Katten Muchin Rosenman

Katten Revokes Some, Defers Others, and Allows Few To Start On Time

By

Katten logo.JPGKatten Muchin is using every tool in the box when it comes to figuring out what to do with its incoming associates. If there is a plan for dealing with soon-to-be first years that has been discussed on Above the Law, Katten is using it.
A tipster reports that Katten has broken up its first year class into three groups:

Katten Muchin Rosenman rescinded several offers to 2008 summer associates today. From what I’ve heard about 1/3 were rescinded, 1/3 were re-deferred to October, and 1/3 will start in February as scheduled.

Essentially, Katten just turned itself into Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross: “As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.”
Let’s talk some more about the third prize after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Katten Revokes Some, Defers Others, and Allows Few To Start On Time”

Sign up for the Above the Law newsletter

Subscribe to our free daily email and get breaking news, commentary, and opinions on law firms, lawyers, law schools, lawsuits, judges, and more.

This Week In Layoffs: 10.04.09

By

pink slip layoff notice Above the Law blog.jpgEd. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks. Law Shucks has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker.
For a while there it would look like the first consecutive weeks without layoffs since this time last year (by our reckoning, you have to go back to the weeks ending October 9 and October 2, 2008). Alas, one firm did come through with staff layoffs, about which more after the jump.

As usual, we begin with the US macroeconomic picture, and as usual, it ain’t pretty. For the week, the S&P 500 was down about 2%. That was the second straight week of losses, and the DJIA had its biggest weekly decline in three months. 263,000 net jobs were lost in September and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, despite perhaps the technical end of the recession. As with the stock market, bad results are one thing, but results worse than expectations are another, and that was the case here. Consensus estimates were net losses of 175,000, so the actual results were way short. August’s revised numbers were slightly better than original reports, though.

The poor results are creating pessimism around when things will start to turn around:

[T]he report also buttressed fears that economic expansion would be weak and hesitant, with scarce paychecks and economic anxiety remaining prominent features of American life well into next year.

“This is a weak report,” said Stuart G. Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh. “The rate of job loss has tapered off, but we still haven’t reached the point where businesses are willing to hire.”

Could this create political difficulties for the president?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “This Week In Layoffs: 10.04.09″

Good News Watch: Katten Moves Start Dates Up

By

Katten logo.JPGThere’s an internal debate among your Above the Law editors about whether these green shoots we keep hearing about are real. I believe. Of course, I also believe that if I don’t clap very, very hard, Tinkerbell will die.
And I believe that there are signs that the legal economy is picking up as well. Check out the statement that incoming associates of Katten Muchin Rosenman received on Friday:

In March of this year, we made the difficult decision to defer start dates for our 2009 class of first-year associates until February 1, 2010, the beginning of our fiscal year. Since then, we are fortunate to have experienced an increase in demand for our legal services in a number of core practice areas that has enabled us to offer six of our deferred first-year associates the opportunity to begin their work at Katten this month, rather than waiting until February. These associates will practice in the areas of litigation and intellectual property and are spread across all firm offices.

Yay! With news like this, who can even notice the horrifying apocalyptic stupefying new unemployment numbers?
Earlier: Sidley D.C. Wants Some Incoming Associates to Start … Early!

Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 81 – 90 (2010)

By

comparing.jpgWe are so close to the end of the Vault open threads that I’m starting to get my second wind. I don’t know much about the firms on this part of the list, but you guys do. You know a lot. You’re so smart, you probably don’t even need this quick recap of the next group of firms. But I’ll go through it anyway:

81. Katten Muchin Rosenman
82. McGuireWoods
83. Baker & Hostetler
84. Dickstein Shapiro
85. Venable
86. Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell
87. Bracewell & Giuliani
88. Dorsey & Whitney
89. Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner
90. Hughes Hubbard & Reed

Locke Lord is in the house. The firm moved up ten spots from last year.
Other movers and shakers after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 81 – 90 (2010)”

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 5.3: One Word: “Awesome”

By

champagne glasses small.jpgSix impressive lawyers headline our survey of this week’s NYT wedding pages. Even more impressive is that four of them are still clinging to Biglaw jobs — assuming, of course, that bad news does not await any of our returning honeymooners.
Here are the finalists:

