JD Journal » incoming associates

Mintz Levin Defers Incoming Associates to 2012

sara — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:44:15 +0000

Correction: When this story first ran we incorrectly identified details that were part of another firm’s deferral plan with Mintz Levin. We apologize for the error.

Mintz Levin had deferred incoming associates until 2012. According to Gina Addis, the firm’s Director of Public Relations, associates were not given a firm start date when offers were extended and were told at the time that it would be deferred. The firm recently notified them that they would be starting in January of 2012.

Contrary to our initial post, the firm has not made a decision regarding a stipend and no interim work requirement has been set.

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, PC is a general practice firm with headquarters in Boston Massachusetts and offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Stamford, Connecticut, Palo Alto, San Diego, and London. The firm has 500 attorneys.

Cravath Changes Course on Deferred Associates

sara — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:45:24 +0000

Cravath, Swaine & Moore informed incoming associates that some of them can begin their employment with the firm this fall, one year sooner than originally planned. Hiring partner Rowan Wilson said in an email, “those who have not yet committed to something else for 2010-11, if they are interested in starting at Cravath in2010, we will be able to take some of them.”

Last June the firm announced delayed start dates for 120 incoming associates and in exchange each one received a monthly stipend of $65,000. How many associates the firm will take on this fall has not been decided. If too many associates decide to begin in the fall a lottery will be held by the firm to select associates.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore is a general practice firm with 500 attorneys in two offices. Founded in 1819, the firm is headquartered in New York City.

Revenues Up and Profits Down at Bryan Cave

sara — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:56:12 +0000

St. Louis based firm Bryan Cave reported an increase in revenue from $502,509,000 in 2008 to $554,817,000 in 2009 (10.41%). The increase is partly explained by the firm’s growth from 861 lawyers in 2008 to about 996 in 2009. The growth pushed revenue per lawyer down 4.49%, from $583,363 in 2008 to $557,257 in 2009. Profits per partner dropped 5.51%, to $622,579.

Bryan Cave cut costs in various ways throughout 2009. This included a lay off of 134 employees last February (including 58 attorneys or 5% of its lawyers) and 76 staffers. The firm also offered some incoming associates up to $70,000 to walk away from first year positions that had been offered. In June of last year all associate salaries were cut by 10%.

Bryan Cave is an international general practice law firm with 25 offices worldwide. The firm was founded in 1873 and has approximately 1200 attorneys.

Last Minute Deferrals at Nixon Peabody

joshua — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:04:45 +0000

Forget for a moment that Christmas is right around the corner, and that Hanukkah has already begun. Nixon Peabody’s associates were supposed to start on January 4th, three weeks from now. Yesterday, 2/3rds of them found out that they have been re-deferred, indefinitely.

Yes, the economy is struggling and it’s rough all over. But any half way decent lawyer would have done their due dilligence and been prepared to start work in three weeks. They would have signed a lease, bought plane tickets, hired movers – in short, they would have committed time, effort and money into being prepared.

Memo to Biglaw: It’s too late. If you have associates scheduled to start work in January, you’re stuck with them now.

Staff Layoffs at Day Pitney

joshua — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:58:01 +0000

Day Pitney has laid off 29 staff memebers in its third round of layoffs this year. In may, the firm let go of 20 lawyers and deferred incoming associates and in February it cut 66 staff positions. According to the firm, there won’t be any more layoffs this year and none are anticipated in early 2010.

Day Pitney was formed in 2007 from a merger between Day, Berry & Howard and Pitney Hardin. It employs 382 attorneys spread across nine offices in four states and the District of Columbia.

Scary Days at Drinker Biddle

joshua — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:23:31 +0000

Drinker Biddle managed to avoid deferring its incoming associates this year by cutting salaries, as we reported back in May. Apparently that wasn’t enough, as sources are reporting more than twenty associates were laid off yesterday. So far, it appears litigators are safe, with most cuts coming from tax and corporate practice groups. As we get more detailed information, we’ll keep you posted. If you have information for us, remember that tips are always anonymous and can be submitted here.

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.

Incoming Associate Class Split, Half Will do Pro Bono Work at Reduced Salary

joshua — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:47:35 +0000

Incoming associates at Kaye Scholer will all start in January, right on (deferred) schedule. The only thing is, half of them will be paid $100,000 less per year than their colleagues. The class was divided based partially on practice group preference and to a certain extent, arbitrarily. Instead of extending the deferrals for half the class, Kaye Scholer is putting them to work in the pro bono department and paying them $60,000 per year plus benefits. This mirrors the stipends being paid by several other firms, who are turning the deferred associates out on the street to do public service law.

Is this an improvement? Tell us what you think.

