Nationwide Layoff Watch: Proskauer Cuts 60 People
If you thought that law firms wouldn’t fire people between Thanksgiving and Christmas, think again. We’ve received reports today that Proskauer Rose has decided to layoff 35 associates and 25 administrative staff.
A firm representative offered this statement:
We are taking these actions in response to the worldwide economic crisis, as well as an unprecedented reduction in our historical lawyer attrition rate, which requires that we align our staffing with current and projected levels of activity on behalf of our clients.We regret the need to take these actions but recognize that they have become a necessity for many of our clients and peer firms and that good business judgment requires that we staff appropriately.
We’re not entirely surprised by these cuts. In fact, we predicted that something would happen over at Proskauer back in September when Proskauer announced the salary figures for their 2009 summer associate class:
Isn’t Proskauer, like everyone else, looking to cut back on expenses where possible? Why would they lock themselves into $3,077 unless they thought that they could make cuts somewhere else along the way? What other factors could possibly come into play to push summer compensation higher than it was last year?
More bad news continues to flow in from all across the legal landscape. But give Proskauer credit for doing these layoffs the right way. They didn’t use stealth performance reviews to make the cuts, and all the associates will still be eligible for their 2008 bonus:
Those affected will be eligible for severance pay, health care benefits and outplacement counseling, as well as payments of the 2008 bonuses they would have received had they remained with the firm through year end.
Read the full statement after the jump. Good luck to all the former Proskauer people now on the market.
PROSKAUER ROSE — STATEMENT — LAYOFFS
Statement - December 4, 2008
Proskauer Rose LLP announced today that it is laying off 35 associates across its offices. In addition, the firm is laying off approximately 25 members of its administrative staff.
Those affected will be eligible for severance pay, health care benefits and outplacement counseling, as well as payments of the 2008 bonuses they would have received had they remained with the firm through year end.
We are taking these actions in response to the worldwide economic crisis, as well as an unprecedented reduction in our historical lawyer attrition rate, which requires that we align our staffing with current and projected levels of activity on behalf of our clients.
We regret the need to take these actions but recognize that they have become a necessity for many of our clients and peer firms and that good business judgment requires that we staff appropriately.
Earlier: Proskauer Rose to $190K?
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These pretzels are almost making me first tier.
zib
Any indication of what years the cuts came from? My friend is a 1st year in Boston and I don't want to come straight out and ask him if he was fired today.
zib
Wow, Elie, you said something vague about "something happening" at Proskauer almost three months ago. You sure called it!
Attrition rates are probably down across the board. The only question is how firms will deal with that. Will they hire fewer new associates or will they cut more mid-levels?
No real surprises here. Proskauer has been in a long, slow decline for years now. They are but a shadow of what they used to be in the 90's.
Sad for the people involved, of course, but it looks like at least they are doing it in a decent way, giving the associates a fair chance of finding employment somewhere else and not screwing them on the bonus they worked for.
They just started a Chicago office last year or so. It's still just 10 attorneys. Any news on that office?
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
8/6/2008 Sullivan & Worcester Boston & NY 7 Yes No
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
12/3/2008 Reed Smith UK 11 No Yes
12/4/08 Proskauer Rose US 35 No Yes
Clearly #6 does not keep up. Proskauer has opened 6 new offices world wide in the last couple of years and has been very active in bringing in lateral partners with business, That hardly represents the actions of a firm that is a "shadow" of what they used to be.
Eighth
Nice work 9 - keep it up. I am voting for you for next editor.
Hahaha 9 do you really have DLA Piper London 1 associate laid off on your list? That is simply sensationalism.
Hey 10: Here's a newsflash for you: Thelen and Heller both opened new offices "worldwide" in the last few years, and look where it got them. And if Proskauer really were bringing in lateral partners with business, they wouldn't be laying people off today.
Prokauer's glory was in the last decade, when they were growing, hiring top end law students, and getting in on more well-known deals/cases. While Proskauer may not end up on the trash heap with Thelen, et al., that old gray mare of a firm just ain't what she used to be.
Nice work 9 - keep it up. I am voting for you for next editor.
test
Firms that can somehow manage to get through 2008-2009 without any major layoffs will come out of this STRONG.
Being employed is everything in this economy.
9 -
Please post the updated data every time layoffs are announced here. Elie is too lazy. Thank you for compensating for him.
- Everyone
anyone know which offices?
Clearly #10 works for PR's PR department.
Face it, the thread is about 50 layoffs. Can't shine that piece of coal up. Oops, did I say 50? I meant 60. Ouch.
No, the list needs to be updated:
DLA to shed 40 jobs across UK offices
http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=135933
3 - If he is your good friend, just ask him how he's doing and if there is anything you can do. If he is not your good friend, then you are just being nosey.
Elie I can't believe you would draw attention to that previous post on Proskauer's summer offer letters. That was just about the most embarrassing post you've ever written, and it was rightly disparaged by every commenter.
You must be relatively young #6 and #10. Proskauer's glory days were clearly not in the 90s. No one who was actually a lawyer during that period would actually claim that. In fact, Proskauer has been pulling itself up the rankings in terms of profits and prestige for over a decade.
This sucks. The market is so saturated with lawyers that if you get laid off you are screwed. No one is hiring.
Hey 9: You're missing 5 "performance based" layoffs from Sullivan and Worcester in November
how does laying off work? is it immediate?
how does laying off work? is it immediate?
are layoffs immediate?
Texas released bar results this morning and they are huge. Seriously, really really big.
This sucks. The market is so saturated with lawyers that if you get laid off you are screwed. No one is hiring.
mainly
two ways: immediate with severance, or they give u a couple months to find somehting else, while keeping you employed
Proskauer was a nothing firm in the 90s and it is a nothing firm now. And firing people three weeks before Christmas? Sweet lord. That place is crap and they deserve everything they get for this retarded move.
27-29: It's case-by-case. Usually immediate, though. And judging by your repeated posts, I am going to go ahead and assume that it will be immediate in your case as well.
I love how PR is getting props for openly laying off people now. they have been secretly booting people for "performance" for at least 15 years.
It is pretty bush league to be firing right now. Was it not obvious 2 weeks ago that people would have to be let go?
i don't understand how these firms get off firing all these people and pretending everything is awesome at OCI. PR gave a million callback offers at oci, its pure bait and switch come to our firm for a year and then have a nice life. they just should immediately suspend hiring, like normal corporations.
Maybe no one at PR celebrates Christmas?
Don't forget stealth layoffs at SkaddenDC, plus announced layoffs of staff attorneys. (Well, the people that were laidoff were told it was a layoff. It wasn't annouced to the firm.)
And you, #35, has just made the dumbest comment ever on this site.
"Secretly booting for performance for at least 15 years"
As opposed to what, Einstein? Publicly announcing each underperforming associate who gets asked to leave? Are you a lawyer? Do you know anything? Have you ever had a job? Do you believe in not "booting" people for performance, period?
