So what’s happening at Akin Gump these days? There has been some happy news — e.g., a thriving energy M&A practice, lawyers honored by the Washington Business Journal as top D.C. lawyers, and a perfect score on the Corporate Equality Index of the Human Rights Campaign.

And there has been some less happy news. We’ve heard there have been a number of cuts to the staff ranks in Akin’s D.C. office in the past few weeks, as well as a few attorney dismissals here and there (not couched as “layoffs”).

Through a spokesperson, the firm confirmed some trimming of staff ranks, but declined to provide numbers:

While we do not discuss specific personnel matters, we continue to review and streamline our operations to fit the current size of the firm. This has resulted in a small number of staff reductions across the firm. We are not involved in a larger effort aimed at reducing our staff or lawyer workforce.

We hear the severance was around three months, although the firm would not confirm this.

The firm did, however, respond to our inquiry about offer rates.

As we roll through the next segment of the 2010 Vault rankings, we get into some firms that have been caught testing the stealth layoff waters. To refresh your memory, here is the next list of firms:

31. Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy
32. Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker
33. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
34. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
35. Winston & Strawn
36. Allen & Overy
37. Willkie Farr & Gallagher
38. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
39. Baker Botts
40. Munger Tolles & Olson

Check out the big move by Munger. It’s up 11 spots on this year’s list. And let’s not forget about the firm’s #1 A-List ranking by Am Law earlier this year. Munger’s managed to do all of this without laying off a massive number of associates. Hopefully other Biglaw firms (and current 2Ls) will take note.

We know people have strong opinions about some of the firms on this list. Let’s get into them after the jump.

We’ve provided extensive coverage of a recent Biglaw blind item, concerning an unidentified law firm in Manhattan planning multiple rounds of layoffs for later this year. If you’re tired of this little parlor game, then stop reading here.

But if you enjoy rampant speculation, surf over to Law Shucks, which has crunched the numbers again and generated a new list of likely layoff lairs. Some of the commenters on our last thread may be gratified to see their nominees on the updated list.

At this point, the law firm mentioned in the original Washington Post article should have the decency to come forward and ‘fess up. Is it fair to let your fellow firms sit under a cloud of suspicion?

Revisiting the Candidates for Impending Layoffs [Law Shucks]

Earlier:Blind Item: Layoffs To Come At ‘A Law Firm in Manhattan’
Blind Item Follow-Up: A New York Firm That Fits The Bill?
Blind Item Follow-Up: Morgan Lewis Also Denies Layoffs

The first weekend after Easter traditionally marks the beginning of High Wedding Season, where the weekly NYT fodder switches from merely interesting to heart-stoppingly impressive. This year is no exception, as last Sunday’s pages were chock-full of prestigious lawyer couplings.

Here are the three best:

1. Dena Ringold and David Gossett

2. Ashley Potter and J. P. Bruynes

3. Tracy Zuckerman and Ryan Van Grack

Our complete analysis of these couples, after the jump.

Akin Gump is dealing with another partner defection. AmLaw Daily is reporting that a big time litigator is leaving Akin Gump for Quinn Emanuel:

Andrew Rossman, former cohead of litigation at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, kept bumping into lawyers from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges on various cases, and came away impressed every time.

So Rossman, who has lived in and around New York city for his entire life, decided to leave Akin Gump this week to take a spot in Quinn’s growing New York office.

Rossman was more impressed with the Quinn lawyers he “kept bumping into” than his colleagues he worked with every day at Akin Gump? Ouch.

Some sort of an exodus seems to be taking place at Akin. The firm lost 17% of its partners last year.

More details after the jump.

On Friday, Akin Gump announced it was unfreezing salaries for associates who were on track to make their hours. There was a lot of speculation on how many people would benefit from the pay raise, given the general slowdown in work. We’ve got some more clarification from our Akin Gump sources.

Above the Law has obtained the internal memo Akin Gump attorneys received yesterday, explaining the firm’s compensation structure for 2009. According to the memo, pay raises will be paid on a quarterly basis for attorneys on track to hit 2000 hours:

Associates and Counsel throughout the Firm who meet the targeted client hours (500 hours as of March 31, 2009; 1,000 hours as of June 30, 2009; 1,500 hours as of October 31, 2009; and 2,000 hours as of December 31, 2009) will receive a pro-rata distribution equivalent to one-quarter of the difference between an Associate/Counsel’s current salary and the salary to which the Associate/Counsel would have advanced without the freeze.

