Nationwide Pay Freeze Watch: Katten Muchin and Akerman Senterfitt
We continue to refine our list of firms that have instituted salary freezes for 2009. We received word that Katten Muchin Rosenman announced a Slurpee freeze last month and that Florida’s Akerman Senterfitt announced a Solid Ice freeze today. The frozen list is now 39 40 firms long. Check it out, along with Katten’s memo, after the jump.
And yes, yes, yes, before you ask, there is a list of firms that have NOT frozen. You can find that here: Open Thread: Business as Usual, or The Firms That Have Not Frozen Salaries.
An associate at Patton Boggs who wrote in with a correction to our frozen list tells us that our Slurpee terminology is catching on:
Patton Boggs did a Slurpee Freeze, not a solid freeze as is currently reported on ATL. The managing partner even referred to it as a “Slurpee Freeze” during his state of the firm address a couple of weeks ago. Hours bonuses and merit bonuses will still be paid, though only about 50% of associates will receive merit bonuses according to the meeting. Last year 75% of associates got a merit bonus.
February is winding down. Many of the firms on the Slurpee list said they would be revisiting the freeze after the first quarter. Keep us updated on developments next month at tips@abovethelaw.com. We’re happy to remove firms from the Slurpee list.
These are the firms that have frozen salaries at 2008 levels:
Solid Ice Freeze (2009 salaries will remain at 2008 levels)
Akerman Senterfitt
Arent Fox
Ballard Spahr
Blank Rome
Bryan Cave
Cooley
Dickstein Shapiro
DLA Piper
Goodwin Procter
Hogan & Hartson
Latham & Watkins
Morgan Lewis
Orrick
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
Chadbourne & Parke
Dorsey & Whitney
Fish & Richardson
Fulbright & Jaworski (will revisit after the first quarter)
Katten Muchin
K&L Gates (will revisit in July)
Haynes and Boone
Mayer Brown
McDermott Will & Emery (will revisit in March)
Patton Boggs
Sidley Austin (will revisit “sometime” in the first quarter)
Venable
Winston & Strawn
Womble Carlyle (will revisit mid-year)
KATTEN MUCHIN FIRMWIDE E-MAIL
TO ALL ASSOCIATES FIRM-WIDE:
Given the economic factors that suggest this recession is deepening and its effect will continue to be felt throughout calendar year 2009, the Firm has decided to freeze Associate salaries in 2009. As a result, the 2009 base compensation for all Associates in good standing will be the same as their base compensation in 2008. The Firm will continue to monitor the economy and market conditions throughout the year, and may elect to adjust salaries if and as conditions improve. We believe this decision is prudent given the current economic environment and consistent with our conservative approach to financial management.
We continue to value the tremendous effort and excellent work which our Associates have consistently provided. We hope that you understand that our approach to 2009 base salaries is dictated by the global economic downturn. While the Firm’s financial condition remains strong, we believe that these measures, among others, will allow us to continue to manage for the long term interests of our Firm.
With regard to 2008 associate bonuses, the Associate Compensation Committee has begun the evaluation process and will complete this process in January. Consistent with prior years, these bonuses will be paid by the end of this month.
Following completion of the Associate Compensation process, we will have an Associate meeting in early February to discuss compensation and other Associate issues.
VINCENT A.F. SERGI, ESQ.
National Managing Partner
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
(56) 
Comments
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FIRST!!!!!!!!!
I would never work for a lesbian firm named after munching cats.
the list of frozen firms is not up to date. klgates
#2 is a liar
Katten no-offered 2008 summers in LA for economic reasons
SkaddenLA does this all the time. So what?
I go to Western New England School of Legal Studies Law School, does this effect me?
Slurpees are the bonuses...
The ship be sinking...
Pay freeze at HLS. Harvard implements "voluntary early retirement program"
Well now we know who the tier 1 firms are...the Vault 100 is now split; hopefully the rankings recognize the firms that have NOT frozen salaries and laid off associates in droves. There are some surprising firms in the V50 or so that seem to be pretty stable while "higher ranked" firms seem to be struggling.
Really, nobody?
KaTTTen?
Solid ice freeze list should include Carter Ledyard & Milburn. It froze salaries at 2008 rates in January.
Slumdog Muchinaire
any internal speculation re potential postpone start dates at Katten?
3 - Good catch. Looks like it was fixed.
11; very true (firms like Kaye Scholer).
Is anyone else seeing the ad about genital warts right below the story?
I know that freezing works as a treatment for regular warts but I'm not sure about genital warts.
