Don't get me wrong, I understand what it is like to work in a high attrition environment where first years are terminated for performance related reasons. But this is just shameful.

Trying to save your job during your performance review is like asking the Chinese Government if they took me prisoner. The goal of the review from an associate’s perspective should be to gather information and or to take action. In this economy if you get a stellar performance review, you may survive to see Day 8. If you get any negative comments, be prepared for an ambush that may be quicker than you think. These comments can take many forms from the obvious “sloppy work product” to the slightly more subtle “we’d love to see more productivity.” If you are in fact terminated during your review, now is the time to negotiate severance. For those of you who say severance is standard and cannot be negotiated, you probably would believe someone without first putting a pen through their eye. Partners expect you to be disoriented, hostile or both. You need to be calm, collected and focused on making sure you can get as much as you can. They are mentally preparing themselves to deal with explaining why you need to leave and how to do in a way that doesn’t cause the story to be on this very blog. Talking immediately about severance and doing so in a calm and reasonable way is the best way to maximize your individual package because exceptions can be made. If that fails there is always the pen through the eye.

Looks to me like stealth layoffs are a thing of the past at Mayer Brown…I’ll give them points for creativity when it comes to increasing associate attrition.

While many English majors pursue law, some of us venture into non-traditional career paths. Besides I wouldn't take well to the logic section of the LSAT, I don't like playing games for too long.

The real story here is not that Mayer New York needs associates to start early but that even with the swine flu, Mayer Chicago is oversubscribed.

Sounds to me like she is the glass half empty type. A coworker of mine shot my wife in the head and it wasn't even a drill.

Syracuse Law’s final attempt to explain to Joe Biden how a lack of tax withholding can hinder the government's ability to function.

1) Unappreciated bureaucratic tools have watched otherwise dedicated co-workers flaunt certain rules.
2) Said bureaucrats see an opening caused by some outside crisis to bring their co-workers down, at same time convincing themselves that their efforts were motivated by anything other than personal pettiness.
3) Bureaucrats make their move and then realize that they are actually opening their less than perfect lives to scrutiny from the co-workers they are trying to bring down.

If you want to make it to the next season, remember that snitches get stitches…

Every day I work is like Yom Kippur.

It was at the annual "Swimming Holes for Charity" contest where the cons of implementing the firm’s new 11:1 partner to associate ratio became increasingly clear.

"It is in everyone’s interest to recruit new first-year students and to retain them in the second and third year."

When I read this, my memory was jogged. After a quick search I remember what triggered it:

"Why do Pyramid Schemes Fail?

Pyramid schemes are inherently injurious to consumers because as a mathematical certainty, they are doomed to collapse. As in the case of chain letters that require a payment, only the people at the very top make any money.

The only way anybody can make money through a pyramid scheme or chain letter is if participants in levels below them are defrauded into giving money based upon a rapidly diminishing promise of eventually getting something in return.

Eventually they must break down because the pool of possible recruits becomes exhausted and recruitment stops. Those at the bottom of the pyramid, the vast majority of the participants, lose money because there is no one below them.

They won't get their money back or earn their promised fortune because no one is beneath them in the pyramid adding new money to the pot. All pyramid schemes will begin to die when later recruits don't sign on in numbers large enough to pay off the earlier recruits."

Bill Buchanan and Special Agent Larry Moss were the only principles who didn't make it to Day 8 from Day 7. The same can't be said for many of the 08 or '09 grads.

Understand that currently from birth until death this profession is a pyramid scheme in all but name. Hopefully this recession will change that last part.

"Oh, I see you’re back, how did that sure thing work out for you?"

The problem with cutting a police department's budget is that they can employ creative ways to deal with those cuts.

I understand that many people at S&C don't make it from Day 5 to Day 6, but it's telling that not a single one of the main characters from the litigation division were involved with this case.

Looks like what’s good for the goose is not good for the gander:

Associates are wary of performance based pay because they understand the metric that will govern above all else is the amount ultimately collected from the client for their efforts.

Partners are wary of performance based rankings because they understand the metric that will govern above all else is the amount ultimately collected from the client for their efforts.

Mr. Westra’s derogatory reference to Zagat’s is telling. After all the majority of people only to the most expensive restaurants for special occasions. The rest of the time it’s the best food you can get at the cheapest price.

Bon Appétit Biglaw.

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You throw out the 3.7% unemployment statistic for white college educated graduates between the ages of 25-44 as if the number means something by itself. That number is an average and is likely much higher for those closer to 25 than those who are closer to 44.

The statistic for those aged 15-24 is 7.4%, but because we are speaking about college graduates, the age range is actually 21-24. It is unlikely that the one year between 24 and 25 means that employment is significantly easier to obtain.

On the other side, the number for college educated graduates aged 45 and older is 3.9%. This makes me think that it's the younger grads bearing the brunt of the high unemployment.

A sobering statistic would be the unemployment number for law graduates between the ages of 25-30.

Also don't make comments about people in their 50's, black or otherwise, it's a touchy subject.

@274

Good for L2L, looks like he is collecting more from Biglaw than he ever thought possible.

Nina Meyers has more credibility than the firms deferring associates. The year should be spent looking for other employment and getting into the best shape of your life.

Something tells me my time with my granddaughter, Teri, is going to be cut short.