Patton Boggs

Associate Bonus Watch: Patton Boggs and the D.C. Market

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2009 Associate bonus watch above the law.JPGYesterday we reported that Patton Boggs was having an all associates meeting and wanted its people to be there in person.
With everybody gathered around, Patton Boggs unleashed a torrent of news. First things first. Here’s the bonus announcement, from a statement the firm released to Above the Law about the meeting:

As usual, we are rewarding associates who exceed their billable hour goal with our annual bonus program. Bonuses will range from $5,000-$45,000 depending on class year and the number of hours by which an individual target was exceeded.

In addition, the firm plans to offer merit bonuses in January as part of the associate evaluation process.

Well, the New York market starts at $7,500, so the low end of the Patton Boggs scale is below the bottom of the NYC scale. But at the top end, Patton Boggs is paying more than the Cravath scale.
It is worth noting, of course, that Cravath and other top New York firms pay bonuses to everybody, not just those who “exceed their billable hour goal.” In this market, is anybody actually billing anything like 2400 hours? It could be that Patton Boggs’s big top number is a payout only a couple of people will actually receive.
And the bonus news was the good news to come out of the meeting. The other news is after the jump.

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Patton Boggs Mystery Meeting at 2:30

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Patton Boggs logo.jpgWhat is going on, D.C.? As you know, Above the Law will be inside the Beltway tomorrow. And we know a lot of D.C. associates are wondering whether their bonuses will be on the level that Cravath has set for the New York market.
We could be getting our first piece of solid information on that front later today. Tipsters report that there is big meeting scheduled at D.C.-based Patton Boggs today:

Firm-Wide Associate Meeting Today at Patton Boggs

About 2010 salaries and the automatic hours bonuses. 2:30.

The Firm usually lets associates call in but said that if they wanted to attend or comment they had to be in the conference rooms in person. Kind of unusual.

So Patton Boggs wants to make sure everybody is there in person to discuss salaries and bonuses. Maybe it’s bringing all the associates together to announce a raise and a market-busting bonus? The glass is half-full — at least it looks that way through my rose-colored glasses.
We reached out to Patton Boggs spokespersons, but they were not able to provide us with an immediate comment.
We’ll keep you posted here if new information comes to light later today.
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of associate bonuses

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Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 71 – 80 (2010)

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comparing.jpgWe continue our slog push through the nation’s 100 top law firms, as ranked by our friends over at Vault. Here are the next ten firms, to be discussed in the comments to this post:

71. Reed Smith
72. Bryan Cave
73. Perkins Coie
74. Hunton & Williams
75. Patton Boggs
76. Arent Fox
77. Schulte Roth & Zabel
78. Howrey
79. Chadbourne & Parke
80. Crowell & Moring

Assorted observations about these firms, after the jump.

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Tiered Payscale at Patton Boggs Leads to Associates Giving Back Money

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Patton Boggs logo.jpgCan you imagine having to pay your firm money over the next couple of months because the firm overcompensated you at the beginning of 2009? That is the situation facing a number of Patton Boggs associates over the next couple of weeks.

Patton Boggs has a three tiered associate compensation system. A firm spokesperson explained the details to Above the Law:

Patton Boggs has three base billable hour tiers for associates: 1650, 1800, and 1900. Associates on one of the lower tiers who reach a billable hour total of a higher tier are automatically paid the salary differential in the early part of the next year.

Associates who don’t make their hours are bumped down to one of the lower tiers. But the whole decision making process is done as part of the firm’s annual performance reviews, many of which haven’t taken place yet. A tipster explains the consternation among many Patton associates:

If an associate is bumped down, their salary will be bumped down accordingly in an amount to be determined by the firm (i.e. not the full published drop between the 2008 rate for [1900] and the 2008 rate for 1800 – as in some instances that could amount to up to 65K). So some don’t know if they will be bumped or, better yet, how much their salary will be for 2009. In general, people were pleased just to bump down as opposed to getting laid off or some other alternative.

But:

But here is the kicker – associates [won't know if] they are being paid at the [1900] rate until after their review, if at that time they are bumped down to 1800, they have to PAY THE FIRM BACK the difference in pay for the first 2 months of 2009. The “overpayments” will be spread out over 4 paychecks.

After the jump, the firm explains that this is nothing new at Patton.

