First!

THIRD!

THIRD!

King & Spalding was also a partuial acq

King & Spalding was also a partuial acq

Mustache has been getting the first post far too often lately. I suspect that Mustache is Elie, or maybe nervous on Christmas break.

This is what they get for the hubris of using "Proffitt" in their firm name. My condolences to the associates.

Mustache = Nervous T10-1L?

King & Spalding was also in the running to acquire Thelen in whole or in part over the summer/early fall - and we know how that played out foir Thelen. Beware the snake oil salesmen from Dixie.

Good luck to all at TPW.

Firms dissolving really puts all the bonus talk in perspective. Everyone at TPW would take "no bonus" or a "Half-Skadden" now, and real people are going to lose their jobs in a terrible market while bored 2Ls complain about how some firm is paying only 17.5K as a bonus.

Grow up people.

It amazing that TPW even lasted this long. Dead Man Walking.

What the fuck does this 'mustache ride' bullshit even mean?

Sorry to see TPW fail - I used to work a lot with people over there and they were smart and affable. Best of wishes to everyone...

11, it's almost as if most biglaw lawyers are greedy selfish douchebags only interested in their own financial remuneration above everything else.

where is the Nervous dude?! and what about the High School guy?! are they among the axed?

What its like out there:

About 200 lawyers who worked at the dissolving law firms Heller Ehrman and Thelen are still looking for new jobs.

About 130 of Thelen’s 400 lawyers are still associated with the firm and are likely looking for work, the National Law Journal reports. And 81 out of Heller’s 550 lawyers still don’t have new jobs, the story says.

Summer associates of 2007 due to start work at Heller this fall are facing the worst job market, said former partner Ray Hixson, who started his own law firm. "I don't know of any of them who have found jobs," he told the NLJ.

Legal recruiter Gary Davis of Patterson Davis Consulting told the publication that the unemployed lawyers may not land at a big law firm. "There are opportunities right now to switch gears, to change the equation completely, and that might mean going to a smaller firm, starting your own practice, doing something you really love," he said.

Davis said he worked with an associate who took a federal clerkship, while other lawyers are jumping to boutique firms.

Legal recruiter Avis Caravello told the NLJ that the lawyers may also want to consider relocating. Texas is a hot market for energy lawyers, she said.

Nice work, firsts. Hundreds of your profession are about to be thrown out of work, and that's the best you can do? Pray it isn't you who goes down next.

"said former partner Ray Hixson, who started his own law firm" -- Start his own firm? That's what every fired partner with no business does to avoid saying they are unemployed. No way only 200 from both firms are still looking. Number is way higher when you factor in people who couldn't find another partnership, but had to "start thier own law firm"

Is STB to blame for it all - in BIGLAW that is. Check this out, from a January 22, 2007 post at ATL:

SIMPSON THACHER & BARTLETT LLP

MEMORANDUM TO ALL ASSOCIATES AND COUNSEL

The Firm has been very busy and we expect the high level of activity to continue. We are proud of the results we are helping our clients achieve.

We believe we have the finest legal team of any global law firm. In appreciation of your efforts, we are pleased to increase associate base salaries as follows, effective January 1, 2007:

Class of 2006 - $160,000
Class of 2005 - $170,000
Class of 2004 - $185,000
Class of 2003 - $210,000
Class of 2002 - $230,000
Class of 2001 - $250,000
Class of 2000 - $265,000
Class of 1999 - $280,000
Class of 1998 - $290,000

Yes - I know it's old news, but interesting to note that the first firm to move to the new$160k scale may be going the way of the Dodo.

You definitely reap what you sow.

11, nail head - you hit it.

Be glad your monthly paycheck continues to come. And if your bonus is diminished this year, deal with it. When the market comes back, so will your money. So many top 1%-ers complaining... and yet many others on the street.

I hope the Managing partners who ran their firms into the ground this year, have a sh***y holiday. They should all be ashamed of themselves. This is a sad day.

20 = fail. seriously, big time fail.

I hope the Managing partners who ran their firms into the ground this year, have a sh***y holiday. They should all be ashamed of themselves. This is a sad day.

i actually think 20 has a point, not with respect to stb as a firm, but in general

I know 2007 Heller summer who landed decent biglaw jobs.

