Reversed Perk Watch: Kirkland Claws Back Health Care Costs
Law firms are dealing with the Great Recession in many different ways. As we’ve chronicled in these pages, layoffs and salary cuts are commonplace, practically clichéd.
Some firms are cutting costs more creatively. From a source at Kirkland & Ellis:
We just got a memo from K&E about a massive increase in our health care premiums. I’m not happy at all…. By my rough math, my deductible tripled, but the cost increased $100/month. So they’re screwing us two ways. Again, if my math is right.
From a second tipster:
This change effectively reduces associate salaries by approximately $1,000-$2,000 per year, although made under the guise of a change in the health care plan (perhaps in attempt to avoid blog coverage of salary cuts?).K&E’s health care coverage was already pretty poor compared to other biglaw firms. This change makes their health care for associates (and other employees earning more than $90K) even worse. Also disturbing is that part of the justification for the change is to “bring the amount paid for health care coverage for associates closer to the amount paid by partners of the Firm…..”
My (albeit limited) understanding of health care coverage for partners in partnerships is that by its nature it is always different from the partnerships’ actual employees (i.e., associates)…. Additionally, we all know K&E partners make a ton of money (as evidenced by their high ppp, which have not been reduced). While associates at Kirkland are definitely well compensated, they work brutal hours for that money, and enacting a salary cut in the guise of bringing partners health care cost “in line” with associates seems greedy and ill-advised.
Full memo, in all of its hyper-technical glory, after the jump.
KIRKLAND & ELLIS — MEMORANDUM — IMPORTANT CHANGES TO YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE
TO: Associates and Employees Participating in the Kirkland & Ellis LLP Health Plan
FROM: Benefits Committee
DATE: May 21, 2009
RE: Important Changes to Your Health Insurance
This memorandum describes important changes in
the Firm’s health care benefit program for associates
and certain employees that will go into effect on July
1, 2009. Please read this memorandum and the attached
Schedule A carefully, as it may affect your medical
coverage and your contribution levels. If you are
affected by these changes, you may find it beneficial
to switch your health coverage from one plan to
another. It is therefore important that you read and
consider carefully the alternatives available to you
between now and July 1.
The changes described in this memorandum will
affect associates and employees in “Level Two” (i.e.,
employees whose base salaries equal or are greater than
$90,000 per year) of the Firm’s Health care benefit
program. These changes are intended to simplify the
current health care system, create a more equitable
allocation of costs between the Firm and participants,
as well as reduce the Firm’s overall health care costs.
In general, these changes will result in an
increase in the health care premiums paid by
associates. Higher-paid employees will also generally
see increases, but those increases will be much more
modest, and may in fact be avoidable altogether if the
employee opts to change his or her health care plan.
No changes will be made at this time in the
health care program for employees at income levels
below $90,000 per year. Beginning in January 2010, it
is likely that additional changes will be made in the
health care program for all employees, with the
expectation that the magnitude of those changes will be
less substantial than the current changes affecting
associates and employees in Level Two.
Changes Effective July 1, 2009
Effective July 1, 2009, the following specific
changes will occur:
1. For all associates and employees with base
pay equal to or greater than $90,000, the $500
Deductible PPO and the $1,000 Deductible PPO option
will be eliminated.
2. The methodology used to determine monthly
premiums will be adjusted to reflect an amount paid by
the Firm for each person that will be based on a
specific percentage of the total cost for a particular
health plan option (the “base” plan) for that class of
employee. If the associate or employee chooses a
different option than the base plan, the associate or
employee will receive either all of the cost savings,
or all of the cost increases, of that decision. To
explain and summarize:
Cost Share: Associate (Pay Level 1) - The Firm will
pay 50% of the total monthly cost for the High
Deductible PPO. If the associate would like a lower
deductible or would prefer an HMO option, the associate
will pay any incremental cost.
One reason for this change is to bring the amount paid
for health care coverage for associates closer to the
amount paid by partners of the Firm. All partners,
both nonshare and share partners, currently pay 100% of
the costs of their own health care coverage.
Cost Share: Employees with Base Pay Equal to or
Greater than $90,000 (Pay Level 2) - The Firm will pay
a monthly amount equal to 65% of the total monthly
premium for the $1,500 Deductible PPO. The employee
will pay 35% of the total monthly premium. If the
employee chooses a higher deductible than the $1,500
deductible or chooses an HMO option, the Firm will
still pay the same dollar amount, meaning that the
employee will receive all of the economic benefit of
choosing a higher deductible, or will bear all of the
cost above that amount for choosing a more expensive
HMO.
