Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
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Alston & Bird, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Alston & Bird Squeezes the Secretaries
Firms everywhere are trying to keep expenses down. For secretaries and administrative assistants at Alston & Bird, this means that overtime is going to be a lot harder to come by. Last week, A&B informed its secretaries of changes in the firm’s overtime policy: As you know, from time to time we review our HR […] -
Crowell & Moring, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs
Crowell & Moring Asks Staff To Voluntarily Lay Themselves Off
It’s been a while since a firm asked people to voluntarily fire themselves. Maybe with the economy getting better it’s time to dust that strategy off? Apparently, that is what Crowell & Moring is hoping for. The firm just asked its staff to voluntarily help them get down to a 4 to 1 attorney to […] - Sponsored
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Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs
Staff Layoff Watch: Cooley Cuts 58 Staffers
Last week, we told you that Wilson Sonsini froze staff salaries. Today, there is more pain being spread around the legal staffing world. The Recorder reports: Fifty-eight staffers were cut Thursday, although no attorneys were let go, according to an all-hands memo from Cooley Chief Operating Officer Mark Pitchford. “This reduction was conducted to eliminate […]
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Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Staff Salary Freeze From Wilson Sonsini
It’s been a while since we’ve had any news about how legal secretaries and staffs are weathering the recession. Well, at least no news that pertains to secretaries who are potty trained and don’t care about CHARACTER. To the extent that firms are still looking to make cuts, it feels like they are more focused […] -
Email Scandals, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Stepford Secretary Strikes Again
I’m sure you all remember the Stepford Secretary. She is the secretary that praised lawyers at her firm for their CHARACTER. She was fired, and then she lawyered up. But the President’s speech on health care last night inspired her. Well, at least it inspired her to email Above the Law: In his speech tonight […] -
Layoffs, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs
Winston & Strawn: The August Recap
We received a lot of tips about Winston & Strawn during the month of August. It seems like the firm had a busy month. We’ve reached out to the firm — multiple times — but haven’t heard anything back. But multiple sources report that Winston laid off around 20 associates over the month of August. […] -
Bad Ideas, Hotties, Lawyer of the Day, Nude Dancing, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Legal Secretary of the Day: For the Ladies
By day, Jarriette Richie was a legal secretary. By night, she was one of the small business entrepreneurs who are so important to the vitality of the American economy. Not only that, Richie’s business provided services to a critically underserved community. Richie was the proprietor of Show ‘N Tell Entertainment — which arranged erotic male […] -
Labor / Employment, Lawsuit of the Day, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Lawsuit of the Day: Bathroom Breaks Receptionist
The law firm of Littler Mendelson is embroiled in a pretty nasty lawsuit with a former receptionist. The Washington Business Journal reported on the suit brought by the former Littler Mendelson receptionist, Rebecca Landrith: According to the July 27 lawsuit the receptionist filed — on her own behalf — against her old firm, Littler provided […] - Sponsored
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Layoffs, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs
Staff Layoffs at K&L Gates: It's Not The Number, It's The Manner
Multiple independent sources report that K&L Gates had a minor spate of staff layoffs late last week. One particular tipster sums up the move nicely: In the Dallas office last week, five staff members are given the boot, very stealth-like. Reason given: Not enough work to go around. As the staff numbers sharply decrease, many […] -
Email Scandals, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Stepford Secretary Responds to Above the Law
The Bingham McCutchen “Stepford Secretary” has decided to speak out about her termination from Bingham and her decision to hire a lawyer. In an email she sent to Above the Law, the Stepford Secretary describes her firm wide CHARACTER email as “totally harmless.” She also describes the way in which she was fired from Bingham: […] -
Email Scandals, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Stepford Secretary Lawyers Up
We’ve been following the trials and tribulations of the former Bingham McCutchen “Stepford Secretary” who sent out a mission statement to the firm about CHARACTER. After the email, the secretary was fired by Bingham. Now, she’s lawyered-up. No complaint has been filed, but we understand that the secretary has hired an attorney and is considering […] -
Paralegals, Salary Freeze, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
O'Melveny Freezes Staff Salaries to July 2010
At what point does a salary freeze start to feel like a salary cut? Staff at O’Melveny & Myers are about to find out. O’Melveny just announced a new salary ice-age for its staff. Above the Law obtained this internal memo sent to O’Melveny staffers: We are committed to taking proactive steps to maintain our […] -
Email Scandals, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Bingham McCutchen's 'Stepford Secretary' Has Left The Building
A couple of days ago, we brought you the story of a Bingham McCutchen secretary who believed that her firm had great “CHARACTER,” despite these tough economic times. She closed her remarks with this: So, although I am grateful for my job and middle class life, I realize that living daily in fear and conforming […]
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Email Scandals, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Bingham McCutchen Staffer Doesn't Want to be a 'Stepford' Secretary
Don’t call it a memo, call it a mission statement. This afternoon, just before lunch, a secretary in the New York office of Bingham McCutchen decided to express her feelings about the recession to her law firm colleagues. All of them. All Bingham partners, counsel, associates, and staff, in every office, received this message to […] -
Hogan & Hartson, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs
Hogan & Hartson Offers Buyout of 250-300 Staff
Multiple sources told ATL on Friday that Hogan & Hartson would offer a buyout to 250-300 of its support staff. The firm has now had an opportunity to inform all of the personnel. We spoke with Hogan & Hartson Chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. on Friday. He explained that the buyout is part of Hogan’s […] -
Biglaw, Credit Crisis, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Open Thread: Standard of Living During the Global Economic Crisis
Cutbacks are hitting every level of Biglaw. Firms have gotten very creative in their attempts to wither cut or control costs. Because of all these rollbacks, weathering the global economic crisis is more challenging than simply holding on to your job — though that is hard enough. How is the economic crisis affecting people day-to-day? […] -
Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Secretaries Being Asked to Cut Costs: Could it Save Jobs?
Greenberg Traurig is trying to tighten up their administrative ship. The kind of normal, everyday instances of over clocking that many administrative assistants engage in are being directly addressed by management. Secretaries and administrative assistants received the following memo earlier this week. The per attorney cost for overtime in the Chicago office is higher than […] -
Layoffs, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs
Dechert Ices 72 Staff Positions
We started getting reports this morning that Dechert let go a number of secretaries and legal assistants. But the numbers from our tipsters were low, very low. The Legal Intelligencer just reported that Dechert has in fact laid off an amazing 72 staffers. A firm spokeswoman confirmed that Dechert has laid off 72 administrative staff […] -
Biglaw, Holidays and Seasons, Paralegals, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Further Thoughts: The Time for Giving (to your Secretary/Administrative Staff)
Last week, we posted an open thread to discuss end-of-the-year gift giving to your secretary and/or paralegal. We’ve waded through the many comments to fish out some points of consensus. A few secretaries appeared on the thread to urge associates to give cash or an AmEx/Visa gift card equivalent, and not a gift card to […] -
Biglaw, Bonuses, Holidays and Seasons, Money, Paralegals, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants
Open Thread: The Time for Giving (to your Secretary/Administrative Staff)
With the holidays two weeks away, many are starting to think about the frantic search for gifts for loved ones… and loved support staff. A Consumer Reports survey indicates that 76% of Americans will cut back on gift giving this year. Surprise, surprise. But what does it mean for planning your gift for your secretary […]