Author: TSA Press

On the latest episode of The Jabot podcast I speak with Dana Rosenfeld, incoming Managing Partner at Kelley Drye & Warren. We talk about her path to the top of the firm’s leadership, the surprising thing about the managing partner role, her advice for attorneys in the lateral market, and her priorities for her tenure in the firm’s leadership.

The Jabot podcast is an offshoot of the Above the Law brand focused on the challenges women, people of color, LGBTQIA, and other diverse populations face in the legal industry. Our name comes from none other than the Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the jabot (decorative collar) she wears when delivering dissents from the bench. It’s a reminder that even when we aren’t winning, we’re still a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Happy listening!

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

We don’t get out of bed for a Deutsche Bank fine of less than $100 million, because really who has the time, and also because anything less is very literally only a drop in the bucket of the $20 billion-plus the other DB has had to part ways with for being naughty over the last few years. There are, of course, exceptions, such as the rare occasion when the bank has done something smart, like settling bribery allegations for $13 million that really should have cost it a lot more than $13 million. Or today’s news that the Deutsches are paying €15 million (more) to settle some (additional) money-laundering allegations. This settlement is notable for two reasons: The first is that the two employees who looked like they might have to go to jail over the whole thing are not, and the second is that the bank would presumably have paid a lot more than €15 million to keep all of those police cars from very publicly surrounding its headquarters.

Think the bonus scale that was set by Milbank is the most an associate can hope for this year (without onerous billing requirements that could trigger additional cash payouts)? Think again. Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz has once again topped that scale — across the board.

Apparently the plus sign in the firm’s name stands for bigger bonuses.

Below is the firm’s bonus scale, which is 1.5 times the going market rate. This is the fourth time WW+E has beaten the market on bonuses since it opened four years ago.

Class of 2019: $22,500 (pro-rated)
Class of 2018: $22,500
Class of 2017: $37,500
Class of 2016: $75,000
Class of 2015: $97,500
Class of 2014: $120,000
Class of 2013: $135,000
Class of 2012 and senior: $150,000

Wilkinson Walsh attorneys will once again be having very happy holidays. It just goes to show that working at a boutique doesn’t require trading off Biglaw compensation.

(Flip to the next page to see the full memo from Wilkinson Walsh.)

Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.

And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts (which is the alert list we also use for salary announcements), please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Thanks for all of your help!

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Maybe I lived it; maybe I dreamed it.  I surely can’t say here.

When I worked at a law firm, to the person in the office next door:

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.  Can I have a client number for that?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m rounding up to the nearest six minutes.”

When I worked at a law firm, to a heavy-hitter:

“Are you charging for that?”

“It’s one hour to L120, Analysis.”

“How do you figure?”

“I know the rules say that we bill in six-minute increments.  But I don’t do that; it’s too much trouble.  I bill in hour increments.  And I don’t worry about task codes.  All I do is analyze stuff, so it’s all L120, Analysis.”

Our counsel recommending how much we should pay in settlement:

“We must win on two issues to win this case.  I figure we have a one in three chance of winning on the first issue.  And we have a one in three chance of winning on the second issue.  So we have about a one in four chance of winning the case.”

“Are the issues independent?”

“Completely.”

“If the issues are independent, and we have a one in three chance of winning each of them, then we have a one in nine chance of winning the case.”

“I’m not trying to be mathematically precise.  I’m just saying how likely it is we’ll win the case.”

In internal communications:

“Finance sent you the attached email (and copied me) last week.  I haven’t yet seen your answer go out.  Could you send me a copy of what you sent to Finance?”

“I figure I’ll have a precise answer in six weeks.  I’ll answer the email then.”

“Don’t you think it would be a good idea to tell Finance that you don’t yet know the answer to the question, that you’ll know the answer in six weeks, and that you’ll respond then?  Or do you prefer to have people in Finance saying that the Law Department doesn’t answer emails?”

On the value of the case:

“It has a settlement value of about $5 million today, and it’ll be worth about $10 million as trial approaches.”

