Nothing will happen for another 2 weeks.

Only interested if there is blood on the walls.

yawn

why make you think about it all weekend?....that's just cruel....

2 - you guessing?

3 probably is guessing, but it makes sense. ATL's article told everybody yesterday "look over there at K&L Gates!!! Something bad is going to happen!!!" And everybody looked. Why would it want to do something it's not proud of when everybody is staring at it? Why not wait until people and their short attention spans are focused on something else before firing your employees. It makes sense for K&L to wait until the spotlight is off to fire people.

Elie, I am all about conspiracy theories, but these aren't exactly wonderful times. Lawyers already had one of the highest suicide and alcohol abuse rates, and that was without all this new uncertainty, stock crashes, laid off friends, lost clients, lost exit opportunities, etc etc. Is it really such an unreasonable time for people to be very depressed? I don't blame you for offering the logical leap, but please be considerate of the horrible time that folks in this industry might be going through.

If you are laid off, I don't suppose you still get access to these "EAP" benefits anyway.

There is a lot of daylight left today.

You do if the layoff comes with notice instead of severance...

anyone there? what's the mood like?

There is a chanel 4 news van parked outside the office in Pittsburgh.

K&L is choosing not to participate in the recession.

Associates also got COBRA notices in the mail yesterday...coincidence?

It probably means he, and the other top brass, are all traveling to one central location to talk about the firings... so they are too big to handle over the phone

They probably need a little more time to come up with better packages, now that all eyes are on them.

KLobster Gates is in no position to hire any major laterals from Skadden.

Notify by BlackBerry over the weekend, lock them out on Monday.

Man....I hope none of you get the axe. As someone who was laid off, I can tell you its not a pretty picture out there in terms of other opportunities. You get a little tired of those with jobs telling you that "You'll find something, I'm sure of it" Not in this economy...

20, You'll find something, I'm sure of it.

18 - HILARIOUS.

OK, this is complete hysteria now. There is enough genuine carnage out there to waste time on this nonsense. ATL got it wrong. But they are on the case and will get to the bottom of the rumors, probably.

@20 -- You will find something, I am sure of it. Just look at me, I am now a licensed food cart operator and sell Lobster Falafel on the corner of 53rd and 6th.

20, I was laid off as well. I'm not even going to bother looking for a while.

Hopefully Mr. Kalis is smart enough not to talk about this in transit to his undisclosed location.

Can people show a little compassion? My gosh, people are terrified about losing their livelihoods, many responsible for feeding families, and many of you are treating this like some f-ing game.
Have SOME class, people.

- An Associate With Some Sense of Decency

Can people show a little compassion? My gosh, people are terrified about losing their livelihoods, many responsible for feeding families, and many of you are treating this like some f-ing game.
Have SOME class, people.

- An Associate With Some Sense of Decency

I blame Spike Lee and Steve Balmer.

Nupsty

12 minutes until ax time.

Two 3L’s from Seton Hall are driving along the Jersey Turnpike towards Manhattan. The woman in the car looks up from her copy of The American Lawyer as the man slows the car down.
3L Woman: “What are you doing?”
3L Man: “Isn’t that Peter Kalis, the managing partner of K&L Gates, by the side of the road? Maybe he needs a ride into Manhattan.”
3L Woman: “He has an axe!”
3L Man: “But he is a BigLaw partner. Maybe if we do him a favor, he will offer us jobs at K&L Gates.”
3L Woman: “But he has an axe!”
3L Man: “I’m sure there’s a good reason for it.”
The man stops the car, and lowers the window.
3L Man: “Excuse me, Mr. Kalis, but what’s with the axe?”
Kalis: “It’s a . . . . . letter opener.”
3L Man: “Hop in!”

20 - I'm with you. I'm also being tired of being told how I can "go work for government" or "go work for the administration." Because they aren't being flooded with resumes or anything.

20, 25 -

I was laid off last year and have been looking, but there's nothing out there. Who knows, maybe not looking for a while beats hardcore looking and being depressed about it - who knows, maybe things will pick up. What worries me is this huge gap in my resume...I wonder if firms will understand or if our chances of finding good jobs in the future are pretty much over?

27: Its called gallows humor. Get a clue.

- An Associate With 30 Days of his "Notice Period" Left Before the Dreaded Resume Gap...but still with a sense of humor.

31 = terrible. Go back to molesting tweens at Twilight screenings.

My mom Googles me everyday, is that prestigious?

I'm surprised we haven't heard about more suicides.

