I really didn’t think any firm would lay people off last week. I figured the coming turkey holocaust would spare the jobs of any associates Biglaw wanted to devour. I was wrong. A tipster reports:
There was another round of layoffs at Faegre & Benson last week. The partners decided to send six to ten associates off with little to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, unless you consider two or three months severance something to get excited about. Corporate, IP and Real Estate associates were laid off.
As if winter in Minnesota isn’t bad enough already, now these six to ten associates have to put chains on their tires and go hunting for jobs.
Still, this brings up the age old (since 2007) question: is it better to get fired right before the holidays or right after the holidays?
Pros and cons after the jump.
It seems to me that one would rather get laid off after the holiday season. Holidays are a time for friends and family and good cheer, and it’s pretty hard to enjoy all those things as you are trying to mentally process being kicked out onto the street. People should be able to enjoy the festive season without feeling like they’ve just been rejected by their employer.
On the other hand, there is a powerful economic argument in favor of getting laid off before you commit to (potentially massive) amounts of holiday spending. It’d be pretty embarrassing to buy your lady a conflict diamond only to have to ask for it back so you can make February rent after a January layoff.
As far as friends and family goes, some people would rather get laid off before the holiday season so they can spend time with all of their relations without worrying about keeping up at work. Imagine how much more fun you would have had this weekend if you hadn’t been dreading the pile of crap that was waiting for you when you got into work today. I was so terrified about the hundreds of emails piling up in the ATL inbox this morning that I literally lost sleep over it on Saturday night (thank God for Ambien).
What do ATL readers think about the issue? Take our poll below:
Of course, we don’t know if management at Faegre & Benson considered any of this before they decided to drop the ax on a number of associates last week. The firm did not respond to our request for comment. But associates at the firm are worried that Faegre might decide to let even more people go. One tipster put it this way:
The rest of us (associates) are unclear what is going on at Faegre. We are the only firm in our markets that continues to layoff associates. Needless to say, a lot of us will be jumping ship at the first opportunity.
The “first opportunity” will undoubtedly be at some point long after the holiday season.
Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Faegre & Benson (67 Staff)
Misleading title – “gobbled up” sounds like they hired additional associated, not fired people. Have some standards!
Ichiban?
3 months severance is 3x the severance of Shulte Zabels.
Of course more months of pay is better than fewer months of pay, so getting laid off after the holidays is better than before.
“On the other hand, there is a powerful economic argument in favor of getting laid off before you commit to (potentially massive) amounts of holiday spending. It’d be pretty embarrassing to buy your lady a conflict diamond only to have to ask for it back so you can make February rent after a January layoff.”
This might be the worst argument ever. If you’re earning a biglaw salary and your spending is so out of control that a layoff would prevent you from making next month’s rent, your financial planning has gone seriously wrong. If you’re a year out, you should have at least three months of expenses in an easily accessible account. If you’re two years out, you should have at least six months expenses in an easily accessible account. Beyond that, eight months to a year is a good goal. Even if you don’t want to plan for quite that dire an emergency, you deserve whatever happens to you if you’re making six figures and living paycheck to paycheck. The aforementioned emergency fund is a higher priority than paying more than the minimums on debt or any luxury spending (except perhaps paying off credit cards).
Dorsey is also letting people go, but Elie is slow with getting the news. I heard about Faegre a few weeks ago, and I live on one of the coasts.
We need to bomb Minnesota back to the stoneage!
-DOJ Secure
weren’t these cigarettes in the 70’s?
The weakness in IP this recession has been pronounced and not at all what I would have expected.
Before the Holidays or after the Holidays; it makes little difference to me, as I am always available to give associates their severance.
Faegre? Dorsey?
If the definition of “Biglaw” includes these TTTs, then there is no such thing as smalllaw. It’s all Biglaw.
Congrats to every “Law Offices of _____, Esq.” You’re now Biglaw!
Mission Accomplished!
Eli & Mystal gobbled up some white babies.
Better to get laid off in this time period rather than the spring/summer. Law firms go through high turnover in January/February. That’s the time to be looking for a new job, even if laid-off. The summer is DEAD, especially in a down economy. If you had to choose when to get laid off, the “holidays” is the best time.
Dorsey is not letting people go.
I lied, jobs died. But only 10 layoffs means that hundreds of jobs at Faegre & Benson were saved by my administration’s economic policies. I must remember to remind Rahm to update the web site.
I’m Barack Obama?
Deh dook ARE JOBS!
DAY TURK IZ DAWG!!!!!
I am afraid that Affirmative Walrus got the better of The Most Interesting Eskimo. He has been suspiciously absent….
Any layoff news out of Boston yet?
