The big day is almost here for many young lawyers. Recent law grads nestling up in their beds have visions of Blackberries dancing in their heads.
January 2010 will bring start dates for many bound for Biglaw firms. But some firms have had second thoughts. Winston Strawn and Nixon Peabody recently informed incoming associates of more deferrals.
This has made lots of young lawyers nervous. Brian Baxter at AmLaw Daily wants to help calm your nerves, so he surveyed over 40 top firms to ask whether their little associates can count on start dates coming down the chimney. Over half responded.
We’ve noticed that Paul Hastings-bound associates have been especially vociferous in our comments section. They can stop flipping out. According to a spokesman there, the firm plans to start them “on time” in January.
Given recent news and the AmLaw survey, we’ve decided to update our start date round-up. After the jump, we’ve got a new list of start dates at firms nationwide, sorted two ways: alphabetically by firm name and chronologically by start date.
We consider this an “unofficial” round-up. Feel free to send us corrections at tips@abovethelaw.com with the subject “Nationwide Start Date Watch.” We prefer e-mail to receiving tips in the comments.
Where noted, a stipend refers to a special deferral stipend amount, not “normal” stipends, loans, salary advances, or other extras, like bar exam fees. Many of you have asked us to note the firms that are not offering stipends. We have done so when we know so, but if you have more information for us, you know our e-mail: tips@abovethelaw.com.
START DATES, ORGANIZED BY FIRM
START DATES, ORGANIZED BY DATE
Ed. note: Some firms appear on multiple dates, as they’ve offered a mix of dates and deferral options
Deferred Indefinitely
* McDermott Will & Emory – $5,000/month stipend, per a December announcement.
2009
* Covington & Burling – Any Monday after the bar exam
* Irell & Manella – Any Monday after the bar exam, November at the latest
* Munger, Tolles & Olson – Any Monday after the bar exam
* Quinn Emanuel – Any Monday after the bar exam
SEPTEMBER 2009
* Akin Gump – September 14, 2009 for some Houston associates
* Allen & Overy
* Cleary – staggered options: September 14/ October 12/ November 9, 2009 or January 11, 2010
* Davis Polk – September 14, October 19, or November 16, 2009
* Debevoise – September 21, October 12, October 26, or November 16
* Linklaters
* McGuire Woods
* Paul Weiss
* Simpson Thacher & Bartlett – September 21, October 26, and November 30, 2009
* Sonnenschein
* Wachtell – September 14 or October 12, 2009; November 2, 2009 for clerks only
* Willkie Farr – September, October, or November, 2009
OCTOBER 2009
* Baker Hostetler
* Bingham McCutchen
* Cadwalader – October 5, 2009
* Cravath – October 2009, November 2009 or January 2010
* Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle
* Dechert – “Fall 2009″
* Faegre & Benson – October 2009, for some
* Jones Day
* Kramer Levin
* Skadden Arps
NOVEMBER 2009
* Arent Fox
* Baker Botts – Houston office
* Dorsey & Whitney
* Finnegan
* Gibson Dunn
* Hogan & Hartson
* Hunton & Williams – D.C. office
* Jenner & Block
* Morrison & Foerster – “at the earliest”
* Sidley Austin
* Sullivan & Cromwell
* Vinson & Elkins
* White & Case
DECEMBER 2009
* Latham & Watkins
* O’Melveny & Myers
* Shearman & Sterling – December 2009 “at the earliest”
* Snell & Wilmer, LLP – $5,000 stipend
JANUARY 2010
* Akin Gump – $10,000 stipend
* Alston & Bird – $10,000 stipend
* Andrews Kurth LLP – $10,000 stipend
* Baker & McKenzie – no stipend
* Bingham McCutchen – $10,000 stipend
* Blank Rome
* Bryan Cave – $10,000 stipend
* Cahill Gordon
* Chadbourne & Parke
* Clifford Chance – $10,000 stipend
* Cooley Godward Kronish – $25,000 stipend, including bar stipend
* Dewey & LeBoeuf – $5,000 stipend
* DLA Piper – $10,000 stipend
* Faegre & Benson (Minneapolis) – $7,500 stipend
* Fried Frank – $10,000 stipend
* Fulbright & Jaworski
* Goodwin Procter
* Greenberg Traurig
* Holland & Knight
* Hunton & Williams
* K&L Gates
* King & Spalding
* LeClair Ryan
* Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell – no stipend
* Mayer Brown – $5,000 monthly stipend and subsidized medical benefits
* Milbank Tweed – $10,000 stipend
* Mintz Levin
* Nixon Peabody — one third of class starts. The other 2/3 are deferred indefinitely, per a December announcement.
