A group of three attorneys–Partner Michael E. Santa Maria, Of Counsel Todd Bowers, and associate Kevin Maher–has moved from DLA Piper to Baker McKenzie LLP’s Dallas office. The were recruited to expand Baker McKenzie’s complex commercial cross-border transactional practice. Both Santa Maria and Bowers have worked for Baker McKenzie previously as associates. The three hope to improve Baker McKenzie’s Latin American presence.
Source: lawfuel.com

Dallas-based Haynes & Boone announced that all Texas associates’ salaries will now be at the market rate of $160,000 for first years. The salaries for second and third years will be $170,000; $180,00 for forth years; $190,000 for fifth years; $200,000 for sixth years; $205,000 for seventh years; and $210,000 for eighth years. Associates’ bonuses will also be increased to as much as $5,000 for first-years and up to $70,000 for eighth-year associates. Associate classes, as a group, must reach certain billable-hour totals for the bonuses to be distributed, but for the first time Haynes & Boone has also added individual billable-hour bonus goals.
Source: www.law.com

Dallas-based Winstead has announced it will not be joining the other Texas firms that raised associate salaries. The new salary scale is effective today at Vinson & Elkins, the firm that started the move to $160,000 for 1st-years, and $170,000 for 2nd years. Winstead will continue to pay a starting base salary of $135,000, and will instead offer a merit-based bonus of up to $25,000. Denis Braham, chairman and chief executive officer of the firm, commented on the decision saying that Winstead would prefer to reward individual associates based on their contributions. He feels that bonuses will keep the firm competitive, attracting associates with a long-term view and who want to be rewarded for hard work.
Source: www.law.com

Thompson & Knight announced that effective Aug. 1, its first and second-year associates will receive a pay raise. In all of its U.S. offices, starting salaries will be $160,000 and those for second-years will be $170,000. The compensation structure for other associate classes has yet to be determined. This Dallas-based firm is the fifth TX firm behind Vinson & Elkins, Andrews Kurth, Locke Liddell & Sapp, and Susman Godfrey to raise associate salaries in the last two weeks.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Jones Day recruited Weston Loegering for its litigation practice in Dallas. Loegering joins the firm from Hughes & Luce as a partner. He has done work in civil and criminal litigation, as well as white collar crime defense, securities litigation, and class actions. Jones Day employs more than 2,200 lawyers in 30 offices around the world.
Source: www.lawfuel.com

Federal prosecutor Katya Jestin has joined Jenner & Block as a partner in the New York office. She will work in the firm’s litigation department and the white collar criminal defense and counseling practice. Jestin was most recently the Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime & Racketeering Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. She is most noted for her convictions of Peter Gotti and his 16 co-defendants on charges of racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud and extortion. Jenner & Block has more than 450 lawyers in offices in Chicago, Dallas, New York and Washington, D.C.
Source: www.prnewswire.com

After hiring an 18-lawyer capital markets team from Kilpatrick Stockton, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has opened an office in Charlotte, NC. John Suhr, Jonathan Nugent and James Tucker all joined Sonnenschein as partners, along with counsels Linde Carley and Keith Jones, and 13 associates. The partners, who will be heading Sonnenschein’s capital markets practice, specialize in commercial real estate finance and equity investment by traditional and capital markets lenders. Sonnenschein has been expanding recently, having announced in March plans to open in Silicon Valley; the firm also intends to open in Dallas.
Source: www.legalweek.com

Longtime labor & employment powerhouse, Littler Mendelson, is finally facing some competition from regional firms and boutiques. With 617 lawyers and 41 U.S. offices, Littler is the largest labor & employment firm in the U.S. The San Francisco-based firm has expanded greatly in recent years, adding 13 new offices since the start of 2005. However, other firms are following suite and becoming more national in scope. Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart has added six offices in the last three years; 400-lawyer Jackson Lewis also added six. Two Atlanta-based firms, Fisher & Phillips and Ford & Harrison have pushed beyond the Southeast, together opening more than 12 offices in cities such as Dallas, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Philadelphia. The firms’ expansion is generally a part of a strategy to compete nationally, though most deny that they follow other firm’s into specific markets.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Seven real estate lawyers from varied firms have joined Thompson & Knight in its New York and Dallas offices. The New York office hired John B. Wood and Bohdan “Bud” S. Kosvych from Sussman, Sollis, Tweedy & Wood. In Dallas, Jay Gibson and Laura McClellan joined as partners, while Misty Willcox, Sean D. Hawkins and Meg Squiers joined as associates. Gibson came from Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons; McClellan left Foster Pepper in Seattle; Willcox came from Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr; Hawkins left Vinson & Elkins; and Squiers returned to Thompson & Knight after taking a leave. These new additions boost the firm’s real estate and banking practice to 54 lawyers.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Gary Short has joined Jones Day as a partner in the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice. Working out of the Dallas office, Short will focus on the treatment of employee benefit plans and executive compensation in business transactions. He also has done work designing, implementing, and administering benefit plans; he has handled governmental plans as well. Short was formerly a partner with Vinson & Elkins. Jones Day is one of the world’s largest law firms, with over 2,200 laywers practicing in 30 offices around the world.
Source: www.home.businesswire.com