The February Freeze Round-up: New Firms on Ice (and smaller raises at Jenner & Block NYC)
Another month, another round of freeze announcements. Here are the latest firms to announce the withholding of class year raises in 2009:
Jenner & Block is not freezing salaries, but it is giving smaller raises to New York associates. The salary scale will no longer match the market in New York, reports one ATL reader:
Jenner & Block just announced that they are not matching NY market for salaries. Instead, they are going to pay equal salaries across their offices, meaning their NY office associates will make at least $10k less than other associates at tier one firms in NY. From what I hear, people are pretty angry, particularly because a) Jenner also does not cover bar fees or court admission fees (as nearly all other firms do, particularly in NY); b) Jenner does not count all pro bono hours one-for-one with billable hours towards their 2000 hour requirement (unlike many firms); and c) Jenner’s profits went up last year.
Since Jenner is essentially doing a salary raise cut (rather than a freeze), it has avoided being added to our list of firms that have frozen. To see Cooley’s 2009 salary levels, Seyfarth’s freeze memo, and the growing list of firms that are keeping 2009 salaries at 2008 levels, you have to jump.
The newest additions to the list are in bold. To see a list of firms that have NOT frozen, check out this open thread post.
Solid Ice Freeze (2009 salaries will remain at 2008 levels)
Arent Fox
Ballard Spahr
Blank Rome
Cooley
Dickstein Shapiro
DLA Piper
Goodwin Procter
Hogan & Hartson
Latham & Watkins
Morgan Lewis
Orrick
Patton Boggs
Perkins Coie
Seyfarth Shaw
Sheppard Mullin
Sonnenschein
Squire Sanders
Sutherland
Townsend
Wilson Sonsini
The Slurpee Freeze (2009 salaries will remain at 2008 levels… for now)
Alston & Bird
Andrews Kurth
Arnold & Porter
Baker & McKenzie (will revisit June 30)
Bingham McCutchen
Bryan Cave (3 month delay)
Chadbourne & Parke
Dorsey & Whitney
Fish & Richardson
Fulbright & Jaworski (will revisit after the first quarter)
Haynes and Boone
Mayer Brown
McDermott Will & Emery (will revisit in March)
Sidley Austin (will revisit “sometime” in the first quarter)
Venable
Womble Carlyle (will revisit mid-year)
COOLEY SALARY STRUCTURE FOR 2009
Base pay remains the same and constant across all offices - no step increases for any class in any office this year.
08 - 160,000
07 - 160,000
06 - 170,000
05 - 185,000
04 - 210,000
03 - 230,000
02 - 250,000
01 - 265,000
00 - 280,000
SEYFARTH SHAW MEMORANDUM
As many of you have learned in your office meetings, 2008 was a remarkable and challenging year for all businesses. In spite of the economic downturn and the dramatic effects it has had on many companies and firms, we ultimately ended the year on a successful note, thanks to the contributions of people in every area of the firm.
From a financial standpoint, the firm recorded a slight increase in profitability in a year when other firms were down. Achieving this level of success was due in part to many of you, and we thank you for your contributions. As a result, we have increased this year’s overall bonus pool, and we will be paying out 2008 bonuses on the typical timeframe to eligible associates. We are pleased to be in a position to reward our associates for both their individual contributions and in recognition of our overall results.
As we look ahead, we know that 2009 will continue to be challenging. No one can say with confidence what challenges our clients will face or what this year will look like. These are extraordinary times with unprecedented challenges. Unlike earlier cycles, the current recession is widespread and not confined to a single industry, sector or even a single country’s economy.
While we are in a strong position to weather current conditions, we believe it is imperative to control our expenses this year; thus, we are planning conservatively. The single biggest expense we have is legal compensation, and we must control our costs in this area. As a result, like many other firms, we will not be increasing associate salaries in 2009. We recognize that a salary freeze may be disappointing news, but after much discussion and analysis, we concluded that this would be the best route to manage our business and would help avoid more dramatic changes in staffing or expenses later in the year.
We will be in touch with you in late February or early March with individual information on bonuses. In the interim, please contact your LDC advisor, LDC chair or your Office Managing Partner with questions you have.
Thanks for your continued support.
(78) Comments
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FIRST
oh yeeaaaah!
thirdy
FIRST oh yeah
FIRST oh yeah
first to call Scalia a jerk and mean it.
