Figgiti-FIRST!

Captain FIRST!

"In this economy, if a newly-minted attorney can find a job, especially one paying over $100,000, she should be grateful."

Seems to be overstating the case a bit...

Can anyone confirm/deny rumors of a Mintz Levin disbandment?

I think there are some firms, in addition to WC and WLRK, that pay a base salary over $160,000.

Why did the Vault OCI threads stop?? You stopped at 51-60. Elie, at least finish off the top 100. And if you don't post it at 8pm, you'll get more comments. HTH.

So Lat:

Are some firms paying you off to not delve deeper into their results? I have quite a few friends from the likes of Milbank who were not only no offered in their slaughter, but it was for "performance" reasons (when their clearly was no work to evaluate).

Instead of vapid who gives a crap stories like this, how about some actual reporting on all the crappy firms that shanked their summers (and associates in general) and said it was for performance reasons when it clearly could not have been (this is much more true for summers since they had no work product to even judge by)

3 - Not really. I'd take $100K and a stable job over $160K and getting laid off a few months in (hello Latham).

what a shithead.

7 - "when their clearly was no work to evaluate"

You mean "there," not "their." I would no-offer you for a mistake like that.

None here, well maybe if you are billing over 2000 or so, and still not much $$$. Luckily Chrometa is tracking my time so I can only wish I hit my target.

NYC to 90!!!

7, I think we are all tired of the "no offer" stories. They are repetitive and boring.

Bonus? How about being grateful that you are still employed. That should be enough of a bonus for you self-entitled misanthropes.

Partner Emeritus FTW.

Associates: your "bonus" is that you get to keep your job.

I would no-offer 7 for his/her refusal to hyphenate. And for being a douche.

I suggest that Lat tell us the school the writer of this request went to. . . clearly this should be the winner of the douchiest law school contest.

7 requests "actual reporting on all the crappy firms that shanked their summers (and associates in general) and said it was for performance reasons when it clearly could not have been."

Um, isn't that every other post on ATL? Casting performance-based firings as "stealth layoffs" (when, in fact, some of these people DESERVED to get fired)?

This is clearly not an Elie post.

i understand that times are tough. but i'm probably going to end up billing around 2200 this year and i think i should get a bonus. otherwise, attys billing 1900 or 1800 or LESS would make the same as me and I don't think that is fair by any standard. i think bonuses should definitely be awarded if you are well over hours, especially if other attorneys in your group put in a lot less time.

If the economy turns more in the 3rd quarter, and we all are very fortunate, the top 5-7 firms may match last year's Cravath numbers.

20 - Your bonus could mean the difference between a colleague (maybe a lawyer, maybe a secretary) losing his or her job.

Take one for the team.

I have mixed feelings about Labor Day.  On the one hand, it allowed me to spend an extended weeekend sojourning in the Fiji Islands.  On the other hand, I had to spend that weekend abroad in order to flee from the wretched laborers and guttersnipes who would be celebrating their one additional day of lethargy and ineptitude.

As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Second prize is a set of steak knives.
Third prize is you're fired

I overheard a partner at my firm (Am Law / Vault 10) saying that there probably will not be bonuses this year.

20,

As my father said when I was a kid, "life isn't fair, get over it"

How can I get a job at Williams & Connolly or Wachtell?

This comment is addressed to post no. 20.

Your bonus would be placing you on the bottom of the list when the time comes to wield the hatchet and make some healthy cuts to remove the cancerous tumors that are draining my profits.

Having a job that pays is the bonus for 2009!!!

PE - do contract attorneys like you get bonuses? I thought you guys get paid by the hour with zero benefits (and zero sunlight).

The only bonus you get is probably free hand lotion from the temp agency. Gotta keep those fingers moist so you can keep on clicking the "relevant" button.

bonus! bonus! bonus! we in a recession and you talking bout bonuses! be happy to have a job!