“Why’s that?”

“Cases are always worth more as trial approaches.”

On preparing a settlement memo:

“This memo is going to Mr. Big.  You get three paragraphs to describe the case.”

“That’s not possible.  My case is much too complicated.  It can’t be described in three paragraphs.”

“I’ve worked here for 10 years.  Every settlement memo I’ve ever sent to Mr. Big has been three paragraphs long.  Do you really think yours is the first case in the history of our firm that can’t be described in three paragraphs?”

“Yes.  My case is too complicated.”

Discussing settlement:

“Last year, you said the case was worth $1 million.”

“Yes.”

“But now you’re asking for $2 million.”

“Yes.”

“What’s happened in the last year that’s doubled the value of the case?”

“The compensation methodology is much too complicated to explain.  I can’t tell you why the value of the case has doubled.”

It’s enough to make you give up sleeping, for fear of more nightmares.

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Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now deputy general counsel at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

Our client is a boutique investment bank located in San Francisco, and is focused on serving entrepreneurs and investors in fast growing businesses in SaaS, Internet, mobile, and data.

We are representing this firm exclusively with regard to this position, but are not publishing the firm name at the client’s request. For this position we are looking for a corporate/M&A attorney who wants to sit on the other side of the table as an investment banker. This is a rare position. The title can be either a VP or Associate position, depending on experience. Pay will be in line with major law firm associate pay, perhaps with a heavier component in the bonus.

If the position interests you, please send an expression of interest/cover letter direct to jobs@kinneyrecruiting.com, with “Wild West” in the subject line. We will route all such cover letters directly to the client COO immediately. He happens to be an old friend of our founder.

Please note: we are not looking only for people who are “in the market” already, so do not feel the need to delay contact on this until your CV is polished. A quality cover letter expressing interest and describing your background will suffice and time may be of the essence.

You may also apply here. 

Following the ousting of late President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabweans hoped for a real change. One year into the administration of his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa, there are mixed emotions; while macro indicators indicate Zimbabwe’s economic troubles are slowing, there are few signs of the necessary paradigmatic change that needs to occur for significant growth. 

A replacement or change-maker?

On the July 30th, 2018, Zimbabwe had a historic election in which Robert Mugabe was ousted after his 37 years in power. Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed the office of President under the Zanu-PF party on November 24th with 50% of the vote, defeating Nelson Chamisa (Movement for Democratic Change Party). Mnangagwa posed himself as someone who would bring an end to the hard times, re-engage with the international community, and open the country for business. Following this transition of power, Zimbabweans were hoping their country could usher in a new era of prosperity.

Mnangagwa pursued policies to open Zimbabwe for business, including abandoning its indigenisation policy, which requests businesses with over $1 net asset value to cede 51% equity stakes to Indigenous Zimbabweans. This policy made the investment in Zimbabwe comparatively unattractive, according to the foreign minister, discouraging foreign investment. This move is estimated to benefit the platinum and diamond mining sector in Zimbabwe, which would generate important growth; the mining sector in Zimbabwe is second only to South Africa in the region.

Macroeconomic indicators

Mnangagwa faces significant challenges in truly making economic strides. The African Development Bank Group considers Zimbabwe’s fiscal imbalances as significant inhibitors to development and social service investment, hurting poverty reduction efforts. As a result, “unemployment pressures have been mounting as employment opportunities continue to dwindle.”

A World Bank estimate projects an additional 1 million people entered extreme poverty in 2019. Unlike the natural agricultural boost in 2018, this year has seen a steep rise in the price of basic commodities and food due to droughts. Overall, food and non-food prices inflated 319% and 194%, respectively, in July 2019. Ibbo Mandaza of think-tank Sapes Trust told Al-Jazeera,

“We are now faced with a far worse political and economic crisis characterised by power shortages, rising prices, currency crisis and fuel shortages.”

