News

September was a busy month in the Chicago Legal Recruiting market. We had two federal law clerks start employment as associates with their respective law firms, a highly acclaimed litigation boutique and a very successful and growing Am Law 200 full-service firm. Both attorneys received salary bumps from their original offers due to the new associate pay scale that went into effect for many firms on September 1st. While most Am Law 100 law firms won’t accept federal clerk submissions from legal recruiters, we work with several exceptional law firms that do.

On an almost daily basis, there are articles on whether large law firms will require attorneys to return to the office in September. Remote work ameliorates the perceived ills of working at large law firms, dampening lateral movement and contributing to the current tightly constrained legal job market. “Return to work” policies will open the flood gates in associate movement. Much like when law firms recently raised associates’ salaries to retain and attract legal talent, law firms will now be forced to offer a variety of remote work benefits to compete for associates. Short term.

Congratulations to Goodsmith Gregg & Unruth partner Brian Borchard, Massey & Gail partner Rachel Morse and MoloLamken partner Michelle Parthum on their inclusion to the highly prestigious Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under Hot List.

In reaction to a positive economic outlook and an extremely tight legal associate job market, top Am Law firms have raised their associate pay scales.  Effective July 1^st, the class of 2021 will earn $202,500 (up from $190,000) and the class of 2013 will earn $365,000.  Firms are also instituting or increasing mid-year “special bonuses” which can range from $12,000 to $64,000.

Goldman Ismail is pleased to announce that Sarah Reynolds has joined as managing partner. Ms. Reynolds joins from Mayer Brown LLP’s International Arbitration Practice. She received her JD from the University of Chicago. She represents technology and pharma companies before domestic and international arbitral bodies. Sarah is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and has completed the Center for Conflict Resolution’s Mediation Training Program.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden picked his first federal judicial nominees on Tuesday, including a former federal public defender, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, to be on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals based in Chicago.

He also nominated Tiffany Cunningham, an intellectual and patent attorney, who is a partner at Perkins Coie LLP in Chicago, for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington.

Congratulations to Marlen Cortez Morris for her inclusion in the 2020 Lawyers of Color Nation’s Best list. This list highlights senior-level attorneys of color who have demonstrated a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, both within and outside of the firm.

Read the original article on Lawyers of Color.

Nixon Peabody is proud to announce that nine attorneys have been elected into the firm’s partnership. This group of attorneys represents a wide range of practice areas, including Corporate Transactions and Mergers & Acquisitions, Government Investigations & White-collar Defense, Project Finance & Public Finance, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, and Trusts & Estates. The new partner promotions will take effect February 1, 2021. Nearly 60% of this year’s class are women and attorneys of color, aligning with Nixon Peabody’s deep commitment to moving the needle on diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.

Fox Swibel is pleased to announce the promotion of Daniel Dorfman to Capital Partner. We are also pleased to announce the promotions of Tracy Katz Muhl, Tammy Lee, and David Ogles to Partner.

Barack Ferrazzano announces six attorneys have been promoted to the partnership level, effective January 1, 2021.

Congratulations Megan Ratia!

Read the original article on BFKN.