Friday, April 23, 2004

The Lure of the Rings Resembling a diamond-encrusted bracelet, a ring of brilliant blue star clusters wraps around the yellowish nucleus of what was once a normal spiral galaxy in this image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This image is being released to commemorate the 14th anniversary of Hubble's launch on April 24, 1990 and its deployment from the space shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990. The galaxy, cataloged as AM 0644-741, is a member of the class of so-called "ring galaxies." It lies 300 million light-years away in the direction of the southern constellation Dorado. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI) + View Full Size Image + More Details, High Resolution Images and Videos at Hubble Web Site 8:34:06 PM    comment []

REVENUE PER LAWYER The Bay Area’s five highest grossing firms, ranked by percent change in revenue per lawyer 2003 1998 Percent change Heller Ehrman $755,000 $450,000 68% Orrick, Herrington $700,000 $475,000 47 Morrison & Foerster $615,000 $445,000 38 Pillsbury Winthrop1 $630,000 $465,000 35 Wilson Sonsini $630,000 $480,000 31 SOURCE: Recorder surveys. Figures are rounded to nearest $5,000 8:26:52 PM    comment []

PROFITS PER PARTNER The Bay Area’s five highest grossing firms, ranked by percent change in average profit per equity partner   No. Equity Partners 2003 Profits per Partner 2003* No. Equity Partners 1998 Profits per Partner1998* PPP Change Percent Pillsbury Winthrop1 140 $720,000 170 $350,000 106% Heller Ehrman 180 $835,000 133 $430,000 94 Orrick, Herrington 142 $945,000 109 $615,000 54 Morrison & Foerster 220 $740,000 167 $515,000 44 Wilson Sonsini 146 $830,000 108 $620,000 34 1 Firm was Pillsbury Madison & Sutro prior to January 2001 merger with New York’s Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts SOURCE: Recorder surveys. Figures are rounded to nearest $5,000 8:25:45 PM    comment []