Attached hereto as Schedule A is a schedule that
summarizes the monthly premium that the Firm will pay
(and the amount that the employee will pay) under each
option.
Your Action Items
Participants currently enrolled in medical
benefits will have the opportunity to change their
medical plan elections. Please prepare as follows:
· Watch for a personalized summary of your current
medical coverage which will be provided to you (via
email) by the Benefit Services Department.
· Familiarize yourself with the new benefit
structure and related costs referenced on Exhibit A
(attached hereto). Information also is available in
K&EConnect.
Associates and Employees:
As explained above, it is very important that you
carefully analyze your options. In particular, you
should consider the following:
· The $1500 Deductible PPO provides a co-payment
for network doctor office visits and for prescriptions.
The deductible does not apply to these services. The
deductible also does not apply to wellness visits.
· Employees who are switching from a lower
deductible plan to a higher deductible plan will
generally see no significant increase in their monthly
premium, and may in fact see a meaningful decrease.
For example, employees in Level Two with family
coverage who now have the $500 deductible pay a monthly
premium of $325 per month. If such employees switch to
the $1,500 deductible, the monthly premium will be $327
per month, an increase of $2. If such employees switch
to the $5,650 high-deductible family plan, the monthly
premium will drop by more than $200 per month.
· Health insurance premiums are pre-tax, meaning
that you effectively receive a tax deduction for the
premiums you pay. However, please be aware that
President Obama and Congress are considering major
changes to the U.S. health care system which includes
potential changes to the taxation of premiums. The
possibility of these changes is one reason why no
changes are being made at this time for employees
earning less than $90,000 per year.
· If you switch to the high-deductible PPO plan,
you may be eligible to make tax-deductible
contributions each year to a health savings account (if
applicable). In effect, this permits you to claim a
tax deduction for the amount you deposit into the
account.
· For individuals who currently participate in
certain HMOs in New York and California, these changes
will result in a significant increase in monthly
premiums. While no one is happy about this, the simple
fact is that some of those HMOs are incredibly
expensive (in some cases approaching $2,000 per month
for family coverage). Individuals who have these HMOs
may need to consider switching to a PPO, or will need
to understand that they will need to bear a higher
share of the costs if they wish to continue using these
very expensive health insurance programs.
IMPORTANT: If you are currently participating in a plan
for which you will no longer be eligible and you do not
submit an enrollment change, you will be automatically
enrolled in the $1,500 Deductible PPO.
(109) Comments
Comments
Fuck those guys.
Nice post. I came here from the WSJ Law Blog, but was looking for the site "ATL." Could someone in the comments please direct me to the URL? Much appreciated...
Not first - don't care
C'mon, this is such a tiny cut, less than $2k a year.
Just be happy that you have jobs!
I'm with 4. I get that firms are getting creative with their word usage, but at least K&E isn't waiting till May to rescind offers or fire first years for 'performance reason.'
The Emperor's Sardaukar doesn't bitch about health care; the legionaries FORCE other people to worry about health care. At best.
This is a much smaller amount than what Kirkland associates will be paying for their healthcare once Obamacare is passed...
Yet another example of partners refusing to take ownership of their business and attempting to shift costs and downside to their employees.
Agreed that this is an insignificant cut.
But the rationale - "to bring the amount paid for health care coverage for associates closer to the amount paid by partners of the Firm" - is appalling.
In that case, how about bringing the COMPENSATION of associates "closer to the amount [received] by partners of the Firm"?
Whoever wrote a memo that includes a section called "Your Action Items" needs to punch themselves in the face. Hard.
The partners aren't paying more as well for healthcare just associates?
Does anyone really care about this? Sure, associates will have to pay more for health care. Still, on an after tax basis, this is tiny. Bringing costs closer to those paid by partners may be a disingenuous statement, but in this economy I have to imagine there are meatier things for ATL to write about!
K&E associate here. The saddest part of all this is that, based on my other experiences, I know that K&E's health care options were already terrible compared to that offered by most firms. At my prior firm we paid $690 PER YEAR for 100% coverage with a $20 co-pay and no deductible.
Why does K&E have such terrible plans? Like most large employers their options and rates are based on historical data from the population (the firm) itself. Yes, the health of K&E laywers is THAT much worse than most firms.
The BS rationale is so that Kirkland & Ellis - another haughty firm, like Ropes & Gray - won't have to admit that it is hurting in this economy.