I hope the Managing partners who ran their firms into the ground this year, have a sh***y holiday. They should all be ashamed of themselves. This is a sad day.

20, Thacher Proffitt is not STB.

sometimes I wonder how many on here are lawyers. Who confuses TPW with STB?

"Gunmen kidnap American anti-kidnapping expert in Mexico"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081215/us_nm/us_mexico_kidnap

Cut 20 some slack, he is probably pretty cracked out from his torts final...

Wow! That was a truly magnificent fail. I'll own it. Signed 20.

Hey Sheep, I see you are a Sheep. I like that. You have a very woolly coat. I like that. I wanna nail Sheepy sheep sheep. Say hi to your mother for me.

M. Wahlberg

27 - much like the CEOs and other senior execs of failing banks and investment houses are gonna have sh***y holidays? At their houses in Vail, Nassau, Park City, Lake Como...

20 - I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

blaming the partners for the bush depression makes no sense. things will be better in the future, once the stench of bush/cheney/rumsfailed has cleared.

hang in there kids. the world survived hitler. we will survive bush.

20 was not confusing STB with TPW. Just pointing out that increase in salaries may have contributed to people being laid off later on.

34 - true, but I do believe that what goes around, comes around. These f**kers may not have a conscience, but some day, some how they will get what they deserve (and rightfully so).

36 is right. Everything will be all better once Obama takes over from Bush and raises taxes on law firm partners and other business owners.

Yes We Can!

29 NAILED IT!

37

37 your reading comprehension is pathetic. How do you explain this quote from 20: "Yes - I know it's old news, but interesting to note that the first firm to move to the new$160k scale may be going the way of the Dodo."?

Tighten up.

37 - check again, he did confuse the two firms because Margaret Thacher was a name partner at both.

41 you are (of course) on the mark. Now which other NYC firms are about to slide down the wall?
Any ideas? And reasons for them?

In the immortal words of Michael Ray Richardson:

"The ship be sinking"

burn baby burn

36,

You're right, it's all going to be better in the matter of weeks! You'll actually get Skadden bonuses bi-annually after Obama takes over!!!

FAIL.

Even if 20 did confuse the two firms founded by Margaret Thacher after she graduated from UPenn State, he raised a good point.

Firms were forced to match the $160k scale to remain compettiive in recruiting. The lesser firms that did this discovered that they could not afford that kind of cost for labor. They should have stuck to the $145k scale and settled on recruiting less prestigious students who could still get the job done.

Don't y'all little crackers worry bout layoffs or bonuses or firm's dissolving and shit, cause when me and my baby dadda take over in January we gonna tax your white asses so much that y'all couldn't buy even one of them donuts that brother Mystal be munching on! Suck it, whitey!

TPW is anti Sheep Nailing so they get everything they deserve.

39/ 46 deal with it...suck it up...get over it....8 years of posting bitter comments on ATL will be too much for your tired brains....if you still have a job that is....

48 Die

Damn 48 -- You is ugly, girl! Looks like an entire room of arabs threw their shoes at you repeatedly for 3 days.

39 = 46 = angry troll upset with the reality that republiKKKan policies lead to ruin.

obama WILL fix things, but it takes time to unf*ck so much .... too bad bush ruined our economy but obama is already working to repair the bush/madoff damage

50, your post is a total non sequitur. We do recognize that Obama will be the next President (unlike the liberals who for eight years insist that Bush is not the legitimately elected President, even after 2004).

However, we also recognize that Obama's policy of raising taxes on married couples making over $250k a year in 2009/2010 will reduce the return on equity for partners, which obviously will affect law firms negatively and cause more to shutter. In fact, even you seem to agree when you express skepticism that we will still have law firm jobs.

48 and 52, both are serious disgraces to anything related to the legal profession.

54 = classic fuctard

must be a law student

53, 56, please explain to me how raising taxes on law firm partners and other married couples making over $250k a year will help law firms remain viable and profitable. Thanks in advance.

54 - No, really, you're THAT stupid? Unpossible.

That's superb logic, higher taxes on partner profits over $250k = firms will close. Because, erm, I guess partners would rather be unemployed welfare bums rather than pay more in taxes.

P.S.: Please Ms. Palin, restrict Trig's net access, he's really not contributing.

