How you like me now?

The ship be sinking...

Hahahahaha

I'm sure they're reconsidering the offers.
[FARTS]

妈了个逼的

操他妈的

你奶奶的

I heard that the Squire Sanders summer associates were nearly as incompetent as a laid off Latham first year. Is it true that Latham lost a three-year trial because a laid-off first year missed a filing deadline?

The only thing worse than no-offering an entire class is no-offering them while looking like you don't have the balls to go through with it.

6

Even if true your implication is true, a missed deadline less than 4 months into a first year's career is not the Lathamed first year's fault.

I get the feeling that the worst of this recession is just now starting to hit the smaller markets. Firms in the midwest and southeast seemed to avoid this over the winter, but now we're hearing about them more and more. Thoughts?

Dear Squire et al:

Prepare to be no-accepted.

Ooooooh, 9 -- how does that troll bait taste?

Now hit the bricks and get a job.

Whoops, I meant #8.

Sorry -- my brain's a little Latham1stYear today (i.e. slow).

How reary reary funny you arr are. Reary funny.

Seriousry.

12, you also could have described your brain as LathamPartner slow (i.e. unable to put itself to productive use)

Latham

This is totally racist, but I definitely read the SSD response in the voice of a cold, middle aged woman

What's the deal with Latham? Did they layoff first years??

These guys have great ads on the back of telephone books.

Honestly, I think this firm easily has the worst reputation now on ATL.

You no-offered the entire class. You canceled your entire summer program. You did stealth layoffs (including first years). And you had the new firm of one of your laid off first years removed from a case based on some bogus conflict.

Nice work. Seems like a quality firm.

17, no. Latham didn't lay off any first years. There are just some people spreading malicious rumors on ATL. I suspect they're the same people as the accreditation trolls.

Don't forget about this quality SSD move:

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202429329278

Where is below above the law guy?

Two thoughts come to mind:

"Hello Cleveland. Hello Cleveland."

-- Derek Smalls

"Fuck you. We do what we want."

-- Jefferson Starship, "Stairway to Cleveland"

I heard Sidley Chicago started the summer no offers yesterday.

Stealth layoffs at DLA yesterday and today...multiple practice groups and offices affected.

19,

Not to defend Squire Sanders, but Seyfarth Shaw was the firm that got the laid off first year removed because of a conflict.

25- can provide any info regarding offices or practice groups? Thanks.

25- can you provide any info regarding offices or practice groups? Thanks.

26,

Thanks for the correction.

-19

Wow seriously. What a fucking shithole dumpster of a firm

No one should want to go to this firm....its a shame!

Another example of a regional firm that tried to become a national/international firm and fell flat on its face.

Why did they employ national/international business model and undergo rapid, unsupported expansion?
Well..., because everyone else was doing it, so it must have been a good idea!

SSD absolutely sucks. This firm just needs to disappear. They've had three or four rounds of stealth layoffs, all of which they refuse to credit to the economy. Every single laid off attorney was likely told that they were being removed for performance. All of those attorneys then have to hit the job market with a supposed "performance" dismissal hanging over their heads and in the back of their minds. And they can't seek references from SSD partners. How exactly does a candidate explain that in an interview?

The hits have just kept on coming for SSD. A year ago, they gave offers to three-quarters of the summer associate class. At that time, the offer rate was low. They've laid off staff and blamed it entirely on performance. None of those figures have been reported anywhere because they were all stealth dismissals. SSD has cut pay for all lawyers that aren't partners by 10%.

SSD has to be the worst run AmLaw 100 firm in the country. Latham looks like a benevolent grandpa compared to SSD. Even though Latham had one large round of layoffs, including first years, they gave them 6 months severance. Guess what those laid off from SSD get: probably three months or less notice telling them to look for a job.

Latham's peer firms are Skadden and Cleary, not SSD. Do not denigrate Latham's prestige by comparing it to this shitshow.

I think that Hollywood should remake the 1983 movie All The Right Moves starring Tom Cruise and Craig T. Nelson. Instead of being set among steelworkers in a dying industry and town, they should have the Tom Cruise character be the son and brother of contract attorneys who do privilege review all day.

The Cruise character could seek a scholarship to attend a trade school to become a custodial engineer to avoid the bleak life of an attorney.

Why are DLA associates in Europe doing so well?

20 - YOU LIE!!!

34

Not anymore. Do not denigrate Skadden and Cleary by comparing it to a failed west coast shithole like Latham.

I'm sorry, but the Latham partners are the idiots here. They expanded recklessly and continued hiring a lot of people even as their work was drying up.

It's unfortunate that a lot of innocent, good associates have been caught up in the Latham carnage.

Latham fell an unprecedented 10 points in the vault rankings. It'll be lucky if its the Shearman of this recession and not the Broebeck.

19

Seriously - who cares about a firm's reputation on ATL?

Do you really think anything on this website would affect someone's decision on where to work?

"Gee, the foks at ATL think SSD is terrible.....I'm turning down this offer!"

