Who will pull a Latham today? Do it, OMM. DO IT!

No food references?

Anyone else think that if you're a department head or on the management committee, that you should go down with the sinking ship? It's partly your fault the ship's going down.

#4: put yourself in the department head's shoes, would you really drown with the associates down in steerage? Try explaining that to your wife/partner/kids.

You join a firm to pay the bills. If it can't pay, then you don't play.

Today's the day here at S&C.

5: I would at least take some responsibility and would try to find as many associates as possible jobs, either at the firm that I go to or elsewhere. Stay classy, San Diego...

phase 2: ???

phase 3: proffitt!

It better be the day at S&C! Any advanced info leak re: Skadden or Half-Skadden?

8 - underwear gnomes reference. nice.

Time for the Heller Drone to ramp up another useless blog.

#7, why? In the end being a lawyer is a job, why would you waste your time looking out for associates. I have never heard of CEOs trying to place their employees at new jobs before the company shuts down, why should the law be any different?
This whole sense of entitlement in the law is just weird. Why can't salaries be cut, why can't people be laid off, why can't job offers be rescinded?

12 - Because we pay $150,000 to go to school.

"The End of TPW Cometh"

"12 - Because we pay $150,000 to go to school. "

You realize that only like 15% of all grads get biglaw right?

12 - Because this is a profession where, hopefully, we try to help each other out if we can.

"Because this is a profession where, hopefully, we try to help each other out if we can. "

What the hell? When's the last time a biglawyer helped an indebted TTT grad?

i just heard Alston Bird is laying off first years in the Atlanta office!!!

should i have expected this from such a TTT firm?

Lat/Elie - could you do a helpful chart like you did for Latham showing the difference between 2008/2009 compensation by class year for TPW? Thanks in advance.

15 - it's a lot lower than 15%

You guys are gonna love this joke, it goes a little something like this:

Latham.

13 = entitled douche

TPW has been on dissolution watch for a year. I'm not convinced. Nuclear War = cockroaches and TPW.

Not true. There was no meeting of litigation associates at TPW yesterday.

No meeting at TPW

It would seem like litigation is the only thing TPW has going for it. If that dept. dissolves, what is left? A large number of underutilized structured finance partners?

AlsTTTon Bird has been going down hill for years

COUNT!

The acid must have kicked in by now. Bring that purple face of your to the fore and give us some NUMBERS!!

COUNT!

The acid must have kicked in by now. Bring that purple face of yours to the fore and give us some NUMBERS!!

#1 is such an enigma...

Nothing like nailing a sheep on a cold morning to start your day off right.

what exactly is the point of WARN if no one is going to follow it? sure you may have an action, but if there's no money left anyway, it seems pretty useless.

Comment removed by moderator.

The document review department is still alive and kicking!

But A/B is one of the top 100 places to work according to Fortune

13, classical musicians, architects, artists, chefs, etc all paid $150,000 to go to school. They all also make way less than you. They are also not self-entitled douchebags who expect six-figure guaranteed lifetime employment merely because they were clueless in life after college and overpaid for school.

I wish for once the comments were supportive and empathetic. Next week it could be you. Think about it.
Karma is a bitch.

I <3 36

6--

today is not the day. given that bonus letters are left on our chairs first thing in the morning, if today were the day, by now we would have received the shiny golden letters from rodge/joe specifying how they're going to screw us over.

perhaps tomorrow? the exec cmt meets on thursday, so perhaps friday is a better bet?

I loooove the smell of napalm in the morning!

36: you are the fuckin' MAN!!!

NYC prestige-whores to unemployment.

This will never happen to firms in Texas.

35 - hahahahahahahaha! top 100 places to work? that will mean nothing when you're in the unemployment line. the fact that they recruit heavily from TTT schools should have tipped you off to their impending demise. i give AlsTTTon Bird 6 months max before they pull a Heller.

39, this year -- like last year and the years before that -- the memo will be distributed by email. Thanks for being an annoyance.

as a first year at A/B, i can confirm that it is definitely NOT in the top 100. the limo buss tour on swearing-in day does not make up for their general TTT attitude and abundance of crappy associates from even crappier law schools. i can't believe i took this job

BITCH SPREAD THE BUTT CHEEKS SO I CAN SMELL THE JUICY INSIDES!

36 - What artist ever paid $150k to go to school?

You betta check yo'self.

47, that three-year Master of Fine Arts degree is not free.

Oh jeebus, Captain Ass Fetish is back again.

Damn it.

36,

It's a little different. Classical musicians, architects, artists, chefs, etc all choose to forego a lucrative salary in a soul sucking field like law in order to do something with their life they might enjoy or get some fullfillment out of. In contrast, lawyers agree to sell their soul to make a little more money. Not suprisingly, lawyers feel more entitled to that money. It's not right, but that's what it is.

43 -- Use some of that infinite wisdom and look for sarcasm before you post that garbage.

40 -- great A"pocalypse Now" reference
Years ago (when partners smoked in their offices), as a young associate I entered a partner's office and uttered those words - the partner had no clue what I was talking about

40 -- great A"pocalypse Now" reference
Years ago (when partners smoked in their offices), as a young associate I entered a partner's office and uttered those words - the partner had no clue what I was talking about

what happened to being saved by the mighty king and spalding? perhaps tpw wised up and told them to stick it.

