'Tis the Season for Mystery Meetings

Earlier today, we reported on a mystery meeting taking place at K&L Gates next week. Apparently K&L is not alone. Seyfarth Shaw is also calling all of its associates together just before the holidays. Yuletide cheer is sure to follow:

Please join Steve Poor for a national videoconference with all Seyfarth associates on Monday, December 14 at 1p Pacific/3p Central/4p Eastern. Following the videoconference, your Office Managing Partner will facilitate a local discussion to address issues and questions you may have. Please make plans to attend; the total time commitment will be no more than an hour.

Seyfarth gave its associates a little more information about what will go down at the meeting. Details after the jump.


Here’s how the Seyfarth’s executive committee is explaining the meeting:

Through our individual experiences or from what we read, we all recognize that the profession of law is changing — and will continue to change — in profound and fundamental ways. The pace of change has been accelerated and compressed by economic conditions; the prospects ahead are both challenging and promising. As we approach the year’s end, we wanted to provide you with an update on our Firm’s business performance, share some insight on how our profession is moving ahead, and give you an overview of some plans for 2010.

Should Seyfarth associates be worried? Well, it kind of depends on whether or not you believe William Lancaster. You’ll remember that Lancaster, a nonequity partner at Seyfarth Shaw, is suing his own firm. We summarized Lancaster’s issues with Seyfath’s managing partner Steve Poor as follows:

Poor figures prominently in Lancaster’s complaint (PDF). Notwithstanding his name, in the complaint Poor comes across as obsessed with becoming rich (along with the other executive committee members).

Sponsored

So, if you believe Lancaster, you probably should be worried about the upcoming meeting.
But, from another perspective, what is really left for Seyfarth associates to be scared of? The firm has already gone through multiple rounds of layoffs. It has canceled its summer program. It has cut salaries, and deferred incoming associates, and deferred incoming associates again.
What’s left for them to do? Lay off more associates? Cut pay again? Cut pay, but disguise it as a “merit-based system,” as if their associates are too addled to do basic math when it comes to their own paychecks? I just can’t believe that there are Seyfarth associates who still have the capacity to be surprised by the firm.
So why worry? Enjoy your weekend. Spice your eggnog with some high-end rum. Spin a dreidel. It’ll all come out in the wash on Monday, and unless you have a lateral option you’ve just been sitting on (right next to your flying pig), there isn’t a whole lot that can be done about it.
Earlier: Lawsuit of the Day: Lancaster v. Seyfarth Shaw
Seyfarth Shaw Cancels 2010 Summer Program
Seyfarth Shaw: Salary Cuts and Deferral Extensions, Oh My
Nationwide Layoff Watch: Seyfarth Shaw Cuts 50, Cuts Salaries, Cuts Back on Summer Program

Sponsored