NEW YORK (September 6, 2011)- ALM’s The American Lawyer announced its eighth annual Lifetime Achiever awards honoring outstanding private sector success and devotion to public service by members of the legal profession.

“In choosing Lifetime Achievers, we looked for lawyers with exemplary business bona fides—successfully trying cases or leading novel deals – but that’s not enough,” said Robin Sparkman, Editor in Chief of The American Lawyer. “We also wanted people who fit a broader definition of success. They are extraordinary lawyers, certainly, but for them, that’s just the beginning.”

This year’s honorees, who will be feted Oct. 26 at The American Lawyer Awards Dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York, are:

Richard Beattie. The chairman of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, he runs an 810-lawyer firm and has negotiated some of the most high-profile corporate deals of the last few decades. Beattie’s personal crusade to improve public education led the firm to spend 11 years on an ultimately successful pro bono case against the state of New York.

Michael Boone. The name partner of Haynes and Boone helped grow the firm to 12 offices around the world with more than 500 lawyers and annual revenue of $300 million, while remaining steadfast in his dedication to public service.

Wayne Budd. After founding Budd, Wiley & Richlin, an influential predominately African American firm, he served as a high-profile U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, then associate attorney general at DOJ. He continued to work on corruption cases at Goodwin Procter, to which he returned after executive stints at Bell Atlantic and John Hancock.

Gordon Erspamer. Inspired by his dying father’s battles with the Veterans Administration for disability benefits, Morrison & Foerster senior counsel Erspamer took on the VA in a three-decade series of pro bono and class action suits that have led to agency reforms and made him a legend in military circles.

Cathy Lamboley. After becoming the first female general counsel at a major oil company in the U.S. in 2000, she pioneered diversity awareness at Shell Oil Company and its outside law firms, whose number she trimmed from over 600 to 44. In 2009, Lamboley co-founded the University of Texas School of Law’s Center for Women in Law.

Stanley Levy. Capping a 46-year career dominated by public interest work, the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips counsel oversaw the creation of a reparation project that has employed 3,600 volunteers through the Holocaust Survivors Justice Network. As a rabbi, Levy is known for marrying interfaith couples and ministering to gays and lesbians.

Walter Mondale. The former senator was a transformatively activist vice president, the first with an office in the White House. As a presidential candidate, Mondale was the first to choose a female running mate. An ambassador to Japan under Clinton, he continues to advise on international affairs as senior counsel at Dorsey & Whitney.

Lowell Sachnoff. His securities and antitrust wins are the stuff of legend, but Sachnoff has also been devoted—first at his own firm, Sachnoff & Weaver, and more recently at Reed Smith—to advocating for women, minorities, and the poor, and inspiring others to do likewise. His firm was one of the first to represent Guantánamo Bay detainees.

More detailed information on the Lifetime Achievers and their accomplishments can be found in the September issue of The American Lawyer or online at americanlawyer.com.

About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Fred Rackmil
Rackmil Associates
Phone: 212-421-0044
E-mail: fred@rackmil.com

NEW YORK (September 1, 2011)- Associates at U.S. law firms worked a little longer and enjoyed it about the same last year, according to an annual survey published in the September issue of ALM’s The American Lawyer. Perhaps the most surprising finding from analysis of the 5,361 responses of third-, fourth-, and fifth-year associates from 149 firms was that no statistically significant correlation exists between their level of satisfaction with compensation and benefits and their expectation of being at the same firm in two years.

One facet of the disconnect between associate pay and firm objectives is detailed in a feature story about the blooming of spring bonuses this year. “In all my conversations with firms over the last eight months, I never found anybody who thought that giving them out made good business sense,” said Robin Sparkman, Editor in Chief of The American Lawyer, in her monthly column. “As with the $160,000 starting salaries for first-years that got so much attention in the pre-recession years, many of the firms are clearly comfortable acting like lemmings.”

Associates’ average billable hours rose by 80 to 2,037 last year, the most since 2007, as post-recession workloads rose faster than firm headcounts. Nevertheless, associates’ ratings of their job satisfaction averaged 3.729 on a scale of 1 to 5, barely lower than 2010’s 3.733, although it still marks the lowest score since 2004. Their grades for their own firms as places to work actually rose ever so slightly to 3.98 from 3.96.

About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Fred Rackmil
Rackmil Associates
Phone: 212-421-0044
E-mail: fred@rackmil.com

NEW YORK (August 22, 2011)-ALM’s Texas Lawyer profiled 20 Lone Star State litigators and appellate attorneys in a special section published in the August 22nd issue of the publication.