My deepest regrets for the double post. The wireless coverage on my state-of-the-art BlackBerry is still spotty over the Caspian Sea (business and pleasure abroad).

The real tale of the tape will be the ratio of PPP to bonuses compared to 2008. If PPP remains similar to 2008 results--as it could well be, keeping in mind the benefit to PPP from 2009 layoffs--bonuses should likewise be similar.

Latham laid off first years, but Latham also slashed salaries for everyone else.

It just makes me want to hurl that people are getting, let alone bitching, about a bonus that is more than many, many people make in a year. The sense of entitlement has gone nowhere. The whiners have zero idea how lucky they are in life, whether they have a job or not.

Bonuses are SO 2006.

this is 20 - look, i'm sorry if people get laid off. but this is a business. my group has been very busy with plenty of hours available. if people don't pull their weight and seek out work (or can't get work b/c no one wants to work with them), too bad.

i took one for the team by working almost every weekend for four months. i expect to work hard. i also expect to be compensated accordingly (and if that means dead weight has to be shed, so be it). if i can't make hours when the hours are there for the taking, i would expect to be let go, as well.

I think the redhead is kinda hot.

20 - Fair? What bed time story are you trying to live? Fair is that you have a job at all right now.

20 / 37 - If you feel you aren't being fairly compensated, then find a job at a different firm.

(Oh wait - nobody else is hiring! And who wants to lateral now, in light of LIFO - last in, first out? The new laterals are often the first to go in layoffs.)

I would totally do the see-no-evil, hear-no-evil chick in the stock photo.

"Well, then thank the gods — or the partners (same thing) — for your job, and for a six-figure salary that most Americans will never see in their entire working lives."

But do "most Americans" have six figures of educational debt?

There will be no bonuses this year at my firm, in accordance with standard policies. On the other hand, I get to keep every cent I bill, so maybe that's the biggest bonus of all. (And before the "real estate closings" snarks come in, let me remind you that if you're a biglaw associate, I am earning more than you. Without the anxiety or crap being shoveled on by partners. Although getting the sand out of my keyboard can be a bitch!)

Any news from Proskauer about offers to 2009 summer associates?

20 / 37 is basically dead-on correct. While his use of the word "fair" is stupid and unfortunate, it is common sense that if you have some lawyers billing 2200 and others billing 1800 or fewer hours, the firm should compensate the 2200-hour attorney much more than the stragglers. This can either be done by firing the stragglers and using some of the saved funds to pay the producers, or to greatly decrease the stragglers' compensation.

Firms that have transactional groups with nothing to do, for instance, should either layoff most of the transactional attorneys or cut their salary in half.

Contract attorneys get an extra day's pay for every 500 hours they work. Suck on that, bitches!

ATL should take-on a real project...starting with some planning. How about a end of year comparsion of firms:

name, PPP, layoffs, avg salary cuts, hours to stay hired, hours for bonus.

That might begin to give some insight as to relative overheads between the firms. Done well, it might even begin to give an idea of how many hours are needed by an associate to be a profit-producing asset vs. an overhead-eating drag. Others more financially astute might suggest some better data points or analyses...

Stock photo redhead twins look a lot like Stacy Rotner from the Apprentice.

38/41 FTW.

20/37 - Dead weight still may go, it's not like anybody's out of the woods. Your productivity is hopefully an additional layer of safety for your continued employment. But as Lat stated, a sense of entitlement is a thing of the past. Even for compensation you perceive to have impliedly earned. Behavior worse than that is nothing new to business in general - talk to people in financial services - but the shock is that many law firms pretended to be above practices simply regarded as workplace hazards (or even competitive) in other tertiary sector jobs. Things may swing back, but don't hold your breath. The veneer's all gone for the time being.

I'm on track to bill somewhere from 2300-2500 this year, and I'm a bankruptcy attorney. I dodge calls from recruiters all the time. If my firm delivers a below market bonus in January, I'm gone by February. Having talked to other people in the practice group, they feel pretty much the same way.

