If you live in California, you are surely aware of the state’s budgetary concerns. But if you work for Morrison & Foerster in California, you may now have some budgetary concerns of your very own.

MoFo decided to cut salaries today, but associates in New York and Asia will be spared the hardship. Here’s the official statement from the firm:

Starting salaries at Morrison & Foerster in New York and Asia will be $160,000, the same as last year, and starting salaries in other U.S. offices will be $145,000.

Note, however, that the market for first year salaries among national firms is undetermined at this time. Given that, we will continue to assess starting salaries, in light of market trends, and may elect to adjust as required based on larger market developments.

Parsing the statement, after the jump.

LEWW is fascinated by ATL’s Douchiest Law School contest. Official results haven’t been announced yet, but based on our preliminary read, Yale seems to have notched a decisive first-round victory over the University of Texas, and it looks like Harvard has trounced UCLA. Stanford Law School, however, appears to have been decisively out-douched by lowly Georgetown. Conclusion: The relationship between douchiness and prestige is not linear.

This week’s weddings feature two YLS grads and two SLS grads, so these lawyer newlyweds are undeniably prestigious. But are they also representative of their respective institutions’ reputations for d-baggery? We’ll let you make the call.

Here are the couples:

1. Wendy Katz and Matthew Waxman

2. Megan Wall-Wolff and Joshua Younger

3. Julia Kripke and Matthew Kellogg

Read all about these couples and vote for your favorite, after the jump.

You can still call yourself prestigious if you work at the firms that make up today’s fall recruiting open thread. But once you are outside of the Vault top 20, people start talking about “firm culture” at least as much as they talk about prestige.

Here’s the next batch:

21. Shearman & Sterling
22. O’Melveny & Myers
23. Quinn Emanuel
24. Ropes & Gray
25. Hogan & Hartson
26. Clifford Chance
27. Morrison & Foerster
28. Mayer Brown
29. Linklaters
30. Boies Schiller & Flexner

The slide continues for Shearman & Sterling. The firm was ranked #19 last year, and is down two spots this year. Is there any specific reason for the fall?

After the jump, let’s look at the firms rising up through the rankings.

Incoming first-year associates at Morrison & Foerster will not be able to start until April 2010. When they do, you can bet they’ll be happy to show up for early morning calisthenics, after they’ve had to wait for so long to live the dream.

But how much will they be getting paid? As of right now, the firm isn’t sure. The first years who plan to start in April received a message from the firm this afternoon:

I am writing to confirm April 5, 2010 as your starting date as an associate at Morrison & Foerster, subject to acceleration to a mutually agreeable earlier date if the need arises. You will join the firm as a member of the salary class of 2009 (subject to any standard salary credit associated with advanced degrees).

Additionally, I want to let you know that we are reviewing market data regarding starting salaries. We will contact you closer to your starting date to confirm starting salaries. We will provide an updated offer letter, along with an updated handbook, at that time.

The recruiting department will be contacting you to confirm the details of your $5,000 monthly stipend for the period from November 2, 2009 through the date you join the firm, as well as reimbursement of up to $500 per month of your health insurance premium.

We look forward to welcoming you to the firm.

If you have any questions about your start date, or other matters, please contact the recruiting department in your office.

More details after the jump.

This morning (just after 8:00 a.m. EDT if you must know) Morrison Foerster associates received a whip-cracking message from the firm’s New York managing partner, Charles Kerr:

As we move into the summer, I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone about the expectations in this office about when the work day begins. We are, at core, a client service institution, both internally and externally. This means that is we need to plan our schedules to meet our clients’ needs and expectations. More importantly, the strength and value of our work depends on being able to communicate with and reply upon our colleagues and if folks are simply not around, that is harder to do. While I recognize that the changing face of our technology has allowed us to accomplish this in new and novel ways, it is still an important part of our business that each of us can depend upon and interact with our co-workers on a consistent basis.

In light of this, it is very important that folks get to work on time. If it was up to me, that would mean jumping jacks at 8:00 a.m. in the lobby. I am not sure, however, that I have convinced everyone that that is the right approach.

Wow. That sounds like a straight up “face time” directive, doesn’t it? Kerr acknowledges that “technology” allows people to accomplish many client service tasks from remote locations, but he would still like to see people hopping up and down in their offices bright and early.

But let’s say that you get to work at 8:00 a.m. Is there really anything more to be done other than jumping jacks (and reading ATL)? I imagine most associates show up at work as early as they have to in order to accomplish the day’s tasks. Is Kerr really suggesting that billable hours are being left on the table because some associates want to sleep in during the recession?

