Nationwide Salary Cut Watch: Firms in the Pacific Northwest Also Feel Gloomy
Above the Law has received reports that Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt will be cutting associate salaries and laying off staff. Never heard of Schwabe Williamson? Well then you need to Lewis & Clark your way out to the Pacific Northwest more often.
Schwabe Williamson is the second largest firm in Portland, OR. According to NALP, the firm has 170 attorneys across six offices (3 in Oregon, 2 in Washington, and an office in Washington, D.C.).
First year associates start at $110,000 at Schwabe. This fact already bothers junior attorneys there, and our tipsters report grounds for increased dissatisfaction among the rank and file:
SWW will be announcing pay cuts for its associate attorneys in the range of 5% - 10% on June 15th.
At least the associates should still have jobs. The news for the staff is much worse. We understand that a number of staffers are going to be let go, but we don’t have official numbers.
Staffers that we spoke with felt that there were other cuts the firm could have made before the firm started firing people.
More details and an official statement from the firm after the jump.
Staffers — some of whom were caught in this round of layoffs — feel that the firm’s budgetary decisions are not adding up:
SWW is attributing these pay cuts and lay-offs to the difficult financial times wrought by this economy, even though they have just hired a half dozen summer associates and will undoubtedly wine and dine them on the firm’s dime for the next 8-10 weeks in an attempt to impress the summers about what a fabulous firm SWW is.
Staffers also contend that they suggested scaling back the firm’s Holiday party this year, in an effort to save money:
These cuts in pay and in jobs come on the heels of a staff member’s proposal that the firm scale back on social events (such as the lavish attorney/client Christmas party rumored to have cost $60,000 and the annual summer event that the firm hosts for all employees), but the proposal was rejected outright by the firm’s financial heads, insisting that these events are beneficial for the employees in order to promote a sense of friendliness and comraderie. (Personally, I think SWW employees would have felt a greater sense of comraderie if they had been allowed to keep their jobs, health insurance, full salaries, etc., in lieu of a few badly catered events.)
But a Schwabe spokesperson furnished Above the Law with the following statement, contending that this year’s Holiday party was an economically conscious affair:
Your information about our holiday party is incorrect. At no time is it more important than now to embrace and deepen relationships with our clients, whether at a party or one-on-one. On that basis, we elected to proceed with a downscaled version of the party.
With regards to the layoffs and salary cuts, the firm had this to say:
Today, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt has chosen to implement some strategic initiatives that are designed to enhance the value of our service to and relationships with clients, as well as our competitiveness in the legal marketplace. Consistent with the principles that have long guided the decision-making processes in the firm, no class of individuals was untouched. Some of these initiatives involve restructuring of some positions, elimination of others, and certain budgetary adjustments.
As we’ve mentioned before, regional firms are no longer safe from the Great Recession. It’s bad all over. It’s time to go into hyper-sleep and wake up in 2012.
Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Bass Berry Lays Off 32 Employees
Staying Competitive During an Economic Downturn
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Figgiti FIRST!
Captain FIRST!
It's called deflation. And it's here. And Obama can't stop it. Actually, it's a good thing ... if you're ambitious, a saver, and a planner. If, on the other hand, you're a sheeple, a spendthrift and a "free spirit", you're screwed.
3rd = SLS
3rd = SLS
The momentum keeps on going. Another non-peer firm that has embraced my "hybrid tough love" package. In my experience, associates relate well to fear. They fear rejection, they fear loneliness, they fear loss of employment but most of all, they fear failure. Firing associates exacerbates fear in the remaining rank and file. It reminds the remaining associates of their own employment mortality. While this fear runs rampant in their hearts is the appropriate time to announce salary cuts. They will swallow the cuts because being employed while earning less means less failure than being unemployed. The day when a peer firm adopts my "hybrid tough love" package will be the day I ride the silver wave.
PE, shut up and get a life you eunuch.
PE, shut up and get a life you eunuch.
6 nailed PE!
*watches*
I hear Stoel Rives in Portland is conducting stealth layoffs.
SWW pushed its incoming first-years back to March 2010 as well. Sucks.
The Pacific Northwest is really hurting, but just no one lets on (or, more accurately, no one in the rest of the country cares).
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my salary in seattle is still worth than a lot more than it would be in new york. i have my own 45 sq ft latte and a closet full of flannel.
11,
Any truth to the rumor that AboveTheLaw has teamed up with Law Shucks?