"12 - Because we pay $150,000 to go to school. "
You are idiot if you pay $150,000 and can't afford it. It is your parents, not the partners of a law firm, who should help you pay tuition.

http://www.dlapiper.com/richard_hans/

52/53 - No. A reference cannot be great if it is already inundated into americana. Great references are neither obvious nor ubiquitous. Nor should they be hardly relevant (if at all), or overwrought. See 1. Simply quoting a movie that everyone already knows, is pointless and contagiously masturbatory. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." --> "Easy, you don't just lead 'em as much. Haha, ain't war hell?" Next . . .

Please. People get advanced degrees in art or music because they have trust funds and rich mommies and daddies.

36 - How do musicians, artists and chefs pay $150k to go to school? Is there such a thing as chef grad school? Its not like lawyers only pay $150k for law school, lets not forget that number is probably doubled, if not increased by about 125% for most people in law school. Believe it or not some people had to make their own way through college as well.

Yeah, 300k+ for 7 years of education is a good old fashioned American rip-off. The comparison with musicians, artists and chefs begins and ends right there

58, there are quite a few bankruptcy cases where the debtor is a musician with a Master's degree and >$100k of student loans and a $25k/year job, and the debtor tries to argue that his student loans (normally nondischargeable) should be discharged due to economic hardship. He usually loses the argument.
Sad and also hilarious.

12, it's not specific to law firms; they are just an easy example. any business owner (note that CEOs are usually officers, not owners) has a responsibility to those he employs. his responsibility is to do the best job he can to stay in business. this is especiallu apparent in a law firm setting, where the partners are responsible for bringing in the work on which the business is based.

it's not so much "entitlement" on the part of the workers as responsibility on the part of the owner, especially if the business is in danger because of the owner's missteps.

so yeah, while there might not be any legal duty to do so, i think helping associates find new jobs is the right thing to do.

i'm sure you disagree, but this is the lesson i learned from a father and grandfather who both started and owned small businesses.

what about paul hastings?

57 - UR an idiot

52/53 - The partner has no idea what you were talking about because the reference lacked proper context. Believe it or not, if you just walk into people's offices and mutter random movie quotes, they're not going to have any idea WTF you're talking about.

compare:

http://www.dlapiper.com/richard_hans/

and

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:Ds9wby0uMecJ:www.tpw.com/lawyers.cfm%3Fid%3D1711+richard+hans&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

there was a cloud of smoke in his office
that seems to be proper context

there was a cloud of smoke in his office
that seems to be proper context

alston is not laying off 1st years.

52/53, 66/67 - no. quoting the movie made no sense neither then nor now. give it up.

I got called back by these asshats in 2003 and got rejected. I stil have a job. Ha ha!

69 - I hope you enjoy the unemployment line

I give TPW until the end of January, at best.

37, finally a normal reaction!

37, thanks for the comment. I stared to think everyone who posts anymore are disgustoids in human form!

55, you stupid cunt, because clearly only spoiled rich kids should be able to get an education. Children of Appalachian blue collar shift workers who get into T14s, on the other hand, should have to flip burgers instead of taking the opportunity to better themselves. Go kill yourself.

Uh, is this true? Why would Hans go back to DLA Piper? They are imploding fast! The story is DLA is to have another round of layoffs in January. They have no cash to operate and recent hires intended to boost business have not turned out well.

THANK YOU #75.

@75/77-- getting an education is fine, if you are prepared to pay for it, whether by flipping burgers or practicing law. The ridiculous part is expecting your employers to take your debt load into account when they determine your comp.

78, I have no problem with paying for it. I DO have a problem with people saying that I shouldn't get it because I wasn't born with a silver spoon up my ass. I was only reacting to that particular inane comment.

75

69 -- You're right that the napalm quote made no sense, but it sounded like the partner didn't even recognize the quote as a line from Apocalypse Now. Anyone who doesn't know Duvall's napalm line is an ignoramus.

The whole f'in system is out of order!

you all think thats bad? the powers to be had a meeting with us associates in the CFI department yesterday.
if the firm doesnt find a way to merge, the department, along with the rest of the firm will dissolve. We were told not to tell the other admin staff like our secretaries and such but with how the firm seems to be handling this, i wouldnt care if everyone knew at least by this means.

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp1331.htm

"...nor was there discussion of any WARN obligations for the firm" Jesus, Elie, do you even know what WARN is? Have you even taken the time to read the Cliff's version? There's a threshold figure required to trigger it and don't think that it's met here.

And 64, I disagree. Think that partner knew exactly what 52/53 was talking about but was stunned into silence by inane humor of one of his associates.

In his defense - WARN is certainly triggered if this firm dissolves, maybe you should go back and consult your Cliff's notes?

81 - Did the powers that be say WHY you're supposed to keep it a "secret" from secretaries? What are they afraid of? That office staff will become more demoralized than they already are (when the most demoralizing factor is their lack of communication), that we're too dumb to understand the situation, that we'll panic like mules and kick the slats out of our stalls?

47 - Here is the fee schedule at Juilliard: http://www.juilliard.edu/admissions/tuition.html
The best MFA program in the country is at Yale. You do the math.
Most students in these programs are not being funded by 58's "trust funds and rich mommies and daddies", they're passionate about what they do AND want to succeed in it. Some of them make a lot of money; most don't.

Any new word on this yet, other than the Treasury deal?

unlikely that king & spalding will spend the money for a merger

their holiday parties in the atlanta and houston offices were in the firm conference rooms - no spouses invited

sounds like money issues at k&s ...

http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2008/12/king-spalding-out-of-proposed-thacher-acquisition.html