58, higher taxes on partner profits = more partners deciding that their leisure time is worth more than their post-tax profits when they already have millions in the bank = more partners retiring = firms will close. If we raised taxes to 95% you seriously think all the partners will work as hard as before?

Please learn some simple economics about marginal utility and work incentives.

Hope that helps.

This is getting ugly...

I would like to take the time to wish the MO and Ed a very happy 2009.

K&S,
Good luck with these TPW clowns.

What's interesting is that liberals are unable to avoid ad hominem attacks when trying to argue that higher taxes do not negatively impact the economy and lead to lower growth, when even Keynes and Obama acknowledged that higher taxes will hurt the economy.

Can we please stay on topic that TPW is going down in flames?

I blame the MO. Any way you look at it, it all circles back to the MO... and his enablers.

62-

You have just earned a (reduced-rate) mustache ride.

Can someone please out the MO?

why would k&s jump early at these people. hold out til after they dissolve, and the partners will come cheaper and the assoc will be willing to take staff atty positions. it's all about timing, and while k&s isnt always ethical, they certainly aren't stupid

I believe the MO is a member of TPW's general corporate group. The corporate group partners have always had a bad reputation with associates and summers. Can someone please confirm?

is the MO a moustache rider too?

I would rather nail 50 sheep than look at Michelle Obama's face

Such a shame. Good luck TPW.

Such a shame. Good luck TPW.

Thanks 61. Glad to know that we are all Keynesians now.

However, it is not necessarily true that all taxes negatively impact the economy and lead to lower growth. Just as 59 notes that a 95% marginal tax rate would destroy economic activity, a 0% tax rate would also pose some economic issues as our government would have to default on its obligations.

The arguments in this thread regarding what happens between those extremes as it relates to the legal profession are just silly. Higher tax rates might motivate people to retire, or they might motivate people to work a little harder to maintain their current standard of living. But I doubt anyone is working off hard data on that point.

And, even if some attorneys retire due to oppressive tax rates, wouldn't others step in to do the work? There does seem to be something of a glut in the attorney labor supply. And, if these hypothetical partners who would be driven into retirement by a return to the Clinton era marginal tax rates (a period of low growth, right?) somehow uniquely generate demand for legal services, it might be better for the economy at large if that unnecessary legal work did not take place. That could free up some capital to be deployed a little more productively.

I'm not bitter, just realistic. Nothing is going to happen overnight when Obama takes oath. Likely nothing will change economically due to new policies for years to come. I hope he actually changes a lot, but I'm not on the Yes We Can train. And "Yes [You] Did" nothing yet.

Call me crazy for knowing something about monetary and fiscal policy past what pundits spout off during elections.

46 here (and i wasn't 39)

not all lawyers are eveil. these guys an d girls are americans - hurt by this economy. they have families and bills to pay like all of us. not every lawyers was probbaly making a lot of money too- you guys are ignorant. people work really hard studying to become lawyers.. and while some are jerks,. not all are. i'll pray for them all. and hope the good ones find new jobs. God bless us all

61 is a racist.

not all lawyers are eveil. these guys an d girls are americans - hurt by this economy. they have families and bills to pay like all of us. not every lawyers was probbaly making a lot of money too- you guys are ignorant. people work really hard studying to become lawyers.. and while some are jerks,. not all are. i'll pray for them all. and hope the good ones find new jobs. God bless us all

i'm 74. this website posted my comment twice. i accidnetally misspelled evil. it was a typo. no dumb comments pls

I watched Thacher fall apart for a while.

damn keyboard

I watched Thacher fall apart for a while.

I watched Thacher fall apart for a while.

74's typo clearly indicates that he is racist and probably went to GULC.

72, a national government will never default on its obligations denominated in its own currency. Now you know.

Also, the others who step in after some attorneys work less or retire would by definition be of lower quality than the attorneys they replace. If you replace a product with a lower quality substitute, aggregate social welfare falls since clients get less benefit from hiring the lawyers, and the lawyers will be paid less. You also lose human capital.

It's like you're saying that if we make all the top actors retire, demand would never change since lesser actors would take their place and people would go see exactly the same movies as before.

HOW CAN I BE RACIST WHEN I, BLACK YOU MORON?

you think everyone's a racist. pls stay on topic fool

I agree with 72. Some of you are taking extreme economic positions that are untenable (and unsound) when you look at the situation holistically. Higher taxes can led to a reduction in economic growth, but it's not necessarily the case.

