Cadwalader to Its Chairman: You Are the Weakest Link. Goodbye.
Cynics might say the firm is rearranging the proverbial deck chairs, but these leadership changes strike us as prudent. From a report by Anthony Lin in the New York Law Journal:
As it wrestles with an ongoing slump in its core capital markets practice, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has shaken up its top management team.The New York-based law firm announced today that Robert O. Link, its longtime chairman and managing partner, would relinquish the position of chairman to W. Christopher White, effective March 1. Mr. Link will continue to serve as Cadwalader's managing partner and remain a member of the firm's six-partner management committee.
The firm minimizes the import of the change:
[Management committee member (and Cameron Diaz pal) Gregory] Markel said the elevation of Mr. White was "not in any way a criticism of Bob." He said the firm would regard Messrs. White and Link as a team, with neither reporting to the other.
Additional discussion, which will probably interest only die-hard CWT groupies, after the jump.
It's not hard to read a veiled rebuke into the leadership switch, since Robert Link is so strongly associated with the firm's more high-flying days. Writes Anthony Lin:
In an interview with the Law Journal early last year, Mr. Link predicted more success, saying: "Are we going to have trouble sustaining this? No, short of some cataclysmic event that hits everyone else too."But Cadwalader has most recently been challenged by the downturn in the structured finance market, an area where the firm had been considered a leader and which had been its engine of growth. The firm announced last month it was laying off 35 associates and reassigning several more.
This latest news may give rise to further schadenfreude from CWT rivals. But despite the internal turmoil and high-profile layoffs, the firm remains very profitable:
Mr. Markel said the firm's profits per partner for 2007 fell slightly to $2.7 million, a figure he said would have been lower but for the contribution of several high-profile lateral partners who have joined the firm in the past year.Among these have been a four-partner bankruptcy group from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, an intellectual property practice from Morgan & Finnegan, and an antitrust team from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. The firm most recently recruited the global private equity practice head from Latham & Watkins, R. Ronald Hopkinson.
Finally, two random bits of news not related to the leadership shift. First, a correction to something we previously wrote: item #4 in this post was not correct. From a source at the firm:
Your account of the source of the CWT leak is not accurate. There aren't that many partners in corporate, and the usual suspects didn't know in advance. The corporate department associates have been polled (by and amongst themselves) and not one associate knew the details in advance. We did have a sense of layoffs [in Capital Markets and Global Finance], but the specific timing was a mystery shrouded in an enigma.
Second, in recent weeks, a number of (non-laid-off) lawyers have left the firm. Where have these Cadwalader refugees been going? We hear that a number, including lawyers specializing in CMBS work, went to Winston & Strawn.
Cadwalader Shakes Up Top Management [New York Law Journal]
(69) Comments
loser
Schools
University of Tennessee College of Law
J.D. / MBA 1980
Guy had a chip on his shoulder. Tried to compete with the big boys and lost.
See, another JDMBA. Lat, maybe it's time to do some threads on JDMBA bonuses, tenure credit, job opportunities--that's three right there, and all three are better than ANY LEWW segments or stories about NYU's library.
ATL has already covered these topics. If you want to talk about them more, try posting in xoxo or Infirmation.
Lat did you notice that a litigation partner went to Chadbourne Park a few weeks ago. Lots of people have left CWT over the past month.
...and Ron Hopkinson came to CWT from Latham...
what's your point?
wonder if this will mark any meaningful change in the way that shithole is operated?
JD's and MBA's - let's see a post Lat.
CWT has nothing to worry about. The group of lateral IP guys will pull them through. They are probably the most brilliant group of litigators in the IP field today, and their rainmaking abilities are second to none. Don't take my word for it: you can check their records for yourselves. You'll be amazed at what you find.
CWT has nothing to worry about. The group of lateral IP guys will pull them through. They are probably the most brilliant group of litigators in the IP field today, and their rainmaking abilities are second to none. Don't take my word for it: you can check their records for yourselves. You'll be amazed at what you find.
10:24
You're joking right? My firm was co-counsel with these guys on a case. They ranged from barely competent to entirely useless. None of them could bring in a single client.
Are those pencils in the CWT sign? If so, why?
Maybe they are trying to erase their past mistakes.
10:22: nobody cares about jd/mba postings.
First the Tennessee Vols lost their first game as No. 1 to VANDERBILT, now this???
