First in the ATL.

milbank is planning to announce salary cuts this week. you heard it here first people.

I am a jobless rising 3L at Michigan and I want to kill myself.

When will firms learn that honesty is the best policy? Even if you don't make a public announcement and refuse to comment to ATL, at least be honest with your employees about what is going on. This PR bullshit just makes firms look even worse.

Is there such a shortage of U.S. lawyers and law graduates that it is necessary to keep importing foreign attorneys to practice in the United States?

Recent posts estimate that foreign lawyers account for around 15% of positions in BigLaw. Is the country going to collapse if U.S. corporations don't have foreign attorneys drafting the agreements, structuring their taxes, and defending them from American citizens in court?

A&B's Atlanta office is circling the drain. Look for more GA partners to sit for the CA and NY bars and move to satellite offices.

I am a jobless rising 3L at Michigan and I want to kill myself.

You guys ready for this? wait for it... wait for it.... AlsTTTon & Turd, LLP?

Help! I am a biglaw SA, and one of the junior associates here keeps telling people that work for him not to "muncin" ("munsen") the assignment that he is giving them. I have no idea what this means other than it is not good, and I am afraid to ask the guy. I am sure to be pilloried here, but what does this word mean?

10, it is a reference to Thurman Munson, a former Yankees catcher who died in a plane crash thirty years ago.

With Friday a holiday, it's likely we will see more fireworks tomorrow, as firms seek to release the bad news when few are paying attention.

AB may be AV rated, however, it is not a peer firm. Let's be real here for a minute. Name a tax that has been repealed in the past 10 years? Do you really think the salary reduction will be temporary?

You guys ready for this? wait for it... wait for it.... AlsTTTon & Turd, LLP?

10 - Use google. dumbass.

To 10,

If you can't muster the cahones to ask him, then who cares anyways. Stick a fork in yourself...you're done!

You guys ready for this? wait for it... wait for it.... AlsTTTon & Turd, LLP?

10 - Go rent "Kingpin" with Woody Harrelson. Also, you "Munson'ed" the assignment. At least ask him how to spell that next time!

To 10,

If you can't muster the cahones to ask him, then who cares anyways. Stick a fork in yourself...you're done!

To 10,

If you can't muster the cahones to ask him, then who cares anyways. Stick a fork in yourself...you're done!

"Name a tax that has been repealed in the past 10 years?"

Estate tax, 2001? Am I remembering that wrong?

Anyone know which firm NCR is going with? Not Alston & Bird I'm sure.

Kash gave me a very poor performance review. But I'm still smiling.

To 10,

If you can't muster the cahones to ask him, then who cares anyways. Stick a fork in yourself...you're done!

To 10,

If you can't muster the cahones to ask him, then who cares anyways. Stick a fork in yourself...you're done!

Alston & Bird is filled with the phoniest people you'll ever meet. Lots of fake smiles and way over the top fake friendliness. Almost everyone there is completely full of shit.

10: It means that your offer is in the bag. You can coast the rest of the summer!

$5,000? Too bad the firm didn't have the common sense to make it $10,000 or $15,000. Now, they'll have to make further cuts in the future, either in salaries or positions.

lol @ 10.

Most significant move by a major law firm this decade:
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/07/01/orrick-gives-the-boot-to-lockstep-associate-model/

This comment is addressed to post no. 21.

I believe the tax you refer to was not completely eliminated. There were certain reductions in liability, however, our august president will soon restore and raise taxes across the board. The change you believed in will be going to Obama and his cadre to pay for his socialist agenda.

This is ridiculous. How is $5k per attorney meaningful for a 6 month period? What does that save them, a couple of million? Pointless (except to demoralize and remind associates that they are in a weak position)

what I wouldn't give to have had my salary reduced by only $5K, temporarily or not.

Alston & Bird has beer goggles firmly in place whenever it looks in the mirror and says to itself, ain't I purty?

A boatload of partners are about to be dumped by Paul Hastings (especially in NY). You heard it here first!

On top of the 14 "laid off" associates, did no one mention the dozens of other "performance firings" going on behind the scenes.

