Fake law firm.

"So far, Gibson Dunn looks like the place to be on the west coast."

Also OMM.

Is this the first firm to actually refer to it as a "freeze"? ATL influence?

"rigorously control expenses"....Strong language

wgwag

I am the only Sheppard for my SHEEP.

the Lord is my Sheppard . . .

What can I say about Sheppard Mullin that hasn't already been said about Detroit?

"So far, Gibson Dunn looks like the place to be on the west coast."??????
What does that suppose to mean? Have you lost it? Most west coast firms, including OMM, Gibson, MTO and I&M, have no freeze. VERY few firms do.
The situation in the legal market (like other markets) is bad enough with ATL creating more fake hysteria.

4 - Also found it amusing that Sheppard literally told its associates that it would "freeze" their salaries.

4 - Also found it amusing that Sheppard literally told its associates that it would "freeze" their salaries.

Latham wasn't first -- Squire Sanders was -- and ATL keeps forgetting to include Squire Sanders as the trendsetter for the 2009 freeze wave.

Who will be the trendsetter for the 2009 layoffs wave that is yet to come?

Hopefully a lot of the people who post here about how their firms would never freeze will get laid off. I will be happy to give them a dollar of my frozen salary as I wait to turn left at the red light.

I think it is commendable that Sheppard did just what you said - "told its associates" - since most Firms do a lot of things seemingly covertly. They seem to want to get the message out that they're considering ALL OPTIONS (read b/w the lines as all options before lay-offs.) Smart Firm.

any word on MoFo?

This would never happen to a Texas firm. Texas firms are bigger.

I have nothing to support this but I get the sense that MoFo is about to drop a serious axe.

after so many versions of the same story, doesn't this eventually stop being news? a list would convey the same information (probably with fewer typos). unless there is a twist on the salary freeze/no bonus, haven't we heard it before?

Fenwick anyone?

MoFo will just be Mo in about a month.

Fo.

CAN WE GET A LIST OF FIRMS THAT HAVE INCREASED SALARIES? Just by looking at the headlines it looks like majority of firms are freezing, which is NOT the case! Before every firm thinks it is ok to freeze we need a list of those that haven't!

Looks like 10 started the list: "OMM, Gibson, MTO and I&M, have no freeze" - NOW EVERYONE ADD TO THE LIST

17 -- STFU --

Houston

For all of you at firms who have not already come out and expressly stated that salaries are being increased via regular policy, I would be very worried. All law firms are aware of the freeze/no freeze phenomenon, and if a firm's management is not being vocal, it means they are contemplating their options on freezing salaries or at least delaying a decision for a few months (See MWE).

My SHEEPS shall never be frozen.

Nick NAILIN

13 - Nope. McDermott Will & Emery led the charge on this one. The MWE freeze was announced--er, buried in the December bonus memo--way back on December 9th. That's nearly a week before Squire Sanders or any other firm announced its freeze.

About all those firms in the West
The pay's no longer the best
So to get out of this funk
Let's all go get drunk
And feel up on some stripper's breast

Why does the dude sign Guy and the Exec comm. No balls to sign on his own I guess?

17-
It would never happen in a Texas firm because compression makes it so that the difference between a first year associate and a 6th year associate is around 99 cents. Texas is a joke. Shut up.

13 - Nope. McDermott Will & Emery led the charge on this one. The MWE freeze was announced--er, buried in the December bonus memo--way back on December 9th. That's nearly a week before Squire Sanders or any other firm announced its freeze.

ha ha, Texas is a BIG JOKE

lawyer salaries are inflated anyway. welcome to reality children.

Those evil douchebags at Latham are to blame for this...

Friends don't let friends interview at Latham.

20 -- Still in a holding pattern. They will likely announce just before the 15th (first paychecks that will be impacted by any raise).

26 and 30 - 13 here - MWE was first to freeze at all, but that freeze was only certain until March 2009, SSD was the first Vault 100 law firm to do a certain freeze for all of 2009 (which, as is likely for all freezing firms, might be reconsidered depending on whether the economy picks up).

Simple question. Would you rather have your pay "frozen" and have a job, which is very prudent in the current economic climate, or would you rather wonder each day when the ax was going to fall. If you have a brain, it is a pretty easy answer.

Mel Gibson is frozen for being racist.

LMAO @ 21. Thanks

All you MoFos can KiSS MY GRITS

13 and 35 - The MWE freeze is all but guaranteed for 2009 (unless all attorneys in all offices bill 275 clients hours per month between now and March). If MWE unthaws in March I will eat my desk, chair and stapler in astonishment. The year-long MWE freeze would have been likely even if other firms had not followed MWE's lead and frozen associate salaries, but now that other firms have followed suit a year-long MWE freeze is a near-certainty (say 99.99999999999999827% likely).