A sad day for old Rocky Top
10:44, et al. - You aren't alone. Everyone knows that CWT lawyers are a joke. Every transaction I've ever done with them they have proven themselves to be thoroughly ignorant and useless. Maybe Wall Street finally wised up and saw that they weren't getting anything of value from CWT.
Link for history of Link and Link being History:
http://www.law.com/jsp/llf/PubArticleLLF.jsp?id=1170682662248
Link for history of Link and Link being History:
http://www.law.com/jsp/llf/PubArticleLLF.jsp?id=1170682662248
The CWT CMBS attorneys who headed to Winston & Strawn were decent people and good lawyers. The special counsel who led them out must have seen that she wasn't going to be made partner anytime soon thanks to the firm's miserly ways. She and the mid-levels she took were well-credentialed and wisely decided to shake off the CWT-stink while they had the chance. Except for a few diehards and not counting the incompetent, who at CWT wouldn't? This should be a sign to management that if they were looking for further attrition it will come with the price of losing not the weakest but the strongest.
I agree with 11:56, anyone with the credentials to lateral in this shitty market is likely to jump ship from CWT as fast as possible -they are going to lose their best people.
re: 11:26 pm - that comment was thoroughly ignorant and useless. Anyone who says that a whole firm's talent sucks, or a whole firm is brilliant is likely just some low-level stooge.
yeah, there are ranges of talent at any firm. There are idiots at Sull Crom and and STB and there are brilliant people at shitholes like CWT, the proportions are just different.
Man, I wish they'd put a bedbug in charge. It would really embody the bloodsucking nature of CWT's attorneys. Plus, they'll literally work for food.
11:26 is a first-year comma monkey.
The "thoroughly ignorant and useless" lawyers running the deals at CWT left the partnerships at Latham, Weil, DPW, FF, etc. to make a lot more $$$ at CWT. And they are able to make more $$$ at CWT because their "Wall Street" clients are wise enough to see the value in good attorneys.
1:21, don't you see something wrong about being proud that your partnership comes from other firms?
hey, when has ATL ever done a thread about the oft-discussed misery of associates at CWT? maybe worth considering, Lat...
Go Michigan! Graduates who earn Chairmanships at V50 firms are more valuable to us than graduates who earn SCOTUS clerkships anyway!
A firm that has the third highest profits per partner is a shithole? Goddamn I can't imagine how much more of a shithole all those other law firms are... including the one you are in.
Lesson: All law firms are shitholes and all lawyers are pieces of shit.
Link to History of Link for Link Now Being History:
http://www.law.com/jsp/llf/PubArticleLLF.jsp?id=1170682662248
"Even as Link says the firm has hit a stride, he is mindful of the complacency he saw a decade ago. But he said he was confident the firm's system was keeping partners on their toes.
"Everyone should wake up in the morning and feel a little vulnerable," he said."
OWNED.
Shithole = Bill 2500+ for the same $160 base as anywhere else, then get terminated with zero warning or grace, which doesn't matter because you were never going to make partner anyway, you disposable piece of flesh.
As they say in his part of the world "git out of that thar churminship type posishen".
Au revoir to mustachioed hayseed, your stunningly inept public speaking skills and shockingly poorly chosen comments will be sorely missed.
His replacement - another project rightsize, heartless douchebag of a man that deserves a city bus in his path far more than a chairmanship position.
To those familiar with the firm, this is a clear signal that management thought it was good to go another way. In other words, assraping their associates was not sufficient, bring on the associate skullfucking!
2:48: why would there be something wrong with that? if the author was a junior associate, then the fact that partners had lateralled in from prestigious firms would be a selling point on how the firm was in an upward trajectory. On the other hand, if the author was a senior associate, that may be something to take note of.
The most shocking thing about this firm is that it still has a few associates who are defending it to the death, unless all of the pro-CWT comments come from the desk of Ms. Ellis.
yeah, the (non-laid off) associates who left over the past 6 weeks are probably just the beginning. Prediction: more associates will be leaving that place in droves over the next few months.
8:51 their partners have been laterals almost exclusively since Chris and Bob stabbed their mentors in the back over a decade ago.
8:51 - 2:48 is using good reasoning skills. He point is, its like saying - "volvo is a good car, it uses many of the same parts as do Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus" - thereby conceding that the former is not on par with the latter. Great that CWT landed some partners from other firms, but naming the other firms in such a way implicitly concedes that those firms are superior to CWT.
