Nationwide Pay Freeze Watch: Winston & Strawn

Another top firm has frozen its 2009 salaries. Winston & Strawn informed associates last week that 2009 salaries will be held at 2008 levels.

It’s what we like to call around here a “Slurpee freeze,” as the firm might change its mind should our national economy pull out of its long and continuous nose dive. The freeze announcement memo, available in full after the jump, says Winston will “continue to monitor economic conditions in the coming months and will revisit this issue if and when it becomes appropriate.”

ATL will post naked photos of all of its contributors if and when it becomes appropriate, too. Of course, “if and when” is our way of saying never.

Reactions from Winston’s associates to the freeze and to bonuses outside of New York:

I’m not sure why I’m surprised given how cheap the firm usually is but we just got hit with a full year freeze (with the usual boilerplate caveat language) and much lowered bonuses (lower than half-Skadden for most of the tiers).

I wish I could say I’m going to start looking. Instead, I suppose I should just be happy I have a job.


A Jenner-style half-raise would have been nice.


[I]t seems that for non-NY offices, they significantly reduced bonuses. Bonuses were about 50-60% of last year’s, even for top billers. Mine was the same as it was THREE years ago.

Winston’s memo after the jump, as well as an updated list of the 37 firms (that we know of) that have instituted a salary freeze for 2009. If you know of others, send us an e-mail at tips@abovethelaw.com.


Here’s a list of the firms with salary freezes in effect. To see a list of firms that have instituted normal class year raises, check out this open thread.

Sponsored

Solid Ice Freeze (2009 salaries will remain at 2008 levels)

Arent Fox

Ballard Spahr

Blank Rome

Cooley

Sponsored

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

Winston & Strawn

Womble Carlyle (will revisit mid-year)

Winston & Strawn Firm Memorandum