first, bitches

First to say it sucks being back at work. - though its great to have a job!

Baked Frank.

My billiables hang low.

3 months severance isn't too bad - and still "showing up" (which won't be enforced) is necessary so they can pretend they weren't aced when they apply for new jobs.

hey mystal, what about a discussion on the emoluments clause, which might bar hillary from being sec. of state? or is that too "legal" of a post to compete with the other propaganda you like to put up?

No wonder Fried Frank refused to hire me or any of my friends.

Oh wait make that two months severance - actually that does kind of suck, lol.

". . . we reported that 15 corporate associates has been let go."
umm....are you serious? Is that really the product of an HLS education?

When you say Miami, you're talking Super Bowl!
Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins number one!

Fired Frank will be a ghost town by the end of 2009, much like SkaddenDC.

Tis a shame.

Sorry but this is appalling. It's one thing to lay people off because the economy's slow and - let's face it - partners want to keep their profit shares up. It's quite another to lay people off in such a way that you don't have to officially say you've done layoffs, at the expense of making it even harder for the poor schmucks you axed for the sake of your yacht to get jobs in an already tough market. There aren't really lateral opportunities right now, so current associates don't have the option of jumping ship, and granted most 2Ls in this market will take whatever offers they get. But here's hoping that every single person with an offer to Fried Frank and an offer to any other firm next fall chooses the other. Screw these guys.

Broiled Frank.

this utterly sucks - I'm one of those who would give up the bonus if it mean no one gets cut (I already made my hours for the year, moreover)....

on another note - why have so few firsm posted about the bonus? are they weighing it against cuts?

I'm stressed and burnt out - but I'll gladly work weekends for some risk abatement....

Note how FF has changed its website so that you cannot run an attorney search by practice group. It's sad that they've resorted to such tactics to mask their true intentions. If I was a litigator in their D.C. office, I would have left last year when four of their top partners left. The writing has been on the while for a while now.

Confit Frank

Yeah, this is the lowest of the low. Fried Frank upper management = stupid and shady. Stupid because they thought that numerous stealth layoffs could be swept under the rug. And shady for, well, obvious reasons.

FF is so TTT it has been almost 4 months and no reimbursement!

I just make it a personal habit to never work at a firm named after a sausage or hot dog. I'm sorry, Mystal, I know this flies in the face of everything you ever believed.

What a piece of shit firm.

MysTTTal-
Good work reporting on this. You still suck, but this is good work.

Litigation? That's weird. I thought lit was doing okay.

Litigation? That's weird. I thought lit was doing okay.

Litigation? That's weird. I thought lit was doing okay.

FF acting like a Pittsburgh firm. Sad. Pathetic and sad.

This is what happens when you get your Fried Frank stuck in an Ass Cravath and then nothing but Skadden comes out.

Tis the season!

FYI - Milbank is also doing stealth layoffs and redeploying associates from slower groups. I think stealth layoffs are happening at most firms. Milbank will do a half-Skadden bonus - hours too low across the board.

Any word from the incoming class of associates (2009) at FF? On a previous post some people said they had received messages from the firm encouraging them to seek other employment. Any truth to this?

"Litigation? That's weird. I thought lit was doing okay."

It's not. The NYTimes had an article a few weeks ago about how litigation is hurting.

hey elie how are those layoffs at TPW going?

you remember: the ones you reported on two weeks ago that still haven't happened?

dumbass.

Those class of 2007 associates were 1st years this year. If anything, 1st years have even less control over their hours than 2nd years do. Dismissal for low hours is ridiculous, providing the person didn't hide from work or whatnot.

Litigation at Fried Frank has been SLOW for a long time. They have had all kinds of rainmaking problems for years now. The department had tried to bring in lateral partners with a decent book of clients and approached many in NYC (over 20) and none of them were interested...clearly they recognized what a dead end it would have been to join the firm.

DPW just matched Cravath.