More from Kerr after the jump.

At the beginning of April, incoming first years started worrying about the fact that Morrison & Foerster hadn’t announced start dates. At the time, the firm said that they would let people know by May 11th. We counseled:

Just because the firm is waiting until May, it doesn’t mean you have to. Try to secure a public interest job now and you’ll be protected if MoFo decides to defer your start date for a year.

If you took our advice, you’ll be very happy now. MoFo is delaying start dates. The firm will be paying a $5,000/month stipend to people who have been delayed until April 2010, as well as up to $500/month for health care costs.

But, there is also a special bonus available for people who want to defer for more than a year and are able to secure a public service internship:

You have the option of deferring your start date to January 4, 2011, subject to acceleration to a mutually agreeable earlier date as need arises. Your stipend would continue until you join the firm, which would be no later than January 4, 2011. Those who defer their start date and who work full time without compensation at least 10 months during that period for an approved 501(c)(3) non-profit will receive an additional $15,000 when they join the firm.

The stipend only starts in November of 2009. If you take full advantage of the package and the bonus, you’ll gross $85,000 from MoFo between November 2009 and January 2011. That’s not bad.

The full year (plus) deferral is optional, and the firm is still accepting some incoming associates in November 2009. Just not all of them. We understand that about 40 people are required to start in April 2010 or later.

But, if a person already looked for and received a public interest job, holding off until January 2011 seems like the better bet.

Just make a decision quickly. Even though the firm took its time in making this announcement, MoFo still wants an answer from incoming associates in a week. The 40 people have until May 11th to decide which start date they want.

Hopefully, MoFo’s delayed decision about its deferral program didn’t catch people by surprise.

Read the full memo after the jump.

* Morrison & Foerster can relate to its incoming associates desperately waiting for their bar stipends. MoFo has been stiffed by one of its clients, and now the client is suing the firm for overbilling and malpractice. [AmLaw]

* The New York Times extols the wonder of getting paid tens of thousands of dollars to take a year off, with a profile of a Skadden associate planning to travel the globe. [New York Times]

* Corporate lawyers are taking heed of the cautionary tale of Irell & Manella. The firm got into ethical hot water for not being explicit about its allegiances during an internal company investigation. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in Los Angeles rules that firms must make it clear that they are representing the company and not individual employees during the course of their investigations. [Wall Street Journal (subscription)]

* Duke Law Professor Paul Carrington wrote an op-ed for the New York Times suggesting ways to get rid of aging justices. [New York Times]

* Attorneys specializing in DNA evidence may soon be in demand in Texas. [Houston Chronicle]

* A profile of U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the Ted Stevens case. He’s feisty. [Washington Post]

* In our survey on youthful looks and job prospects, ATL readers were divided as to whether lookin’ young improves your Biglaw employability. If you voted “No. Looking old = being experienced,” you might change your mind after reading this article on out-of-work babyboomers. [New York Times]

On Wednesday, we reported that Morrison & Foerster hadn’t yet communicated with its incoming first year associates about bar expenses. The firm told Above the Law that it would be letting people know about its bar stipend in the next couple of days.

True to its word, MoFo told incoming associates the good news today. 3Ls received a memo from the firm, this morning:

As you make arrangements to take the upcoming bar exam, I write to update you on the firm’s 2009 bar stipend program. The bar stipend is intended to assist you with registration fees for the bar exam and bar review course, living expenses while studying for the bar, and hotel and transportation expenses while taking the bar exam. This year, the firm will provide a $15,000 bar stipend, distributed in two payments, to all eligible fall associates taking the bar exam in July.

The first payment in the amount of $5,000 (minus taxes) will be distributed by April 15, 2009. The second payment in the amount of $10,000 (minus taxes) will be distributed in July 2009. We strongly encourage the use of the first payment for more immediate expenses of registration for the bar exam and bar review course to secure your reservation and early preparation for the exam.

That’s the good news. But after the jump, we see that start dates are still very much up in the air.

We have received a bunch of emails from soon-to-be Morrison & Foerster associates waiting for the firm to tell them something about their start dates, or deferral stipends, or even their bar stipends. People who plan to start with MoFo are particularly worried because their last communication with the firm suggested that there would be some further pushing back of the start date.

The problem seems to be located in California. One tipster explains it like this:

On January 28th, Mofo informed us that “the earliest initial starting date that we now anticipate would be November 2, 2009. We are committed to working to provide greater certainty regarding starting date alternatives as the year progresses and as we are in a better place to assess the opportunities for effectively incorporating new lawyers into the practice.”

