What if the legal economy stagnates, or even shrinks?

"to improve efficiency" means to cut overall firm costs, mo-ron. insinuating otherwise is dun tarded like palin child.

still, 20 and 21 employees at these significantly large firms isn't all that bad given the "economic apocalypse" we're in.

I wonder if they were any litigation associates like CC and in past layoffs.

Strange to see lit associates getting the axe. They must have been really inefficient if that's the case. Lit is exploding right now, and it looks to be broad based and nationwide. Chicago was in a bit of a lit slump in 2007, but those days are gone. My firm's Chicago office is bringing in 1st and 2nd year corporate associates to work on cases.

sounds about right - exactly what you'd expect from a firm of their caliber. TTT all the way.

If their economic position was as strong as they claim why would they do this?

Kattten only hires from Hofstra, Cooley, and Western New England. Small wonder.

Trig Balls

It's like when you hear the phrase: Joe Blogs has our full support, the Board is right behind him."

Or Lehman is financially sound or Beart Steans is "solid"....you know what is coming next.

The NY office capital markets group is very tense.

Here's hoping that all the SUNY Buffalo Law Grads at Katten lose their jobs....

Rumours are swirling insider Katten.
Firm wide email = trouble at mill

"This measure was taken to further improve the firm's efficiency, to allow for the continued growth of its associates and to ensure the firm's long-term success."

Nice attempt at corporate pr spin.....they will be telling us that they are "making actual market conducive synergies in an escalating capacity" or some other dreadful corporate speak next ......

Translation. We got rid of twenty because the market has dried up and there will be more to follow.

Watch this space

Any word on DLA Piper?

Any word on DLA Piper?

11, I work at Katten. no firm wide email. Why come on this board and post bullshit??

In my view, layoffs = cash flow problems.

Just ask yourself how much cash the layoffs really saved them. Let's just say its $2MM ($4MM in salaries less billable work that would have been collected and would not have been done by others (e.g., duplicative document reivew, conference calls, etc.) -- you can make up the number, its really irrelevant. Now ask yourself if a law firm is truly healthy if it is willing to endure the low morale and bad press that layoffs bring just to save that cash.

IMO, no law firm would take such steps unless it is fooked. In the ass.

I'm just making all of this up, but it sounds good to me.

Just ask your yourself, why would a company try to reduce costs, ever.

That is the gist of #15 and goes to show how little many associates understand about how to run a business.

#16

As far as I can tell, law firm partners aren't too great at running a business either. The management and business accumen of most law firm partners is a joke.

I am a Katten employee and don't think its hurtung that bad. All firms use bad economic news - even if they are just doing "okay", to get rid of underperforming employees. Its the best time to do it to prevent being sued on employment matters. You can't say "they fired me b/c I'm [this race, gay, a woman, etc.] if there is a bad economy and all firms are doing it. Katten really does give people a chance. This is a good time to get rid of any problem people. Firm morale is low due to the economy, but people here are busy with work. Its no doubt staff layoffs at KMR are next or at any other firm for that matter.

18--- if that makes you feel more hopeful, I'm glad

18, I'd like to be hopeful too. I'm supposed to start at KMR next week. I'm so scared.

20 - I understand, but if you're that scared, call them up and turn them down. If you have no other offers, what else can you do? Most of us aren't millionaires. All we can do is show up to work each day - no matter the firm or company - and do our job. At the end of the day if you still have a job, be thankful - especially if you have no where else to go. If you can't get out of it, what else can you do but earn what can and hope for something better. There are no guarentees in any job. I know people who worked at companies/firms for 25 years and were let go. Think about how they felt.

I am a Katten associate--there has been no firm wide email. Do you mean "chicago-wide" email??

15"s last line = best layoff comment ever

I am a Katten associate--there has been no firm wide email. Do you mean "chicago-wide" email??

18: are you sure? How can anyone be underperforming in this economy? People are billing more than ever.

incoming first-years and soon-to-be second years were spared (for now...mwaahaahaa)

25, yes. every firm has problem employees (staff mostly) and I'm not saying it to say the associates who were let go were bad. But they must have done somthing to get fired from KMR. Even if you were one of the ones let go, you could have been fired for just looking at a partner funny. Some partners are nuts and merciless. You don't need to give them much of an excuse to put you on their shit list so they can let you go before bonus time.

several years ago, katten was a dump of a firm, horrible place to work and only a step above altheimer

nowadays, with altheimer long gone, katten is a dump of a firm and a horrible place to work. knock out job.