I disagree with Elie, this **is** the end of a major law career for most people. Once you're kicked out of biglaw, what are you going to do? You can't fix drunk tickets and do divorces for a few years and then become a lateral partner at Skadden. Maybe if you're lucky you could get a job as a sore-back litigator, but transactional associates are boned.

For students, our careers are over before they began. We started the game playing by one set of rules, and the game has changed while we're in school. I'm surprised more students haven't "been found dead in their apartment."

Hey Axe Man, no need for those SHU kids to go to Manhattan, K&L Newark is in the same building complex as the law school.

34:
How is telling you that your legal career is over and that you better get use to wearing a paper hat ok with you?
Besides, for humor to be "gallow," the person who is anxious must utter it, not the employed f making fun of those laid off.
-27

34:
How is telling you that your legal career is over and that you better get use to wearing a paper hat ok with you?
Besides, for humor to be "gallow," the person who is anxious must utter it, not the employed f making fun of those laid off.
-27

34:
How is telling you that your legal career is over and that you better get use to wearing a paper hat ok with you?
Besides, for humor to be "gallow," the person who is anxious must utter it, not the employed f making fun of those laid off.
-27

34:
How is telling you that your legal career is over and that you better get use to wearing a paper hat ok with you?
Besides, for humor to be "gallow," the person who is anxious must utter it, not the employed f making fun of those laid off.
-27

This shit be stinkin'

34:
How is telling you that your legal career is over and that you better get use to wearing a paper hat ok with you?
Besides, for humor to be "gallow," the person who is anxious must utter it, not the employed f making fun of those laid off.
-27

13- I walked past the news people in Pittsburgh this morning and they were interviewing people coming out of the parking garage about a tax credit. I don't think its related to K &L.

STOP BEING MEAN ON THE INTERNETS!

13- I walked past the news people in Pittsburgh this morning and they were interviewing people coming out of the parking garage about a tax credit. I don't think its related to K &L.

37, excuse my French, but your post was fucking pathetic.

I just punched a KL associate in the face.

Skadden Fu

Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole.

Peter Kalis is currently boarding the Acela, equipped with the finest Bluetooth headset money can buy.

Layoff news to follow - loud and clear!

37, get a grip. You can work for a smaller or regional firm, even doing transactional work. You can work for the government. You can get a graduate degree in something else. All that cool stuff on the bottom of your resume---the languages, the qualifications, the independent research---have at it. The debt is heavy, but ask yourself if having a prestigous law degree and the professional qualification to use it, over the course of your life, is worth more than the $150K condo 20 miles out on a commuter rail line that your high school classmates bought out of college.

48 - once you're off the biglaw train, how do you get back on?

Perhaps you could get a judicial clerkship after a few years of firm work. You might be able to get a job with the DOJ or become an AUSA. From those positions you could get back into Biglaw. Otherwise, you're boned.

I too was "rightsized". It sucked. Did not look at this board or most other things for a while. Then I realized I still needed money. What really sucked...I was in the earlier rounds of layoffs where all we got was 2 months and we could keep our names on the site for those two months.

So after a lot of "No Hire" signs and "Attorneys need not apply" I took an entry level position in the Gap. I am sure you can quickly determine the difference in pay (mid-senior associate in NY V10 firm) to entry level at the Gap.

Then I got laid off from the Gap. They too had some layoffs. I was last in, first out. They also said "we both know you have no intention of staying here long term." They said I would be better in their legal department (not hiring) or in their retail management (except I do not have any retail experience...at least only a few weeks of it). I thought I was quite good at folding shirts and stacking them!

So after further depression, I now go to an agency every morning by 6am and a series of vans come by. They say they need X number of people for Y job. Once the van fills, it goes off. Then another one comes by and the same thing all over again. At the end of the day they pay you in cash.

It is manual day labor, not what I thought I would be doing. I am ashamed of what I am doing and really don't discuss the specifics with friends and family.

I hope this is not long term, but the reality is it might. Many are suggesting with the numbers in the layoff club being so high, no matter what the market does, it can never reabsorb the lot of us.

Right now I am trying to get by (full undergrad and law school loans from a pricey New England school...shows what that is worth now).

Soon I and many others will have to start thinking about life after the practice of law. I do admit that I have thought about opening my own shop...anyone need a corporate attorney who does mutli billion dollar transactions? Didn't think so.