"regularly scheduled programing"

Good job as always Elie.

hey 7- regarding the "emoluments" clause blocking Clinton (i.e., as a Senator, she voted for legislation that included a salary raise for the Secretary of State). This is a non-issue, for academics to discuss in journals. At most, as has happened for numerous past Cabinet members that came from a Senate that had approved a pay raise for the same position, Clinton would simply accept the salary that existed prior to the recent pay raise.

Confirmed on DPW. We're half-skadden as well.

DPW memo

We are pleased to announce that associates in good standing will receive a bonus payment as outlined below. Bonuses will be paid on December 24, 2008 in the same manner as the regular December monthly payroll, and will be subject to proration for those who arrived after January 1, 2008 and those on part-time schedules or other special arrangements. Bonuses for counsel and other attorneys will be determined on an individual basis and will be communicated and paid according to the normal time schedule.

Class of 2008: $17,500 (prorated)
Class of 2007: $17,500
Class of 2006: $20,000
Class of 2005: $22,500
Class of 2004: $25,000
Class of 2003: $27,500
Class of 2002: $30,000
Class of 2001 and senior $32,500

We thank all our associates for their diligent and skillful efforts as we support our clients in this challenging economic environment.

The Management Committee

Weil just picked up the Pilgrim's Pride bankruptcy. I'd love to see a chart of what firms are scooping up business as the economy flounders.

How sad. The FF attorneys I met at the offer dinner were very nice.

(Can't say I'm regretting turning down the offer right about now, though...)

Franks and Beans!

FF is awful. When I turned down their offer a few weeks ago I emailed a partner that I know pretty well to express my thanks. Immediate response was "I just got fired. You don't want to work here." Granted she was a young partner, but they just booted her and a few other partners when the senior partners' salaries were looking a bit trim for the year.

DPW bonuses confirmed:
http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2008/12/davis-polk-late.html

Wow. Either Skadden is booming, or they messed up big time.

29 - As far as I know, there is no truth to that whatsoever. FF gave offers to every summer, though I hear they weren't hiring 3Ls, and hired less summers for 2009.

44 - what's the first thing they teach you in negotiations?

Don't act first with inferior or nonexistent information.

What the hell? Is an practice group doing well? I thought bankruptcy firms/practices would be hiring, but even those practices are experiencing a hiring freeze. What practice groups should recent grads that have been laid off apply to?

FF apparently laid off a bunch of staff with only one week notice. Assholes.

THE LIST: This list does not include "redeployments," mergers, staff, or staff attorneys.

