JD Journal » salaries

U of C Law School gives more accurate employment picture

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:45:26 +0000

University of Chicago Law School’s starting a trend—giving an accurate view of the employment landscape. Abovethelaw.com reports its Web site now features comprehensive employment information for classes 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The approach is proactive as compared to other law schools, whose transparency was prompted by the American Bar Association, lawsuits and federal legislators.

That information includes employment rates—nine months after graduation—in different law-related jobs. It also features the jobs held by employed alumni. Law firms are categorized from specialization down to size.

Geographic information is also broken down, highlighting graduates’ most popular employment destinations. Full-time salaries, including medians and means for various disciplines, are included. Even first post-clerkship positions are noted.

University of Chicago Law School’s Class of 2010 had 195 graduates, while Class of 2009 had 206. The Class of 2008 had 210 graduates, according to the law school’s website.

Of the three classes, five graduates were unemployed and looking for work, according to the ABA Journal. Another five graduated were unemployed, but not pursuing their legal career.

Or, according to the university’s employment, 191 Class of 2010 graduates had jobs. And 204 of the 206 graduates from the class of 2009 were employed, while 202 of the Class of 2008’s 210 graduates had jobs.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:36:42 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Monday, July 26th. Here’s a look back at Friday’s stories.

New Jersey-based firm Archer & Greiner named a new president…

According to NALP’s Jobs & JD’s report released this week, employment is down but salaries are holding steady for law graduates…

A partner in the Dallas firm of Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail was selected as one of the nation’s “Most Powerful Employment Attorneys…

Dinsmore & Shohl added three new associates to its IP practice…

Employment Down, Salaries Hold for Law Grads

joshua — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:01:14 +0000

The employment rate for law school graduates of 2009 was 88.3 percent as of February of this year, a 3.6 percent drop from 2007’s historical high, and the national median salary of $72,000 was unchanged from the Class of 2008, according to NALP’s Jobs & JD’s report released this week.

For those working at law firms, the national median salary was $130,000 as compared with $125,000 the prior year. The national mean was $115,254.

However, NALP offered for the first time an “adjusted mean” that drove the national mean downward. The new measure is designed to account for the fact that fewer than half the salaries for jobs at small law firms are reported while salaries at large law firms are often a matter of public record. With the additional weight given to reported small-firm salaries, the adjusted mean salary for full-time law firm jobs was $102,959.

James Leipold, NALP’s executive director, explained the system in a press release.

“As a matter of consumer information, especially for students who are considering applying to law school, the adjusted mean provides a better benchmark than the unadjusted mean, because it accounts for the larger number of lower salaries that are not reported,” Leipold said. “Nevertheless, the overall mean for starting salaries, whether adjusted or unadjusted, is best used to measure the rise and fall of aggregate salaries over time, and not the likelihood of earning a particular salary when graduating from law school. As the distribution of starting lawyer salaries makes clear, very few new law school graduates earn anything close to the mean. Instead, many graduates will earn much more than the mean salary, and many more will earn much less.”

NALP found the most common employment setting was that of private practice at law firms, which was reported by 55.9% of the members of the Class of 2009 who provided employment information. This figure has fluctuated only between 55% and 58% since 1993.

Over one-quarter (25.8 percent) of Class of 2009 graduates who reported being employed on February 15, 2010, were working in public service positions, including government jobs, the military, judicial clerkships, and public interest positions. This percentage has also remained relatively stable for almost three decades. Employment in business was 13.5 percent, essentially unchanged from 2008, and still within the 13-14% range reported for the last six years.

At 3.5%, the percentage of jobs in academia was the highest ever recorded by NALP, with the number of jobs up by over 400 compared with the Class of 2008. The report speculates that could be the result of schools providing post-graduate job opportunities given the tight job market.

NALP’s Class of 2009 Jobs & JDs report is based on information submitted by 192 ABA-accredited law schools on 96% of the graduates in the Class of 2009.

Morning Roundup

sara — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:03:13 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Tuesday, February 23, and here’s a look back at yesterday’s stories…

Steve Epstein joined Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson as a partner…

Albert P. Halluin, Senior Counsel at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, passed away in a plane crash last Friday…

Kirkland & Ellis reported increases in profits and revenues in 2009…

Mayer Brown reported decreases in profits and revenues in 2009…

British law firm Ashurst asked more partners to leave and closed it’s India office…

Northwestern University School of Law topped The National Law Journal’s annual rankings…

K&L Gates global development partner Janice Hartman has overseen the rapid expansion of the firm…

Winston & Strawn outlined associate salaries in a memo…

Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear were named one of the top intellectual firms in the nation by MIP Magazine…

Rosemary Becchi joined Patton Boggs Washington, D.C. office as a partner…

Revenues and profits decreased at Howrey in 2009…

Morrison & Foerster Raise First-Year Salaries Back to $160,000

sara — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:23:18 +0000

Morrison & Foerster will return first year salaries to $160,000 after lowering them late last year. The firm lowered starting salaries to $145,000 beginning last October outside of New York and Asia. In a memo to associates on Tuesday Chairman Keith Wetmore said, “Although a great deal of uncertainty continues regarding how the economy will perform in 2010, we, like our most successful competitors, remain in demand. We are planning conservatively for 2010. However, if 2009 is a predictor, 2010 will provide opportunity despite its challenges.”