By the way, today, like some days, there was not enough work for the full day in the van I got in. What's worse, I was not the first attorney to join the day labor group, nor have I been the last. In fact, laid off attorneys represent the fasted growing group of people at this agency.

One more confession...I am not the best at the day labor work. But I have to pay the loans and get something to eat.

I feel for you all. If anyone has any better suggestions please post, and maybe ATL could even do an article on what others are doing to get by.

53, 48 here. Biglaw sucks ass. You should bypass the train altogether. Biglaw is good for one thing - paying off your student loans and then getting the hell out, which I will be doing shortly. I know it will suck to have those loans weighing you down, but you will be much happier at a smaller firm, trust me. The grass is not greener at Biglaw.

Hey law student 37, you could just get a life outside of work and see what that's all about.

54 - Are you for real?

57 - yes. You can see his work on redtube.com

What happened to "/wrists", Elie?

57:

I can't tell either. Who would write so much yet make it up? On the other hand, lawyer to laborer sounds extreme. I know those laid off from Biglaw recently and many of them have found something to do in between Biglaw and manual labor.
If 54 is legit, my apologies and I hope you find something more to your liking soon.

57:

I can't tell either. Who would write so much yet make it up? On the other hand, lawyer to laborer sounds extreme. I know those laid off from Biglaw recently and many of them have found something to do in between Biglaw and manual labor.
If 54 is legit, my apologies and I hope you find something more to your liking soon.

57:

I can't tell either. Who would write so much yet make it up? On the other hand, lawyer to laborer sounds extreme. I know those laid off from Biglaw recently and many of them have found something to do in between Biglaw and manual labor.
If 54 is legit, my apologies and I hope you find something more to your liking soon.

This is the real 54...not that I can truly prove this, but trust me, this is for real.

Proud...no. Making ends meet...yes.

Oh, I terminated my pricey apartment in NYC, paid the 4 month penalty (was a 2 year lease renewal and was only 5 months in) and have since moved in with a number of friends all sharing a run down apartment in a much less desirable location.

Haha 58, you got me.

Haha 58, you got me.

Haha 58, you got me.

after Latham's announcement, K&L realized they were not being ambitious enough. I bet they delayed just so they could dig up another 100 names for layoff lists,and check their WARN requirements.

Maybe you can get injured doing manual labor and then bring a tort suit?

even bankruptcy associates are getting laid off - that is how screwed we all are

L&W definitely had something to do with it. At my office a bunch of the partners on my floor were talking about Latham this morning. Then that same bunch all disappeared for a couple hours. I just read that over. This is obviously making me insane and paranoid. Now I have to sweat it out through the weekend, too. That EAP email didn't help, either.

does anyone else take a breathe every now and then and realize that all of this, the loans, the job, the "prestige", the car payments, all of it....will all be a puff of smoke one day when we're long gone? none of it will matter. i have a friend who had to voluntarily repo her car b/c it all went down the shitter..she has piss credit right now, but she whittled her expenses down to bare min. and has a job she enjoys far from biglaw. no one can deny that the carnage is awful and the fear is palapable at firms who've remained mum about layoffs despite stating how "difficult" '09 will be. one day at a time.

Those of you who didn't pay off your loans as quickly as possible must be feeling the burn now!

How is it possible that bankruptcy lawyers are getting laid off?

There are going to be a historic number of bankruptcies this year.

70 - 2 is right - it won't be the weekend - we're looking at two weeks.

Word is that the Executive Committee is in Miami, planning the mayhem to follow. Two weeks.

"Regardless of the reason, the point should be well taken by everybody in Biglaw. This isn't the end of the world. For most people, this isn't even the end of a career. If you are consumed with bleak and black thoughts, get the help you need and deserve.

Keep your head up."

This is the only reasonable thing I've read on this blog in my past 2 years of periodic reading.

Haven't checked a calendar since this morning, but I didn't realize that February had been extended...so we should be hearing around...February 41st?

73 - that is exactly what the survivors in the group were asking themselves. some firms may not be able to pull in the bk work like the others. if not, then watch out because those firms are in real trouble.

Allow me to take a moment here and panic.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I DON'T WANT TO WORK AT STARBUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your time.

Smart laterals got a guaranteed base + bonus......once again the world takes a turn for monty burns...............

Has the credit line been renewed yet?