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/02/florida-student-asks-scalia-a-question-and-gets-scolded.html
Brody Jenner is gunna get no bromance love with that freeze.
Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got, I'm still I'm still Jenner and the Block.
The ship be sinking...
This site be STINKIN.......
@4&5 = EPIC FAIL
Did Milbank raise or not? This should be clear at this point.
What is the difference between Jenner's "cut" and other firms' "freeze"? The firms that are "freezing" are actually cutting salaries. I.e., last year, second years at those firms made $170k; this year the second-year salary has been *cut* to $160k (the same $10k that Jenner is cutting). If Jenner's really just $10k below market at all levels, then its "cut" is actually less of a cut than those made by "freezing" firms at middle and senior levels.
You need to add Steptoe & Johnson LLP to the "Solid Ice Freeze" list.
Milbank did raise. Notice went out last week.
15 -- so then send in the memo to ATL!
isn't Steptoe & Johnson a West Virginia firm?
Will my salary freeze if I am gay?
6 - That Scalia thing is great. What an ass. A 20-year-old student asks him a serious question and he responds by saying, "That's a nasty, impolite question"? He needs to get over himself.
17: There are 2 S&J's...one is a WV firm, one is a int'l firm w/ offices in NY, DC, etc.
20, congrats, you walked right into that one.
Getting paid a below market salary is better than being laid off.
I got my Vans on but they look like sneakers.
How does this affect the Cahill Layoffs?
13: It's not a salary cut. Just because second years before have gotten $170 doesn't mean that second year now who gets below $170 is getting a salary cut. That person is getting a salary freeze, because, well, his or her salary is frozen. If you go from $160 to $150, then you get a cut. It works by person, not by expected class range based on past payment schemes.
25, fine, whatever. We'll use your terminology -- it's a semantics game. But if we do, then what Jenner has done is equally "not a salary cut." From what I understand (I don't work there), no one is going to make less than they made last year; they will just make less than they would have made the following year (i.e., exactly like at firms that have "frozen"). The point, which you lose in favor of nitpicking, is that there's no functional distinction in what Jenner vs. other firms have done.
24 - There are no Cahill layoffs. Stop asking, please.
Elie-it would be nice to have a "Stealth open" thread for all firms rumoured to have stealth layoffs to date
How does Jenner's new office building affect their financial position now?
Scalia went to Harvard. He is not required to answer stupid rhetorical questions from students at toilets like Florida ATTTlanTTTic UniversiTTTy.
What about the Wilkie layoffs?!
People are morons, if you made hours you got a raise. The raise was not a raise equal to that of lockstep firms that did raise, but the fact is you are making more money then you did last year. I faild to see how that can be a cut?
Can anyone at Jenner explain what Jenner actually did? I'm really confused by the explanation given in this post. Someone explain. Please.
There is no way in hell that only about 35 out of a possible 100 Vault firms are freezing salaries. I'm sure it's more like 60-70. Do some research goddammit.
33 - Raises were 5-15k instead of 10-25k. So, for example, a second year makes 165. (not quite a freeze but not matching lockstep raises either - guess this is the middle ground).
What does Scalia expect? He must know that a lot of people don't like him. When he takes general questions from the audience he must expect that some will be pointed. He could have just answered, "No. I don't think that. Next question, please."
seriously people - fine you guys are bitching and complaining. but if you're not happy leave. there are PLENTY of other people who would take your job, even if it was "not market". get over yourselves please.
$15k is not going to affect whether or not people get laid off. Overcapacity at $170k is still overcapacity at $160k. If you think your job is safer because your partners screwed you out of $10k you're delusional.
38: How do you figure the partners are screwing associates when they're still paying them at least $50K more than they're actually worth? If we were to be honest here, the figure would be closer to $80K more than they're actually worth.
Jenner wastes a lot of money on stupid sh*t.
Jenner gave salary increases, just not as much as they would have last year. For example, if someone last year was earning $160,000 as a first year, that person would normally have gotten bumped to $170,000 as a second year. Instead this year a first-year might only get bumped to $165,000 from $160,000. Good compared to many other firms, but annoying considering that the firm had an increase in profits last year.
Davis & Gilbert? Are people just making up firm names now?
Hey full freeze at Zubel Hull and Carlyle!
Why do I have to click "Show Them Anyway" in order to view the comments? I mean, if someone didn't want to see them, then they simply didn't have to scroll down. This new feature is pointless. I spend at least 2 hours extra a day clicking that link.
