Nationwide Salary Cut Watch: Wolf Block Knocks 10% Off Of Associate Salaries
Here’s a little something to break up the layoff news.
On Tuesday, we reported that U.K. firms might look to cut associate salaries (instead of just freezing them) in order to avoid layoffs. In response to our reader poll, 65% of you said that you preferred a salary cut to firm layoffs.
We hope that Wolf Block associates favor cutting salaries more strongly than the ATL readership at large. Because they are all about to take a pay cut.
Multiple tipsters report that Wolf Block chairman Mark L. Alderman informed associates this morning that all associates would be taking a 10% pay cut, effective with the next pay check.
A firm spokesperson confirmed the news a short while ago:
We can confirm that associates will have a 10% reduction in base compensation prospectively. However, we have significantly increased the bonus pool for associates to make their overall compensation more performance-based.
Wolf Block people that we spoke with emphasize that there has been a “significant increase” in the bonus pool. We don’t have those numbers yet..
Of course, unlike our poll, Wolf Block is doing this in addition to firing employees. The firm already laid off 15 associates and staff back in December.
Still, one at least hopes the move helps the firm avoid further layoffs.
Will other firms follow Wolf Block’s lead? Or will Wolf stand alone?
Update (1:42): We can now also report layoffs at Wolf Block that happened earlier this week. Our sources report that 15 staffers and 6 associates were let go on Tuesday.
Another tipster is reporting extra details from the pay cut meeting this morning.
The chairman said that the firm is monitoring status of revenues on a monthly basis.
The implication this tipster got was that more cuts could be coming if things do not improve.
Earlier: International Pay Freeze Watch: Freshfields and the ‘Magic Glacial’ Salary Freeze
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Wolf's paycut doesn't stand a chance of working. The problem is that there is insufficient demand for legal services. So, paying an associate 144,000 a year to nothing instead of $160,000 a year to do nothing is still a money losing proposition. This will not stop layoffs. What Wolf is hoping for is that this step will allow it to keep profits high enough not to lose partners with business to other, more profitable firms. I don't think they stand a chance, as any partner with business is already planning to leave to a safer place.
Is Wolf Block a law firm or a top of the line deli meat producer?
Those mother fuckers in management ! I've got fucking student loans and BMW payments up the ass ! I am systematically going to steal $10,000 worth of office supplies and soda pop in 2009 ! Cheap mother fuckers.
might want to check those poll results again....you got it backwards.....
I'm a little surprised to hear that WolfBlock is not able to better weather this - don't they do a lot of counter-cyclical or at least recession-proof things, like labor and employment, health care, ERISA, tax?
At any rate, I interviewed there during OCI and was told that they may only make offers to 50% of their summer class. NO THANKS!
Wolf Block already pays way under market. Now they're cutting salaries by 10%?
I can't believe what I'm reading. I picked Wolf Block over other firms because of their lean staffing and good experience early on. Now this crap? Give me a crap, really.
GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK. I'm so sick and tired of this law firm shit.
Wolf Block makes me regret ever going to law school, ever working my ass off in law school, ever working really hard through undergrad.
FUCK YOU, WOLFBLOCK
********************************************************
WOLF BLOCK PAID UNDER MARKET BEFORE THE SALARY CUT
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Now this? WolfTTT BlockTTT
Today sucks
How will this affect those of us at good firms?
ELIE, YOU KILLED MY DAY.
5 LAYOFF STORIES IN 1 HOUR?
STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPP
I HATE THE LAW
WolfBlock loves them some UPenn State grads. Sorry to hear they won't be as well paid anymore. I wonder what JoePa has to say about all of this
19, it's UPenn, not Penn State, dipshit. Go back to your TTT and cry like a bitch, fugly fucktard.
14-
I don't know what you're talking about re: WolfBlock paying under market. THEY ARE NOT A NEW YORK FIRM. They are not in the New York market. They are in the Philly/Jersey market. They pay at the top of that market.
That absolutely sucks.
Apologies, but what is a Wolf Block?
"...we have significantly increased the bonus pool for associates to make their overall compensation more performance-based. "
Brilliant.
This is not possible! When I interviewed at my Big Law firm they showed me a chart that compared law firm salaries for associates to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Stockton California Housing Market Price Index, and all three lines went straight up forever. I don't believe that they would have lied to me. So how can it be that law firms are not perpetually profitable, and profitable at an increasing rate year over year? Are we to believe that law firms are just like any other business, subject to the ups and downs of economic cycles? NO. I refuse to believe that firms (and lawyers) are mortal.