28, well there ya go. Anyone who was let go = you have nowhere to go but up. Keep your chins up.

28: please explain why Katten is a horrible place to work. I'm sure you have first hand experience; I can't imagine any other reason why you would post bitterness about KMR on a message board.

Well they do hire lots of TTT grads in financial services....they will be no great loss if culled in the coming weeks

Firms always try to imply that the associates are subpar when they do layoffs but the partners are the ones who are subpar. If the partners did their jobs, bringing in business, they'd continue to be able to keep the now-terminated associates busy, just as they did when business was walking in the door and the same associates were being recruited to work at the firm.

Every time you read about associate layoffs, remember that the true message is "our partners suck at bringing in business."

32: yep, it's the partners' fault then when the economy tanks, business doesn't come in the way it used to. Definitely the partners' fault, not the economy's. You, sir, are a dumbass.

33, you are the dumbass. It doesn't take much skill to bring in business when things are going well. The real skill is being able to bring in business in bad times. The point is that if anyone is at fault for layoffs, it's usually the partners, for failing to bring in business, rather than the associates, whose skills were fine when business was walking in the door.

I've heard that work in Chicago is slow across the board. Is there any truth to that?

Look kiddies, name calling doesn't help. Clients no longer want to pay partners their rate on top of an associate billing $300 hr/ or watever it is, and essentially they are being trained. Clients tell partners "cut the bills or we walk". Thereby to save their own ass, they cut associates. Its just the nature of the beast. Law firm life is not for everyone. Its a duel edged sword.

35, yes its true.

Katten is a ruthless firm focused on the bottom line at the expense of any firm morale. Last slowdown in 2001 they fired a bunch of associates around christmas. They would ax associates in heartbeat to save a nickel. For those mentioning bankruptcy, that's ridiculous. Management is much stronger than that. Remember, Elliott Portnoy runs that other Chicago firm from his perch in D.C., not this one.

Chicago is dead. Just give up and move to Houston and pray that your feet are comfortable in cowboy boots.

35 - no. Many of us in Chicago are crushed with work.

40, which firm are you at that you are crushed with work?

with any firm all you can do is work long enough to a) make as much as you can until they fire you or b) make as much as you can until your loans are paid off, then RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know an associate who got fired and late at night on his last night he left a parting gift of doo doo on his favorite partner's chair. I do condone this nor recommend it as DNA tests are now more common and quite accurate.

41 - Sidley

Really heard Sidley litigation was slow...Good to know the rumors aren't true.

Not from where I sit.

Sidley NY Litigation is getting crushed as well.

What rank out of UChicago for this firm?

wow i heard sidley was headed for lay offs

definitely want to hear more about Sidley NY litigation please.

I work for Katten's DC office. There was no firm wide email. It was only in Chicago.

DC and NY office previously conducted stealth layoffs coinciding with mid-year reviews.

The DC office moved to new offices. The space is eerie to begin. The lack of work is deafening amplifying the eeriness.

The FSG group in NY is sweating bullets. They have nothing to do. They will have nothing to do. Every group except T /E is slow in NY. LIT may get busy.

Where, on ATL? Yes, if you believe everything you read in ATL comments, all biglaw is headed for layoffs.

actually from an associate

How are other Chicago firms faring---- Kirkland, Winston, Mayer?

48: I'm (fairly junior) at Sidley (Chicago), transactional, and though I've not been "slammed" all day, every day, I have been relatively busy. Layoffs aren't even on the radar screen here.

I know some associates at Katten. They're good people - and I hope those who were laid off land on their feet (other firms would be lucky to have them).

Mayer is crumbling, seriously. Winston, not so good. Kirkland will weather this storm.

Joe the Plumber was laid off from Katten.

29/30 - you obviously are law students and thus don't know much about anything. ask any midlevel whether they enjoy working at katten. the firm is rough and tumble with notoriously obtuse partners to work for, excessively cheap with bonuses and won't hesitate to boot your ass if it means a little extra coin in the equity partners' pockets. as one poster pointed out, several years ago, they canned a bunch of associates right before the new year. you obviously were still sucking on your mother's tit at this time, thus, you wouldn't know anything about that.

if that's your only offers...sorry, sucks to be you.

55- Really, so you foresee Mayer and Winston "crumbling" within the next couple of years?

Winston no, Mayer yes. I don't know if Mayer will go Heller but it has lost profitable partners and will continue to do so.

