JD Journal » redeferrals

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.

McDermott Will & Emery Issue More Deferrals

joshua — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:28:12 +0000

McDermott Will & Emery associates were supposed to start work in January, but many are now being deferred again. Details are still sketchy, and it appears that no firm dates have been given yet. Associates will be brought in when their respective practice groups need them. In the meantime, they will draw a $5000 per month stipend.

Is it just me, or is it a bit harsh to issue these deferrals so late in the game? Presumably the affected associates, should they have been lucky enough to secure gainful employment while waiting to start work, have already informed their employers that they would be leaving in January. It’s certainly not inconceivable that many of them made holiday plans based on the presumption that they would be drawing a much larger salary come January.

This must be how it feels to wake up Christmas morning and find a lump of coal in your stocking.

Voluntary Deferral Extension at Mayer Brown

joshua — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:43:31 +0000

The incoming class of associates at Mayer Brown is scheduled to begin work in January after being deferred back in April. Later that same month the firm offered voluntary extension to October of 2010 with a $5000 per month stipend plus benefits, along with assistance securing public service experience in the meantime. Now we’ve learned that the firm is once again asking 18 of its 119 incoming associates to push back their start date until October, although it’s still being called a voluntary deferral. It’s unclear how voluntary the deferment actually is. If you have any specific information on the options available to those being asked to hold off starting work, please send us an anonymous tip here.

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.

Katten Deferrals Split Into Three

joshua — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:37:59 +0000

Katten has split its deferred class of incoming associates into three groups. The lucky group will start in February, as re-scheduled. The second group is being pushed back to October of next year, a full 16 months after they graduated from law school, and the third group gets $50k and the door.

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has offices in Chicago; New York; Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Charlotte, North Carolina; Palo Alto, California; and Irving, Texas; with an affiliated entity, Katten Muchin Rosenman Cornish LLP, in London, England. The firm has over 650 attorneys practicing in more than 40 areas.