Btw-CWT is a sinking shithole. People are going to be jumping ship from and not going to that place in the future.
the many dimensions of eat what you kill firms.
Well, semi-good riddance to Mr. Link. What he has done to the practice of law cannot be undone. He is a major factor in the decided trend of young associates never aspiring for partnership.
8:57 - Don't be stupid. Partners like car parts? When they leave with the business, firms don't just make another partner and get back the business.
8:45:
I generally regard men with initials for first names as automatically suspect. However, specifics about how Mr. White will be even worse (if imaginable) than the TN hick?
Lawfirms -- the land that time forgot. Human shipwrecks struggling to fit in to society. The deli man makes more per hour.
The change makes sense. If MBS is no longer their bread and butter, then why would bob be at the helm? And what's happening to all those expensive MBS partners that are no longer bringing in the cash? And how will they pay for those new digs without the high PPP they are used to?
CWT gets a lot of lateral partners because its partner compensation structure is very skewed and anti-lockstep. In other words you will eat what you kill. Whereas most BigLaw firms have a 3:1 ratio of what the top partner makes to what the most junior partner makes, CWT has 7/6:1 ratio. Successful (and confident) partners like to lateral there becasue they can make significantly more $$ off their client contacts than they could at other places such as S&C, DPW, STB, and CSM. This is precisly why the PPP numbers at a place like CWT must be totally disregarded as compared to other big firms. The 2.7 million is an AVERAGE - most partners do not make even close to that (more like close to 1-1.5 mill), there are a few partners though that make 6-7 mill to hike up the average.
Not that 1-1.5 million is all that bad . . .
10:20 - White is the head of MBS and was part of the same Project Rightsize gang as Link. The only difference is that White didn't brag to the NYLJ about what a shark tank CWT is. The firm clearly wants to dial that talk down so it doesn't scare away the laterals it needs to hire to support guys like Hopkinson.
Link and White are alter- egos. This is not a meaningful change in any way...
Yeah, Link's shark tank talk sounded kind of cool when the firm was doing well, now it sounds scary for anyone who would consider working there.
I dont see why people badmouth CWT's PPP philosophy.
Eat what you kill = rainmakers lateral to take home more $$
Rainmakers lateral = their work follows
Work follows = more profitable firm
More profitable firm = associate comp remains top of market
Yes they dont make many partners but the ones that do make it are paid. Those that dont have numerous exit opportunities (maybe less so at the moment but generally speaking) and have the experience of working for rainmakers.
11:57- problem there is that you cannot get anything to eat if you're slaving away as a billing machine. Zero incentive to treat us poor non-equity types as anything other than billing machines. Most firms still try and do some type of professional development. At CWT, you just a higher paid typist.
Rumors are flying around that CWT will close their Charlotte, NC office within the next 2 years. Their business with Wachovia and BoA has all but completely dried up.
This is funny. For the record, I'm not a CWT employee. I recently started at another large NYC law firm as a 1st year.
However, I recall when I was interviewing with law firms throughout the City as a law student. I don't ever recall any of the associates I met admitting to wanting to become a partner within the firm they worked. Most, if not all, only planned to stay at their firm for a few years and then take advantage of the opportunities that came along with working at such a firm. Under this theory, I find it baffling why people would warn so many not to go to CWT.
If the plan is to stay at a firm for a few years, going to CWT works well for exit opportunities. Yes, you'll be working excessive hours and be that "billing machine," but you're also doing it for prominent partners with good work. Don't you think the market knows this?? So yes, you're working your butt off for big name partners (who are probably pricks), but I can't imagine these associates not having great opportunities if they chose to leave. It's nderstood they work hard, work with/for tough/demanding people with the one of the highest PPP in the country, and it's known the work they have handled is high profile/highly regarded...so if you're going to work at a firm to get opportunities afterwards, there's nothing wrong with going to CWT
11:57 there is a huge disconnect between your thesis and reality. CWT is not a comp leader for associates, they no-bonused over half the firm this year.
If you lay down with dogs, you get fleas and no bonus.
Posted by: Anonymous | February 28, 2008 08:55 AM
8:51 - 2:48 is using good reasoning skills. He point is, its like saying - "volvo is a good car, it uses many of the same parts as do Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus" - thereby conceding that the former is not on par with the latter.
Posted by: Anonymous | February 28, 2008 08:57 AM
__________________________________
Really--was that he point?
