FASHION
• Princely girlfriend Kate Middleton quit her job at fashion chain Jigsaw, sparking rumors of an imminent engagement! [British Vogue]
• Daria Werbowy is doing a line of makeup for Lancôme that benefits a Brazilian children’s charity. Hot and philanthropic? Sigh. [Fashionista]
• Surprise, surprise: This holiday shopping season is gonna suck for retailers. [NYT]
FINANCE
• Thanks to his timely “resignation,” Chuck Prince will take home $30 million in stock and option awards when he leaves. Stan O’Neal still has bragging rights — he took home $161.5 million. [NYP]
• How did Citi get caught so off guard? Gary Crittenden, the bank’s recently appointed CFO, hadn’t even mentioned the possible losses just two weeks earlier in a call with analysts because the bank’s securities portfolio was considered so low risk it wasn’t even worth mentioning — until those same securities suddenly lost billions. Yet Crittenden still has his job. [WSJ]
• John Mack won’t be leaving Morgan Stanley any time soon, despite a $3.7 billion loss, but he’s already picked out Zoe Cruz as his leading successor. Which looks like stunning foresight now, since the rest of the top-level talent pool on the Street has pretty much dried up. [NYT, NYT]
MEDIA
• Tim Russert said he’d go on Imus’s new show if NBC doesn’t object. Because, you know, he’s from Buffalo. [TVBarn via Romenesko]
• Jann Wenner isn’t so sure he’d make a good employee and admits that he’s “happy to work for someone smarter than me…” Oh wait, “now I’m going to get myself into trouble.” It’s okay, Jann. We already know you think you’re smarter than everyone else. [WWD]
• Will the studios turn to U.K. writers to break the strike? The Brits are so hush-hush you can’t tell whether they’re trying to protect their fellow writers — or planning to go scab. [Variety]
LAW
• Big-law associates may be happier than ever with their recent pay raises and special bonuses, but a new study shows loyalty is at an all-time low. [ABA Journal via Above the Law]
• Merck finally settled its long-running Vioxx litigation for $4.85 billion. The company already paid its own lawyers $1.2 billion trying to fend off the suits, and another $2 billion of the settlement will go to plaintiffs’ firms. So basically everyone’s happy except Merck and the heart-attack victims. [Law Blog/WSJ]
• Are New York D.A.’s failing to meet their constitutional obligations? A new suit by the New York Civil Liberties Union claims twenty indigent defendants were effectively denied counsel. [NYT]