Yawn. Since we are talking about staff, not attorney, layoffs, with no mention of severance,
I think I'll just roll over and hit the snooze button.
Wake me when something important happens.
its not that you start at 110, its that you're at 130 when you make partner. I had it on good authority, as of 5 years ago, many partners at stoel were in the 150 range
I was thinking that there is no reason to know or care about this firm, but there's at least some comedic value: it has a partner named Mark LeCoq. http://www.schwabe.com/showattorney.aspx?Name=Mark-LeCoq&Show=9396
Maybe he and the Glasscock should hang out a shingle.
and 110 in Portland is a damn good starting salary
The ship be sinking...
Those laid off out there should be thankful for the excuse to get the hell out of there. Who in their right mind would want to live in the Pacific Northwest?
More ghetto than the time I beat grandma like she owed me money
Lawyers should clearly start leaving this firm. I propose that four of you leave to form the firm of Bush, Reimers, Tongue & LeCoq (or some combination thereof).
Hey ATL - Since we're on non-major (minor?) markets, Phoenix-based Snell & Wilmer announced 10% across the board cuts this morning...
Schwabe is the best damn law firm from Timbuktu to Portland, ME; Portland, OR for that matter.
Would this blog have anything to report if there were no layoffs?
The top-down stress test of associate salaries being conducted by my pay czar is almost complete and the preliminary report is that associates should expect additional pay cuts of about 25%. But I encourage you to try to look at the bright side - once my universal healthcare plan is enacted you'll be glad you didn't go to medical school.
I'm Barack Obama?
any word on perkins layoffs?
SkaddenDC just announced 10 percent pay cuts all across the board.
Hey 22,
I heard the same thing. But haven't most regional/nat'l firm offices in Phx already cut first yr salaries? That's what I'm hearing.
Cuts in secondary & tertiary markets seem to have been ongoing so the NW is no exception. Not that anyone here cares, just don't think you prestige whores can come back home and find work. Stay in your rat infested closets where you belong.
I heard Thelen was cutting salaries.
Perkins Coie had one round of published layoffs in March (attorneys and staff), which mainly hit their Chicago office. In that office, 1st-3rd year associates were fired. While the total number of people fired was low, it was still a good chunk of the younger attorneys in the Chicago office.
I live and work in Portland. Schwabe overhired for years and does not have enough work. Neither do the other "large" firms in Portland.
As to the person who said "why would you live in the Pacific NW", are you kidding. You must be a retard. Have you ever seen how beautiful it is, and we don't have to deal with corporate douchbags from NY and LA. I love being an tax LLM in a small market. It means I am building my client base as an associate and will be making plenty to own a home, vacation home, and 10-20 acre parcel to hike/fish/hunt. You are right, I want to trade that for 200 sq ft in NYC with a bunch of dirty ass people.
15, You did not have that on good authority. That said, 150 buys you a small neighborhood in Portland.
NYC to dirtier ass people!
The story lacks depth - as a graduate of a Northwest law school and longtime employee of a large Northwest firm, here's the full scoop:
- Schwabe is taking a 10% pay cut across the board, and this includes equity shareholders (otherwise known as partners).
- The pay cut for associates is essentially meaningless, because the firm upped the pay by about 15% not less than 16 months ago. Why? Because all the larger firms in the Portland market, in the midst of the end of the go-go economy, were competing for the best and brightest new grads...and Stoel threw the hammer down with a $120ish starting salary...the other 5-10 bigger firms all felt compelled to break the $100K mark, and some went far above (including Schwabe, Perkins, Miller Nash, etc, etc, etc.). These numbers were unsustainable even in a good economy - Portland doesn't charge high enough fees for these types of starting salaries (and even $100K in Portland is about $300K in NYC when you compare cost of housing, driving, food, etc).
- Law firms are LAW firms, not staff-firms. Staffers sad to go need to understand they bring in zero dollars for the firm. Keeping an attorney keeps a flow of income; keeping a staffer retains a high monthly expense (salary/benefits/office space/etc).
34 -- I stopped reading your post when you said that a 15% paycut was meaningless.
So what's the word at Stoel?
There were Portland layoffs at Stoel, Perkins and Davis Wright. I heard Davis Wright also cut pay and is considering revamping their compensation structure. Anybody know whether Miller Nash has joined the party yet?
19, you got it exactly right!!!
31, you are retarded and clearly have never experienced the real world. I lived in the PNW for several years and moved to NY and it was the best decision I ever made in life. Beautiful does not make up for major dysfunction. Sorry.
