It’s late October, so Biglaw bonus news could drop any day now. In 2010, Cravath didn’t kick off the season until November 22. But back in 2009, Cravath announced bonuses on November 2. And in 2007 — yes, the glory days, before the Great Recession — Cravath announced bonuses, regular and “special,” on October 29.
In light of the economic gloom and doom, including the possibility of a double-dip recession, it wouldn’t be shocking if bonuses are modest this year. Better to conserve the cash and avoid layoffs, right? Or maybe repeat what happened in 2010 and save some money for spring bonuses in a few months, when firms might have a better idea of the direction of the economy?
Regardless of how bonuses turn out, there are other pockets of good news in the world of large law firms — even news requiring law firms to open their wallets. Check out the growing number of firms that offer the perk we’ve dubbed the gay gross-up….
Continue reading “Biglaw Perk Watch: Has the Gay Gross-Up Hit the Tipping Point?”
Ed. note: Welcome to Letter from London, a weekly look at the U.K. legal world by our London correspondent, Alex Aldridge. Alex previously covered the London riots and the royal wedding for Above the Law.
“Thank God” Britain didn’t join the Euro, said U.K. chancellor George Osborne last month, as the debt crisis in Greece began to spread to the much larger economies of Italy and Spain. But with the fortunes of the U.K. tightly bound to the rest of Europe (its biggest trading partner), the reality is that we’ll be hit almost as hard as our single currency-sharing neighbours if, as many expect, the crisis worsens.
Last week, as I did the rounds of the U.S. law firms in London in preparation for the commencement of these regular installments from across the pond, I asked various managing partners what European debt contagion would mean for large law firms in the U.K. And, predictably, they reeled off the standard recession line about law firms being “well placed to handle the anticipated wave of restructuring work.”
Doubtless there’s some truth to this. Indeed, Skadden and Linklaters are already riding the wave, with the pair currently advising on the merger between Greece’s second- and third-largest banks. Such are the demands of the deal that much of Skadden’s relatively small London office has apparently been required to temporarily decamp to Athens.
The worry is what happens after the restructuring is complete, with experts predicting that Eurozone sovereign debt defaults could precipitate a decade-long depression. This would be especially bad for the legal profession….
Continue reading “Letter from London: On the Brink of a Double Dip?”
JoEllen Lyons Dillon
Back in December, we covered a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by JoEllen Lyons Dillon, a comely corporate partner at Reed Smith, against the firm (where she still worked at the time). Dillon’s allegations were salacious. She claimed, for example, that “work was diverted … to female attorneys who were willing to engage in sexual relations with members of management” — and that her refusal to engage in such relations hurt her at Reed Smith.
Dillon’s case was filed by Samuel J. Cordes, a prominent Pittsburgh employment lawyer. Despite his somewhat cheesy law firm motto, Cordes is well-regarded and seen as “only tak[ing] good cases,” according to one ATL tipster. Cordes promised that his client would, over the course of the litigation, produce specific examples of sexual quid pro quos at Reed Smith. Delicious!
Alas, today brings word that JoEllen Dillon has dropped her case. What happened?
Continue reading “Ex-Reed Smith Partner Drops Sex Discrimination Suit Against the Firm”
* Elie here: Remember yesterday when I said that it was a prick move by the cop to issue that ticket on the mother of that comatose 13-year-old girl, and then all those commenters said the cops had no choice because issuing the ticket was an important matter in terms of the civil liability of the driver? Yeah, well, I stand by my initial analysis that the cop was a jerkhat. [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]
* We were unimpressed by Holland & Knight giving iPads to its associates — and we’re not alone. [South Florida Lawyers]
* The merger talks between Reed Smith and Thompson & Knight are apparently off (assuming this isn’t another case of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton). [Am Law Daily]
* How can lawyers dress to impress in 2011? [Lawyerist]
* So let me get this straight, it’s not okay for me to drink Four Loko and drive, but it’s okay for my car to do it? What’s up with that? [Alt Transport]
* Were passports biased against gays? Well, now they won’t be. [Huffington Post]
* If you’ve been following along with the most important news of today — which is obviously that the study showing that a crying woman is a total buzzkill — here’s an important counterpoint. Crying might be nature’s way of saying: “Stop beating on your wife you freaking a**hole. [Newsweek]
JoEllen Lyons Dillon
Pennsylvania legal circles are buzzing over a discrimination lawsuit filed yesterday in federal district court by a partner in the Pittsburgh office of Reed Smith. One source who informed us of the suit referred to “some really interesting allegations” against the firm.