1. Neda Karamouz and Stephen Vander Stoep
2. Danielle Cohen and Bradley Friedman
3. Leslie Tobin and Nathan Ostrander

Click on the link below to get the story on these newlyweds’ degrees, jobs, and china patterns.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 5.3: One Word: “Awesome””

Morning Docket 3.20.09

By

pot.jpg

* AIG turned in the list of bonus recipients to New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo yesterday–let the games begin. Just kidding, I too fear for the safety of heavily compensated AIG executives–there is nothing scarier than an angry progressive. [The Los Angeles Times]

* Dispensers of medical marijuana have room to breathe after Attorney General Eric Holder announced that federal authorities would cease raiding their operations. [The New York Times]

* Attorney General Eric Holder issued guidelines to federal agencies after The White House advised them to release their records to the public. [The Washington Post]

* A 3-judge federal appeals panel is considering whether or not to re-instate Madoff’s bail–springing him from jail until sentencing in June. [Newsday]

* Albert Hu, a Silicon Valley hedge fund manager conned clients by saying he was represented by prominent law firms like Heller Ehrman and Shaw Pittman; he was arrested in Hong Kong, and charged with defrauding millions from investors. [The National Law Journal]

* Another sad tale of an associate whose offer has been put on hold–his employer Latham & Watkins is asking incoming attorney’s to defer their start dates. [The National Law Journal]

Nationwide Layoff Watch: Instant Reports From The Katten Meeting

By

Katten logo.JPGEarlier today, we reported that Katten was holding a firm wide meeting this afternoon. Predictably, the talks soon turned to layoffs. Here is what some of the people who were at the meeting are telling us:

20% pay cut if average billables were less than 150 last year and less than 145 for the last 3 months. 12 associates laid off (seems VERY low …). Incoming associates deferred until Feb 2010 start date.

The 12 number seems low to other tipsters too. But the meeting isn’t over in all of the firm’s offices yet. And these numbers do not take into account how many (if any) staff were laid off, or income partners.

I say income partners because we have received more reports that some of them were let go as well.

Update (4:38): Katten has released an official statement. 69 people were let go. Like Jenner earlier today, Katten describes the layoffs as “relatively small.” It looks like we have a new “official euphemism,” but in both cases it happens to be true. Read the full statement after the jump.

But we are also getting some very interesting news about the severance package Katten is offering. Details on that after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Nationwide Layoff Watch: Instant Reports From The Katten Meeting”

Mystery Meeting Set at Katten: 2:00 p.m. (CT) Today

By

Katten logo.JPGSomething is going down at Katten today. Multiple tipsters report that a firm wide meeting has been scheduled in each Katten office for 2:00 p.m. central time today. According to the email announcing the meeting, the purpose is:

[T]o discuss the Firm’s Plan for dealing with the continuing weak economy and how that plan relates to the associates.

The firm has not responded to our inquires about this meeting. But our sources report some obvious (and not so obvious) details. Katten has already been through one round of associate layoffs, and many people expect that the firm is initiating round two today.

We’ll tell you what we know after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Mystery Meeting Set at Katten: 2:00 p.m. (CT) Today”

Crisis for some firms, opportunity for others

By

good news bad news.jpgIt’s been a dark week on ATL. Layoff news has been pouring in: 21 attorneys cut at Katten, up to 60 at Sonnenschein, and 20 at Clifford Chance.

To prevent you from jumping out your windows, we’re revisiting a Wall Street Journal article from earlier this month on the silver lining for law firms during the economic crisis.

Firms with relatively strong balance sheets are hiring lawyers from competitors that are hurting from the dropoff in mergers, debt offerings and other staples of the legal business. Leaders of these firms figure that being bigger and more geographically diverse will help them weather downturns in particular market sectors and capitalize on complex business opportunities that require a variety of specialties. In most cases, they’re even giving the new hires raises.

Did you hear that, despondent ones? Raises!

Many firms have been feasting on the remains of Heller Ehrman (R.I.P.). Heller partners and attorneys have been snatched up by Hogan & Hartson; Orrick; Sheppard Mullin; Arnold & Porter; Covington & Burling; Jones Day; and Cooley Godward Kronish. Other firms have been poaching partners from struggling Thelen.