Morrison & Foerster was founded in 1883 and has over 1,000 attorneys. Headquartered in San Francisco, the firm has 16 offices in various locations throughout the world.

Mayer Brown Bonuses Match Cravath

joshua — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:05:57 +0000

Mayer Brownassociates got the news on Christmas Eve – the firm is matching the Cravath bonus scale. $7500 for first years, $30k for senior associates and the same sliding scale in between. What associates have not yet been told is whether or not they’re getting a pay raise next year. Mayer Brown froze salaries this year and have yet to announce next year’s compensation plan.

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.

Chadbourne & Parke Restoring Salaries

joshua — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:29:57 +0000

In April, Chadbourne & Parke cut associate salaries and promised that some or all of the money would be returned based on each associates contribution to the firm. Now it appears that all of the money cut from salaries will be restored in a lump sum payment in early 2010. On the one hand, this appears to be good news for a legal industry that has been struggling along with the rest of the economy. Chadbourne had a ready made excuse to keep some of the money but isn’t doing it. On the other hand, half of Chadbourne’s class of 2009 is still deferred indefinitely.

New York’s Chadbourne & Parke LLP, founded in 1902 by Thomas L. Chadbourne, employs 400 lawyers and tax advisers in 13 offices in nine countries. Chadbourne is best known for its global practice in project finance and energy, international insurance and reinsurance practice, multi-jurisdictional litigation in courts from Rhode Island to Russia, and corporate transactions.

Reed Smith Asks Non Equity Partners for a Tithing

joshua — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:37:38 +0000

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, or so the expression goes. Now Reed Smith is asking much the same of its non equity partners. Non equity partners are being asked to contribute as much as 15% of their base salary to the company or risk losing partnership status. Gregory Jordan, the firm’s chairman, had this to say about the plan. ““It’s about not just saying you’re a partner, but actually being one. It means something. It revolves around risk-sharing in the business.” Jordan defended the move, saying that it isn’t a means to get a quick cash infusion into the company, and going on to say that Reed Smith is having “a very strong year”.

A very strong year? That doesn’t square up with the history.

In March, Reed Smith laid off 100, 26 lawyers and 74 staff.

In May, Reed Smith cut all US associate salaries by 10%.

In August, Reed Smith cancelled on campus interviews at Fordham law at the last minute, prompting the school to ban Reed Smith from on campus recruitment for five years.

Last week, Reed Smith cut the salaries of incoming associates by 20% and lowered their billing rates for work done by new associates. This came two weeks after announcing a plan to move away from lock step.

If this is a very strong year, I would hate to see what things look like in a bad year.

ATL: Thompson Hine Cuts Jobs, Salaries

Erik Even — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:17:56 +0000

Tipsters to Above the Law report that “at least 50″ lawyers and staffers have been laid off from Thompson Hine.

The sources claim that 12 lawyers, 5 paralegals, and 29 secretaries have been laid off from the firm’s Ohio offices.

There is also the claim that the firm has cut every associate’s salary by $20,000 per year.

Founded in 1911, Thompson Hine employs more than 400 lawyers in eight offices in Ohio, Washington DC, New York, and Belgium.

Via ATL.

Bingham McCutchen is #1 on Fortune’s 25 Top-Paying Companies

Erik Even — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:42:08 +0000

Boston’s Bingham McCutchen is not only Fortune Magazine’s #1 top-paying company, it’s also on their 100 Best Places to Work.

For the second year in a row, this law firm is the top-paying Best Company to Work For. Lawyers fresh out of school get starting salaries of $160,000 a year, topped off with fat bonuses. (Non-attorneys are eligible for bonuses too.) Bingham, which prides itself on keeping pay scales “competitive at all times,” looked at compensation at other law firms in mid-2007 and immediately boosted pay a hefty 20%.

Bingham, which enjoyed a lengthy growth spurt fueled by a series of mergers, pulled in its horns a bit after the financial crunch hit last year. The firm laid off 2.5% of staff, offering severance ranging from four weeks’ to six months’ pay.

I’d check the rest of the list to see if there are more law firms, but it’s one of those idiotic, unnecessary “slide shows,” and I don’t have the time or patience.

The firm has been awarded similar accolades by the San Francisco Chronicle and Boston Business Journal.

Bingham McCutchen LLP is an international law firm with approximately 1,000 attorneys in 11 US offices and three international offices. It represents clients in corporate litigation, cross-border restructurings and insolvencies, financing and securities, government affairs and a wide variety of corporate and technology transactions.