My guess is that if SSD offered ANYONE a job (for those lawyers out of work) they would JUMP at it - regardless if the firm was a TTT

Although not a peer firm, SSD's partial adoption of my hybrid tough love model is enough to bring a smile to my hardened soul. Yet, I feel SSD could have gone further by taking the opportunity to announce a salary decrease in light of the anemic economy that continues to suffer under the ineffective leadership of Commissar Obama. Peer firms may consider SSD a cesspool but SSD's management committee has shown it is capable of being bold during these dark times.

1 - Poor choice of issues to try and coopt you puke.

I believe SSD runs its year by drawing on a credit line, and thus, has debt covenants it must comply with. Some firms run off the good old fashioned equity contributed by their partners, and can possibly take a more substantial hit in business and survive. I wonder if the slash and burn policies are because they risk breaching one of their debt covenants? Remember Heller?

Agree with 41.

This canard ranks right up there with the occasional irate commenter here who likes to warn firms that cancel their OCI or do something else nefarious (like they're even paying attention) that future law students or law schools will somehow remember what happened back in 2009 and then snub the offending firms once the economy rebounds.

Not bloody likely. Especially if law schools keep churning out an overabundance of fresh meat every year.

The kind of frat douche who went to Latham over any of its peers deserved whatever he got. The comments confirm this.

Squire Sanders to V17

17,

Yes Latham laid off some first years from the class that started in Fall 2008. Most were fired towards the beginning of this calendar year, with less than 6 months of experience.

This upcoming class (the one that would start in Fall 2009 under normal conditions) of course hasn't been laid off, since they were all deferred until January 2011.

Just be happy they let you know now instead of in May like a lot of this years would've been 1st years.

The line that they will reconsider is bullshit. I'm sure they feel bad about this, but it is a business.

You all should've done OCI for 3L season. . . hell last year I did even when there was no sign of summer's being no offered. The recession signs were all over the place : housing crisis, Bear sterns and Lehman collapse, etc.

Listen life sucks sometime. Pick yourself up by the bra straps, dust your pride off, and start applying to every job possible. If you get an offer, take it.

SSD to 190!

Thanks for the reminder 47.

How about a story on how Mayer Brown is the only major Chicago firm still holding out on its summers?

45

41 here

I almost forgot about the OCI threat of retaliation! Thank you for reminding me of that - I got a good chuckle there.
Can you imagine the senior partners at ANY firm sitting around the conference table bemoaning the loss of ANY law school from thier OCI schedule?

Law schools who disinvite firms from future OCI are just, what is the old saying?: biting off thier nose to spite their face

And the layoffs just keep on coming.

#25 - DLA laid off a couple of weeks ago didn't they? Again, today and yesterday? Are you sure?

Ummm...I don't know where Ellie is getting this "reconsidering" nonsense. "Further consider", but first honor our "commitment to the 33 who accepted our offers last fall" means the same thing SSD originally told summers (No offer for now, but "offer eligible" in the future if a need arises). There has been no change in hiring plans at SSD....you just can't read (or giving the benefit of the doubt, you were dupped by the usage of different phrasing to say the same thing as before).

Mayer Brown is not the only firm holding out on summers

#55:

I said major Chicago firm. Winsttton doesn't count.

i used to think that the laid off Latham 1st years got a bad deal. but after seeing these pansies post on this board for the last 8 months, i now think that Latham got rid of them for a reason. so, in the future, if i interview a candidate that was a first year that got canned at Latham, i will assume they deserved it and will check the "no offer" box.

Latham is only a top 17 firm. How can anyone suggest it's comparable to Cleary or Skadden.

Bob?

These comments are useless. I don't care about "peer firms" or top 10. I want a job. Have any SSD summers actually heard anything yet?

57

I take it you work somewhere better than Wachtell if you're too good for laid off Latham first years.

57

Even a Lathamed first year is too good for your shitlaw firm. If you like to pretend it is YOU who rejected THEM, then good luck to you.

Mayer summer here (chicago) - just got off the phone. Bad news for me. They wouldn't tell me what the overall offer rate is. Good luck to the rest of you...

Psyche!

-62

57 is a shitlaw partner in Gary, Indiana. first year associate pay is 22K. he recruits HEAVILY from Cooley

57, you know its one guy, right?

Second year corporate/real estate transactional lawyer/Intl Law Review/Top 50 Law School/formerly with a large law firm in a Top 10 metro area here.

Seasoned professional negotiating complex deals.

Does anyone know a secret for getting calls returned from Major Wilson and Africa?

Anyone know of transactional openings at any mid-large firms along East coast?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

65, Latham Lathamed HUNDREDS of associates, it is NOT just one guy.

Good for Latham for thinning the herd- there are too many brats in this profession as it is. Stay out.

Instead of there being one crazy Latham first year, there are hunders or first years and others who are angry.

However, people who hate on laid off Lathamities and say how annoying and stupid they are consist of one crazy HR person or a remaining crazy Latham first year who is scared of the fall in his firm's reputation.

Screw you, you remaining douche bag Latham first year. We will call you out, asshole.