Mnangagwa has attempted to cut government spending and increase tax revenue; however, these austerity measures have not been widely popular. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube also introduced the Bond note as Zimbabwe’s currency in order to address the continued repercussions of the 2008/2009 liquidity shortage due to the financial crisis.

Private-sector development is still limited in Zimbabwe and hindered by lack of investment regulation, high input costs, outdated machinery, and inefficiency in the bureaucracy. With young people making up 36% of the population, unemployment is high at a projected 8.13%. However, the proportion of young people in a country speaks to the potential economic productivity of a country in the future.

Numbers under Mnangagwa

However, many of these issues predate Mnangagwa’s term. Following his election, the economy performed relatively well, largely as a result of relative stability and agriculture productivity. This small economic boom was due to consumer confidence from a relatively peaceful election. From 2017 to 2018, the fiscal deficit went down 1.8% of GDP owing to domestic borrowing, and total external debt was down 8.5%.

Despite these obstacles, Zimbabwe is projected by World Bank estimates to contract by 7.5% in 2019, but pick up by 2.7% in 2020. While overall, indicators point to Zimbabwe having decent potential to overcome its historical economic shortcomings, it still faces difficulties in the short run. These include their currently unsustainable debt-to-GDP ratio, cash shortages, rigidity in conducting a foreign exchange, bureaucratic ineffectiveness, and other critical shortcomings remain obstacles for Zimbabwe to overcome.

Prospects for prosperity

With just a year into his election, it is still too early to tell what large dent he has made in the everyday socio-economic struggles of Zimbabweans. Mnangagwa still faces the problems of making up for Mugabe’s ostracization of international investors and economies. However, the economic trends point in a positive direction for future Zimbabweans. The greatest determinant of short term growth will be both foreign and domestic confidence in Mnangagwa and his ability to make substantial reforms. And on this front, it would certainly not hurt him to make a more concerted effort to emphasize the message that Zimbabwe is open for business.

Zimbabwe’s hard times are far from over. However, macroeconomic indicators point to what might be gradual growth for the country, with trends in inflation and poverty slowing or reversing. Mnangagwa said he was a man of change that would ultimately change Zimbabwe for the better, and despite the challenges it fill face in the short run, the long run is indeed promising. Conditional on substantive policies on openness to trade, continuing peaceful and truly democratic elections, and better fiscal policy, the country is likely to experience real economic growth over the next decade.

Post published in: Featured

* Elon Musk has won the defamation trial stemming from his infamous “pedo guy” tweet. Hope this means we’ll see more off-the-cuff tweets from Musk. [New York Times]

* Simon Cowell has lawyered up for an investigation about an allegedly toxic culture at America’s Got Talent. Wonder if he did an America’s Got Talent type of competition to select counsel. [Variety]

* A Seattle attorney has been sentenced to prison time and fines for fleecing a brain-damaged former client. [Seattle Times]

* Ride-share services are facing a legal reckoning over sexual assault allegations against drivers. [New York Times]

* A judge has refused to toss a lawsuit filed by Bill Nye against Disney for profits Nye is allegedly owed from his hit 90s TV show. As we know from South Park, Nye needs to be careful taking on Mickey Mouse… [Hollywood Reporter]

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Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

We go out of 2019 with so many areas of failure in terms of policy and activity that it is difficult to pick them out and deal with them one by one. So this weekly letter is going to cover my personal wish list for my country in 2020.

The first item is these wretched shortages – fuel, power, food basics. Once any product is in short supply you lose control of its price and distribution. In addition, these particular commodities are critical to everything we do and live on. We are no longer short of foreign exchange. In 2019, the fundamental reforms implemented under the TSP have given a huge boost to our export industries and official inflows of hard currency has exceeded our needs for the very first time in many years. My estimate is that total receipts this year will exceed US$7 billion while direct imports of all our essentials will only reach US$5,6 billion.

