JD Journal » secondments

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.

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.

CMS Cameron McKenna to Cut 80, Reduce Pay

Erik Even — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:00:18 +0000

London’s CMS Cameron McKenna has announced a redundancy consultation at its headquarters, targeting 80 jobs.

Twenty fee earners and 60 non-fee earners may be laid off.

Other personnel are being offered the choice of either a four-day week at reduced pay, or a sabbatical of up to 12 weeks at reduced pay. They can also extend their vacation by two weeks.

In addition, some lawyers may choose a six-month sabbatical at cut pay with two 10-week expeditions to developing countries; or a six-month sabbatical at 20% pay to take an executive development course; or a six-month secondment in a CMS alliance firm at 50% of pay, with accommodation and living expenses covered.

CMS Cameron McKenna LLP is City of London-based international law firm with over 130 partners, and offices throughout the United Kingdom and Central and Eastern Europe.

Update: DLA Piper Puts Dubai Lawyers on ‘Sabbatical’

Erik Even — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:42:13 +0000

DLA Piper, which just laid off 8 associates in Dubai, has additionally placed almost 20% of the remaining Dubai-based lawyers on either a six-month “sabbatical” or a secondment.

Those taking the sabbatical are not guaranteed a job when it is over, which means it’s not really a sabbatical, is it?

The firm has relocated an undisclosed number of lawyers from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, and announced reduced working hours and pay for other staff.

DLA Piper, which has 97 lawyers in Dubai following the job losses, blamed the cuts on reduced client demand. Recent news reports have suggested that after years of giddy expansion, Dubai is falling apart in the global economic meltdown, with those foreigners who are permitted by the state’s dictatorship to leave the country doing so in droves.

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

Blake Lapthorn Cuts 20 Jobs

Erik Even — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:27:46 +0000

Blake Lapthorn has laid off 20 people in its second redundancy consultation.

The firm, which laid off 33 people at the end of last year, launched this redundancy consultation with 30 employees in January.

The firm says it reduced the number of layoffs in the second round thanks to secondments.

A number of people volunteered for redundancy.

Lawyers and support staff in London and the South East have been affected by the cuts, with the real estate and corporate practices seeing the highest number of losses.