The concept is pretty straightforward: If a law firm associate in one practice area bills at a significantly higher rate than a same-year associate in a different practice area, shouldn't he or she make more money? Philadelphia's Post & Schell thinks so. It has done away with the popular lockstep model in favor of an associate compensation system that focuses on each attorney's ability to generate revenue for the firm.

Law firm consulting group Negotiating Women Inc. has launched a new product designed to help law firms maintain women's initiatives in the legal industry during this dismal economic period. The "Just Add Women" toolkit is a $14,999 Powerpoint presentation that's e-mailed to law firms with step-by-step instructions on how to conduct meetings designed to boost women's roles in the legal profession and help them become partners and rainmakers.

Gordon Walton joins Duane Morris' trial practice group as partner in the Chicago office. Plus more law firm movers in this week's column.

Day Pitney laid off 20 attorneys this week, including four from the Hartford, Conn., office and six from Florham Park, N.J. This was the second round of cuts in three months for Day Pitney, which trimmed 66 staffers and paralegals in February. At the time, firm leaders said they didn't plan to eliminate any attorneys. "Unfortunately, the demand for legal services has continued to decline, with the result that we have found ourselves with excess capacity," Day Pitney stated in an internal memo.

Hunton & Williams has announced that 23 associates and counsel and 64 staff members have been laid off. The cuts, announced in a firmwide e-mail distributed Thursday morning, are spread across practice areas and offices. They affect two percent of the Richmond, Va.-based firm's 1,000 lawyers and six percent of its staff. Thursday's cuts are Hunton's first round of layoffs since the start of the downturn.

Legal Times honors those lawyers whose work has helped enhance the Washington bar during the past year in three categories: Champions, those who have upheld the profession's core values through public service, pro bono efforts and advocacy for civil liberties; Visionaries, those whose business or legal acumen has been key to expanding their firms, improving government or advancing the law; and Pioneers, those who passed away in the past year, but whose legal legacy has enriched the Washington bar.

Foley & Lardner has reached a tentative agreement to settle a legal malpractice lawsuit filed by one of its former clients over an allegedly botched patent application, according to court documents filed in the case.

Mayer Brown Vice Chairman Paul Maher, who had been on sabbatical at the law firm as of last month when he was passed over for one of the firm's new management posts, has provided his official resignation from the firm. Chairman Jim Holzhauer told all of the firm's lawyers in a May 15 memo that Maher would be leaving on "a date to be agreed upon."

Atlanta-based Morris, Manning & Martin has snagged five attorneys from competing Bryan Cave Powell Goldstein. In addition to the lawyers, Morris Manning also swiped a senior paralegal and two secretaries from Bryan Cave. The new hires will be used to establish a new timberland investments and forest products practice.

Across the country, major law firms have cut their summer programs, some by a week or two and others by significantly more. For the summer associates, it means less money in their pockets and added pressure to prove themselves quickly.