Portland is overrated and, contrary to what people are trying to say about being cheap, it is not. Real estate there is very expensive and food costs the same and even more in larger, more diverse, cities (I know for a fact). So people who want to say it's so awesome are just trying to make themselves feel good. But it is really gosh-darned beautiful (as in nature that none of the people had anything to do with creating) out there.
Portland is overrated and, contrary to what people are trying to say about being cheap, it is not. Real estate there is very expensive and food costs the same and even more than in larger, more diverse, cities (I know for a fact). So people who want to say it's so awesome are just trying to make themselves feel good. But it is really gosh-darned beautiful (as in nature that none of the people had anything to do with creating) out there.
Portland is overrated and, contrary to what people are trying to say about being cheap, it is not. Real estate there is very expensive and food costs the same and even more than in larger, more diverse, cities (I know for a fact). So people who want to say it's so awesome are just trying to make themselves feel good. But it is really gosh-darned beautiful (as in nature that none of the people had anything to do with creating) out there.
40-42 -- more expensive than which larger, more diverse cities? Because it is certainly cheaper than SF or LA.
but in what aspects? yeah, real estate is cheaper, but it is not cheaper to eat or shop at Target or just do daily living there. and to the extent that going to the movies and other things like that are more expensive in SF, LA, or NY, they are not THAT much more expensive. Point is that whoever is suggesting that $110 or $150 makes it so that you can live like a king in Portland is just wrong. Or, they are right if you want to commute to work and live in a suburb (ick).
34, I hate to break it to you and all other similarly situated smug associates out there, but staffers DO help bring in revenue, because we are the ones who do the REAL WORK, including all the research on civil procedure rules, etc. My supervisors at Schwabe did not even know the basics of civil procedure and it was up to me to figure it out and lead them to the light, keep us from missing deadlines, etc. Lawyers aren't the money-making machines you make them out to be if they are fighting their ass off in one malpractice suit after another. You'd better make sure to give YOUR staff a lot more appreciation the next time Staff Appreciation Day comes around, because I'm sure they have saved your smug ass from the malpractice carrier a time or two...
34, I hate to break it to you and all other similarly situated smug associates out there, but staffers DO help bring in revenue, because we are the ones who do the REAL WORK, including all the research on civil procedure rules, etc. My supervisors at Schwabe did not even know the basics of civil procedure and it was up to me to figure it out and lead them to the light, keep us from missing deadlines, etc. Lawyers aren't the money-making machines you make them out to be if they are fighting their ass off in one malpractice suit after another. You'd better make sure to give YOUR staff a lot more appreciation the next time Staff Appreciation Day comes around, because I'm sure they have saved your smug ass from the malpractice carrier a time or two...
34, I hate to break it to you and all other similarly situated smug associates out there, but staffers DO help bring in revenue, because we are the ones who do the REAL WORK, including all the research on civil procedure rules, etc. My supervisors at Schwabe did not even know the basics of civil procedure and it was up to me to figure it out and lead them to the light, keep us from missing deadlines, etc. Lawyers aren't the money-making machines you make them out to be if they are fighting their ass off in one malpractice suit after another. You'd better make sure to give YOUR staff a lot more appreciation the next time Staff Appreciation Day comes around, because I'm sure they have saved your smug ass from the malpractice carrier a time or two...
i lived in the pnw for years and here's my take on cost of living:
housing: cheaper than new york, obviously, but expect to pay much more than you expect, especially if you believe the "median" figures are representative of the kind of place you will actually want to live. i mean, you could include jersey city and staten island in the nyc numbers. but no one ever does. it's always like, i pay 2495 for a rat-infested studio in [latest hipster neighborhood].
domestic help: More expensive outside the big cities
student loans: the same - duh
cars/food/ - a wash
insurance - a bit less, but we are getting micro level now.
My take is that anything more than a 35K paycut is going to feel like a big financial haircut.
Of course, if you've been working over 235 hours per month, you'll feel like you traded in a full-time job for a part-time one.
34, you are an idiot or a first-year associate -- I guess they're not mutually exclusive. Would you have the firm lay off the IT department because they don't "bring in any revenue"? Sure, if you don't want anything to get done. The staffer that wrote in and smacked you down is exactly right. Most attorneys are fairly self-sufficient but still need secretaries. Other attorneys need their secretaries to help them find their asses with both hands.
Cuttin' back on the christmas party? Must mean fewer ice sculptures. What about partner junkets to
ABA holiday spots? Big law firms suck.