Some firms are buying on the cheap, while others are giving new attention to more resilient practice groups:

K&L Gates LLP has acquired medium-size firms in Texas and North Carolina this year and hired 45 partners from other firms. “We have no debt — no long-term debt, no short-term debt — and therefore have a balance sheet that allows us to grow aggressively into a downturn,” says Peter Kalis, chairman of the 1,700-lawyer firm…

But many law firms believe that they have no choice but to expand specialties, such as restructuring, intellectual property, securities litigation and antitrust, that are generally believed to remain steady — or even pick up — during down cycles. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York laid off 131 lawyers — nearly 20% of its staff — earlier this year because of the implosion in the mortgage-backed securities market, a key practice area for the firm. But it has hired lawyers in other practice areas, including financial restructuring.

Chins up.

Some Law Firms Hire in Slump [Wall Street Journal]

As Heller is sliced and diced, many associates are out in the cold [National Law Journal]

Earlier: ATL Layoff Coverage

Nationwide Layoff Watch: Katten’s Official Message

By

Katten logo.JPGKatten Muchin Rosenman has officially announced that they have parted ways with a number of attorneys. According to partner and spokesperson Tasneem K. Goodman:

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP this week eliminated the positions of 21 associates and counsel across multiple offices and practices. This measure was taken to further improve the firm’s efficiency, to allow for the continued growth of its associates and to ensure the firm’s long-term success. No adjustments will be made to the new first-year associate class. The firm’s financial performance remains strong despite the current economic downturn.

You have to compare that statement with the one from Clifford Chance yesterday. After laying off 20 litigation associates, their statement said (in part):

Those attorneys in New York and Washington, D.C. affected by today’s decision are held in high regard by the firm. These layoffs were not performance-driven

From Katten we hear that their 21 associates were laid off “to improve efficiency.” Make of that what you will.

Check here to see how Katten’s layoffs unfolded throughout the day.

Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Is Katten Cutting Fat?

Nationwide Layoff Watch: Clifford Chance (Redux) Twenty Litigators Laid Off, in NY and DC

Nationwide Layoff Watch: Is Katten Cutting Fat?

By

Katten logo.JPGPerhaps the Clifford Chance layoffs were just the beginning. We’re getting multiple reports that Katten Muchin Rosenman is laying off associates in their Chicago office, today. Right now.

Katten representatives did not respond to inquiries made last night or today.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte-firm of Moore & Van Allen has laid off 20 staff members today. Though calls to Moore & Van Allen were not immediately returned, one tipster suggests that the layoffs were focused in the Wachovia practice group.

No word yet on the safety of associates at Moore & Van Allen.

We will update you as more facts become available. But do not trust to hope, it is forsaken in these lands.

Update (5:40): Moore & Van Allen tipsters want us to know that the Bank of America group was hit just as hard, if not harder than, the Wachovia group.

Update (6:05): While Katten is still not officially confirming anything, recently laid-off attorneys are telling us that they are hearing that between 20-25 associates where let go today in the Chicago office. The severance package: 90-days at full salary. Not good times today. Bad times.

Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Clifford Chance (Redux) Twenty Litigators Laid Off, in NY and DC

Morning Docket 09.25.08

By

republican not gop.jpg* President Bush wants lawmakers to hurry up and pass the $700 billion bailout plan. Sounds like taxpayers are going to be paying back those $600 economy stimulation rebates and then some. The Dems agree to drop the provision giving greater authority to bankruptcy judges. [New York Times]

* Democrats sue in Washington to force “G.O.P.” gubernatorial candidate to embrace his “Republican” identity. [New York Times]

* Guantanamo prosecutor quits, citing ethical concerns. [Washington Post]

* Kudos to these four law firms. Covington, Arnold & Porter, Katten, and Pillsbury make Working Mother magazine’s best employers list. [National Law Journal]

* Who would have thought a gas mask would be needed for a DUI arrest? [WSAZ]

* Gibson Dunn’s Ted Olson will appear before SCOTUS for the 50th time this fall. One secret to his success: St. Michael the Archangel. [Legal Times (subscription req.)]

* ATL’s former bling-bling lawyer of the day, Gabriel Schwartz, was robbed of property worth only $63,000, by his random-lady-friend-turned-thief. [Associated Press]