One of our most productive times in history came post WWII when we had staggering tax rates for some. Moreover, if you look at Hong Kong's economic structure, you'll see they've had many years of high growth with high taxes and government regulation.

I'm not saying America should revert back to post wwII economic models or adopt foreign economic models. Rather, I'm expanding on the point that a number of factors play a role in determining the growth of our economy. Context being a crucial one.

Obama's tax plan is a revenue loser (if you don't account for gains from the AMT, which Obama plans to revise). But, McCain's tax plan would have also been a revenue loser. Considering the current economic crisis and the adoption of the two wars from Bush, it would have been impossible for either Obama or McCain to increase revenue to a point where we'd have a net surplus in the next fiscal year. Maybe not impossible, but highly improbable.

83 - The graveyard is filled with irreplaceable people. You are not a special little snowflake. You are a fungible good. Get over it.

86,, AMEN =)

84 is also a liar in addition to being a racist and bringing shame upon GULC.

i'm lieing about my heritage, 89? go to hell

Liar liar pants on fire.

UVA2L and not 89.

GROW UP

83 - Very interesting. Now, show me the data documenting any of those effects when Clinton raised marginal tax rates in '93. Was there a sudden pop in attorney retirement rates? What measure showed the stampede of 1993 retiring attorneys were more productive than their replacements (hey, for all we know, the younger, less senile replacement attorneys were more productive)?

If there were particular areas of industry linked to high attorney retirement rates, did those industries suffer a noticeable decline in productivity? For example, was there an increase in M&A deals that collapsed in 1994? Did investment banking performance drop that year because of a shortage of the best attorneys? How did we make it through the 90's after suffering such a dramatic loss of human capital?

It's entirely possible that a tax increase on high earners may not be the right economic move now because of the money it would pull out of the economy. However, any assertions that the proposed increase in marginal tax rates would have of a significant impact on worker productively is speculation without any factual support.

Where has Douche Patrol gone?

I miss his, "No. 86 -- YOU are a douche!"

Remember how he used to do that?

TPW was a good firm that earned a lot of money and treated its associates and other employees well. They were well-respected by other firms.

Its passing is something to be mourned.

Associates bitching about "half-Skadden" bonuses should pause and reflect.

Skadden bonus > Cravath bonus > no bonus > Dreier fraud-based dissolution no bonus > TPW its-the-economy-stupid dissolution no bonus

95 - Amen!

As a former Heller associate, I know how much it sucks to read about imminent dissolution on a legal gossip blog. Good luck to any TPW associates who may need it.

Not for nuthin but TPW partners made a KILLING while being one of the primary firms responsible for helping to lay the groundwork for this worldwide economic disaster we are now suffering through. It was a bad (non-diversified) business model put together by bad business managers who are really no better than the dealers who put all of these mortgage deals together - TPW did almost exclusively CDOs and mortgage deals (as many probably know) and even had a whole group of 30 lawyers devoted to papering subprime deals.

While most associates were probably just doing their work and didn't realize the profound implications of what they were working on, many of the partners there - especially senior partners - should have known better and not only realized that what they were doing was facilitating a market that was borderline unethical, but should have had the foresight to be better counselors to their clients to warn them of the possibility of implosion. Of course TPW was merely papering these deals, riding the wave and reaping the benefits - and getting mad paid - and arguably their position was that these are sophisticated financial participants who should be/should have been aware of all of the implications of the deals they were engaging in. But that's more than a bit of a cop out.

I feel bad for TPW associates. But the partners I have absolutely ZERO sympathy for - especially the senior partners. They were bad business managers, bad counselors and obviously on a number of fronts showed very bad judgment that should, if the marketplace works properly (which it may or may not), follow them throughout and taint the remainder of their professional careers.

72, nobody ever believes that higher taxes "motivate people to work a little harder to maintain their current standard of living." If that were true, we can boost the income of low-income people simply by raising their taxes. Wow. Who knew poverty was so easy to solve.

Is that poor person not earning enough money? Let's make him work harder by raising his taxes. Problem solved.

Damn. I was hoping that my U. Penn State degree would get me a job at Simpson Thacher Proffitt and Wood.

