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Seven in 10 Employers Planning Bonuses and Raises, Survey Shows

eventy percent of emphasizing training, organizations polled said their law firms or demonstrate they support the long-term S corporate legal departments success of their staff. Cost-effective plan to award their associates pay ideas include supporting mentor raises and bonuses this year, while 15 relationships and online classes. percent said that no additional com- • Provide well-defined career pensation would be given. paths. Challenging assignments “The costs associated with recruiting The survey by Robert Half Legal enhance employee job satisfaction and and training new legal team members includes responses from 200 lawyers at also serve to identify future leaders. often outweigh compensation-related the largest law firms and corporations in Consider how tasks might be reassigned expenses for existing staff,” Volkert the United States. to advance someone’s career goals. added. “Firms with leaner budgets might “After several years of staff reductions • Emphasize your firm’s culture. offer non-monetary incentives, such as and salary freezes, employees who Remind employees about those aspects additional time off, flexible scheduling don’t feel rewarded sufficiently may be of your work environment that are hard or telecommuting, as a way to improve considering other job opportunities,” to find elsewhere. employee satisfaction and reward said Charles Volkert, executive director • Publicly praise contributions. hard work while also helping their of Robert Half Legal. “To avoid losing Appreciation and recognition can go organization’s bottom line.” top talent, employers in the legal field a long way to foster loyalty. Publicly Volkert offers these additional tips for increasingly are bolstering employee acknowledge individual and team retaining valued staff: retention programs, including offering successes to let employees know their • Promote professional learning. By raises and bonuses.” efforts are appreciated. Special Early-Bird Savings for the 2011 Bench-Bar & Annual Conference

atch early-bird savings now when you register for the C Philadelphia Bar Association’s Bench-Bar & Annual Conference Oct. 14-15 at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City. Visit philabenchbar.org to save $80 on your registration fee. But hurry, this offer ends on Friday, Sept. 16! Earn up to 7 CLE credits through 15 unique course offerings while enjoying excellent networking opportunities with members of the bench and bar. And don’t miss the spectacular Friday The 2011 Bench-Bar & Annual and be automatically registered to Night Grand Reception at The Pool at Conference is co-chaired by Shelli win an iPad 2! Harrah’s, with its 90-foot glass domed Fedullo and Jeff Gross. This year’s Visit philabenchbar.org for a full ceiling and tropical atmosphere – a sponsors include Iron Mountain list of CLE offerings, and be sure to highlight of this year’s Conference. and JAMS. Plus, get your onsite register today to take advantage of “passport” stamped by each sponsor, special early-bird pricing!

6 the philadelphia Summer 2011 16 Mergers Reported During First Quarter of 2011

here were 16 law firm merg- law firms exemplified by the mergers were finalized on Jan. 1 of this year. ers and acquisitions an- of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells They include the Squire Sanders and T nounced in the United States LLP, Sonnenschein Nath Rosenthal marriage and Kilpatrick in the first quarter of 2011, but most and Denton Wilde Sapte, and Squire Stockton’s acquisition of Townsend of them came in January, according to Sanders & Dempsey and Hammonds. and Townsend and Crew. Altman Weil MergerLine. The balance of reported 2011 “The January mergers were likely in combinations involved either the the works last fall and were announced acquisition of small firms with 20 or Get Published in to coincide with the new fiscal year,” fewer lawyers or the merger of two said Altman Weil’s Ward Bower. small firms. These deals followed one “Although we expect 2011 to be a of two primary patterns. Law firms in rebound year for law firm mergers, larger markets made geographic moves it’s still too early to conclude that the to expand into new cities, while firms market is back.” in smaller markets formed same-city The largest and most significant combinations. The Editorial Board of this mag- merger announced in the first quarter In addition to the 16 new law firm azine welcomes submissions from attorneys and other pro- was the combination of 3,500-lawyer combinations announced between fessionals who wish to share global law firm DLA Piper and its January and March 2011, there were their expertise on law-related Australian affiliate DLA Phillips Fox, eight deals announced last year that topics. a 600-lawyer firm headquartered in Sydney. There was a second cross- Articles must be original and border deal in the first quarter of 2011. previously unpublished. Dickinson Wright, a Detroit-based firm with 261 lawyers, acquired 26-lawyer Manuscripts should adhere to Aylesworth LLP in Toronto. the following word counts: These deals continue the 2010 trend of international mergers involving U.S. * Major Law-Related Employment Rate for New Law School Articles: 2,000 words * Other Law-Related Grads at 15-Year Low, NALP Reports Features: 1,500 words * General Interest: 1,500 words he overall employment rate percent, the highest that NALP has * Fiction: 1,000 words for new law school gradu- measured. The percentage of jobs in * Practice Areas: 750 words ates is at its lowest level in business had been in the 10 to 14 percent * Essays or Humor: 750 words T * Book Reviews: 750 words 15 years, according to a survey by the range for most of the previous two NALP. decades, except in the late 1980s and For more information The Employment Report and Salary early 1990s when it dipped below 10 about submitting articles, Survey for the Class of 2010 found percent. About 32 percent of these jobs e-mail: [email protected]. the overall employment rate to be were reported as requiring bar passage, 87.6 percent. The survey measures the and about 29 percent were reported employment rate of the Class of 2010 as JD preferred. as of Feb. 15. The employment rate has A little more ■ ■ fallen more than four percentage points than 8 percent of i n M e m o r i a m since reaching a 20-year high of 91.9 these business percent in 2007 and marks the lowest jobs represent employment rate since the aftermath of graduates working James F. Gannon James J. McCabet Mar. 17, 2011, Age 83 Apr. 20, 2011, Age 81 the last significant recession to affect for agencies that the U.S. legal economy. place individuals Anthony F. List, Sr. Steven A. Arbittier A bare majority of employed graduates in temporary Apr. 11, 2011, Age 68 May 14, 2011, Age 72 obtained a job in private practice. At legal, law clerk, 50.9 percent, this percentage dropped a or paralegal jobs, Please send In Memoriam notices to full 5 percentage points from 2009 and similar to the Class [email protected]. is thus a considerable contrast to the of 2009 and down Have you considered a contribution to the Philadelphia Bar previous 17 years, when the percentages from just more than Foundation in memory of a de­ceased colleague? ranged from 55 to 58 percent. 11 percent for the For information, call Gene Sirni, Employment in business was 15.1 Class of 2008. Foundation Executive Director, at 215-238-6334.

the philadelphia lawyer Summer 2011 7