If you get a job at Williams and Connelly, take it!?!?!?!

Are you retarded? So, 99% of the time you make more money at almost any other top firm, so you should take the Williams and Connelly offer so that 1% of the time you get paid more and because a bunch of losers on ATL think that it's the safest firm? Ridiculous.

Why is it "sooo selective"? Because the firm is a small litigation shop that doesn't do anything noteworthy other than in its small band of noteworthy practice areas. So yes, if all you want to be is a DC litigator, try and get a job there.
Otherwise, a firm like Cravath or Skadden, which is vastly superior to W&C in corporate and comparable in terms of litigation (and actually better than W&C in big money commercial litigation), is a far better bet.

I like redheads.

20 - Why would your firm give you a bonus? What are you going to do if you don't get one at all, transfer?... Good luck.

That redhead is HOT!

Hey, Solo Guy-

I got your "biggest bonus" right here.

This comment is addressed to post no. 50.

The management committee at my firm has taken preemptive steps to counter your empty threat of defection. We will give bonuses according to how we see fit. If louts like you are not pleased, leave. There are thousands of hungry and talented bankruptcy attorneys looking to lateral or take your spot. Trust me, we won't miss you. As long as the work is there, one cog can replace another.

FU Lat. Big bonuses might not be likely, but why do you have to make the argument against them? When did you become a mouthpiece for managing partners?

50- "I'm on track to bill somewhere from 2300-2500 this year, and I'm a bankruptcy attorney. I dodge calls from recruiters all the time. If my firm delivers a below market bonus in January, I'm gone by February. Having talked to other people in the practice group, they feel pretty much the same way."

So the people angry at Firm A lateral to Firm B and the people angry at Firm B lateral to Firm A.

EQUILIBRIUM REMAINS.

"but i'm probably going to end up billing around 2200 this year"

Sigh. Billed hours are meaningless at some level. It is cash in the door firms care about. Bill away, just have a care for whether clients will pay for those hours.

I remember guys who would make all kinds of noise about their hours, without every bothering to understand something called realization rates.

PE-

you are likely a fat pathetic loser eating doritos and Bon bons at your computer with world of Warcraft on in another window. Any partner worth as much as you claim has a lot more pressing matter to attend to than stalking an online blog. Partner or not- you're still a pathetic fat loser.

@45

"Firms that have transactional groups with nothing to do, for instance, should either layoff most of the transactional attorneys or cut their salary in half."

Now that's how you run a law firm - look to maximize revenue in the short term. A few years ago, there ws a lotof money to be made in securitizing pools of receivables but there wasn't much work in bankruptcy and work outs. Managing Partner 45 would havethrown bodies at the securitization and dumpedthose bankruptcy slackers. That's just good business sense.

I Bill more than you, WAAAAHHHHH!!!!

When I was on a doc review assignment with another new attorney, she would bill twice as much time as the rest of us for the same amount of work because (1) she was incompetant, (2) slow, (3) lazy and a liar. She wasn't laid off or anything, but her hours billed were trimmed when actually billed out and she was notified of the displeasure of her "hours padding"

Maybe this is you asshole?

This comment is addressed to post no. 55.

Enjoy having no bankruptcy associates come February 2010. Don't worry, you can just transfer your finance associates and it will be seamless.

- 50.

The top NY-based lockstep firms will pay bonuses this year to its remaining, non-deferred associates comparable to the Cravath scale last year. The rest of the firms will do whatever the heck they want, which likely means most associates will be screwed.

27 - if you have to ask, you're most likely not qualified to work at either.

No bonuses for 1st-year associates this year. Half of last year for most others.

20/37 When your department is slow and the corporate guys are clipping away at 2600 hours, you got paid the same bonus as they did. Now they're slow and you're working your tail off, and they'll get the same bonus you do -- possibly $0. It's a trade-off inevitable in lockstep salary/bonus firms. Sometimes, you come out better, sometimes you come out worse. Either way, you thrive and starve with your colleagues. If you don't like it, go to an eat what you kill shop.

