Great Wall Street reads for the long weekend

Hello readers,

We rounded up our trending stories and big reads for you to enjoy over the long weekend. Here are just some of the highlights:

• A fresh wave of firms including JPMorgan are hiking junior investment-banker pay - we have all the details
• Inside law firm Paul Weiss' relationship with Apollo
• JPMorgan is sounding the alarm about third-party trading venues like Tradeweb and MarketAxess

And a quick programming note: we're working on this year's list of Wall Street rising stars. Here's how to nominate someone.

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Law firm Paul Weiss' relationship with Apollo has been lucrative. Insiders say it's also sowed tensions within the firm and altered its DNA.

Over the past decade, law firm Paul Weiss has boosted its profits with the help of legal fees from its large private-equity client, Apollo Global Management. The account also changed the law firm's culture, insiders say, and opened it up to criticisms about its independence.

Read the full story here.

From 'vanilla' skirt suits to 'too-tight' shirts: Female lawyers describe how it's impossible to win when it comes to professional dress codes

In prisons and courtrooms across the US, strict dress codes disproportionately affect female-presenting lawyers. As in-person prison visits and courtroom trials begin to reopen, women are contending with renewed concerns over how their wardrobes influence their work.

Read the full story here.

Which Wall Street banks have raised pay - and which have yet to budge

At least three banks hiked base pay this week by up to $25,000 for junior investment-bankers. The moves come on the heels of a wave of raises and special bonuses across Wall Street earlier this year as firms battle for young talent.

See our full rundown here.

JPMorgan warns rival investment banks: MarketAxess, Tradeweb, and Bloomberg are 'real competitors'

JPMorgan says third-party trading platforms pose a competitive threat to banks' trading floors, and compared the disruptive effect to how Skyscanner and Tripadvisor have upended the travel industry.

Keep reading here.

We found the 12 go-to digital health bankers. They broke down how tech is driving record deals and the next generation of giants.

We spoke with some of the industry's top bankers at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Piper Sandler, Lazard, and five other leading firms to get a sense of what's behind record deal activity.

Read more here.

These 10 execs will determine the future of bank branches. Here's how they're thinking about more than 24,000 locations.

From M&A to accelerating digital strategy, the pandemic has changed banks' approach to branches. Some have looked to deals to broaden their footprint, while others are expanding on their own.

We highlighted the 10 execs leading branch strategy at the biggest US banks. Get the full rundown here.

Torrid's Liz Muñoz started as a patternmaker. Now she's one of the only Latina CEOs leading a publicly traded US company.

On the morning of Torrid's initial public offering on July 1, CEO Liz Muñoz arrived at the New York Stock Exchange wearing a ripped jean jacket, a black dress, and safety-pin earrings, all from the plus-size fashion brand. She sported bright-purple hair and black nail polish.

"I'm sure I'm not blending in, but who wants to blend in anyway?" she told Insider.

You can read our full story here.

Other stories readers loved this week

• Plaid is hiring like crazy and investing big in a new portal giving consumers control of their financial data
• An IPO frenzy means a hiring surge for investor relations and legal experts, with some soon-to-be-public companies offering 7-figure equity packages
• Tech workers and engineers are flocking to these 7 rising US cities - and not a single one is on the coasts
• Mutiny at Great Jones; How a cofounder war led every employee to quit Instagram's trendiest cookware company