Denver Firm Lays Off 37, Spares Others Thanks to Pay-Cut Volunteers
A well-known Denver-based law firm is laying off 15 attorneys and 22 staff members.
But the cuts would have been deeper at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Shreck, its managing partner says, if the remaining troops hadn’t agreed to take pay cuts to spare some of their colleagues the ax, reports Above the Law.
“As a group, the income shareholders, counsel and policy advisors took a 10% pay reduction, associate salaries will be reduced by 8.5% and senior management personnel will be reduced by 5%,” explains an internal memo distributed yesterday by Bruce James, the firm’s managing partner and CEO.
In a follow-up e-mail to ATL, James said eight associates at the firm who otherwise would have been laid off still have their jobs, thanks to the pay reductions and other cost-cutting efforts.
Because of the dismal economy, James writes, “I believe associate morale is likely at an all-time low” not only at Brownstein Hyatt but at all comparable law firms. The approximately 250-attorney firm has offices throughout the West and in Washington, D.C.
But, rather than dwell on the negative, “we must now move forward,” his memo to the firm concludes. A number of new clients and new matters have recently been generated, James writes, and by continuing to focus on client service and teamwork the firm will continue to do well in extraordinary economic times.