We have not received ANY updates and cannot plan our lives.

The lack of paying out or even informing associates about the bar stipend is also very troubling. As another tipster explains:

MoFo never got us any funds to cover our bar expenses as they promised they would. They’re over 6 weeks late, bar apps and BarBri fees were due yesterday, and there’s been no word. We’re pretty desperate here.

After the jump, MoFo offers a brief statement.

Yesterday When I was a kid, I used to steal the Reese’s Peanut Butter cups from my younger sister’s Halloween bag, eat them, place the empty wrappers back in the bag and steal away into the night. My thinking was that at no time would my sister discover that the wrappers were empty, and if she did, well, the worst that my parents could do was take away my Nintendo.

Last night, attorneys at Morrison & Foerster opened up what they surely hoped would be their adult goody bag — an email from firm chair Keith Wetmore, titled “2008 Bonuses and 2009 Compensation ” — only discover that they, too, were faced with empty wrappers.

Naturally the email announced the usual bad news, including “simply unknowable” 2009 bonuses and salary freezes for 2009. The exception is for New York, where increases will be paid as bonuses if associates, among other things, are able to decipher the announcement itself:

In New York, however, where all major New York firms implemented step increases this year, the step increase will be paid as a Contribution Bonus in January 2010 in an amount equal to the step increase that would otherwise have applied for that class. The Contribution Bonus will be paid to those New York-based associates who progress with their class and record 1950 Efficient Legal Service Hours (see Compensation Brochure), subject to the usual prorations, and who are employed with the firm on the date the Contribution Bonus is paid.

But the email also contained a chart revising and lowering the already announced 2008 Evaluation Bonuses, which comprise the lion’s share of the total bonuses.

A tale of betrayal and woe, plus the MoFo compensation email, after the jump.

Last summer, we started an official Nationwide Start Date Watch as a few firms decided to trim costs by delaying the start dates for incoming associates. Why bring in new kids at $160,000 a pop when there’s no work to give them?

In 2008, Powell Goldstein, Thelen, Thacher, and Heller pushed their start dates back to January ‘09 (though it was not enough to save the latter three firms); Seyfarth Shaw, K&L Gates, Shearman, and DLA Piper pushed their start dates back from September to October; Pillsbury pushed back to October, with bonus incentives offered to those who were willing to start even later; and Sonnenschein and WolfBlock asked associates to start in November.

This summer, firms may not have to “delay” start dates. Based on reports from a few 3Ls, it looks like late fall may be the new norm for start dates.

Start dates are in late October for new associates at Clifford Chance and Milbank Tweed, and November for new associates at Morrison & Foerster. (Though with Wednesday’s layoff news, MoFo-bound law grads are just happy to have start dates.)

Later start dates are good news for those who want to take nice, long bar trips, and bad news for those who want to start building their bank accounts as soon as possible. We’re wondering how widespread this trend is. If you’re a 3L with an offer letter in hand, please take this poll about when you’ll be officially entering Biglawdom.

Earlier: Previous ATL coverage of Start Dates

The legal community is still digesting the news Morrison & Foerster’s layoffs. While a lot of people are asking what the news means for the financial health of the firm, MoFo has taken the laudable step of reaching out to their incoming summer associates.

The firm sent their summers the statement about the layoffs that we posted on ATL last night. But then the firm tried to reassure summers about their job security:

I write to confirm that this reduction in attorney staffing will not affect your joining us as a summer associate this summer. We are a financially sound firm with a strong and diverse practice, having weathered the challenges of 2008 better than a number of our competitors. You can expect excellent work and mentorship opportunities during the summer.

This is a nice note given the fear that gripped incoming MoFo summers last night.

But you have to wonder if that it was a necessary or even truthful swipe to say that the firm had “weathered the challenges of 2008 better than a number of our competitors.”

Let’s check the video tape (and take a poll) after the jump.

Earlier today, we learned that a number of associates have been let go from Morrison & Foerster. According to a firm-wide memo that was just released, 53 associates have been laid off across all MoFo offices. We also understand that 148 staff members were let go.

The firm just confirmed the reports to ATL:

Morrison & Foerster has reduced its legal and non-legal staffing in its U.S. offices to align our firm with client needs in this extraordinary economic downturn. We notified 53 attorneys and 148 staff of the termination of their employment. These decisions are exceedingly painful, but necessary to assure that we address the current economic challenge from a position of financial conservatism and strength.