The feature is available online now at http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202511769564&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1.

“We went through a five-month selection process in which we asked readers to nominate lawyers who have achieved significant recent victories, as well as displayed a track record of wins, in a variety of cases,” said Colleen McGushin, editor in chief of Texas Lawyer. “We received nearly 200 nominations, then we conducted our own research to arrive at the final list of 20 Winning Women profiled in this week’s issue.”

Nominees included women who prevailed in high-stakes cases, won large monetary awards, successfully defended against actions seeking substantial damages, handled first-of-their-kind or bet-the-company cases, and claimed victory in cases that had a national or statewide impact.

According to McGushin, Texas Lawyer will celebrate the 20 honorees with a luncheon at the Belo Mansion in Dallas on September 30, 2011.

The “Winning Women” section will be distributed free to Texas Lawyer subscribers with the August 22nd issue of the newspaper. For further information on the section or to purchase copies, contact Wendy Ervin at (214) 744-7740 or e-mail wervin@alm.com. For luncheon information and reservations, contact Anna Burciaga at (800) 456-5484 or aburciaga@alm.com.

About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Daryn Teague
Teague Communications
Phone: 661.297.5292
E-mail: dteague@teaguecommunications.com

NEW YORK (August 22, 2011)-After a decline in total cash compensation last year, most attorneys in corporate legal departments saw their pay rebound with modest increases in 2011, according to the 2011 Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey by ALM Legal Intelligence, a leading source of business intelligence for the legal profession.

The most senior position in U.S. corporate law departments — Chief Legal Officers or General Counsel (CLO/GC) — earned median total cash compensation in 2011 of $464,000, down 0.6% from the $466,800 in median compensation last year. However, all but one of the other attorney positions reported gains this year, with increases of approximately 4% to 11% in total cash compensation before adjusting for inflation.

The survey, conducted by ALM Legal Intelligence in association with ALM’s Corporate Counsel, analyzed compensation data from 4,951 lawyers employed at 225 corporate law departments. The report is available online now at www.almlegalintelligence.com.

The survey found that median total cash compensation increased this year in seven of the nine positions most common in corporate law departments, with all nine positions reporting gains in bonuses. Last year, just three of the nine positions saw an increase in cash compensation and eight of the nine had increases in bonuses.

“Compensation for in-house corporate attorneys is back on the upswing this year, reflecting a modest business recovery,” said Nigel Holloway, Vice President of Research at ALM Legal Intelligence. “It appears that the lower-ranking attorneys are receiving the largest percentage gains in salary, although bonuses were higher this year across the board.”

According to the Survey, 2011 bonuses increased by as little as 0.44% ($180,800) for the CLO/GC position and as much as 58% ($23,700) for the Attorney position. All positions except CLO/GC received double-digit increases in bonuses.

Two of the four managerial positions reported an increase in salary from last year: Division GC pay was up 3.1% ($233,500) and Managing Attorney increased 5.0% ($200,000), while CLO/GC declined 3.5% ($329,400) and Deputy CLO decreased 4.9% ($229,500). Four of the five non-managerial positions also reported salary increases: High Level Specialist was up 5.9% ($180,000), Senior Attorney pay grew 0.8% ($148,200), Attorney was up 4.1% ($115,800), and Recent Graduate increased 2.3% ($65,600), with only the Staff Attorney position showing a slight decline of 1.6% ($78,700).

Aside from the CLO/GC position, the Staff Attorney position was the only one to receive a decrease in total cash compensation, with a decline this year of 4.6% ($79,000).

More than two-thirds (68%) of the survey respondents worked for companies with annual sales revenue in excess of $1 billion and 74% were at companies with more than 1,000 employees. The results of the survey will be covered in the September 2011 issue of ALM’s Corporate Counsel magazine.

About ALM Legal Intelligence
ALM Legal Intelligence offers detailed business information for and about the legal industry, focused on the top U.S. and international law firms. The division’s online research Web service provides subscribers with direct, on-demand access to ALM Legal Intelligence’s extensive database of surveys, rankings and lists related to law firms and the legal industry.  ALM Legal Intelligence is a division of ALM.
About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Daryn Teague
Teague Communications
Phone: 661.297.5292
E-mail: dteague@teaguecommunications.com

NEW YORK (July 19, 2011)- In a development that provides evidence of additional cracks in the glass ceiling for women executives, Denise Keane, the top legal officer at Altria Group, Inc., took home $6.5 million in total cash compensation in 2010 to lead the way among her peers at U.S. companies.