And for 15 years? What on earth are you talking about?
"They just started a Chicago office last year or so. It's still just 10 attorneys. Any news on that office?"
Since Elie has clearly shown how poorly the Chicago market is fairing, I think it is safe to say that the 6 Proskauer associates in Chicago are all being layed off TWICE, just to make sure it sticks. That accounts for 12 of the 35.
9,
Baker Hostetler Orlando laid off 2 real estate associates in September. They also shed around 7 associates over the past year (this amounts to around 20% of the associate class). This is much higher than their normal rate of attrition.
34: douche
Elie- I received eight summer offer letters and every one of them guaranteed compensation of no less than last summer. At the time everyone said not to read anything into it and they were right. Get over it!
I don't think this has much to do with the salary figure Elie commented on. Most BigLaw firms are paying market for their summers, which is around $3000. Mine's paying $3100. I'm not saying I'm worth that, because I'm not at this stage in my learning, but that's just what the market is.
I don't think this has much to do with the salary figure Elie commented on. Most BigLaw firms are paying market for their summers, which is around $3000. Mine's paying $3100. I'm not saying I'm worth that, because I'm not at this stage in my learning, but that's just what the market is.
Maybe no one at PR celebrates Christmas?
44: i think i speak for all of us when i congratulate you on your 8 summer offer letters.. bravo
2L here who really doesn't know how these things work. Are these midlevel's getting fired, or do any of these firms fire those in years 1-3?
Seriously, what is the difference when a firm lays off staff or attorneys? There really is no right time to do it and the people who just lost their jobs face the same grim employment opportunities.
Firms need to do a better job at hiring the right number of associates per class year. By managing class size better, firms would find it more difficult to lay off larger numbers during economic downturns.
I assume Elie is now working feverishly to provide the numbers for which of Proskauer's locations are effected. Right?
Thomspon & Statham laid off 14 associates in its Cleveland office.
Proskauer is significantly up in many prestige measures as opposed to prior years, but, as recent times have shown, those rankings are not indicitive of any firm's future. The layoffs were handled in as dignified and open manner as anyone could expect.
Next Economies of Summer Associates Story on ATL:
Which is the best predictor of layoffs?
a) Firms offering summers $3077 (clearly pinching pennies)
b) Firms offering summers $3080 (trying not to look cheap, but stealth)
c) Firms offering summers $3100 (at $33 a week more than their peers, how do these firms stay alive?)
"Outplacement?" Ew.
How much longer can this go on? I hear NY firms are quiet but firms in Wasilla are booming.
Proskauer is significantly up in many prestige measures as opposed to prior years, but, as recent times have shown, those rankings are not indicitive of any firm's future. I doubt a major firm exists that hasn't previously engaged in "stealth" layoffs. This round of layoffs were handled in as dignified and open a manner as anyone could expect.
I was fired by these folks through a stealth layoff bad review many moons ago. Good news is I got to make sure my inhouse employer never used them again. They were truly disgusting in how they told people that it was performance based when it wasnt and they did absolutely nothing to help me with reference (I even found out later that I was bad mouthed by a partner). Back then, they did a few layoffs every couple of months to try to fly under the radar (which largely failed).
With that said, I have to give them some credit for being open about it this time around. I wonder if they will play games in paying out bonuses to these people (they are notorius for announcing bonuses and not paying all of them to many people even in good times). I also hope that they are paying out at least the three to four months of severance (or salary continuation as they did with me).
In any event I am in a much better place now. I wish the associates that are left behind or have been laid off nothing but the best.
I will warn folks that you have some real prima donnas at Proskauer. You can probably go to a comparable firm with less attitude in better times.
To those now being laid off, I was where you are. If you have saved up some money, take a deep breath and you will be ok. There are much greener pastures out there (or there will be when this economy turns). I now view getting canned by Proskauer as the best thing that ever happened to my career.
I was fired by these folks through a stealth layoff bad review many moons ago. Good news is I got to make sure my inhouse employer never used them again. They were truly disgusting in how they told people that it was performance based when it wasnt and they did absolutely nothing to help me with reference (I even found out later that I was bad mouthed by a partner). Back then, they did a few layoffs every couple of months to try to fly under the radar (which largely failed).
With that said, I have to give them some credit for being open about it this time around. I wonder if they will play games in paying out bonuses to these people (they are notorius for announcing bonuses and not paying all of them to many people even in good times). I also hope that they are paying out at least the three to four months of severance (or salary continuation as they did with me).
In any event I am in a much better place now. I wish the associates that are left behind or have been laid off nothing but the best.
I will warn folks that you have some real prima donnas at Proskauer. You can probably go to a comparable firm with less attitude in better times.
To those now being laid off, I was where you are. If you have saved up some money, take a deep breath and you will be ok. There are much greener pastures out there (or there will be when this economy turns). I now view getting canned by Proskauer as the best thing that ever happened to my career.
42, Did Baker get rid of that loud mouth partner Dennis in the Orlando office?
I was fired by these folks through a stealth layoff bad review many moons ago. Good news is I got to make sure my inhouse employer never used them again. They were truly disgusting in how they told people that it was performance based when it wasnt and they did absolutely nothing to help me with reference (I even found out later that I was bad mouthed by a partner). Back then, they did a few layoffs every couple of months to try to fly under the radar (which largely failed).
With that said, I have to give them some credit for being open about it this time around. I wonder if they will play games in paying out bonuses to these people (they are notorius for announcing bonuses and not paying all of them to many people even in good times). I also hope that they are paying out at least the three to four months of severance (or salary continuation as they did with me).
In any event I am in a much better place now. I wish the associates that are left behind or have been laid off nothing but the best.
I will warn folks that you have some real prima donnas at Proskauer. You can probably go to a comparable firm with less attitude in better times.
To those now being laid off, I was where you are. If you have saved up some money, take a deep breath and you will be ok. There are much greener pastures out there (or there will be when this economy turns). I now view getting canned by Proskauer as the best thing that ever happened to my career.
ok ok ok ..Ill stop complaining about half bonus now
I was fired by these folks through a stealth layoff bad review many moons ago. Good news is I got to make sure my inhouse employer never used them again. They were truly disgusting in how they told people that it was performance based when it wasnt and they did absolutely nothing to help me with reference (I even found ou later that I was bad mouthed by a partner). Back then, they did a few layoffs every couple of months to try to fly under the radar (which largely failed).
With that said, I have to give them some credit for being open about it this time around. I wonder if they will play games in paying out bonuses to these people (they are notorius for announcing bonuses and not paying all of them to many people even in good times). I also hope that they are paying out at least the three to four months of severance (or salary continuation as they did with me).
In any event I am in a much better place now. I wish the associates that are left behind or have been laid off nothing but the best.
I will warn folks that you have some real prima donnas at Proskauer. You can probably go to a comparable firm with less attitude.