48-- so you drank the Sidley Kool-Aid; Sidley isn't susceptible to a tank in the economy?

I don't think anyone is saying that Sidley isn't "susceptible" - of course, if the economy tanks, we're all screwed. I wouldn't want to be an associate with no work anywhere right now. But I'd rather be an associate with no work at a Kirkland or Sidley than a firm with less diverse practice.

Any news about Katten's LA office?

Tomorrow's news today...after MysTTTal ate his donuts and went to sleep...

Firms Consider Taking Pieces of Thelen

The Recorder

By Niraj Chokshi and Petra Pasternak

October 16, 2008

With a full-firm merger increasingly unlikely, Thelen has begun looking to other firms to pick up practices or offices, a current partner confirmed on Wednesday.

Merger talks with Nixon Peabody ended several weeks ago, the partner and two other sources said. Nixon remains interested in taking on parts of Thelen, two sources familiar with the talks said. Other suitors for pieces include Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Alston & Bird, several sources said. Alston is talking to groups at Thelen and hopes to expand its IP, energy, commercial litigation and other practices in Northern California, an Alston lawyer confirmed.

While Thelen is looking for firms willing to pick up various pieces, a core group may choose to stick together, and Thelen partners are meeting on a weekly basis to discuss their options, said the partner, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Although Thelen is not in late-stage discussions with any firms, things could change quickly, a source familiar with the situation said. Dissolution has not been formally discussed, that source added.

At least some associates have been assured they could move with partners, a lawyer close to the firm and a legal consultant said.

A firm spokesman said Thelen Chairman Stephen O'Neal was traveling Wednesday and couldn't be reached for comment. Other Thelen partners declined to comment on the firm's plans.

Thelen Reid & Priest's 2006 merger and the overall economy were among the reasons the firm has found itself in its situation, the partner said.

"This is the by-product of a merger relationship that did not develop the way that we had hoped," said the partner, referring to the December 2006 merger with Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner. Name partners Peter Brown, Richard Raysman and Jeffrey Steiner have all left the firm this year.

While the Brown merger didn't turn out as hoped, it was unforeseeable, the partner said: "Sometimes even reasonable decisions turn out to have bad results."

When the Brown merger took place, Thelen announced that the combined firm would be home to 630 lawyers. The firm now has 417, according to its Web site. Thelen has lost more than 100 lawyers since March, not including the 26 associates who were laid off that month. About 50 partners have left the firm this year. Most recently, Pillsbury has picked up Thelen's China practice, and four energy regulatory attorneys and two construction litigators in Washington, D.C.

The majority of the departures have come from the firm's New York office, which was largely populated by attorneys from the Brown firm. But former partners and industry observers have said that the firm's Los Angeles office also has seen a number of departures in recent years. In 2006, the then-two-floor Los Angeles office hit a peak of about 60 lawyers, and the firm decided to add a third floor around that time, former partners said. Now the office is down to 35 attorneys.

But there are still some key rainmakers who have remained, recruiters and partners at other firms have said.

Thelen would not be the first San Francisco law firm to suffer this year. The partnership at Heller Ehrman voted to dissolve that firm on Sept. 26 after a string of departures in recent years led to the firm's banks — Bank of America and Citibank — forcing the firm to shut down.

More generally, recruiters, consultants and firms are not optimistic about how 2008 will end for law firms, with most saying that the best a firm could hope for is flat revenues.

I work for Katten - Chicago, I didn't get a firm wide e-mail Re: the firings.

Did anyone get laid off in Katten's LA office? Which groups in Katten (any office) are busy?

What's all this chatter about lay off being bad business? Build up in good times and cut back in lean ones, sounds like good business to me.

The associates take it on the chin, so what? They're making Cravath/ Cleary salaries when they obviously didn't get jobs there. If they wanted job security they should have taken a job a small firm at $80k/yr. Now they can take a year off, take the $80k job when the economy picks back up, and be in the same situation.

50 - I'm pretty familiar with Katten's NY FSG and wonder where you're getting your information. Seems like an off-the-mark comment to me.

67 - Did anyone get laid off in Katten's LA office? Which groups in Katten (any office) are busy?

66. I don't see any chatter on here about layoffs being bad business. In fact, I agree that a law firm is a business and should do what it needs to do to be profitable.

If you think that somebody's ability to get a job at Cravath is a valid predictor of how good of a practicing lawyer someone will be, you are obviously not a practicing lawyer.

