So exhausted about hearing about Kirkland & Ellis.

For some reason I find that ground turkey post very funny.

MoFo has enough on-site CLE training that I pretty much didn't have to worry about it. A $5,000 CLE bonus would be pretty sweet, however, for those rare occurrences when I might actually be interested in a particular conference.

My firm does onsite CLE too, typically a lunch talk by one of the partners. We get free sandwiches.

Most of the Top 10 firms have no budget limit for those types of programs. You just have to get partner signoff, and most don't care. Only at a crapass firm are people impressed by being "allowed" to participate in outside CLE, which is clearly to the benefit of the firm. Grow up.

Gallion OUT!

hey 5:05- I am from that area- where are you? Try Wegman's in Ocean.

hells yeah Kirkland. Anyone who would say that they wouldn't want to participate in outside CLEs is crazy. Feel like going to Hawaii or Puerto Rico? Find an ABA conference. And of course Kirkland offers enough onsite CLE that you don't have to unless you want to. But who wouldn't want to?

Your tipster is correct about K&E's associate CLE budget. There are theoretical limits about when it can be used, but I've never known any of them to be enforced.

Wegman's is the greatest grocery store on the planet.

Its true about K&E. A friend recently went to a conference...in South Africa! the whole thing was comped.

Does anyone have recommendations for an easy to way to get ethics CLE credits? Those are always a pain.

(I checked the Shoprite in Neptune already, and they're all out.)

My firm will reimburse for CLE conferences if you get the approval of practice group and office leaders.

But Lat, let's see a thread on what firms pay for ABA and state bar association section dues!

You people make over 100K a year (even at crap places) and you want to bellyache about whether your firm pays your 40 dollar state bar section dues? Are you joking???? 5:41 you are some kind of self-entitled moron. Pay for something yourself.

Gallion OUT!

Lat you don't need to do NY CLE-- you are not practicing law. If you start practicing law, only then does your CLE requirement kick in -- not before.

PHJW pays for CLE conferences with approval. Apparently nobody uses the budget, so approval is fairly easy. I used it twice without incident, neither time required travel though.

We have in-house CLE training constantly and I would be surprised if anyone would ever need to take outside classes.

We have a $150 (maybe $200?) office decorating budget. We also get a parking/transit allowance depending on the office of $165/month.

Confirmed on the K&E CLE allowance. I used mine to go to the Virgin Islands for a multi-day CLE.

Just don't try to include a several hundred dollar bar bill on your CLE reimbursement at K&E--it will be denied. You aren't a summer associate anymore.

5:26 - From the area as well. Stopped in to Shoprite and they indeed were fully stocked!!! (Incidentally, 5:38 was pulling our leg(s))

I love Wegman's and go there for almost everything else. Ground turkey there however is $3.99/lb. It's only $1.99/lb. at the Shoprite!

Holy smokes!!!! Why such a big gap? Is Wegman's Turkey more delicious? Turkey seems to be fungible. As for 5:38, do you know for a fact he was not Shop Rite? If so, how do you know that?

Don't think for a second that KE is some sort of perk nirvana. The LA office is imploding, and associate dissatisfaction is high across the board.

8:23 - I only meant that they were not out of turkey at the Neptune Shoprite.

From what I've heard, KE recently hemmoraged associates in N. CA too.

The Neptune Shoprite is a perk nirvana.

does anybody know th details of these CLE grants the firms give, as in the time period and the kind of education

I practice in New York City and when it came time for me to fulfill my NY CLE requirement in my first two years of practice, my firm (one of the wealthiest plaintiffs' injury firms in the nation) told me that they do not cover CLE tuition. So I was forced to pay 500 dollars to the Practicing Law Institute out of my own pocket to attend live CLE as is the requirement in NY for newly admitted attorneys. Yes, $500. And yes, at the time in 2003-2004 I was paid 45,000/year in salary.
The following year, when it came time to fulfill the second round of live CLE sessions, I decided to apply for a scholarship reserved for umemployed or public interest attorneys. I had to explain to the Practicing Law Institute that although I was employed as a lawyer, and that although I was employed as a lawyer at a firm that is well known to be one of the top 10 grossing plaintiffs' firms in the nation (i.e. very much "for-profit"), I was paid so little that I could barely afford the 500 dollar tuition. I actually received a 50 percent scholarship.

And my firm also repeatedly refused to pay for my NYS Attorney ID card that allows attorneys to gain immediate entrance to the NYS courthouses, bypassing long lines for the metal detector. The card costs about 25 dollars but my litigation firm refused to reimburse for that cost.

One time I was in court on trial with two other lawyers from my firm and the client saw my other two colleagues flashing their IDs and gaining immediate access to the building whereas I was stuck on line for 10 minutes. He questioned me about it and I told him the truth. I explained to him in very simple unadulterated terms that I dont have an ID card because my firm will not pay for it and I was too bitter about it to pay for it out of my own pocket. Apparently, this story got back to the partners, and I was lambasted for bad-mouthing the firm. Thoughts from all of you people who havent a clue as to the indignities that non-BigLaw attorneys are forced to abide?

can't stop me - Is this the WORLD CLASS Shop Rite and Liquor Store?

Gallion, that's why they're called "perks." I can pay for a gym membership, too, but does that mean that I shouldn't take advantage of the fact that the firm will buy me one?

More to the point, firms are supposed to encourage professional networking and career development, and participating in ABA practice groups and bar association sections are one of the best (and only) ways to do that.

Reimbursement = Encouragement

Self-entitled Moron OUT!!!