The associates are free to go elsewhere if they don't like it. Associates and law students are the most butthurt people I know, and most of them have zero idea of how to run a business.
Ridiculous. K&E partners are greedy sacks of crap.
12,
This is smaller than other screw jobs, but, yes, we care. BigLaw partners are screwing us over every way they can think of; it is to our benefit to keep abreast of how they are doing it.
how does it feel to want?
This is also problematic because it comes mid-year, when people have already made decisions about how much to allocate to their health care flexible spending accounts. I believe those allocations can't be changed mid-year if you remain with the same employer. So now associates are going to have to use post-tax money to pay expenses that could have been pre-tax if they'd been given notice that their health care expenses would be higher.
11 - Why should the partners pay more? They're already paying their entire load.
"All partners, both nonshare and share partners, currently pay 100% of the costs of their own health care coverage."
15,
Bwahahaha! Partners were racing like crack heads to abandon risk management and responsible growth, and you're arguing that associates don't know how to run a business!?!
Yeah, like we're going to take the word of partners on how to successfully run a business.
That makes about as much sense as taking advice on how to properly manage a war from Dick Cheney.
I'm confused. I'm an incoming first year, and we received the benefits packet in the mail last week; I take it by this thread that most (if not all) that information is now going to drastically change? I hope we will actually be hearing this soon, otherwise I will just be sending in my medical care enrollment forms as originally planned ...
15,
Yeah. If only associates would learn from the Jedi Masters of Lehman, Countrywide, B of A, Shitibank, AIG, Bear Stearns and Jim Cramer.
Not to mention the geniuses in Big Law who made their profits of high leverage without planning for the merry go round stopped.
My health care is amazing - literally everything is covered - and better yet the company pays for 100% of it (no employee monthly premiums). Just wanted to let you all know. I also leave at 6 every day.
-Left Litigation to go In-House, Suckas!
I have a tip for associates working in the metro NYC area. If you are worried about healthcare costs, there are alternative forms of treatment for maladies that you may be suffering from. It is my understanding that there are holistic centers in Washington Heights and Jackson Heights. Moreover, if you are outplaced anytime soon, Pfizer will supply you with xanax and viagra gratis. No need to panic.
21 & 23 - Where did I mention that the partners knew what they were doing? It seemed intuitively obvious that these clueless associates would grow up to be clueless partners (if they're lucky). The blind leading the blind.
Who cares?
Nobody outside of KE associates should care about this. Ain't shit compared to what other firms - Fish, Sonnencrap, and Ropes - are doing.
27,
If we're not up to date on how other associates are getting fucked, we won't see it coming when they try it on us.
First Kirkland has layoffs, and now this? What's wrong with that firm?
15/27,
Fair enough. K&E associates have little complain about relative to giants dumps Sonnencrap, Fish and R&G just took on their associates.
Better healthcare premiums than jobs.
- 23
If this is the worst thing that the K&E associates are going through with the economic downturn, they should consider themselves lucky.
My first firm didn't even offer health insurance...
Associates who have the nerve to complain about this should work out how much of an unemployment check would go to Cobra payments.
Quit your whining. There are other professionals out there that pay more than you do monthly and there are also those that don't have any health care.
Who cares? Under Obaba's regime, there will be crappy healthcare for all!
Anyone else heard of partners asking associates to donate a kidney?
Be glad you still have jobs. I would have gladly taken an increase to healthcare costs than have been let go by LaTTTham
That does sound pretty crappy. I pay about $1600/year (pre-tax) for that I consider to be pretty good coverage (good PPO, low deductible ($200?), $20 co-pays and 90% coverage). That's a bit less than what I was paying at my old firm. How much total are K&E associates paying? What about at other places?
That said, my bonuses have certainly been less than what they would have been at K&E, so I'm not crying for these guys.
Do most firms make you pay for ST or LT disability coverage? My current firm does not, which makes like a $2k/year difference from my old firm which did.
Nuggit?
7, 34
Hey you Republican Lackeys...how do you know healthcare under Obama's eventual plan will be more expensive for the general population??? You don't know jack yet...so stop listening to Hannity, Coulter, douchebags et al and for once, wait until all the facts are in before regurgitating punditry garbage.
Just a thought.
33 FTW...
Welcome to the real world, where you don't get 100% coverage.
Hacks! This could be the biggest Hack move of them all. If you wanna cut costs, just be honest and fire the fat people! No tubsters here at CP&S
-Denny Crane
Hi, anyone have numbers for a first year internship at K&E?