To those now being laid off, I was where you are. If you have saved up some money, take a deep breath and you will be ok. There are much greener pastures out there (or there will be when this economy turns). I now view getting canned by Proskauer as the best thing that ever happened to my career.
58: I see why they fired you.
Sorry to post my Proskauer tale of the past three times. It was my first post and wacky stuff happened when I sent it.
One, Two, Three, Four FOUR tales of a PR layoff of the past. Hahahaha.
- Count Layoffula
testes
9 - Fix the info about Dewey's Jacksonville, Hartford and Albany offices. The offices were closed but the attorneys weren't fired. All of them were given the option to transfer to other offices.
40 - you are the biggest douche ever. either you're drinking the kool aid or you know nothing about Proskauer.
Does this trend make people reluctant to pursue Biglaw and slum it in secondary or rural markets where 45 hour weeks and modest homes await?
Does this trend make people reluctant to pursue Biglaw and slum it in secondary or rural markets where 45 hour weeks and modest homes await?
58 here. I was thrilled to be fired (now that I have the hidsight of many years). Sorry if i didnt meet your grammar, spelling or other rules. I was trying to quickly convey information not win the lawyer drafting award.
I think the biggest issue lawyers have is sweating the stupid stuff.
please make count layoffula a fixture
You're all trolls.
http://www.bitterlawyer.com/index.php/site/columns_detail_comment/seven_species_of_legal_website_trolls/?cat_id=13
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Proskauer has a history of laying people off just to save their bottom line. It is no surprise that in these economic times, they would lay off more individuals most most other firms. Proskauer as a firm is extremely short sighted.
58, how do you know it wasn't performance based? Maybe the partner hated you for being a shitty lawyer. Most lawyers are so conceited they wouldn't even realize if their work sucked.
60, Denis in litigation is still at Baker Hostetler Orlando. I'm not sure if he is the same person you are referring to.
60, Denis in litigation is still at Baker Hostetler Orlando. I'm not sure if he is the same person you are referring to.
Elie, I am in disbelief; SHOCKED that not only have you not begged Lat to remove that previous Proskauer post you made in September, but that you have the chrome-plated balls to actually cite to it as some sort of success in foreshadowing. If I were you, I would be praying to the powers that be each and every day that it would be filed away deep within the bowels of the internet equivalent of some Raiders of the Lost Ark-style government warehouse never again to see the light of day. That was the single most atrocious post I have read on any blog, ever; the way you got open-hand slapped by the immutable principles of logic (not to mention every commenter) will go down in blog lore as a failure of the most epic variety. Let's recap that September "scoop" of which you seem so proud, shall we?
Proskauer sends out a boilerplate offer letter to its prospective summer class with the SAME LANGUAGE THAT NEARLY EVERY OTHER FIRM HAS INCLUDED IN EVERY V50 SUMMER OFFER LETTER IN THE PAST 5 YEARS, saying that their summer salary "will be no less than $x". To everyone, including the slow-witted barista with a lazy eye who serves my coffee, it was obvious that Proskauer (and every other firm that uses that same boilerplate language) was just setting a compensation floor so that they could raise summer salaries to match peer firms if the those peer firms for some reason raised salaries between that time and the start of summer. But wait!! Elie has a Eureka moment as he nearly chokes on his morning power shake of maple syrup and goose fat: what if the words "no less than" are pregnant with meaning -> a secret language Proskauer Recruiting (which has been known to advise Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan on how to signal their internationally-placed sleeper cells via secretly-coded emails appearing to be no more than birthday e-cards) was quietly letting the market know that they planned on giving the crashing US economy a big gangrenous middle-finger by raising associate salaries to 190K!?? Now, Elie could have just cut his losses at this point, hit "publish" on that abomination of a deductive leap and called it a day, but no, he went on to...
(wait, wait, sorry give me a moment here: "paging Logic, Reason, & Common Sense...Logic, Reason, & Common Sense, if you're in the building, you may want to take a lap around the block before I continue so that the magnitude of your simultaneous aneurysms doesn't rip a hole in the fabric of space." OK, let's go on.)
So Elie went on to surmise that by setting a floor for their summer compensation, they must be looking to make cuts ELSEWHERE! That's right, Elie took the following two ingredients: (i) Proskauer set a standard salary floor in their summer offer letter, and (ii) gosh darnit economic times are tough, and baked them into a OMG-Layoffs-is-Coming-What-Is-I-Gonna-Do clusterf$@*$-meringue pie, which he presumably then devoured.
And now, wow: you have the partially-descended-testicular fortitude to link to the aforementioned post of shame..."Are you there God? It's me, Elie's undeserved sense of smug self-satisfaction. I just want you to know that today was a banner day."
Wow, 80, that was quite the overly long drawn-out rant about Ellie!
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PS: I enjoyed reading every word. Thank you.
58, I was also laid off by PR years ago and it was a blessing in disguise. I quickly got a MUCH better job and a MUCH more reputable firm...where I worked for people I respected. It was a huge boost for my career to not be associated with PR...and i urge anyone who is laid off not to dispair because there is life after PR...and it's brillant.
58, here five months earlier got a good review. In all honesty large firm life wasnt for me. I needed to be in a different type of place.
58, here five months earlier got a good review. In all honesty large firm life wasnt for me. I needed to be in a different type of place.
Here's why Biglaw won't cut back on 1st years while axing more senior associates. Their plan is to consolidate the substantive work in fewer mid-levels and seniors and staff up on massive doc review type work with the newbies that they bill out with minimal overhead. The system is built on burning out the youngins, but not before you milk them for as many billables as possible. In good times the firms pretend that they are investing in you and just wait for you to leave on your own schedule once you burn out. Now they can't wait. If the choice is cutting underperforming partners or expensive mid-levels we know who goes first.
hahahahaha. 80 = best post of the month! "maple syrup and goose fat shake"! i love it!
54 - it's $23 more per week. Clearly your head's next on the chopping block. Failure.
Anyone know anything about which practice groups/cities are affected?
Thanks, 78. That would be him. Hopefully age has mellowed him a bit, at least for the sake of the remaining B&H associates.
54 - it's $23 more per week. Clearly your head's next on the chopping block. Failure.
80--you need to find a hobby
poster #180 for president
80--you need to find a hobby
80 clearly does have a hobby . . . PWNING 91/93!!! Booyashakah!
Gosh, I hope I am poster #180. I wonder how long I'll have to sit around until then...less than 90 posts to go. Sweet!
Thanks be to 80. All hail the mighty 80- you da man or woman of the year.
40 - you are the supreme douche. Stop drinking the Kool Aid, Herr Proskauer.
80 and count layoffula to ATL editors
wow...80, you have wayyyyy too much time on ur hands
Although PR would likely call it "natural attrition", the firm has been performing stealth layoffs in the name of "poor performance" for years across all levels of associates (including first years). The firm seems to have a pre-set attrition rate (usually influenced by a bottom line PPP target, hence the elimination of first years when they over hire in slow practice groups) and when associates do not help the firm by leaving on their own accord, associates who are not beloved by partners get a "poor performance" review. As mentioned by #58, the firm used to let go a few associates at a time every few months, even in boom times. The “highlight” of these stealth layoffs, perhaps, was in late summer / early fall 2007, when a large number of senior counsel and senior/mid-level associates all “happened” to leave the firm within a couple of weeks of each other.
