JD Journal » incoming associates class

Mintz Levin Defers Start Dates — Again

Erik Even — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:35:44 +0000

Boston’s Mintz Levin, which cut associate salaries this month, is deferring start dates for members of its incoming 2009 associates class, again.

Half the 2009 class will start in April 2010 — but the other half has been informed, personally by phone, they will not start until January 2011. The latter group will get an additional stipend and fellowship opportunities.

Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo is a general practice law firm employing 500 attorneys worldwide. Headquartered in Boston, Mintz also has offices in New York City, Washington DC, Stamford, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, San Diego, and London.

Weil Gotshal to Defer Summer Associates to 2012

Erik Even — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:08:39 +0000

Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced in March that it was deferring its incoming associates’ start dates to January 2010, and is asking new hires to voluntarily wait until 2011.

Today the firm told its current summer associates that, if offered a job, they can voluntarily defer their start date from January 2011 to January 2012.

Those deferred would get a $75,000 stipend and health care benefits, if they spend 1,000 hours doing firm-approved public interest work.

In May, Weil Gotshal eliminated 79 administrative positions across its US offices.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. It is one of the largest and most highly regarded law firms in the world, with approximately 1,300 lawyers and gross annual revenue in excess of $1.7 billion.

Study: Dublin Solicitors Suffering Wage Cuts, Layoffs

Erik Even — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:26:45 +0000

A survey by the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association reports that 40% of new and low-level solicitors in the city have taken pay cuts averaging 15%; and 40% of incoming new solicitors have been laid off or lost their job offer.

Furthermore, 40% (there’s that number again) are working without a contract; and 30% are considering changing careers.

The study questioned solicitors with less than five years experience.

Established in 1938, the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association is the largest bar association in Ireland.

Blank Rome Cuts Starting Associate Salaries

Erik Even — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:15:58 +0000

Blank Rome is cutting starting salaries for incoming associates.

The rundown is as follows:

New York City: $145,000, down from $160,000
Philadelphia & Princeton: $130,000, from $145,000
Wilmington & Washington DC: $135,000, from $150,000

Associates already with the firm will see their pay cut between 2% and 10%.

The new salaries go into effect in two weeks.

Blank Rome LLP is the 84th largest law firm in the US according to the AmLaw 100. It employs about 500 at its eight offices in the US and Kong Kong.

University of Miami Law to Defer Incoming Students

Erik Even — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:56:02 +0000

For months now, Biglaw firms have been offering voluntary, or imposing involuntary, deferral schemes on incoming associates. Now a law school had jumped on the bandwagon.

The University of Miami School of Law is asking incoming 1L students invited to start in the Fall to defer their entry into the law school until Fall 2010.

Students who accept the offer will get a $5000 Public Interest Deferral Scholarship for the 2010-11 academic year, if they complete 120 hours of public service by June 2010. This is in addition to any other scholarship money.

Deferred students will also have a greater chance of receiving a $75,000 Miami Scholars Scholarship award; and will be first considered for all 2010 scholarships.

The University of Miami School of Law, founded in 1926, is one of the top 100 law schools in the United States. According to US News & World Report, the school is ranked 71st among all law schools, with its tax law program ranked 6th in the nation. The law school was ranked 26th overall in the annual 2009 Judging the Law Schools rankings.

The UM School of Law is located on the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, just 6 miles southeast of Miami.

Taylor Wessing to Cut Half of Trainees

Erik Even — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:25:57 +0000

Like Dentons before it, Taylor Wessing will only hire half of their trainees.

Thirteen of its 24 2009 trainees will be kept on in September.

The firm is offering training and networking opportunities to those not hired.

Taylor Wessing LLP is an international law firm established in 2002, following the merger of UK law firm Taylor Joynson Garrett and German law firm Wessing. It has 13 offices around the globe; Berlin, Brussels, Cambridge, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, London, Munich and Paris; and representative offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Alicante. Taylor Wessing employs 750 attorneys.

DLA Piper Defers its Deferred Associates

Erik Even — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:10:38 +0000

DLA Piper is making major changes to its associate program, including further deferrals of associates who were deferred back in April.

Eighty-five new lawyers were deferred to January, 2010. Now half of those will be further deferred to Fall 2010, and take public interest jobs in the interim.

This year’s incoming class is 15% smaller than last year; and only 65 summer associates were brought in for 2009.