31,

Wow I hope no client takes your shoddy advice (not that you are a real partner). The estate tax was eliminated. Although because of the sunset provisions just for one year.

A $5,000 reduction in compensation for the last six months of 2009 is essentially the same as an annualized $10,000 salary cut. Their associate paychecks will be approx. $833 less per month. Assuming 850 attorneys with the $5,000 reduction per head, the Alston partnership will save $4,250,000 for 2009. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Help! I'm an SA (I know I'm lucky to have an SA). Last week I hooked with a Senior Associate after drinking too many margaritas at a firm outing...it would seem to be bad but we've continued to "hang out" and now we're in love. The other day I picked up his blackberry and there was an email in which he describes me as his "slam piece." Does this mean he plans on "slamming" me with more assignments?

Where is Roxana?!? I need her to make me feel better about myself with her incessant whining!!!

Help! I'm an SA (I know I'm lucky to have an SA). Last week I hooked with a Senior Associate after drinking too many margaritas at a firm outing...it would seem to be bad but we've continued to "hang out" and now we're in love. The other day I picked up his blackberry and there was an email in which he describes me as his "slam piece." Does this mean he plans on "slamming" me with more assignments?

To be fair to A&B, $160k for a first year is ridiculously inflated.

31/PE- Your schtick is up. Goodbye.

#28 - your numbers are wrong because you include all attorney count, rather than just associates.

10: a cinematic masterpiece called "Kingpin" should lend you an answer.

-Roy the bullmilker

#38 - your numbers are wrong because you include all attorney count, rather than just associates

I second 43.

In the meantime the "Help!" troll may have potential? Let's see how that unfolds.

This is the beginning of the end of biglaw as we know it.

http://www.orrick.com/news_events/releases.asp?action=article&articleID=8981

Need to get a thread on this ASAP.

I second 43.

In the meantime the "Help!" troll may have potential? Let's see how that unfolds.

To 42 -- first years at A&B do not get $160K. Atlanta market isn't even 160K. "To be fair to A&B"? You obviously have no idea what you're talking about; are you just pissed that you didn't get a BigLaw job and complaining about everyone who did?

What do you mean A&B doesnt pay market?

What market is this tipster talking about? Atlanta? Do they pay less than 145k?

Good catch, #48. Interesting, if not quite as groundbreaking as you make it sound. Looks like leverage will survive this recession after all.

5 - That's precisely the problem. These firms need to stop using the BS PR and work with people who know the industry and what they're doing. The firm obviously had good reason for its decision (albeit a stupid one perhaps), but a good PR strategy can bring to light the firm's positive future outlook in deciding on these temporary salary cuts.

5 - That's precisely the problem. These firms need to stop using the BS PR and work with people who know the industry and what they're doing. The firm obviously had good reason for its decision (albeit a stupid one perhaps), but a good PR strategy can bring to light the firm's positive future outlook in deciding on these temporary salary cuts.

41=fail with the exception of "slam piece."

We have a summer associate who was arrested over the weekend for stealing a car.

38--Alston has less than 850 associates (maybe 600 or 650). So the cut saves the firm somewhere in the $3 million range.

For those asking about whether A&B pays market, they do not do so at the higher associate levels. Their base salaries are much more compressed. also, A&B bonuses are crap. At 1900 hours you get 4% of your salary. So bonuses are usually less than $10,000. Even in this market with low bonuses last year (and sure to be the same for this year), that is well below market.

Also, note that the email tries to say that these cuts reflect market conditions. Exactly how many firms have cut salaries? This ignores the many firms that haven't frozen salaries and haven't cut, and those that paid half-Skadden bonuses last year.

So is this a $10,000 cut in annual salary, which will result in $5000 less pay in the second half of 2009 (i.e. pro-rated) or is it a $5000 cut in salary which is not pro-rated for 2009? In other words, is the new salary for 2010 $10,000 less or $5000 less?

Can we please stop reporting on no-name firms that noone cares about?

A&B does pay NY market in NY. Or used to.

56, I didn't steal it. I borrowed it. I got tired of listening to blue collar folks scream into their cell phones on the train.