I guarantee you Obamacare will be more expensive.. his motto is free for everyone except a minority of hard working people who will have to pay for it....
Maybe K&E should relocate associates to Canada. I hear healthcare is free there (per Michael Moore). That way they can pay on a lower pay scale in US dollars (adjusted to the lowest conversion rate in the last 3 years) - with the appreciation of the CDN$ against the USD$, this will save a ton of money. After all, why house K&E associates in expensive NY/Chicago real estate - move them to Saskatchewan (where I understand there is overbuilding due to the unrealized oil sands industry), and each partner (equity and nonequity) can then have an office with an attached conference room. Also, there's lots of game in Canada, and partners can require that in order to be in good standing, K&E associates have to go hunt moose, deer, etc. for the cafeteria (and also for furs to ward off the sub-zero winter temperatures).
Associates just need to suck it up and be happy they have jobs. As a partner said to a bunch of us when I was a 1st year, associates are fungible. I was offended then. Now I realize that he spoke the truth, especially with respect to junior associates. There are plenty of people out there willing to take your jobs, whatever the health care costs.
I sentence you all to death! By Snu Snu!
39, 7 here. I'm not talking about the "general population." I'm talking about Kirkland associates. You don't think taxes are going to be raised on people in that income level to pay for Obamacare?
Or, like everything else, is our Comrade-in-Chief just making promises that he knows he can't fulfill? Like ending military tribunals, closing Guantanamo, etc.?
I dunno, if these associates reasonably relied on the terms of the prior health plan to their detriment, they might have the basis for a promissory estoppel claim. Might wanna look into that.
Kirkland & Ellis is a better firm than McDermott Will & Emery.
I work with all of them. Trust me when I tell you that K&E is a festering shit show. MW&E aint great, but is better than K&E.
N. Wacker Stud
I was away for a week - what's with PE's photo?
Please. If you knew how much people who make way less than 90k a year pay for similiar plans you wouldn't complain at all.
Laura, the twins, and I have excellent health care all paid for by you. It's the least you could do for the sacrifices that we made for you over the past eight years. I worked really hard, and achieved great results.
51 -- Other posters have created user accounts as PE (with slightly different spellings) and the old pic. The real PE seems to have chosen a new pic to distingush himself as the "real" PE. He did a poor job.
35 you must be talking about a dewey & leboeuf partner
This is total BS. Don't take it K&E Associates, QUIT!!!!!!!!!!
I hope I get a reverse kowgirl from a Kirkland associate this weekend.
Reverend Wright
ATL should run a comparison of head count numbers from 2008 with those from 2009. Cut out all the performance vs. economic layoff BS and let the numbers speak for themselves. I think AMLAW has those.
Kash/Elie let's do this.
First, to say I am no longer unemployed!
So help me if one fricken K&E partner that voted for Obama also advocated for the health care cost increases. Don't you know that it is immoral to focus on yourself (and your own income) at the expense of those who have less. Shame on you. As for those that didn't vote that way, tell the fricken whiners to go to hell and find employment elsewhere if they don't like it (maybe suggest joining the UAW).
Kirkland's health care costs seem astronomical--typically a HMO plan is far cheaper than a PPO plan (unless it is a high deductible plan). Stating that the HMO plans are more expensive seems odd to me. Additionally, it seems that their rationale for "bringing costs in line with that of partners" is absolutely ridiculous. Partners, as such, need to take ownership of the firm and thus, their own health care costs while still providing adequate benefits to their employees. At my last firm, we paid NOTHING for medical benefits under the HMO plan and the firm GAVE us money towards our deductible if we chose the HDHP plan (in addition to having no monthly premium.) Sounds like the people at Kirkland are getting royally screwed on coverage. While it might seem like very little compared to 20k salary cuts, I'd still rather not have to pay more for my insurance--after all, in a crap economy, every dollar counts.
WHO CARES!
If this means we are going to get a posting for every big firm that changes its health insurance coverage I am going to kill myself.
This seems worse than a pay cut (obviously not dollar-wise) but principle-wise. Salaries are decreasing because they were over-inflated and are still high after the cuts. These health benefits seems fairly poor, particularly with what I am used to at my firm, for example. I'd rather be at a firm that prides itself on being generous with benefits and paying me less (again, even if dollar-for-dollar wise, they are actually paying me less) than one that pays a bit more but doesn't think that offering top of the line health care coverage for its employees at a good price is important.