That means that an associate who isn’t on track to get a pro-rated portion of the raise this quarter can still make it up next quarter. If they do, they’ll get the both the second quarter raise and a retroactive first quarter raise. The memo explains it like this:

Payments will be based on the cumulative annual client hours as of the previous quarter, including up to 100 hours of pro bono annually. For example, an Associate with a pay class differential of $20,000 who works 500 hours in the first quarter, 400 hours in the second quarter, 700 hours in the third quarter and 400 in the fourth quarter (for a total of 2,000 hours) would receive a distribution of $5,000 on April 30th; no distribution on July 31st, two distributions of $5,000 each for a total of $10,000 on October 31st (one for the second quarter and one for the third quarter as the Associate was back on track for 2,000 hours), and one distribution of $5,000 on January 31st for a total of $20,000.

Aside from being low on hours, there are other people who will not be eligible for any raise. We check in on them after the jump.

This winter, a lot of firms announced “slurpee salary freezes.” The slurpee firms told associates that they would reevaluate their salary structure depending on market conditions. At the time, few people believed them.

But on Friday, Akin Gump did reevaluate its compensation: and it is going up! A memo went around to all associates late, Friday afternoon:

In order to give us a greater opportunity to evaluate Associate and Counsel compensation in light of the challenging economic times, the Firm deferred the decision on Associate and Counsel compensation for 2009 until the end of the first quarter. After careful consideration, I am pleased to announce a program that we believe allows us to be both prudent in these extraordinary times and responsive to our Associates and Counsel.

Of course, there are complications. More from Akin Gump after the jump.

We started hearing a lot of reports about impending layoffs at Akin Gump, earlier the week. One tipster put it succinctly:

Expect attorney and further staff layoffs this Friday.

Remember, Akin laid off 65 staffers in January. At the time, Akin indicated that there would be no attorney layoffs:

“There are no planned attorney layoffs,” said [Sheila Turner, a firm spokeswoman]. “But in these difficult times we of course expect to monitor the economy and staff the firm accordingly.”

Akin Gump did not respond to our inquires earlier this week.

Well, it is Friday. And we have been getting a lot of reports from other sources that layoffs are happening at Akin today.

Details after the jump.

Akin Gump has laid off staff and rescinded offers to summer associates, but those moves are mere details in the grand scheme of things. The American Lawyer reports that Akin Gump lost more partners than any other firm the publication tracks:

Akin lost 17 percent of its partners to competitors, small firms, in-house positions, and government jobs. Some of those defections were anticipated—fallout from strategic shifts in the firm’s practice groups and management structure. But others were a surprise.

Back in August, we reported on a rash of Akin Gump defections, but the overall numbers are still surprising.

Which offices were hardest hit? Apparently, this kind of thing does happen in Texas.

More after the jump, including an update from the Blog of the Legal Times.

A lot of pain has been dealt out to support staff at various law firms recently.

On Friday, Akin Gump slashed their support staff, laying off 65 employees. The WSJ Law Blog reported:

“There are no planned attorney layoffs,” said [Sheila Turner, a firm spokeswoman]. “But in these difficult times we of course expect to monitor the economy and staff the firm accordingly.”

Is the promise that Akin Gump won’t fire attorneys something that people can rely on? Don’t forget that Akin Gump is one of the few firms that admitted to rescinding offers to summer associates.

Meanwhile, in Indianapolis, the firm Ice Miller is making a two percent reduction in their workforce. Indiana Lawyer Daily reports:

“Over the last few months, we have been engaged in a thorough review of all aspects of our business operations in an effort to increase efficiencies and productivity to better serve our clients,” [Chief managing partner Byron Myers] said in the statement. “As a result of that review, we determined that we could consolidate some of our internal processes which resulted in much more efficient staffing requirements.”

This is the third firm in the past two months to cut support and administrative positions. Bose McKinney & Evans cut 11 support positions Jan. 9, almost 8 percent of its operational staff. It was a move that didn’t involve any attorneys but was something that law firm leaders said was necessary because of the economy.

Skadden joins the party after the jump.

A few bonus announcements trickled in over the holidays. Here’s a round-up of recent bonus announcements that have not yet been covered in these pages. If you have new news, e-mail us at tips@abovethelaw.com.

