On the Record

DLA Piper has decided to up associate salaries, with first years in Baltimore getting $160K, retroactive to January 1. Last week, Venable apparently raised to $160K as well.

What do you think of the new salaries for these big firms?

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer

Back when dot-coms were booming, our Big Law compatriot showed up at the ball game still in his business suit, prompting no small amount of ribbing from the rest of us.

“Thought your firm went all-casual, all the time,” we said.

“Lawyers,” he groused, “should look like lawyers.”

Today’s Wall Street Journal underscores his point.

“In lawyering, half the battle is the posturing…,” Christina Binkley writes in the Style section. “Legal associates who aren’t sartorially prepared may not be invited along to a new-client pitch or to take a leading role in court, regardless of the office’s stated ‘business casual’ dress code.”

Her sources provide horror stories of associates in Ugg boots or unpolished shoes, practitioners who take their professional-dress cues from Hollywood and one hapless litigator who had to e-mail a firm-wide plea for a size 32-belt when he was unexpectedly called to court.

But they also include younger lawyers who think sartorial skills matter “not at all” to advancement and that it’s hip to be, well, hip.

So what’s the dress code like in your office? Should lawyers in fact “look like lawyers” or does this alienate prospective clients?

Not to influence your vote, but it didn’t seem to hurt the ball-game guy. He’s now managing partner at that firm.

BARBARA GRZINCIC, Managing Editor/Law

Maryland lawmakers are striding into an old controversy this term with a proposal to make walking the official state exercise — even though the idea was vetoed once before, the AP reports.

In 2003, then-Gov. Ehrlich vetoed the idea, pointing out that there was nothing about walking that is unique to Maryland.

But some lawmakers, citing the nationwide rise in obesity, argue that bringing attention to the easy exercise would be good for Marylanders’ health (this blogger thinks that perhaps a more cardio-intensive sport might do the trick, too).

Delegate Richard Sossi, a Republican from the Eastern Shore, says, “Smith Island cake, that’s a Maryland thing. Lacrosse, that’s a Maryland thing. But walking? … It’s like saying breathing is the state activity because everyone does it whether you want to or not.”

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

Can you imagine being held more than a month in jail and not even knowing what your charges are?

In Baltimore, detainees are brought before a court commissioner for a bail hearing within 24 hours of the arrest. But earlier this month in Baton Rouge, a handful of University of Maryland School of Law students spent their winter break working for the public defender’s office, preparing and interviewing detainees who had spent more than a month in jail without being charged.

The students were there as part of the school’s third annual law trip to volunteer in the Gulf Coast area affected by Hurricane Katrina and were the first student group to volunteer at the Baton Rouge jails.

Under Louisiana law, arrestees must be charged within 45 days for a misdemeanor and 60 days for a felony. They are not assigned a public defender until they are officially charged, according to third-year student Anne Deady.

“Another thing is that the Baton Rouge population doubled after Katrina,” said Deady, who helped organize the trip. “The government there was really worried there was going to be more crime so they beefed up the police force but not the PD’s office. So you had more people being arrested than before with fewer people to handle it.”

The public defender’s office is so strapped for resources that one PD currently has 850 cases — more than 10 times the American Bar Association’s recommended caseload, Deady said.

While Deady said the law students’ presence was “so welcomed” in Baton Rouge, there is only so much they can do. Is there anyone out there helping to lighten the load? If you’ve been down to the Gulf Coast to lend a helping hand — whether it’s in the legal system or the rebuilding effort — we’d love to hear about your experience.

LIZ FARMER, Legal Affairs Writer

An update about associate pay hikes at two law firms that have historically been among the most generous in Baltimore: Saul Ewing’s not planning on making any pay raise decisions for several months, but its fellow Philly-based firm, Ballard Spahr, actually raised first-year associate salaries at the beginning of 2008, even though it also raised them in mid-2007.

According to Baltimore hiring partner Tom Hauser, Ballard was at $120K in Baltimore at the beginning of last year. In June 2007, it went to $130K. Now it’s at $140K, and that doesn’t include the across-the-board $5,000 “stipend” for all first-years.

Hauser says this is the first time in six or seven years that Ballard’s raised associate salaries twice in one year.

Stay tuned for news from DLA Piper…

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer

You may have seen one of the ads recently put forth as part of a $40 million ad campaign by the National Association of Realtors. The spots attempt to sell you on the long-term benefits of being a homeowner (you know, maintenance, repairs, property taxes…).

But Advertising Age says the ads may be misleading:

On the [related Web] site, an “equity estimator calculator” suggests a $20,000 home down payment turns into $124,600 in 10 years for a 623 percent return. The Web site includes the same claims as the two spots and adds a few more noting, for example, that that prices have risen an average of 6 percent every year. Like each of the spots, the site does come with a small warning — that local market conditions can vary and consumers should seek counsel from a local real-estate agent.

However, in the light of the current market the “housing-market facts” could also be read as a historical look at an overheated market rather than a good predictor of what’s to come.

Here’s descriptions of the two ads: Building Wealth and Home Values.

What do you think? Is becoming a homeowner still a surefire investment?

JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

Image courtesy of National Association of Realtors

Sen. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George’s County) proposed a bill today that would add a $20 tax to “tobacco paraphernalia” such as bongs and water pipes.

“Bongs are not used for cigarette smoking,” Muse said. “They’re used for illegal drugs. I think people recognize immediately what they’re used for.”

The law would require people to be at least 18 before buying a bong and would apply a $20 tax to their purchase.

Apparently, Muse feels an extra $20 would act as a deterrent for young people who smoke pot.

Here’s the bill.

(Wonder what effect, if any, this could have on hookah bars?)

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

The appropriate people from Venable aren’t getting back to me on this — I’ve been trying since last week — but word is they’re raising starting salaries for first-year associates to $160,000 as of the fall. This year, starting salaries were $145,000.

The firm that may be Venable’s top competitor for talent in Baltimore, DLA Piper, says it’s finalizing starting salaries and bonuses and will probably have a number today.
No word yet on what some of the other major Maryland firms are doing yet — for Pete’s sake, it’s January! — but I’ll keep you posted as I learn more.

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer

Starting in February, MoCo residents will be able to sign up for email alerts to notify them when a crime occurs near their home, child’s school or office. It’s all thanks to a partnership between police and a software development company.

Envious? Invite your local law enforcement agency to participate. (Thanks for WJZ for the tip).

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

Here’s some good reading for your Monday afternoon:

• The ABA journal blogs about a Texas prosecutor who “is focusing on freeing the wrongly convicted.” This is a pretty significant move coming from a jurisdiction notorious for those mistakes.

• May It Please the Court blogs about the proposed do-not-deliver-(The Examiner) bill.

• Ms. JD has a continuing series covering seven things professional women should know about having kids before they do so. Here’s a link to the first one.

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer