 //sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591700&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=33530899&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591701&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=33530899&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591702&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=33530899&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591703&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=33530899&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591704&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=33530899&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
|
|
|
| //sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=874768&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=33530899&stpe=static” border=”0″ style=”max-height:12px;” /> |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Good morning. More U.S. law firms followed Cravath’s lead and rolled out salary increases for associates, with base pay at those firms now starting at $225,000. Plus, Elon Musk’s X Corp sued former TiVo technology owner Adeia to block patent infringement claims; Texas urged the 5th Circuit to revive its law banning sexually explicit books from public school libraries; and law firm Hosie Rice and its married founders are facing a lawsuit by a British litigation funder in relation to a Bay Area mansion. Let’s get started!
Were you forwarded this email? Subscribe here.
|
More U.S. law firm associates learned yesterday that their paychecks will soon be fatter, after Cravath’s announcement of salary increases opened the floodgates for other firms to follow.
Major U.S. firms including Paul Weiss, Cleary Gottlieb, Baker McKenzie and Dechert rolled out new salary scales for associates starting at $225,000 for first-year lawyers and ranging up to $435,000 for their most senior associates. The figures align with the new base salary scale Cravath announced internally late on Tuesday. Paul Hastings and McDermott quickly matched the same day.
Milbank three weeks ago became the first major U.S. law firm to unveil higher salaries in 2023, but other firms had been quiet until Cravath’s move this week.
Major law firms increased associate pay just last year. That increase is still creating stress for some firms, and “another raise will create more,” said Peter Zeughauser of law firm consultancy Zeughauser Group. “This is a hard decision for a lot of firms.”
|
|
|
|
- A new American Bar Association report published today found that for every 10,000 Americans living in poverty, an average of just 2.8 civil legal attorneys are available to provide free legal help. Experts said that figure is too low to address the myriad legal needs of low-income Americans.
- Katten tapped white-collar defense lawyer Gil Soffer as the firm’s chairman effective July 1. Soffer, a former federal prosecutor who is managing partner of the firm’s Chicago office, will succeed Roger Furey, who has served as chair since 2016.
|
That’s how much litigation funder Woodsford Group said it was owed from attorneys Spencer Hosie and Diana Rice, a married couple who lead San Francisco-based law firm Hosie Rice. Woodsford subsidiary Frome Wye sued the attorneys in San Francisco federal court. The case seeks an order requiring the couple to use some proceeds from the impending sale of an island mansion they own to pay back the litigation financier. Hosie rejected Woodsford’s allegations and said they would file an answer and counterclaim.
|
Federal prosecutors rarely tell people who’ve been hauled before grand juries, had their homes searched or otherwise know they’re being investigated if or when the case against them has been closed. Instead, they’re left in legal limbo, writes Jenna Greene. WilmerHale partner Preet Bharara, a former U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, is urging the DOJ to rethink this “thoughtless institutional habit” and let would-be targets know if they’re in the clear. Doing so, he told Greene, would be a way to make the justice system “more fair, open and transparent.”
|
“That doesn’t seem to me the way the Constitution normally works.“
|
——Chief Justice John Roberts Jr, commenting at an oral argument that explored how the SEC denies the broad right to a jury trial when the agency files an enforcement action in its in-house tribunal and not in federal court. Roberts and fellow members of the high court’s conservative wing signaled their skepticism regarding the legality of certain proceedings conducted in-house by SEC. The justices’ ruling in the case could undercut the power of federal agencies.
|
|
|
|
- On Capitol Hill, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on a group of U.S. court nominees, including Seth Aframe for the Boston-based 1st Circuit. Aframe, if the Senate confirms him, would join the court from his post as head of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney’s office for New Hampshire.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee is also scheduled to vote on subpoenaing two wealthy conservatives including the billionaire Harlan Crow, a friend and benefactor to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, as well as the judicial activist Leonard Leo following a series of news reports about gifts and travel undertaken by the justices that have raised concerns about ethics at the high court.
- Students for Fair Admissions, a group led by affirmative action opponent Ed Blum, faces a deadline to ask a federal judge to award it legal fees and expenses for successfully challenging the University of North Carolina’s race-conscious college admissions policies at the U.S. Supreme Court. The group faces a separate deadline for fees in its case against Harvard on Friday.
|
Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
|
- T-Mobile’s lawyers at K&L Gates and Gibson Dunn want to take a quick appeal to the 7th Circuit to challenge an order denying the telecom giant’s bid to dismiss a prospective antitrust class action from AT&T and Verizon subscribers challenging T-Mobile’s Sprint merger. T-Mobile contends the consumers don’t have legal standing to bring their case over the 2020 deal.
- Chemours, Dupont and Corteva said they reached a settlement agreement with the state of Ohio for $110 million to resolve claims associated with toxic “forever chemicals.” The agreement resolves Ohio’s claims relating to the release of PFAS from the companies’ facilities, including the Washington Works facility located along the Ohio-West Virginia border.
- A group of Kentucky residents sued CSX, saying the railroad operator could have prevented a train derailment that spilled molten sulfur in remote eastern Kentucky on the eve of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. A CSX spokesperson said the company responds quickly when “rare” incidents occur and is reviewing the lawsuit.
- Disney’s 20th Century Studios and talent agency Creative Artists Agency have defeated a copyright lawsuit from producer and writer Madison Jones, who accused them of ripping off his screenplay to make the 2019 sci-fi film “Ad Astra.” Jones’ attorney said they plan to appeal.
|
|
|
- Ashurst hired technology M&A partner Chris Grey in London. He most recently was at Clifford Chance. (Ashurst)
- McCarter & English brought on partner Robert Demchak for its real estate practice in Indianapolis and New York. He most recently worked at real estate company Washington Prime Group. (McCarter & English)
- Brown Rudnick picked up D.C.-based tax partner Peter Farrell. He arrives from Baker Botts. (Brown Rudnick)
|
|
|
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law two watershed climate bills that will require companies with significant revenue to make climate-related disclosures starting in 2026. The new laws are intended to regulate companies generally, but one question is the extent to which they might apply to asset managers related to their underlying investments, write Liz Goldberg, Rick Rothman and Benjamin Hand of Morgan Lewis. For asset managers, these new laws present several legal questions.
|
|
|
|