Partners at KMZR suck even going as far as yelling at 1st year law students at a firm sponsored softball game at which they were sponsoring in order to recruit. No joke, they were calling students morons and idiots. But the firm somehow sells some the kool-aid that its a "rad" place to work because they talk about the Cubs during callbacks and have some Chicago sport teams or pro players as clients. Not surprised they are pulling this crap and that they fired people on Christmas last time.

All firms will have douche partners, i don't think Katten is any worse than any other large firm with respect to douche bag count.

Echoing 67's comments questioning 50's remarks on FSG in NYC. Anyone in the financial world is wondering what the future will be thanks to the economy, but the present doesn't involve sitting on our thumbs and sifting through ATL comments... at least before today. It's a good group.

used to work at katten chicago - i cannot emphasize enough that this place is a miserable sweatshop. i work at a "higher ranked" firm in NY now and the atmosphere and morale is so much better (seriously)

\What's the story with Tasneem K. Goodman, partner and spokesperson? 2002 grad, but already a partner (track at Katten is 7.5 years, no?), apparently doesn't practice law (no "related fields" in her bio) but is a partner?? Who can shed some light?

As a side note, I've got a major chub after looking at her picture on the Katten website. Wokka wokka.

49: Sidley NY litigation is absolutely terrible. And for that matter, the firm itself is a dump. Litigation is drowning, yes. Drowning in boring, mind-numbing work, half the associates I work with are completely ignorant when it comes to basic legal issues you wonder how they graduated law school, and there is a lot of favoritism among the partners. I was a summer and got a solid offer, but it seemed like they just gave it to me to safeguard their reputation and NALP numbers, even though they have absolutely no interest in really having me back. And to the earlier commenter who said litigation was "crushed", why then would they refuse to assign a summer to litigation that spent half the summer in that group? Don't believe the hype. Sidley NY is the worst Sidley office and doesn't come anywhere close to what the firm is really known for. Chicago and DC, even LA, are where it's at.

layoffs at DLA Piper Chicago

To #2:

In that case, we will face a new period of interfirm conflict: Wildman against Wachtell, Katten against Cleary. Sullivan, Skadden, Shearman—these firms with their billions of soon-to-be-former associates and their PPP-driven economics will pose a much greater danger to world order than Brobeck and Heller did in the ‘00s.

-Mead in 2008

KaTTTen

"The FSG group in NY is sweating bullets. They have nothing to do. They will have nothing to do."

I work in FSG at Katten NY. I wouldn't say we have nothing to do. Obviously things have slowed down! Being on ATL for lay offs doesn't help.....employees in FSG are definitely nervous.

As a slightly older associate I will make one oberservation of my comrades in arms. Most of the young ones seem to have adjusted their lifestyle to their salary after landing the Biglaw job. I doubt that many of them have a "rainy day" fund.

17, good point. After all, those horrible businessmen make only a millie or two a year, unlike brilliant businessman 17, who makes as much as joe the plumber or even more no doubt....

17 = EPIC FAIL AT LIFE

80 = dillusional douche

If lawyers were good at running a business, then they would be RUNNING A BUSINESS instead of playing wet nurse to the guys that are running the fucking show.

That's why were lawyers. We're smart, but just don't quite have the right skill set to be in business. If you are a partner and don't know that, you really have an inferiority complex. Accept your role in life, douche!

I think 81 means a superiority complex? But we get the idea.

Partners who think they are anything but document monkeys = dicks that clients laugh at.

I'm at Katten Chicago and we didn't get any email. I know at least in corporate we are still very busy

wow, so 75 is bitter because he worked half the summer in Litigation and couldn't get into the group when they assigned practice areas? i guess your work wasn't as good as you thought it was then now was it? or could it possibly be your toxic personality that made the lit department walk away from you and not want you in the group?

i am a junior associate, and i've been just happy to get at least a day off on the weekends. i don't hear any of my fellow ny litigators complaining about not being busy, nor do i see any of them leaving before 8PM. you sound like you were bitter that no one liked you, and like a spoiled brat from this "special snowflake" generation who is mad that you didn't get what you wanted.

i'm not drinking the firm kool aide, but i see most of the other people here buried in work. we will be buried for some time doing a shitload of SEC investigative work and securities, and Patent litigation. that is why i came to work in a NY Lit office, and i'm happy i am here.

- Sidley NY Litigator

81,

I guess in your mind law firms aren't businesses?

Law firms are service businesses, the same as any number of law firm clients (particularly the investment firms causing this current shitstorm, unless I somehow missed a particular good they have introduced into the marketplace).