More Deferrals at Foley & Lardner

joshua — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:31:30 +0000

Earlier this month tipsters alerted us to layoffs at Foley & Lardner, which the firm later confirmed. Like many firms, Foley & Lardner deferred its incoming associate class, but now it appears that some of those associates are being deferred again. Incoming IP associates have been pushed back to September of next year, and will receive a $5000 per month stipend, but no health care, in the mean time. Some litigation associates will start in February, the date of the original deferral, while the rest will start this December, earlier than planned.

Fenwick & West Make Offers to Less Than Half its Summers

joshua — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:56:36 +0000

Earlier this week we told you that Fenwick & West paid several of its incoming associates to find work elsewhere. Today we have the numbers for this year’s crop of summer associates and like many other firms, the numbers aren’t pretty. The firm made offers to 17 of its 36 summer associates. The remaining 19 received a letter explaining that the rejections were due to tough economic times.

Fenwick & West LLP is a full service law firm focusing on technology and life sciences clients. It employs approximately 300 attorneys in 4 offices.

Fenwick & West the Latest Firm to Buy Off Incoming Associates

joshua — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:51:16 +0000

We’ve reported on a few firms that have paid incoming associates a stipend to, essentially, go away. In each of the previous cases, the offer has been to the entire incoming class. Fenwick & West was slated to have 24 new associates start, once their deferrals expired, and has offered some of them $60k to go away. No hard numbers yet on how many were given the offer or how many accepted. As always tipsters, if you have information for us, send it anonymously here.

Founded in 1972, Fenwick & West LLP is a full service law firm focusing on technology and life sciences clients. The corporate, intellectual property, litigation and tax groups service clients from a wide range of additional industries. Approximately 300 attorneys work from offices in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, California; Boise, Idaho; and Seattle, Washington. The firm is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:15:48 +0000

Good morning everyone. Before we jump into the Monday grind, here’s a quick look back at Friday’s news…

Katten moved up the start dates for some of its incoming associates…

Altman Weil says 3rd quarter law firm mergers are up…

David Shapiro, founding partner of Dickstein Shapiro, has passed away…

Wildman Harrold has rescinded offers to some of its incoming associates…

and Cooley Godward has let some staffers go…

Katten Moves Up Start Dates For Six Incoming Associates

todd — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:25:05 +0000

Half a dozen incoming associates to the Katten Muchin Rosenman law firm have reason to celebrate. On Friday, the law firm sent out a statement rescinding their March decision to hold off starting dates for six of their incoming associates. Initially, the associates were to start on February 1, 2010. However, due to what the law firm cited as “an increase in demand for [their] legal services in a number of core practice areas,” six lucky new comers will start their new positions this month.

The hires come in the areas of litigation and intellectual property, but are spread across all of the firm’s offices.

Arent Fox Revokes Offers to New Associates

joshua — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:23:00 +0000

On Monday we reported that Alston Bird was deferring its deferrals again, indefinitely. Arent Fox has taken a different approach. Rather than indefinitely extend deferrals, the firm has chosen to revoke the offers of several new associates. Those whose offers have been revoked have been paid $20,000 in compensation.

Arent Fox is a Washington, DC, based firm with three offices and 350 attorneys. It has a strong lobbying practice along with a broad array of practice groups.

Brown Rudnick Restores Start Dates for 11 Deferred Associates

Erik Even — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:32:19 +0000

Brown Rudnick, which had deferred the start dates of its 27 incoming associates for 2009, has restored start dates for 11 associates, due to an increase in bankruptcy and litigation work.

The 11 associates will now begin on September 14th, rather than November 39th.

Three associates will still start in November, and another 12 won’t start until sometime in 2010. One associate has taken a job with an overseas firm.

Founded in 1948, Brown Rudnick is a full-service international law firm. It employs over 200 attorneys at offices in the US and Europe.

Addleshaw Goddard Offers Reduced Hours, Sabbaticals

Erik Even — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:55:33 +0000

Addleshaw Goddard, which laid off 19 partners in February and 85 staff in May, has approved new measures to save money on compensation.

Some attorneys will work a four-day week and earn 85% of their normal pay.

The firm is also offering sabbaticals, or extended time off at 30% salary. Salaries have been frozen until 2010.

Addleshaw Goddard has also announced is is keeping on only 75% of its incoming associates, or 33 new lawyers.

Addleshaw Goddard LLP is a UK law firm, with almost 750 lawyers and 1,350 staff, based in Leeds, London and Manchester. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of Addleshaw Booth & Co with Theodore Goddard.

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.

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.

Dentons Will Only Hire Half of Incoming Trainees

Erik Even — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:50:35 +0000

Dentons, which in March laid off 37 lawyers and 39 staff, will only hire on half of their 2009 trainees.