A corporate and energy law partner at Reed Smith, JoEllen Lyons Dillon, alleges that her firm pays and promotes women less than men. Yawn; that’s definitely not “really interesting.” While unfortunate — or even outrage-inducing — if true, one could say the same thing about dozens, if not hundreds, of large law firms.
Far more interesting is Dillon’s claim that “work was diverted … to female attorneys who were willing to engage in sexual relations with members of [Reed Smith] management or with whom members of [Reed Smith] management had sought to engage in such relations.” Dillon alleges that because she “did not engage in such relations,” she was professionally penalized.
David DeNinno
Dillon decided instead to have “relations” with her husband, resulting in the birth of twins. After she took time off to take care of the two tots, “her total compensation decreased, by almost half,” according to the complaint. Dillon claims that when she objected to this pay cut, partner David DeNinno, former chair of the Business & Finance Department at RS, asked if she was “done having babies yet.”
That’s just for starters. Dillon claims to have more dirt on her firm….
Continue reading “Discrimination Lawsuit Potpourri: Reed Smith and Akin Gump”
Earlier this week, I had the chance to sit down with David Tanenholz, one of the co-founders and partners at Hardinger & Tanenholz LLP (H&T), which is one of the few firms — if not the first — to promote itself solely as “discovery counsel.” And with their experience as Biglaw alumni, the two founders may represent a glimpse into the future of how lawyers can carve out a niche by fusing technology and project management.
So what is it that puts them ahead of the curve? Let’s find out….
Continue reading “Could Hardinger & Tanenholz Represent the Future of E-Discovery in Biglaw?”
* Orrick and Akin aren’t the only two who are talking. The firms of Reed Smith and Thompson & Knight are also in merger discussions. [Am Law Daily]
* A “cite-checking battle” actually sounds… kinda fun. [Laws for Attorneys]
* There’s a motion for leave to amend the complaint in the Robert Wone civil case. [Who Murdered Robert Wone?]
* Why your job is making you depressed. Maybe because it sucks? [CNN]
* Women of Biglaw: think you have it bad? Your sisters on Wall Street may be even worse off. [The Careerist]
* Speaking of women in the legal profession, nominations are now being accepted for InsideCounsel’s Transformative Leadership Awards, which “honor women general counsel and law firm partners who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in corporate law.” [SuperConference]
With fall recruiting gearing up, and the lateral market warming up, we continue our annual series of open threads about the law firms featured in the Vault prestige rankings. These threads provide ATL readers with a forum to discuss the different firms and their various strengths and weaknesses.
The end of the Vault 100 is in sight. We’re covering the firms in batches of 20 now. Here are the firms ranked #61 to #80, which will provide today’s discussion fodder:
61. Greenberg Traurig, LLP
62. Holland & Knight LLP
63. Fish & Richardson P.C.
64. Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
65. Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
66. Foley & Lardner LLP
67. Perkins Coie LLP
68. Nixon Peabody LLP
69. Patton Boggs LLP
70. Kaye Scholer LLP
71. Hunton & Williams LLP
72. Reed Smith LLP
73. Steptoe & Johnson LLP
74. Chadbourne & Parke LLP
75. Howrey LLP
76. Bryan Cave LLP
77. Lovells (US) [now part of Hogan Lovells]
78. Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
79. Crowell & Moring LLP
80. Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
This is a very eclectic group, including a few New York-centric firms, some D.C.-dominated places, and a bunch of national and even international giants.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these shops….