...or a firm that pays merit-based bonuses.

-66

51 -- sorry about your ding from w&c. show me someone who chose skadden over w&c and i'll show you a LIAR. show me someone who chose cravath, and i'll show you someone who is obsessed w/ NYC and firms that hire 160 summers.

even if you "knew" you wanted to do "corporate" (as if a 3L knows what the hell the difference is), he or she would damn well try "dc litigation" if lucky enough to get a w&c offer!

Re: stock photo girl - got any nekkid pics of her? She hot.

On the 20/37 discussion, any associate at a firm that desn't give bonuses who bills an hour more than necessary keep 'em's job has made a donation the firm will surely appreciate.

Economics aren't about "fair." But when firm management creates a system rewards those who squeek by, it souldn't be upset when it's left with a firm full of associates who squeek by. The partners make the rules; the associates just play the prisoner's dilemma that is set out before them.

So the question isn't one of fairness; it's one of incentives. If partners think that the fear of getting canned is enough motivation, then they will simply cut bonuses. But if they do that, they should expect their top billers to cut back on hours next year (how much would be hard to say--top billers often have difficulty saying "no" to more work, even when they really should). Cause and effect.

This comment is addressed to post no. 62.

What makes you think there aren't thousands of bankruptcy attorneys (not transactional) willing to lateral and take over a dissatisfied cretin's job? Besides, you make it seem as if you have some specialized skill by knowing a little bit of bankruptcy. I bet in the amount of time it took you to wrap your infant brain around the absolute priority rule, I could have taught the complete bankruptcy code to a first year plebe. If you think you are worth something because you billed over 2,000 hours a year, you are not. Bill over 2,000 hours a year for 12-15 years straight and then maybe I will be moved.

Girl is pretty hot, but her suit sucks. She should unbutton the bottom button and maybe get lighter-weight fabric. And I suspect the sleeves are long.

PE: You did schtick on a suicide. Disappear.

Love the ginger.

I second 73.

Let's see PE come up with a witty response to this one.

@62

A wise man told me don't argue with fools. Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who.

What an obnoxious beeyotch! Where is the ass-pounding guy when you need him? This little first-year needs a good one.

I agree completely with 20/37. This is far and away my busiest year in 5 years as an attorney (thus for the junior associate talking about doc review, note that your comments don't apply to my situation -- this is two trials, multiple depositions, two appeals, and generally shitloads of case management and briefing). That's true for everyone in my group. My firm does not traditionally pay everyone the same bonus either -- they pay higher bonuses to people who bill more hours (and thus make more money for the partners). My firm is a V10 firm that has laid off no one. I will easily bill (and partners will realize) over 2600 this year. Of course I'll be royally pissed if some slacker billing 1800 not only keeps his job but gets the exact same take-home as me in exchange for his time spent watching TV while I stuff the firm's coffers? I think (a) there's absolutely no way that's going to happen and (b) this ATL post, which is in line with many of the partner bootlicking posts of the past year, is totally irresponsible for suggesting that this would be an appropriate result for which hard workers should be thankful.

But agreed that people billing, e.g., less than 2000 hours deserve no bonus and should just be thankful to not be fired.

how anyone who has spend any time in the working world thinks a recent law school graduate with no experience (LSAT scores don't count as experience, despite what many here seem to think) is entitled to a $180k salary, loans or not, blows my mind. It's absolutely unbelievable, in good times or bad, that anyone in their right mind could think a salary like that is reasonable.

78,

And you are saying in all your years practicing law there were never associates who billed more than you in a year, yet you got the same bonus as them?

I believe the people bitching about their busy years are all the same whiny person. The world cannot have that many douches, can it?

80, yes, of course. That is the obvious meaning of the third sentence in my post: "My firm does not traditionally pay everyone the same bonus either -- they pay higher bonuses to people who bill more hours (and thus make more money for the partners)."