The firm says only 17 of its 31 September 2009 qualifying trainees in the UK and Middle East will be offered positions. Two of the offers will be client secondments.

All three trainees in Turkey and Russia will be hired.

Denton Wilde Sapte LLP, or Dentons, is a law firm headquartered in the City of London that employs over 600 lawyers.

TO Doyle Wants Lawyers to Work for Free

Erik Even — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:03:18 +0000

Blawgs are reporting on a bizarre effort by Irish firm TO Doyle to get “interns” who will work for free.

The bizarre part is that the “interns” are fully-qualified lawyers.

While the ad advertising the internship calls for a “law student,” it requires the applicant to have passed some or all of their examinations and to have some work experience. Traditionally, even a law student working for a law firm gets paid.

On the other hand, at the end of the lengthy eight-month internship, the attorney might be offered a trainee position. So there’s that.

TO Doyle Solicitors is a business law firm in Dublin, Ireland.

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.

Press Slams Freshfields for Trainee Layoffs [Update 2]

Erik Even — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:15:34 +0000

In May, London’s Freshfields announced that only 14 of its class of 48 trainees set to start this Fall would be retained.

Now mainstream press sources are faulting Freshfields for the way it handled the firings. Trainees were telephoned by partners human resources with the news; and if the trainee was unavailable by phone, the message was left by voicemail.

Also, press reports say that those with their offers rescinded have been given a mere £700 ($1,150) in severance pay.

London’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is an international law firm with offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the US. In 2006 it was the world’s fourth largest law firm by revenues.

UPDATE

This story has not yet died, although the facts have been updated. Apparently, only four or five trainees were laid off by phone; and the calls were made by human resources, not by partners, who were apparently too busy, important or embarrassed.

UPDATE 2

Freshfields apparently saw the press criticisms and thought, what can we do to make this worse, and keep the story in the news cycle? Hey, let’s rescind our invitations to the remaining trainees for the firm’s team-building retreat this Summer!

The firm sent out an email saying that the attendance for the event had reached its maximum, and that no further employees could attend. But this email was sent only to trainees — including those who had already RSVPed.

Albany Law School Boasts 94% Employment for ’08 Grads

Erik Even — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:08:46 +0000

Albany Law School has announced a 94% employment rate in legal positions for its 2008 graduating class, outpacing the national average of 90% for all law schools.

Each year, Albany Law School’s Career Center coordinates more than 1,000 job interviews on campus, as well as many more off campus; processes more than 7,000 job applications; and organizes more than a dozen job fairs.

One third of Albany Law’s 2008 class is employed in New York City, while an additional one third is employed in the greater Capital Region.

Of the 2008 grads, 49% went to law firms; 16% into government; 9% got judicial clerkships; 19% into business and industry. Six percent went into public interest law, and 2% are in academia.

Albany Law School is an ABA accredited law school based in Albany, New York. Founded in 1851 by Robert H. Pruyn and others, Albany Law School is the oldest independent law school in the United States.

Maclay Murray & Spens to Keep 4 of 31 Trainees

Erik Even — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:04:03 +0000

Maclay Murray & Spens, which in April laid off 38 lawyers and staff, is only keeping on four of its 31 qualifying trainees, according to online sources.

It was learned this week that the UK offices of DLA Piper will be keeping on only 20 of their 57 trainees.

Scotland’s Maclay Murray & Spens is a full service, independent, commercial legal firm offering legal solutions and advice to clients throughout the UK and beyond. The firm has offices in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and Brussels.

Corrs Defers Recruits, Freezes Salaries

Erik Even — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:34:23 +0000

Corrs has delayed the start dates for its 2009 recruits, paying stipends of US$1,740 each.

In March, the firm implemented a firm-wide salary freeze. There may be individual exceptions, and the firm stressed that the pay freeze is not performance related.

Corrs Chambers Westgarth is an Australian commercial law firm founded in 1841. It has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. The firm acts for clients internationally, and has links with law firms throughout Asia, the Americas, Middle East and Europe.

Corrs employs over 950 attorneys.

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.

McDermott Lays Off 25 Associates, 47 Staff

Erik Even — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:14:43 +0000

McDermott Will & Emery, which last week cut pay for its summer associates, announced today it has laid off 25 associates and 47 staff.

Some first year associates were cut, but are being offered a public service fellowship. The amount of the stipend was not disclosed.

In March the firm froze associate salaries; in February, McDermott laid off 60 associates and 89 staff.

McDermott Will & Emery LLP, founded in 1934, is a prestigious international law firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the top 10 largest law firms in the United States and one of the 20 largest in the world.

Day Pitney Lays Off 20 Lawyers, Defers Associates

Erik Even — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:12:33 +0000

Day Pitney, which laid off 66 staff members across it offices in February, today announced that 20 lawyers have been laid off, and incoming associates will be deferred to January 2010.

