We’ve been doing a lot of coverage on Dorsey & Whitney. The firm canceled its 2010 summer program and only had a 56% offer rate to its 2009 summers.

But we don’t want to forget about another Minneapolis powerhouse firm, Faegre & Benson. Earlier this month, we learned that the firm had decided to cut the starting salaries for its new associates. Faegre & Benson has confirmed to Above the Law that the new starting salary for its Minneapolis associates will be $110,000. That’s down a little less than ten percent from the firm’s previous starting salary of $120K.

One upper Midwestern tipster had hoped Faegre was taking advantage of the troubles at Dorsey & Whitney to surge past them in the Minneapolis market:

Faegre is the largest law firm in Minneapolis, and the general vibe is that it has surpassed Dorsey & Whitney in this market in terms of prestige and quality. So it’s sad to see Faegre take a step back. Especially since Faegre claimed that its layoffs earlier this year solved all its financial troubles. Will other Minneapolis firms follow suit to $110K???

I’m not sure that Dorsey & Whitney people would agree with the tipster’s “general vibe.” Regardless, rolling back to $110K for 2010 is something no offered Dorsey & Whitney summers would take in a heartbeat.

Read the full Faegre & Benson memo about its salary cuts, after the jump.

Many law school graduates are preparing for an endless summer. Endless in that they won’t be starting work until well into the winter. At this point, the majority of firms are starting 2009 graduates in January 2010. There are some outliers though — some firms are starting new associates as early as September 2009, and some are offering them start dates as late as January 2011.

Here are a few of the latest additions to the deferred start dates list from the past week:

Not satisfied with just oil spills and attorney spills, Faegre & Benson has aimed its tanker at staff. Yesterday, the firm sent out the dreaded email:

With regret, we will reduce by 58 the number of Legal Administrative Assistants, Administrative Department Staff, and Paralegals in our U.S. offices. Tomorrow will be the last day at the firm for the individuals impacted by this decision.

The email also references a Sophie’s Choice buyout previously made to staff, which was accepted by nine:

An additional nine members of our staff accepted the Voluntary Separation Package offered earlier in the month. Their last day will be Friday, February 27.

If severance for all terminated staff is the same, it thus appears that staff who chose the buyout and got an extra week’s pay chose wisely.

But go go gadget, attorney skills: the question is, will staff that chose to voluntarily separate be eligible for unemployment? That depends on the state. Let’s hope that those nine staff checked the books in Minnesota prior to making their choice.

The full email, after the jump.

What, you thought you’d be safe from layoffs if you worked in Minnesota? Unfortunately, nobody is safe, at least not today.

We are now able to confirm that Faegre & Benson, one of the most prestigious firms in Minnesota, has informed 29 attorneys that they will be let go. Here is the statement that chairman Tom Morgan released to Above the Law:

We are practicing law in the same challenging economic environment in which our clients are doing business. Like many firms across the country, we are aligning our resources with the anticipated demand for our services and are doing so in a thoughtful and measured manner.

Earlier this month, we offered a voluntary separation package to certain non-lawyer staff. Yesterday, we announced that in the coming months we will be reducing our number of lawyers by 29. We have now met with each of those lawyers.

Remember that earlier this week, Hogan & Hartson offered a buyout package to non-lawyer staff. I wonder if people will think again about taking it, given today’s news.

Never heard of Faegre & Benson? You should have. After the jump we explain why.