Continue reading “Fall Recruiting Open Threads: Vault 61 – 80 (2011)”
The New York Times has a nice survey piece about all the salary cuts imposed upon American workers. It’s a story that anybody holding down a job through this recession is probably aware of:
Local and state governments, as well as some companies, are squeezing their employees to work the same amount for less money in cost-saving measures that are often described as a last-ditch effort to avoid layoffs.
Yeah, we know, things are crappy.
But in its zeal to show that things are difficult for almost all workers, the Times seems to lump Biglaw in with the group of companies that are trying to cut costs by slashing salaries. As regular readers of Above the Law know, that might have been true in 2009. But in 2010, most Biglaw firms are not cutting associate salaries….
Continue reading “Don’t Be So Quick to Lump Biglaw in with Corporate Salary Slashers”
Stewart Dolin
There was unhappy news out of Chicago last week. Stewart Dolin, an M&A partner at Reed Smith, was struck and killed by a train on Thursday. According to the Chicago Tribune, the coroner has ruled the death a suicide.
Dolin was the co-chair of Reed Smith’s corporate and securities practice. He lived in Glencoe, north of Chicago, and was hit by a northbound train at a Blue Line station in the Loop at 1:45 p.m.
When suicides happen, many firms will turn the person’s website bio into a temporary “in memoriam” page, but Dolin’s bio has been removed. A firm spokesman tells us: “After conferring with the family we kept our communication memorializing Stu internal.”
The managing partner in the Chicago office has issued a statement about Dolin’s death.
Continue reading “Reed Smith Partner Commits Suicide in Chicago”
Last May, Reed Smith announced a 10 percent across-the-board salary cut for its associates. The cut went into effect on July 1, 2009.
This week brought salary and bonus news from the firm. From one Reed Smith source:
Reed Smith announced 2010 compensation today. The firm’s “raises” are essentially only restoring the original salary levels that we all had before the firm’s universal 10% cut in 2009. I have not heard of anyone receiving any sort of bonus.
UPDATE / CORRECTION: Actually, it appears that the salary announces were highly individualized — and all over the map. Some associates received sizable raises, some received modest raises, some were kept frozen, and some saw their salaries cut even further. Most appear to be unhappy: “Morale is very low,” said one.
Bonuses were announced too. A different RS source informed us: “Salary and bonus memos are out. Bonuses are per usual, a set structure based on hours.” But the Reed Smith bonuses may have been more theoretical than practical. “I think that very few people hit [the required] hours,” this tipster told us.
There’s a bit more Reed Smith news, most of it not happy….
Continue reading “Reed Smith Announces Salary and Bonus News
(Plus other Reed Smith news.)“
On Wednesday, we commended the firm of Paul Hastings for moving so quickly to support Haiti earthquake relief efforts. Since then, a number of other top law firms have pledged their support to this worthy cause.
(Okay, Rush Limbaugh questions the worthiness of the cause. But we suspect that Limbaugh’s position — like that of Pat Robertson, who blames the earthquake on Haiti’s supposed pact with the devil — is a minority view.)
The WSJ Law Blog and Am Law Daily have gathered information about what various law firms are doing to help Haiti. We’ve combined their reports with information we’ve received from our own sources, to create a more comprehensive list.
Check it out, after the jump.
Continue reading “Update: More Law Firms Help Out Haiti”
Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks, which has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker.
This week, economists missed on the good side — initial jobless claims fell by more than expected. The 502,000 applicants are the fewest since January 3, and the four-month rolling average is at the lowest level since November 2008.
It’s tough to grasp half a million people filing for first-time benefits as good news, but these are troubled times, so we have to cheer where we can. Don’t get too excited, though. Even news that looks good at first glance probably isn’t. The 139,000 people who came off the continuing-claims roster more likely did so as a result of benefits running out or giving up the search than actually finding work.
But don’t be surprised if that number starts creeping back up. A bill was passed last week that will extend benefits by 14 weeks in all states, and six additional weeks in states where the unemployment rate is greater than 8.5%.