Tipsters in L.A. report that 13 associates were let go from that office. Our New York sources say that 12 associates were let go in New York City. We understand that all class years were affected, including first years.

“I will be fine,” said one affected associate. “But it’s a sad day for people here.”

MoFo had remained relatively quiet during these times of legal industry upheaval. But the firm did suffer partner defections from their D.C. office earlier this week.

No firm is immune to the 2009 market crisis. And it’s still only January.

News of the layoffs was first published by Legal Pad (while we held our post to give the firm a chance to issue a full statement). Read the firm’s full statement, after the jump.

Two big name rainmakers are leaving Morrison & Foerster for Goodwin Procter. According to a Goodwin Procter email:

Goodwin Procter announced today a major expansion of its Financial Services Group with the addition of two nationally-recognized attorneys, Robert M. Kurucza and Marco E. Adelfio. Kurucza joins as co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services Group. Both are resident in Washington, D.C. The addition of Kurucza and Adelfio will enable Goodwin Procter to provide a more fully integrated suite of services to prominent common clients, and to offer even greater cross-disciplinary expertise to a broad range of financial institutions.

Good news for Goodwin, but the announcement is just more unsettling information coming out of MoFo. Rumors of all sorts have been popping up about how things are going at MoFo. What we do know for sure is that Mofo hasn’t made a decision about associate salaries:

MoFo, [hasn’t] announced their bonus/ pay freeze intentions yet (which is totally bogus because it leaves associates in the dark). What little guidance we received came in the form of a wait and see what the market is doing approach.

Latham and Orrick have frozen, O’Melveny and Gibson Dunn are paying market. What will MoFo do?

“My boyfriend summered at MoFo, and all I got was this lousy tote bag!”

These days are dominated by gloomy news: dissolutions, layoffs, rescinded offers. It gets depressing — and old. So let’s shift gears and talk about a happy topic: law firm offer swag.

Yes, America still has large law firms. They are still hiring summer associates. And these firms still woo prospective summers with fabulous prizes, to encourage acceptance of their offers. Word on the street is that S&C is once again plying offerees with its fabled bonsai trees.

And sometimes even editors of humble legal blogs get gifts in the mail. The good folks over at Morrison & Foerster sent us some lovely gifts, which we’re guessing they’ve also shared with offer recipients (although we’re not positive; please do let us know).

Update: A tipster tells us that, in addition to the items we received, MoFo also gave out 4G jump drives and universal outlet converters.

Check out a slideshow of the MoFo loot — and compare your Biglaw hauls, in the comments — after the jump.

Labor Day is behind us. You know what that means: no wearing white, no gin and tonics, and no qualms about sending summer associate stories to ATL. If you have an SA story to share that we haven’t previously covered, please email us.

This latest tale, posted below, puts the “MoFo” in Morrison & Foerster. These kiddies are badass. As always, please don’t name or provide additional identifying information about them. Thanks.

***********************
This summer MoFo hosted a firm-wide retreat in Napa, first-class all the way — every attendee stayed in a private one-bedroom condo at the host resort, people got spa treatments, went on wine tastings, open bar every night, etc. Once the bar closed, the real troopers would head over to someone’s condo for an after party. The firm covered minibar tabs, so people would stop by their own places and stock up on drinks to bring along. Nothing out of the ordinary, as far as big firm summer blow-outs go.

The only problem with the trip was the tremendous size of the resort. The condos were scattered all across a large compound. Some rooms were miles away from others. The resort provided shuttle service, but often (especially late at night) the shuttles were slow in coming. Very slow. It was definitely a nuisance.

A couple of days into the retreat, two or three summers apparently got sick of waiting for a shuttle to take them to their far off condos at the end of the evening’s after party festivities. One of them was sick and vomiting or something, so they had a sense of urgency. In a haze of drunken entitlement (or perhaps a twisted sense of altruism: their friend was sick!), these summers decided to “borrow” a car from the resort’s valet to drive home.

They busted into the valet key box and swiped the keys to an Audi A6 — first-class all the way! — got into the car, and started it up. Luckily for them, before they could get it into gear and get moving, a recruiter got wind of the operation and came RUNNING AND SCREAMING out of the after party. She got them out of the car; the keys were returned to their rightful place.

But the plans of drunken MoFos are not so easily foiled. Undeterred, they RETURNED to the valet box once the recruiter was out of their way, stole the keys AGAIN, and started up the car once more. This time a MoFo PARTNER saw the situation, ran over to the car, and put a stop to the ill-fated scheme.