Also, it's funny how #10 mentions that the firm has expanded significantly by adding new partners and new offices. Those expansions have limited opportunities for home-grown associates to make partner or specialize. Those new partners either bring with them their own group of associates and rarely integrate current associates into their group or outright replace the home-grown counsel and associates specializing in that area, which, in each case, eventually leads to the home-grown associate’s and counsel’s departure. The firm’s decision to grow by lateral-partner acquisition has done little to help home-grown associates, who often seem to be an after-thought in such decisions, which is one of many reasons the firm is such a demoralizing place to work.
99, we all have too much time on our hands. 80 is doing something useful with it.
#90 - even worse. What does it say about a firm that wound spend $23 more per week to keep up with its peers? Or is it the $3100 firms who are clearly going to be laying off mid-levels left and right to afford the $23/week burden?
i'm not sure why ATL hasn't announced the new NYU curve
103
Because you're not Columbia.
Any 2Ls get holiday stuff from firms yet?
Maple syrup and goose fat was particularly brilliant. Well met, 80. Well met, indeed.
80 appears to have no work to do, and will probably get laid off.
It worked 16! You've passed the test. You may now use that forefinger to do such other complex tasks as pointing at various things in your windowless office and scooping out the cherry at the bottom of a martini glass.
58 here. I think 100 explained PR really well.
It ashame. There are a few nice partners there (at least when I was there), but their personalities are overshadowed by the powers that be.
Based on my experience from years passed, If you need a big firm job to credential yourself (and dont have comaparable offers) take the offer at PR, but expect even less loyalty (and honesty) than from most large firms. Such is life.
So, there are associates who billed enough to pay their way and then some but are being canned? Sounds like proskauer has very serious liquidity issues.
80, can we hang out sometime? You seem to be one of the only "normals" in the legal profession.
I think the best investment one could make these days is in Hindi or Mandarin language lessons.
80-you are the reason i can't read ATL in class. so rediculously funny. ATL commenters need to make a movie or something.
i can't stop laughing at 80s post. that is one of the funniest freaking things i have read on this site
I left Proskauer by choice last year - and it was one of the best career decisions I ever made. They have a great summer program - and once you get there, you are like sheep left to the wolves. The firm has a huge identity crisis and has no direction. The morale (pre-layoffs) has been in the tttoilet for years (as evidenced by their nearly always bottom 5 of the mid-level associate surveys). Big law life is not all peaches and cream - but at Proskauer the cream is poisoned w/ a misery that I have rarely seen at other places. Best of luck to those of you who accepted your summer offers...May god help you.
9, please do not steal without attribution. That was my list. (12, 15, 18--take note when voting for EiC next time around.)
13, DLA Piper fired "only" one in London, but it accompanied four non-attorney firings.
This list is not meant to be "sensationalism," but factual.
I left Proskauer by choice last year - and it was one of the best career decisions I ever made. They have a great summer program - and once you get there, you are like sheep left to the wolves. The firm has a huge identity crisis and has no direction. The morale (pre-layoffs) has been in the tttoilet for years (as evidenced by their nearly always bottom 5 of the mid-level associate surveys). Big law life is not all peaches and cream - but at Proskauer the cream is poisoned w/ a misery that I have rarely seen at other places. Best of luck to those of you who accepted your summer offers...May god help you.
80 is great.
9, I put your #s into chart form. Things seem to be picking up steam even if you back out Heller and Thelen.
http://lawlayoffs.wordpress.com/
I'll try to break it out by location and firm rank later, as this is my new hobby.
NOT TRUE that Proskauer hasn't been doing stealth layoffs. They have been doing stealth layoffs all through the summer and fall, even as early as last year in their Boston office. Associates were beginning to notice and the firm had a meeting 2 weeks ago, to say that they were not doing layoffs, and that they would have this meeting. This is why they have come out of the closet, as it were, and made this grand announcement. Don't put them in any saintly category. Even first years were laid off.
I left Proskauer by choice last year - and it was one of the best career decisions I ever made. They have a great summer program - and once you get there, you are like sheep left to the wolves. The firm has a huge identity crisis and has no direction. The morale (pre-layoffs) has been in the tttoilet for years (as evidenced by their nearly always bottom 5 of the mid-level associate surveys). Big law life is not all peaches and cream - but at Proskauer the cream is poisoned w/ a misery that I have rarely seen at other places. Best of luck to those of you who accepted your summer offers...May god help you.
what about the peaches?
Zero, ZERO misspellings or typos in my posts, so I cannot be an ATL editor. Hahahaha.
- Count Layoffula
"Any 2Ls get holiday stuff from firms yet?"
Yes, several 2Ls have received singing telegrams by lawyers in x-mas costumes saying "woops, we were just kidding," which was followed by a swift kick in the ass and a letter rescinding their offer.
That counts as holiday stuff, right?
A Rose by any other name still smells like SkatttenDC.
I think #58 is #100. BTW, #100 you clearly don't know what you are talking about. Fall of 2007 was probably the peak of the market for associates. Unless the associates were really bad no law firm was getting rid of people ESPECIALLY more senior people because they couldn't be replaced.
I'm a 2L who got some holiday stuff in the mail from my firm. It was herpes.
So uncool.
unless 44 was creative in discharging offers, he/she should lose the offer for violating NALP rules for leaving open too many offers....and for being a douche.
128: I don't think there is a min/max anymore, is there? Thought you just had 45 days to reject an offer, and that was that...the douche part, though, NALP hasn't changed their stance on. Totally acceptable.
Is it fair that so many people are getting laid off for economically-related reasons when Elie gets to keep his job despite performance-related issues?
Proskauer Blows
HAVE ANY 3L (FULL TIME) OFFERS BEEN REVOKED YET?
HAVE ANY 3L (FULL TIME) OFFERS BEEN REVOKED YET?
HAVE ANY 3L (FULL TIME) OFFERS BEEN REVOKED YET?
HAVE ANY 3L (FULL TIME) OFFERS BEEN REVOKED YET?
HAVE ANY 3L (FULL TIME) OFFERS BEEN REVOKED YET?
HAVE ANY 3L (FULL TIME) OFFERS BEEN REVOKED YET?
HAVE ANY 3L (FULL TIME) OFFERS BEEN REVOKED YET?
R. Runner feels the need to emerge from hibernation and exclaim "80 to ATL EIC!"
Beep beep to you, dear sir/madam. Beep beep, indeed.
Yes, yours. Now please stop living.
124 - LOVE IT. Seems that entirely too many good associates all over the world are getting similar singing telegrams.
is anyone curious about whether any 3L full time offers have been revoked yet?