Face it, at this point, who gives a shit. If you are screwed, you are screwed. My only regret is leaving Weil - the only firm who does well in the good times, and does well mopping up the shit in the bad times. Some of us were fortunate enough to ride the gravy train and make a ton of money during the legal boom. But if you take a step back and think about it, is someone with no job experience really worth $160,000 per year? Is it that much of a sacrifice for some partner to take a pay cut for 1 or 2 years from $2,500,000 per year to $2,000,000 per year?

among Pittsburgh firms, Reed Smith owns K&L. back of the line beatch.

Why, 83? Just because Reed Smith pays its associates more? You must have more than that to support your claim.

83-

You obviously don't know the REAL story. K&L was built on the backs of wonderful, selfless men, who were former Reed Smith lawyers who went off to save humanity in WWII only to find they had been passed over by the commie pinko wussies who lacked the cajones to drive Hitler to his grave.

These same brave men came back and decided to form a much better firm, where honor, dignity and doing things the right way helped them prevail and become Reed Smith's daddy in the Pittsburgh market place and beyond.

Shortly thereafter, they decided to abandon honor, dignity and a desire to do things the right way in exchange for big bucks, no debt, and a sense of smugness equaled only by a second generation Bush.

What a horrific firm. The sum of the parts is not greater than the whole. How sad. Most of the partners are sitting on bank and ready and willing to ruin the livelihoods of their people. They will all get theirs - here or in heaven.

What a horrific firm. The sum of the parts is not greater than the whole. How sad. Most of the partners are sitting on bank and ready and willing to ruin the livelihoods of their people. They will all get theirs - here or in heaven.

What a horrific firm. The sum of the parts is not greater than the whole. How sad. Most of the partners are sitting on bank and ready and willing to ruin the livelihoods of their people. They will all get theirs - here or in heaven.

Algebra: If you fire 4 non-equity partners and you want to have a 4:1 attorney to secretary ratio, how many secretaries can you now fire?

The rumor around the office is the associates who will be let go have been notified and have a choice between a 3 month severance check or working 3 more months while looking for a new job. No associate has admitted to receiving notice. A couple are packing their personal belongings.

KL associate here. 90, in what office? No word of that in the office I work in, and everyone is on edge waiting to see what happens. Rumor we heard was it was coming down in the next couple of weeks and that a list of names had been sent from local office to King Kalis, who would then say 'yea' or 'nay' as to whether there were enough cuts.

91 -- what office are you in?

Pete has been seen watching a lot of Gladiator on his laptop. He has had it checked out from Netflix for two months. He wants to distract his servants with several weeks of gladitorial games. Next week, securities associates are to fight finance associates to the death.

Reed Smith associate here. Pretty similar firms, although KL has obviously grown faster and in more markets recently. Not sure if that is good or bad though. Which firm has the bigger transactional practice? Reed Smith is still mainly litigation, and we never really got the big Wall Street work, so people are still fairly busy. In fact, the transactional work we DO have, is mainly with banks like NY Melon or PNC, and they are doing fairly well considering. We have had many many stealth layoffs, but no out-and-out layoffs.

K&L Associate here, why would it take the two weeks, though? Have the lists from each office already been submitted? If so, are they going to notify individuals over the next two weeks or are decisions being made back and forth and then an announcement at the end? It's really ridiculous (and unprofessional) how in the dark this whole thing is at every firm.

From what I know around my office, the decision-makers are obsessed with keeping with "the market." Now that Latham set a new bar, I've been seeing a bloodthirsty look on some faces. I heard candidly from one partner that the firm was going to take the opportunity to cut third and fourth year associates who haven't been billing but who would normally survive through a review, of counsel who also don't bill up to standards, and probably some reorganization of income partners who don't bring in the business to match their salary. I've also heard that the firm will take the opportunity to clean up some groups who haven't had the work for some time. No specifics on which groups, but NY and DC were mentioned. But, the Latham thing has me wondering whether they will make deeper cuts - even though Kalis vowed not to emasculate any practice group. There's no way K&L would match the severance of Latham, even if it does match the cuts.

What have you all been hearing? I'd kill to get my hands on some of the emails.

KL associate here. We haven't heard anything specific yet. The rumor going around here is that the "lists" were given to Kalis yesterday for review. After reviewing the initial lists he will then, if he finds it necessary, push the partners in each office to make further cuts. According to what I've heard everything would happen in one day as it did at Latham.

Reed Smith owns K&L in Pittsburgh? Where have you been?

The two-week delay once the "lists" have been submitted also includes the vetting process by the firm's general counsel's office.

So, is it "Kalis" or "callous"? Perhaps he should take a paycut.

