JD Journal » tipsters

Staff Layoffs at Brown McCarroll

joshua — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:50:38 +0000

Tipsters report that an unconfirmed number of staff have been shown the door at Texas powerhouse Brown McCarroll and that some partners may be on their way out as well. Information is still sketchy as of now, and we’ll update this post as more information becomes available. If you have any specific information for us, please share it here.

Seventy-year-old Brown McCarroll has historically focused on litigation as a core practice area. Its 2003 merger with business law firm Hilgers & Watkins added a corporate and transactional practice. The firm has offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston and El Paso.

2100 Legal Jobs Lost in December

joshua — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:34:51 +0000

According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector dropped another 2100 jobs in December, while the job market as a whole lost 85,000 jobs.

In November, the National Law Journal reported that so far 5,259 attorney positions had been cut by the top 250 law firms, with Latham & Watkins (who just opened in Houston) cutting the most jobs at 444. Those numbers do not include staff positions.

Our last layoff report from biglaw was early November. We received no tips regarding layoffs in December. If you were one of the 2100 that lost your job last month, tell us about it here.

Partial Salary Thaw at Fulbright

joshua — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:51:20 +0000

2009 salaries and bonuses at Fulbright have been frozen at the 2008 level. According to tipsters in the Washington DC office, however, Fulbright has decided to advance everyone one level for bonuses, although base salaries will remain frozen. Because Fulbright’s compensation model is heavily weighted toward bonuses, this is good news indeed for Fulbright associates.

For the moment our information is limited to the Washington DC office. If you have information about bonuses in other offices, please slip us an anonymous message here.

Founded in 1919, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP employs over 1,000 lawyers in 16 locations in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Denver, Dubai, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Munich, New York, Riyadh, San Antonio, St. Louis and Washington, DC.

Layoffs at Schulte Roth

joshua — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:19:43 +0000

Reports are trickling in, but it looks as though at least 13 associates at Schulte Roth have received pink slips today. We have reports that some of the layoffs at least came from the real estate practice group, but no hard numbers as of yet. We’ll update this as more tips come in. If you have any additional information to share, send us an anoymous tip here.

Schulte Roth & Zabel is one of the top 100 largest law firms by revenue. The firm was founded in New York City in 1969 and launched in London in 2002. The firm also has an office in Washington, DC. Schulte employs nearly 450 attorneys in its three offices.

All Associates Meeting at Sidley Austin

joshua — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:44:34 +0000

Sidley Austin had an all associates meeting in Washington DC today. Details, or rumors at least, are beginning to trickle out from the meeting, but nothing hard and fast as of yet. Some tipsters are reporting that Sidley hinted at bonuses larger than last year, and some reports say that the firm may be moving away from lockstep compensation. If you have any solid information for us, please send us an anonymous tip here.

New Round of Salary Cuts at Allen Matkins

joshua — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:23:54 +0000

Allen Matkins is having a rough year. Back at the end of March the firm let some attorneys go. First year associate salaries were cut, along with the salaries of some additional associates. Now it appears they are finishing the job with additional layoffs and more salary cuts.

Tipsters at Above the Law reported the new cuts, saying that associates who are low on hours will only be receiving 60% of their original salary with the other 40% to be paid at the end of the year if the hours are made up. How they’re going to make up the hours in this market is anyone’s guess.

If you have any further information about what’s happening at Allen Matkins, please fill us in here.

Update: According to our own tipsters, all associate and paralegal salaries have been slashed to 60%.

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.

WilmerHale Trying to Stifle Leaks

joshua — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:20:46 +0000

The legal blog Above the Law is reporting that associates at WilmerHale have been warned not to talk to them. Tipsters have reported that a memo was sent out that left associates with the impression that their jobs would be at stake if they leaked any information to the blog. No copy of this memo has surfaced yet, but Above the Law has an open thread on the subject. I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that, like ATL, all tips you send us are completely anonymous. It goes without saying that every attorney has an ethical obligation to employers and clients alike to keep certain things confidential. Everything else should be fair game.