Keane is one of a record 14 women to land on the list of the 100 top-paid general counsel, which was published today in the August 2011 issue of ALM’s Corporate Counsel. The article is available online at www.corpcounsel.com.

The special report was based on the 2010 GC (General Counsel) Compensation Survey conducted by Corporate Counsel. The magazine’s editors have been conducting the survey annually since 1994.

“In addition to there being more women on the list than ever before, the average total cash compensation for women in our survey — $1.96 million – was actually higher in 2010 than the $1.84 million average for the total pack,” said Anthony Paonita, Editor in Chief of Corporate Counsel, the nation’s leading magazine for general counsel and in-house attorneys.

According to Paonita, total compensation for GCs surged by 18 percent in 2010, fueled by cash bonuses (increased 29 percent to average of $1.2 million last year) and “nonequity incentive compensation” tied to corporate performance goals. For the top 50 earners on the list, combined cash bonuses and nonequity incentives made up roughly two-thirds of their total cash compensation in 2010.

Meanwhile, the survey found that stock options continue to fall out of favor, even though some in-house lawyers are still getting substantial awards. Liberty Media Corporation’s Charles Tanabe received a $16.5 million award last year and Apple’s Bruce Sewell received stock awards worth a whopping $28.4 million. Options are typically cashed out at a later date, which is why they don’t count in the annual compensation survey rankings.

Salaries – the third component of GC compensation – remained relatively flat in 2010, with base pay rising just slightly from $619,013 to $622,461.

“All in all, 2010 was a fairly good year for GCs with respect to their personal incomes,” said Paonita. “After taking a hit to their paychecks during the deepest trough of the recession, this year’s results show that chief legal officers made steady gains last year and recovered some compensation momentum.”

About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Daryn Teague
Teague Communications
Phone: 661.297.5292
E-mail: dteague@teaguecommunications.com

NEW YORK (July 18, 2011)- ALM Legal Intelligence today published its Survey of Law Firm Economics, 2011 Edition, which revealed that U.S. law firms saw their revenues, expenses and income per lawyer increase in 2010, the first time this has occurred since 2007. The survey, conducted by ALM Legal Intelligence in association with The National Law Journal, is available online now at www.almlegalintelligence.com.

Nationally, revenue per lawyer at U.S. law firms increased 9.5% last year (from $412,220 to $451,449), expense per lawyer increased 6.1% (from $159,521 to $169,288) and income per lawyer increased 11.7% (from $252,679 to $282,161). The picture, however, is less positive for midsize firms (9 to 75 attorneys) than at small firms (2 to 8 attorneys) and large ones (more than 76 attorneys).  Last year, average gross receipts and income per lawyer grew by an average of 14% for small and large firms, but fell by 2% for midsize firms.  The disparity is even greater when comparing gross receipts and income per equity partner (up 19% at small and large firms, and down 5% at midsize firms).

“This year’s survey illustrates that small and large U.S. law firms saw their profits recover in 2010, but perhaps not as quickly as they hoped and certainly have not returned to pre-recession levels,” said Nigel Holloway, Vice President of Research at ALM Legal Intelligence. “Midsize firms are still feeling the pinch.”

According to Holloway, other noteworthy findings included the following:

•    Billable hours inched up, but have not returned to mid-2000 levels.  Hourly rate increases were reported by small and large firms, but midsize firms have either not changed their rates or have lowered them slightly (-3%).

•    Firms are moving away from the billable hour.  Some 95% of firms have reported billing via an arrangement not based solely on hourly rates.  The majority (62%) have used alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) for up to 10% of their billings and the largest law firms in the survey (more than 150 attorneys) have used AFAs for between 11% and 25% of their total billing.

•    Compensation returned to levels that exceeded 2007 compensation amounts for the most senior partners and associates. For instance, median total compensation for 25-29th year Partners increased 8.2% from $322,813 to $349,300. Interestingly, for the fourth year in a row, average starting salaries for new graduates remained unchanged at $85,000.  The biggest jump in total compensation for both partners and associates was seen at the largest law firms (150 or more attorneys).

•    Staffing continued to be an issue in 2010, with U.S. law firms reporting some of the lowest staffing ratios since the Survey of Law Firm Economics started trending the data in 1985. Ratios were about 70 associates to 100 partners in the early 2000s. After a 1.8% decrease in 2010, they’re now down to just 55 to 100.