Um, partners have to include health insurance paid by the firm in their self-employment compensation. But they also get a 100% above the line deduction for health care, which associates do not. Employees can only deduct insurance & other medical costs that exceed 7.5% of AGI. So yeah, that's a shitty thing for the partners to do. Gosh, could it be that they see you as fungible billing units?
Wow, $1500 deductible? That's horrible! We don't have any deductibles at my biglaw firm, just small copays.
After these cutbacks, each partner will make $3 million and $2000.
skeet skeet skeet
I promise only to raise taxes on those Americans making $250k or more per year. This will benefit the little guy (hopefully).
63,
You wouldn't do well in K&E's entrepreneurial culture.
K&E wants people that think "dollar-wise" because that is what clients want.
While I of course wish that the firm paid more of my healthcare (who doesn't want more money in any form?), this is, dollar-wise, a small decrease and I'm sure I'll do better on a true pay basis than at any other firm since we haven't gone and done things like frozen salaries, delayed start dates, forced sabbaticals, etc.
Also, I'm glad that the firm now pays the same amount for all associates regardless of what kind of healthcare they choose.
For those that don't understand, the new policy is basically that (if you are single) the firm pays for $150 a month of health care premiums. The fancier thecoverage you want, the more your monthly deduction is. Thus, if you want the high deductible plan you pay $150 yourself each month, but if you want a "better" plan you pay even more.
It used to be that if you had the lowest plan the firm was paying ~$200 of your premium, but if you had the best plan the firm was paying ~$400 of your premium. Now the firm pays the same amount regardless of what plan you make. I like that.
68, I think you mean married couples making over $250k a year, which means those making $125k each.
McDermott sucks.
Can someone please explain to me what a "Hofstra" is. Someone talked about this thing in another thread, and no one has let me know what one is? It is bugging me as it may be important to the next case I have against K&E.
-Denny Crane
What if an associate took the day off today to go to the doctor and relied on the firms Promises about their coverage. Would they have some sort of claim, maybe in equity or contract?
At WilmerHale DC, if you just have an individual health plan, you are paid $100/month extra if you select the HMO. I get dental on top of that, so I'm paid approximately $55/month extra. A PPO costs about $150/month.
There's no way they can sustain this.
I am an incoming first year, and I was going to pick the $1500 deductible option anyway. It's not that much of an increase. The only people who will suffer are those who have major health problems or accidents that will not be covered by their co-pay. I would much rather pay a few extra dollars for health insurance than have my pay cut. Let me not speak too soon since we don't start until 11/1.....
64,
The employee portion of health insurance premiums are taken out of pre-tax income, and thus are not subject to tax. Co-payments and other out of pocket costs, to the extent that they are not paid out of a flexible spending account or a health savings account, would be subject to the 7.5% threshold, but the same is true for any such payments made by partners on their own behalf.
Oops, I meant 11/30 (from 75)
How's the new glass house building?
Hey Lat,
Why didn't you let Elie handle this one? Analysis would have been over his head?
Hey Lat,
Why didn't you let Elie handle this one? Analysis would have been over his head?
59,
Congrats -- glad to hear there's some oxygen out there.
The ship be sinking...
I wish Lat or Elie banned the Latham whiner. No one feels bad for you guys. You got six months salary plus health benefits! No other firm has come close to that. That's a buttload of money. I'm sure you all can find jobs during those six months. It has not even been six months yet. And if you are not a spendthrift that six months salary can easily last you one year or more.
Associates paying as much as the partners makes no sense--and not because the partners earn more, but because, on average, partners' health care premiums cost more. Group plans don't look at the costs to insure the individual; they look at the costs to insure the aggregate. Partners (generally older) cost more to insure, but these costs are averaged with the costs of the (generally) younger and (generally) healthier associates. This is why junior associates pay more for a firm HMO than they would if they enrolled in the same HMO on their own in the open market--and why partners pay less.
@21 -- I think you mean Donald Rumsfeld. Cheney started the war. Rumsfeld "managed" it.
Does anyone else feel like Lando, after making a deal with Darth Vader?
The deal keeps getting worse.
Partners need to remember how it ends. Once Darth totally over reaches, Lando turns and helps Leah, Luke and Chewbaca escape, and gives up his business to join the rebellion. If Vader had kept to his original deal, he would have had Luke and Chewie and Leah would have been neutralized, Han would have been forever art on Jaba's wall, and the Falcon wouldn't have been impounded and not available for the attack on the Death Star.
Most associates, like Lando, are willing to sell out for the right price. If you underestimate that price . . . you lose. And, eventually, associates, like Lando, will say "screw you" and behave destructively toward you when they have little to gain from such action but their pride.
