LAW
• Simpson Thacher & Barlett has raised first-year associate salaries from $145K to $160K. Expect the rest of the white-shoe firms to follow suit. [Above the Law]
• Lawyers dissed in Oscar nominations. Whither Atticus Finch? [Law Blog]
FASHION
Is Valentino retiring? The rumor — straight from yesterday’s couture show — has the designer stepping down in July. [Fashion Week Daily]
• The latest Chanel accessory: furniture. The company is commissioning a red chair inspired by a Swiss Army knife. [WWD]
MEDIA
• Perseus Books Group acquires distribution contracts of about 150 publishers (including Grove/Atlantic and Avalon) who were abandoned when previous distributor Advance Marketing Services filed for bankruptcy last month. [NYT]
• Up to six companies are bidding on sexy Time Inc. titles such as Field and Stream and Parenting. Minimum bids were set at $240 million. [NYP]
• For now, real-estate content is king at Jared Kushner’s Observer [WWD]
FINANCE
• Local CEOs (Citigroup’s Charles Prince, Google’s Eric Schmidt) to be placed inside a sensory-deprivation chamber at the World Economic Forum, which starts today in Davos. It’s part of a management-training exercise that involves fumbling around in the dark. [Bloomberg via DealBreaker]
• Will shuffling at the top of Citigroup enable the bank to get it together? [NYT]
• What else you’re missing at Davos: Tom Friedman joins the Gates in a fireside chat and parties with Steve Forbes, McKinsey & Co., and Goldman Sachs. [DealBook]