1. Sheppard Mullin (New York): Sheppard Mullin is paying above market rate for attorneys who racked up the hours this year. Baseline hours are 2000 in New York (and 2100 outside of New York, see below). Bonuses range from $20,000 to $70,000, plus discretionary bonuses of $20,000 to $50,000. Reaction at the firm, after the jump.

2. Sheppard Mullin (outside New York): Associates in California and D.C. had to rack up a few more hours than their NY brethren to qualify for bonuses, with 2,100 as their baseline. And their lockstep bonuses for additional hours are not as generous. Details after the jump.

3. Akin Gump (outside New York): We posted on the New York market/ half-Skadden bonuses for Akin New York associates, announced on New Year’s Eve. Associates outside of New York received an e-mail saying that “merit bonuses” will be given based on “productivity, quality of work and Firm citizenship.” Check out the e-mail, and news of a freeze watch there, after the jump.

4. Linklaters (all U.S. offices): This Magic Circle firm announced bonuses and salary increases for U.S. associates right before Christmas. The London-based firm is following Cravath’s lead, paying half-Skadden bonuses to all U.S. associates, with no hours requirement. The firm will have normal class-year raises. Per our tipster, “the firm had a good first half, including in NY, so a Latham-style salary freeze would have been pretty shocking.”

5. Arnold & Porter (New York): Associates outside of New York got individualized bonus memos last week. New Yorkers got their bonus announcement on Jan. 2. Per our tipster, “the scale was as expected, the half-Skadden, which is significantly less than the bonus in non-NY offices, but at least is “market,” unlike our salaries.” Our tipster says the first A&P paycheck of the year remains at 2008 levels.

Bonus memos galore, after the jump.

Akin Gump sent its bonus memo around the New York office yesterday. No real surprises. Akin is giving the “New York Market Bonus” to associates in good standing.

One bit of excitement is that “associates and counsel who performed in a truly exceptional manner in terms of both quality and productivity” may get “discretionary merit bonuses.” So if you’re an Akin NY associate who billed over 2400 hours this year, it may not have been done in vain.

The memo includes the increasingly common warning about a possible salary freeze come 2009. See the full memo, after the jump.

We warned you that you should accept your offers. We then demanded that you should accept your offers. But based on the comments, there are still some of you out there sitting on multiple offers.

Career services people have taken note, and are literally begging their students to make a decision. The latest evidence comes from Michigan:

Dear Students,

We write because we have heard from several of you that you are worried that your offers may be rescinded if an employer’s summer class is full, whether or not you have reached the 45 day period in which to respond to an offer. We have also heard that many firms are taking longer than usual to give a decision to students after callbacks.

First, there have been very few actual reports of rescinded offers at this Law School or our peer institutions. We have heard from many employers that while they are treading carefully in this economic climate, they have no intention of rescinding offers. Nonetheless, we think it prudent for you to accept an offer as soon as possible. To put it more bluntly, this is not the time to shop your offers or wait to see if a better one comes along. In addition to being in your own best interest to accept quickly, it may also assist other students who may then receive an offer that you turn down.

Obviously, some of you will not accept your offers simply to help out other students. Maybe you need actual proof that firms are rescinding offers.

We’ve got some after the jump.

“My Gump, my Gump, my lovely Akin Gump. Check it out….”

What’s going on at Akin Gump? That seems to be what many of you are wondering, based on some comments posted to a recent open thread featuring the firm:

“What is happening to Akin Gump DC? I saw that a bunch of lit partners just left.”

“I’ve heard the same thing…. Akin appears to be losing tons of partners and the DC office is rumored to be in turmoil. It does, however, have Tom Goldstein, which is sure to attract gunners who think they’ll be arguing cases in three years.”

“I read somewhere that the changes at Akin are part of some larger strategic plan. Anyone know anything about that?”

As a matter of fact, yes — Kim Eisler does. He writes, over at Washingtonian:

Over the past few months, 950-lawyer Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has lost about 45 lawyers, including two of its rainmakers, Michael Madigan and Richard Wyatt Jr. Tensions are said to be high, with partners in the New York office unhappy that the Washington lawyers are not producing their share of revenue. To increase productivity, Akin Gump pushed out 5 percent of its lawyers who, in management’s view, were not generating enough income. The firm also closed its office in Taipei, one of 12 it maintained outside of Washington, and insiders predict the money-losing Beijing office will be next to go. The China offices have been expensive failures in the eyes of New York partners, who are pressing Washington to stop the bleeding….

