The Greenberg Traurig Memo: 'Uh, We Were Talking About Freezing Partner Pay...'
Remember the long-winded, slightly ridiculous year-end message of Cesar L. Alvarez, CEO of Greenberg Traurig? It was interpreted in some quarters as drawing a line in the sand on associate pay raises. Not surprisingly, ATL commenters had a field day with it.
The Daily Business Review, in this interesting piece by Alana Roberts, followed up with the firm about it. Here's the money quote:
Alvarez told the Daily Business Review that the salary freeze at Miami-based Greenberg is for equity shareholders only....
Really? That seems odd, since the memo spoke in terms of controlling "costs," and when one talks about costs, one usually thinks of associate salaries (as opposed to the firm profits that flow to shareholders or partners). But whatever.
Also, it seems Cesar Alvarez was irritated by the memo's appearance on ATL:
Alvarez said his memo was widely distributed because of his policy of keeping everyone at the firm informed about the firm's business and expressed some annoyance with the leak.“It was confidential to the firm,” Alvarez said. “Somebody's decided to send it outside the firm, but that's the way life goes nowadays. I’m not the least embarrassed that this went out of the firm.”
He's right: "that's the way life goes nowadays." So just cut out the middleman, and send your internal memos to us directly next time.
Business of Law: Greenberg Traurig braces for a tough 2008 [Daily Business Review]
(26) Comments
im so damn FIRSTY!!!
Second... time is a charm. Sure he'll be happy to see this here.
you go, Lat.
Have any of the Miami firms announced 2008 salaries for associates?
viva la revolucion, cesar
Just pay the Miami associates in pesos
or give them free raft-rides back to the motherland
that's what happens when you go to Uof F.
the gators suck.
"He said the 30-city law firm is better able to manage itself because it has a wide range of practice areas, which allows the firm to shuffle lawyers in less busy practice areas to other more robust areas."
"other more robust areas" = GT-speak for "the unemployment office"
Except I would imagine th unemployment office in South Florida these days is quite robusto.
"That seems odd, since the memo spoke in terms of controlling "costs," and when one talks about costs, one usually thinks of associate salaries (as opposed to the firm profits that flow to shareholders or partners)."
Lat, get with it. There are no partners at GT. None. And, with the exception of a small few, the shareholders are treated like day laborers. They have absolutely no say in the running of the business, not even by voting (which is non-existent). So in GT Land, cutting shareholder comp is very much the same thing as controlling costs.
4:09 - That's the point.
Cesar should have used calm assertive energy to deal with the leak and put the firm in a calm submissive state. He didn't act like a pack leader.
4:19: Wrong Caesar, silly!
It's about time some of these firms started looking at freezing pay. How much crack do you have to be smoking to think that 20% pay increases can continue forever? All the idiots who are praying for NY to 190 remind me of condo speculators in Miami. Wages must eventually return to their historical trend lines, just like real estate prices. A freeze is better than a crash, no?
cesar seems very intent on "creating negative energy." tsk, tsk.
http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/09/greenberg_traurig_always_somet.php#more
4:19 - well played my friend.
Uhm.... if the firms all send you their "internal memos" don't the cease to be internal and become "press releases"?
do you really want the firms glossing up what they send to you?
@4:01 = Gator Bait
Cesar's response is pretty weak, he should be furious about (true) comments sent to ATL about the firm. The fire should rage so much so that GT is dead set on a witch hunt to find the associate(s) who leaked the goings on to ATL.
Both the firm's tech department and outside techies should be enlisted to figure out which associate's computer the comments were sent from. GT associates are should be scared to even check ATL while at work.
NY to 190!!!
They have also frozen all support staff salaries and announced that there will be no bonuses in 2008 for support staff.
So they froze the partners and the support staff, but not the associates???
Damn, I wouldn't want to be a first year or other JA over there. I can see wedgies in the bathroom from the support staff and nuggies from partners.
There was this great GT email about support staff towards the end of the year, I wish I kept it. They were talking about year end bonuses and saying that if support staff did all kinds of great things and went above and beyone, well thats what they are supposed to do, and you dont get bonuses just for doing your job. Really great energy over that one.
Year end staff bonuses? WHAT year end staff bonuses? You mean that three-figure bone they threw our way?
Is Greenburg really a law firm or does it just franchise its brand name and hand out form documents to 4th tier lawyers like a big mac recipe?