Comings and Goings
 

Mass. Lawyer's Weekly today says that Dolf Garcia is moving from McDermott to Ropes & Gray; that has to be a huge loss to MWE, as he was really a driving force in their corporate department. Does anyone hear what prompts this move?

G3,

Good question...now to lure some anon-loving MWE corporate associate over to comment....

anybody here?
 

Hmm?

Bar Associations
 

Any active members of Boston Bar Assoc. or Mass. Bar Assoc. here?
I attended some great BBA meetings in the fall, when I had some free time. Regrettably, I have had trouble making meetings lately, as my firm is hopping with work lately. From the small sample of people I met at the BBA amd MBA, it seems some of the larger Boston firms are more flexible and encouraging of their associates to attend bar asssociation meetings than smaller-medium size firms
Anyone else in this predicament? I probably shouldn't complain, given the growing layoff casualty list, but there is tremendous networking opportunities at both organizations, and I feel like I'm getting stale. Lets face it, this Hub is small legal community.

Here.

In classic boston fashion
 

it looks like everyone want their own thread. Anonymously of course.

Bar Associations
 

I've been active in both the BBA and the MBA. Take it from someone who has been through a full economic cycle, you've always got to be planting seed cord. In good times you're tempted to just keep reeping, in bad times you're ready to eat the seed corn, but you've got to plant it.

I think the BBA and MBA are great forums to build a reputation and base of expertise. Chairing both a BBA and an MBA committee as a midlevel associate help build my own credibility and confidence; and there are chairs there that are open to eager and hardworking midlevels (try volunteering for writing duty on a newsletter or something first; also, if you make every meeting of a committee you are going to get drafted for something). Ultimately, they aren't the best direct marketing opportunities since there is obviously a very high ratio of hunters to prey, but when you are doing direct marketing it is very good to be able to say you chaired this or that professional committee.

Question for Boston Litigators
 

I'm in New York working in the litigation department of one the firms regularly ranked in the top 3 of NYC firms. In NY, one of the best credentials for a young litigator is a stint as an AUSA in SDNY or EDNY. This applies both to lawyers looking to return to private practice specifically as trial lawyers or as general commercial litigators at major firms (where, of course, trials are relatively rare).

Is a stint in the Boston area USA's office (is Mass. one district?) similarly valued by the litigation community in Boston? Would a lawyer coming out of the Boston USA's office look especially attractive to the major Boston litigation shops/departments? (Assume, in answering these questions, the lawyer in question had very sound credentials otherwise: top school, law review, federal appellate clerkship, etc.)

I ask b/c I'm thinking of applying to AUSA's jobs. I know there is a professional bounce to having had the job in NYC. However, personal interests are pulling me to Boston. If an AUSA job in Boston is as potent a credential in the Boston market as the AUSA job in NYC is in the NYC market, my decision would be easy (assuming I get an offer).

Thanks for your help.

You certainly sound like you have the qualifications.

What kind of cases do you want to try? Do you want to work in civil or criminal?

The current US Attorney once headed a local DA's office; some of those who do the interviewing and hiring now worked for him previously n the DA's office. Therefore, if you weren't a prosecutor at one time, or don't have roots/connections here, forget about working in criminal there. However, depending on what experience you have you may fare better applying to civil, especially if you have health care experience, or federal civil litigation experience. A lot of it is defensive litigation, (so insurance defense looks good too) some affirmative (False Claims Act, qui tam actions, FLU there always needs help if you want to do collections from felons, etc.)

Certainly looks great on a resume here, nice segue into a big firm. but not necessarily a partnership, unless you can bring biz with you. However, with your credentials, assuming you get your resume in the right hands at the right time, you might have a shot.

Great office, prime waterfront location, basically 9-5, i.e. you can have a nice life! If you can get in your golden.

Best of luck.

Thanks leagl
 

Thanks leagl, I think this is easier.

Now for the gossip:

I understand that Nixon Peabody may be picking up some remnants of Cummings and Lockwood in CT after other folks are done cherry picking. This is pretty much the same model they used with Hutchins, taking most of what was left was Weil was through.