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Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 71-80 (2009)

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comparing.jpgThe Vault 100 march continues! In this series of open threads, we list the firms, and you all discuss their upsides and downsides. We’ll be wrapping this puppy up this week.
Here are the next ten (with prestige scores in parentheses):

71. Nixon Peabody LLP (5.218)
72. Hunton & Williams LLP (5.208)
73. Perkins Coie LLP (5.119)
74. Reed Smith LLP (5.057)
75. Patton Boggs LLP (5.050)
76. Chadbourne & Parke LLP (4.997)
77. Bryan Cave LLP (4.969)
78. Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP (4.967)
79. Howrey LLP (4.926)
80. Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP (4.910)

Usually, we have fun with the “notable perks” chosen by Vault. But as we move down the list, the perks are becoming distinctly less notable — e.g., gym membership discounts, free parking, and “good views.” Oh well.
You know what to do! Have at it in the comments.
Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads – 2009

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ATL Field Trip: The Building a Better Legal Profession Press Conference

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Andrew Bruck Building a Better Legal Profession Above the Law blog.jpg
Andrew Bruck takes a question at Wednesday’s press conference.

Every now and then, we leave our apartment. We did so on Wednesday, to attend the press conference of Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession, where the organization unveiled its law firm diversity rankings (accessible here; Los Angles Times article here).
It was quite informative. For those of you who might be interested — and we’re guessing there are a number of you, judging from the robust commentary on our earlier post — read more, after the jump.

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Patton Boggs: Confederate Flags and Disparaging F*gs Gays

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Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures we’ll be seeing here in D.C. later this week, summer is over. But that doesn’t mean our inbox is closed to stories of summer associate scandal.

Check out this great pair of controversies, from the summer program of Washington powerhouse Patton Boggs:

There have been rumors flying around Patton Boggs about major drama in this year’s summer associate class that I thought I’d pass along. Some of the summers got upset because:

(1) At the summer associate golf outing, one of the associates wore a Confederate flag hat while playing 18 holes with the summers. The hat apparently went unnoticed by everyone except the summer associates, who (rightfully) felt uncomfortable telling a lawyer at the firm that his hat may be in poor taste. Best part: apparently he shared a golf cart with one of the black summers!

(2) Apparently a very high-level partner at Patton Boggs was disappointed to learn that a beauty queen winner/current law student was not offered a position as a summer associate. When he learned that the firm had instead hired a (gasp!) gay summer associate, he allegedly said, in front of others at the firm, “You know the recruiting department is screwed up when they’re rejecting beauty queens but hiring homosexuals.”

We contacted Patton Boggs for comment. A firm spokesperson provided this statement:

“The firm takes these types of matters seriously. When we hear of things of this nature, we investigate and take appropriate action as necessary.”

If you’re at Patton Boggs and can enlighten us further about these events — or if you’re at another firm, and have summer associate stories you’re now at liberty to share with us, given the passage of time — please email us. Thanks.

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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Patton Boggs to $160K

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Patton Boggs LLP Above the Law blog.jpgWe received this information from a tipster last night, and a firm spokesperson confirmed it for us this morning. Here it is:

Patton Boggs just raised starting salaries to 160,000 for first years for 1950 billable hours. This is a 50 hour bump and a $15,000 bump. They also introduced a new 1800 billable track that is full-time, but paid on a lower scale (obviously).

No memo yet. The full scale closely approximates the Hogan & Hartson scale and caps out at $280,000. Still a 100 hour/year pro bono requirement.

So does anyone know what the DC List of Shame now looks like? Feel free to post it in the comments.
Also, are you aware of any recent pay raise news that we haven’t covered in these pages? If so, please email us. Thanks.

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A Law Librarian Farewell Email: Patton Boggs Blows

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This farewell email was sent out last month by a librarian who left Patton Boggs, the prominent D.C. law firm.
It pretty much speaks for itself. We would just note that Patton Boggs, as one of the biggest lobbying shops in Washington, is chock-full of both lawyers and ex-politicians.

smiley face with bomb Above the Law blog.gifFrom: [redacted]
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 5:35 PM
To: *Everyone (DC); *Everyone 2445 M Street
Subject: Good-Bye Patton Boggs

After 8.5 years, today was my last day at Patton Boggs LLP.

Everyone knows what I think about the Law(yers) and politic(ian)s, so I won’t dwell onit [sic].

Farewell to everyone as I doubt we’ll meet again in this life or the next.

Good-bye Patton Boggs.

Our tipster reported her fear that the embittered ex-exployee might go postal: “I came to work the following day using the side entrance because, well, I didn’t want to take any chances….”

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 7.1.07: Lawyers, Literally

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Legal%20Eagle%20Wedding%20Watch%20NYT%20wedding%20announcements%20Above%20the%20Law.jpgThe NYT has served up a relatively weak batch of candidates this week. That’s okay with us; we needed to be brought down to earth after the heights of last week’s eminence-fest.
Still, a warning: There’s not an Ivy League degree to be found in this column, so those of you who are nauseated by the couplings of mere Duke-UVA grads may want to avert your eyes and ponder what a cesspool the Times has become.
Here are the finalists:

1. Jill Isaacs and Kurt Perhach
2. Jennifer DeLeonardo and Adam Frey
3. Liza Burnett and Stephen Fefferman

Read more about these couples, after the jump.

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