Hogan & Hartson Offers Buyout of 250-300 Staff

Multiple sources told ATL on Friday that Hogan & Hartson would offer a buyout to 250-300 of its support staff. The firm has now had an opportunity to inform all of the personnel.

We spoke with Hogan & Hartson Chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. on Friday. He explained that the buyout is part of Hogan’s attempt to find solutions to the financial crisis in both a creative and sensitive manner.

Gorrell also explained the specifics of the offer. Staffers with more than five years of experience will be offered four weeks pay plus one week for every year they’ve been with the firm. For some senior people, that could end up at 20 or 30 weeks, which is considerably more than what other firms are offering displaced staff members as part of a severance package.

Tipsters weigh in after the jump.


Some ATL sources feared that if there aren’t enough people willing to take the buyout, layoffs will soon follow. As one tipster put it:

If people don’t take the buyout, you know what is coming next …

But Gorrell emphasized that this offer was made as an alternative to layoffs, not as a precursor to future layoffs. In fact, instead of having a targeted number of people he wanted to take the buyout, Gorrell thought about the question from the other angle:

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I sincerely hope and expect that this offer will not be accepted by everyone.

Should the staffers take the buyout?

Earlier: Associate Bonus Watch: Hogan & Hartson Keeps D.C. Interesting

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