Nine Reasons NOT to Attend Law School

Erik Even — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:34:49 +0000

The Legal Geekery Blog presents 9 Reasons Not to Attend Law School. A highlight:

5. It’s Grammar School All Over Again

See if you can pick out any similarities:

First year, you don’t get to pick any of your classes or professors, it’s all assigned to you before you get there, and you have no way to transfer out

You have a gi-normous backpack and carry around your books all the time

The same people are in all of your classes, all day, every day

Everyone calls you by your last name again

There’s plenty of drama to be had

Rumors (and worse, the truth) spread through the entire school at the speed of light

I can hear you thinking: law school must be different somehow, right? Well, right. Close your eyes and spend a moment thinking back to your elementary school days. Okay good, you’ve got it. Now imagine that, only add alcohol and sex. Yeah, it’s not a pretty picture.

As a public service, JD Journal offers these additional reasons not to go to law school:

10. It’s not worth the money.

Harvard Law is going to cost you $40,000. A year. That’s more than most Americans make in salary. But it’s worth it, right? After all, you’ll end up at a top law firm, billing $1,100 an hour. Right? Right?

Or… could you get a law degree just a smidgen less prestigious for half the cost? Or an MBA degree for a quarter of the cost? Or maybe no pricey education is going to put a coat of paint on the fact that you’re a soulless academic grade-chaser with no idea what you want to do with your life? And maybe you’re too young and stupid to be making decisions that will put you, or your parents, in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt?

11. You are training to be evil.

The Law is meant to be a noble calling. You are basically the defender of civilization against crime, anarchy and injustice. And if you practice by the principles laid down by our greatest legal minds, you will be a guardian of justice for our society.

You’ll also be poor. If you wanna make the big bucks, you gotta defend corporate criminals, twist the meaning of the law, and cheat, cheat cheat. Sue those who can’t afford legal representation. Appeal every decision you don’t like. And bill, bill, bill, even if it puts your client in the poorhouse. It’s the Jerome Fachers who make the big bucks, son. Leave your soul at the door.

12. Why bother?

The world’s gonna end when the Mayan Calendar runs out in 2012. Why spend all your time until then memorizing case law? Might as well try to get laid!

Via Legal Geekery.

Orrick Freezes 2009 Associates and Consultant Pay

Erik Even — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:30:56 +0000

Frisco’s Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLC will freeze associate and consultant salaries in 2009. Associates were notified by the following e-mail, sent to Legal Times by Orrick’s Adi Weisman:

…associates in the U.S. and Europe, and associates, senior consultants and consultants in Asia, will receive the same salary in 2009 as you received in 2008… of counsel salaries will be determined on an individual basis and generally will remain the same as 2008. We will ensure that our 2009 bonus program gives us additional flexibility to reward outstanding performance and remain competitive in the marketplace.

The firm blames the economic meltdown for the decision. As for bonuses:

We will pay full 2008 bonuses according to the terms of the program we announced earlier this year. These bonuses will be paid by the February 15 payroll in the U.S. and on or around that date in Europe and Asia, consistent with regional practices.

Orrick reported gross revenue of $772 million in this year’s Am Law 100, and profits per partner of $1.66 million.

The firm has over 1,100 lawyers worldwide in 21 offices, with more than 200 attorneys in each of its two largest offices in San Francisco and New York. The firm’s day-to-day administrative operations are centralized at a Global Operations Center in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Latham & Watkins announced pay freezes two weeks ago.

Via The BLT.

Latham & Watkins Freezes Salaries at 2008 Levels [Update]

Erik Even — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:51:39 +0000

Los Angeles-based Latham & Watkins is freezing 2009 salaries at 2008 levels.

While we anticipate that the diversity of our practices and global reach will serve us well in the year to come, it seems clear that the global economy will continue to be challenged at least through 2009. As a result, we are modifying associate compensation as part of a prudent business strategy. Effective January 1, 2009, associates moving to the next class year will continue to receive the same base compensation as they received in 2008. …

We expect as a general matter to continue to reward outstanding performances through our merit-based bonus pool. As in previous years, we will announce bonuses in late January.

Above the Law notes that, unlike other firms, Latham does not promise to reexamine the salary situation in Q1. Latham associates can probably expect a pretty lousy 2009.

Happy New Year, Latham & Watkins!

UPDATE:

Law.com suggests that the Latham salary freeze may start a trend:

“Everybody’s been waiting for some kind of signal from the market leader,” said consultant Peter Zeughauser, founder of The Zeughauser Group. “This will be a profound signal to the market about what to do.”

Womble Carlyle Freezes Attorney Salaries

Erik Even — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:12:18 +0000

Winston-Salem, NC’s Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice has decided to freeze salary increases for all attorneys through the first half of 2009.

As we approach the midpoint of the year, we will review the situation and decide whether to provide any increases for the balance of the year. The only exceptions are those attorneys who become salaried members or of counsel on January 1, 2009.

… We intend to make every effort to avoid job cuts, and the 2009 budget does not contemplate such cuts.

Womble Carlyle, established in 1876, is one of the largest business law firms in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the United States.

Another large firm, Chicago’s McDermott Will & Emery, just announced that its salaries will be frozen until March.