Skadden To Reduce Summer Class of 2010 By Half
Skadden has decided to significantly reduce the size of its summer class for 2010. In a charming move, the firm told the media before informing law schools and prospective summer associates. Am Law Daily reports:
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is cutting the size of its 2010 summer associate class by half and adjusting its recruitment strategy by making all of its offers on a single day in late September, according to a copy of a letter the firm will send to prospective summers.
Does this give new meaning to the term “half-Skadden”? (Gavel bang: commenter.)
Skadden hired 225 summer associates this year and expects to hire a little more than 100 next year, though the precise figure will depend on offer acceptance rates, says Howard Ellin, Skadden’s recruiting partner.
Good news from the letter: the firm plans to make offers to 95 percent of its 2009 summer associates. Of course, as we previously reported, they won’t be starting at the firm until 2011.
We’ll let you know when Skadden officially releases the memo to the people who are affected by the decision.
Correction: From a Skadden spokesperson:
The letter was sent last week to career services and deans at the law schools where Skadden is interviewing. Some schools already have circulated it to their students. We absolutely did not talk to the media before notifying schools.
By way of explanation, your ATL editors were thrown off by the wording of the Am Law report, which described the letter as one that “the firm will send to prospective summers” (emphasis added).
Update: Skadden to Cut Summer Class by Half, Change Recruiting Process [Am Law Daily]
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first
This must be the official bottom.
At least they are being transparent. Bravo.
Cutting their class in half? Ouch.
Anyone who was not expecting this at firms with significant deferrals is pretty dense.
Managing partners at the V10 where I summered privately estimated months ago that the SA 2010 class would be between 25-50% the current size.
The class of 2011 is ducked
ridiculous post. why shouldn't skadden release the news publicly first rather than do so privately and wait for students to email atl to break the story. fuck atl and good for skadden. own the story!
/fucked
How you like me now?
half skadden
7, you are totally right. Skadden clearly does not owe any advance notice to people who have not even interviewed with them. Further evidence that the morons who write these stories, and most of the people who comment on them, have no CLUE what running a business is all about. And getting the info out via the media makes total sense from a strategy perspective.
And yet with this type of news, new law schools are opening across America and college graduates continue to apply in record numbers to law school. Kids, the numbers don't lie. If you insist on pursuing a worthless law degree and expect a bailout of your student loan debt, don't count on having too many supporters.
Sent from Partner Emeritus' Touch Pro 2™ Smartphone.
"Half Skadden"
LOL. Well done.
expecting PE and his mom to make a joint appearance in 3... 2... 1...
As an unborn future summer associate, I protest this attack on my fundamental right to work for Biglaw.
"We'll let you know when Skadden officially releases the memo to the people who are affected by the decision. "
To whom will they send this memo? Every 2L that is thinking of trying to land a job with Skadden? Please. ATL's stance on this post makes no sense.
I don't really get why Skadden announced this. I wager almost every firm will cut down on its 2010 summer class. There's really no reason to make a public announcement about it.
This is actually a pretty strong move for them. While I worked there in the 2000s summer classes in NY were something like 116 in 2004, 75 in 2005, 160 in 2006, 120(?) in 2007. I assume that 100 figure is firmwide, which puts the NY figure probably somewhere under 2005, but hardly at an apocalyptic level. There is plenty to hate about the place, and I'm glad I don't work there, but compared to what most other firms have done, I see little to complain about in how these guys have operated (including paying people to not work for 1yr rather than firing them).
Latham NY cut the class of 2008 summer class by half...4 months after they started as first years.
7 / 11 - That might be a better argument if anyone actually READ Am Law Daily.
Look at how many comments they have on their front page right now: 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.
Summer offer percentage, by itself, is now a meaningless stat. Must also know the start date. A 95% offer rate with start dates in 2011 just plain sucks.
When ATL reports offer rates, it would be great if it also reported the start date at the same time.
17 -- totally agree
18 -- my guess is they did it to try to get firms to coordinate the "single date giving out offers" strategy (without running amiss of antitrust laws, obviously). because otherwise this just isn't news.
16 - "according to a copy of a letter the firm will send to prospective summers....."