Is Nixon Peabody becoming another McHolland & Knight, a place where offering second rate fare at every street corner? I thought they were trying to stay a level above that?

G-Man
 

Thanks for the info, G-Man.

My hope is to do criminal (spent a summer with an AUSA in the SDNY doing it during law school), with the expectation of returning to private practice eventually doing a mix of white collar defense and general commercial litigation. In NYC, many of the top partners doing that mix of work were AUSA's at one time. Sounds like it could be a tough nut to crack in Boston with the current group in the USA's office and me with no prosecutorial experience. Still, the fact that the cred. is valued in the Boston market makes it worth the time to send an app.

Definitely apply. They interview on a rolling basis, and hire when the need arises. Seems more turnover among women - not necessarily just for family reasons either. Frustration arises because certain judges just don't like the AUSA's office; in fact one judge (who was an AUSA!) has turned into a dictator on the bench, he sent the Marshals out to yank the US Attorney from the dentist's chair to bring hm in to testify. Front page story in Mass. Lawyer's Weekly about how the US Att. is (rightfully so) getting rid of plea bargains, etc, which should create more trials, (and safer streets) maybe more slots? So get the app. in soon, and expect to eventually undergo a very,very thorough background check, (much more comprehensive than what you had to go through just to get the summer internship)

Wouldn't happen to be Mark Wolf? Clasic example of a judge who's let his elevation to the bench go to his head, and then some.

Layoff Rumors
 

I've heard vague rumors of another round of layoffs at Choate. Does anyone have details? My rumors are admittedly third hand, but indicated that office visits have happened in the last 24 hours.

Layoff Rumors
 

I've heard rumors about a few other firms and the market in general as well, but nothing has happened yet. Hopefully all these rumors are unfounded and we all stay employed.

Those Wholesome Bulger Boys
 

Why does Billy get immunity?
Will this hasten his departure from UMass?
If they ever find Whitey, will there be anything left to talk about?

Layoff Rumors
 

If you check out Choate's website, they advertise a Boston Bus. Journal article applauding Choate's ability to increase PPP through fiscal management.

Those Wholesome Bulger Boys
 

I think the guy gets immunity because he won't talk otherwise. And they really want his brother. And I think that is the right set of priorities.

I think if he says something incriminating, there will be (just like the last time) a convenient leak to the press, and depending on what is leaked, it could lead to his demise at UMass.

But I would never count him out. The man has more chits saved up than anyone else in the state.

Those Wholesome Bulger Boys
 

Have they agreed to have him testify in private? All he has is immunity. I doubt the "privacy" rights he claims will be honored, let alone given any thought. He has immunity, so he can be made to testify in public. Anyway, he'd be wiser to testify at this point, so the issue remains FBI conduct, rather than continue to raise a stink, when it becomes his own conduct that's the focus of this, and many other, hearings.

Even if his testimony creates a firestorm, which undoubtedly it will when he acknowledges he heard from his brother but failed to do anything about it, and he loses his UMass job because of it, he'll fall into some other job paying just as much and requiring even less work. That's Mass. politics for you.

Those Wholesome Bulger Boys
 

Yup, he gets to testify in private.

IF the testimony is ever made public it will create a firestorm. I just love Massachusetts politics, it's such a great spectator sport. When I first moved here years ago, I was driving to work and wondered why all these people were waving at me and holding signs that had someone's name on it. It seems that every native I know is connected to someone. Such a tangled web. Boss Tweed would be so proud.

Baby Bulger
 

From the Boston Herald (the Bulger's favorite paper):

Bulger bro pleads guilty

by J.M. Lawrence
Friday, April 11, 2003

Retired Boston Juvenile Court clerk John ``Jackie'' Bulger pleaded guilty yesterday to twice lying to a federal grand jury out of ``loyalty'' to his oldest brother, fugitive James ``Whitey'' Bulger.

He could go to prison for two years.

Bulger, 64, who spent 32 years working in the state court system, admitted to U.S. District Court Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. that he committed perjury and obstructed law enforcement's hunt for ``Whitey'' in 1996 and in 1998.

