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Table of Contents


June 21, 1999 Issue

"The days of the firm as a family are over. As is the case with sports teams and Fortune 500 companies, lawyers are now free agents."
--Davis, Polk managing partner Francis Morrison, from "Brief Grief"

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FEATURES
Brief Grief
BY T.Z. PARSA

The era of gentility and till-death-do-us-part loyalty at white-shoe law firms is over. Partner divorces, associate-poaching, and client-custody battles are now rampant, as more and more talented associates opt out for investment banking or more civilized in-house-counsel positions. Firms may be pulling in record-breaking revenues, but soaring dissatisfaction in the ranks is making it increasingly difficult to recruit the best and brightest and hold on to rainmakers. Can the bigger-than-ever law firm survive its own success?

Gemini Rising
BY ALEXANDRA LANGE

At 50, Albert Innaurato thought he was finished as a playwright, a washed-up former wunderkind. But then Second Stage Theatre offered to revive Gemini, his hit Broadway farce from the seventies, and the Muse began to speak again.

Giving All
BY CRAIG HOROWITZ

David and Penny McCall were a classic A-list power couple: They had an East Side penthouse, a serious art collection, and an estate in the Hamptons dubbed the Taj McCall. But they also shared a deep commitment to rolling up their sleeves and helping people in need, from Harlem to Kosovo; that commitment cost them their lives.

Ordering In
BY VICTORIA C. ROWAN

No need to leave your uninspired (or shabby not-so-chic) chair in order to replace it with something surpassingly stylish. Many of the city's marquee interior designers and best design boutiques are now hawking home furnishings in catalogues, both print and online. A guide to the new room service.

GOTHAM
A studio loses its sound; girls who talk too much about sex
GOTHAM STYLE Expectant maids, stellar nuptials

DEPARTMENTS
Religion
BY SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN

Reform Jews turn back the clock

Media
BY MICHAEL WOLFF

What does James Truman do?

The Insatiable Critic
BY GAEL GREENE

Cibi-Cibi needs to turn down the volume, but Bolívar sings

MARKETPLACE
Best Bets
BY CORKY POLLAN

Cashmere tanks; a sleek sink

Smart City
BY PATRICIA FALVO

Cinemas that won't be showing The Phantom Menace

Sales & Bargains
BY SHYAMA PATEL

Cool off, without the mark-up

THE ARTS
Movies
BY PETER RAINER

Austin Powers does more flogging than snogging in a funny sequel

Theater
BY JOHN SIMON

If Love Were All fails to transmit Coward’s wit

Art
BY MARK STEVENS

The chill of Tracy Moffatt and Cindy Sherman's sexy new work

Dance
BY TOBI TOBIAS

The SAB toasts the future

Television
BY JOHN LEONARD

Depardieu was born to swash the Count of Monte Christo's buckle

Pop Music
BY ETHAN BROWN

Forget Euro electronica -- local house music is setting the pace

CUE
New York Magazine's weekly guide to entertainment and the arts.

Intelligencer
(Gossip)

Classifieds
Strictly Personals