Announced | Firm | Location | Total | "Review-Based"? | Acknowledged?
1/11/2007 Kenyon & Kenyon US 16 No Yes
10/1/2007 Thacher Proffitt & Wood US 24 No Yes
10/17/2007 Kirkland & Ellis Chicago 6 to 8 Yes No
1/10/2008 Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Charlotte 9 No Yes
1/10/2008 Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft NYC 26 No Yes
2/14/2008 Winstead PC Dallas ~3 Yes Yes
2/29/2008 Dechert US 13 No Yes
3/20/2008 Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner US 26 No Yes
4/4/2008 Dewey & LeBoeuf Jacksonville 10 No Yes
4/4/2008 Dewey & LeBoeuf Hartford 22 No Yes
4/4/2008 Dewey & LeBoeuf Austin 16 No Yes
4/25/2008 Sutherland Asbill & Brennan Atlanta 8 Mix Yes
4/25/2008 Sutherland Asbill & Brennan DC <7 Mix Yes
5/12/2008 Paul Hastings US 22 Yes Yes
5/28/2008 Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal US 37 No Yes
6/5/2008 Blank Rome Philadelphia 6 Yes Yes
6/5/2008 Blank Rome NYC 2 Yes Yes
6/5/2008 Blank Rome DC 1 Yes Yes
6/11/2008 Thacher Proffitt & Wood US 36 No Yes
6/23/2008 Powell Goldstein US <10 No Yes
7/1/2008 Patton Boggs Dallas 4 Yes Yes
7/1/2008 Patton Boggs US 5 Yes Yes
7/14/2008 Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LA, SF, San Diego 15 Unk No
7/16/2008 Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman East Coast <10 Unk No
7/30/2008 Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft NYC, Charlotte, London, DC 96 No Yes
8/4/2008 DLA Piper London 1 No Yes
8/12/2008 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett global 30 Yes No
8/21/2008 Morgan & Finnegan NYC ~4 No Yes
9/22/2008 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer unknown <5 No Yes
9/25/2008 Heller Ehrman US ~600? No Yes
10/2/2008 Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal US 25 No Yes
10/14/2008 Clifford Chance NYC & DC 20 No Yes
10/20/2008 Dewey & LeBoeuf Charlotte 8 No Yes
10/20/2008 Katten Muchin Rosenman US 21 No Yes
10/21/2008 Jenner & Block US 10 No Yes
10/22/2008 Dechert US 10 to 30 Yes No
10/23/2008 O'Melveny & Myers LA 5 Yes Yes
10/27/2008 White & Case Milan 14 No Yes
10/28/2008 Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner US ~500? No Yes
10/30/2008 Bell Boyd & Lloyd Chicago 10 No Yes
11/3/2008 McKee Nelson NYC 13 No Yes
11/3/2008 McKee Nelson DC 4 No Yes
11/11/2008 Loeb & Loeb US 8 Yes Yes
11/11/2008 White & Case US, London 70 No Yes
11/12/2008 Moore Van Allen Charlotte 20 No Yes
11/13/2008 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe US 40 No Yes
11/14/2008 Greenberg Traurig NYC unk No No
11/19/2008 Brown Rudnick US 20 No Yes
11/20/2008 Mayer Brown US 33 No Yes
11/20/2008 Squire Sanders US <30 Yes Yes
11/21/2008 Dewey & LeBoeuf NYC 5 to 11 Unk No
11/21/2008 Fried Frank US 15 Yes No
12/1/2008 Fried Frank US 15 Yes No

FF is the new GT

#42 - Are you saying they have been quietly showing Partners to the door in the past month or so? Over the years they have but under what they think is secrecy (the walls at FF have ears) and time given to move to another firm than the inhumane manner they put out associates. Word is already out that many Partners are nervous about when their day is coming.!

NYC to 145!!!

If you were not an attorney, what would you be?
Me first. Hmm... Probably a teacher. Teachers are poor you say. Beats being unemployed.

Le Sigh

I'm gonna FRY FRANK's balls. Fucking douchebags who don't have the courage to actually acknowledge that FF's retard partners cannot generate enough work for the associates.

THIRD TIER FUCKING TOILET.

145 Partners left in NY? What is going on? Is that once fine firm whose reputation has been burnt to ashes being turned into a private Kingdom? All of those partners who were blinded by the glitter of more gold stood by and let this happen and did nothing to stop what has been going on at that firm will pay a very dear price in this life and the hereafter life.

#49- great job on the list. Hey editors, you need to pick up on this and post it.

As for Fried Frank, how the #ell do you lay-off 2007's? As a 2007, you've barely had a year to "prove" yourself... that's just wrong.

#48 - The Copy Department men's final day was Wednesday, day before Thanksgiving. The manager of it had been there for 30 years and most of the men in there started right out of high school and I would estimate they had been there for 20 plus years as all were in their 40's. As for being true assholes - they also laid off the support staff in NY and DC, if you'll recall, in August without warning - they walked in the office and were told to leave.

#56 - London office person reported on Thanksgiving 6 associates were let go there - has that been confirmed? Over the past several months DC associates have been let go quietly.

Bet those 'skeletons' bones' in Fried Frank's closets are rattling to beat the band. Workmen summoned to put steel doors on the closets?