14- which office are you going to?
I just checked USNEWS and I'm pretty sure it's UPenn State
20 = laid off Nittany Lion.
assuming you don't work at GP, BC, or DLA, this is the most important law story of the day
If you NY jagoffs don't think this is coming soon to a BIGLAW firm near you, then you really are idiots.
Wolf Block is a Philadelphia firm guys--not New York. So the post about "$160,000 to $144,000" is way off the mark. Wolf Block currently pays market rate salary in its Philadelphia office ($135,000.) In fact, Wolf Block was the first firm to increase the starting salaries to $135K a few years ago--all the other firms in Philadelphia followed. Only a few "New York style" firms in Philadelphia currently start at $145,000--these are firms with higher billable hour requirements and less of a work/life balance, such as Dechert and Morgan Lewis. So Wolf definitely does not pay under-market. Before you post, please, get your facts straight.
19 nailed it - this is a HUGE blow to UPenn State.
Penn State Univ = Nittany Lions/Joe Pa/State School
Univ. of Penn = Ivy
33 - flame, Penn is not an Ivy
Elie, you read your own poll exactly wrong. 65% said they'd prefer a salary cut to layoffs. This error destroys your article's "hook" entirely ("We hope that Wolf Block associates favor cutting salaries more strongly than the ATL readership at large. ").
SLOPPY!
34 - Since when is the Univ. of Penn not an Ivy?
@22, WolfBlock used to pay on the 135 scale, which was below Philly market of 145 scale. And now they've cut 10% off that. So what market, exactly, are they at the top of?
lol. riiiight. 33. I suppose UMichigan State is an Ivy too?
33=Samsonite, way off
33=Samsonite, way off
OH snap! What is Wolf Block merged with Bryan Cave and became Wolf Cave. How badass would that be!?! Yeah, I work at Wolf Cave and I'm gonna eat your F-ing Face.
BTW 20 - its totally UPenn State bro, seriously like...you should definietly change your resume to reflect this. Otherwise, it jsut sounds like you are trying to pretend you went to a good school....kind of sad. JoePa would be less than pleased.
33/36 enough with the stupid flame. we get it, everybody knows that Upenn State is a ttt. get your weak flame outta here.
just heard that holland and knight layoffs are starting.
33/36 enough with the stupid flame. we get it, everybody knows that Upenn State is a ttt. get your weak flame outta here.
just heard that holland and knight layoffs are starting.
33=Samsonite, way off
36-the Ivy schools are all private, it's part of being Ivy. UPenn State is a great state school, incredible value for your in-state tuition, but not in the private Ivy league.
33/36 enough with the stupid flame. we get it, everybody knows that Upenn State is a ttt. get your weak flame outta here.
How is UPenn not an Ivy? Penn State Univ. is not an Ivy.
I just checked the polling and it's actually the opposite of the numbers ATL reports. 35% would prefer higher salaries for those left while 65% would prefer pay cuts with less layoffs.
I just checked the polling and it's actually the opposite of the numbers ATL reports. 35% would prefer higher salaries for those left while 65% would prefer pay cuts with less layoffs.
36, UPenn State is a football school, not an Ivy. Get your facts straight.
roffles. i can't even tell who's schticking who with these Upenn State comments.
Thanks for a good laugh on this ridiculously sad day.
Buckle your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy life.
49, explain your logic. What does the status of "Penn State Univ." have to do with whether UPenn State is "an Ivy" or not? (It's not.)
I never said that Penn State (what you're calling UPenn State) was an Ivy. I said that Univ. of Penn (what those in Philadelphia call UPenn) is an Ivy.
41-- Well done.
I never said that Penn State (what you're calling UPenn State) was an Ivy. I said that Univ. of Penn (what those in Philadelphia call UPenn) is an Ivy.
How can UPenn State possibly be both Ivy and have a football team that chokes in the rose bowl?
#37: Wrong. The majority of big firms in Philly currently pay $135K. The exception is $145K.
How can UPenn State possibly be both Ivy and have a football team that chokes in the rose bowl?
31, Wolff's paying $121,500 to first years now, which is not only below market but below 2005 market.