Finally, this great blog has been returned error-free to the masses that huddle around their work computers yearning to laugh at snarky jokes and pop-culture references. No longer will 1st year associates have to subject themselves to 8 hours of doc review only to reward themselves with a quick trip to ATL that ends in grammatical disaster!
Things look pretty quiet here. I think I'm going to take a vacation myself to re-energize and prepare for the glorious ass-whooping I will be giving Elie when he comes back.
Now the ad is for online degrees that you can earn in just two years. Wow this ad-bot is all-knowing!
This place is quiet without Elie. Lat is probably nervously watching the pageviews. there IS an easy fix, we all know what it is.
Elie would have posted something crazy generating "glorious ass-whooping" by now. Perhaps a poop story is all we need to get things started.
19-not so fast. the list is still incorrect. as of feb 12 bryan cave joined the solid freeze list.
22 posts in over an hour. You know what that means. It looks the economy has even affected the mighty Above the Law.
12 - actually it's spelled KaTTT-TTTen.
Unreadable. Not enough typos, brain could not process this as an "ATL Post".
Biglaw Haiku of the Hour:
-------------
“Will argue for food”
The new lawyer mantra now.
Market to Fifty!
Can ATL please look into the alleged Holland & Knight salary reductions?
23 - not really. i guarantee Lat has access to the IP logs and can see that 90% of the posts when Elie is here are Elie himself posting as "guest", trying to drum up interest and create "atmosphere" and conflict to further increase hits.
LAT should sell this blog ASAP, before the new media economy comes crashing back to earth.
22 - Good catch. Fixed.
Are you young-snots-at-big-firms attorneys really so upset at pay freezes during an economic cataclysm that you're putting them on "lists"? Good grief.
30 - There's nothing wrong with the lists. They aren't "Lists of Shame."
Call them "Lists of Virtue": firms that are acting responsibly during the economic crisis.
Is this your first time on the site, 30?
17, u work at KS?
Ugh. I'm bored. Anyone here work at Susman & Godfrey? What's the work-environment/pay like?
all you non-originating nobs are lucky to have jobs in the first place. wha, wha, wha go get some work then you won't have to worry about a salary freeze.
Katten postponed start dates to October.
What is Greenburg Traurig doing ?
This article fails to address why we should care about firms like this.
38 - because if you're lucky, they may offer you a job when you graduate in two years.
THIS FAMOUS CELEBRITY SUPPORTS CHILD ABUSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoiOo3zSVDw
39,
I already have a job, (at a firm you have heard of).
If times are tough for you, I'd be happy to see what we have available in our paralegal dept.
Man,
38/41 and 39 are hardcore. That paralegal diss really cut to the bone.
41 - I didn't realize HR reps were trolling this web site... Why don't you offer the paralegal position to one of the attorneys your firm just laid off?
- 39
41- I remember you, I think I fucked you up the ass doggie style over my desk, you moaned like a bitch in heat
i love when people break out the "i fucked you up the ass doggie style" comment. not sure if it's a real insult, but it's good to know that people on this board, when they do butt fuck, prefer doggie style over other styles. the only style that remotely compares is a good old pile driver, but, it's a little impersonal imho.
"gwaa? gwaa?"
Damn, why don't you guys (38/41, 39) just meet up, whip 'em out and measure already.
Anyone here work at Katten? What's the work-environment like for a litigator?
48, its a miserable hell-hole. Everyone wishes they were at another firm. Then again, that's the case at a lot of places.
49: why? Do they let their litigators do IP litigation or is that separate? TIA.
49- which office? Chicago?
50 -
You can do IP litigation at Katten if you are a leggy brunette.
50 -
You can do IP litigation at Katten if you are a leggy brunette.
Paul Hastings gave the planned salary increases.
Akerman is a really good law firm. They have (had) many talented lawyers, and I have always enjoyed working with them on the other side.
I think they have lousey management. As I understand, they are led by a Greenberg retread who earned his success as a used car dealer and a guy who can't find his way out of the Brylcreame (or whatever gel) in his hair.
Lawyers are the most boring people on the face of the planet. All anyone does on this crap-tastic site is log on and leave comments pissing and moaning about their salaries. You were all boring nerds in high school, you became boring nerds in college who could go to bars, then you went to law school and joined PAD, the law fraternity, and became boring nerds who drank, became obsessed with money and developed an unhealthy sense of self-importance and entitlement.
NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, should bitch and pout about a pay freeze in an economy like this. I hate that I even share the same graduate degree as you repugnant money-whores.