Ignoring all the fairytales that FF has been spinning, let's get to the nitty gritty. Unless there is a private agenda no one knows about - and highly doubtful there is one - what has happened so tragically to the Associates has to have been brought on by FF hit heavy in this economy.

Anybody know just how many new clients and multi-millions paid through their billable hours Spendmess personally brought into the Firm in the four years he has been in it? How many FF firms was he personally responsible for setting up in other countries for FF and how many multi-millions are they bringing in?

Why isn't FF starting at the top and evaluating each partner as to what their contribution is in new clients, millions of dollars of billable hours versus what they are costing the firm to carry.

49: awesome.

To clear up the severance issue:

It appears the firm said to people, look for another job until Feb. 1 and if you can't find one, we will settle on a final termination date.

Thus, it's probably a bit longer than Feb. 1.

What partners? Young female litigation partners do not exist. What corporate partners???

Schulte Roth and Zabel should be added to that list. By some estimations there were 10-15 last week alone, and 40-50 total throughout 2008.

Tsunami wave reached China: Orrick has laid off 7 in Beijing and Paul Hasting 20-30 in Shanghai.

Tsunami wave reached China: Orrick has laid off 7 in Beijing and Paul Hasting 20-30 in Shanghai.

I call bullshit on this whole "story." None of it has been confirmed, and it's just rumormongering until it is. I don't know of one associate -- not one -- that has been laid off, and I've talked to a lot of people.

I call bullshit on this whole "story." None of it has been confirmed, and it's just rumormongering until it is. I don't know of one associate -- not one -- that has been laid off, and I've talked to a lot of people.

Fried Frank is a fine firm, just as it always has been. Like a lot of firms, it has hit a rough patch for reasons not in its control. However, it is well diversified and has many practice areas, including litigation, that are quite busy right now, which will help to sustain the firm for the next year or two. I fully expect that the firm will roar back like a lion when the economy picks up again. I even hear that they are planning to open a new office in Los Angeles -- I think a firm with the unique cachet of Fried Frank would do quite well on the West Coast.

67 - the story is never going to be "confirmed" if FF is being dishonest about the layoffs (and they are). If Elie has multiple sources who are all saying basically the same thing, then he should run with the story. Rumormongering? . . . please.

69 - FF litigation is "quite busy right now"? Really?

69 is just a fucker speaking trash. FFHSJ just closed their LA office three years ago. Ain't no way they are going back. Go tickle yo nuts, 69.

so 68, you call bullshit on this story. Wish I could call bullshit on the bullshit "review" I recevied. Stupid f*ck.

who are you kidding? I was a 2nd year laid off by FF. they have no work. They didnt have any work from the minute I started. Lets all stop playing pretened. This is a garbage department at a garbage firm. but its my fault that none of the partners could bring in business. nice try.

additionally if FF wants to make it seem like "posters" on ATL think they are doing well maybe they shouldnt post one after another.

3/4 of a century!

FF has also quietly closed its Shanghai office. It has zero lawyers in that office, after Dechert poached them for their HK office.

Grilled Frank

Don't think FF will be doing bonuses this year, but it certainly has distinguished itself and set the "market" for how not to do layoffs. it will be interesting to see how other firms do layoffs going forward: will stealth layoffs become more steathy (e.g., spread out over time to avoid generating a buzz) or will firms finally get real and fess up to doing layoffs like every other business in the world today.