Perhaps if you had better reading comprehension partners would thrust more responsibility on you.

PS, I hope you get laid off.

81,

" Of course I'll be royally pissed if some slacker billing 1800 not only keeps his job but gets the exact same take-home as me . . ."

Yes, that's the douchey part I was referring to. . . I have reading comprehension skills. I read the entire paragraph asshole.

80

Bickel and Brewer (litigation boutique in TX and NY) also pays above 160. Starting salary for first years is $175,000.

Señor Emeritus,

I thought I was the only one draining your...em...profits.

- Enrique

82, you fail again. This was your question, which you would not have asked if you had elementary reading comprehension skills:

"And you are saying in all your years practicing law there were never associates who billed more than you in a year, yet you got the same bonus as them?"

Keep changing the subject though. It's not surprising so many idiots are getting canned this year.

78 - Has it ever crossed your mind that the people only billing 1800 hours are only billing that much because that's all the work the partners are bringing in? How do you know that other associates have the chance to bill as much as you? How do you know that they're sitting at home, watching TV? I can guarantee that when I was really slow, I wasn't sitting around watching TV. I was doing a ton of nonbillable, business development and firm administrative work to try and get credit for helping the firm in other ways when there wasn't much client work to do.

You might want to tone down the attitude. Litigation is cyclical - all it takes is for one or two major cases to settle and be replaced by nothing. I should know - 3 of my cases settled last year, the partners didn't bring in anything else, and now I'm out of a job, as are a bunch of people at my former firm.

85,

wtf? You're what we call "tarded", try to cure that.

I'm glad I don't (knowingly) work for or with any of you (mid-size West Coast firm). Original questioner, and 20, etc.: Keep your job first. Then, if you are so darned good that they can't afford to have you leave, they'll find a way to keep you. But remember, from long term perspective of most firms, first 1-3 years of associates are investment years - we're making an investment in someone we hope will develop into a non-fungible asset. Yes, you're an asset now, but you are fungible, and some of the best lawyers in this country when it comes to actually practicing law, didn't go to Top 20 law schools (I did go to one, so this isn't sour grapes). So, if you want more money make yourself into a non-fungible asset. Otherwise tehre are 10-100 people out there whom your firm could hire in a heartbeat to replace you. When you're unique and have a reputation and clients you can demand more. Until then, work on your professional development and hide the greed.

P.S. Go out to any mid-sized town in America and talk to the local businessmen. 2/3 of them are as smart or smarter than you are. All of them work harder than you do. Most of them make less money than you do.

Then, go talk to the good paralegals in your firm. Are they, in terms of native intelligence, as smart as you are (the answer is often "yes")? They are where they are not where you are because they've made different life choices or didn't have the educational opportunities you had. But, you are not any better than they are.

38 - That redhead looks like she's 13. Please consider joining some kind of anti-pedophilia support group.

89, the redhead is wearing a wedding ring!

89 - It's only Pedophilia if she's prepubescent, and I'm pretty sure she has grass on the field.

That said, should the poor young lady be denied her $20k bonus, I will gladly offer it's equivalent value in erotic services.

You're welcome.

You guys are sick.

I think the redhead's totally cute, not just in a lawyer way.

2009 bonus = being paid $160k to bill fewer than 1600 hours

She works at Partner Emeritus' peer firm; it's totally gross, one time she caught him going through her locker at the office gym. He was smelling one of her dirty socks.

88 - Agree with everything you said, other than the paralegals (in my experience). Sure, some are good at organizing, but many are lazy as hell and have the job until they figure out what they really want to do with life (making closing folders and binders, calling Bowne and CSC, and printing out documents probably isn't that fulfilling), which covers up any sort of intelligence they may have.

The redhead is hot. And I want to fuck it.

The redhead has a fat face. You office nerds have some seriously low standards.