The price of Jackie's loyalty to the Southie crime boss could be steep. Federal prosecutors said he must go to prison for his lies, while state pension officials are reviewing whether to revoke his $66,000 per year pension.

The Bulger gang's gravedigger, Kevin J. Weeks, was ready to testify that he orchestrated a phone call from ``Whitey'' to the youngest Bulger brother in the summer of 1996, prosecutors said.

Weeks stood by while ``Jackie'' spoke to ``Whitey'' at the offices of a South Boston physical therapy clinic, sources said. The notorious fugitive and FBI informant, who is now 73, first disappeared in 1995 and faces charges of 19 murders.

Almost two years after the call, ``Jackie'' Bulger told a grand jury on Jan. 22, 1998, that he never received any information that his brother was alive.

In addition to Weeks' testimony, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly told the court yesterday that the government would have called on a neighbor of ``Jackie'' Bulgers, who would have testified to passing a message from ``Whitey'' to his brother.

The government refused to identify the neighbor.

Bulger admitted to a four-count indictment and has no plea agreement. Wearing a navy blue suit, the trim, tanned Bulger told the judge he pleaded without coercion or promises of leniency.

O'Toole described the rights Bulger gave up by pleading guilty.

``You're probably familiar with jury trials,'' O'Toole said. ``Have you had experience with jury trials?''

``Yes, your honor,'' Bulger replied.

He left the courthouse without comment.

Bulger's attorney George Gormley said the retired court clerk's crimes were motivated out of devotion to his brother and to his brother's protectors.

``It's from loyalty to his brother and a sense of protectiveness to those he then thought were helping his brother,'' Gormley said.

He said he will ask the judge for a term of home confinement and several years probation at sentencing set for July 16.

The information Jackie received about ``Whitey'' would not help authorities find Bulger, according to Gormley.

``No tactical information was being shared between Jack and Jim. It was just family information - how are the nieces and nephews? Family inquiries of that nature.''

Bulger also admitted he lied to the grand jury on Nov. 26, 1996, when he denied knowing about his brother's safe deposit box in Clearwater, Fla.

Prosecutors said they would have shown the jury a check that Bulger signed to pay rent on the box earlier that year.

The three Bulger brothers - ``Jackie,'' UMass President William M.Bulger, and James ``Whitey'' - grew up together in the Old Harbor housing project in South Boston.

Jackie's guilty plea comes the day after a congressional committee voted to confer immunity on William M. Bulger, 68, to testify about ``Whitey'' and the FBI agents who protected him.

Whitey Bulger's handler, former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., is serving 10 years after his conviction on racketeering with the mob.

A spokeswoman for the state pension board said yesterday that a hearing will be scheduled after the board receives notification of Bulger's conviction.

Gormley maintained it would be wrong for state officials to pull Bulger's pension because his crimes had ``no connection whatsoever'' to his position as a court clerk.

He noted Massachusetts law provides special deference for family members against charges of aiding a fugitive. ``The lines are a lot clearer when family is not involved,'' Gormley said.

Board Layout
 

Is it possible to change the format on this Board so that it's a little easier to read? Between trying to ignore all of the signature files (which make it really hard to figure out where one post ends and another begins if you're just skimming) and the "scroll to the end" arrangement, it's a little awkward.

There used to be a setting where you could change the order of the posts bt I couldn't find it. You can turn off signature's and avatar under the "User CP" tab. Check the FAQ section.

Board Layout
 

You can ignore the signature lines and the avatars by going into your user cp. Click on edit options, scroll down to Thread View options.

We cannot however alter the fundamental format of the board.

Fortunately the creators of the board are working on a new version which has an index. Once that is done and bug free we will install it on top of this board, making it much easier to read.

You also might find it helpful to use the last read link, or the different options, which make it easier to find your way around.

More Layoffs
 

Ongoing at Mintz. :eek:

Update: 22 staff were let go this morning.

Mintz
 

Staff as in non attorneys like secretaries, paralegals and staff scientists?