142 -- i don't think so. i haven't read about anyone wondering so far...
I worked at Proskauer until very recently and left of my own accord. I'm sure I'll get accused of being the Proskauer PR Department for writing this, but I can only assume most of you that are bashing the firm in these comments either a) didn't work there, and just want to peddle negativity anonymously (which is such a brave way to do that, I might add) on a message board or b) were remarkably poor attorneys. Proskauer is like any other big New York law firm; there's really no difference between all of these places, don't kid yourself -- if you're good, you're given the opportunity to succeed and advance, like any workplace. If you're not good, you inevitably find ways to pin that on something beyond your control, spitting out nebulous buzzwords like "morale," "identity crisis," etc. before moving on to some other job where the littlest hiccup will send you on a quest for something else to blame your failure on other than yourself.
Ever since PR bombed in that one morale survey in the mid 2000s, they improved associate quality of life immensely, and they were quite effective in doing so. I had good enough timing to be the beneficiary of these efforts. I have no reason to lie or sugarcoat this -- I no longer work there. But it's grating to read some of you people refusing to take responsibility for their own deficiency. If your employer won't give you a reference after firing you, do you really think the problem lies with your employer? Is everyone at the firm really out to get just you? Don't flatter yourself -- nobody wants to devote the time or effort it would take to screw you over like that. You're likely just a subpar employee, so they don't want to risk their rep by giving you a reference. If the firm really operated with such cut-throat tactics, don't you think we'd be hearing about it more often than just from a couple disgruntled commenters? Also, it's not THAT hard to keep a job at a big law firm -- like the law-school grading curve, you just have to be better than the buffoons. We used to actually joke about what it would take to get fired at a big firm -- simply because of the red tape it would require to axe you, you get second, third and fourth chances. So to actually get fired, as some of you did -- well, I'm afraid you must've been jaw-droppingly incomptent.
I'm glad you're happier at your new job, if you actually are, but I highly doubt you were the victim of such foul play like you're moaning that you were.
I don't ever comment on these posts -- and I doubt anyone will miss me after this -- but cmon people. Just. Stop. Whining.
#126: I am neither #58 nor #100, but you clearly do not understand the point that #100 makes in his/her second paragraph and you clearly do not understand the internal mindset at Proskauer. As Proskauer has expanded and brought in lateral partners, it's home-grown associates have become expendable. Proskauer has always been top-heavy with partners, but the lateral partner acquisitions have made Proskauer even more top-heavy, diminishing the need for senior counsel and senior associates, even during the height of the market, since there are many more working partners than rainmaking partners at Proskauer, and frankly, the work at the firm is not so complex where you need a deal team of dozens of people all within the same department working on them (excluding specialists). Even at the height of the market, there were plenty of working partners at Proskauer who had time on their hands to take on new deals. Thus, the last thing Proskauer wanted to do was make more senior associates and counsel partner in November 2007, since they already had too many partners without a significant book of business and the rainmakers could already hand off work to the current set of working partners. So #100's point makes perfect sense. Trust those of us who worked there.
144 -- You lost me after "I worked at Proskauer."
Sorry, what was the rest of the stuff you said?
#126: you should not condemn other posts if you are not sure of the facts. Post #100 was actually quite accurate. Beginniing at least at the end of 2007, PR began an admitted attempt to push senior associates out the door. It made no sense because many of them were good profitable attorneys. today was just another sad day here.
Wait until the other shoe drops. Numerous firms are poised to announce that even associates who remain with the firm will not advance class years, as a way to keep rates and salaries down.
NALP guidelines say you can't have more than five offers at a time. There is no limit on the total number of offers you can receive during the interview period.
- Douche
128 - 2L here who just went through interviewing. Most people who received offers from V10 type firms received quite a few total offers. Career services was pretty strongly encouraging us to go on a shitload of callbacks - especially in this economy.
Your friend WAS fired today!
Your friend WAS fired today!
several first years were laid-off today at PR
LAST!!!
ACTUALLY LAST!
Welcome back road runner!! Long time.
58 here, heh 144 its not that they are out to get you. However once your usefulness is done they dont want to waste 15 minutes of their precious time to help. Also, they dont run around trying to blackball you to the world. However when third parties confront the partners about whether or not they are cnducting layoffs or not they had a strange way of blaming the associates because they had no desire to admit that work is slow.
I understand why they do it, its to show that they are so great that they still have work despite the slow down. They dont want to show weakness. It might be explainable, but its kind of sleazy.
Again I was shown the door at PR before most here even started law school. Being shown the door has worked out incredibly well for me professional.
157, 144 here: I can't comment on how Proskauer handled layoffs when they showed you the door; however, it's hard to argue with the way they conducted themselves today. Did everything above-board, acknowledged that layoffs were happening, etc.
Do you really think a partner at a large law firm "[ran] around trying to blackball you to the world?" Most of the partners I worked with at Proskauer were pretty busy -- it's hard for me to imagine them putting "Blackball Fired Associate to the world" in the old Outlook.
Glad you're happy now, but I find it hard to believe you were as persecuted as you remember being.
I would like to be President of the Proskauer showed Me the Door Club. clearly there are a lot of us. I don't like that the partners pretend all is peachy, blame associates when they have to raise their salaries while they bring home bank, claim to be fiscally conservative and then drop young associates who have not been properly mentored and claim it was based on their performance.
158, 58 (and 157 here). Here;s the scenario lawyer said to Proskauer partner I hear you are laying people like 58 off over there. Proskauer Partner responded with no we arent 58 was incompetent. lawyer than said I hear you also got rid of a lot of other people the last several months. Proskaurer partner responded by saying all of the people laid off were incompetent.
Was I thrilled when I was shown the door, no. Am I thrilled now after looking at how it turned out years later. Yes.
Again best of luck to those laid off at proskauer,. I was where you are and it worked out well. Just keep the faith.
PS I specifically said that I was impressed at how they handled the layoff this time around in my first email (assuming what they are saying is true). I just hope they have the common decency to spend a few minutes when asked to reference their people to say a few nice things about them. Its really not that difficult.
58 here 159. I always wanted to start a club of people that PR had canned. It would be a fun group.
When I think about the people I liked the best at PR either they left through being canned or when they were about to be canned.
Hmm. OK, I left Proskauer on good terms. I was perfectly happy with my time there. But it's expanded like gangbusters in the last 10 years -- not just offices, but attorneys. It's practically doubled in size. Expansion often breeds morale problems.
I left PR a few months ago but I'm not an attorney. I hope everyone who has lost their job ends up OK, and I feel especially bad for staff - folks like the secretaries who won't get a 5-figure bonus...
agree 163 although there are definitely some weirdos in the staff (example night and weekend word processing). By in large the staff were much nicer human beings than the attonreys (and this is coming from a former PR associate).
Yeah, Sullivan & Worcester... class operation if I ever saw one! Just man up and admit you tried to play with the big boys and couldn't hack it, rather than calling your stealth layoffs performance based.