39 = Racist

36: It's a simple question from a simpleton.

It's a false dichotomy. Some of the firms that initially froze salaries may have done so because they were at serious risk, and did not want to take too large a hit to PPP so they saw that freezing salaries was an opportunity to cut expenses. Other firms that are now beginning to freeze salaries are less likely to do so because of fiscal danger to the partnership, but rather simple market forces (i.e. they can get away with it since other firms are doing so).

There is no basis for assuming that firms that do not freeze salaries will have more layoffs, or, for that matter, firms that HAVE frozen salaries will NOT have layoffs.

Keep getting all giddy at your first grade logic challenge regarding pay freezes and job security.

But 36, there is no guarantee that any freezing firm won't also become (if not already a 2008 layoff participant -- and a second layoff round is possible for them too...) a 2009 layoff firm as well -- so it's not so simple as frozen pay vs. layoff -- we might have one and then also the other with the same firm.

Those of us being paid in igloos are quite happy not to be homeless during this blizzard, but we aren't exactly counting our roasted marshmallows and S'Mores either...

"Should you have any questions in the meantime, please direct them to Robert Beall, Bob Neufeld, Bob Zuber or me."

Does anyone else find it humorous that any questions should be directed to the "Bobs"?

[Cue "Office Space" clip]

BOB SLYDELL
Well, what would you say… you do here?

TOM
Well, look, I already told you. I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to!! I have people skills!! I am good at dealing with people!!! Can't you understand that?!? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!!!!!!!

36, have any of the "frozen" firms pledged not to drop the axe?

Do they pay in US dollars in Texas?

OMM makes it rain in california, eat it.

Any word on the Valley firms? WSGR, Cooley, Gunderson... I saw the update on F&W.

Any word on the Valley firms? WSGR, Cooley, Gunderson... I saw the update on F&W.

by the time the layoffs at the vault 6 that are expected to occur in Q2 2009 become public knowledge, will you fuctards then acknowledge a pay freeze was the right thing to do? or are you still banking on the legal economy turning around by the time you graduate in 2012? just curious....

Valley firms are not freezing. They haven't been hit as hard as the firms specializing in private equity like Latham. The only way valley firms freeze is if MoFo, OMM, Gibson and NY firms in the Valley freeze. So far, none of the above have.

I can't imagine Gunderson would freeze after brutally firing 5 first year stubs and shit-canning 10 others. Morale is already in the shitter...that would be the last straw. That said, they will do it if everyone else does it.

Cooley will do what other NY firms do...

We are all lucky that only VC has been impacted. M&A, IPOs, etc are all BOOMING!!!

Note that in addition to not freezing salaries, OMM paid better bonuses than Gibson Dunn.

I was just on Sheppard's website and they have very few NY associates. Thus, they will paying little in the way of the bonuses they advertised.

"Note that in addition to not freezing salaries, OMM paid better bonuses than Gibson Dunn."

Also note that OMM laid off a bunch of people recently (unlike Gibson Dunn), so they damn well better pay some decent bonuses to those who are still employed there.

57 is wrong re gibson layoffs

only a fool would think that freezing salaries of associates is the only way a firm can reduce cost

many firms are also converting associates to staff attys and/or moving to a non-lock step compensation system

king & spalding is one firm that has been going the staff atty route for some time

59 raises an idea for managing partners - simply convert the majority of your associates to staff, pay them a flat 40 bucks per hour (or so, whatever is market), and save this profession.

Those on partner track can stay on it, but as these lucky souls are at most a few percent of the total class, the cost savings will be awesome!

If you're low on hours or the worst performer in your group of peers, you are going to get laid off. There is no doubt about it. Firms are always looking for a reason to cut the deadwood. This is a great time to do it. When they have more work than people, the firms are willing to put up with the losers because they pay for themselves, when billables drop it's time to give those losers the axe.

PS. To the non-BIGLAW Douchebags out there, if I bring in a million dollars in revenue to the firm, how much of that do you think I deserve? If I write articles and do speech outlines for the partners, how much is that worth? If I waste my time talking to law students who I'll never work with how much is that worth?

OMM laid people off -- would you rather have a job with a pay freeze or no job and watch your colleagues to continue to work without a pay freeze?

OMM laid people off -- would you rather have a job with a pay freeze or no job and watch your former colleagues continue to work without a pay freeze?