-laid off latham third year

All you Latham laid off first years do now is (1) make no one want to hire a laid off latham first year because the rest of us are scared it's the batshit crazy ones on this site.

We all know latham screwed you over. We wont forget. Get on with your life.

Regards,
The rest of the world.

thanks, single poster at 70, I would have never known what the entire rest of the world (including your boss in Latham HR) thinks without your insight

70 here, I do not nor would ever have chosen to work at Latham. I interviewed there. Bunch of ex frat boy douchey types. Rather work with the dorks anyday.

67 -- maybe it's not one guy, but the persistent whining on ATL isn't helping your cause.

It just makes you (and, by extension, your cohorts) sound like a grizzled weirdo typing threats from a public library computer terminal.

I can assure you that a variety of commenters are irritated by constant Latham-related thread hijacking.

This firm is the pitts. Thanks for screwing over a bunch of now-3Ls who could have worked elsewhere and had a chance at a job.

eff lathom - any squire summers heard anything?

Isn't this post about SSD? Can't all the Latham combatants go to one of the 300 posts about Latham and rehash all their old grievances?

77, was your post about Latham or SSD?

I summered at SSD and this post is the first that I have heard/seen about any hiring decisions. I've heard nothing from the firm itself so far

66, you should email Mr. Wilson (the named partner directly). That's what I did and I got a response. Good luck.

66, you should email Mr. Wilson (the named partner directly). That's what I did and I got a response. Good luck.

This is good news - it shows just how overdone the recession-response lockstep-layoffs have become.

Like the market, the idiots who manage these firms overshoot in good times, and overshoot in bad times. This particular shithole firm is telegraphing that the bottom is in - though there continue to be casualties. In two years these same jerkoffs will be offering anyone with a pulse.

You heard it here first.

79 - I also summered at SSD and can confirm the information in this article. It goes for everyone I have talked to so far.

Good luck at wherever else you end up!!

5,

靠你娘的。

Now fuck off.

I think this may be one of the worst, most repetitious paragraphs I've read on this site that wasn't a comment:

"Unfortunately, we have other reports that stealth layoffs occurred at Squire Sanders in the month of August. Squire Sanders has already gone through multiple rounds of layoffs. In August, tipsters reported additional stealth layoffs were taking place at the firm: "

The entire thing could be reduced to one sentence:

Despite multiple rounds of layoffs in the past, Squire Sanders conducted additional stealth layoffs in August.

(and then you could go on about how apparently they can't plan ahead, have poor math skills, whatever)

the ship be sunk :(

This firm is just killing young lawyers' careers.

Like 79 and 83, I summered at SSD this past summer and have heard nothing about hiring decisions. We have no idea where the tipster's information is coming from, and I personally doubt its accuracy.

Not to be an apologist for the firm, but it is worthwhile to recognize that SSD had a mere 10 SAs in Cleveland--the firm's largest office--this past summer, and among them only 4 were 2Ls. Thus even if SSD makes no offers, it might be screwing over less people than you think. I'd imagine that the firm hired so many 1Ls precisely so that it would not have to thrust an inordinate number of rising 3Ls into an uncertain job market if the economy didn't recover as quickly as many (within the firm and outside of it) expected.

Having said that, an inability / unwillingness to make 4 offers will be extremely poor form, and will be one more step on SSD's seemingly inevitable path to falling out of the ranks of the elite midwest law firms.

What firm is an "elite midwest firm". Well, maybe I should ask what firm period is an "elite firm". Not anymore!

Is B&M giving out offers/no-offers?

88, former SSD associate here. Trust me on this one - SSD has fallen out of the ranks of competing with even run of the mill midwest law firms. When I joined, its primary competition was Jones Day (for recruiting and client/competitive purposes). That day has long since passed - it officially passed when Jones Day increased salaries and SSD didn't, and the horse was officially beaten when SSD started firing people and cutting salaries. When I left, it was figuring out how to position itself for recruiting purposes against Baker Hostetler (interestingly, I was privy to many conversations in my practice group comparing SSD to the best of the best firms in quality of work... a total joke given what a debacle last year's deal closures were... SSD cannot - and never will be able to - run with the big dogs, plain and simple... they may be perfectly smart people, but the non-specialized model results in SSD attorneys getting their asses handed to them on a daily basis without them even realizing it was just their ass that was handed to them!). Either way, even THAT day has passed. Now its best shot is to maybe - MAYBE - compete with crap-ass midwest hack firms like Thompson Hine, Benesch and Hahn Loeser, and even then, SSD seems to be floundering and following TH's loser-esque lead.

If you truly summered at SSD, and if you actually get an offer to join the firm (whether as a full time associate or a second year summer "cameo"), decline and don't look back. You are better off putting yourself into the job market now and explaining that you got an offer with SSD but saw no future there than to accept then wait for the firm to rescind its offer (or worse yet, to dissolve, thereby eliminating the equity or value of that entry on your resume).

Squire Sanders is not a TTT. Try saying that with a straight face.

have any actual summer associates heard anything?