company town

Bonus Season, Already?

FINANCE
• Investment bankers’ bonuses could break records again, with one recruiting firm predicting 10 to 15 percent increases. [DealBook/NYT]
• Ben Weston, the chief of Merrill Lynch’s hedge-fund development group, stepped down after two years with the firm. [Bloomberg]
• Is “back pain” the new euphemism for buyout deal? The CFO of Palm might know. [Deal Journal/WSJ]

MEDIA
• Greg Gutfield’s Red Eye is a safe space for the New York liberal media. [NYO]
• The Bancroft family meets today to decide how to handle Rupert Murdoch’s offer. [WSJ]
• The early settlers of the new Times building give a report from the frontier. The toilets are loud on Eighth Avenue. [Gawker]

LAW
• In his amended complaint, Aaron Charney claims that former Sullivan & Cromwell associate Edward Gallion admitted that he was gay and had not made partner at S&C because of discrimination. [Soloway via Above the Law]
• It’s never too late to be a summer associate: Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of Prozac Nation, is summering at WilmerHale. [Above the Law]
• Tired of the Big Law grind? Leaner firms try to provide a saner work environment. [National Law Journal]

FASHION
• Saks Fifth Avenue is renovating and expanding its shoe department. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Phillip Lim and Alexander Plokhov’s Uniqlo lines hit stores, cause frenzies. [The Shophound]
• Charlotte Ronson and Estée Lauder are teaming up on a makeup line. [Fashionista]

Bonus Season, Already?