* Orrick
* Paul Hastings – $10,000 stipend, optional health insurance coverage
* Pepper Hamilton
* Perkins Coie – $7,500 stipend
* Pillsbury
* Proskauer Rose – $10,000 stipend
* Quarles & Brady
* Ropes & Gray
* Schiff Hardin
* Schulte Roth & Zabel – $20,000 stipend
* Squire Sanders – $10,000 stipend
* Stroock
* Sutherland – $7,500 stipend
* Troutman Sanders – no stipend and no health insurance
* Venable
* Vinson & Elkins
* Weil Gotshal – $15,000 deferral stipend
* Wiley Rein
* WilmerHale – $10,000 stipend
* Wilson Sonsini – $10,000 stipend
FEBRUARY 2010
* Arent Fox – $5,000 stipend
* Buchanan Ingersoll
* Foley Lardner – $10,000 stipend
* Katten – $15,000 stipend
* Winstead
* Winston and Strawn – $15,000 stipend + health insurance
MARCH 2010
* Akin Gump – $15,000 stipend
* Dechert – $17,500 stipend
* Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge
* Goldberg Kohn – “Indefinitely deferred,” March 2010 at the earliest
* Orrick
* Proskauer Rose – $20,000 stipend
* WilmerHale – $15,000 stipend
APRIL 2010
* Kilpatrick Stockton — $17,000 stipend
June 2010
* Winston and Strawn – $15,000 stipend + health insurance, plus $3,300 monthly stipend starting in February
“FALL 2010″
* Dechert – $75,000 stipend
* Fried Frank – $70,000 stipend
* Schulte Roth & Zabel – $70,000 stipend with public interest work
* White & Case – $45,000 stipend, or a $75,000 stipend for some to pursue volunteer or community service
* WilmerHale – $75,000 stipend
SEPTEMBER 2010
* Ballard Spahr – $45,000 stipend
* Shearman & Sterling – $65,000 deferral stipend
OCTOBER 2010
* Clifford Chance – Stipend of $3,335-$5,000 per month
* Goodwin Procter – $60,000 stipend with pro bono work
* Holme, Roberts & Owen – A one time payment of $15,000; or $30,000 in installments, contingent on accepting a public interest job
* Katten
* Latham & Watkins – $75,000 stipend
* Mayer Brown – $5,000 monthly stipend
* Morgan Lewis
* Seyfarth Shaw – $2,000 monthly stipend, per a November announcement
* Sonnenschein – $5,000 stipend
* Wiley Rein – $5,000 monthly stipend
* Winston and Strawn – $15,000 stipend + health insurance, plus $3,300 monthly stipend starting in February
“WINTER 2010″
* Orrick – $60,000 “honorarium”
JANUARY 2011
* Pillsbury
* Proskauer Rose – $60,000 stipend with pro bono work
* Sonnenschein – $10,000 stipend
* Weil Gotshal – $75,000 stipend with public interest work
We got confirmation that Paul Hastings will be starting new associates in January. Baxter at AmLaw Daily got confirmation from these firms:
Incoming classes at Andrews Kurth, Bryan Cave, Cooley Godward Kronish, Davis Wright Tremaine, Dewey & LeBoeuf, DLA Piper, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, K&L Gates, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, Quarles & Brady, Ropes & Gray, Schiff Hardin, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, Venable, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are all on track to begin working at their respective firms in January, those firms told us.
Katten Muchin Rosenman is starting its incoming class on February 1, the first day of the firm’s fiscal year, while Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe newcomers are still slated to begin at their firm in January and March…
Another spokeswoman for Greenberg Traurig told us that the firm’s individual offices make their own decisions about start dates, but that most first-years would start by January.
For those firms starting new associates in January, we hope you’re excited to bring them in. For those getting ready to start, enjoy your last month of freedom. And for those lucky associates who have been slaving away for a few months already, congrats!
Earlier: Previous Start Date Coverage on ATL
Tales of the Deferred: Will Other Firms Follow Nixon Peabody? [AmLaw Daily]
First
WilmerHale started a few (two or three?) associates in their Boston office early!!
no word from my firm yet…
Kash, any word on what your bonus will be from ShaFeef?
williams & connolly?
