No Offers, Summer Associates

Morgan Lewis No Offer Follow Up

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Morgan Lewis & Bockius has finally come clean about its offer rates to its 2009 summer class. The numbers are not pretty. The Legal Intelligencer reports:

Now that the firm has finished informing summer associates of their status and has made a firmwide announcement Tuesday morning regarding the decisions, Morgan Lewis has provided more concrete numbers when it comes to offer rates.
Firmwide hiring partner Eric Kraeutler said there were 102 eligible 2Ls across the country in this year’s summer program. Of that group, 28, or 27.5 percent, were given offers to start as first-year associates in the fall of 2011 — a year later than would normally be the case given the deferrals of the 2009 first-year class until the fall of 2010.

Last week we reported that MLB would be “extend[ing] only a limited number of offers.” The Morgan Lewis offer rate is certainly limited, but the numbers are much lower than what we’ve seen so far from peer firms.
And remember that Morgan Lewis has already canceled its 2010 summer program. So if the firm needs any more fresh talent over the next couple of years, it will have to be successful in the lateral market. That might be hard to do if the firm slashes base pay as it moves to a “performance based” compensation model.
After the jump, let’s take a look at offer rates in specific offices.


Last week, we said that Morgan Lewis only gave one offer to its summers in Washington, D.C. There is nothing in the Intelligencer report that directly contradicts that information. However, one tipster contends that two more people received offers in addition to the one we knew about. So that would make 3 offers out of the 17 2Ls that summered at MLB in D.C.
In Philadelphia the news is slightly better:

In Philadelphia, the offer rate was slightly higher with seven of the 23 2Ls, or 30.4 percent, receiving offers. Morgan Lewis’ offer rates are lower than some of the other local firms who have given offers. Blank Rome gave offers to about 50 percent of its class. Dechert said it gave offers to more than half of its firmwide class and is holding out on deciding whether to give offers to the rest of the class until after the new year.

Those in the class of 2010 who were no offered might still have a chance to work at MLB.

Kraeutler said Tuesday that, for the students who didn’t receive offers, the firm would consider them for employment in the fall of 2011 if hiring needs improve.

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Finish law school. Sit around for a year with no permanent employment. Try to stay away from criminal activity and drugs. And if you are still destitute in the fall of 2011, hey, Morgan Lewis just might call you back!
Did the firm come up with this plan after watching Trading Places?
Morgan Lewis Gives Offers to Less Than 30 Percent of Summers [The Legal Intelligencer]
Earlier: Nationwide No Offer Watch: Offer Extended At Morgan Lewis D.C.
Morgan Lewis’s New Compensation Structure = Less Base Compensation?

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