15 - perfect response to the whining complaing self-entitled "you owe me because i say so" generation - which represents the majority of the ATL commentors
I will be dancing at Rick's Cabaret at 4:00 p.m. Please join my son and me.
You all do realize that in recent years, summer class sizes were expanded in excess of, in some cases, 200% in the aggregate. This is a deflationary move back to early 2000s levels.
As the kneejerk moves continue amongst law firms, all so Greedy Partners can continue to keep up their astronomical PPPs and make payments on their Hamptons fuck dens, when the work returns there will be a spate of hiring again, as there always is, and it will grab unsuspecting schmucks from obscurity, turn them into spendthrifts who will marvel at their lavish lifestyles until one day in the near future, another major investment bank will fail and the cycle shall reproduce itself. I believe that the Hindi call it Moksha, the Wheel of Life.
3rd cicuit just voted down Delaware sports gambling...WTF
Did Partner Emerimom first rise to fame in the board game "Guess Who?"
I say its a wise move, even the "Skadden Offer Day." Gives them more control over the the numbers, so they won't have a 60-person Chicago summer class like they did a few years back--disaster.
3d CircuiTTT
I'm getting sick of the baby boomer generation. They've run this country into the ground. I'm going to vote for Obama's death panel so we can finally get rid of you.
OBSOLETE
Don't listen to 25. That whore doesn't know what she's talking about.
32= lame.
Happy future Latham-ite here STARTING IN 2010! Hope the printed out vault rankings can keep this years Skadden summers warm until 2011.
33, maybe, but it's a funny picture at least
32 for the win
Better than no-offering half of the summer class ala Milbank. Why isn't ATL covering the Milbank Summer Massacre?
Please find another picture for Dad Emeritus. That shit is creepy.
Recruiting told me they would be cutting the 2010 class by 40% at my firm. My friend at another firm heard 50% from her recruiting department. This is not unique to Skadden, though the transparency is.
Classes of 2011, 2012, and 2013 are all probably screwed.
BREAKING NEWS IN RACISM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4418304
Is that ungodly pressure on my sphincter...Skadden prestige? Please advise.
34
Starting Sept 10, laid off by Feb 11.
Goooooo Latham!
so, by the time the Skadden summers start, the Latham summers will have already been laid off.
40, we're all awaiting Elie's True/Slant post on the matter.
40 - that's not racism...it's just bmore son
The ship be sinking...
Refresh your browsers and note the correction from Skadden:
"The letter was sent last week to career services and deans at the law schools where Skadden is interviewing. Some schools already have circulated it to their students. We absolutely did not talk to the media before notifying schools."
40,
One word for you:
shieeeeeeeeet
@ 48 -
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/2963571735_b3388ae726_o.jpg
What's amazing is to think about how competitive getting into big law will become. I though it was hard enough, but not the bar will be raised very high. I do think there were many lazy numb skulls at large firm. Hopefully the recruitment process wil be longer so as to rid the system of the non deserving.
The Milbank Massacre must be discussed! This was a bloodbath of epic proportions!
50 - Agree.
Perhaps this will dispose of the semi-sentient morons who managed to test their way into an acceptable school and good 1L grades despite a complete lack of ability to think.
This would never happen at Paul Hastings
This is old news known around the office over a month and a half ago.
Is the biglaw bubble deflating?!
19 = Douche. So you got fired by Latham. Stop crying about it. No one fucking cares anymore.
Obama lied, jobs died.
insecure
51 --
What is there to discuss? It's over. Find a new job and move on.
They no-offered a few people who should land on their feet, while offering a lot of people who wouldn't have. It will soon be public knowledge that merit played no role.
-- No-offered Milbank SA
59 -- what are you trying to say? How did they determine who got offers? Just come out and say it!
what was the milbank bloodbath? is it really 50% if so, why isn't there a story on it?
to 56 and all the angry anti-Lathamites : Get some therapy! If it makes a laid off first year with STILL NO JOB OPTIONS feel better to vent on ATL, who cares?
Why all the venom?
Employed-and-grateful
61 -- firm claiming 15% no offers. true number is 40-50%.