PAUL HASTINGS SECURE!
PAUL HASTINGS SECURE!
Kirkland & Ellis started back in November.
Who cares? What I really want to know is whether Dookiepile can do an epilogue to her acclaimed murder mystery. A sort of “where are they now.”
Ok so does this mean the PHJW trolls will go away now? If I were firm management I would’ve cut the whole class just to be sure you whiney losers didn’t get through the door. How many NY incomings are there? There were at least two of them trashing the firm on this site.
If you aren’t focused on advancing the goals of the firm, then why do you want to work there?
Some Mintz Levin people got redeferred to April.
What about Locke Lord?
I think Patton Boggs started their associates on time this fall. Not 100% sure…can anybody confirm?
PH deferred here. I never got the confirming email. What is going on?
11 – Correct. What a lot of snot-nosed little shits we’re getting in this class.
Don’t know how some of these firms, Andrews Kurth, Akin Gump and Bracewell in particular, are going to start their corporate or transactional associates. From what I hear, most associates in the Texas offices of those firms have billed around 1200 hours this year.
Hope the PH deferred are all working in O’Malley’s group, as there is no corporate or RE work to speak of.
Isn’t 1200 hours close to the break even point where firms start profiting from associates?
If firms can break even and start people it’s much better than the bad publicity of redeferring at this point.
Pillsbury – not
6/7 = PH’s useless bdev trolls.
ok so (with a few exceptions) this is actually very good news…. the vast majority of deferred associates have either started already or will do so by the end of next month.
So where are all the people who said the class of 2009 was doomed? Yeah thats right, crawl back to the hole you came from, since time and facts have proven you wrong.
This blog has spent a considerable amount of time bashing Alston Bird for giving incoming associates “The Bird.” http://abovethelaw.com/2009/09/deferral_extension_season_alst.php
Now it has them starting in January. Which is it?
Didn’t Squire Sanders re-defer some? And I believe Katten re-deferred and rescinded some.
22 -
No kidding. I’d really like to talk to the people who said that deferreds should act as though they’ve been fired and do anything to find another job, even if it pays $100k less.
16, 11 here – I’m actually a deferred associate at a different firm. It shocks me that a deferred associate hoping to start would come onto ATL and bash the firm. My firm hasn’t been a bastion of information, but I am happy to say that none of my deferred colleagues came on to ATL and embarrassed the firm. You PH trolls made your entire class look bad.
what happened to all the commenters from last year who were saying the class of 2009 would never start at these firms???
or are we to believe, as the comments to the nixon peabody post said, that the deferred people should even now be looking for other employment? Idiots.
27, 16-
Welcome to the internet. I wouldn’t be so sure the PH troll(s) are actually more than one loser, or even deferred from PH.
27, 16-
Welcome to the internet. I wouldn’t be so sure the PH troll(s) are actually more than one loser, or even deferred from PH.
Boies Schiller? Or do they only announce bonuses.
29/30 – that’s a good point. I guess I’m an amateur as far is internet “trolling” is concerned. What does “trolling” actually mean?
32- I’m probably not a good person to ask. I don’t even know how to only post once on this blog
-29/30
easy 2009ers….. the fat lady has not sung yet… lets not gloat too quickly now… you can still get fired anytime…at will employment…remember!!
2009 Deferred starting in Jan
Know for a fact that Cravath has year-long pro bono deferrals with stipend and that some were forced to take it.
Know for a fact that Cravath has year-long pro bono deferrals with stipend and that some were forced to take it.
I received a letter from White & Case basically saying everything is still on for next Fall.
So I got that going for me, which is nice.
it seems pretty clear that the PH trolls are really just one or two summers who got no offered and are bitter about it. Apparently the firm was smart to no offer you in the beginning given your childish antics.
Locke will for sure start in January.
Did MWE indefinitely defer all of its incoming associates? No one is starting there in January?
his is a great and helpful list for 2009 grads (and for the rest of us looking at how our 2010 firms look). Could you post a similar list for 2010 projected starts? E.g., I should hear in a month about what date my firm gives me (or doesn’t give me…).
I agree with 42 — this is one of the more helpful/interesting posts on ATL in a while.
No communication at all from Schulte on start dates.
ATTENTION ATL EDITORS:
This list, while a good start, is neither accurate nor up to date. See, for example, Alston & Bird, Baker & McKenzie, Chadbourne & Parke, Squire Sanders, all of which have re-deferred portions of their incoming class.