The problem is that law partners are generally chosen based on their rainmaking and legal ability, rather than any innate or demonstrated ability to manage a business - a skill that some partners have and some don't. The successful firms are the ones managed by partners with the skill to run a business. The unsuccessful ones are generally those who elected managing partners (or partnership counsels, or whatever the management structure is) based on rainmaking, legal ability, or popularity.

offer from sidley ny. bad idea?

75- im confused. you got a "solid offer" from SidleyNY and you are pissed because it seems they didnt really like you or want to work with you- so youd rather they NOT have offered you because no one wanted you around?

The SidleyNY Litigation office is competitive- not every single summer associate who wants it, gets it- and thats definitely something summer associates should consider when choosing a firm. But that speaks to the popularity of the litigators and the pretty cool work that floats through that dept... sorry you wound up in insurance.

76 - not true

85 (a/k/a dumb partner):

For the record, a dry cleaner is a business. So is the landscaping company that cuts my grass. Most partners, including you, could probably handle that. On the continuum, law firms probably fall somewhere in the middle, right above large restaurant but below regional retail chain. When I talk about running a business, I am not talking about the bullshit that anyone except for the true mouth breathers can handle. I am talking about doing the job that your clients are doing day in and day out (and I am not tallking about the effette in house counsels). I am talking about the guys that you think are your peers. They aren't.

Those that can't, teach. Or in this case, practice law and banter anonymously on blogs during working hours. I recognize that I wouldn't be able to run a business unless I wanted to run it into the ground, that's why I am a lawyer, and happy. Your problem is that you think you have business skills because of your title. That's funny.

89, what exactly is your point? Did you mean to address someone else's comments?

I work at Katten (thank goodness, even after yesterday), and I can say with all honesty that the people who were let go were smart, diligent, and good workers - oh, and great people. They deserve some understanding in light of the financial crisis, and not ridicule by nameless people on a blog. So, to people like #5 who say that the people who were laid off were inefficient, or to the others who say that the firm was using the economy to get rid of people they didn't like, I'd like to just say that you are horribly wrong.

Would anyone like to comment on the fact that the firm is having a cocktail party today? Doesn't seem very nice to me, regardless of whether it was already planned or not.

Just ask your yourself, why would a company try to reduce costs, ever.
__________________________________________

They would more effectively reduce costs by cutting underperforming partners with weak books--such people costs firms a ton to carry. The savings gained from cutting a handful of low-level associates will be temporary, minimal, and likely irrelevant, accept reputationally.

Just ask your yourself, why would a company try to reduce costs, ever.
__________________________________________

They would more effectively reduce costs by cutting underperforming partners with weak books--such people costs firms a ton to carry. The savings gained from cutting a handful of low-level associates will be temporary, minimal, and likely irrelevant, except reputationally.

Just ask your yourself, why would a company try to reduce costs, ever.
__________________________________________

They would more effectively reduce costs by cutting underperforming partners with weak books--such people costs firms a ton to carry. The savings gained from cutting a handful of low-level associates will be temporary, minimal, and likely irrelevant, except reputationally.

Cocktail party is good! Means that the firm fired a bunch of losers that no one feels bad about. If the firm cancelled the party, that would mean that they felt bad about letting good people go, which would mean the firm was really fucked. I mean, you only let good people go if you are really in dire straights. I see it as a positive!

Katten rules.

92-94, are you being sarcastic as to why a firm would want to reduce costs? It's pretty obvious that the more costs you cut the more profit there is.

89 - i find it amusing that you think partners spend time posting on here. most can't even work their blackberry right let alone post on an anonymous board.

Just be nice.

Just be nice.

Contrary to what a lot of business people believe, being a lawyer and having business skills are not mutually exclusive concepts. The mistake that most law firms make is that they have their best salespeople run the firm. Salespeople are usually awful managers.

Hmmmm....

I'm with 95. Cancel party = telegraph to world that firm is tanking. Keep party = telegraph to world that firm fired losers for performance.

Gotta go with door #2. Sorry canned losers. :(

anyone know anything about cahill ny? am considering an offer there

if you believe everything you read in ATL comments, all biglaw is headed for layoffs.

Actually, if you just read the paper you would realize that most enterprises are headed for leaner times, which, at larger firms, means layoffs of employees. That isn't a reality unique to law firms, nor is it a reality from which law firms are somehow immune. So yeah--all biglaw will be layoffing-maybe just staff or contract workers, but somebody's salary is going to go. Just accept it.