DLA Piper is also working on a new compensation system for associates that abandons the tradition lock-step model and pays based on merit. The firm will also give more work to staff attorneys.

DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms in the world, with more than 3,700 lawyers in North America and Europe.

Howrey Adopts Apprenticeship Model for First Years

Erik Even — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:45:47 +0000

Howrey, which laid off 25 staff in April, is adopting an “apprenticeship” program for its incoming associates, similar to that proposed by Drinker Biddle in May.

Under Howrey’s Tier 1 Program, new associates will spend only one-third of their time in their first year on billable client work. The rest will be spent on pro bono work and training programs.

In the “Howrey Academies,” associates will be taught writing, get assigned to trial teams, plus other programs.

In year two, associates will work on client secondments, judicial externships, and other advanced development opportunities. Billable hours in the second year will be capped at about half of total hours.

The bad news? The Tier 1 Program will be limited to a select number of associates each year. Compensation is annual salary of $100,000, plus $25,000 upon acceptance of the job offer to defray law school loans or third year law school expenses.

In their second year at the firm, participants will receive an annual salary of $125,000 and a $25,000 bonus upon successful completion of the program, and entry into Tier 2 of Howrey’s associate development program. Higher compensation may be offered to candidates with special qualifications, such as advanced technical degrees or clerkships.

Howrey LLP was founded as Howrey, Simon, Baker, & Murchison in 1956, and was the first national anti-trust law firm. It has more than 700 attorneys in 17 locations worldwide.

Shearman & Sterling Announces Start Dates

Erik Even — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:16:57 +0000

In April, New York’s Shearman & Sterling deferred its 2009 associate class. Incoming associates were offered a stipend to defer to 2010.

Now the firm has finally announced internally the start dates for those who did not accept the Delayed Start Program. According to online sources, the start dates are January 25th, February 1st, and February 8th, 2010. The dates are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Shearman & Sterling LLP is a law firm headquartered in New York City, with 19 offices located in major financial centers around the world. It was founded in 1873.

As of 2006, it was the 17th largest law firm in the world as measured by 2006 annual revenue. Shearman & Sterling is a white shoe firm, the equivalent of the Magic Circle in the UK.

DLA Piper to Keep Only 35% of Incoming Trainees

Erik Even — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:21:22 +0000

The UK offices of DLA Piper have cut incoming trainees from their intakes of newly-qualified lawyers.

The firm will only be keeping four of its 12 trainees in Birmingham; 14 out of 34 in London; and just two out of 11 in Scotland.

DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms in the world, and is the only firm with more than 3,700 lawyers in North America and Europe. DLA Piper is a legal services organization whose members and affiliates are separate and distinct legal entities. Together, the organization operates in 28 countries and 66 offices throughout the world.

Pillsbury Offers Incoming Associates $60K to Drop Dead [Update]

Erik Even — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:34:00 +0000

Pillsbury, which has delayed start dates for its incoming first year associates to January 2010, is now offering $60,000 to associates willing to forget about working at the firm.

Other firms have been offering $75,000 for the same deal.

The firm has also announced a public interest fellowship program. Rather than paying associates to do work with a non-profit or government agency, Pillsbury will pay $5,000 per month directly to the employer.

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is an international law firm with offices located throughout the US and globally, including key financial centers New York, London, Tokyo and Shanghai.

UPDATE

It appears that Pillsbury is deferring 32 members of its incoming class of new associates to January 2010; the other 22 don’t start until January 2011.

Drinker Biddle Will Not Defer Associates, But Will Cut Salaries

Erik Even — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:44:02 +0000

Drinker Biddle will allow its 36 incoming associates to start on time in September; but their salaries will be reduced, and they will enter a training program rather than jumping right in.

From a memo so long, we wondered if he catches the whale at the end:

Many of our lawyers have asked us whether we intend to modify our hiring program. In particular, given client questions about the value of very junior lawyers, it has been suggested that we should rely more on lateral hiring of more senior lawyers who have already received their initial training elsewhere. …we believe the answer is not to cut off the source of talent and future leaders of our firm by abandoning our traditional practice of hiring lawyers out of law schools. Nevertheless, we are now reviewing how we run our summer programs and train recent law school graduates to be Drinker Biddle lawyers. …we may very well hire fewer people and commit to train them better.

