Desmarais

Big-time raises for associates with mid-year bonuses on top of them? We love to see it!

How exciting!

* As she steps away from public life in the wake of her dementia diagnosis, rather than banish retired Justice Anthony Kennedy to the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor bequeathed her chambers to him. The Supreme Court will miss her. [National Law Journal]

* Judges say the darndest things: Bill Cosby’s bid to get a new trial and reduce his sentence was summarily turned down by Judge Steven O’Neill, who noted in a simple, one-page ruling that “no hearing or argument is required on the issues.” [NBC News]

* Desmarais, the elite IP litigation boutique that recently raised salaries for first-year associates to $210,000, will be making its “first and probably [] last expansion,” opening a West Coast office in San Francisco to serve its Bay Area clients. [Law360]

* In case you missed it, the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners awarded Thomas Jefferson School of Law with state accreditation after an 8-7 vote, with one committee member abstaining. Now its graduates will be able to sit for the California bar exam even if the ABA revokes its accreditation. [ABA Journal]

* If you’ve been wondering what killed the Middle Tennessee State University / Valparaiso Law School deal, one member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission says it had to do with “genuine concern about the labor supply and demand for lawyers” — and that seems entirely reasonable. [Murfreesboro Post]

Here's another boutique offering above-market compensation.

When it comes to a law firm workplace, bigger isn't always better.

Whoa! That's a LOT of money!

This high-powered boutique firm pays base salaries that are $20K above market AND generous bonuses on top of that.

What ethical problems does the rapidly growing field of litigation funding present?

A leading intellectual-property litigator finds that switching to plaintiff-side work isn't easy.

Which law firms pay starting salaries that exceed $160,000? Let's make a list.

The Anonymous Partner discusses such topics as the billable hour and cross-selling -- with a former senior partner of a Biglaw firm and former general counsel of a major corporation.

Finally, some New York associates are getting paid...