98 -- you're an idiot. Lawyers papered these deals because these deals were getting done. It's beyond absurd to think that a law firm lawyer would stand up and say "but lawdy, these people can't pay the mortgages! Bury the silver! Bury the silver!"

93, I would not put too much faith in the economic boom during the 1990s. Much of that growth was fueled by the tech stock bubble and the credit/housing bubble, which you may have noticed was unsustainable and did not improve the economy much in real terms.

People during the Great Depression wisely did not argue for higher taxes (instead of Keynesian lower taxes and deficit spending) by pointing out how high taxes did not affect the economic growth of the 1920s. Hopefully some people have learned from history.

The last line of 17's post is ridiculous. Do recruiters think before they speak? Energy associates are NOT in high demand in Texas. Take a look at carbon based commodities. They're in the shitter. Deals are happening, but NO ONE is looking to add associates when they could retool their corporate associates to pick up any slack.

86, I don't know what reality you're living in, but Hong Kong is the prototypical example of high growth with LOW taxes and low government regulation. Your ignorant comment discredits the rest of your post.

The US also had high growth after WW2 because the rest of the developed world was in smouldering ruins, produced nothing, and was dependent on US exports. Yes, high taxes can coincide with high growth, if the US has no industrial competition and other countries were trying to grow from scratch.

101, it's not absurd to expect senior partners to not simply paper the deals "because these deals were getting done." Of course they weren't going to turn the business down, nor would I expect them to. But the "advice" rendered to the clients on these deals was obviously not good, nor was their business model. Nor, apparently, was their firm. That's the point. And that's why it is/was a "fringe" player that is one of the first to be eliminted not long after the proverbial hit the fan. These partners are shmucks and they reap what they sow.

105, just a mistake. I meant Vietnam. I've been studying a lot asian models. Thanks for the correction.

from 106,

104*

7:57; 59:89; 93:105 - YOU are each douches!

-Douche Patrol Wannabe

105 - you have absolutely no damn idea what you're talking about. really, no idea whatsoever. please shut the f$%k up and drown yourself in the toilet you putz.

106, then that's an even worse analogy. Foreign investment in Vietnam has no taxes for four years, followed by half rates, and no tax on repatriated dividends, plus numerous other tax incentives. True, the domestic sector is taxed at high rates, but that may be why the Vietnamese economy had no growth before they opened up to encourage foreign investment.
Perhaps that's also why they're passing new laws to lower taxes on everything.

110,

good points. i'm disputing the claim that high "income" taxes are the end all, be all, which is what i thought we were discussing. basically, you can't take anything iso, a simple empirical point. i agree with you high taxes are certainly more likely to led to stagnation, but it's not necessary. as you've clearly shown, the analysis is much more complexed.

Everybody's high on dissolution
Everybody's trying to tell me what's right for me
My partner tried to bore me with a sermon
but it's plain to see that they can't comfort me
Sorry Charlie for the imposition
I think I've got it, got the strength to carry on
I need a drink and a quick decision
Now it's up to me, ooh what will be

Thacher's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
better learn how to face it
She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
pay the devil to replace her
She's Gone what went wrong

Up in the morning look in the mirror
I'm worn as my told suit hanging in the stand
my face ain't looking any younger
now I can see love's taken a toll on me

Thachers Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
better learn how to face it
She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
pay the devil to replace her
She's Gone what went wrong

Think I'll spend eternity inNew York city
let the carbon and monoxide choke my thoughts away
and pretty bodies help dissolve the memories
but they can never be what she was to me

thacher's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
better learn how to face it
She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
pay the devil to replace her
She's Gone what went wrong

She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
better learn how to face it
She's Gone (she's gone) I can't believe
that She's gone Oh I'd pay the devil
to replace her
She's Gone (she's gone) She's Gone (she's gone) Oh I, She's Gone (she's gone)

105,

"But the "advice" rendered to the clients on these deals was obviously not good, nor was their business model"

As far as I know, MBSs are in the toilet because the underlying business assumptions collapsed, not because the deals were legally flawed. Plus it's not our role to tell the bankers that we think their deals suck (even if we had enough info/expertise to competently opine).

I agree about the business model. Terrible risk management.

Guys at my high school used to get off topic all the time, it was no big deal.

114 - That's really perfect here; thanks. I was following the arguments and then BAM! I was reminded of why I really come to this site.