160 how do you know the partner was lying? You are probably a bad lawyer, which is why you got fired. Thanks for coming out, see you back at the lodge.
Boston office - class of 2nd years was pretty much wiped out (all but 3 of the class 2nd years were let go) . 7 attys in all (2 laterals).
I can't believer we only got half a bonus. I am so walking out on my cheap firm tomorrow. Everyone with me!
I was canned as a first year at Proskauer many eons ago and I can say this firm's rep has not improved since then. After getting favorable reviews, I got the word that I needed to move on only a couple of months later--when business was starting to slow down.
There are a few good people there, and I did have some good times, but I can't say I miss working there.
80 - hilarious
I hear proskauer LAID OFF STUBS!!* Proskauer, you don't lay people off after a few f*cking months you f*cking shithole!!
*disclaimer - i'm not a proskauer insider and can't verify this, but have heard it from people who seem knowledgeable.
I hear proskauer LAID OFF STUBS!!* Proskauer, you don't lay people off after a few f*cking months you f*cking shithole!!
*disclaimer - i'm not a proskauer insider and can't verify this, but have heard it from people who seem knowledgeable.
what a rancid toilet
verified: at least 5 first years fired.
what offices?
I know several staff members who were laid off from the NYC office - good friends. It's unfortunate, but it's happening all over.
This would never happen at WILDMAN HARROLD!
At least five from NYC, maybe more.
80 - awesome
confirmed: 7 in NY's first year class. at least. 6 in corporate. disgusting.
i'm a lawyer (T20). been out of steady work for more than a year. am depressed and worried that my career is over.
3 of the first years who were let go failed the bar
no litigation first years were let go only corporate and they are basiing their decisions on multiple things - get your act together they arent going to give you a chance to improve - hit the floor running, work those hours, suck up to partners and dont look back. You have a target on your back otherwise.
no litigation first years were let go only corporate and they are basiing their decisions on multiple things - get your act together they arent going to give you a chance to improve - hit the floor running, work those hours, suck up to partners and dont look back. You have a target on your back otherwise.
183/184 -- Hit the ground running? That's pretty cold man. These kids just fucking started a month ago, and there was just no work.
Basically, if you were lucky enough to pick litigation over corporate after your summer -- a decision largely based on which group took you out for better lunches -- you are OK. But if you chose corporate, you are fucked.
Offers to 3L's are clearly at risk now. This is getting ugly.
Perhaps these layoffs are in response to the ONE TRILLION DOLLAR lawsuit pending against Proskauer in Federal Court in the SDNY, related to an inside whistleblower case. For all you lawyers thinking about Proskauer, this is most likely an undisclosed liability that doubtfully they have even reported to their liability carrier, let alone departing or new partners.
The case in federal court centers on Proskauer stealing patents from inventors at Iviewit Technologies www.iviewit.tv and submitting fraudulent patent applications to the USPTO. Don't believe it, here are the cases in Federal Court
CASES ASSOCIATED WITH CHRISTINE C. ANDERSON WHISTLEBLOWER CASE
(07cv09599) Anderson v The State of New York, et al.,
(07cv11196) Bernstein, et al. v Appellate Division First Department Disciplinary Committee, et al., (THE TRILLION DOLLAR PATENT SUIT)
(07cv11612) Esposito v The State of New York, et al.,
(08cv00526) Capogrosso v New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, et al.,
(08cv02391) McKeown v The State of New York, et al.,
(08cv02852) Galison v The State of New York, et al.,
(08cv03305) Carvel v The State of New York, et al., and,
(08cv4053) Gizella Weisshaus v The State of New York, et al.
(08cv4438) Suzanne McCormick v The State of New York, et al.
Yeah, that looks like a great pro se trillion dollar complaint, 186. I bet it will go far.
It has gone 8 years and will go on and on and on. To anyone considering a Proskauer partnership, you should park your assets with your wife.
Some side notes you can draw your own conclusions from.
More than 3 people failed the bar at Proskauer this year. They chose to fire some people who passed the bar, and are keeping some who failed.
They also decided to fire associates who summered with the firm rather than 3L hires.
wait... Proskauer fired a bucnh of Class of 2008 associates who passed the bar and who summered with them? As a law student about to enter BigLaw, I will look elsewhere (including those firms who have the decency to at least give some associates a chance that is more than 2 months of no work)
Firing 2008 hires - this firm is subhuman.
187, how far will the 100 million suit by the whistleblower Christine C. Anderson go? She states she was fired, after being assaulted by NY First Department heads, Thomas Cahill and Sherry Cohen, to keep the lids on the Iviewit matters. She was a court staff attorney, 67 female, impeccable reputation, hmmm, iviewit seems to be going a lot further.
187, if you are bold, print your name, mine
Eliot Bernstein
www.iviewit.tv
iviewit@iviewit.tv
167 - details? ATL confirmation? how could there possibly be a blood bath at that level for 1st-2nd years??!!
I am hearing the same thing, second years wiped out in NY, suddenly most are ineligible for bonuses. We need a followup story.
Apparently this story broke hours before they were told, and they had to wait most of the afternoon worrying. That's what I was told from my friends who were axed.
Way to FK up some lives.
193: I'm a former PR associate who has been reading these posts with great interest. I think #100 gives a pretty good explanation as to why many current and former PR associates are not shocked that the 1st and 2nd years were effected so harshly, and #37, 58, 76, 115, 145, 147 and 160 all also give pretty good insight into how the firm operates and thinks. #33 and 173 may give the most accurate brief summaries of the firm (at least in ATL-speak).
Also, from conversations with friends, corporate and real estate seem to have been hit particularly hard, with a smattering of labor and personal planning associates thrown in the mix of those who were let go.
WAIT!!! 164! Whattaya mean "although there are definitely some weirdos in the staff (example night . . . word processing." Oh you BETTER not be talking about Boston! lol. Yea, I'm outting myself on the board! We are not weirdos, we're eccentric. :) And my attorneys will vouch for me... WON'T YOU GUYS! :)
As for my staff and attorney friends who were let go yesterday, on a personal level, I miss you all. Don't care about all this crap above...not my thing to get into the whys and whats of it all. I just know I'll miss your faces. Really, there are people behind all this you all! Don't forget that...
Peace...
198, I was talking about NYC, But you sound like fun weird as opposed to serial killer weird. :)
Another former Prosk associate here. Multiple sources still on the inside confirmed that Proskauer did, indeed, lay off stubs (class of '08's who just started 3 months ago), and not just stubs who failed the bar.
Real classy.
I can confirm what 200 said - about 10 corporate 2008 associates who passed the bar were let go
Wow these proskauer people dont fool around. There policy seems to be I hope you enjoyed your summer associate meals now get the hell out.
Does anyone know the breakdown of how many associates from which offices?
DO YOU GUYS FUCKING REALIZE HOW BAD IT MUST BE IF THEY ARE FIRING STUBS?!!!!!