On the plus side, a 3rd year that works there from NYU, is super hot!!! See the NYU Law Review video on EIW.
On the plus side, a 3rd year that works there from NYU, is super hot!!! See the NYU Law Revue video on EIW.
A fourth-year at Jenner now makes $195k, $15k less than the NY market.
A fourth-year at Jenner now makes $195k, $15k less than the NY market.
The question posed to Scalia was fair game unlike the question posed Eric at NYU in 2005. Since then, no NYU student has clerked for Scalia. Thanks Eric!!! I
38, you are probably right. But, cumulatively speaking, if you add up the savings of 10 associates, you pretty much save yourself one full-time associate paycheck. Basically a buy-10-get-one-free type of deal. This could help with layoffs a little.
Davis & Gilbert also has a solid salary freeze, announced last month.
What about Milbank partners skulking around engaging in skullduggery?
39, associates are worth whatever the market dictates they're worth. There's no intrinsic "value." I would note, however, that associates are billed out to clients at 4-5 times what they're paid in salary -- since you appear to believe that kind of thing is relevant.
If there were truly thousands of just-as-competent attorneys ready to bill 2000 hours a year for 80k (rather than working 30% less for the same money doing a variety of other things), then law firms would be cutting salaries in half. But they're not. Your valuation is wrong.
Why do people insist on posting from the future?
This chart is wrong. Patton Boggs is a slurpee freeze.
Jenner associates are doing better now than all of those at frozen firms. Any word on if they will make up the difference next year, if the economy is better?
The Jenner email tipster in this ATL post is a whiny bitch, I think I fucked her once in my office
# 56: The tipster B*** is a man
and yes, I think you did
I'm pondering a move to Mayer Brown in Los Angeles. Can any current or former Mayer Brown attys lend some words of advice? I am aware of the Nov. 08 layoffs. Are additional layoffs likely? How is morale? Is work slow? Any information would be very welcome. Thanks.
Jenner has given up on NY. It has less than 20 partners and now will pay below market for associates. They are marking time until they close that office. It is 50/50, they wont exist in 3 years.
Baker has been laying off junior associates in California lately too, stealth style.
Add Carter Ledyard & Milburn to the list of Solid Ice Freeze. Nobody has reported on it, but the firm announced that there would be no raises at a meeting in January. Salaries of support staff were also frozen.
Gilbert & Sullivan froze and all major generals were demoted to brigadier.
fenwick and west also froze at the same time they laid off staff
52 - Law firms would cut in half if they had balls or the belief that they would do it together.
Are you going to turn down $80K? Who is paying more for a new lawyer?
Not taking job is not an option for heavily-in-debt law student. Working at a bank, hedge fund or buyout firm is also not exactly an option right now.
Patton Boggs is a slurpee, not a solid.
$80k is way below the point where many ambitious associates would say fuck this and start their own firms or join smaller firms where they can build their practices more quickly. BIGLAW simply is not that great a deal considering the hours and stress.
Jenner is now the examiner in the LEH bk so right there is some damn steady work for them for at least 6-9 months - figure 10M in revenue easily.
67 - do you mean 100M?
48- Was there when Eric asked the question. Totally out of line and pathetic that it made him a hero w/in the gay community, but I don't think he's the reason Scalia hasn't hired an NYU clerk since.
69, you are right that if there were someone with 4.0 on law review, published, and a Fedsoc member from NYU, I am sure Scalia would love to have that person as a clerk. But I am sure at the margins that it does not help. NYU treated Scalia like crap (even by liberal law school standards) and I am sure it affects his perception of NYU.
I was considering joining Seyfarth Shaw as a 3rd year in their Intellectual Property department but now I'm not so sure. I hear the group at Brown Rudnick is looking to build on their numbers. Anyone have any information on them?
Jenner Chicago gave pretty good bonuses and raises. we got smaller raises than we would have pre-apocalypse, but bigger than most people. the NY office is much smaller than chicago
I was considering joining Seyfarth Shaw as a 3rd year in their Intellectual Property department but now I'm not so sure. I hear the group at Brown Rudnick is looking to build on their numbers. Anyone have any information on them?
75: Basis for this?
75: Basis for this?
75: Basis for this?
Winston is officially a "slurpee freeze."
Winston is officially a "slurpee freeze."