From the memo:

Earlier today, we met with 20 associates and counsel to notify them that their positions are being eliminated. The reductions are spread throughout our offices and practice areas… Each person has been offered a severance package that includes outplacement services…

…we have moved the start date for our incoming associates to January 5, 2010. We will be providing each member of our incoming class a weekly stipend from September 15 through December 31, 2009 and are encouraging each of them to participate in available public interest opportunities.

The amount of the deferral stipend has not been announced.

Headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut and Florham Park, New Jersey, Day Pitney employs 382 attorneys spread across nine offices in four states and the District of Columbia. In 2007, Day Pitney ranked 113th on the National Law Journal’s list of the 250 largest American law firms.

Matheson Ormsby Prentice Lays Of 15, Lets Go Trainees

Erik Even — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:13:15 +0000

Matheson Ormsby Prentice has eliminated at least 15 jobs.

The firm has also left vacancies unfilled, and did not retain some trainees.

Dublin’s Matheson Ormsby Prentice is Ireland’s largest law firm. It had 600 employees before the cuts, but is now believed to have fewer than 580.

They also have offices in London, New York City and Palo Alto, California.

Update: Squire Sanders Lays Off 32 Lawyers

Erik Even — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:42:31 +0000

Earlier this week we reported the rumor that Squire Sanders fired 30 attorneys last Friday.

It has now been confirmed that the firm cut 32 lawyers in total, including seven at its largest office in Cleveland, Ohio. Most of those cut had been with the firm less than three years.

The pay cuts we reported have also been verified. The firm is slashing first-year salaries from $130,000 to $117,000.

Founded in 1890, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP has 32 offices in 15 countries across the globe.

Nixon Peabody Slashes Salaries

Erik Even — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:52:33 +0000

Nixon Peabody, which laid off 20 attorneys and 36 staff in February, is now cutting salaries.

All associates, including incoming and summer associates, will see a reduction to $145,000 in Boston, Washington DC, New York, Chicago and California; less in other locations. There will also be additional performance-based cuts.

Meanwhile, associates can look forward to merit-based bonuses, based on such criteria as hours worked, new business brought in, community leadership, and “extraordinary contributions to the welfare and advance[ment] of the firm.”

In other words, management will pay whatever they want to pay, with criteria that squishy.

Nixon Peabody LLP is one of the largest multi-practice law firms in the US, with offices in 17 cities in the United States and one in London, and more than 700 attorneys in 25 major practice areas.

Davis Wright Cuts Associate Salaries

Erik Even — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:14:15 +0000

Sources on the blawgosphere report that Seattle’s Davis Wright Tremaine has cut associate salaries by 5%. The cut affects all class years.

Davis Wright is also pushing back start dates of its incoming associates to January 2010. A bar stipend of $7,500 has been offered.

Established in 1908, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has offices in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, California, Washington DC, New York, and Shanghai. In 2008, the National Law Journal ranked the firm 98th largest in the United States based on attorney headcount.

Winston & Strawn Defers Start Dates

Erik Even — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:46:11 +0000

According to online sources, Winston & Strawn has pushed back 2009 incoming associate start dates to January 19th, 2010.

Deferred associates will receive an additional $15,000, in addition to their $10,000 bar stipend. The firm will provide health care benefits to its incoming associates, starting this September.

Winston & Strawn LLP was founded in Chicago in 1853. It employs about 1,000 attorneys among 13 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Linklaters Defers Start Dates

Erik Even — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:15:40 +0000

London’s Linklaters has pushed back its trainee start dates for September 2009 and March 2010, offering future trainees £10,000 to go away for one year.

The firm will select 15 incoming associates for the deferral program.

Associates due to start in September 2009 who take a 12 month deferral will get the 10 grand. Associates due to start in March 2010 can either defer for 12 months and get £10,000, or defer for six months an get £5,000.

Linklaters is believed to have about 125 lawyers across the two intakes. All deferrals will be voluntary.

Linklaters has 26 offices in 19 countries, and is one of the five members of the “Magic Circle” of prominent UK law firms.

Ballard Spahr Defers Start Dates

Erik Even — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:38:23 +0000

Ballard Spahr has informed its incoming class that it is delaying 2009 start dates to September 2010.

There will be a $45,000 stipend offered, in addition to the usual $5,000 bar stipend. There will also be a $5,500 health benefit stipend offered.

The firm says it will try to help the incoming associates find jobs. They must find a job to get the money.

In January Ballard Spahr laid off as many as 65 people.

Ballard Spahr employs more than 550 lawyers in twelve offices located throughout the mid-Atlantic corridor and the western US.