The firm still has several stars, including criminal-defense lawyers John Dowd and Michele Roberts, Supreme Court litigator Tom Goldstein, and lobbying-practice head Joel Jankowsky, and is counting on them to pull Akin Gump out of its tailspin.

These boldface names are familiar to the ATL readership. John Dowd is the defense lawyer of Monica Goodling (and the former boss of the Akin Gump Escort). Tom Goldstein, the celebrated SCOTUS litigator, was a judge on ATL Idol.

To read more about comings and goings at Akin Gump, check out Eisler’s complete piece, available over here.

Clock Is Ticking for Strauss’s Firm [Capital Comment / Washingtonian]

Earlier: Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 31-40 (2009)

Welcome to another post in the 2009 Vault 100 open thread series. You all seem to like having the law firms listed in groups of ten, so we’ll keep it up. Here are the thirty-something firms from the Vault 100, with prestige scores in parentheses:

31. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP (6.461)
32. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (6.327)
33. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (6.313)
34. Winston & Strawn LLP (6.275)
35. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP (6.235)
36. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (6.174)
37. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (6.173)
38. Allen & Overy LLP (6.147)
39. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft (6.131)
40. Proskauer Rose LLP (6.102)

Fried Frank and Cadwalader have been on the ATL radar of late. We broke news of staff layoffs at Fried Frank earlier this week, and news of the attorney bloodletting at Cadwalader last month. As noted in Cadwalader’s notable perks: “ouch, layoffs.” (Speaking of, in going through the Vault 100 list, we’ve discovered that Vault’s definition of “perk” is very different from ours.)

In the comments, the curious can pose questions, and the insiders can share insights. More threads to come.

Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads - 2009

Here’s some news of a rather odd move, from the WSJ Law Blog:

Bruce McLean, the head of Akin Gump, sent an e-mail to all the attorneys at the firm informing them of a “substantial reshaping and enhancement of several practices,” and a “change” in the firm’s “geographical footprint.”

That change involves “withdrawing from Taipei and Silicon Valley,” and moving the lawyers in those offices to Alston & Bird, an Atlanta-based firm. “In addition,” McClean writes, “some of our lawyers in Austin will join Greenberg and Traurig in the coming weeks … We are very pleased to report that we have secured a license to practice law in Abu Dhabi and are in the process of opening an office there to serve our clients in the Middle East.”

We agree with the WSJ’s Dan Slater: this “lawyer-swapping arrangement” is a bit… strange.

Akin to Shutter Offices in Taipei, Silicon Valley; Lawyers to Alston & Bird [WSJ Law Blog]

Yesterday we talked about how summer associates should comport themselves at their law firms — at least if they want to get offers at the end of the summer. Now we look at the flip-side: How should permanent or full-time lawyers, such as partners and associates, treat summer associates at their firms?

Here’s an email that went around the Houston office of Akin Gump. The advice is pretty sound, so we thought we’d pass it along to you (with some commentary appended).

AKIN GUMP (HOUSTON) — MEMORANDUM — SUMMER PROGRAM 2008

Summer Program 2008: Dos and Don’ts

DO:

— Coordinate lunches for the Summer Associate, especially in the beginning of the summer.

— Introduce the Summer Associate to other associates and partners.

— Help to control the Summer Associate work flow; help to find them work, if needed.

That last item may be easier said than done. See this WSJ Law Blog post (“This year, with the slowdown in transactions, some firms expect to have less to assign [to summer associates], particularly corporate work.”).

— Stay up-to-date on firm knowledge and issues so that you can honestly answer any questions. (Look at the “frequently asked questions” in the recruiting materials.)

Answer questions “honestly” — but not too honestly. When asked about how much you work, trim the actual number of your hours by about 10 percent. And put a positive spin on everything. For example, if asked about the Akin Gump Escort, cite her as an example of how the firm is committed to hiring the best support staff money can buy.

— Communicate often with the Summer Associate so that you can quickly handle any issues that may arise.

Communication, after all, is key to kindling romance with your SA. Recall that Barack Obama met Michelle Obama (née Michelle Robinson) when he was summering at Sidley.

— Sell the firm with respect to the Summer Associate’s career objectives and what our firm offers.

Sell, sell, sell — this can’t be emphasized enough. It’s like that line from Glengarry Glen Ross: “A-B-C. A-always, B-be, C-closing. Always be closing! Always be closing!”