1:01 - your name is the complete antithesis of what you are. Work in the Charlotte office is very steady - Wachovia and BOA are doing all sorts of traditional and non-traditional structured products. In the cap markets group associates are currently working 3-4 transactions each, including multi-billion $ CMBS' and the like. Banking and Finance associates are equally as busy. The Charlotte office is making more money per lawyer than any other CWT office and with lower overhead. Yeah...they're gonna close that office. Now that's "in the know."
1:07 - there is no disconnect. For associates billing less than 1900 hours you were given half the bonus. Do you deserve an entire bonus at less hours than that? You can debate the issue but they are top of the market for those associates working enough to justify their existence.
AND PLEASE, SOMEONE, TELL ME WHICH FIRM REGARDS THEIR ASSOCIATES AS ANYTHING OTHER THAN BILLING MACHINES. The naivete on this board sometimes is comical.
CWT is sub-market when you factor in the no-bonus. They most certainly are not top comp, and that was last year when they were still making money.
So its basically 160, and you will kill yourself billing 2500+ for a guy who regards you as something less than a cog and who has fired good, very hardworking people because of outside economic reasons. The "jokes" about people living at that swank (and confirmed-to-be vermin infested) office are not jokes.
There are much better places to park your butt for three years. Like, almost any place. You will work less, have much less risk of being outright fired - they're not partnering you anyway, why should they cut your lazy butt any slack - and almost certainly make more money. And that's if CWT survives in something resembling its current form.
Just gonna go out on a limb here and say 1:30 might work at CWT. As a partner. Who used to head up the firm and now doesn't know what to do with all the free time on his hands.
Weren't their layoffs in Charlotte? I call bullshit on the market being as busy as it was. Doing one multi-billion CMBS deal is not impressive.
All the associates at the top firms got the bonus even if they billed less than 1900.
It's not about who views associates as billing machines, it's about who does the best job treating their billing machines well and providing opportunities both within the firm and outside the firm.
In response to 1:05 - why would you go work in a hell hole for jerks if you could do the same or higher quality work for partners that at least pretended to be nice. If you think that you're getting a better job coming from CWT than from DPW, SulCrom, Cravath etc you're just being silly.
01:30 - CWT recruting person.
under 1900 did NOT get 1/2 bonus across the board - only for class of 2006 is my understanding. Lots of associates in capmkts and RE got no bonus and no special bonus. Anything under 1850 and you got zilch, despite the fact that you may have billed 300/month when the firm was busy in the spring.
Why should an individual that billed >1850 earn the same bonus as an individual that billed 2000+?
I would gladly give up a bonus to have extra time at home. But then again, I do important work that actually matters and I get compensated as such... unlike attorneys...
Man you guys are fun to rip on!
your reasoning skills seem like they would belong to an Ibanker.
"billed >1850 . . . billed 2000+?"
Heh, heh, heh.
Ibanker = funny like a clown
Ibanker, you can take Link back now. Law doesn't want him anymore.
1:30 is:
(a) partner at CWT CLT,
(b) recruiter at CWT,
(c) a total douchebag (which might be inclusive of both (a) and (B)),
(d) an ignorant soul who has not seen the CWT office in Charlotte shrink by 30% in the last 3 months, or
(e) all of the above
3:14
Please dont comment on this board if you have nothing to contribute other than name-calling. You sir are a loser.
2:03 - Explain how you make only 160 billing 2500+, when in the previous paragraph you complain that associates were no-bonused for less than 1850. Aren't those two mutually exclusive? Either you bill 1850 and get no bonus, or you kill yourself billing 2500+ and you get the full bonus and the special bonus. You don't get it both ways.
In short, CWT is just like any other firm.
3:30....please go ahead and place yourself within one of the categories set out in the post from 1:30...I would guess you probably fall under (c). Enjoy your bedbugs.
3:52
Or...you pace like a slave for 2500+ (and I mean "+", there were more than a few 300 hour months in 2007) then get no-bonused when work dries up through no fault of your own.
CWT is market leading only in associate abuse.
How is it that every associate at CWT charlotte could possibly be working on multiple billion dollar deals when structured finance market is slower right now than in 2003 according to league tables and journals. I guess they're the best rainmakers ever, because apparantly, they're working on every single deal running. Wow, that's incredible.
In what universe is billing 2500+ *alone* not a dealbreaker to people with their choice of firms? That is seven *billable* hours 365 days a year.
Wrap your mind around what that would feel like.
CWT = slave ship.