JD Journal » associate salary cuts

Sutherland Ditches Lockstep

joshua — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:29:05 +0000

Atlanta based Sutherland is joining the rush to abandon lockstep compensation and is moving to a merit based system similar to the one other top firms have adopted or are planning to adopt. Associates will be classified as junior, mid-level and senior, with the levels roughly corresponding to their time in the firm. Unlike lockstep compensation increases, however, it’s possible for an associate to move forward at a faster or slower pace than his or her classmates, based on demonstrating proficiency at certain core skills. Sutherland says this change is designed to meet the wishes of their clients, many of whom are unwilling to continue to pay billing rates based solely on the length of time an associate has been with the firm.

Additionally, Sutherland is cutting the pay for new associates in its Atlanta office, but associates in its other offices will continue to earn $160k. Atlanta associates will now start at $135k.

Hard Times at Seyfarth Shaw

joshua — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:14:47 +0000

Seyfarth Shaw has told half of its deferred associates that they will not be starting in January as planned. Instead, they are being redeferred to October 2010, and will receive a stipend of $2000 dollars per month starting in January. If that wasn’t enough bad news, Seyfarth is also cutting the salaries of first year associates by five to ten percent. One can only hope that the deferral stipends aren’t subject to those cuts.

Yes, it’s nice to get paid $2000 a month to do nothing, and yes, it’s possible in some parts of the country to live on that kind of money, but in general biglaw doesn’t have offices there. Keep in mind that we’re talking about lawyers that graduated in June, got a job, and are now having to wait almost a year and a half to start working – assuming that things improve enough to start at all. With more firms pushing start dates back to October of next year, are there going to be jobs available for the 2010 grads?