Woolff Blokk = below market
31, Wolff's paying $121,500 to first years now, which is not only below market but below 2005 market.
Woolff Blokk = below market
To be even clearer, nobody who goes to Penn State University calls it UPenn State University. They call it Penn State University or PSU.
The Ivy League, private school is the University of Pennsylvania, which people refer to as UPenn.
Perhaps I can clear up the confusion. Two schools: Pennsylvania State University (Nittany Lions) and UPenn State. *Both* are big public football schools; *neither* is an Ivy. I don't know why this is so hard to understand -- is it just because they both have the word "Penn"/"Pennsylvania" in their names? I'd expect more from lawyers.
63 - subtle GULC trolling
63 = joke fail
64 is exactly right. I hope that will put this nonsense about UPenn State being an "Ivy" to rest for once and for all.
After reading these comments re: UPenn State I think I need to say something that might clear up 57's confusion.
UPenn State = UPenn = Penn State
It's a simple equation really sir. They are all the same shitty state school with a really bad football team. UPenn State is not an Ivy, it's barely a university...
Put simply, UPenn State is 1 professor/student sex trist away from being a community college.
64 - There is no UPenn State.
The Ivy League school is the University of Pennsylvania (called UPenn or Penn for short).
everyone knows that the "UPenn" in Philadelphia is just a satellite campus of UPenn State. Stop with this ridiculous trolling. This is like arguing that the Strayer campus in NYC is an ivy just because it's the NYC branch office. "dude I go to NYU Strayer". Um no. You go to Upenn State. Nobody cares which campus - whether it's the philly one or the other one in the boondocks. it's all UPenn State.
At least UMichigan Staters don't try to pull this crap.
This would never happen at WILDMAN HARROLD.
thanks 68. i was joping somebody would clear this up. the trolling in here is getting absurd. seriously. ivy league. lol. and monkeys might fly out of my....
This would never happen at WILDMAN HARROLD.
69, I'm sorry but the only state school in the Ivy league is the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). Thanks for coming out.
57- Get a clue. Commenters on this blog bash UPenn by calling it UPenn State and intentionally confusing it with Penn State. By getting your panties in a bunch over it you end up looking like a bigger dbag than you probably are.
74 nailed it. you forgot Ole Miss though - isn't that the Harvard of the South?
75 = by far the cleverest flame i've seen in years. well played sir, well played.
Ivy League:
Harvard
Standford
Princeton
Yale
Columbia
University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)
MIT
Brown
Dartmouth
Colgate
Can we please talk about something else now?
75=77
75 - Actually I think he appears to be as big of a Dbag as he really is. See this is one of the prerequisites of admission to UPenn State.
"UPenn State requires the utmost amount of d-bagary, frankly we pride ourselves in it."
That is a direct quote from the 2008-2009 UPenn State Law recruiting brochure. (Someone left it in my firms bathroom last Monday -- prolly that Dbag of a paralegal who never staples my docs correctly)
+1 on 77; very "meta," 75.
78 You forgot Rutgers.
Best comment thread of '09.
I always thought Penn was short for Penn State. Is that not true?
the ivy league is an athletic conference. sports haha
Best comment thread of '09. I can't stop laughing -- the persistence of this whole "UPenn State really is an Ivy" joke makes the joke infinitely funnier.
Don't forget Tufts, 78/81. And probably Emory- I'm sure they claim to be Atlanta Ivy.
I feel kind of bad for the UPenn Staters. Not only do they have to overcome a crappy legal education, a dwindling job market, and falling salaries, but their football team is coached by a senile octogenarian who thinks it is 1958.
I agree re: the hilarity of all the trolling on this thread. Everyone knows it's really UPenn State College of Law at Dickinson University. The main campus is in Carlisle, with night courses offered in Philadelphia and College Station.
I agree re: the hilarity of all the trolling on this thread. Everyone knows it's really UPenn State College of Law at Dickinson University. The main campus is in Carlisle, with night courses offered in Philadelphia and College Station.
87, the Ivy League is an actual League, with a membership list (which is reproduced in 78's post). Rutgers, Tufts, and Emory are all very good schools -- as is UPenn State . . . but you can't get into the Ivy League just by "claiming" to be "[regional] Ivy."
81=fail. Rutgers opted out of the ivy league loooooooooong ago
The best part of all these UPenn State trolls' joke is that -- wait for it -- UPenn State DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A LAW SCHOOL! It's true -- I just looked at the USNews law school rankings, and UPenn State doesn't even appear there. (Presumably they'd still be at least T2 if USNews did a "best football school" rankings.)