20, you thinking any firms in particular?
Okay, I thought Faegre & Benson was one of the tobacco brands. Look, enough is enough. I have a simple suggestion. Create two ATL sites. One for the big boys and another – Junior ATL – for small firms in small cities. Hate to sound like a snob, but I don’t come to this site for stories about some firm I’ve never heard of. The new site could be called Below the Law or Below Above the Law.
More details please. Any idea on the class years of those laid off? Were these all in Minneapolis?
22, I love the schtick, it doesn’t get old. But if you AREN’T joking… I mean, come off it. You LOVE sounding like a snob. You get off on it. It’s why you’re a fucking lawyer.
IP is slow.
21, I’m mainly curious if Ropes & Gray is going to start swinging axes as a repercussion of the Galleon mess. I know Goodwin pulled the trigger earlier this month.
-20
22, if you don’t come to this site to read about “small” firms in “small” cities, I suggest you don’t click on the link to read the story, and don’t waste your precious AmLaw100 time posting a comment. You’re a snob and a schmuck to boot.
Elie loves to complain about incivility, racist comments, and gimmick commenters on this blog, but he never does anything about them.
After – Let’s not forget about the potential embarrassing response to the “how’s work” question from relatives and friends. Much better to be able to respond with “slow” than “non-existent.”
Yeah what’s this shit about Benson and Hedges? ATL needs to stick to articles about law firms
Faegre also named eight new partners today. They’ve got to be doing some standard reevaluation of personnel. Last winter, staff layoffs followed attorney layoffs by about a week, so we’ll see what happens this go around.
Age old question about whether it is better to get laid off before or after the holidays? That is not an age old question. Do the math, stupid. You get laid off in February instead of November 1st. That’s three months more pay. The only possible way it could be better to be laid off November 1 is if you spend more than 3 months salary on Christmas presents.
Let’s face it: Faegre & Benson is in serious trouble. Associate lay-offs last week, staff lay-offs to come, the Frankfurt office to be closed down later this year, what’s next? Filing for bancruptcy?
I hope to see many more layoffs between now and Christmas. I love the smell of layoffs in the evening.
Minnesota rocks!
Are the affected associates still listed on the website? Trying to figure out for myself if a law school buddy is “safe.”
This company enjoyed a lot of success in the ’80s when Brut cologne was all the rage. I was unaware that they had merged with a tobacco company.
Elie, Minnesotans don’t use snow tires unless the dirt road to the cabin on the lake hasn’t been plowed. Snow tires in the city is a NYC phenomenon, and it’s ridiculous.
15- you’re an idiot. Dorsey is letting people go. It’s just doing stealth layoffs. Dorsey and Faegre are one and the same; they are both TTTs.
I figure the AFLAC duck could easily glide across the Minneapolis snow
Elie – Your casual use of the term “holocaust” is an insult to Holocaust victims and their families.
rumor has it they also re-defered incoming associates
40–you must be a Faegre apologist. There are no Dorsey layoffs–I know. Sorry but you are the idiot.
22-
Faegre is in the AmLaw 100. So is Dorsey.
40 – you are an idiot. These Faegre layoffs were stealth. That’s why they won’t comment on them.
/s/ mpls attorney but not at Dorsey
i just got an offer from faegre – i love the feeling that someone has to be laid of to make room for me . . . wheeeee!!
@47 – that’s exactly what happened. Not your fault, but don’t expect to spend more than 14 months at F&B.
Who cares. Better to put chains on the truck and go hunting for food so they can feed their families. Make an igloo that can’t be foreclosed. Fact is, no one cares about these people. Don’t care how they get by, or if they do at all. Cut them loose. Then call them losers.
49- Well said. After the lawyers are dismissed, they should be shot in the street like dogs. They are no better than animals.
What’s a Faegre lawyer? It sounds like that twisted old fruit who tried to check our entire entourage into one room with a single king leisure bed at that Memphis hotel.
37- it doesn’t look like there have been any updates. Last spring they gave laid-off staff attorneys and associates a couple of months to find alternate employment and just said they had to be out by a certain date. Maybe they’ve done something similar this time. Hopefully.
When Faegre laid off associates and staff earlier this year the firm provided a statement to ATL confirming the nature and extent of the layoffs. I understand that Faegre provided ATL with a statement in response to this report, but that ATL will not post the statement..
what is the best firm in Minneapolis that hasn’t cut associates?
54, I’m pretty sure that the words “best firm” and “Minneapolis” should never appear in the same sentence.
55 = clever
Rumour says these layoffs were “performance-based,” whatever that means. Two I know of are still on the website – both UMN grads, one from 2006, one from 2008.