37 — I got that same email; apparently you read a LOT more into it than I did….
How do you read a more into “We are looking forward to your arrival at the Firm next Fall,” other than that everything is still on for next Fall?
How do you read more into “We are looking forward to your arrival at the Firm next Fall,” other than that everything is still on for next Fall?
Didn’t Foley re-defer? Also, I thought Arent Fox told the incoming class to look elsewhere. This list needs to be cleaned up a bit.
MWE definitely has people starting in January. I think more than are deferred indefinitely, but cannot confirm that.
This list is a GREAT IDEA, but has so much misleading if not flat out wrong information we were all better off before this post.
This list is incomplete. For a list of all the startdates of V100 firms see:
http://lawfirmchaos.blogspot.com/2009/03/deferral-summary.html
Though it doesn’t seem to have been updated for Nixon yet.
44 – that’s because we’ve always had a start date.
The Paul Hastings trolls were much funnier than the typical Lathamites. The strange combination of wit, anger, pessimism and sarcasm was so superior to the Latham trolls that Seth and Greg decided to bring them all on as planned.
any word on class of 2010 start dates? how many firms have given them? (i know latham has, but thats it.) when can we expect to hear?
McDERMOTT WILL & EMERY
Just a head’s up to all deferred associates: McDermott-DC sucks goat balls.
Merry F*&king Christmas,
McDermott Insider
Steptoe brought some of the associates deferred until January 2010 in early, in October 2009, and is starting all the other Janaury 2010 deferrals as scheduled.
I wouldn’t put too much stock in the true identity of any of the anonymous PH commenters. For all we know it is the work of disgruntled former associates. A lot of those “insider tips” seem to be nothing more than bullshit right now.
i’m a deferred assoc. at PHNY and i didn’t bash the firm.
58-
Yes you did, and we know who you are.
59, If they know who bashed the firm, do they also know which ones were defending them? Will they get a bigger bonus???
McDermot only deferred some of their first years–something like 70% of them have already started or will start at the beginning of January. Several first years have been here for months.
Yes, it still sucks that some of them are deferred, but this list is misleading. Please update!
17-
I don’t know about Dallas, but Houston corporate is pretty busy. At least two of the firms you listed are really busy.
CHECK YOU PAUL HASTINGS WHINERS
21 = no-offered PHJW summer 08.
ATL: Please moderate the Lawsuit of the Day: Cerberus v. Paul Hastings (12/15) board. It has become the “Barrygate” board. Disgusting.
Oh great! Now Uncle Paul has a good excuse to load up another basket with associate heads to make room for the newbies.
KIlpatrick Stockton did not offer a stipend. They offered a two month salary advance. The advance is paid back over the first twelve months of work (had to sign a promissory note)
“KIlpatrick Stockton did not offer a stipend. They offered a two month salary advance. The advance is paid back over the first twelve months of work (had to sign a promissory note)”
===============
jesus f’in christ. starting people 3 months AFTER everyone else AND NO STIPEND????
is that some kind of sick joke?
65 why doesn’t ATL just create a seperate board for all these bitter ph asshats?
69- Why don’t they? They are ruining this board with their vile gossip.
Uncle Paul is the bestest uncle I’ve ever had.
- PH non-asshat.
37, nice Caddyshack reference.
I am 2x deferred from Winston. Should I share your optimism?
71 Uncle Paul took me on nice pony rides, bought me ice cream and then tried to fuck me in the ass.
74 – Uncle Paulie would do no such thing. He is a sweet old man.
Absent from your list:
Boies
W&C
Susman
Each started on time; no deferrals.
Once again, litigation is king.
What’s an ass-hat?
70 – Man, those PHJW trolls are pretty fucked up.
78–unrepentant PHJW troll who is trying to cover his ass.
Jan. 4th start-date. Just got orientation packet in the mail.
dear readers, and in particular mcdermott h.r. (61),
every year that i’ve been alive, and that numbers getting pretty damn high, mcdermott will and emery has sucked goat balls.
merry f*&king christmas,
mcdermott insider
81 – I’m guessing that number is about, what, 12?
Kilpatrick Stockton associates did not receive a dime of a stipend. Don’t give them credit that they don’t deserve.
Hogan is also paying a $60,000 stipend to those deferred associates who pursue an LLM or engage in public interest work.
Hogan is also paying a $60,000 stipend to those deferred associates who pursue an LLM or engage in public interest work.