Jenner & Block, a Chicago-based law firm that focuses on litigation, is shifting 15 to 20 of its equity partners to non-equity status, the National Law Journal reported Monday, citing anonymous sources.

Some of the partners are being asked to leave and a smaller number are opting for voluntary retirement, the legal newspaper said.

The firm's management last month began to move forward with the plan to cut some of the equity partners during the next year or two, according to anonymous sources cited in the Law Journal.

Though it eliminates the security of partnership -- once as honored as tenure at a university -- de-equitizing partners is a means to boost the average profits earned by equity partners to retain rainmakers and lure new talent. Equity-per-partner rankings have become the industry's measuring stick in the absence of any other accepted method, making demotions from partnership increasingly common.

In March Chicago-based Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP announced its decision to purge 45 partners amid revenue growth of 11 percent in 2006. The conservative firm, one of the nation's 10 largest in 2006, topped $1 billion in revenues for the first time in its 125-year history. Sidley Austin demoted more than 30 partners in an effort to be more competitive more than eight years earlier.

Corporate Board Member magazine ranked Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP as the best corporate law firm in Los Angeles and ninth nationally in its seventh annual survey of general counsels.  In a separate survey, the firm ranked seventh by directors for law firms they would most want representing their companies on national matters.

Approximately 800 directors and over 200 general counsels of publicly traded companies were surveyed to identify the top 20 firms nationally and the top five firms in 25 major U.S. cities. The rankings are included in the July/August issue of the magazine in the "America's Best Corporate Lawyers" feature and is available at http://www.boardmember.com/issues/current.


http://www.gibsondunn.com

"Joe has a great deal of experience working with hedge funds that make secured asset-based loans," said Richard P. Eckman, chairman of Pepper's Financial Services Practice Group. "He also is experienced in collateral debt offering transactions, a growing part of our practice, as well as aircraft financings, and the drafting and review of liquidity facilities. He is a terrific addition to our hedge fund and finance practices, and we are delighted to welcome him to the firm."

Mr. Voyticky joins Pepper from the New York office of Allen & Overy LLP, where he was a senior associate concentrating on structured finance, global loans and leveraged finance. His practice also includes working on unsecured credit facilities, receivables purchases and sales, synthetic leases, leveraged leases and restructuring transactions.

"Pepper has a sophisticated finance and hedge fund practice, and I am excited by the prospect of helping it grow in New York and nationally," said Mr. Voyticky. "I look forward to building my practice while being a resource to existing firm clients on finance matters."

Mr. Voyticky is a graduate of Union College (B.A. 1989) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1992).

About Pepper Hamilton

Pepper Hamilton LLP (www.pepperlaw.com) is a multi-practice law firm with more than 450 lawyers in seven states and the District of Columbia. The firm provides corporate, litigation and regulatory legal services to leading businesses, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations and individuals throughout the nation and the world. The firm was founded in 1890.

Pepper expanded its New York office and moved to a new address in Manhattan in October 2006. In addition to assisting clients in the financial services industry, lawyers in the New York office handle corporate matters, private equity, commercial and pharmaceutical litigation, international transactions and dispute resolution, employee benefits and executive compensation, and corporate restructuring and bankruptcy.

Pepper's Financial Services Practice Group includes more than 45 lawyers focusing on issues affecting the financial services industry.

Carlos Burruezo, who had been managing partner in Fisher & Phillips' Orlando office, led the exodus of six lawyers to Littler Mendelson, which has made Orlando the site of its 43rd office nationwide and second in Florida after Miami.

Burruezo said he had been contacted by Littler "not many weeks ago to found an office in Orlando," and that by joining a significantly larger firm he and his colleagues could "take our practice to the next level."

Meanwhile, Theresa Gallion, the manager and sole remaining lawyer at Fisher & Phillips' Orlando office, is actively recruiting replacements, she said this week. Expressing no hard feelings, she said she expects to have three or four new lawyers working in the Orlando office by summer's end, and as many as 10 lawyers in the office within a year or two.

"We don't want people to be concerned with our commitment to Orlando," said Gallion, who also manages Fisher & Phillips' Tampa office, one of 18 nationwide.

Joining Burruezo at Littler Mendelson are Anthony Hall, Desiree Hill-Henderson, Jeffrey Jones, Juan Lopez-Campillo and Janine Toner. Burruezo said the office will move from its temporary quarters in Baldwin Park to permanent space in downtown Orlando within the next few months.

www.littler.com

Gov. Tim Kaine's office announced Tuesday that Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP will assist the panel, which Kaine appointed shortly after the April 16 shootings. Two litigation partners from the firm's 300-person Washington, D.C., office will be the lead attorneys responsible for the pro bono work.

Kaine and Attorney General Bob McDonnell agreed on the need for outside counsel to assist the panel, which has confronted an array of difficult legal questions during its first month of work. Among other things, the panel has confronted privacy laws that prevent it from gaining access to gunman Seung-Hui Cho's academic and mental health records.

"The legal questions were more plentiful than any of us anticipated," said the panel's chairman, retired Virginia State Police Superintendent Gerald Massengill.

Spokesmen for Kaine and McDonnell said the reliance on outside counsel makes sense because the attorney general's office already represents Tech, the state police and state mental health agencies. Massengill said he agreed that "independent, outside counsel would be helpful."

Skadden has extensive experience representing special commissions and boards of inquiry, according to the governor's office. The international firm has about 2,000 lawyers in 22 offices around the globe.

"As citizens, and especially as parents, we are pleased that we are able to assist the panel with this very important inquiry," said Michael Rogan, head of Skadden's Washington, D.C., office, in a statement released by the governor's office.

Kaine has asked the panel to produce recommendations before state colleges begin fall semester classes. The panel will hold the third of its four scheduled public meetings Monday at George Mason University in Fairfax County.

The session will include a report on Cho's interactions with the mental health system by the state inspector general.

On the Net: vtreviewpanel.org

Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis has been recognized by American Lawyer Media (ALM) as a "Go-To Law Firm" in the area of Litigation. The firm will be recognized as a Go-To Law Firm in a national reference guide which is being released at the end of June 2007. Nominees are chosen from an ALM national survey of General Counsel from the Leading Financial Services Companies coupled with in-depth research & analysis of various public filings and resources. After a lengthy & rigorous process only the strongest firms made it to the top of the list, hence being named a Go-To Law Firm.

Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, which has more than 70 lawyers, is headquartered in Jackson and has offices in Gulfport and Olive Branch.

Additional information about Watkins Ludlam and American Lawyer Media can be found at www.watkinsludlam.com