer) Greenspoon Marder said it advised Wiley. (GMLaw.com)

• Law.com’s new video “For White People” features a round table of black lawyers talking about “microagresssions” they’ve experienced on the job and in general life. They start by defining ”microagressions.” (Law.com)

• Skadden, Kirkland, Vinson & Elkins, Jones Day, and Cleary advised on recent energy and steel deals worth about $13.5 billion in total. (American Lawyer)

Laterals, Moves

• Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner hired Jean-Claude “J.C.” André, former West Coast head of Sidley’s Supreme Court practice, to co-lead the firm’s appellate and Supreme Court practice. (BLAW)

• Crowell & Moring picked up a new labor and employment lawyer, Sadina Montani, who joins the firm as a partner in the nation’s capital from Vedder Price. (BLAW)

• Latham & Watkins hired former Mayer Brown copyright litigator Allison Stillman as a partner in New York. (BLAW)

• Barnes & Thornburg said its new corporate partner Mark Stignani in Minneapolis brings a “data-driven approach” to client matters. According to his LinkedIn, Stignani is chair of his new firm’s analytics practice. His earlier roles include six years in-house at Thomson Reuters and, before his legal career, several years as a principal design engineer at Honeywell. (BTLaw.com)

• Boston-based Mintz picked up New York-based corporate attorney Ivan Presant from McDermott Will & Emery for its M&A practice. (American Lawyer)

• Alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS said litigator and mediator Lisbeth M. Bulmash joined its Dallas panel as a neutral. (JAMSadr.com)

• Dentons Canada named Courtney Burton as co-head of its energy group in Calgary. (CanadianLawyermag.com)

In-House

• Energy Focus, Inc. hired former engineer and tech in-house lawyer Jim Warren as the sustainable LED lighting company’s first general counsel, senior vice president, and corporate secretary. (BLAW)

Technology

• Private equity is changing the legal tech industry. (Legaltech News)

Legal Education

• A group of law school graduates in California is trying again to get the state’s highest court to agree to scrap the upcoming online bar exam and expand a new program allowing graduates to get a limited law license without taking the test. (BLAW)

• In Washington, D.C, an appeals court rejected a similar effort to get the district’s so-called diploma privilege option expanded. (Law.com)

• The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, which got a record $125 million gift from the W.P. Carey Foundation last year, received a $50 million donation from the Robert and Jane Toll Foundation, with the new money to go toward scholarships and fellowship opportunities for students pursuing public interest careers. (Legal Intelligencer)