Additional tips for the care and feeding of SAs, below the fold.

So far this year, our ATL / Lateral Link survey results have produced tables on clerkship bonuses, signing bonuses and bar expenses, and relocation benefits, as well as parental leave (kudos, by the way, to Akin Gump and Andrews Kurth for moving to 18 weeks maternity leave recently).

But for many of these charts, there’s a worrisome question lurking in the background: will you have to pay the firm back if you leave?

We received almost 400 responses to last week’s ATL / Lateral Link survey on payback policies, and the most common answer appears to be “yes, but only if you leave relatively quickly.” Most of you reported that your firms would require you to return clerkship bonuses, signing bonuses, bar stipends and expenses, and even moving expenses if you left your jobs within a year after starting. But relatively few firms imposed longer terms, and a fair number reported no payback requirement at all.

Find out which firms fall where, after the jump.

Here are a few quick updates on the associate bonus front:

1. Wilson Sonsini: On Monday night, the firm issued a long and complicated memo, which we’ve posted in all its glory after the jump. Since we haven’t taken math since high school calculus, it went a bit over our head.

General reaction to the WSGR bonus news was less than positive. From one tipster: “My friends there are pretty pissed in light of Latham’s bonuses.” From another:

“Some constituent groups (those with low hours) are happy. Other groups (people who work for a living) are less happy. All associates outside of New York are upset that New York special bonuses were paid without a minimum hours requirement.”

Under the WSGR bonus system, in certain class years, a lawyer in New York who billed 500 hours less than her counterpart outside New York could wind up with a bigger bonus.

2. Akin Gump (Washington, DC): On rather short notice — the email went out at around 1 p.m., announcing a meeting at 5 p.m. — a meeting to talk about bonuses was held on Monday in the D.C. office of Akin Gump. Here’s the bottom line:

[T]he gist was that bonuses “ranged from $1,000 to 75,000,” which basically means that if you are a first year (or any associate who started in the fall) you got $1,000, and the most senior associates who are most valued got $75,000. Associates were also told that the average was $25,000. This was not broken down by class year, hours, or any other details that may tell you whether you’ll be compensated well or terribly.

Lovely. Guess they think transparency is overrated

3. Quinn Emanuel: At Quinn Emanuel, in contrast, management is fairly transparent, and communication is relatively open (at least by Biglaw standards). How many senior partners of major law firms write open letters to ATL, as John Quinn did recently?

Anyway, two pieces of news. First, yesterday QE gave supplemental bonuses today to laterals, recalculating how they pro-rated (a subject of prior controversy). Second, they provided some information — albeit not terribly specific information — about billable hours and 2008 bonuses. Memo after the jump.

Let’s send you into the holiday weekend with some associate bonus news. Here are some law firm bonus announcements that haven’t been previously covered in these pages.

(Firms that previously announced their bonuses, but are being sneaky about the exact amounts and/or the percentage of associates getting them, will be addressed separately. This post is for completely new announcements.)

Some of this news is incomplete. If you can provide more details, please email us. Thanks.

1. Akin Gump (New York): Year-end bonuses, and special bonuses to “those associates and counsel who have performed in accordance with the Firm’s expectations regarding productivity, quality of work and Firm citizenship.” Plus “discretionary merit bonuses” to associates and counsel “who performed in a truly exceptional manner.”

One source at the firm characterizes it as follows:

Full match in NY, with extra bonuses in certain cases (generally to billers over 2400). There has never been an hours requirement, so if past practice is any indicator, anyone not being fired will get it.

Full memo, after the jump.

2. Akin Gump (outside New York): Each associate is allowed to make the case to the firm for a big bonus. A source tells us that this practice of asking associates to write up memos to justify their bonuses started a few years ago. “I wonder how this plays into the current bonus climate, or if anyone else has to do this.”

3. Hogan & Hartson (outside New York): The 2007 bonus memo appears after the jump.

4. Hogan & Hartson (New York): We’ve confirmed the fact that Hogan announced bonuses in New York. It was described to us as a market match. But we haven’t seen a memo or the fine print of the announcement, so we can’t confirm that.

Update: The bonus memo for Hogan & Hartson’s New York office appears after the jump.

5. Vinson & Elkins (New York): “V&E matched the New York market bonus (including this year’s special bonus) for its New York associates, to be paid on January 15, 2008. No memo yet, a voicemail.”

6. Sheppard Mullin: Details after the jump.