All in all, it was a relatively good week in BigLaw, with no layoffs reported. Nonetheless, firms continue to flail about trying to fix their economic models, and we document the efforts after the jump.
Continue reading “This Week in Layoffs: 11.14.09″
Baker Botts will be throwing itself into the killing lockstep camp sometime in 2010. A tipster reports:
So, Baker Botts – Houston (should be firmwide, though I don’t have have all the details) is adopting a form of the Reed Smith pay structure. …
My understanding may be imperfect, but the notion is that it’s something like a three part system of junior associates, mid level associates, and senior associates, with pay discrepancies laid out among the three. No more lockstep. Unclear what the bonus structure is beyond the nebulous “merit” nonsense.
The Reed Smith structure has received a lot of attention. Last month, we mentioned that Reed Smith will categorize associates as junior, mid-level, or senior associates. But those classifications won’t necessarily be tied to how long an associate has been out of law school. So you could see a fourth-year classified as a senior associate making significantly more than a sixth-year classified as a midlevel associate.
Today, the Legal Intelligencer reports that the Reed Smith plan will also include a cut in associate salaries and billing rates:
Reed Smith has cut starting salaries by about 20 percent for the 51 first-year associates set to start in January and, in turn, is cutting their billing rates by the same margin.
You can read the full Reed Smith memo about its salary and billing rate reductions after the jump.
Will the Reed Smith system become the template for associate compensation at other firms? Let’s take a look at what Baker Botts is planning.
Continue reading “Baker Botts to ‘Hybrid-Lockstep’ in 2010
(Plus more news from Reed Smith.)“
Ed. note: We mentioned it briefly in Morning Docket, but thought we’d say a bit more (and give folks a place to comment).
A number of large law firms — although, interestingly enough, not the Cravaths and S&Cs and Davis Polks of the world — are moving away from a lockstep system of associate compensation and promotion. See our collected coverage under Killing Lockstep.
The latest one to jump on the bandwagon: Reed Smith. From Ashby Jones of the WSJ Law Blog:
On Tuesday, Reed Smith announced yet another way to skin the cat. Starting early next year, the firm will go to a sort of hybrid lockstep/merit-based pay system for associates, called CareeRS (get it?). Associates will be categorized as junior, mid-level or senior depending not on how many years they’ve served, but on whether they’ve demonstrated certain “core compentencies.” That is, a particularly talented third-year associate might achieve the “mid-level” designation; a fifth-year on a slower pace might still be a “junior.”
According to the firm’s chairman, Greg Jordan, the move was a response, at least in part, to client demands. “The most painful conversation you can have with a client is to tell him that that all of a sudden, you’re charging more for an associate just because the associate has aged a year,” says Jordan. “Something needed to change. The recession made that clear.”
When the WSJ asked Jordan if the majority of associates would progress normally — getting bumped up to midlevel associate after three or so years, and to senior associate after six or so years — he was a bit vague:
“That may be what ends up being the typical pattern. But we really don’t expect that everyone will take this path. Some will advance quickly, others will need time.”
Hmm…. Should this be cause for concern among associates? How many will, like not-so-smart grade schoolers, get “left back” each year?
Some perspectives, after the jump.
Continue reading “Reed Smith Joins the Attack on Lockstep”
We 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.
Continue reading “Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Vault 71 – 80 (2010)”
From two distinguished commentators: lawyer and law firm consultant Bruce MacEwen, of Adam Smith Esq., and Professor Daniel Filler, over at the Faculty Lounge.
Above the Law reader sentiment generally supported Fordham Law School and Dean William Michael Treanor. Interestingly enough, both MacEwen and Filler side with Reed Smith. MacEwen confesses to being mystified by Dean Treanor’s handling of the situation; Filler argues that Reed Smith’s late withdrawal from OCI was a minor infraction, and that Fordham’s “punishment” of the firm will only hurt students.
Check out their analyses via the links below.
In This Corner, AmLaw #16… [Adam Smith, Esq.]