Like Bob Marley sung, "Every little thing, is going to be alright."

77,

Briliant

Or as Rabbi Hyman Krustofski once said "Oy vey iz mir."

106 = comic gold

74 = undersexed beta male nerd typical of biglaw, if he thinks Ms. Goodman looks good based on her bio pic. Yikes. It looks like she's wearing a white mouth guard, for god's sake. When's the last time you got any?

108 - She looks much better in person. Luckily .... ;-)

108 = (i) fatty who can't figure how to correct the contrast on her monitor or (ii) a racist cunt.

Either way, go fuck yourself.

Witty response, 110. You managed to drop the reflexive and completely uncalled for "racist" retort *and* the wildly offensive C-word in one post, all while projecting a visceral anger worthy of a therapy session. Good luck with them issues.

84, 87: First of all, I'm not bitter, just angry with the firm for misleading me this way. The whole time I was at the firm they told me I was doing well, I'd have a good chance to get into lit, and so on. It was only after I got back to school that they revealed their true colors. There is nothing wrong with knowing what you want and trying to get it, especially when it comes to your professional goals. And don't delude yourself into thinking that the reason everyone wants lit is because it's so hot and the work is interesting. It's because your transactional groups are completely dead that everyone wants to do lit. My biggest complaint about Sidley is not that their groups are competitive, it's that their lies kept me from seeking another job through OCI when I could, and now I've to scrounge around for something else that'll treat me with the respect and professionalism I deserve.

86: Sidley NY really is a bad idea. Don't believe those who say I'm just bitter because I couldn't get in. The fact is that the NY office having grown from B&W is still not the true Sidley. The firm is run out of Chicago and all the interesting work is still done in Chi and DC. Sidley NY doesn't (rightly) command the respect that its peer firms in the city do, and this shows in the quality of work they get and in the quality of lawyers they hire.

-75

Witty response, 110. You managed to drop the reflexive and completely uncalled for "racist" retort *and* the wildly offensive C-word in one post, all while projecting a visceral anger worthy of a therapy session. Good luck with them issues.

Witty response, 110. You managed to drop the reflexive and completely uncalled for "racist" retort *and* the wildly offensive C-word in one post, all while projecting a visceral anger worthy of a therapy session. Good luck with them issues.

112 if that is true, what does it say about the quality of you as a lawyer if you are working there?

"It's pretty obvious that the more costs you cut the more profit there is."

Not if the firm loses more in revenue from the costs cut then they gain in savings--ask any management consulting/research firm about the ultimate results for many firms that have undertaken layoffs.

Not only are layoffs expensive in the short-term re: severance and benefits packages, accrued vacation, etc., they're usually pricey in the long-term in terms of unemployment insurance, lost productivity. and the always looming threat of potential legal costs.

For most firms, layoffs are not an effective cost-cutting measure; it makes more sense to simply hire prudently so that even in slow economic times, your human resources are operating at full capacity. If they never needed these people, they shouldn't have hired them in the first place and taken on the costs to employ them for no reason, and now that they're getting rid of them, the shedding process will likely cost them more than the compensation packages they no longer have to carry.

Either way, what we're looking at here is either poor personell management, or a firm on it's way down. Neither is pretty

I was a partner at Katten before leaving to join a larger firm that is managed (and doing) much better. Katten has many great people and lawyers, and I feel for those affected by this move because they are victims of management's mistakes. While I was there, Katten's management was consistently reluctant to share accurate or specific information about how it was doing with associates or non-equity partners, and didn't solicit or welcome their input on what the firm could do to improve. I suspect those characteristics, combined with management's lack of attention to what can be done to cut non-labor costs, led to this move.

How was the post blood-bath cocktail party?

I work at Mayer in litigation. I know litigation associates in several Mayer offices. They are super-busy asare we. Finance is steady, but certainly much slower than before the economic downturn.

If the posters who claim Mayer is doing down have concrete information, I'd love to hear it. Here's what I know: although it isn't a great time for Mayer or any other firm, the firm has no real debt so it has a little better ability to weather the economy than others. And last year didn't show any growth in profit over the previous year, but it held steady.

116 said:

"Either way, what we're looking at here is either poor personell management, or a firm on it's way down. Neither is pretty."

Neither is your spelling or apostrophe usage, but perhaps you posted in a rushed, covert manner since you are typically loathe to waste the Firm's resources and time by parking yourself on the Internet all day.