A&B like Kilpatrick Stockton, DLA Atlanta, Bryan Cave, etc. will end up at 130k next year. McKenna Long, Ballard Spahr and a whole slew of others in the market are already below this. King and Spalding + Sutherland will likely end up there as well. With the addition of deferrals at all of these firms ranging from 4 to 12 months, less than 5% of new hires in THE ATL will even reach 100k in there first 12 months out of law school. I am sure that when we get socialized health care this will feel less burdensome though.

62 - you speak truth...great eagle say drink the whiskey.

Nos. 17, 19, 20, 24 and 25:

Geez, it's one thing to be ignorant, but to repeat your ignorance five times is to positively bask in it.

First, you're probably referring to cojones, not cahones, but maybe you're busy and don't have time to check your spelling. Second, here's what GRAMMARTIPS says about anyways:

This is going to be short and simple.
Do not say or write "anyways"--not ever. The word is "anyway."
The form "anyways" is found in some dialects in the United States, but it is not standard English, and it should never be used in any situation where you want to be considered reasonably well educated.
That's all there is to it.

Finally, please put a question mark at the end of 'anyways'. The rest of the sentence will still be incorrect, unpolished, and a bad reflection on the legal profession, but at least the punctuation will be correct.

62 is probably right about the fate of the ATL market.

38--Alston has less than 850 associates (maybe 600 or 650). So the cut saves the firm somewhere in the $3 million range.

For those asking about whether A&B pays market, they do not do so at the higher associate levels. Their base salaries are much more compressed. also, A&B bonuses are crap. At 1900 hours you get 4% of your salary. So bonuses are usually less than $10,000. Even in this market with low bonuses last year (and sure to be the same for this year), that is well below market.

Also, note that the email tries to say that these cuts reflect market conditions. Exactly how many firms have cut salaries? This ignores the many firms that haven't frozen salaries and haven't cut, and those that paid half-Skadden bonuses last year.

not saying that this is the end of the world. 120-130k is plenty of money in Atlanta.
-65

This just means that housing prices will keep dropping in Bedford Stuy.

Ohhhhh -- I am a SA at A+B. This is causing my irritable bowel syndrome to flare up again. Last time my IBS was triggered in the office, my flatulence disturbed the paralegals across the hall so much that my office was custom fitted with automatic time-mist air fresheners and a white noise machine to drown-out the sounds.

What really sucks, however, is that the associates where just now starting to invite me to lunch again - and now my IBS is triggered due to the temporary pay cut. Guess I will be back to eating alone in my office again.

I will keep everyone updated on my situation!!

Cheers

Unless A&B's NALP forms are blatantly false, they still pay $160k to patent associates regardless of office.

That entry level is stuck at that pesky "TBD", though

Ohhhhh -- I am a SA at A+B. This is causing my irritable bowel syndrome to flare up again. Last time my IBS was triggered in the office, my flatulence disturbed the paralegals across the hall so much that my office was custom fitted with automatic time-mist air fresheners and a white noise machine to drown-out the sounds.

What really sucks, however, is that the associates where just now starting to invite me to lunch again - and now my IBS is triggered due to the temporary pay cut. Guess I will be back to eating alone in my office again.

I will keep everyone updated on my situation!!

Cheers

MOAR about the grand thieving SA!!!

Ohhhhh -- I am a SA at A+B. This is causing my irritable bowel syndrome to flare up again. Last time my IBS was triggered in the office, my flatulence disturbed the paralegals across the hall so much that my office was custom fitted with automatic time-mist air fresheners and a white noise machine to drown-out the sounds.

What really sucks, however, is that the associates where just now starting to invite me to lunch again - and now my IBS is triggered due to the temporary pay cut. Guess I will be back to eating alone in my office again.

I will keep everyone updated on my situation!!

Cheers

The ship be sinking...

72-His mom reported the car missing. He hadn't spoken to his parents in a year. It was a BMW M5.

I don't know why they don't just fire a bunch of the associates. They don't do anything anyway, other than get pounded in the ass.

76--they've already fired lots of folks, stealth or otherwise. I think there is work here now (so A&B needs associates), but it is at lower rates or the firm is having a hard time collecting. So they chop salaries to make up for those lower rates.

