Dewey Cuts 66 Partners' Pay—By As Much as 80 Percent
In a move that may not elicit much pity from lower-paid lawyers, Dewey & LeBoeuf has chopped the pay of 66 partners over the past 15 months, axing it by as much as 80 percent.
But that still means the highest-paid among the lower-performing partner group are earning some $25,000 monthly—which is the standard draw for Dewey partners, reports the Am Law Daily.
“Lower-tier partners have faced more drastic reductions, with monthly draws of as little as $10,000, or an annual total of $120,000—$40,000 less than the starting salary for a 2008 incoming first-year,” the post notes.
The Draconian pay cuts were meant to encourage lower-performing partners to leave the firm, but Dewey hasn’t enforced any deadline for doing so, according to chairman Steven Davis. The firm has about 350 partners, so the pay cuts affect nearly one in five.
Above and beyond these partner pay cuts, some Dewey partners have received only 60 percent of what they were told to expect a year ago last March, three current and three former partners tell the law blog. It doesn’t identify these six by name.
Davis told the Am Law Daily most partners have received what they expected. However, he says the firm, while rewarding superior performance, makes no compensation guarantees.