We have also decided to welcome and train our incoming lawyers rather than defer their arrival for months or a full year…

Accordingly, we are advising all of our incoming lawyers to join us in late September of this year and to expect to spend the first several months of their practice receiving intensive training – a training program far more rigorous and focused than any we have previously provided. Although much of this training will be focused on traditional legal skills relevant to particular areas of practice, we also expect to spend substantial time educating our new lawyers about our clients’ businesses and Drinker Biddle’s approach to adding value in countless practical ways…

During this initial period.. we will pay our incoming lawyers at an annual salary rate of $105,000. Any client work they perform will be billed at a significant rate reduction to ensure that, if new lawyers perform work for clients, the value is clear. In the spring of 2010 – once our new lawyers have been with us for at least six months – we expect to bring their compensation in line with then prevalent market rates for first-year lawyers.

The firm also announced a new flex time policy.

Some time in 2010, the firm plans to announce a new structure for associate compensation and bonuses.

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP was founded in Philadelphia in 1849. The firm has more than 650 attorneys in 12 offices in the US. Its largest offices are in Philadelphia; Chicago; Florham Park, New Jersey; and Washington, DC.

Stroock Offers First-Years $75,000 to Go Away Forever

Erik Even — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:51:31 +0000

According to an internal memo leaked online, New York’s Stroock & Stroock & Lavan is making three offers to incoming associates.

First, deferrals:

…the start date for the incoming class will be January 11, 2010. Prior to this date, you will be expected to take and pass the New York bar exam. We will cover related expenses for both the bar review course and the bar exam itself. We also will make available to you a cash advance of $10,000 in September to help cover your expenses. In addition, if applicable, we will reimburse your moving expenses to New York, up to $2,000.

Or, later deferrals:

Second, we offer the opportunity to defer your start date until January 2011. If you select this option, we will provide you with the cash advance in September and, starting in January 2010, will provide you with an annual stipend of $50,000 to be paid monthly for so long as you secure an approved position in the public interest field… for a period of up to one year… Following this deferral, the current expectation is that you would start with the Firm in January 2011, although this is subject to change depending upon our hiring needs at the time…

Or finally, a big cash incentive to just go away.

Lastly, the Firm recognizes that you may wish to pursue other opportunities, outside of Stroock. If this is the case, we will make a total payment to you of $75,000, half payable in September 2009 and half in January 2010. By accepting this payment, it should be understood that you would have no current or future obligation to Stroock, nor would we to you.

In March, Stroock laid off 10% of its associates and staff.

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP is based in New York City, with approximately 350 lawyers in three offices, including Miami and Los Angeles. It was founded in 1876.

Mayer Brown Extends Deferral Options

Erik Even — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:24:55 +0000

Mayer Brown announced at the beginning of April that it was deferring most incoming associates to January, 2010, with a deferral stipend of $5,000 per month.

Now the firm has decided to allow associates to voluntarily extend their deferral to October 2010, with the $5,000 a month payment and health benefits. A public interest fellowship is not required, although a program will be offered.

Mayer Brown is one of the largest global law firms both by number of lawyers and revenue. The firm has over 1,800 lawyers in key business centers across the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Incoming Skadden Associates Get Litigation Rotation

Erik Even — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:36:15 +0000

Skadden, which on Friday laid off an undisclosed number of staff attorneys and 50 support staffers, is introducing a litigation program for its incoming class.

From the memo:

… To address this issue, the relative underutilization of first year corporate associates, and with the firm belief that first year legal work should serve to set the groundwork for a set of skills that all lawyers need, we are introducing a litigation component to the program. In addition this will assist our litigation departments with their staffing needs.

Our first year program will now include a six month litigation component in which you will work under the direct supervision of lawyers from the general litigation, white collar, intellectual property/patent, antitrust and/or mass torts groups… In order to implement this program fairly, all corporate associates will participate in the litigation component. One group will rotate into litigation in early April while the others will proceed to their previously scheduled “second” corporate rotation. In October, the groups will switch and those who were in the litigation rotation will be rotated to their other corporate rotation and those who have completed their second corporate rotation will rotate into the litigation rotation. We anticipate final assignments will occur in May 2010.

We will offer litigation training at the start of each rotation…

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, founded in 1948, is a prominent law firm based in New York City. With over 2,000 attorneys, it is one of the largest and highest-grossing law firms in the world. Forbes magazine called Skadden “Wall Street’s most powerful law firm.”