Holiday Cheer from Shearman & Sterling

The New York Times reports on a growing trend in American business: the cancellation of holiday parties. With the stock market having finished its worst month since 1987, and with layoffs running rampant, there’s not much to celebrate. People, this is no time for egg nog.

Law firms that have canceled holiday festivities include DLA Piper (Chicago) and Fried Frank. Financial firms going Grinch include Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and American Express.

But some law firms won’t be bullied into relinquishing the Christmas spirit. From the NYT:

[S]ome companies see holiday gatherings, whatever the style and scale, as an important hedge against sagging morale — particularly at a time when raises and bonuses will likely be scarce.

“It’s important to get people together for a little social event at that time of year, especially when it’s been as tough a year as this,” said Peter Horowitz, a spokesman for the Wall Street law firm Shearman & Sterling, which is planning holiday lunches and dinners at less expensive restaurants this year. “But at the same time, you have to make sure that you don’t go overboard.”

Perhaps this bodes well for bonuses at Shearman? Hopefully S&S stockings will be filled with cash and not coal.

Or are holiday parties the opium of the masses for Biglaw? Throw everyone a big party, with lots of booze, then announce low bonuses the next day, when they’re too hungover to complain?

Forget Caviar: Holiday Parties Feel the Pinch [New York Times]

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