If I value all the critical commodity imports listed above, the cost comes to about US$200 million a month – well within our capabilities. But in every field, you have State-Owned Entities that are deeply corrupt and technically bankrupt. Without any credibility in the market place. They cannot order supplies from anyone without cash in hand and that they simply do not have. What we do have is a functioning private sector with a decent balance sheet and reputation. We have to switch procurement of these essential commodities to the private sector and use the infrastructure of the SOE’s to deal with logistics and storage.

The second item on my wish list is in the field of property rights. It is time that we recognised, as a nation, not just in Government, that property rights are sacrosanct. If we do not have a legal system and a Government or even a national perspective on this issue, we are going nowhere. Private ownership of the property – intellectual or other, is fundamental to the process of accumulation and value addition as well as a functioning banking system. People only look after what they own, nothing else.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we as a country, are now faced with the harsh reality that our climate is changing. The ONLY way we can manage that process on the ground is to have a million farmers who own and control the land they make a living from. State ownership and communal ownership simply will not be able to handle the magnitude of the climate-induced problems that are coming. Israel turns desert into flourishing farms – but always on the fundamental premise that the land that is being cultivated is owned by the Kibbutz or the Commune or the Company or individual.

We need, at the very least, a long term bankable lease for land that is protected by law and law enforcement against violation and abuse. The days of a connected individual targeting a prime property and then forcing the owners to flee with their clothes in bags must be a thing of the past. We have started on this process in 2019, but we need now to make it automatic and visible. Without tenure, our farmers will not put in contours, irrigation or plant trees. They will simply rape the land for profit and abandon it when it can no longer yield a return more than the cost of getting there. What we are doing now is simply not working – for anyone.

My third wish on the list is to adopt policies that recognise the value of foreign exchange and the need to use it responsibly and on a market-driven allocation basis. Right now we have a system that transfers control over foreign exchange from those who have earned it to people who control its allocation as a source of power, influence and privilege. We may now be paying the earners a real market price but this is only in a local currency that is not convertible outside the country and is unstable. The temptation to take this scarce resource and allocate it at a subsidy or to simply make it available because you can is just too much of a temptation. Just look at the lifestyles of those who control these artificial levers of power – they are all living way beyond their personal means.

We need to do what all successful States are doing – create a market for foreign exchange that is open, transparent and accessible to all. Then we need to direct all foreign earnings onto that market and allow anyone who wants foreign exchange for any legitimate purpose, access to the market at a market price. That is what happens in Botswana, Zambia and South Africa. Why not here? The good thing here is that we are on our way to doing just this, but there are many who will fight the changes to protect their privileges and power.

My fourth wish is that we as a Nation must strive in 2020 to agree on where we are going as a country. The Bible says that a “house divided cannot stand” and that “a nation without vision will perish”. At present we are stuck with both problems and we must accept that unless we get to grips with this issue we will not make real progress and maintain our stability. When the ANC met nearly 100 years ago to agree on the “Freedom Charter”, they laid the foundation for the subsequent struggle and rise to power. We need to meet together as a nation State and agree on where we want to be in 100 years and how we are going to get there.

Then we need a binding social contract to guide policy and government and to lay down the fundamental principles which we will all adhere to and live by. This is part of African culture and tradition and is also the very foundation on which a successful State is developed. The consensus in national life is very powerful and should not be that difficult to secure if we all work at it and our leaders accept its need. Making decisions at a national level in our different silos of interest and authority is simply not working. The danger of moving into the future without a road map is that we will get lost if we are not lost already.

My fifth wish is that we get to grips with how we manage our local authorities. What we are doing now is just not working. Would any of us select the sort of Councillor that is in charge today if the City was our company? The answer is no, never in a month of Sundays – it is just beyond most of them. The City or Town is a vital part of the State and in many ways what goes on there is more important than Parliament or Central Government. We need to be able to elect independent and professional men and women to the Councils. The situation in most urban areas has now reached crisis proportions in respect to service delivery.