#9 gets it.
When times are good firms lavish money on overpaid staff and associates. When times are bad salaries are frozen or even reduced. But when times are really bad firms go into survival mode which today, given the ability of partners with portable business to get up and go elsewhere at the drop of a hat, means keeping up the incomes of those who keep the lights on - and that will mean layoffs and partner de-equitizations ultimately on a massive scale.
Prediction: 20% of US law firm associates as of 2007 will have been laid off by the end of 2010.
Of course if it gets really really bad, well, "sky's the limit".
92, you're confusing things. Rutgers was never in the Ivy League. Neither was UPenn State.
this thread is hilarious. comparing twig sizes and all. Ah, lawyers, that's why we love you so we can blog about you and have a grand ol' laugh.
stuffbiglawassociateslike.wordpress.com
#93 - Penn State does have a law school: Dickenson School of Law. http://www.dsl.psu.edu/
#93 - Penn State does have a law school: Dickenson School of Law. http://www.dsl.psu.edu/
95 - You're correct, Rutgers was never "in" the Ivy League. They were, however, asked to join the Ivy League many years ago, but they turned the offer down because it meant they would have to privatize all or part of their institution, and they wanted to remain solely dedicated to being a state school.
MIT is the Georgia Tech of the North.
#95: Rutgers was asked to join the Ivy League and here's the source.
^ Several articles 1948-1956 in the The Daily Targum (Rutgers University's campus newspaper), located in The Targum, The Rutgers Targum and The Daily Targum (then printed weekly) Microfilm records (1) v.87-v.94:no.35 OCT 17,1945-APR 10,1953, and (2) v.94:no.36-v.104:no.58 APR 17,1953-DEC 5,1972 (2 rolls) and Walton R. Johnson Papers (1949-2001), Special Collections and University Archives, Archibald S. Alexander Library, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Now if you ask the Ivy League, their official response is "We have no records of any invitation being extended." Which is different from, "we never extended an invitation." My understanding is that the offer was conditional on Rutgers foregoing the state university/land grant designation which would have required them to split off the Ag school on Douglass Campus. RU said no thanks. So the negotiations probably never got past that point into more formal negotiations.
this thread is hilarious. comparing twig sizes and all. Ah, lawyers, that's why we love you so we can blog about you and have a grand ol' laugh.
Upenn State played Rutgers in the 1st football game
The ship be sinking...
If any state school were to be in the ivy league, it would at least be TEXAS!
103 - Princeton (not UPenn state) played Rutgers in the first intercollegiate football game.
105 - To be in the Ivy League your school must be in the northeast. Texas would be disqualified by geography alone.
I just don't understand why U Penn isn't called "Penn State - Philadelphia" - wouldn't that make it's place in the state system more obvious?
Also, I love how they have a separate nickname for their sports teams (although one would have guessed they'd want to be called the Nittany Lion Cubs or something- get it? Or the Nittany Tigers - then it would be like the Detroit Lions (football) and Tigers (baseball).
21, no, WolfBlock only pays 135k to first-years before the salary cut. 145k is market in Philly. Now WolfbLock will be paying 135k - 10%...
I'M THE GUY THAT MADE THE FIRST FAKE "I'M OFFENDED" UPENN STATE COMMENT (#20). I DIDN'T THINK I'D START THIS BIG OF A FIGHT AS TO TURN THE WHOLE COMMENT THREAD INTO A UPENN CLUSTERFUCK. HA HA HA.
- ALL CAPS GUY
OCEANS RISE
CITIES FALL
QUINN REMAINS WITH EGG ON ITS FACE(BOOK)
xxxx
109- you are my nemesis.
- all lower case guy
109- you are my nemesis.
-all lower case guy
109- you are my nemesis.
- all lower case guy
Based on the email subject lines that were sent to me this afternoon I have a feeling that I will not like what I find if I leave this comment thread, so I'm just going to camp out in here for a while.
78 = comment of the year
Math is pretty simple. Mid-levels at Wolf now making less than first years at other large firms in Philadelphia.
@117, logic is pretty simple too. Anyone who's been at Wolf long enough to become a midlevel should've figured out they needed to leave by now.
78: You forgot UVA. Its the Harvard of the South.