- Not 114, assholes

I was a lit associate at TPW and they had the fewest percentage of aholes of any law firm in the city. It's passing is very sad -- but it's the support staff who will suffer -- many of whom have been there forever -- because it is or was a great place to work

72 wrote: "Just as 59 notes that a 95% marginal tax rate would destroy economic activity, a 0% tax rate would also pose some economic issues as our government would have to default on its obligations."

Actually, as Ron Paul is fond of pointing out, abolition of the income tax would leave the federal government with roughly the revenues it was able to gather in 2000, before the overseas adventures of the Bush years. So the only "obligations" we would need to cancel are Bush's -- and those are supposedly the ones liberals love to hate.

59,

"If we raised taxes to 95% you seriously think all the partners will work as hard as before?"

Ummm, no.
But, if we raised taxes to 94% they might work a little harder.

At 93% they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 94%.

At 92%, they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 93%.

At 91%, they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 92%.

At 90%, they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 91%.

At 80%, they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 90%.

At 70%, they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 80%.

At 60%, they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 70%.

At 50%, they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 60%.

At 40%, they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 50%.

At 37%, they would work a little harder than if taxes were at 40%.

I'm gathering that you can see how this works. Do you really think that if the top bracket increased by a few percentage points that partners would exit in droves?

First, the risks of MBS were known to TPW's clients. The likelihood of them occurring was misjudged, as was the effectiveness of their hedging (including mortgages from a number of states doesn't help in a national housing downturn).

Second, the firm was mismanaged. Fine, they didn't see this coming like most of the world, but they never diversified enough to weather a significant downturn in structured finance. And now we all pay.

What is funny is that if ATL is right, K&S is only trying to essentially take the management that destroyed TPW. Not haha funny, because I'm about to lose my job there. But funny that structured finance is still, despite ruining TPW, some kind of crown jewel.

But 116 is right, it was a very decent place to work. Hard to believe it's all going away.

117

"Actually, as Ron Paul is fond of pointing out, abolition of the income tax would leave the federal government with roughly the revenues it was able to gather in 2000, before the overseas adventures of the Bush years. So the only "obligations" we would need to cancel are Bush's -- and those are supposedly the ones liberals love to hate."

What proof do you have to this claim? The income tax is the single largest contributor to government revenue. Has been from quite some time. Unless the gov's going to increase payroll taxes, i don't see how they'll maintain similar levels of revenue w/o income taxes.

112 thanks from a TPW sympathizer (of the associates) that's great

112 thanks from a TPW sympathizer (of the associates) that's great

36-
what makes you think anything will be better under obama. you're gonna be crying into your pillow at night in a couple of years when you jump into the tax bracket that is impacted by that f*cking idiot president-elect. you'll be wishing we werent taking from the rich and giving to the poor.

I am a TPW alum. Thanks 14, 95, and 116. It was a great place to work. There were an awful lot of great attorneys there - men and women with a lot of heart. When MBS were conceptualized, they were a great thing - it is hard to say how it got so out of hand; but it is mean-spirited to blame the attorneys at one firm for the failure of US economy. And has everyone forgotten that TPW survived two disasters? The early 90s WTC bombing and 9/11? With no fatalities? It is sad to hear that it will not survive this.

So what happened today at TPW?

Bon Bon

What happened to "stay tuned?" Where is the follow-up?

My brother works at TPW and he is BUSY! Nothing happened today. They all got paid yesterday. Any new tips?!

I worked at TPW...smart lawyers who had a lot going on. They also seemed to be very balanced and just good people (there were a few assholes but that's par for BIGLAW)...i'll be sad to see them go

I worked at TPW...smart lawyers who had a lot going on. They also seemed to be very balanced and just good people (there were a few assholes but that's par for BIGLAW)...i'll be sad to see them go

20 = Elie

It sucks for all of those lawyers, but I'm sure there are plenty of contract attorney positions available seeking candidates with phenomenal document review skills.

As a former structured finance associate at TPW, I can say that TPW had a surprisingly diverse partnership and a very meritocratic culture. It was one of the few Wall St. firms I know of that had named a female African American partner. It also treated associates with respect -- not through lavish holiday parties but in the office, everyday. Although they over-leveraged into a bubble, they weren't jerks about it. I find it sad.