“This year, we introduced a new section to the survey regarding issues facing law firm managers. These include their expectations for the economy and the growth of their firms, as well as billing arrangements and the use of technology resources,” said Holloway. “One particularly encouraging finding was that more than 3 in 4 firms (78%) are optimistic about their law firm’s performance in 2012, although small firms (2-8 attorneys) are far more likely to be pessimistic than their larger counterparts.”  In addition, the majority of respondents across all firm sizes believe that profits per partner will grow by less than 5% next year.

First published in 1972, the Survey of Law Firm Economics is one of the most complete, accurate and up-to-date set of economic statistics and financial data available about the legal profession. This year’s survey contains information about 12,952 lawyers including 4,535 associates, 7,306 partners/shareholders (equity and non-equity), 772 active counsels, and 339 staff lawyers working in 202 U.S. law firms. Data is presented nationally and by firm size, geographic location, practice area specialty, population area size, gender, year admitted to the bar, and years of experience.

The National Law Journal will report on the Survey of Law Firm Economics in the August 29th edition.

A companion study, the Small Law Firm Economic Survey, 2011 Edition, specifically for law firms with 20 or fewer lawyers, will be available this fall. Additional information on both surveys can be obtained by contacting Phil Flora (212) 457-7767 or pflora@alm.com, or by calling (888) 770-5647.

About ALM Legal Intelligence
ALM Legal Intelligence offers detailed business information for and about the legal industry, focused on the top U.S. and international law firms. The division’s online research Web service, www.almlegalintelligence.com, provides subscribers with direct, on-demand access to ALM Legal Intelligence’s extensive database of surveys, rankings and lists related to law firms and the legal industry.  ALM Legal Intelligence is a division of ALM.
About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Daryn Teague
Teague Communications
Phone: 661.297.5292
E-mail: dteague@teaguecommunications.com

NEW YORK (July 11, 2011)- ALM’s The National Law Journal today published a special section that recognized 20 innovative law firms from across the nation with 50 to 150 lawyers.

The July 11th issue of The National Law Journal, which contains the “Midsize Hot List” special report, is available online now at www.nlj.com.

“To develop this list, we went looking for law firms with 50 to 150 lawyers that have demonstrated innovative strategies to stay competitive, developed new business strategies, formed new practice areas or creatively managed their teams of attorneys,” said David L. Brown, editor in chief of The National Law Journal.

According to Brown, the list includes some firms that are doing big things legally, such as winning decisive victories in court, in mergers and acquisitions, in crafting real estate transactions that are changing the face of the country’s cities, and that are protecting inventors and innovators.

The law firms recognized on the Midsize Hot List (main office location in parentheses) included the following:

Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud and Romo (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott (Chicago, Ill.)
Beveridge & Diamond (Washington, D.C.)
Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod (Miami, Fla.)
Bodman PLC (Dallas, Texas)
BuckleySandler (Washington, D.C.)
Carter Ledyard & Milburn (New York, N.Y.)
Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass (San Francisco, Calif.)
McKool Smith (Dallas, Texas)
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Much Shelist (Chicago, Ill.)
Nossaman LLP (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Novak Druce + Quigg (Washington, D.C.)
Osborn Maledon (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Pierce Atwood (Portland, Maine)
Pryor Cashman (New York, N.Y.)
Shartsis Friese (San Francisco, Calif.)
Susman Godfrey (Houston, Texas)
Ungaretti & Harris (Chicago, Ill.)
Zuckerman Spaeder (Washington, D.C.)

About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Daryn Teague
Teague Communications
Phone: 661.297.5292
E-mail: dteague@teaguecommunications.com

NEW YORK (July 6, 2011)- ALM’s 2011 Arbitration Scorecard, just published in the Focus Europe supplement to The American Lawyer, reports strong growth in billion-dollar international arbitrations.

Based on attorney questionnaires, hints in public sources, and active reporting, ALM found 113 cases with over $1 billion in dispute that were active in 2009 and 2010. There were 92 such cases in the prior two-year period.

The full survey, available online at americanlawyer.com/focuseurope, reports on 261 disputes. The survey looks at contract cases with stakes of at least $500 million and those involving investment treaties or legislation with stakes of at least $100 million. Among the billion-dollar cases, 65 focused on contracts and 48 on treaties or legislation. ALM senior international correspondent Michael D. Goldhaber led the Arbitration Scorecard project team.

