Wake Up Call: Quinn Emanuel Tops Cravath Bonus Scale--for Associates Who Billed Long Hours

• Quinn Emanuel said associates who billed between 2,100 and 2,399 hours in 2018 will get bonuses ranging from $15,000 for the 2017 class, up to $100,000 for 2011 associates and higher. That makes Quinn Emanuel the latest firm to match the scale set last month by Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Some firms have beat that scale, and for its part, Quinn Emanuel gave associates who billed 2,400 to 2,699 hours an extra $3,000 to $20,000—as much as $120,000 in total for senior associates. Associates who billed 2,700 or more hours in 2018, an average of at least 52 hours per week, will get $2,250 to $15,000 more, for a total of up to $135,000 for senior associates. (Above The Law) (American Lawyer)

• A Brexit legal expert at Eversheds Sutherland was found dead at the bottom of a cliff hours after two women accused him of inappropriate behavior at a staff Christmas party, according to a report. (Mirror)

• Marquette University Law School suspended professor Paul Secunda, an authority on labor and employment law, over allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a student. Secunda, who previously worked for Morgan Lewis, denied the allegations through his lawyer. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) (Law.com)

• Microsoft promoted Dev Stahlkopf to general counsel; and Colin Stretch said he would be leaving Facebook. The year 2018 saw many big name GC moves. (Bloomberg Law via BLB)

• Boies Schiller Flexner is advising the family of a deceased partner of a self-identified co-creator of Bitcoin, in a fight over digital currency ownership. (Bloomberg Law)

• JPMorgan Chase Bank agreed to pay over $135 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges related to allegedly abusive practices in its handling of American Depositary Receipts. (Bloomberg News)

• With the recreational cannabis industry expected to reach $75 billion by 2030, an increasing number of law firms are developing cannabis-focused practices with privacy cases in mind. (Bloomberg Law via BLB)

Lawyers, Law Firms, Deals

• DLA Piper advised construction software provider BuildingConnected in its $275 million sale to Autodesk, for a transaction expected to close in January. (DLAPiper.com) (TechCrunch.com)

• Akin Gump has a new talent development program, “Akin JUMP!”, in which the firm will pay travel expenses for associates and counsel at the third-year level and above to spend one to two weeks at another Akin Gump office, if the associates can make a business case for the trip. (Texas Lawyer)

• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton’s new app, ClearyLoop, lets associates request an informal feedback session with senior lawyers. (American Lawyer)

• The attorneys representing Chicago public employees who successfully challenged reductions to their pension benefits won’t be able to recover nearly $1 million in fees. (Bloomberg Law)

• A lawyer held in contempt after a trial judge took exception to his tactics during discovery doesn’t have to rush to perform the 100 hours of pro bono service he was ordered to do, an appeals court said. (Bloomberg Law)

Legal Actions, Bankruptcies, Decisions

• Mattel Inc. will have to face off against an old business partner that has accused the toy manufacturer of breaching their licensing contract and infringing its monster truck trademarks. (Bloomberg Law)

• LinkedIn Corp. faces a lawsuit accusing it of infringing two social networking patents that describe a method for creating ways to “facilitate people in life issues.” (Bloomberg Law)

• The Internal Revenue Service successfully cited the partial government shutdown in getting a federal judge to grant more time to object to the restructuring of Puerto Rican sales tax bonds as part of its historic bankruptcy-like reorganization. Proskauer Rose represents the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico in the case, while the IRS is represented by the Justice Department. (Bloomberg Law)

• However, some U.S. judges are pushing back against Justice Department efforts to halt lawsuits involving the Trump administration during the partial government shutdown. (Bloomberg via Bloomberg Law)

• Jiffy Lube International Inc. franchisees filed a challenge to an arbitrator’s decision one day too late, a federal appeals court. The case lists Jiffy Lube’s law firm as Sedgwick LLP, which closed earlier this year. (Bloomberg Law)