This is just the beginning folks. My estimate of all big firms cutting 40% of associates now seems conservative. January 2009 is when the real layoffs will start happening, and nobody will be spared. Then, around sometime in March, the offers to 3L's will start getting pulled. I'm talking 50% of 3l's with offers will be getting calls early in 2009.
2008/2009 -- when the golden age of BIG law ended.
DO YOU GUYS FUCKING REALIZE HOW BAD IT MUST BE IF THEY ARE FIRING STUBS?!!!!!
This is just the beginning folks. My estimate of all big firms cutting 40% of associates now seems conservative. January 2009 is when the real layoffs will start happening, and nobody will be spared. Then, around sometime in March, the offers to 3L's will start getting pulled. I'm talking 50% of 3l's with offers will be getting calls early in 2009.
2008/2009 -- when the golden age of BIG law ended.
DO YOU GUYS FUCKING REALIZE HOW BAD IT MUST BE IF THEY ARE FIRING STUBS?!!!!!
This is just the beginning folks. My estimate of all big firms cutting 40% of associates now seems conservative. January 2009 is when the real layoffs will start happening, and nobody will be spared. Then, around sometime in March, the offers to 3L's will start getting pulled. I'm talking 50% of 3l's with offers will be getting calls early in 2009.
2008/2009 -- when the golden age of BIG law ended.
DO YOU GUYS FUCKING REALIZE HOW BAD IT MUST BE IF THEY ARE FIRING STUBS?!!!!!
This is just the beginning folks. My estimate of all big firms cutting 40% of associates now seems conservative. January 2009 is when the real layoffs will start happening, and nobody will be spared. Then, around sometime in March, the offers to 3L's will start getting pulled. I'm talking 50% of 3l's with offers will be getting calls early in 2009.
2008/2009 -- when the golden age of BIG law ended.
DO YOU GUYS FUCKING REALIZE HOW BAD IT MUST BE IF THEY ARE FIRING STUBS?!!!!!
This is just the beginning folks. My estimate of all big firms cutting 40% of associates now seems conservative. January 2009 is when the real layoffs will start happening, and nobody will be spared. Then, around sometime in March, the offers to 3L's will start getting pulled. I'm talking 50% of 3l's with offers will be getting calls early in 2009.
2008/2009 -- when the golden age of BIG law ended.
DO YOU GUYS FUCKING REALIZE HOW BAD IT MUST BE IF THEY ARE FIRING STUBS?!!!!!
This is just the beginning folks. My estimate of all big firms cutting 40% of associates now seems conservative. January 2009 is when the real layoffs will start happening, and nobody will be spared. Then, around sometime in March, the offers to 3L's will start getting pulled. I'm talking 50% of 3l's with offers will be getting calls early in 2009.
2008/2009 -- when the golden age of BIG law ended.
DO YOU GUYS FUCKING REALIZE HOW BAD IT MUST BE IF THEY ARE FIRING STUBS?!!!!!
This is just the beginning folks. My estimate of all big firms cutting 40% of associates now seems conservative. January 2009 is when the real layoffs will start happening, and nobody will be spared. Then, around sometime in March, the offers to 3L's will start getting pulled. I'm talking 50% of 3l's with offers will be getting calls early in 2009.
2008/2009 -- when the golden age of BIG law ended.
Is Proskauer the first firm to fire a bunch of stubs? It must be really bad at this firm if it's willing to take the inevitable PR hit.
I heard that most, if not all, of Proskauer's stub layoffs were 2008 associates who just graduated from law schools outside of NY (UVA, Penn, Michigan, Duke). Looks like everyone from Brooklyn, New York Law School, and Fordham survived (for the time being).
Sorry, folks, but I am one of those old guy partners, and have to ask: WTF is a "stub"?
Sorry, folks, but I am one of those old guy partners, and have to ask: WTF is a "stub"?
A stub is a new associate - at Proskauer, one who just started at the end of September. So it looks like Proskauer fired 15 associates who were there for approximately two months.
stub casualties? shiver me knickers!
- 1st yr. associate
15?? across all offices or just nyc?
Awesome News Article on the real Proskauer Story
http://exposecorruptcourts.blogspot.com/2008/12/proskauer-rose-house-of-cards-crumbling.html
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Proskauer Rose ‘House of Cards’ Crumbling
Proskauer lays off 35 associates and 25 staff
Legal Week by Zach Lowe - December 5, 2008
Proskauer Rose is laying off 35 associates and 25 administrative staff, reports The Am Law Daily. The news was announced in a memo, sent out by the firm yesterday (4 December), although which offices or practice areas will suffer the most is not specified. The New York firm said the layoffs are due to both the economic crisis and the “unprecedented reduction in our historical lawyer attrition rate.” Proskauer launched an office in London last year with hire of Matthew Hudson, the former head of O’Melveny & Myers’ City arm. In September, the firm also secured its long-awaited Asia launch after hiring a two-partner team in Beijing from Heller Ehrman. Proskauer has been one of the most upwardly-mobile practices in the US in recent years, successfully expanding beyond its core employment practice into a stronger corporate profile. During the last two weeks a raft of US firms have made layoffs, including Reed Smith, White & Case, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, while firms including Cravath Swaine & Moore and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have cut back associate bonuses.
On Friday, August 24, 2007, we ran “Justice Department Widens ‘Patentgate’ Probe Buried by Ethics Chief Thomas J. Cahill:
In a letter dated July 16, 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, announced from its Washington, D.C. headquarters that it was expanding its investigation into a bizarrely stalled FBI investigation that involves an almost surreal story of the theft of nearly 30 U.S. Patents, and other intellectual property, worth billions of dollars. The probe reaches some of New York’s most prominent politicians and judges, and has already proven to be a stunning embarrassment to the State’s ethics watchdog committees. (Click here to see the July 16, 2007 letter “D.O.J. Widens Patentgate Probe”)
The Fox and the Hen House
It was only recently exposed in July that the underlying “Patentgate” inquiries were effectively buried, or derailed, under the leadership of Manhattan’s top State ethics Chief Counsel, Thomas J. Cahill, Esq. Mr. Cahill’s “retirement” was then quickly announced after his own ethical failings in the Patentgate matter, along with other ethics complaints that were made, became known.
While no one can exactly figure out how inquiries under Mr. Cahill’s charge went so awry, one thing is certain. At the same time the Patentgate probes were being secreted by state officials in New York, the United States Patent and Trademark Office Patent bar increased their own investigation into the same matter implicating the same attorneys. (Note: Mr. Cahill’s replacement was recently decided, and an announcement is expected as early as next week by the Appellate Division, First Department Presiding Justice, Jonathan Lippman.)
“Patentgate”
The defrauded company is called “Iviewit” – pronounced, “I-view-it.” The company’s internet site originally advertised their groundbreaking technology. Now, the opening page of the company website (www.iviewit.tv) displays unsettling photographs of the inventor’s family vehicle after it was bombed.