***********************
What happened to the summers in question? We don’t know for certain, but we’re guessing they got no-offered. While creative problem-solving and taking the initiative are usually desirable qualities for lawyers to possess, stealing cars and driving drunk raise character and fitness issues.

In connection with on-campus interviewing season, we’re giving you a chance to assess the firms that made this year’s Vault 100 list of most prestigious law firms. The previous open threads listed firms in groups of five, but to up the pace, we’ll list them by ten from here on out. Here’s the next group, with prestige scores in parentheses:

21. O’Melveny & Myers LLP (6.815)
22. Clifford Chance LLP (6.772)
23. Jones Day (6.763)
24. Morrison & Foerster LLP (6.657)
25. Hogan & Hartson LLP (6.579)
26. Linklaters (6.574)
27. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy (6.512)
28. Ropes & Gray LLP (6.501)
29. Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP (6.494)
30. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (6.481)

We note Magic Circle firm Linklaters making a big leap from the high 30s in the 2008 list to #26 this year — perhaps because its “notable perks” include group retreats to Europe, a drinks trolley, and an on-site doctor and dentist.

Compare. Contrast. Discuss. Thanks.

Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads - 2009

There’s been a lot of good news lately over at Morrison & Foerster. E.g., bigger bonuses; enhanced parental leave.

But if you’re hoping to work for the widely admired firm in Orange County, you’re out of luck. The firm is closing its Orange County office as of June 30, 2008. The closing was announced last week by firm chairman Keith Wetmore, via email.

For those of you who follow MoFo’s fortunes, the closing shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Back in February, we reported on how the firm was essentially dissolving its summer program in Orange County. (To its credit, the firm offered incoming OC summer associates the chance to work in another office for the summer or financial support for pro bono work.)

Update: More here from The Recorder, which reports that the MoFo-OC closing was triggered in part by “the departure of its office leader and another partner to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.”

The email announcing the Orange County closing, after the jump.

A reader recently prodded us about the new bonus policy of Morrison & Foerster:

Love your site. However, I am very disappointed that there has not been a post on the recent MoFo bonus announcement. I don’t work at MoFo, but I heard from a friend over a week ago that they raised their bonuses. I saw a little bit about this in the comments, but there was never an official post. As you well know, public dissemination of this information is extremely important because it puts pressure on other firms to raise their bonuses. Please, for the financial benefit of all associates, do a post on the MoFo bonus increase.

We got our hands on the Morrison & Foerster bonus announcement. The changes are a little complex; our tipster summarized:

MoFo always announces its bonus policy prospectively, early in the year, so folks can set their expectations. We’ve recently done so for 2008, and it has some changes over 2007. The changes are regarded as a move to an “LA model” of bonus compensation — significant $$$ available once you make 1,950 hours, plus significant $$$ available for increased hours or favorable merit review, topping out at something like $135k. The changes also move away from hours-based bonuses (though we still have those), to a system that depends more heavily on the results of individual evaluations.

Everyone should see an increase over last year’s bonuses, typically $10-$30k more. Nice to see an advance commitment of this kind given the current economy.

The transmittal email and full memo, including a table of bonus ranges, appears after the jump.

This rumor, about the Orange County office of Morrison & Foerster, has been making the rounds:

“A couple of my classmates are now scrambling for new summer jobs after MoFo OC told them to start looking elsewhere, because the office basically has no work and they’re already moving lawyers to other offices. They just got told this week. MoFo didn’t even offer to accommodate them in other offices.”

Unwelcome to the OC, bitch?

As it turns out, however, much of the rumor is incorrect. We reached out to the firm, and heard back from no less an authority than Keith Wetmore, the firm’s handsome (and openly gay) chairman:

By virtue of some internal redeployments within the firm, our OC office has declined in size and scope of practice over the past six months, to a point where we did not feel we could offer summer associates a full summer experience or appropriate assurances of permanent offers in that office. For example, we are exiting the corporate practice there so can no longer offer corporate experience to summer associates. There is no shortage of work for the lawyers who remain — one the biggest cases in the firm has historically been, and continues to be, staffed from that office.

We offered all the summer associates positions in a number of our other offices across the globe or split summers between Orange County and those other offices. We have also offered them financial support should they want to work in pro bono for the summer. Understandably, some of them have chosen to consider other firms for the summer before they make a final decision.

We thank Mr. Wetmore and MoFo for this information. We especially appreciated the promptness of their response (within an hour of our original inquiry).