Finally, our leadership must recognise that no Nation can make its way in the world of today without a good education and health services. We spend a lot of money on both, but performance is deteriorating and fast. If we do not get this right we put all our futures, not just the next generation, at risk. We need to change the way we fund both systems and learn from other Nations that are doing a much better job of delivery. We do not have to invent solutions – they are already in the market place of ideas. We need a system that will pay our professionals what they are worth, determined by their value to our society and not determined by some bureaucrat in an office in Harare.

Am I crazy to expect such fundamental changes from Father Christmas? Does our leadership really have the best interests of our people at heart? I have to believe that both are true. I go back to Obama when he was speaking to young people in America “Can we do this? Yes, we can!” I have no doubt we can find ourselves in 2020 and then map out a way out of this morass into a decent future for everyone.

Post published in: Featured

The economy has collapsed as hyperinflation again takes hold, blamed on ‘an unsustainable import bill, corruption, externalization of money, coupled with the printing of electronic money’ (see: https://www.fin24.com/Economy/Africa/its-official-hyperinflation-has-returned-to-zimbabwe-20191012).

For all his talk of a new dispensation, Mnangagwa has followed the same reckless path as Mugabe. While Zimbabweans starve or die from the failure of the health system, Mnangagwa has wasted millions on extravagant travel expenses, hiring a plane at US$30,000 a n hour to fly him to more than 40 destinations in the first eight months of the year, often taking large parties with him on lavish expenses (see: https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2019/12/06/mnangagwa-gobbles-over-us114m-on-foreign-trips/).

The pretext is that he is touting for foreign investment but only gangster regimes would invest in the corrupt Zimbabwe that Zanu PF has created. Even the Chinese now hesitate to risk more of their money. Of course we have the full support of Africa, but it seems they are not tempted to put their money where their mouth is. South African companies are instead pulling out.

Businessman and former MDC MP Eddie Cross says the situation simply cannot go on like this. He called on the government to get corruption and all forms of human rights abuse under control to set Zimbabwe on the road to recovery and growth.

For its part, the European Union said escalating human rights violations were at the top of the agenda at a recent meeting with government in Harare. EU Ambassador Timo Olkkonen said Zimbabwe was urged to expedite political reforms (see: https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2019/12/06/eu-takes-zim-govt-on-over-rights-abuses/).

Other points

• Despite the cold weather our faithful English supporter, the blind journalist, David Wilkins, spent the afternoon at the Vigil and went on afterwards to a fundraising dinner dance organised by our sister organisation the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe to raise funds for a Zimbabwe peace-building initiative.
• Thanks to those who came early to help set up the front table and put up the banners: Charles Mararirakwenda, Lucia Mudzimu, Farai Mutumburi, Hazvinei Saili, Ephraim Tapa and Kevin Wheeldon. Thanks to Hazvinei, Farai and David Wilkins for looking after the front table, to Lucia for handing out flyers and to Yvonne Makombe and Molly Ngavaimbe for drumming. A special thank you to Pamela Chirimuta for buying burgers, fries, wraps and drinks for our cold, hungry activists.
• For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimb88abwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website.

FOR THE RECORD: 14 signed the register.

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

• ROHR general members’ meeting. Saturday 14^th December from 11.30 am. Venue: Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX. Contact: Ephraim Tapa 07940793090, Patricia Masamba 07708116625, Esther Munyira 07492058109.
• The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organization on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents us.
• The Vigil’s book ‘Zimbabwe Emergency’ is based on our weekly diaries. It records how events in Zimbabwe have unfolded as seen by the diaspora in the UK. It chronicles the economic disintegration, violence, growing oppression and political manoeuvring – and the tragic human cost involved. It is available at the Vigil. All proceeds go to the Vigil and our sister organisation the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe’s work in Zimbabwe. The book is also available from Amazon.
• Facebook pages:
  Vigil: https://www.facebook.com/zimbabwevigil
  ROHR: https://www.facebook.com/Restoration-of-Human-Rights-ROHR-Zimbabwe-International-370825706588551/
  ZAF: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zimbabwe-Action-Forum-ZAF/490257051027515

Post published in: Featured