Lawyer Pay

DLA Piper Cuts Starting Pay to $145K, Apparently May Eliminate Lockstep

A major BigLaw firm has joined a small but growing list of well-known law firms that have recently announced associate salary reductions. Plus, DLA Piper is also imposing salary cuts on more senior associates and moving away from a traditional lockstep compensation scheme in which all attorneys who graduated from…

May 15, 2009 9:12 PM CDT

Two Skadden M&A Stars Defect to Kirkland in ‘Shockwaves’ Move

Updated: Two top mergers and acquisitions partners at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom are joining Kirkland & Ellis, the first time any M&A partner at the larger firm has leaped to a competitor. The New York Times says the move by David Fox and Daniel Wolf is a big…

May 15, 2009 12:31 PM CDT

DLA Piper Axes 124 in UK Offices

After earlier layoff announcements concerning attorneys in its United States, Asia and Dubai offices, DLA Piper is now officially wielding the ax in the United Kingdom, too. Concluding “redundancy” consultations announced in February, the firm has terminated 24 “fee-earners” and 100 support staff in the U.K., reports Legal Week. “Under…

May 13, 2009 6:35 PM CDT

Dechert Chairman’s Pay Cut Is Not $1M, Spokeswoman Says

Thirty-six partners at Dechert are taking pay cuts, but reports that the chairman’s reduced draw amounts to $1 million are wrong, a law firm spokeswoman says. The spokeswoman told the American Lawyer that the pay cuts are based on a percentage of each partner’s annual draw, and partners could end…

May 13, 2009 12:59 PM CDT

Day Pitney Lays Off 20 Attorneys

Back in February, when Day Pitney announced that it was letting go 66 staff members, no attorney layoffs were planned. But today the 400-attorney Northeast regional firm announced that it is adding 20 associates and counsel to the layoffs list, according to an internal memo published by Above the Law.…

May 12, 2009 11:12 PM CDT

Law Firm Business Model Isn’t Changing All That Much, Survey Says

Ward Bower of consulting firm Altman Weil has been predicting some big changes for large law firms that will affect the bottom line for many associates. Bower tells the Legal Intelligencer that law firms will be hiring fewer first-year associates, will be billing clients less for their work, and will…

May 12, 2009 2:35 PM CDT

Law Schools Hail Drinker Biddle Plan to Pay Less, Train More

There is no substitute for on-the-job training, and Drinker Biddle & Reath’s plan to pay new associates less and train them more is “a courageous step,” according to one law school administrator, Elaine Petrossian, assistant dean of the Office of Career Strategy and Advancement at Villanova University School of Law,…

May 12, 2009 1:51 PM CDT

Law Firm Model Shifts from Pyramid to Diamond or Possibly a Pear

The classic law firm staffing model is a pyramid shape, with lots of associates on the bottom and fewer partners on top. But the recession has upended the model, so that it now appears to be more of a diamond, the Legal Intelligencer reports. The change could permanently alter life…

May 12, 2009 1:22 PM CDT

Happiness Set Point Permanently Lowered by Unemployment

A job loss can be more psychologically debilitating over the long term than losing a spouse or becoming disabled, a researcher has found. Andrew Oswald, an economist at the University of Warwick, came to the conclusion after collecting happiness data from hundreds of thousands of people both here and in…

May 12, 2009 12:40 PM CDT

Dechert Chairman Takes a $1M Pay Cut

Dechert chairman Barton Winokur reportedly has revealed that he will reduce his partner draw by $1 million. Winokur told of the self-imposed pay cut and said at a secret enclave of law firm leaders last month that other Dechert leaders were also taking similar hits, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Winokur…

May 12, 2009 11:47 AM CDT

Drinker Biddle Cuts New Associate Pay, Plans In-House 1st-Year Training

In yet another twist on associate pay cuts, a Philadelphia-based national law firm is reducing the starting salary for first-year associates. However, they will start on time at Drinker Biddle & Reath, which plans to begin a new in-house training program in September for first-years, reports the Am Law Daily.…

May 11, 2009 6:46 PM CDT

Hogan & Hartson Offers $75K Paid Vacation to Incoming Associates

New information about at least one law firm that is further pushing back the start date for incoming first-year associates isn’t yet included in a lengthy list published today by Above the Law. Hogan & Hartson is offering an unknown number of new associates the opportunity to start in December…

May 8, 2009 10:05 PM CDT

Dozens of BigLaw Firms Make Law Blog’s Start-Date Deferral List

Only last year, graduating third-year law students with jobs lined up at BigLaw firms could routinely expect to start work in the fall. But the dismal economy has changed that for a startling number. Dozens of major firms have made a detailed list published this afternoon by Above the Law…

May 8, 2009 8:00 PM CDT

$160K Starting Pay Unlikely to Be Cut by NY Firms, Experts Say

New York law firms are unlikely to cut associate salaries that start at $160,000 absent a move by market leaders such as Sullivan & Cromwell; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Simpson Thacher; and Davis Polk & Wardwell. The experts aren’t holding their breath. New York firms already reduced associate bonuses after…

May 8, 2009 11:50 AM CDT

Most Firms Now See $160K Starting Salary ‘Makes No Sense,’ Managing Partner Says

In the latest signpost pointing the way toward a possible sea change in associate compensation, the managing partner of a 300-attorney Texas-based law firm says it’s time to cut the $160,000 starting salary for first-year associates that was a largely unquestioned BigLaw industry standard only last year. “It simply makes…

May 6, 2009 9:01 PM CDT