Fordham Law v. Reed Smith, Or, How To Scare Away Firms From OCI [The Faculty Lounge]
Earlier: Fordham Law v. Big Law: Reed Smith’s Response
Fordham Law Lashes Out at Reed Smith Rudeness
Yesterday we covered the decision of Fordham Law School to ban Reed Smith from recruiting on-campus for the next five years, in response to the firm’s last-minute withdrawal from on-campus interviewing at Fordham. The decision was announced by Dean William Treanor in a strongly worded email message.
Dean Treanor’s email, while harsh, seemed to be well-received, at least among ATL readers. In our reader poll, over 80 percent of you deemed it an appropriate response to Reed Smith’s late pullout from Fordham EIW (Early Interview Week).
Reed Smith has now addressed the situation. From the Legal Intelligencer:
Michael B. Pollack, global head of strategy at Reed Smith, said this certainly isn’t a situation the firm was looking for and he suspects the ban isn’t a good situation for the firm or the students. He said he hopes Treanor would reconsider.
“We’re trying to run a business just like he’s trying to run a law school and I appreciate the pressures that he is under and I would hope he would appreciate the pressures we’re under,” Pollack said.
Additional comments by Pollack appear in Gina Passarella’s article.
We also reached out to Reed Smith, which sent us a detailed — and dignified — statement. Check it out, after the jump.
Continue reading “Fordham Law v. Big Law: Reed Smith’s Response”
We’ve heard from many frustrated law students who bid on a particular law firm for on-campus interviewing only to learn, after using up a bid or an interview slot, that the firm in question wouldn’t be coming to OCI after all. We’ve even heard from students who were told, mid-interview, that the office they were supposedly interviewing for wouldn’t be having a summer program (but more on that later).
Law firms are certainly entitled to pick which schools they want to interview at. But, as a matter of basic professional courtesy and respect, they should make those decisions as early in the process as possible. When a law firm withdraws from the fall recruiting process at a given school at the eleventh hour, it causes great inconvenience to law students and schools.
What do most law schools do when firms pull out from OCI at the last minute? As far as we know, nothing. In this economy, law firms are in the driver’s seat. They’re the people with jobs to dole out.
But at least one law school has decided to take a stand against rudeness. After Reed Smith announced its late withdrawal from the recruiting process at Fordham Law, the school struck back, banning the firm from recruiting at Fordham for the next five years.
Dean William Treanor announced the move to the law school in a saucy email that truly puts the “F.U.” in Fordham University. The Fordham law folks are located at Lincoln Center rather than Rose Hill, but this message suggests they can brawl like their Bronx brethren.
Update (8/13/09): The firm’s response to the situation appears here.
Read the dean’s complete email message, and vote in our reader poll — yes, another one, we can’t help ourselves (we love to get your opinion on such matters) — after the jump.
Continue reading “Fordham Law Lashes Out at Reed Smith Rudeness
Dean Treanor to firm: Don’t come ’round here no more.“
Since December, Reed Smith has fired 215 people. So the latest news from the firm won’t be all that surprising. This morning, Reed Smith managing partner Greg Jordan sent the following message to the firm’s associates:
Over the past several months, Reed Smith has adopted many changes to our business in response to global economic conditions, changing client demands, and the competitive landscape in the legal industry. Among other things, this has meant lower compensation levels for partners. Today, we are announcing another change which we believe is appropriate to further sound business operations. Effective July 1, 2009, we will reduce associate salaries in the U.S. by 10% across the board.
What is marginally more surprising is the news about Reed Smith’s incoming first-year associates:
We will set the salaries for our incoming class of U.S. associates at a later date, but the new salaries will be at least 10% lower than current first year levels.
As The Dude might say, “That’s a real bummer, man.”
Our informal numbers tell us that fewer than twenty AmLaw 200 firms have cut associate salaries outright (this does not include the numerous firms that have frozen associate salaries). That’s not the best news, but we haven’t reached epidemic levels. Not yet.
Read the full Reed Smith memo after the jump.
Continue reading “Nationwide Salary Cut Watch: Reed Smith Cuts Current (and Incoming) Associate Salaries”
