Wake Up Call: Weil’s Covid Bonuses Tilt To Big Law’s Top Billers

In today’s column, K&L Gates and Orrick joined the trend of firms of reversing Covid-19 crisis pay cuts; a coronavirus outbreak forced Squire Patton Boggs associates in England to ask for deal help from a rival firm, a report says; half a dozen law firms are advising in TV-station owner E.W. Scripps Company’s $2.65 billion deal to buy national broadcast network ION Media Networks Inc.; and the District of Columbia became the fifth jurisdiction to allow law school grads to skip the bar exam during the pandemic.

• Leading off, Weil, Gotshal & Manges is the latest big firm to wade into the Covid-19 bonus wars, but its approach seems to favor associates that are big billers, Above the Law reported. After Cooley kicked off the competition earlier this month, Davis Polk & Wardell notched what has become the standard for fall bonuses, ranging $7,500 to $40,000, depending on years of seniority. Weil’s offering, by contrast, ranges from $10,000 for associates who billed under 1,800 hours, up to $50,000 for those billing over 2,600 hours. “Bankruptcy associates are maybe the only ones happy with this. Everyone else is pissed,” one source told the blog. (Above the Law)

• How can law firms with shallower pockets show their appreciation for their associates’ hard work? (American Lawyer)

• After Covid-19 outbreaks forced Squire Patton Boggs to evacuate its Manchester, England, office twice last week, corporate associates in the office had to ask DLA Piper for help with a deal they’d been working on, according to a report. (RollonFriday.com)

• K&L Gates and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe are eliminating Covid-related pay cuts for their attorneys and staff, as more law firms walk back austerity measures taken earlier this year, as business starts to look better. (BLAW)

• Many venture capital firms in the U.S. and the U.K. expect to cut their legal spending in the coming year, because the pandemic has sapped their business, says a recent survey report of in-house lawyers, commissioned by by Apperio, which makes tools for automated legal spend tracking. The report finds in-house leaders at VC companies concerned about the accuracy and timeliness of their outside law firms’ billing , echoing Apperio’s survey report of private equity in-house leaders’ views in July. (Global Legal Post)

• A Texas judicial council approved a recommendation to ask the state’s legislature and Supreme Court to allow courts to keep using remote proceedings and other Covid-inspired innovations after the pandemic is history. (Texas Lawyer)

• Seward & Kissel said it launched a commercial lease and loan restructuring task force to help clients address real estate loan and lease-related difficulties largely stemming from the pandemic. (SewKis.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• As companies look to tap into a demanding $12 trillion market for sustainable and socially responsible investment, their law firms need to be nimble. (BLAW)

• Eversheds Sutherland released a 50-state guide to force majeure and contractual nonperformance in the age of Covid-19. (Eversheds-Sutherland.com)

• London-founded Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said its Asia dispute resolution leader, Georgia Dawson, will become its new senior partner in January. That makes her the first woman to head the elite U.K. firm, which has been expanding in the U.S. (BLAW)

• Covington & Burling’s recent work for the owner of video app TikTok is an example of how several U.S. Big Law firms in China are getting work from Chinese companies facing political and regulatory problems in the U.S. (Law.com International via American Lawyer)

• Debevoise & Plimpton associate Justin Maffett recently got charges dropped stemming from his arrest during peaceful protests in June following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in late May. Now he says he wants to help other people facing injustice. (American Lawyer)

• Several Big Law firms are advising in TV-station owner E.W. Scripps Company’s $2.65 billion deal to buy national broadcast network ION Media Networks Inc. with help from Berkshire Hathaway, in the latest sign of TV industry consolidation. According to a statement, BakerHostetler and Brooks Pierce advised Scripps, while Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett advised it on financing for the deal. Kirkland & Ellis advised the Scripps family, while Skadden Arps and Cooley advised ION Media. (Bloomberg News via BLAW)

Laterals, Moves

• McDermott Will & Emery recruited Alston & Bird intellectual property partner Shane Nichols as a partner in Atlanta. According to his Linkedin profile, Nichols earlier in his career spent 11 years at King & Spalding, including as a partner. (MWE.com)

• King & Spalding added international employment law specialist Luke Edwards as a partner in Sydney, Australia. He’s the latest of several Seyfarth Shaw partners the firm has grabbed recentlyfor its recently-launched global human capital and compliance practice. (KSLaw.com)

• Husch Blackwell hired Baker McKenzie project finance lawyer Jai Khanna as a partner in Chicago on its energy and natural resources industry team. According to his LinkedIn profile, Khanna previously spent 16 years at Winston & Strawn, including as a partner. (HuschBlackwell.com)

• Hogan Lovells said its Paris office rehired restructuring and litigation specialist Marion Guertault as a partner in its employment practice. According to her LinkedIn profile, Guertault returns after about eight months at Latham & Watkins. (HoganLovells.com)

• Greenspoon Marder added litigation and worklaw partner Michael Freimann as a partner in Denver. According to his LinkedIn profile, Freimann is a former U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate, has experience as corporate counsel, and arrives most recently from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where he was a partner. (GMLaw.com)

• Blank Rome hired litigation associate Thomas F. Brier, who’s returning to the firm in Philadelphia after his unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic party’s candidate in a Congressional race this fall. (BlankRome.com)

In-house

• Crypto firm Circle Internet Financial Ltd. hired tech and payments industry in-house veteran Flavia Naves as its new general counsel. (BLAW)

• Lumber Liquidators hired former J Crew attorney Alice Givens, whose past roles include in-house lawyer and leader for prominent restaurant and retail brands, as the Richmond, Virginia-based hardwood flooring company’s new top lawyer. (Corporate Counsel)

Technology

• King & Spalding is hooking up with Georgia Tech for advice on the firm’s legal tech strategy, a report says. (Daily Report)

Legal Education

• The District of Columbia yesterday became the fifth jurisdiction to allow certain U.S. law school graduates to be licensed to practice law without taking the bar exam. (BLAW)

• A day after California’s high court declined to waive the online bar exam for law graduates, the state bar’s board of trustees approved a plan granting temporary licenses to recent law school grads for less than two years. (BLAW)