More than I initially heard. 41 in total.
8 attorneys
2 paralegals
19 secretarys
11 from other departments (HR, IS, etc)

Mintz
 

Ouch.

Was there a reasonable package or notice, or are these getting to be like some of the tech companies I deal with, where there's not much left when the later folks get to the exits?

Mintz
 

According to my source, the rumour of impending doom had been around for weeks. The firm was very upfront and stated that they were for economic reasons. I have no $$ details.

Patriots Day
 

Just curious, how many firms have Monday off?

Patriots Day
 

This place does. Not that it matters, since it's school vacation week a lot of folks will be gone anyways.

Bechtel
 

OK, I know that the Big Dig uses Bechtel/Parsons/Brinkerhoff and Bechtel Offshore (or whatever) got the contract to rebuild the Iraqi infrastructure, but don't you find the timing interesting? All of a sudden (having won the Iraqi contract) there's a way to finish the Big Dig ahead of schedule? I guess Uncle Sam has deeper pockets than the Turnpike Authority.

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/10..._finish+.shtml

Bechtel
 

Although Romney will probably find a way to get it delayed until just after the convention. Maybe even tear down the (other) green monster during the convention.

Ropes & Gray Merger News
 

Ropes & Gray Welcomes Attorneys and Staff of Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt & Maynard
Significant Growth in Private Equity, Litigation Platforms
May 1, 2003

NEW YORK, New York, May 1, 2003 – Ropes & Gray, a leading national law firm, announced today its combination with Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt & Maynard, a highly regarded New York City-based firm focused on private equity. The combination, effective as of May 1, 2003, substantially increases Ropes & Gray’s New York office and adds significant depth to its private equity practice.


Full news release at: http://www.ropesgray.com/newsevents/...20&SectionID=7

Other Board and Testa Layoffs
 

On the other baord, there was reference to recent layoffs at Testa. No one confirmed. Can anyone here confirm? Is there anyone here?

re:layoff rumors
 

The "fiscal management" you're talking about was called "cost-cutting" in the article. The only way Choate kept its head above water in Fiscal 02 was by cutting costs, including layoffs of associates and partners. This year, it will be hard to find anything left to cut since Choate's been cost-cutting since at least 2000. And yes, Choate did lay off, a few months ago, a few senior associates.

Restaurant suggestions?
 

I am posting this on behalf of a user who wants to remain anon.



This person will be going to Boston this summer and was wondering if you folks could provide recommendations for restaurants not to be missed.

Also, do you know any gathering spots for women? The person mentions places such as Club Cafe, Somewhere Else, Obsession and Campus (in Cambridge) that existed when last em was in the area.

Thanks all

L

Question on Choate
 

Hello,

I have a question about the firm. I was interested in learning more about its corporate department, especially it business/tech group.

My company is looking for another firm in Boston to represent it, and I figured this board was worth a shot, although I am a little disturbed by the talk of Choate's demise.

Is the corp. dept./tech dept. in any trouble? Are the lawyers there a**holes, as someone posted on another board?

A little advice please!

Thanks,

Esq.

Choate
 

The head of the IP group at Choate is a truly decent guy, though his group is somewhat cliquish (sp?); those outside the clique (or, even worse, those in the "other" IP clique, the IP litigators clique) can be somewhat isolated.

Many (if not all) of the true corporate/tech folks are also good folks and generally trustworthy. Associates turn over much more quickly than other places, though, which can affect continuity of services.

That having been said, watch out for the IP litigation folks, and beware the non-techie/ non-venture corporate types. The firm culture as a whole is decidedly Hobbesian. If the firm goes down, it will not go down for economic reasons, and these guys have been fighting with each other for so long along the way, I'd be surprised if they hadn't come to enough of an accomodatiion to keep the firm together.

(Editted to respond more precisely to client instead of associate concerns).

Restaurant suggestions?
 

Don't know much about the restaurant scene so I can't help you there. From friends I've heard that the Thursday Dyke Nights at the Midway Cafe are great. The Midway is on Washington St in Jamaica Plain, across from English High. www.midwaycafe.com