Look for income partners and counsel to start getting the axe. Some of have been "managed out" already, but there are surely more cuts to come.

77 - do you think they will take salaries down to 130k or below next year?

To Grammar Nazi at 64:

The term you were looking for is "well-educated." Don't forget your friend, the hyphen. Insert foot in mouth. Chew.

#64 also split his/her infinitive. The poster wrote, 'is to positively bask.' It should be either 'is positively to bask' or 'is to bask positively.'

Atlanta's WorsTTT Law Firm® McKenna Long & Aldridge really lubed the slide for the Atlanta market! Kudos to the fine people at A&B for stopping short of the full McKenna cuts and reminding McKenna who will always sit at the bottom of the Atlanta pile!

4 - What kind of loser 3L at Michigan has no job...are you last in the class? Good grief.

82 is cruel...

A&B has sacrificed much to keep people on (equity partners taking a 10% cut for example) to keep people employed.

Your snark, while tepidly vitriolic at best, is misplaced.

Funny how A&B led the market on the insane ATL salary raises a year and a half ago, and now leads the large Atlanta firms in the race to the bottom. They must be so pround.

And who hath raised the ire of 84 - perhaps if attorneys chose to speak human instead of the King's english people would not think we were all such cunts.

Let's get Real: there are VERY few firms like The Bird that have the global resources, superior strength, practice diversity, and reputation for excellence and innovation that allows clients to accomplish very complex cross-border legal issues.

-Chillin in my Buckhead Condo.

In Hotlanta, we call A&B Associates the REAL Kings of ATL.

84--I bet the equity partners have taken a bigger hit than 10% (closer to 30 or 40). Yet, what is the baseline? Like most firms, those partners made a shit load of money over the last 5 years on the backs of leveraged associates (many of whom have now been fired). Don't cry too hard for them. I don't think anyone's BMW is going to get repossessed. And, not as many people have been kept on as you might think. Haven't there been like 20 departure emails in the last 2-3 weeks?

@87. Were you being sarcastic? They have talent that is par for the course among larger Atlanta shops, and we shouldn't discount those skills. But PPP is laughable compared to K&S and they've made bone headed decision after bone headed decision. They also have a large number of non-performing non-equity partners. I just wonder how long before the marketable talent leaves. Even before the recession, they lost a couple top notch groups.

@88: No one has used the term Hotlanta since the early 1990s. Please refrain from doing so.

84 --- you must be so smart. I am just honored that we visit the same site.

first of all, to be honest, as a former new yorker biglaw associate, no firm in atlanta is really a first tier firm. even the satellite offices are staffed by regional law school folks. they are good people, but not top notch (and yes, that even goes for king). alston, though, is one of the worst. everyone one of my friends that works there hate it. and i dont mean, wow this job is boring. or hey, this job sorta suck. i mean, fuck this place hate it. what drives them mad is when partners start talking about lifestyle, knowing full well that the female associates get treated like shit, more so than the men, when family time comes around. at least king doesnt try to hide their douchiness.

alston will remain, but if you have a choice, work somewhere else. except mckenna, yeah, that place sucks too!!

I am not new to this board, so I know there tends to be alot of bragging 'bout Texas. But seriously, without leaving the East Coast, lawyers can live like an I-Banker in Atlanta. I have a great 2BR Condo at 5th @ PT. The clubs are banging on the weekend, and the restaurant scene is the best in the South. I know its not New York, but heck, flights are only 2hrs and $149 from Hartsfield. In the meantime, I'm living large in the GA.

-NY Transplant who summered and now works at A&B.

A&B is full of Tier 2 and Tier 3 graduates.

If hypocrisy is your bent, and you value smiles over substance, then A&B is a Top Echelon firm! (Uh, oh. Did I just make unauthorized use of A&B's copyrighted slogan? My bad . . .)

All I know is that fellow grads from a TTT in the Atlanta A&B office are endlessly miserable, hate their lives, hate their work - if in fact they have any, and are generally bitter about the office. Sounds like a great environment to me.

How long will it be until K&S follows lead here?

97 - see 62