Here’s what happened. For years fried frank had a reputation for being pretty laid back place, so lots of lazys who didn’t want to bust their asses came there thinking that they could coast for years while billing in the 1500s, collecting a big law salary and picking up something approximating a market bonus year after year. And that was true in the good years. The indolent many fed off of the few overachievers. But then times got tough. The lazys' work dried up completely and the overachievers' slowed down a bit as well. The overachievers grew anxious, while the lazys relished the opportunity to get in even later and leave even earlier. They didn’t even suspect that they could possibly be let go. Not at fried frank. After all, the partners had known about and tolerated them for years, because they were fine with sacrificing PPP for the rep of being a nice place to work (well, that’s the official story...the truth is that they detested this entitled lazy bunch and secretly wished they could kick ‘em to the curb…they always thought of them as under performers). But the pain of carrying those associates was tolerable because those folks would be out of there the second an in house position opened up that offered them the opportunity to do even less work. But then the in house opportunities dried up. Finally the partners couldn’t take the sight of the lazys heading out for two-hour lunches, leaving at 5, taking home chunky paychecks, and billing absolutely nothing. Worse still, the lazys set a terrible example for the new associates. So the partnership decided to clean house. Yes, it sucks to let people go, especially around the holidays. And of course there were exceptions. But if you billed 1500 during a busy year, you should know that there’s going to be a big target on your head if things slow down. Why should they keep you around? So you can bill 1500 in 2 years when the market comes back. For sure they could have handled it better, and they probably should have called it a lay off, and of course there were some dismissals that were just plain wrong, but maybe some good will come of this admittedly bad situation if it whips the next generation of lazy fried frank associates into shape. Maybe this move will transform the clockwatchers in training into work acquisitive billing machines who stay late on weeknights and don’t mind working the occasional weekend.

79, go fuck urself! I was a class 2007 laid off by FF - i worked my ass off for them i was even working overtime on some stupid research for a partner the night before I was told to leave!

Elie -- where did you get the number 15 in lit? That does not sound correct. I'm at FF and have heard of maybe five layoffs in litigation.

79, since you are obviously a FF partner, in PR or management, I was just wondering - is this the firm's official statement on this?

Word at FF is that, as a result of the layoffs, assigning partners have been swamped by emails from "work acquisitive billing machines" seeking more work. In fact, some inboxes have been filled to capacity and these partners have been forced to rely on voicemail as a means of communicating with clients. No word yet on the responses to these associates.

The comments about the state of the DC office are way off the mark. The DC office is filled with heavyhitting rainmakers. Any firm would be envious of a lineup that includes stars like Pitt, Chierichella, Juceam, Sauber, Waldman, Steinwurtzel, Rule, Garza, and Nigro, among others. That is a murderer's row of talent. Most of them also work in countercyclical areas, so I'm sure the DC office is buzzing these days. Most of the negative comments on this site clearly are being written by one or two disgruntled former secretaries who got canned before they could get a partner to marry them and just have an axe to grind.

84--Awesome. Non-FFHSJ insiders, all of these rainmakers from the DC office have left FFHSJ in the last six years. Sinking ship.

80-- Overtime?? Obviously you're a paralegal, maybe a secretary.

The associates are getting a bad rap! I for one can vouch, after many years of working at FF, the hard work, long hours and dedication the Associates put into their work at FF to make the partners look good. One only had to walk down the hallways late at night and see the associates at their desks hard at work and too numerous times to count over the years the associates worked all night. One never failed to see associates hard at work at their desks over weekends also. When support staff was too busy they'd do their own copying and faxing. Where were the partners whose cases the associates and staff were working on to wee hours in the morning and weekends - at home!

Yes there were some partners who would stay for awhile after hours but more tiimes than not time was spent faxing revisions back and forth to their homes by staff or associates.

Thus, if the associates haven't been meeting billing hour expectations don't blame it on them - put the blame where it belongs - on the Partners who are not bringing new clients in.

86 = dick

86 - you nailed it.

all a firm really has is its good name. who the hell knows whether they or not they are actually good lawyers. quality and results are ambiguous and spinnable. that is why they spend so much effort on marketing. they is why they pay consultants hundreds of thousands of dollars to tell them, after months of analysis, that the color of the square in their logo should be green. so you should think carefully before you drag a firm through the mud. it might do permanent damage.