I guarantee you that the transactional lawyers earned the midlevel bankruptcy and litigation associates their bonuses in years past. And for those who bitch, moan and complain about salary freezes or low bonuses, the market will pay what it has to, and no more. If they pay you a bonus that rewards your hours, mazel tov. If they don't, it's because they have determined that they don't have to - because you can't go anywhere else, or they wouldn't care if they lost you in particular. Or they've decided that it's better to spend that money on boosting PPP or saving other people's jobs. Either way, with your charming can-do attitude, I'll know they've lost sleep disappointing you.

It's always the fattest, ugliest, most socially hopeless guys that make the comments like #97. Thank goodness there is porn for you losers.

PS (to the cute redhead in the pic): I am single, 5'11", sixth year Biglaw in lit, ranked a respectable 8.1 on hotornot and newly on the market . . . just saying.

99 = small penis. And the redhead looks underage to me. I don't suppose that one of you guys is a former big law counsel and big house ex-con now living in a motel in the Poughkeepsie area, per chance?

Entitlement (whether legit or not) and fairness are irrelevant in deciding compensation. All that matters is whether it makes business sense from the perspective of the partnership. I could see the issue being decided both ways.

The firms may decide to pay a bonus as a way of either repairing morale and reputation after all the layoffs, deferrals, and so forth. In the rare cases of firms which have not beat up its associates, they may want to just give themselves a competitive advantage.

But, I can also see them deciding that it makes more business sense to declare no bonus because there isn't much the associates can do about it.

My prediction is that something in the middle happens. There will probably be a reduced bonus.

WC's better than Skadden. Skadden's better than DP. Cravath's better than Wachtell.

I work at one of these places and I *still* think you're all D-bags.

D-Bag? That's harsh. All I wanted to do was nail the redhead hear no evil chick.

sheesh...

I second 50's remarks. I'm at K&E, billed 2200 last year, and on pace to bill 3000 hours this calendar year. I expect to be compensated for it come bonus time--in the sense that I will gladly give K&E the opportunity to replace me with another "cog" if I'm not. Hell, without bonuses, restructuring attorneys earn per hour about the same amount as plumbers and electricians. And I'm pretty sure plumbers and electricians get to sleep a handful of hours each night.

I predict bonuses will be the same as last year at the top NYC firms because overall those bonuses were like 10-15% of comp, which is worth it to retain the good people. You know firms actually need associates.

And 88--wtf are you talking about? Go to any random small town and the businessmen are just as smart as a biglaw lawyers and work harder? And paras are secret geniuses? I really don't know what to say except everything I've seen indicates the contrary.

i'm on track for 2500 hours - how in the world can i not get a bonus?

i'm on track for 2500 hours - how in the world can i not get a bonus? i believe if you meet your hours requirement, you will get something similar to last year.

perhaps 83, but have you ever seen a picture of Brewer? You'd have to pay more to work for that asshat.

Wow. The people in 88's firm are about as smart as any random plumber, pizza guy, or contractor. Worse yet, it is likely that midsize firm paralegals are smarter than his firm's lawyers.

It may be aesthetically unpleasant to state that Biglaw lawyers are, on average, smarter than your local green grocer, but aesthetics don't dictate reality.
If the lawyers in 88's firm aren't "smart" when compared to the local auto mechanic, they are a pretty dim group when compared to the members of the legal profession in general. Further yet, they would be a really fucking stupid bunch in comparison to biglaw attorneys.

83, Bickel and Brewer pays that much for the first two years, but then salary can go down dramatically. However, most people don't make it beyond two years because the environment is so miserable. Then, once you leave, you're exit options are firms run by former Bickel people. No reputable firm will touch a lateral from Bickel Brewer because the firm is that bad.

108 - Bickel looks pretty similar to Brewer. Matching Botox, matching pretension attitude, matching Aston Martins. It's pretty sick

73,

What's wrong with a schtick on a suicide?

Please leave the room if you think this will affect you.