KL associate here (former PGE). Two weeks from yesterday = Friday the 13th. Wouldn't that be rich.

K&L Associate here...rumor we hearing from some partners, some of the delay also had to do with the acquisition of Bell Boyd. As I understand it, technically, KL could not terminate the BBL people until KL acquired BBL. Now they are reviewing the Chicago lists as well. I was told to expect big cuts, numbers similar or greater to L&W. Which offices, practices, years of practice...have no idea. Except that few associates have immunity, including current 3L's who are supposed to be starting and 2Ls who are planning on summering.

While I am busy and have been on track for meeting hours, even I feel unsecure. So I have taken the liberty of packing a few things this weekend and removed them from the office so in the event of mass hysteria my valuable personal items don't get taken, or more likely used to impale others.

37 - Perhaps these days are signaling an end to the "major law career" of many, but just not for the people you think will be so affected.

I was witness to similar legal industry wide bloodbaths in 1989 and 1990. Back then, there was much doom and gloom prohesizing over the "careers" of the then 26-30 year olds laid off from frims in droves.

Now, nearly 20 years later, it is actually the "survivors" of those years I can't find in any legal industry listing. Those laid-off in the earliest years of their careers were the people who were forced to become creative and think outside the box at a time that they were young enough to do so. They weren't made unattractive by BigLaw institutionalization yet. Their weighty salaries weren't weighty enough to dissuade other employers from hiring them - especially after a longer-than-usual period of unemployment.

Now, when I Google the names of the "deadwood" of 1989 and 1990 vintage, I find them as partners of mid-sized firms that grew with the booms that would follow. I find them as executives in some pretty impressive corporations - both large and small. I find them with phat practices of their own with their names on the door and with ritzy ZIP codes.

The "lucky" ones who were held onto? I google them and find only a scant handful anywhere. I've found some "lucky" ones made partner within a year or two of the bloody years were apparently let go as partners shortly thereafter.

I can find only TWO junior associates I EVER knew in those years as BigLaw partners now (One SSL, one SASMF). I can find a handful of mid-level associates I knew in those years as partners in "lesser" firms in other major metro areas, like DC. Judging from the bios of those people, they're at least equity partners.

Creativity can be your friend in these years.

101: Posts like yours are not helpful, untrue and mean spirited. What is so entertaining about inciting hysteria. Is K&L Gates about to laoff associates? Yes. Are the numbers going to look anything like Latham? No!

If no one has come to check-in and counsel you on your utilization, you will be fine. Continue to turn out high quaility work and don't worry about your jobs. They firm is not about to conduct mass layoffs on the Latham scale.

101: Posts like yours are not helpful, untrue and mean spirited. What is so entertaining about inciting hysteria. Is K&L Gates about to laoff associates? Yes. Are the numbers going to look anything like Latham? No!

If no one has come to check-in and counsel you on your utilization, you will be fine. Continue to turn out high quaility work and don't worry about your jobs. They firm is not about to conduct mass layoffs on the Latham scale.

hats off to Latham for finding a balance between the marginal COST of each unoccupied associate and the marginal UTILITY in signaling that they value the same associates at higher levels than their peer firms.

In doing so, Latham PWNED! their PEER FIRMS firms who docilely submitted to the INFORMATION CASCADE manifest in the half-skadden trend.

what is most remarkable and precedent-setting about Latham's action here is that it resisted the urge to mimic numerous other firms that, to the unaided, public eye, appeared to be identically situated. its choice here could spell the difference between future inter-competitiveness among its peers. young, talented lawyers will compete more intensely for the Latham job hereafter.

other firms = pwnd!

94, associate from a BigLaw SF office here. Reed Smith Pittsburgh may be doing okay but its Bay Area offices are hurting. Friends of mine in the SF office are desperate for work that's being hoarded (surprise surprise) by junior partners for themselves. And their Oakland office closed a whole floor and laid off a huge amount of staff, which sure looks like the writing on the wall for a closure. Maybe they shouldn't have acted as a lifeline for the Thelen folks.

Reed Smith has already laid off so many associates that I can't imagine there is too much more fat let to trim ...

If the office is closed because of snow, can they still fire us tomorrow?

101 -

You wrote: "Except that few associates have immunity, including current 3L's who are supposed to be starting and 2Ls who are planning on summering."

Did you mean to say "a few associates"? B/c that would make more sense.

Elie, please note your use of a comma after "but". This is frustrating. Thanks,

Burn in Hell Kalis!!!!! and take Vester Hughes with you!!