While the subjects in dispute range from the Almaty Monorail and Bosphorus tunnel projects to Mongolian gold mines and Uruguayan cigarettes, the dominant arena for big arbitrations is oil and gas, accounting for more than a third of the billion-dollar cases. The two largest awards in the survey, both valued at about $2.1 billion, involved natural gas.

The top four law firms handling these arbitrations have not changed in three two-year surveys. They are Freshfields, White & Case, King & Spalding, and Shearman & Sterling. In fifth place this time is Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle.

The top arbitrator was Charles Brower of London’s 20 Essex Street with 25 appearances, followed by Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler of Geneva’s Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler and Brigitte Stern of Université de Paris I.

About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Fred Rackmil
Rackmil Associates
Phone: 212-421-0044
E-mail: fred@rackmil.com

NEW YORK (June 30, 2011)- Just as large U.S. law firms were returning to solid profitability last year, pro bono activity was dropping sharply, with average lawyer hours among the top 200 firms down 8 percent to 56.5 hours, reversing a decade of steady growth, according the annual pro bono survey in the July issue of ALM’s The American Lawyer.

The decline was even sharper among the top 100 firms, whose average pro bono hours per lawyer plummeted 10.8 percent. The next hundred-largest actually increased average hours 2.1 percent. Average profits per partner climbed the 8.4 percent last year at the top hundred firms and 3.4 percent at the next hundred.

“It’s not a justification, but the fact is that associates do the heavy pro bono lifting at big firms, and those who survived the recession layoffs found themselves loaded up with paid work in last year’s turnaround,” said Robin Sparkman, Editor in Chief of The American Lawyer.

Among firms maintaining a high level of pro bono commitment was Hughes Hubbard & Reed, which tops The American Lawyer‘s 2011 A-List, also published in the July issue. Besides pro bono, the formula that determines the A-List takes into account revenue per lawyer, associate satisfaction and diversity performance. Ranked second this year is Munger, Tolles & Olson, with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in third place.

Other notable features in The American Lawyer‘s July issue include:

“Getting Trashed.” The inside story of Cravath, Swaine & Morre’s pro bono representation of the Harrisburg (PA) City Council as it considers a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing, the municipal version of Chapter 11.

“Too Hot To Handle?” Following the King & Spalding /Paul Clement dustup over his Defense of Marriage Act work, the broader issue of how firms should deal with a partner’s wish to take on a controversial client is addressed by former GE general counsel Ben W. Heineman, Jr., and Harvard Law School professor David B. Wilkins.

About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Fred Rackmil
Rackmil Associates
Phone: 212-421-0044
E-mail: fred@rackmil.com

NEW YORK (June 29, 2011)- ALM’s Law Journal Press, a leading publisher of books for legal professionals, today announced the publication of Mutual Funds, edited and co-authored by Walter Nagel and contributing experts.

This new legal guide to a $10 trillion industry provides complete coverage of the complex web of laws and regulations that govern all aspects of fund organization and management. It is available in print and in an online edition, enhanced for the Web and mobile devices.  A detailed table of contents, as well as ordering information for this and other Law Journal Press publications, is available at www.lawcatalog.com.

Mutual Funds examines the multiple layers of regulations governing the industry, including the Investment Company Act of 1940 and other securities acts, regulation by various agencies in the public and private sectors, and best practices promulgated by respected trade groups. It covers fund organization and operation, statutory and regulatory requirements, board and director obligations unique to mutual funds, disclosure do’s and don’ts, tax treatment, SEC examinations and enforcement actions, and other topics of importance to fund sponsors, investors, advisers and counsel.

Nagel, a partner with Reed Smith LLP in its Washington, D.C. office, has advised many of the largest and best-known mutual funds in the country. He has been a financial analyst, an executive with MCI Communications and President of an on-line electronic commerce company, Peracon. He has a B.A. from Rutgers College, a M.B.A. from Rutgers School of Business, a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law and an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Law Journal Press, a division of ALM, publishes more than 130 books, in print and in digital online and mobile formats, on a broad range of legal and business topics. Written by leading lawyers and experts and updated regularly, Law Journal Press editions offer definitive and timely information, insightful analysis and practitioner-oriented guidance for the legal profession.

About ALM
ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC or affiliated entities.

Media Contact:
Daryn Teague
Teague Communications
Phone: 661.297.5292
E-mail: dteague@teaguecommunications.com