Who is dragging it through the mud? Surely not the numerous layoff victims. "Tell the truth and shame the devil." The pretenders ought to drop their lies about not knowing any layoff victims.

The lack of communication from firm management is the most infuriating thing about this situation. We shouldn't have to rely on ATL as our only source of information. I don't have the patience to sort through a pile of gossip and rumors, but with this much smoke it’s a safe bet that there is a fire.
The bottom line is that if the partnership can't be candid with the associates about the state of the firm and their actions toward us, then they're sacrificing our trust and their credibility. I hope those at the top have taken time to consider the impact their silence has on our institution’s culture and the associates commitment to the firm.

#67, I know one. A class of 2007 grad whose quality of work would absolutely NEVER have been lacking, much less enough to have any issues with "performance."

@ 79, FF has a weird reputation--most outsiders see it as a sweatshop for some reason. This was even in the vault report under "what other attorney's are saying." I don't know why it has that rep because it's not really true (relative to its peers), but it does. I think it's because there is a relative dearth of midlevels and seniors, and they work very hard. And yes there are low billers in the junior classes because there are so many of them, but the bottom line is the total amount of work is fixed and associates can compete with each other for work all day but it's not going to "grow the pie".

93 - how do you know the quality of their work...are you a partner or senior associate they have worked for? Or did they tell you that their work was fantastic?

is anyone going to miss justin?

#96 - Is he going back across the Pond?

Seems a lot of firms are in deep doo doo right now, not just FF.

Some partners are saying FF isn't doing layoffs and only ordinary course performance cuts. However, other partners are saying that each group was told to make a number of cuts based on their revenue and headcount.

justin - hahahahahahahahahahahhahahhhahahh

86 = dick

As one of the ex-FF staff laid of on August 18th, I want to mention that a Super Lawyer I consulted thinks it will strengthen our case if any of the laid-off associates were to join us in a complaint against FF through the EEOC--which takes individual complaints against an employer and looks to see if there are issues in common to justify a class action.

Although I don't think that one of our issues, age discrimination, probably applies to most of the associates, there are some other very serious examples of illegal employment practices by FF--specifically, its providing such misleading information in its "decisional unit" that it was not possible to make an informed decision about whether to sign a waiver giving up the right to monetary claims through the EEOC. FF was so arrogant that it screwed around with the laws governing layoffs, probably assuming that no one would notice its deceits and evasions of the statutes.

There are other issues, specifically FF's cherry picking of workers according to their usage of disability and sick time (and insurance costs) that might have been a factor in some of the associate layoffs. By attempting to shame people into keeping quiet, similar to the way FF fired the staff on no notice in August, giving them 30 minutes to pack up and get out, FF has attempted to divide and conquer and keep people ignorant of patterns in the firings.

I'm just assuming that there were some illegal factors affecting how associates were chosen for termination that, if they were known to all, might make it easier to win a case.

In addition, we also were enticed through an "implied contract" to stay at FF, through the annual "anniversary parties" that purported to honor long-time FF employees according to length of service. Possibly the Jacob remark in August that FF "doesn't do lawyer layoffs" is similarly a form of implied contract.

The EEOC is right up the street from FF--I'll post the address and phone number tomorrow.

Lawyers and Staff alike were told to attend the presentation of FF's Business Plan two years as it was presented to all attendees that FF was going to now become into a money-making business. We all were part of the team!

FF is an awful place to work. I would hate to see any more people lose their jobs, but the senior mgmt of that place is horrific and deserves to be ousted.

102 - i hope you and your co-claimants are successful!

FF is an awful place to work. I would hate to see any more people lose their jobs, but the senior mgmt of that place is horrific and deserves to be ousted.

102 - i hope you and your co-claimants are successful!

Dear 105,

Thank you very much.

Dear 105,

This has been taking a while, but I will post the information on an action in a short time, I hope the next several weeks, along with a phone number to contact me. Thank you again!