Agree with 97 on all counts. (99, fyi, I'm happily married to a far more attractive woman than the red haired, huge-forehead chunker that you're drooling over in an anonymous blog post.)

I heard Skadden will match last year's "Double-Cravath" bonus scheme. Anyone to confirm?

Uhh 68, I can't show you my "ding" from W&C because I didn't even interview there and never even gave a thought to it... because the firm is not on my radar.
W&C isn't on the same playing field as Cravath, put quite simply. It never was, and never will be. I'm sorry you've fooled yourself into thinking any DC-based firm could hope to be. Cravath associates may be NYC obsessed, but only as much as anyone at W&C is DC-obsessed or trust me they wouldn't have went to a firm with 0 mobility. Oh, and "hiring" 160 summers simply means that everyone who had an offer scrambled to accept it, and I bet there were a ton of W&C-offered people in the bunch.

And Skadden. Skadden may not be Cravath, but still makes W&C look like a joke

88... and I'm glad I don't work with you.

Oooh so you went to a Top 20 school and think you can talk about associates as fungible and how smart less-educated people are.
Fact is, no, that paralegal is not as smart as me, nor is some idiot attorney in bumblescrew, USA.

Different educational opportunities? That's bullshit. I had 0 opportunities and made my own way, with little to no help to a top 5 law school (which face it buddy, is what really matters).

So yeah, i wanna get paid. Fuck you

Good to see that at least someone is thinking about me...

114 - again, sorry about your ding from w&c. the bull you're spewing makes you look desperate and sad. Please get over it -- i'm sure you'll do really, really well doing doc review at skadden for 5 years.

you're right -- w&c is not on the same playing field as cravath -- it's way, way above it! look at the bios of cravath vs. w&c associates. where do you think the best, most sought after students go? it's no contest.

and if you think that cravath is somehow "better" simply b/c it has a higher ppp, i really hope that as an ASSOCIATE, you share in that ppp. you don't! so who cares?

Bottom line: If you want to do litigation, w&c kills cravath. If you want to learn the intricacies of the find/replace feature for 5 years and be around people making a fair amount of money, while having a minimal chance of making that money yourself, while living in that over-taxed cess poll that is NYC, then go to cravath.

in any event, when that so-called "talent" hits their fifth year at cravath, hasn't taken a depo, argued a contested matter let alone even prepped exhibits for trial...what are you left with? some putz that goes in-house and takes their putz 250k salary and lives out a nice putz life.

i won't even talk about skadden. that's just an insane comparison.

Jobs are the new bonuses. Flat is the new up. Accept it.

Merck & Co. v. Reynolds: Cravath loses a big securities case in Third Circuit, client hires Williams & Connolly to do a cert. petition together with Cravath, Supreme Court grants cert. Whom does the client choose to argue in the Supreme Court? Cravath's Evan Chesler? No. A 36-year-old partner from Williams & Connolly. But, 114, just keep telling yourself that "W&C isn't on the same playing field as Cravath, put quite simply. It never was, and never will be." It's only my DC obsession that makes me think that being better than Cravath at handling a Supreme Court case might -- just might -- put W&C in at least the same league as Cravath.

I'm a corporate transactional attorney. My hours are heavily down on 2007 figures. 12 months since Lehman collapsed and I have billed 1850 hours. Capture it instead from Jan, 09 to Dec, 09, I will probably hit over 2100. Have no reason to believe the realization rate for me is anything lower than 100% of hours billed, subject to pre-agreed discounts or fee caps. At over $600 per hour headline rate, that's still massively profitable for my firm. I am also keeping many attorneys and staff attorneys others busy with my work.

But I have to pay for all those other corporate attorneys, who were not so fortunate in their ability to adapt to this market and I have to work to pay for the 3 months' salary handed out to the laid off.

Then there's the partners with very low billings, and huge equity expectations (hello PE).

So, I'll be lucky to get a bonus, but hardly lucky to keep my job. It's truly the partners with low billings and low medium term prospects, who are lucky to be around.