Ever have a senior associate that didn't make partner leave, go to a cheaper firm, and take a chunk of lower-end but profitable business with them because they promised the same working relationship for less money? That's going to be happening a lot more.
Does anyone else feel like Lando, after making a deal with Darth Vader?
The deal keeps getting worse.
Partners need to remember how it ends. Once Darth totally over reaches, Lando turns and helps Leah, Luke and Chewbaca escape, and gives up his business to join the rebellion. If Vader had kept to his original deal, he would have had Luke and Chewie and Leah would have been neutralized, Han would have been forever art on Jaba's wall, and the Falcon would have been impounded and not available for the attack on the Death Star.
Most associates, like Lando, are willing to sell out for the right price. If you underestimate that price . . . you lose. And, eventually, associates, like Lando, will say "screw you" and behave destructively toward you when they have little to gain from such action but their pride.
Ever have a senior associate that didn't make partner leave, go to a cheaper firm, and take a chunk of lower-end but profitable business with them because they promised the same working relationship for less money? That's going to be happening a lot more.
Wow, 86/87. All that work and you managed to misspell "Leia," "Chewbacca" and "Jabba."
You are not a Jedi yet.
One possible way in which to reduce your costs on healthcare is to incorporate yourself into an artificial entity, such as a professional corporation. From that point on you become known as [your name], P.C. I think some of the folks over there have tried this, and somebody ought to follow up with those folks and see if costs really have come down.
Most bar associations have health care deals, joint plans. Incorporating oneself means diddly.
May the force be with you all.
Wow. This is such horrifying news. I would rather quit than pay $100 more per month out of my $15,000/mo salary.
Good points 87, and I like the Star Wars conceit. But I feel that once Big Law firms recognize that clients are flocking to boutique/speciality firms with lower costs, it will be too late for many firms.
But... despite your good points, you double-posted, thus
EPIC FAIL
You all are idiots. Most firms self-insure. They just use health care companies to administer the health plans. Just be happy you have a high paying job and shut the fuck up.
what's this i hear about K&E's LA bankruptcy practice bolting to Jones Day?
Jones Day associate here . . . after reading this, I really wonder what all the complaining is about. My health insurance (family rate) is just shy of $800 a month, $20 co pay, and $900 deductible. Yes, that is outrageous.
Retired partner here: When I left my firm, I got an individual plan from BCBS that was better than the coverage I had at my firm. The important point is that the new plan cost 35% less. In most businesses, the cost to the firm is based on the prior year's claims, and all the women and older employees in firms use huge dollars for medical care. It makes sense for associates to pay a significant part of their coverage. The downside is that since associates are employees, they can't deduct what they pay on their tax return, unless the expenses exceed a certain percentage of income, which it never does. I now get to deduct 100% of my premuims, but they keep going up and up with the passage of each year. When I hit 65, I might be Medicare, but I'm sure Obama will make me pay a ton for it since he considers me and my kind to be the evil rich, even though we're neither evil nor rich anymore.
We associates need to do a lot of things to protect ourselves. First and foremost, we should forget "prestige" and focus on compensation for hours worked. A good firm is one that compensates well for fewer hours worked. Second, the more entrepreneurial and talented among us should start our own firms. Third, we need to unionize--perhaps in an informal sense--to overcome our collective action problem, at the heart of the unfair distribution of law-firm revenues between partners and associates.
This recession is bringing out the worst in people.
87 -- The partners at my firm look like Darth Vader too, with his mask off, of course.
Schulte did the same shit to their associates.
if kirkland is cutting costs by increasing healthcare premiums, chances are mcdermott will cut healthcare contributions all together!
pissed off, laid-off, former mwe associate.
"You wouldn't do well in K&E's entrepreneurial culture."
More douchebag comments that make me thank God I left BIGLAW.
I totally get what 87 is saying.
It WOULD be totally cool to have an associate named "Lando" working for me. There is a "Lance" here, but it is so totally not the same. 87 knows what i'm talking about.
why do you first years and associates have this right of entitlement?? grow up!
The ship called McDermott be sinking.
Jerry Jerry Jerry..,,
law firms should eliminate all health care benefits
let obama pay for it
Denny Crane used to work at Sutherland
This is a boon for some married associates. If you are a Kirkland associate who is on your spouses health care plan, you just went through a "pay cut" without actually having your pay cut at all.
This is a boon for some married associates. If you are a Kirkland associate who is on your spouse's health care plan, you just went through a "pay cut" without actually having your pay cut at all.