“This is quite serious,” says an investigator close to the federal probe. “The charges allege that valuable ‘back-bone enabling digital imaging technology’– MPEG type intellectual property– was stolen by the inventor’s own attorneys, the once-untouchable Manhattan based law firm Proskauer Rose. This is going to get very ugly,” he says.
Members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House Judiciary Committees have known about the Iviewit investigation since about September of 2006, and it is in our nation’s capital where the matter quickly earned its moniker “Patentgate.” And the story was also globally known in technical, Intellectual Property circles. But the big question remains: how did such an explosive story like Patentgate stay off every mainstream media’s radar screen—especially in New York.
“I know how,” says a retired federal agent who asked not to be identified. “Phone calls were made—many phone calls. Plain and simple.” And while this retired federal agent isn’t surprised by the apparent “cover-up,” he is alarmed by his own findings after a month-long independent review of all submitted Iviewit papers. “I can’t find one discrepancy in the allegations, not one unsubstantiated charge,” he says. “For one, you have the highest state courts in New York white-washing this thing with ‘unpublished’ rulings. And then you have state ethics committees contradicting themselves– in writing, no less. It’s a complete meltdown,” he concludes. “The broken system appears to have finally fallen apart.”
“Iviewit was been radio-active from day one,” says one prosecutor who asked not to be named. “Considering who was involved, you know the phones were ringing off the hook, and with a simple directive: ‘don’t go near it’ (an inquiry).” He believes, however that a serious shake-up is imminent. “The powers that be can’t contain this story anymore—it’s out, U.S. Senators and Congressman are talking about it. This involves national Commerce issues: attorneys stealing U.S. Patents from their own client, and the illegal failings of a state’s ethics agency by its own cover-up, and selective, self-dealing, politically-based inaction. Patentgate appears to have exposed the true, and troubling, underbelly of ethics investigations in New York State. And its not pretty.”
Additional Background Information
The original complaint involving Thomas Cahill and the Proskauer Rose law firm has been “pending” since February of 2004. The Cahill Proskauer Complaint is a high priority for the new State Chief Administrative Judge, the Honorable Ann T. Pfau.
The Cahill Proskauer issue became a hot topic in Washington, D.C. in early 2007 at the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and the U.S. Department of Commerce (The United States Patent and Trademark Office). And it has specifically caught the attention of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, and U.S. House Representatives John D. Dingell and Nita Lowey. The Cahill Proskauer Scandal involves many allegations: the alleged theft by Proskauer of numerous U.S. Patents from their own client; claimed losses over 10 years on a trillion dollar technology pool that has affected all forms of digital imaging and video; and the March, 2005 bombing in Boynton Beach, Florida of the inventor-client-complainant’s family mini-van.
It is alleged that Mr. Cahill masterminded the scheme to indefinitely delay complaints against Proskauer Rose, himself, and former New York State Bar Association President and Proskauer partner Steven C. Krane, Proskauer Partner Kenneth Rubenstein, chief counsel for MPEGLA, and attorney Raymond Joao of Yonkers. It is also alleged that attorney Steven C. Krane initially interceded, with Mr. Cahill’s knowledge and consent, in handling disciplinary complaints involving himself at the same time he was associated with the 1st Department in Manhattan. Attorney Krane’s conflicts were exposed when officials from the Iviewit company contacted Katherine O’Hagan Wolfe, who contradicted Cahill’s statements and Krane’s written denial of his 1st Dept roles. Ms. O’Hagan Wolfe advised that she was, in fact, on a Committee at the 1st Dept with both Cahill and Krane, and that they even had a meeting that same night.
The various Cahill Proskauer issues bounced around under the public radar screen at the Court of Appeals in Albany and were ultimately transferred from the 1st Department to the 2nd Department in Brooklyn. This was done after 5 justices of the 1st Dept ruled unanimously to investigate Krane, Rubenstein and Joao for conflict of interest and the appearance of impropriety after their review of the 1st Department complaint. The Cahill inquiry is apparently “still pending” under attorney Martin R. Gold who, insiders say, was directed to “sit on it…forever.” Earlier this year, FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. assigned additional agents to the Public Integrity Corruption squad at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, and where agents have been actively conducting interviews.
Posted by Corrupt Courts Administrator at 5:45 AM
199...yea...I'm wicked pissah fun weird! Wait...people know who I am....I should be good...
You all didn't read this! Do not come up to my desk and say "that was you wasn't it..." It was not...it was my evil twin.
Oh wait...but I did want to say that my actual point in all this is, in situations like this, there are always going to be those that blah blah this and blah blah that. But really, let's look at the big picture here people. These are real people, with real lives, and real families and real responsibilities that really have no job right now... I don't care about the other fluff going on on this thread...I care about the people. My mamma raised me right. I know I know..let the bashing begin. I'm from Boston...I can take it. Bring it on baby!!!
Last?
Proskauer Rose has fired stubs, how sad, can't believe it. But it doesn't surprise me, they are TOO cheap (Proskauer) and even if they didn't need to fire people, they probably did it just to keep PPP up. What kind of firms fire people at Christmas? I haven't worked for this firm, but I do have a couple friends that have gone to work for them in the last couple years, ALL that I have spoken to say they are buying time and waiting out the current financial crisis, but WILL jump ship when the opportunity presents itself. Good luck to all that have been let go, hope they don't run you off before Friday and that they treat you with respect and kindness when you are escorted out.
Anybody know which particular class years and which offices were affected by the Proskauer layoffs?
I understand that the layoffs were composed primarily of 1st (class of 2008) and 2nd (class of 2007) year associates with a scattering of mid-level associates.
I am on staff at Proskauer (not in NY) and have to say that this is the most miserable firm I have ever worked for. In the years I have been here, morale has never been lower (for associates and staff) than it is right now. I've seen this firm fire very good mid and senior level associates for "performace issues or lack of hours" and then turn around and bring in a slew of 1st year associates that they can pay less money and make them bill more hours. This firm is so unorganized and cheap - it was cheap WAY before the economy started tanking! Like veryone else I know here, I am waiting for the first opportunity to jump ship and get out of here!
Good luck to all of those who were laid off last week and in the previous months. You will be so much better off!
The Boston office did NOT lay off any stubs.. they took an ax to nearly the entire class of 2nd years though.. (along with mid-levels who didn't suck ass hard enough) and staff had no idea what was happening unless they were unfortunate enough to get a phone call from HR that fateful day (staff are pretty much equal to office furniture here..) Boston performs better and has a hard-on to be on-par with the New York office - but will always be stuck with the 02110 zip. This place is FULL of souless, life-sucking vampires (we in Boston call them "Partners") - so SA's of 2009 beware....
#126 -You are incorrect. Mayer Brown announced in a press release in the Spring of 2007 that they were laying off/firing, what have you, 42 Partners worldwide...and then offered secretaries in Chicago, at least, an incentive package to leave by the end of April of 2007...they have continued with layoffs in 2008